Ophilia sent out an attack of light magic, closely followed up by a hit of ice from Primrose's direction. Olberic managed to get in one other slash of his sword as Linde pounced at the ghisarma. The overwhelming number of attacks managed to send the ghisarma back into its stunned state once again. H'aanit concentrated her energy and raised one hand above her head, bringing down a bird figure made of thunder. The lightning magic slammed into the ghisarma, and the beast let out an unholy shriek of pain.
Cyrus was the next to release a strike, this time a two-hitting attack of thunder magic. Alfyn used his ice magic as Tressa nocked an arrow and sent it flying. She struck the ghisarma in the face, and blood began to rush hot and red from the creature's wound. Primrose lashed out with a dagger attack, and H'aanit prepared another arrow. She could tell that the ghisarma was reaching the end of its strength at long last.
Behind the rest of the group, Therion was still slumped against the ground from his hit against one of the trees. The ghisarma's first attack had sent him flying, and he couldn't bring himself to rise to his feet again no matter how hard he tried to get to his feet. When he attempted to push up, he felt a white hot flash of pain cross over his torso, and he let out a hiss of pain. It felt as if his body was on the verge of falling apart, and something in the back of his head pounded. Despite his best attempts to get up and keep fighting, he simply couldn't do it. Therion snarled and slammed his fist against the ground in vain, knowing that it would do nothing but releasing his agitated energy by that method anyways.
Olberic was able to get out one final strike of notable strength with his sword before H'aanit jumped into the air, her arrow ready to be sent flying. The ghisarma, still dazed as could be, looked at her with something like panic in its eyes. H'aanit didn't give it the chance to fight back, releasing her arrow instead and watching as it found a snug home against the ghisarma's chest.
The beast remained standing for another handful of moments before its legs crumpled from beneath it. The ghisarma let out one final shriek of agony before falling silent, the quiet of the forest coming in to practically suffocate the travelers at the heart of the Whisperwood. All seven of the fighters who were still standing looked up at the ghisarma in surprise, just to make sure that it wasn't still moving. The forest was quiet for another handful of long moments before the breeze returned, and H'aanit could have sworn that she heard nature starting to sing once again. This time though, the song was one of grief and loss, a requiem for those who had fallen at the hands of the mighty beast.
H'aanit allowed her bow to drop to her side, and she closed her eyes in the direction of the ghisarma. "Thy life is given not in vain, for it will feeden others," she said softly, though she knew that it would be little reassurance to the dead. "Thou art of the forest now, and in the forest, naught is lost."
With H'aanit's words of serene peace, the area fell silent. The sound of gentle footsteps eventually came to permeate the air, and the pair of wolves from before appeared in view once again. They looked down at the ghisarma's body as they grew nearer to their foe, silent as could be. H'aanit turned and began to walk away, her bow finding a home once again on her back. Linde trailed after her hunting partner, the tip of her tail flicking back and forth the same way that it always did. The rest of the travelers remained focused on the ghisarma's corpse, almost as if they halfway expected the beast to get up once again and start attacking with the immense brutality it had displayed in life. Despite these expectations though, nothing happened, and the silence yet remained evermore.
H'aanit glanced over her shoulder to the wolves and the rest of her companions. "Comen, my friends. This life belongeth to all," she declared. "The animals that eateth the grass becometh food for the animals that eateth meat. The eaters of meat in their turn feedeth those yet stronger. And when the strongest of all dieth, his life is returned to the forest. His flesh feedeth the soil, the grass... His blood becometh sap, his bones wood... He becometh the food of the plant eaters, and the circle beginneth once more..." H'aanit paused as she turned to Linde, reaching one hand out for her leopard companion to draw nearer. She stroked at the top of Linde's head, and the feline nuzzled her body closer to H'aanit once more. "Lives entwined, a tapestry woven anew each dawn, every thread a part of the whole."
As she spoke those words, H'aanit found her gaze drifting in the direction of the rest of the party at large. They were all looking back at her from their places in the light of the Ember, and H'aanit couldn't help but smile. She didn't know what it was that made her feel as if all of this made sense as long as she was there with them, but that most certainly appeared to be the case. For the first time that day-for the first time since recognizing the anniversary of Z'aanta's departure-H'aanit felt whole, and she didn't ever want the sensation to abandon her again.
