AN: I hope you enjoy today's chapter! I'd love to hear what you think as I begin to veer more and more sharply away from canon! :)


The next morning, as soon as we'd cleared up from breakfast, Avani kissed me farewell. Then she incanted the escape spell, and in a flash of light, she was gone. I sat and stared at the empty place where she'd stood only moments before, finally rising with a sigh some time later. I found that fishing had lost all its appeal after her departure, but not wanting to just sit around and mope all day, I called Fenrir to me.

Although Avani was the one who had tamed the fierce golden wolf, he had nevertheless attached himself to me, especially since that month when she spiraled so near to madness after Venti's death. Baldur had been jealous of his barn-mate before—his devotion, affection, and loyalty to his mistress ran deep—and he'd made every effort to ensure that Fenrir knew his place. But when Fenrir began to focus his affection on me rather than Avani, Baldur relaxed his guard, and soon the two wolves were boon companions, to such an extent that they were virtually inseparable. So naturally, when I called Fenrir, both wolves appeared. I instructed Thor and Charmie to keep an eye on the campsite, and mounting the Fenrir, we rode off towards the mountains. I decided that, to help pass the time until my wife returned, I'd search the subalpine woods in the hopes that perhaps a stray bloom or two might be found.

The trees at that altitude had very little in the way of undergrowth, which made searching for any sign of the brilliant purple flowers that much easier. I was searching on and around a massive nurse log when from behind me I heard Fenrir give a low, warning growl, quickly joined by Baldur. I spun around, and saw a short ways away a man. Standing stock still with his back against a large tree, he stared wide-eyed at the wolves, who stood between him and me, hackles raised and ears flattened as they snarled at him. I walked over to stand between the two wolves, calling to him, "Who are you, and what is your business here?"

His eyes grew even larger as he examined me—no doubt startled by my vulpine features. Pressing back against the tree trunk, he stammered in a raspy, thickly-accented voice, "A-are you a-a god? A wolf-god?"

I stared at him for a moment, then laughed heartily. "No, I'm a man, neither more nor less." I looked him over as he slowly relaxed, still eyeing the wolves nervously, though they had quieted at my approach. His was the face of an elderly man—leathery and wrinkled with age and exposure. His hair and eyes were pale grey-green, the color of the sage herb, and he wore simple but slightly tattered clothing. His skin was tanned to a deep golden brown, and he carried a gnarled walking stick and a battered rucksack. From a leather belt about his waist hung a variety of small pouches.

"Green hair again? I had believed it was an uncommon shade, but it seems I may have been mistaken. I thought these lands were unpopulated—are you from these parts?"

"You… you thought green hair was unusual?" he said incredulously, looking up at my ears and then down at my tail.

I gave him a wry smile. "Touché. Tell me, are there others in the area? Or are you just passing through?"

"I am the servant of my people's healer. He has sent me to scour the wildlands for herbs for his medicines, as his stock was running low on certain things that are not so readily available near our home. My tribe does not live near these mountains, but several days' journey to the south and east of here."

My ears pricked up at that. "Herbs, eh? Tell me, I've been searching for a particular plant that I hear can be found on these mountains, near the peaks. It's a low-growing plant with spikes of small, deep purple blooms, and it has some medicinal value. Do you know of it, and if so, where I might find it so late in the season?"

He thought for a moment, then said, "I believe you mean the flower we call adri dala—cloudwort in your language. It has some medicinal properties, I believe, but we only rarely use it ourselves. However, I have seen it growing in the mountain meadows here, though never this late in the season."

I sighed. "Well, thank you anyway for your help. I feared that was the case." I started to turn away, when the old man made a startled exclamation.

"Sir, please wait! Did you… did you say you'd seen others with green hair? Are they around here? Perhaps they are some of my tribe."

I shook my head. "I doubt it. There are two ladies in my hometown that have green hair and eyes. And neither of them speaks with your accent."

"Ahh, too bad. Still, perhaps they are distantly related—green hair tends to run in families, I think."

"I suppose that could be. Well, thanks again. May your hunt be rewarding," I said, turning to mount Fenrir.

