Skara had never liked to be woken up early. Especially when it was caused by an irritating noise. She utterly despised morning alarms for this reason - She was a Bard, after all. Alarms to her sounded like nails being dragged against a chalkboard. So she always tried to make sure that she got enough sleep so that she woke up before any alarm woke her up - She would wake up when she was ready to, not before.
And as utterly exhausted as yesterday had left her, she had no intention of waking up until she was good and ready to.
But for some reason that was completely beyond her, she found herself stirring awake while she was still totally exhausted. She tried to squeeze her eyelids shut tighter to try and fall back asleep, but after a few seconds, her ears picked up the source of what had woken her up - A noise.
It sounded like… A wail. But not from a person. It was more… Ethereal than that.
More... Ghostly.
And all of a sudden, it was piercingly loud.
She bolted upright, still wrapped in her cocoon blanket, clutching it even tighter as her eyes darted across the room. Immediately, the noise had stopped, and looking around, nothing looked… Different.
Although admittedly, she didn't have a lot of experience in this room, so maybe something had changed, but if it had, Skara didn't notice it. It took her a couple of seconds to remember exactly where she was, but once she did, she couldn't think of anything that stood out to her as out of place. The room still looked like an old cabin bedroom, the bed still looked like it was against the wall, and Willow…
Well, Willow still laid asleep, curled up underneath the blanket, lightly snoring.
The Bard rubbed her eyes. The sound had been… So loud, so clear, and so, so sharp - Like needles had been shoved down her ears. And she had heard it with the most absolute clarity. It had been a wail, she was sure of it. One of the loudest that she'd ever heard in her life.
And yet, Willow hadn't even reacted to it in the slightest?
It confused the still tired, but now wide awake Bard for a moment, as her brain tried to catch up with the rude awakening it had received. Either Willow was the deepest sleeper Skara had ever met, or, the more likely answer, the noise had been part of a dream she already couldn't remember.
Or, a third option - Maybe it had something to do with the weather outside the cabin? Skara looked out the window, expecting the wind to be battering against it.. But to her surprise, in the thin rays of dawn, the wind barely seemed to be flowing at all.
They were still in the chasm, so it was still very possible that outside of there, the wind was still strong and bellowing, but noticeable, there wasn't any snow falling from up top. Not even a single snowflake. She could see the sunlight reflecting against what snow had settled overnight, and could feel it bouncing back through the window and onto her. It was… Actually warm.
The storm was over.
It must have ended during the night, while they were sleeping - Storms on the Knee were capable of lasting for days, and that had been what Skara had expected once the thundersnow had begun; days stuck in the cabin. The fact that it hadn't honestly threw Skara for a loop. It took a few seconds for what that meant to actually register with her.
Me and Willow can try to get home!
A grin that was impossible to stop spread across her face - Her hands pumped into fists, and they shot into the air. A squeal escaped her, "Yes!"
Immediately after, she slapped her hands over her mouth, worried that her excitement, movement, and squealing had just woken Willow. She glanced down at her to see if she had. Thankfully though, Willow simply gave a small snorting snore before turning onto her back, arms splaying about as she did so. Skara sighed, grateful that she hadn't just accidentally woken her.
Skara knew that there was no way she'd get back to sleep; she was the type that, once she woke up, couldn't get back to bed, especially after hearing… Whatever that noise had been in her dream. So, slowly, ever so slowly, Skara wiggled herself off of the bed, standing upon the floor, before dropping the blanket to the floor, and tiptoeing to the bedroom door, quietly as she could.
Closing it shut slowly behind her, Skara breathed a sigh of relief, and leaned back against the door. "Phew." She muttered. "Didn't wake Willow up. Good."
They were going to be travelling all over the Knee today if they wanted to get anywhere, assuming the weather held out. Skara wasn't going to be able to get back to sleep, but there wasn't any reason to wake Willow up. She might as well get all the rest that she could get. They were going to need it.
Stretching as she walked down the stairs, Skara thought to herself about … What exactly had transpired between her and Willow last night.
'...Look… Maybe friendship isn't just… about being powerful or the top or whatever. Maybe it's about caring for each other, about helping build each other up without any power dynamic stuff involved.'
'And I don't know if you need to hear this but… You're not a bad person. Not really.'
Hearing all that, especially from Willow of all people, was… It was weird, to say the least. It was… Difficult to explain, but coming from Willow in particular had been… Well, weird. But maybe not an entirely bad weird. More like an… Unexpected weird?
It was hard to describe. Especially given her and Willow's history.
You're not a bad person. Not really.
Skara couldn't help but feel a strange combination of a heavy heart and a light head at the memory of hearing that. It...
She shook her head. She needed to think of something else. She wasn't a fan of… Whatever this was.
The Bard looked around the room, trying to spot anything that could distract her. Nothing caught her eye though, and Skara had already seen pretty much all of it yesterday. The walls and their weird, indecipherable carvings, the windows and their outsides, everything that was in the kitchen, the couch, the photos…
Hmmm…
Glancing at a small table that was in the corner, between the dividing wall to the kitchen and a bookcase, Skara noticed that there was one framed photo on said table, and nothing else. In everything that had happened yesterday, this particular photo, she hadn't noticed. She walked over and picked it up, looking at it closer.
Unsurprisingly, it was another picture of the two probable owners of the cabin. It wasn't anything too exciting, really; simply a photo of the two women, Artis and Fex, together in matching wedding dresses, the taller woman - Skara had decided to dub her Fex, though she had absolutely nothing to base this on. She just looked like a 'Fex', Skara supposed - holding her lover - Artis - in the classic bridal position as the smaller woman held up a guitar. Both were smiling widely, as one would expect from the supposed happiest day of their lives. It wasn't anything too special. Just a standard wedding photo, the kind her own parents would show her whenever they got sentimental. They were happy in the picture, and Skara smiled slightly at that too.
Still, she pondered it for a moment. She inspected the photo more closely, and carefully, like moving it too quickly would somehow lead to the frame shattering.
Looking closer didn't show anything odd about the concept of the photo, or anything that looked out of place. But it did show two things Skara hadn't noticed before, that made her blink.
First, the guitar in Artis's hands. It appeared to be a standard wooden guitar at first glance, but a closer look showed off its unique markings. It was covered in strange symbols, ones that sorta resembled the carvings on the walls of the cabin. They sort of reminded Skara of the Human's glyphs, but from what she'd seen, her symbols were circular and round. Even if she couldn't make out all the details, she could note that these symbols were more angular and rigid.
Huh. Maybe different wild Witches practiced different forms of Magic?
The second detail she noticed, however, involved Fex. Specifically, a set of freckles against her shining bronze skin.
Specifically, the 'shining' point.
Lined across Fex's body were small freckles, but ones that gleamed and twinkled a variety of colours, mostly warm reds and oranges. They reminded Skara of the stars she would see out her window, though now downsized for a Witch's body.
Huh. Never seen… Anything like that before, Skara noted. Pretty cute, actually.