Z'aanta had been the one to teach her such lessons to begin with. His words remained an echo in her mind even so long after she had first heard them. For all of his charming and irritating habits alike, Z'aanta truly was a splendid hunter, and H'aanit did not believe that she would be half the woman she was today if not for his words. She closed her eyes as she absorbed the beauty of the moment between the song of the forest, Linde's warmth at her side, and the gentle whisper of belonging that rose from deep within her chest.
"Listnen, H'aanit. Being a hunter meaneth taking lives, but we doe it so we might live. Never forgeten it is thy sacred duty to liven on to surviven and honoren those felled by thine own arrows."
H'aanit shook her head to herself with a light chuckle. "As long as he speaketh only of hunting, he is the wisest of men..." she remarked to Linde, though the rest of the party didn't seem to hear her. Despite her wishes to see Z'aanta again, the hole that had appeared in her chest that morning seemed to have filled itself in, and she felt more than comfortable continuing to speak. "If only that were all he cared about..."
H'aanit did her best to draw her thoughts out of the past as she turned in the direction of the rest of her party. "The hunt is over. Now it is time to tenden to the fallen," she announced firmly.
"Hey... Therion, you alright?"
H'aanit glanced over to see Alfyn moving in the direction of Therion where the thief sat against the tree. Alfyn reached out to help Therion rise, but his hand was roughly swatted away by the thief's gloved fingers. Alfyn's expression shifted to a frown. "I can't help you if you don't let me see what happened," Alfyn chastised him, though his voice was not without warmth and care.
Therion remained still as a statue, his eyes glazed and focused on the grass below as Alfyn carefully maneuvered his fingers beneath the cloak that Therion wore around his torso. He didn't even need to remove the rest of the cloth to recognize the damages, prompting him to hiss sharply from between his teeth. "Ouch. Feels like broken ribs to me," Alfyn muttered. He looked up to Therion's head and saw a small patch of scarlet clouding the pristine white of the thief's hair. "And you hit your head too. Hey, Phili, could you use a bit of healing magic to help him out? I can take care of the rest when we get back to S'warkii."
Ophilia nodded, and she pressed her hands together over her chest before releasing a gentle veil of white magic. H'aanit immediately felt rejuvenated, and she hadn't even been particularly injured during the battle to begin with. Therion let out a small sigh of relief, though there was still an edge to his breathing that came off as ragged. Alfyn wasn't taking no for an answer when he wrapped one arm around Therion's shoulders and practically hauled the thief to his feet, a clear indicator of the size difference between them. Therion's eyes remained glossy and unfocused as Alfyn started helping him move back in the direction of the nearby town.
"I should probably go ahead so that I can fix him up," Alfyn declared. "I'll get us a room at the inn so that I can make sure everything's been taken care of before we set off again."
"Nonsense. You may usen my home," H'aanit cut in. "Asken the headman where to go upon your returne to town. We will arriven shortly."
Alfyn seemed taken aback, but he didn't object in the slightest. He nodded with a smile, recovering from his shock instantly. "Thanks," he told her softly. He began moving back in the direction of town at a surprisingly good clip. Olberic walked alongside him, seemingly acting as the backup while the rest of the party took care of the remaining traces of business that their mission involved. H'aanit nodded to herself as the trio of travelers disappeared from sight, leaving her with the other women of the group as well as Linde and Cyrus.
The walk back to the front of the Whisperwood was a slow one in comparison to the way that Alfyn and Olberic were hurrying along with Therion. To H'aanit though, it seemed to pass by in the blink of an eye, and before she knew it, she was back at the entrance of the forest. The stench of rotten blood and the outline of corpses on the grass made that much clear, and H'aanit kept her eyes as even on the path ahead as possible to make sure that she didn't lose her concentration.