"Oh, sir—one last word. Pray tell where you are from? In case I should stumble across some unseasonable cluster of cloudwort, so that I may get it to you."

I looked at him speculatively—his offer was kind, but there was an odd light in his eyes that made me hesitate. "I doubt you'd be able to get it to me in time, as I live on the northern border. But I thank you for your offer."

Again I turned away, and again he called out to me. "The northern border? What towns lie so near the frozen northlands of the Sechs Empire?"

Frowning at his persistent inquisitiveness, I said, "Selphia is its name, but again, it's too far from here to matter even if you did find any cloudwort. Thank you again for your help, but I'd best be going. Pleasant journeys." Then I finally succeeded in mounting Fenrir and heading back to camp.

When I arrived at camp some little while later, Avani had already returned and was pacing anxiously to and fro, watching for my return. She ran to meet me, throwing her arms around me as soon as I leaped down from Fenrir's back.

"I think I've found it!" she exclaimed joyfully as I returned her embrace. Leading me back towards the fire that she'd built up while waiting for me, she continued. "First I asked Nancy and Jones. They'd never heard of a medicinal plant like I described, so I went to Arthur next. Unfortunately, he'd never heard of it either, though he said he'd ask around. But as I was discussing it with him, Raven happened to stop by. She heard me describing it to him, and after he said he'd never heard of it, she commented that she thought she might have. She's from Sharance, you know, which is up in the mountains a ways north of here. It seems that their village healer cultivates some of the harder-to-find species of medicinal plant, and apparently healers from all over the country buy them from her. Oh, and you'll never guess what it's called!"

"Cloudwort?" I asked, grinning at the look of slack-jawed astonishment on her face.

"How…?"

"You finish your story first, then I'll tell you mine," I instructed her.

Looking bewildered, she paused for a moment before continuing. "A-anyway, she said she'd talk to the healer tonight when she goes home, and I'm to meet up with her tomorrow morning to see if she succeeded in laying her hands on some. If she doesn't… if she was mistaken, or if the healer doesn't have any… I don't know what we'll do." She bit her lip and furrowed her brow as she thought about it.

"We don't have a choice in the matter, my love. Remember what you said Xiao told you while we were piecing together Maria's message? Sometimes you can try and try and try and still fail—and that's okay, because at least you tried. If Raven can't get it, and if Arthur's contact don't turn anything helpful up, then we won't have a choice but to wait until next summer."

"But… but that might be too late!" she exclaimed in dismay.

"Yes, it might. But at least we're trying, love. If we hadn't stumbled across that lake, they might have been waiting in vain for someone to help them clear up until the day she died, each day feeling more hopeless than the last. At least now they have a ray of hope."

She sighed and leaned against me as we sat before the fire, thinking our individual thoughts in silence. After a few minutes she sat up and looked at me. "Oh—so how is it that you knew the name of that flower?"

I gave her a brief summary of my meeting with the strange old man and his search for medicinal herbs. "So it's just possible that he'd spot some, too!" she exclaimed in excitement. "Did you tell him where to find our camp?"

Hesitating briefly, I admitted, "No… I didn't. To be honest, he made me uncomfortable. There was something strange about him—a shiftiness in his eyes that I didn't like. In fact, I was thinking that we should return to town. It's lovely here, but… well, to be honest, I feel as though our privacy has been shattered. I only have his word as to what he was doing in the mountains, after all—for all I know, his purposes are far less noble than those he gave. And I also only have his word that he's alone. So depending on how things go tomorrow, I think we should break camp and return home tomorrow, or the next day at the latest. But," I added as she protested her disappointment, "let's be sure to come back next summer for a longer trip. We can bring some others with us, if you would like, or come by ourselves. Whatever you like."

She sighed and leaned back against me. "I… I suppose you're right. It wouldn't even have occurred to me to doubt him, honestly. I would have just taken what he said at face value."

I put my arms around her as I replied with a smile, "Your generous, trusting nature is one of the many things I find so endearing about you. Don't ever change that, My Lady."

The next morning, she again returned to Selphia to meet with Raven. I stayed behind, and this time I did in fact go fishing—one last morning of fishing before our departure. I hadn't slept well that night, constantly on my guard, listening to and analyzing every little sound I heard.