She stared at the photo for a moment, contemplating the new details. Even when most of her evening yesterday had been dedicated to staring at these photos, and scavenging their house for food and clothing and whatever else could be used, she was surprised that she could still find new details to learn about these two strangers she'd probably never know anything more about than she already did.
There was only so much information about them here, after all. This was probably the most that she was ever going to know for sure. She couldn't even be sure that she had gotten their names the right way around.
Then, an idea popped into her - A piece of advice from her mother when Skara had decided to become a Bard.
Bards are at their absolute best when they can craft a story from anything! If you ever want to test yourself, look at any random person, place, or thing you know only a little, or nothing about, and try crafting a story about them.
"Hmmmm… I wonder… Just who are you, Mrs. Artis and Mrs. Fex…"
She turned the photo in her hands, attempting to view it at every angle, even the ones she couldn't see anything of the photo of. Finally, with a snap of her fingers, she smiled.
"I've got it!"
Placing the photo back onto it's table, she began to pace the room, her mind racing just as quickly as her steps did.
"Miss Fex wasn't merely a Witch!" Skara spoke aloud as she crafted all the story pieces together in her head. "She was a celestial being, sent here by... Whatever lies out in space, to destroy the Demon Realm! But a lone woman, one beautiful Bard, Miss Artis, found you, and played our music, enchanting you with its inspired melodies and notes. You were so enamoured, you fell in love near instantly, and flew across the sky to go and kick your bosses to wherever they came from! No no, you brought Artis with you and you beat them together, and in the end you got married, built a little cabin, and… uh… I guess, went back into space sometime? Maybe?"
The Bard chuckled to herself. It had honestly been a while since she had crafted a story like that, and she'd be the first to admit that it was a bit on the rough side.
What it was though, was fun.
"I mean, it's not my best work, but maybe I could write a better love story than Night-"
As she continued losing herself in her own head, now filled with thoughts of writing something to surpass even Rulers Reach, her foot caught hold of a loose board.
"-LIIIIIIGHT!"
The Bard landed with a hard THUD against the floor. She wasn't hurt too much, but the fall did leave her dizzy. Now, the stars she was seeing weren't in a photo, but in her head.
"...Ow…"
With a groan, she raised her head, glaring down at the upturned board. She was irritated by it, like it had tripped her up on purpose . With a scowl, she kicked it, attempting to knock it back in place.
Instead, the board snapped in half, one piece dropping down into hole.
...Oops.
Scurrying over, Skara looked into the hole she had created. She was about to start cursing the Titan for causing her to break the board-
When she stopped.
As she looked down the hole, Skara spotted... Something. It looked oddly long, and was the same colour coat as her school uniform's sleeves. She squinted at it through the dark of the cabin, but couldn't make out too many details.
Well, now she was curious.
She pulled at a couple of the other boards, and to her surprise, they lifted right out of place, apparently having never having been hammered in properly to secure them to the floor. The only thing that she could think was that she had uncovered some sort of secret stash.
And eventually, found it's treasure.
Underneath the floorboards of this neglected, ancient cabin, was a guitar case. At least, that was what it looked like. A pure red one, like the Bard colours.
Skara raised an eyebrow, and reached into the hole. Her hand went down the length of the guitar case's side until finding the proper handle to grip it by. Grinning, she tugged the case out from beneath the boards, careful not to hit any of the other floorboards so as not to scratch the case or its contents inside, if it had any.
Stood upright, the case reached up to Skara's shoulders, and she noticed that there were a few symbols and icons on the case that she couldn't decipher the meaning of - But did note that they looked similar to some of the symbols she had seen throughout the cabin. Curious, she found the zipper on the side of the case. Picking it up, she placed the case flatly on the couch, and opened it.
And inside, she found her next musical love.
In Skara's eyes, the most beautiful guitar known to any Witch in the world rested inside the case. While it lacked a lot of intricate details, though some were painted along the sides, there was something about the way in which they were done that conveyed that less was more in this instance. It was difficult to describe, but Skara could tell that the markings were done with a great deal of artistic care. But even those aside, the colour alone, the almost genuinely crystalline ruby red, made her Bard heart skip a beat at the sight.
Even the strings were a gorgeous shade of red. It was unlike any guitar that she'd ever seen before.
Is it possible to fall in love with an object?
Picking the guitar up and holding it in her hands, Skara let her fingers caress the neck of the guitar, feeling how smooth it was, and she smiled at the feeling of touching something so… So perfectly beautiful.
Skara had a particular fondness for strings. Like any good Bard, she took a jack-of-all-trades approach to musical instruments, learning the basics of every kind of instrument that the Bard Track made available. But her first love was, and always would be, strings. She still remembered the note her mother had left her on the birthday present that led her down this road; To my little cherub, may you rock the world as you rock ours. She'd eagerly opened it to find her first harp.
Somehow, this entire event reminded her of that day.
But then, she blinked, suddenly, and glanced back at the photo that was resting on it's own special table behind her once again. This time, her eyes focused in one one thing very quickly - The guitar in Artis' hands.
The very same she now was holding in her own hands.
Photography didn't do the guitar even the slightest bit of justice, was Skara's first thought.
Her second was to wonder - What in the world had it been doing buried under the cabin?
She bit her lip in confusion, trying to come up with any potential stories that might make any sense for why that might be the case.
A potential treasure hunt, she thought as she turned the guitar over in her hands, admiring the strange runes and completely smooth wood, free of cracks or splinters. ...Eh, no. There's no way that makes any sort of sense… Maybe Artis threw it there during a break in? Nah. That's stupid. Even if she had the time to throw it in before someone robbed the place, who would rob some random cabin on the Knee?
Making up a story, she could do. Deducing what events would have led to the guitar being left underneath the floors of an abandoned cabin when she didn't know much of anything about the people who lived here? Being a detective wasn't her forte.
Then, Skara stopped turning it over in her hands. She blinked at the seed of an idea that quickly sprouted in her mind.
You know… I think I got a better story for this thing…
Once upon a time, a couple owned a really cool guitar. But they left it in a deserted cabin, and after a little time, a cool Bard found it and decided to make it her own.
Her smile faltered, however, when she thought for a moment about her plan. Her father flashed into her mind, his rough, gruff, 'serious' voice entering her mind. It was apparently an old Oracle saying, the sort of thing he'd say as some piece of wisdom that would have no practical application to Skara's life, but that they still insisted on preaching anyway.
The fastest way to become a ghost? Steal from one.
For a moment, Skara considered simply putting the guitar back in its case, dropping it back into the hole she found it, and never looking at it again. If it had been Artis's in life, then there must be a reason it was buried in her home.
Right?
Well, maybe…
...Buuuuuuuuut, she thought,, is Artis really dead? She could be out there in the stars, with her wife, enjoying space together!
Okay then, in that case, she was stealing from a living person. Fantastic.
She knew it was a lame excuse, but it was a genuine one - At least in the sense that she didn't have even the faintest idea about the fate of either of the people that lived here. In either case though, the place was abandoned. And they wouldn't leave an instrument this beautiful here unless they meant to, right? And the cabin had been abandoned for decades, if not centuries, anyway.