Another figure came into view against the glow of the Ember, and H'aanit recognized it as the herald from Ciaran territory. The bodies of the merchants had been taken away, and H'aanit assumed that was the business that the messenger was here to resolve. He perked up when he noticed that H'aanit had returned, though he paid minimal attention to the rest of the group by comparison on account of not recognizing them. "You look well. I trust the hunt was a success?" the man prompted.
H'aanit nodded her confirmation. "The beast will troublen thee no more," she assured him. The light from the Ember shifted, and a brief glimpse of a stone marking came into view. She recognized the meaning immediately. "These graves..."
The messenger closed his eyes as he tilted his face to the ground. "I took the liberty of digging them while I waited for your return," he explained.
"Thanke thee... But I have a request," H'aanit began. The messenger perked up in curiosity as H'aanit glanced in the direction of the wolves on the grass. "Leaven the beasts be. Leten the forest reclaimeth them. That is the way of the wood."
The messenger simply nodded. "As you wish, milady."
Embarrassing.
That was the only word that Therion could keep repeating again and again in his mind. This was insulting and embarrassing in a way that words could never hope to articulate. He shouldn't have been in this situation, and he hated that the damn ghisarma had been able to do so much damage with a single hit.
Therion had given up on trying to fight back against Alfyn's firm grasp as soon as he saw the sheen of determination in the apothecary's eyes. Alfyn wasn't going to be backing down, and any protests that Therion attempted to offer would ultimately fall on ignorant ears. Alfyn was determined to ensure that he was alright after the injury, and Therion wasn't going to be able to do a thing about it.
Therion had been hurt worse. That much he was more than confident of. He had struggled with injuries that did more damage than being slammed against a tree. Alfyn had diagnosed him with broken ribs and a concussion, but apparently, all it was going to take was a few healing spells followed by Alfyn's special brand of first aid to resolve the issue in time for the group to go back on the road on schedule. If that was the case though, then why was Alfyn being so stubborn about it?
"How are you feeling?" Alfyn questioned in that friendly yet casual country drawl of his. Olberic was cleaning his blade in the corner of the room after being given the go-ahead to decompress from the battle from Alfyn. It seemed that Alfyn had picked up on the fact that Therion didn't want to be bothered more than he had to, but that still wasn't persuasion enough for him to leave Therion alone entirely.
Therion didn't want to respond verbally. He let out a small huff of a sigh before shrugging. "Fine," he said bluntly. He hated being part of a group that was this stifling and cloying. He had worked alone for years up to this point and found a way to make it work, so why did he have to break his streak now?
Alfyn tilted his head in Therion's direction in a way that seemed like a mother trying to scold her child for breaking a vase. Therion resisted the urge to roll his eyes as Alfyn shook his head. "We'll let you rest for a while longer. We'll be leavin' town soon, but you need all the downtime that you can get. You're lucky that you didn't get hurt any worse than you did, you know," he said.
Therion looked away, unable to stand the sight of those grassy green eyes combined with the overwhelming emerald of Alfyn's coat. Therion detested the color green, and it was one reason that he wanted to get out of the Woodlands as soon as possible. Green was the color of life for most, but for Therion, it was the color of death. It was the color of the world falling apart with him at the center, and it made him sick. If he hadn't been so distracted by all that damn green, then he wouldn't have been hit by the ghisarma in the first place. If not for the rest of the group being so nice, he wouldn't have been surrounded by the worst color known to man, and he wouldn't have wound up with broken ribs and a stain of blood against the back of his head.
Alfyn moved over in the direction of the countertop, and he rustled through the satchel of his that never seemed to find a way to be perfectly neat. After finding what he was searching for, he smiled and reached out for H'aanit's kettle. "I hope ya don't mind tea. I think it's just what you need to feel better after all that," Alfyn told Therion with a light smile.
Therion didn't respond. He didn't mind tea, as a matter of fact; his life as a thief on the run hardly left him the time to indulge in such pleasures though. As soon as his eyes narrowed in on the leaves that Alfyn was using to make the tea though, Therion's stomach did a flip, and he was left hating the color green all over again. Why did Heathcote have to do this to him? Damn it, he was better than this.