I returned to camp an hour or so later with a fine string of large, fat fish and set to cleaning them. I was almost done when I spotted Marin overhead, racing across the sky like a shooting star. He descended in a wide spiral over the lake, finally landing on the shore as I hurried down to meet them. Avani slid down from his neck, and he slithered off and dove down into the lake, presumably for a swim and a meal.

From her triumphant demeanor, I assumed she'd met with success, though admittedly her natural exuberance could make it tricky to be certain at times. However, I was correct that time at least, as she held aloft a bundle of vividly purple flower stalks as she ran up to me with a huge grin on her face. "Well done, My Lady, well done indeed," I said as I lifted her up in a bear hug. "I was just finishing cleaning some fish when you returned, so let's have our meal and head up to the cave as soon as we've finished."

We ate our fill of sizzling grilled fish, feeding the raw, boned fillets I'd set aside earlier to the monsters as we cooked. Then we cleaned up our campsite and, mounting the wolves, headed up the mountain towards the cave.

Once there, we retraced our path to the pool deep in the caverns. Kneeling at the edge of the water, Avani lit a lantern and held it aloft. A few moments later, one of the fish-people broke the surface and swam over to her.

Even with the lantern, the cave was dimly lit; however, it was still bright enough for my eyes to see the creature more clearly than before. His head and torso were certainly human-like, but also definitely not human. On either side of his short, thick neck was a set of small fins, and if he had ears, they were not visible. His unblinking eyes were unusually large, and his nose was flattened almost out of existence. His teeth, when he opened his mouth, were more like the sharp, fine teeth of a fish than those of a terrestrial creature. His head was covered with long, flowing, hair-like strands that did not appear to be quite exactly hair, but rather nearer to some long, delicate tendrils or filaments. Short spikes protruded from his elbows, and when he extended his hand in greeting to us, I saw that his short fingers were heavily webbed and ended in short claws rather than nails.

After pressing his hand against first Avani's and then mine, he proceeded to address he with a series of the unusual clicks and shrill squawks of which their language appeared to be comprised. Avani nodded her head, somehow understanding their alien tongue. She grinned at the fish-man, and he grimaced in what appeared to be an attempt to mimic her smile. She reached into her pack and pulled the bundle of flowers out, handing them over to him. He took them almost reverently, then with another outburst of his speech, he dove down into the pool, vanishing from sight.

She turned to me and smiled as she sat down on the rocky floor of the cave. "He asked us to wait here until he returns. He says it will take a little time, but to please be patient."

I sat down close to her and put an arm around her. "Hmm… however shall we pass the time while we wait?" I murmured, breathing into her ear.

She giggled as she leaned into me, saying, "And what if he returns earlier than expected?"

Pulling her onto my lap, I said, "Well, love, just how do you suppose they get more little fish-men and fish-women?"

She laughed her musical laugh as she caressed my bare chest with one of her hands. "Then in that case…" and she reached her hand up behind my neck and pulled my face to hers.

Some time later, we were sitting spent and entwined, me with my back against a large stalagmite a little ways from the pool, and her still straddling my lap, when we heard a splash in the water. We quickly rose, adjusted our clothing, and brushed the dust off our legs as we hurried back over to the pool. Avani again knelt at the edge of the water, while I stood behind her.

The same fish-man as before was there, and another waited beside him—larger, stronger, and older in appearance, he seemed to be a leader of some sort. He looked up at Avani and me, then both of them slapped the surface of the water with their tails as they lowered their heads. Rocking back on her heels in surprise at this peculiar display, Avani waited to see what happened next. The older fish-man looked up at her and began to speak in his language. After a moment, she began to translate for me.

"He says that he is the king of this tribe, and the sick princess is his eldest daughter and his heir. Their healer has already made the medicine and given it to her, and he says that already she has begun to show improvement. He further say that his gratitude knows no bounds, as he is greatly attached to his daughter. However, resources are scarce in these cavernous lakes, so his ability to express his appreciation for our efforts is limited. He therefore offers, as tokens of his gratitude, these two charms, carved long ago by a master of the craft when their magic was still powerful."