Besides, she reasoned, I've already broken into their home, ate their food, slept in their bed, broke their floorboards… if there was a spirit here, I would have heard from it by now, right?
Skara's face began to regain its composure, her smile returning as her completely flawless reasoning justified her only potential grave robbing. And hey, if a spirit did end up coming for her, she'd return the guitar without any hesitation, and apologize for the whole incident.
Assuming for a moment there was a spirit here, they hadn't made themselves known already, so presumably neither her nor Willow had done anything to anger it, and leaving the guitar here just felt… Wrong. Although, that part might just have been her Bard sentimentality.
You couldn't just leave something this beautiful to waste away in a place like this.
...Alright then, she decided.
With the giddiness of a child receiving the biggest Hexmas present she could have hoped for, Skara threw herself onto the couch, placing the tips of her fingers against the crimson tuning pegs.
You and me, guitar? I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship.
The creatures of the Knee were known for many things. Their ferocity. Their intelligence. Their appetites.
Few, if any, were known for their forgiveness.
As the Yeti-Spider crawled slowly out of its cave, it sensed that the storm had passed. That it was now capable of leaving its cave. As it began to process this, it also began to process something else.
The scent of Witches.
The scent of the Witches that had escaped.
A scent, they decided, that was too… Delicious to ignore….
"Okay… Let's try… This..."
Skara fiddled with the guitar, adjusting the tuning keys and plucking at the strings, trying to judge by sound how well tuned it was. The strings looked old and worn, so they should have been set at some point, but they also looked like they hadn't been used in decades, so they had fallen out of tune, and if she wasn't careful, they would probably snap. When they got back to Bonesborough, she decided that she'd probably need to get some new strings for the instrument. It would take a little while for them to settle in, and she would miss the beautiful crimson colours, but it'd probably be easier in the long run.
Skara spent a few minutes fiddling gently with the tuning pegs, wanting to try and give the strings a few strums before their unfortunate removal. Testing them by ear, she strummed the strings gently, careful not to put too much stress on the ancient wire. Hmmm… E sounds nice… A's not too bad either…. D's solid… Huh, so's G...
It sounded… Good. A lot better than Skara would have expected an instrument like this to sound after being unused and uncared for for decades at played a few more notes, running her left hand up and down the neck, and her fingers along the fingerboard, trying out note after note. One by one, Skara tested them, and found that they sounded almost as pristine as any of her instruments back home.
...Huh. Maybe it won't need new strings after all.
The Bard strummed the chords a few more times, before putting it back into its case, and up against the couch, satisfied that it was in decent shape. How in the world it had stayed in such good condition without the care that was necessary to maintain it was truly beyond her, but she wasn't complaining. It had an intricate design, with beautiful patterns painted onto the wood, and it sounded good. Those things just made her more sure that taking it with her was the right thing to do.
Instruments were made to perform beautiful music, not to be locked away in forgotten cabins far away from everyone else. And whoever had made the guitar - Probably Artis, if she had to guess, though that was more out of a lack of other options - clearly put in too much effort for it to just be discarded and forgotten. Leaving it here for the wires to inevitably rust and the wood to eventually degrade, instead of doing what it was designed to do just seemed… Wrong to her.
At least this way people'll get to hear it again.
Well, she hoped that logic would appease any of the spirits her dad warned her about, at least. Not that she didn't believe it, but still.
Content with her newfound instrument, Skara turned her attention to the kitchen - They didn't know how long it would take to get back to Bonesborough, and the last thing that they needed was for either her or Willow to start getting hungry while on a, worst case scenario, day-long trek. They were going to need all of the strength that they could get. Plus, now that Skara had opened the pantry, the stasis spell had gone off. They might as well use whatever food they needed before it started to rot.
"Better safe than sorry." She muttered to herself, parting the bead curtain aside. "Wonder if there's any-"
A shadow fell over the room.
It was only for a moment, but in that moment, all of the light from within vanished. Reacting instinctively, Skara turned on her heels to face the window.
By the time she had, the light was filtering into the room again. Like nothing had even happened.
"...What was that?" She whispered after a few seconds of staring at the window, like she was waiting for whatever just happened to block out the light to happen again.
It didn't though.
...It was probably just snow. She thought to herself. A big chunk of it must've fallen from the cliffs up top and blocked the window for a couple seconds.
Skara, you've seen too many horror shows to know it's never just that.
With a gulp and a small plea to the Titan, she made her way over to the window. She could feel her bile sack coursing magic faster, preparing to cast a defence spell the first sign of trouble. It couldn't be something that bad though, right? Maybe some kind of cute, adorable, absolutely-not-at-all horrifying creature that just wants to be friends. Totally believable.
With a shaky breath and a finger at the ready for a spell circle, Skara peered out the window.
A small sigh of relief escaped her. It had just been snow falling from the cliff top. Thank Titan. Maybe by the wind or -
Something moved in her peripheral vision, on the side of the cliff. Skara reflexively spun towards it, shaky finger raised.
For exactly one full second, Skara made eye contact with the Spider-Yeti.
Neither moved - Not fully registering what exactly they were looking at for that second. Terror finally gripped Skara's heart.
And then, the Spider-Yeti lunged.
"HOLY TITAN'S-"
The wall all but exploded as the monster collided with the cabin, and Skara was thrown back, crashing onto the ground and skidding along the floor until her head hit, with some force, the lounge-kitchen dividing wall - She was slammed into it before she even realized what the heck had just happened. The entire room was spinning as she clutched her head, wincing at the pain before forcing herself to look at the attacking beast.
A Spider-Yeti sized hole now existed in the wall Skara had previously been standing by, and the debris that had made up said wall now covered the monster, mostly in the form of splinters. It shook the debris off, before it stood imposingly tall, and let out it's horrendous screech, it's eyes fixated on Skara with the predatory glare that only a hunter could give to its prey.
It had tracked them - Somehow, it had managed to track them .
About a billion questions instantly and simultaneously shot through Skara's brain - How had it gotten here? How had it found them? They weren't supposed to be able to track in the middle of a blizzard! She was certain that -
Skara spotted the venom beginning to form in the spider's maw and she knew she had to think fast. The Bard rapidly picked herself up, and leaped out of the way of the monster's attack, hiding behind the couch for cover. Itlet out another screech, and Skara's hands smacked her cheeks.
She would have to worry where it had come from later!
Moving fast, she cast a spell circle, summoning it above the couch as she stood up to take aim. The second that she was sure that she could hit it, she thrust her left hand through it. It was the same spell that she had used to break the window of the cabin yesterday, only much larger and much more powerful.
A large, almost visible ball of vibrating air shot out of Skara's hand taking aim towards the Spider-Yeti. The impact knocked it back and landed it outside the cabin walls through the already existing hole.
Almost immediately after though, all it did was roar again - Skara's attack seemed to do was push it back and further infuriate it. Skara flinched - She knew Spider-Yeti were tough but she was hoping to have done more than that.