But Therion knew there wasn't going to be a way for him to sneak out of it no matter how hard he tried. Alfyn was a stubborn person if Therion had ever seen one, not that the apothecary particularly looked it. Alfyn hid everything behind a smile, but Therion knew better than to trust what people showed to the world at a first glance. He shook his head to himself, desperate to be out of H'aanit's spare bed and back on the road to get out of the Woodlands with all of their damn green.
"Here ya go."
Alfyn was pressing the cup of tea into Therion's hands before he knew it, and the thief looked up at him carefully. Alfyn had set aside a cup for himself, and Therion assumed that he had asked Olberic if he wanted some only to receive a declination. Therion stared at Alfyn for a long moment, trying to figure out just what the hell was going on inside of the apothecary's head, before he realized that he wasn't going to be able to find the answers. He accepted the cup gently, and just as he expected, the sensation of the tea slipping down his throat was just as calming and necessary as he had thought it would be. It had been too long since he had tea like this. Life always seemed to find a way to get between him and enjoying the little things like this.
No... That wasn't true. Therion hadn't indulged in tea for so long simply because he couldn't stand the process. Alcohol allowed him to dull the world around him and concentrate on something other than himself for a short while, but tea made him think about everything that he was trying to forget in the first place. Tea leaves were his curse, a sign of everything wrong with the world and wrong with him. At least when Alfyn made tea Therion was able to pretend that he was anywhere except a huntress' spare bed in the middle of everything green and twisted.
Therion stared down at the pool of liquid in the cup for a long time, losing track of the seconds as he did so. He could feel Alfyn and Olberic's eyes on him, staring but too afraid to speak out of fear that they would burst the thin bubble of fragile peace over Therion's mind. It wasn't even entirely peace; it was something else entirely, something that Therion couldn't even begin to describe.
Therion shook his head to pull himself back to reality. They would be out of S'warkii by sundown if all went well and H'aanit went along with Ophilia's strange insistence that she had to come along with them. Therion didn't know what was going through Ophilia's head, but he had long since stopped trying to figure it out. That was a question for another time, and Therion had other things to focus on, such as getting out of this place to Noblecourt where the grass was still green but a little less suffocating.
H'aanit and the rest of her portion of the party had just arrived back in town when she stopped walking. Tressa was on the verge of proclaiming their victory for all of S'warkii to hear, but H'aanit's sudden halt brought the attention of everyone in the group to her. Linde perked up, seemingly recognizing just as H'aanit had that there was something out of place.
The sound of bounding footsteps reached H'aanit's ears, but the rhythm was hardly human. It was a pattern that she had learned to memorize from a young age, and a grand smile spread across her face as a deep gray wolf came into view for the first time in a year. H'aanit spread her arms wide as she walked closer. "Hägen! Thou returnst to us!" H'aanit cried out. If Hägen was there, then that meant that Z'aanta could hardly be far; Hägen and Z'aanta were never apart for long, something H'aanit had learned well growing up.
Before H'aanit could get too close though, she was cut off by a growl from Hägen. She took a staggering step back, shock painting itself across her features. She knew exactly what Hägen was trying to communicate, and a quick glance around the area only confirmed her suspicions. Her heart began to beat faster in her chest, almost as if it was attempting to burst free of her ribcage. "Where is Master? Hath something befallen him?!" H'aanit questioned intensely of the wolf.
Hägen responded with a growl once again, and H'aanit examined him carefully. He was shaking ever so slightly just as the wolves had in the Whisperwood. "He is confused... And frightened. Thou didst run here, didst thou not? And alone... Doth Master needeth my help?" All previous thoughts of H'aanit fearing Z'aanta had gotten distracted by his gambling habits had melted away, replaced with the all too real concern that something dreadful had happened. Hägen's presence in S'warkii alone was proof of that, and H'aanit's stomach began to churn.
Hägen whimpered in response to H'aanit's words, still unable to relax even at the sight of someone who he knew to be family. H'aanit took a step closer, running one hand through the fur at the top of his head. "It's alright... Easy, boy... Easy," she murmured to Hägen as soothingly as she could manage when adrenaline was starting to take control of her. Hägen whimpered once again as he sat down in the grass, nuzzling at H'aanit's hand as if it was the only lifeline that he had. "There, there, now... That's a good boy."