Each fish-man placed an item into her outstretched hands, which she then examined before passing them to me. Both were carved of gemstones. One was a fat fish carved from a beautiful, translucent stone that, as far as I could determine in the poor light, was a pale green shade. The other was a circular flattened cabochon carved out of some opaque, dark blue stone, with a compass rose carved into the top surface.

While I examined the charms, the fish-king continued to speak to Avani, and she continued to translate for me. The fish-shaped charm, she said, would bring luck in fishing—just wear it on the hand that holds the pole or attach it directly to the pole itself. The round charm would bring us safety from any aquatic creature—upon seeing it, all such creatures would restrain from directly harming the bearer and all who accompanied him or her.

As we conveyed our appreciation to the king, another creature broke the surface of the water. I looked over to see a fish-woman swimming towards us, and as repulsive as the males of the species were, was she as lovely. Dusky rose hair spread out on the surface of the dark water as she emerged, her lithe, rose-pink tail undulating gracefully. Her face was very human and superlatively beautiful, with a generous mouth and large, violet eyes thickly framed with long lashes, and she wore a strand of smooth pearls around her elegant, slender neck. When she reached the edge of the pool, she hoisted herself up to sit on the rocky border, strands of her long, damp hair curving delicately around her full, round breasts. Her figure tapered to a tiny waist, then swelled into the curves of her smooth, pink tail. She held out a slender, graceful hand, pressing her palm to ours in greeting, then flipped her long, roseate hair over her shoulders, displaying delicate ears adorned with tiny, creamy pearls.

Looking first at me and then at Avani, she spoke in a mellifluous voice, using our language. "It was my wish to thank you personally for the service you have rendered me. I had all but despaired of aid when you arrived, and knowing the passage of seasons, I felt fresh despair that you wouldn't find the necessary reagent before my demise. The illness was a gradual wasting disease—fortunately, my recovery has been as rapid as the sickness was slow, and I am already nearly fully recovered. You have my gratitude and the gratitude of my people. Should we ever be able to render you a service in return, we will gladly do so."

Then with that, the three fish-folk dove back down into the water, each thrashing their tail in a final farewell before disappearing, leaving only a mass of ripples behind. We watched until the ripples dispersed, then made our way out into the waning sunlight. Mounting our wolves, we returned to camp.

The next day, we broke camp and headed back to Selphia. Since we were travelling solely by ground, we spread our journey out over a few days, moving at a more relaxed pace. When we finally reached the town, we'd been away for almost two weeks—two very enjoyable, idyllic weeks.

Now it was time to settle down and begin our new life together.


Some weeks later, in the chilly light of the late winter moon at midnight, two figures met deep in the dense, tropical forest: one tall and powerfully built, the other short and wizened, both male. The shorter figure crept slavishly up to the tall man, and hissed in a low, rasping voice, "My Lord, I think I have word of her at last!"

"Speak, then," the other said in a rich baritone voice, folding his arms over his chest as he waited impatiently.

"In my travels, I met a man—a very strange man, with the ears and tail of a dog. He exclaimed over my green hair, and said in his hometown there was not one but two women with green hair and eyes."

"And? Is that all you have for me?" the younger man said scornfully.

"That was all I could get from him, my Lord—he was cagey and wily! He doubted my story, I could see, though it was true enough. And I dared not follow him—he was guarded by two vicious wolves as large as horses, perhaps even larger!"

Snarling a derisive oath, the tall man raised his foot as if to kick the groveling figure before him, who held up one hand in supplication as he covered his head with the other. "Wait! Wait, my Lord! There is one other thing I learned!"

Pausing, his foot poised in mid-air, he growled, "Well?"

"Selphia, my Lord! The man is from the town of Selphia on the northern border, where the Dragon Ventuswill resides! That… that is suggestive, isn't it, my Lord?"

Returning his foot to the ground, the tall man turned and gazed towards the north. A slow, cruel smile spread across his sensuous lips, and he said, as if to himself, "Yes… yes, it is indeed suggestive."


Disclaimer: Rune Factory 4, most locations and many of the characters in the story, and the game's plot belong to Neverland Co. and XSEED Games. The story plot and some characters and locations are my own invention.