What the heck were they supposed to do against this thing?!
"Skara!"
The Bard turned her head towards the stairs, and saw a finally awake Willow was halfway down them when she spotted the Spider-Yeti. She skidded to a halt as the Spider-Yeti realized she was there too. It let out another screech, and got readied itself pounce.
As quickly as she could, Skara cast another spell, this time utilizing her magic to create a barrier between the two of them and the attacking monster. Made of air that packed together to create a see-through shield, the barrier manifested itself just before the Spider-Yeti re-entered the building. It's inability to enter confused, and angered the monster all the more.
Skara knew her little shield trick wouldn't last forever. She racked her brain for a moment, attempting to come up with something, anything, that could hold the Spider back.
"Willow!" She yelled against the strain of holding the barrier up. "I need you to use your Plant Magic to hold this thing in place!"
If Willow can keep the Spider-Yeti in place, and I grab the guitar and use some Bard Magic, then maybe we can send this stupid spider scuttling!
It was better than no plan, at any rate!
"I can't!" Willow yelled, running down the rest of the stairs and up to Skara.
"You still can't do magic?!"
"I can, but the plant life's too buried under snow! I can't connect to it properly!"
The Spider-Yeti lunged at the barrier again, striking it with its teeth. It didn't break through, but it certainly did get angrier. It screeched, its front legs pounding against the solid air with intent to destroy it. All the reverberations were sent through to Skara, directly through her body. She put in all the physical and magical energy she had into maintaining the barrier, but she had no idea how long she could keep this up...
"Titan - " But before Skara could curse, a lightbulb went off in her head. "Check the storage unit! There's fruits and vegetables there! Those should - Urgh!" She groaned as the strain of upholding the barrier hit her arms. "Something in there should have seeds!"
Needing no further encouragement, Willow sprinted into the kitchen, and flung the storage unit open. Inside she found what she needed - Gorematoes, Scaly Dragon's Fruit, Firemelon, Comet Fruit, and all manner of foods filled with seeds!
The Plant Witch grabbed just about everything that she could carry, and dashed back into what used to be the lounge. The Spider-Yeti continued to bash itself against the barrier, over and over again, and Skara was struggling to stay on her feet, each strike draining her of more and more of her ability to keep the barrier up.
Willow dropped all the fruit on the floor. "Skara, switch with me!"
Skara did so - Allowing herself to drop the barrier, and to fall back so that she was alongside Willow. The Spider-Yeti eyed them both, bared its pincers, and let out a horrible, rapid clicking noise. It's various eyes glanced between Skara and Willow, as if debating which one of the two it was going to attack first.
Willow acted before it got the chance to decide.
Her eyes began to glow, and she held her arms out to her sides. From the fruits she'd found, various large vines and plants of all shapes and sizes began to rapidly sprout,
It caught the attention of the Spider-Yeti, who watched as the vines began to wriggle and worm in place. The creature did not move, keeping it's distance from the two Witches. It scuttled side to side, but made sure not to get any closer. It waited, to see what the vines were going to do.
Finally, Willow attacked - She swung her arms back behind her, and then in front of her, and all of the vines lunged straight for the Spider-Yeti at speed, each aiming for a different part of the creature's body.
But the Spider-Yeti had been waiting, watching, preparing for the perfect opening to strike. And it finally came. Leaping from the floor to evade the attack, it landed on the wall of the chasm, and from there, immediately right back down to the ground, finally closing the gap between itself and it's prey as it landed with a heavy thud. It towered over the two of them, mandibles clicking, and dripping with venom.
Trying to react, Willow attempted to use the vines to attack the creature again, but before she could, it used one of its front legs to strike her, and toss her across the room until she slammed into a wall with a sickening crack.
"Willow!"
Immediately, the Spider-Yeti lunged at Skara, mouth wide open - Skara leaped out of the way before she was caught, landing next to her guitar, which she grabbed hold of and held as tightly as she physically could.
The beast's head cracked as it turned to look at Skara, the clicking noise ever more present. The more that she heard it, the more Skara began to realize that it sounded similar to the snapping of bones.
Skara drew a quick spell circle, and, as hard as she could, slammed the chords with her hands. From the circle came a huge blast of noise and Magical energy that struck out in sound waves, which slammed against the creature. It shrieked, and backed up, but only slightly, still looking for an opening.
Around her, Skara noticed that the environment began to… Change.
The symbols and the patterns on the inside of the cabin, the same ones that had made little sense to her when she first arrived here, began to emit a faint white glow. Even ones that Skara hadn't noticed before, like some that were on the roof, instantly caught her eye.
"What's happening?" Picking herself up, Willow noticed all the glowing symbols too. She scanned all around her, trying to find an answer to the same question Skara was asking herself.
Even the Spider-Yeti reacted to it - The clicking became more rapid, and higher pitched. It's body and head craned down, and it prepared to spit more venom at the pair of them - But it was clearly becoming more cautious. Just before, it had been on the aggressive attack. Now, it was hesitating.
What did it mean? What had made the symbols start to glow? What changed? What -
Skara blinked, then looked at the guitar in her hands. All that she had done was cast a spell while using it. That was the only thing that correlated with the sudden glowing symbols. That was the only thing that she could think of. The glowing hadn't happened when she had just been testing the strings earlier, so it had to be the Magic, right?
She tested the theory, plucking at another one of the strings. A series of symbols, that looked like the outline of a semicircle, with a vertical line running through the centre at both ends, began to glow all the brighter. Another, and a triangle with a dot that kind of looked like an eye began to glow too. Another, and a diamond with an X on the inside that ran to each parallel line. That was when Skara realized.
They're not cultural decorations - They're ancient Bard notes!
Skara didn't know much about the history of Bards. She was more into the application side of things. But she knew that the symbols and their applications had evolved over the centuries, changing and morphing over the years, like language or animals. The latest version was only as old as Belos's reign. The standard version before that, if Skara remembered correctly, lasted about two-hundred years. But these symbols… These seemed even older.
But even if they were older, the symbols seemed to emanate a power that made Skara's standard instruments seem tame by comparison. All that power, all that Magic...
And they were connected to this very guitar! Whenever she played a new note, a new symbol began to glow. And when she played them in groupings, they glowed simultaneously. She could feel a force from them too - The notes near her, she could feel almost pushing against and through her, and towards the Spider-Yeti, like it was trying to repel the creature.
But as fascinating as that was, there was still the matter of the whole monster-trying-to-kill-them-thing.
Skara turned her attention back to the Spider-Yeti - That thing was the threat here… But when she played the notes...
The Bard. And then she blinked again. And that was when it hit her.
She was an idiot!
Yesterday, she had been in a blind panic, and when the Spider-Yeti had attacked her after Willow had rescued her, she acted on the one piece of information that she could actually remember: That Spider-Yeti were absurdly, almost illogically, territorial. Even if they had prey in front of them, at the mere indication of another Spider-Yeti invading their territory, they would drop everything and immediately return home to fight the aggressor. And it had worked, but it had only been a temporary measure, and she had said as much at the time.
But their main weakness though - It was light. Sunlight, they could handle, but bright, intense light - Like, for example, a number of symbols carved into the walls of a cabin all flashing at once, which only seemed to get brighter the more the notes were played?
They fled from - Like their lives depended on it.
All the symbols in this house were a defence mechanism!
It wasn't a mechanism specifically for Spider-Yeti, but it did the same job either way!
A plan quickly formulated in the Bard's head. "Willow! We need to lure it in closer again!"
"…`What?!"
"Trust me! I know what I'm doing!"
Understandably, Willow was hesitant - They had fled from this thing just yesterday, right now it was trying to kill the pair of them, and Skara's descriptions of what exactly would have happened to her had Willow not come to her rescue were less than pleasant. They had just managed to get a bit of breathing room between them and the creature - And now Skara wanted to invite it up close again?
But there was no time to argue - No time to think. All it came down to in that exact moment, in that instant, was the question of if Willow trusted Skara. And the answer she got surprised her.
She did.
"...Okay!" She yelled back. Her eyes began to glow as she began to control the vines again. "Just box it in so it has to come closer, right?"
"Right!" Skara called back, getting herself ready. "Do whatever you need to do, just get it closer to us! Wait until I tell you to attack, alright?"
"Alright!"
Seconds passed as the two Witches stared down the Spider-Yeti, still clicking and preparing itself to attack. Keeping an eye on the symbols, Skara checked to see if with a period of inactivity, the glow would begin to fade. As she had suspected, they did.
"Now!"
Willow lashed out instantly, attacking in much the same way as she had before, vines going straight to grab hold of the creature, making an effort to subdue it. Hopefully if she could catch it this time, then they could still enact Skara's plan, but with even less fundamental risk!
This time though, the creature reacted differently, It leaped onto the opposite wall this time once again completely avoiding the vines Willow had sent it's way due to it's incredible speed. The moment that it landed, it's mouth unhinged itself, and it launched a huge glob of venom towards the Plant Witch.
Reacting quickly, Willow pulled the plants to block the venom by creating a plant shield meters away from her before it could get anywhere near her. The effort was successful, but the plants, affected by the venom in the same way Witches were, began to wilt and falter and die from the effects.
At the same time, the Spider-Yeti leaped back to the ground, and began to charge straight through what little remained of the plants, and lunged straight for Willow, mouth wide open and fangs brought to bare. Willow pushed herself off against the wall, and skidded underneath the body of the monster, clambering herself away from it.
"To me!" Skara yelled, encouraging both the Witch and the Spider to focus on her.
Following the instruction, Willow vaulted over some of the debris and got behind Skara. The Spider-Yeti's attention was once again on the Bard, and it let out another scream. The Bard felt her heart freeze, sweat running down her face as it repositioned itself to strike, legs jittery, but eyes focused.
As fast as she was able to, she drew the largest spell circle that she could physically create. Hopefully, the notes didn't correspond just to how often the notes were played, but the strength of the spell being cast too!
The beast lunged at them.
"Skara!"
And with all her strength, Skara slammed the chords once again.
The walls began to glow.
"I see them! Over there!"
"King." Luz grumbled, gripping at the bridge of her nose as tightly as she could, trying extremely hard not to snap at her friend. She took a deep breath, and let out a long exhale. "Those are the same rocks you spotted ten minutes ago. I'm pretty sure Willow and Skara weren't rocks the last time I saw them. And even if they were rocks, they're definitely not those rocks."
"Are you blind, Luz? Those are definitely…" King blinked, and narrowed his eyes to get a better look. He blinked again. "...Huh, you're right. Those are rocks."
"They don't even look vaguely like Willow or Skara! I don't even understand how you got confused!"
"I thought maybe one of them was trying a new hairstyle!"
"While lost on a mountain?!"
"They've gotta have something to do while being stuck in this miserable place!"
At this point, Luz was seriously regretting bringing King along for this search mission. He hadn't exactly been of much help since they had gotten there, claiming that he wasn't able to pick up a trail, mostly likely due to the fact that the blizzard had covered any scent they may have left behind. His other senses, like sight, were almost useless too, since he apparently couldn't tell the difference between a rock and a person - And was now just inventing possibilities, apparently?
She tightened her grip against the longboat, trying to contain her rapidly growing frustration. She took in another long inhale, and let out a longer sigh.
"King. You are my friend and I love you dearly-"
"Awwwe, thanks Luz!"
"But we've been flying around for three hours now, and all you've been able to sniff out is snow!"
"Sorry," King said, rubbing his nose with a clawed paw. "It's the cold. Messes with my senses."
"Well, can it maybe not!?"
"Hey, I wanna find Willow too, you know!" King snapped back. "She's my friend too! Don't get mad at me 'cause this stupid weather screws me up!"
"I-"Luz's face fell, and she shook her head. She rubbed her eyes. "Y… You're right. I'm…. Sorry. It's just…"
The truth was, Luz herself was starting to panic. The entire Knee seemed to have been covered in inches of snow, and the cold even during the day was overwhelming. What it would be like during the night, she didn't even want to guess - But that was what Willow had been stuck out in, without any shelter at all. There wasn't any sign of her.
And she was starting to get scared that there wouldn't be any signs of her friend for them to find.
She shook her head. She… Couldn't be thinking like that right now.
"...Look, let's just... Go meet up at the relay site. Maybe if we're lucky, one of the other search parties found them."
She wasn't too optimistic if she were being honest. The reason that she and King had been given the boat was because of King's tracking abilities, which weren't working.
If his abilities weren't working, she didn't exactly have high hopes for the rest of their efforts.
But, well, someone had to turn up something, right?
King hesitated for a second, but then nodded, and Luz began to steer the boat back in the direction of the rallying point - The same place the Hexside students had landed during their… Eventful fieldtrip.
There, above the clearing, Luz spotted all the different search groups that had come together to find Willow and Skara, sitting around in a circle.
The Blight siblings, the eldest two trying to console their younger sister. The twins had volunteered to help when they heard about what had happened, and saw how much it was bothering Amity.
Eda and Lilith, their usual sibling squabbling postponed by the same, shared look of frustration. When Luz had told them what had happened, like Amity's siblings, they had offered to assist the search.
Gus and his father, Perry. Being one of Gus's closest friends for years before Luz had ever arrived on the Isles, Perry knew Willow quite well. Apparently, he hadn't even needed to be asked before volunteering to help. He was sitting next to his son, patting him on the back, trying to comfort and reassure him.
Bo was there as well, and she was almost a perfect mirror into the anxiety that Luz herself was experiencing. She didn't seem to be able to keep still, fidgeting, biting at her nails, and pacing back and forth.
And of course, both sets of parents - Willow's, walking around the circle in thick wool parkas, attempting to console and help the rest of the group, and Skara's, standing around six feet away from the others, as if they were infected by some sort of plague.
Or because think they're too good to be here with us lowly...
Luz scolded herself for thinking so bitterly.. Maybe Skara was a jerk, and her parents seemed… Similar, but….
No one deserves this. To have no idea where their kid is, to not know if you'll ever get to hold them again…
For reasons completely unrelated to any guilt Luz may be feeling in regards to the Human Realm, she pushed those thoughts deep, deep down inside of her, in a little mental box she would hopefully never have to ever open.
Landing the boat with a thud, Luz carried King out onto the snow, rushing over to join the others. Forcing at least a little optimism into her voice, she approached them with finger guns up. "Hey, guys, gals, Witch pals. Any luck?"
Every group looked at each other, and Luz got her answer. The optimism faded quickly.
"...Sorry, kid," Eda sighed, running one of her hands through her hair. "Me and Lily looked over the entire south side of this mountain. Found nothing but snow, snow and… Well, you get the idea. No sign of Willow or this Sascha."
"Skara." Her mother hissed.
"Sorry."
"This just in." Perry muttered. "Nothing but snow and trees on the east side. And sadly, none of the trees were Willow's…."Edric nodded. "We looked across the entire mountaintop. Saw some Slitherbeasts, but nothing else." He stood next to Amity, who simply looked down, not showing her face to anyone around. He placed a hand atop Amity's left shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze. Emira mirrored the gesture. "But there's bound to be something around here. Two people don't just vanish."
This wasn't the first time Amity hadn't been able to make eye contact with her, but this time felt different. After so many years of their relationship being what it was, Amity had finally begun making things right between the two friends, and now…
Luz walked over to Amity, while King climbed off of her head to crawl to Eda's hair. As soon as she reached her friend, she wrapped her arms around her and pulled her into a comforting hug.
"Hey," She muttered, lightly rubbing her friends back. "We'll find them. I promise."
Amity froze for a moment, not moving at all. After a few seconds, she returned the hug, her hands balling up into fists as she grabbed hold of Luz. "Yeah. I know."
"Yeah," Emira interjected, attempting to replicate her brother's chipper tone. "Don't worry guys. I'm sure Willow's okay! Just gotta stay positive, like good ol' Luz."
One of my best friends is missing with one of her biggest bullies on one of the most dangerous places on an already incredibly dangerous island and we have no idea where they could be. I am a complete wreck, and the only reason I'm not sobbing on the floor is because I know doing so would make you all worry about me when we should be searching for Willow.
"Yes!" Luz stated, letting go of Amity, a crooked, blatantly false smile crossing her face as she raised a thumbs up. "Yep! Totally. Super positive!"
Eda and Lilith side-eyed each other, but remained silent, as did everyone else.
It was Skara's father who finally broke the silence. "Well, if you all are busy feeling bad about not finding your friend, I think I'll actually try and find my daughter."
He stepped away from the others, his wife trailing close behind. He pulled out a small amulet from his pocket, the Oracle Covens symbol. It glowed a dark purple as he pressed its center. All Luz could really recognize was that it was similar to some of the pendants she'd seen during Oracle Track classes - Otherwise, she didn't have even the faintest idea what he was doing.
"Those spirits of this Mrs. Haruspex you mentioned… Are they native to the Knee, or did she bring them with her?
Luz blinked. "Uh... I think they were friends she brought with her? Like, I don't know their exact relationship, but-"
"Wonderful.". He grunted. "No wonder I can't sense them..." Before Luz could ask what he meant, he pressed his thumb to the pendants center, and his eyes flashed a sudden dark purple. "All the spirits seem to have gone underground, hibernating." He pointed across the forest, deep into the wooded area. "The closest ones seem to be a few miles down that path. Perhaps if I go, I may ask them about Skara..."
Gilbert took his husband's hand and stepped forward with them. "We'll come with-"
"Oh, I don't think so." Skara's father spun, pointing towards the Parks. The moment his finger was pointing toward them, the Park's stopped in their tracks, a purple aura encompassing them both. Both found themselves completely unable to move.
"What the - What do you think you're doing?!"
"I don't think we'll be requiring your help." The Oracle declared. There was a very clear edge to his voice, of irritation and bitterness. The clear frustration that he'd been dealing with since the search began had finally hit the boiling point. "You're all very clearly far more interested in searching for the girl who caused my child to go missing, so we'll focus our energy on finding Skara, and you can search for her yourselves."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Luz exclaimed, waving her hands fiercely. "I guarantee you that Willow's not the reason Skara's missing!"
"Yeah!" Gus interjected, standing upright and raising his voice. He was far less surprised than Luz was, and more furious. "If anything, it's Skara's fault! Willow knows how to read a map at least, which is better than anything I can say about your kid!"
Skara's mother stopped, bristled, and visibly gritted her teeth. Her eyes narrowed right onto Gus. "You dare you insinuate my little cherub is incompetent enough to get herself lost out here?"
"Look," Lilith interjected, raising her hands in front of her as she tried to address everyone.. "It's clear that tensions are high, and everyones a little on edge. We're all worried about the children up here. So I'd suggest we calm ourselves and-"
"Oh, and now a deserter of the Emperors Coven's meant to preach to us about how we should act?" Skara's father snapped back. It was getting harder to tell what he was saying out of worry for his daughter, or out of legitimate dislike for the people around him. "Forgive me, but your opinion carries very little weight with me. Why the Emperor didn't throw you into the Conformitorium is utterly beyond me -"
"If anyone should be sent to the Conformitorium, it's you two!" Rowan snapped back at them. "For raising a bully!."
The sheer surprise of what had just been said actually made Skara's father release both Rowan and Gilbert. Both Skara's parents looked at him, their eyes filled with an expression of abject fury. Luz bit at her lip - Hard. Oh, this is going in a very not good direction…
"What." Skara's father growled., "Ddid you just call our daughter?"
"You heard him," Gilbert stated. No longer held back by magic, he stepped to stand with his husband, staring the opposing parents down. "For years your daughter's been a part of thea group that's been bullying our sapling for her entire school life!"
"How dare you slander my child!" Skara's mother's eyes were lit like flames, her voice literally reverberating across the cliffside loud enough to shake trees. Luz landed on her back, thrown off by what was almost a physical force. Even her husband had to step back, shielding his ears.
It genuinely was not possible to tell if this was Magic, or just the sheer power of the woman's voice.
"I swear in the name of the Titan, if you dare say another word about my daughter, I'll-"
"ENOUGH!"
Luz looked up, blinking. That was… Not Skara's mom.
Indeed, even Skara's mother seemed just as surprised at the shouting. As did everyone else. Everyone in the circle looked amongst themselves, surprised at the yell so loud it overtook something comparable to a banshee's screech.
All, of course, except for the person who'd yelled in the first place.
Bo.
"Seriously?! SKARA'S out there missing! WILLOW'S out there missing! Our friends, your kids! We can't afford anyone wrapping themselves up in their own problems!" She stepped to the center of the circle, all eyes on her. "Wasting energy on this… Look! no Conformitorium, no blaming anyone! We just go out there and we keep searching! It's not as if we can keep fighting while we wait for some kind of signal!"
As Bo finished - The literal second she had finished - A bright flash of light erupted from behind her.
After a moment of being totally blinded by the light, everyone immediately ran to the ledge of the cliff, trying to spot whatever had made that flash. It was Gus who spotted it first.
"There! That chasm! I can see the glow!"
Sure enough, a thin, golden glow could be seen, faintly emanating from within.
Everyone, from the Park's to the Clawthorne's, stared. For a full five seconds, nobody blinked.
"...So, Freckles," Eda finally drew out, mounting her staff. "Twenty snails says that thing just proved you wrong."
For both Willow and for Skara, the explosion of light had been immense - Both their eyes slammed shut and their arms shielded against as much of the barrier as they could. A loud hum followed, and Skara honestly couldn't tell if it was being emitted by the symbols carved into the walls, or the shining blockade itself. Everything was just covered in an overwhelming white, for just a few seconds.
Yet at the same time, it seemed to have only a minor, temporary effect on the Witches - While the spell was potent and powerful, Skara and Willow were able to open their eyes again almost immediately after the initial flash. The light and protection that came from the symbols hadn't affected them all that much, at least relative to the power of the spell itself.
At worst, they were slightly dizzy.
The Spider-Yeti on the other hand though, was thrown completely out of the cabin. Whatever forcefield had popped up to protect the girls from the monster may have been faint, but it certainly did its job. It landed on its hind legs, it's three other pairs twitching and flailing around as it staggered, wobbled, and let out a long, guttural shriek, jaw unhinged. It's scream felt like it shot straight through both Willow and Skara, who got themselves ready just in case the beast attempted to attack them again.
It never did though - When it finally fell back onto all it's legs, it barely even seemed to realize that Skara and Willow were still anywhere near it - It just scattered, as rapidly as it could, climbing up the walls in a haphazard pattern, screeching all the while. The echo of it's screeches remained in the chasm after the creature itself had left, at least for a short while.
After that, there was naught but silence.
They had repelled it. They were alive.
For a moment, both Willow and Skara were stunned - Both by what had happened with the cabin symbols, and by the fact that they had somehow managed to survive the attack.
"Well…" Willow said, still completely in shock. "That was certainly… er… well, Titan…"
"I mean… You aren't wrong." Skara looked down at the guitar. She couldn't help but smile as touched each of the symbols that had saved them, as if in silent thanks.
"Hey," Willow said, bringing Skara's attention back to the Plant Witch. She seemed to be… kinda nervous? Scared? Unsure? "Uhm… Look, I was… I kinda didn't think that was actually gonna work."
Skara blinked, then grinned. "Eh. To be honest, I didn't either."
"Well, still. If you hadn't made that barrier or shield or…" Willow shook her head. "Thanks, Skara."
The silver songstress blinked before turning away. Something about Willow thanking her, not once, but twice in as many days… It felt surreal.
But still, nice.
"Don't thank me yet. Still gotta get home, ya know?"
Willow nodded. "Yeah. I'll get the stuff we brought, you get any supplies you think we'll need. Sound good?"
Skara nodded. "Good to me!"
As they picked up what few things they could think to take from the cabin - including the guitar - Skara explained what had happened, and how she had figured out that the symbols were used to do, how it was a defensive mechanism that had been carved into the walls, and how it was linked to the guitar itself.
"Wait." Willow blinked as Skara explained. "If it's a barrier spell, then why didn't it send us off like that spider? We just stayed in place and got a little starry eyed."
"I'm… Not exactly sure." Skara admitted, glancing at the nearest wall with a symbol on it. "Maybe it was designed to identify Witches so it didn't hit them?... I dunno, I'm just guessing." She shrugged, and then sighed, gently, before smiling, just as gently. "I'm just glad it worked."
To that, Willow just nodded.
After a few more minutes, the pair of them had everything that they could think to take with them bundled up into a make-shift bag by using a drying towel from the kitchen. It was filled up almost exclusively with food.
Leaving now wasn't as much a choice as it was a necessity - Even if the cold wasn't a factor to be concerned about, the chance that the cabin might collapse sealed it.
Still, neither of them could help feeling… Almost sad, and a little bit guilty about leaving.
Whomever's cabin this had been, they had left it almost in ruins. Everything inside would be exposed to the elements, and covered in snow and ice eventually. All the books and photos and everything else would be lost. Granted, the place had almost certainly not been in use in decades, if not centuries, but something about it still felt… For lack of a better word, ungrateful about leaving it like this.
When they needed a place to hide from the storm, there it was. There to provide them with shelter from the cold and the snow, a place to recover from Spider-Yeti venom, and there to provide them with food and a place to sleep. Finding a place like this on the Knee was, frankly, so unlikely, that a part of Skara wanted to believe that the spirits, or even the Titan itself, had seen their plight and put it in their path.
But now they were leaving it like this.
Of course, it wasn't their fault - But they couldn't help but feel some of the blame all the same. Even if the person who owned this cabin was by now, long, long dead, it didn't help either of them feel much better about it.
"…Come on." Willow finally said, turning away from the ruins of the cabin. "We've got a lot of ground to cover."
"…Right." Skara nodded. Drawing a spell circle, she opened a small portal to the same storage location where all her other instruments were kept. She lifted the case.
Then paused.
The fastest way to become a ghost? Steal from one.
Skara hadn't seen any ghosts in the cabin. But that noise…
Had been a dream, she reminded herself. There wasn't any other explanation for it. And after everything that had happened, a spirit was the least likely thing that she was going to find here.
Look, she thought, you already got this whole cabin torn down. If a ghost cared about this thing, you wouldn't be around to ask about this. So, that leaves you two options; leave it here to get destroyed and bullied by the elements…
Or take it with me. And if a ghost does get upset with me, just give it right back.
Well, when she put it like that, she only really had one choice.
She gently dropped the case into the ethereal, near endless hole of a storage unit she kept for her instruments and turned to follow the Plant Witch and walk out of the chasm…
"So." Skara started, once she had caught up to Willow. "You're the survivalist - How long do you think it'll take us to get back to Bonesborough?"
"About a day." Willow answered, plainly. "If we make good time. And if the snow from the blizzard isn't too deep outside the chasm."
"Great." Skara muttered.
But, as it turned out, neither of them ever had to walk out at all.
"WILLOW! SKARA!"
Both girls looked up to the sky. At first, they thought it could just be them hearing things. The same thing, at the same time, apparently. As if that would be the weirdest thing to have happened to them today.
But no.
Grins crossed both their faces as a longboat flew above them, their friends and families waving their arms frantically at them. For a few seconds, it didn't seem real to Skara - Like when she had hit her head against the wall, everything had turned into one big dream and in reality, she had been knocked out.
But it wasn't.
Maybe it was the surprise of what she was seeing, or the juxtaposition of what she had felt when fighting the Spider-Yeti, or just sheer relief. Whatever it was, it didn't matter - Skara couldn't help but feel a tear form in her eye as the boats landed, all their passengers leaped out, rushing towards them.
"Sapling!"
"Papa! Dad!"
Willow cheered as she charged her parents, laughing as she wrapped her arms around them in a bear hug. It wasn't long until her other friends joined in, Luz, Gus, and Amity rushing in to join in on the affection.
Skara couldn't help but smile at it.
"Skara!"
She turned, and saw, to her surprise, Bo rushing up to her. It took her a moment to register her friend, but as soon as Bo had run up and hugged her, Skara couldn't stop herself from laughing as she returned the hug, which only seemed to make Bo hug her all the tighter.
"Whoa, easy there, Bo, careful! Don't wanna break any ribs here."
"Afraid I can't promise that, angel!"
Before Skara could reply, she felt her father almost physically drag her out of her hug with Bo - Bo made way so her father could reach her - And raised her mid-air, squeezing her as tightly as possible. Her father laughed, though Skara herself had to admit, the move was painful.
"D-Dad…. C-can't br-breathe…"
He only laughed as he placed her to the ground, the smile still plastered on his face. "Sorry, Skara. I'm just-"
"SKARA!"
"Oh, Titan no-"
If Skara's father bruised her ribs, her mother figuratively broke them. Her arms wrapped so tightly around Skara's body that she feared being snapped in half.
"M-Mom… Please…"
"Are you okay?" Her mother finally placed her to the ground, but refused to let go of Skara, instead taking her cheeks and spinning her head around, observing every part she could. "Are you hurt? Were you emotionally scarred? Did you miss us at all?"
Skara couldn't help but laugh as she removed her mother's hands from her face. "Yeah, mom. I missed you guys. But you're gonna miss me again if you two crush me to death!"
"Lulea, dear," Her husband chuckled. "Your hair is doing the thing."
Sure enough, Skara's mother's transparent hair had started to raise itself, the edges rising out in ghostly, glowing strands. She reached to try to hold it down, back in place, blushing at the involuntary display.
"I know, I know." She stated. "Just… OHHH, I'M SO HAPPY WE FOUND YOU!" She reached out to hug Skara again, pulling the young Bard into another tight squeeze.
"Ahk!"
The chasm was, for a short while, filled with very little else other than pure joy and relief and laughter that this entire incident, and everything that had come with it, was finally over. It was impossible not to laugh. For a while, anyway.
But Skara's father no longer seemed amused.
"You." He growled out. Turning on his heels, he began stomping his way towards Willow, his eyes glowing a dark shade of purple. "You put MY CHILD IN DANGER!"
Unsurprisingly, Willow was stunned by the sudden yelling of a complete stranger directed at her. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked over in the direction of the noise.
"S-Sir," Willow stated, stammering in surprise. "I-"
"YOU GOT HER LOST ON THIS TITAN FORSAKEN MOUNTAIN! ALMOST HAD HER CRUSHED!"
"Dad, it wasn't-"
"I SWEAR," Her mother interjected, "IF I FIND A SINGLE HAIR OUT OF PLACE OF HER I WILL PERSONALLY MAKE SURE YOU NEVER STEP FOOT WITHIN 100 FEET OF A SCHOOL AGAIN!"
"Mom!"
"Hey, back off!" Gus interjected. "It wasn't Willow's fault for any of this! Probably was Skara's anyway."
"Why you slanderous little-"
"HE'S RIGHT!"
Both Skara's parents turned to her in confusion.
"Skara?" her mother asked, bewildered. "What are you talking about?"
"We… We had to find an orb for classes, and I was exhausted from Grudgby practice." Skara began, her eyes looking away from her parents as she spoke. "When we couldn't find our orb, I just tried to take a nap in the snow It was stupid and I was being an idiot. And this Spider-Yeti, it sprayed me with venom and dragged me away… Willow was the one who came and saved me." She looked over her mother's shoulder, weakly smiling towards Willow. "If… If it hadn't been for her, I'd be chow by now…"
There were a few seconds of silence.
"...W … Well." Willow continued, "It... The spider had probably been stalking us for a bit before. It would have attacked us eventually, so, I don't think it was your fault it attacked us, Skara.. It just… Took advantage of the moment."
Somehow, Skara hadn't considered that.
"And, hey, if you hadn't been for you, I would have been spider chow myself. Probably wouldn't have found the cabin either, and, well, being stuck out here during that blizzard wouldn't have been pretty, so..."
Skara blinked, now confused herself. Then, the tips of her lips twitched upwards. Hearing a genuine compliment from Willow… It felt... Nice.
There were another few seconds of silence, and eventually, all eyes fell on Skara's father. He blinked a few times, before he glanced around, and seemed to realize the full extent of what he had just done - Walk up to a child he knew nothing about, and screamed at them for something they hadn't done.
Slightly flustered, he cleared his throat. "...Ah. Well… I suppose in that case… I… Apologize for my present and… Earlier behaviour."
"...As do I." Her mother muttered.
Skara didn't know exactly what 'earlier behaviour' the two were referring to, and honestly, given what she knew about them when they were high-stressed… She wasn't sure she wanted to.
"Alright everyone!" From back on the longboat, a voice called out. It took her a second, but Skara recognized the white haired speaker as Eda, the Owl Lady. "All this wonderful wholesomeness happy ending stuff aside, I'd kind of like to get back to Bonesborough before another blizzard hits us, so if we can keep this mobile?"
The mere mention of the possibility of being stuck on the mountain for another night made Skara shiver.
"Agreed." Willow said, before Skara had the chance to say anything. "I'd like to go home."
"Yeah." Skara nodded. "I wanna get as far away from the Knee as possible."
With that, the group began to make their way back to the longboats, boarding, and huddling into a couple of distinct groups as the boat began to rise into the air, and make its way back to the town it had come from.
As they left, Skara couldn't help but look back at the Knee, and back towards the cabin that she and Willow had remained in. She thought about the night there, what they had talked about. She thought about how they had arrived here yesterday, and… Well, about everything that had happened since then.
How differently it had ended than it had begun.
"Hey, Skara," Bo asked, putting a hand on the Bard's shoulder. "You doing okay?"
Skara blinked. She'd heard that question so often over the last couple of weeks, and each time she'd lied or, when pressed, admitted to feeling terrible.
But she turned back to the rest of the group, and saw Willow.
And smiled.
"Yeah," She said, honestly. "I'm okay."
QosmicQuartz - This ended up being a much longer chapter than expected - The next one should be much shorter - but so much happened during this arc, did it not? This arc ended up being a lot of fun and really a lot of it is owed to Desmond, so be sure to give him thanks. We're going to be moving onto a new arc soon, and one I am extremely looking forward to, so everyone look forward to it!
DesmondKane - And that, guys gals and enpals, was the fun, uneventful, not at all important trip to the knee taken by our Skara and Willow.
I kid of course.
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, cause it's gonna ramp up from here. We've got some fun plans for this story moving forward and we can't wait to show you all! Take care, and be excellent.
Skara Song: "Eternity with You" from Adventure Times: Distant Lands: Obsidian