Linde moved closer and sat at her companion's side, seeking the comfort brought by H'aanit. She knew just as well as the huntress did that something had gone wrong. Z'aanta was in trouble, and it had to be severe danger. H'aanit had to return to his side as soon as possible. If Hägen had run from the farther reaches of Orsterra, then it would have taken him quite some time to reach S'warkii. In other words, there was no way of saying how old the message was that Z'aanta needed assistance. H'aanit had no way of confirming what the threat was either; Hägen could hardly communicate to her through words what had taken place to cause such catastrophe, leaving H'aanit to wonder in the silence what had happened.
H'aanit's voice was barely being kept even when she turned her attention up to Hägen once more. "Hägen, canst thou guide me to Master?" she questioned firmly. The wolf responded with a bark of confirmation, rising to his feet at the idea that H'aanit was ready to come to Z'aanta's rescue. Her eyes fell shut in contemplation. "Whatever hath befallen him, we shall save him-thou and I."
Hägen remained close to H'aanit's side as she turned to face the rest of the travelers. "What are thou planning to doeth from here?" she questioned carefully. She knew that the group was passing through S'warkii on their way to another destination, but she hadn't been able to hear the details beyond that. Her briefing on the mission to defeat the ghisarma had taken too much of the journey to the Whisperwood for her to hear the full story behind what was going on with her other companions.
"Our current next destination is likely Stillsnow, but we're going to be moving throughout the continent for a while," Ophilia told her. She looked to Hägen before shifting her attention up to H'aanit once again, her eyes filled with an unexpected sense of hope.
"Might I be able to accompany thou?" H'aanit questioned. She glanced at the rest of the party for confirmation, and when she was met with nods, she shifted her attention back to Ophilia from where she stood at the center of the group.
Ophilia simply nodded, relief overcoming her eyes. "Of course."
The process of preparing to leave S'warkii was swift and hazy. H'aanit knew that she had to concentrate on getting the job done as soon as possible if she wanted to find Z'aanta and return home with him. Hägen was close at her side along the way, never far from H'aanit and Linde as they carried out their preparation. He was wary of the rest of the group, only seeming to relax around them when he recognized that H'aanit had faith in them as well.
Therion was ready to get back on his feet by the time that H'aanit was prepared to leave town behind, but Alfyn remained close to him to keep an eye on his condition. Therion's eyes had grown even darker since the incident where he was injured by the ghisarma, and he downright refused to meet anyone's gaze due to something that H'aanit suspected was embarrassment. She chose to not call him on it though; that would only serve to provide grounds for conflict, and she wasn't about to provoke him when the rest of the party had been kind enough to allow her to travel with them as she moved in the direction of her master.
Weapons had been cleaned and inventories had been restocked with healing grapes and inspiriting plums by the time that the group moved for the front of the town. H'aanit walked at the front of the group, the letter in her pocket feeling heavier than she ever could have imagined. Z'aanta hadn't written in so long since he had been unable to do so for some reason, and she felt awful for internally chastising him with words that hadn't even been true to begin with. Still, she could not erase the facts of the past. The future had to be her sole priority from then on out.
"So... Thou art going after Z'aanta."
The voice of the headman stopped H'aanit before she could fully leave the town behind. She turned to face him, noticing that there were two people standing near him. She walked toward the headman to stand between him and the rest of the travelers. Linde and Hägen also stood to attention as H'aanit nodded her confirmation. "Hägen here cameth seeking my help," she explained simply. Hägen's nerves had calmed slightly, though he was still anxious and worked up from whatever it was that had sent him in the direction of S'warkii to begin with. The wolf offered a light growl as confirmation of her words, moving closer to H'aanit on the instinct of her being the most familiar person he had in that moment.
"In his letter, he said he was bound for Stonegard," H'aanit continued as she looked away from Hägen to face the headman once more. "We shall begine our search there."
"I praye that it is no more serious than an ill-founded wager that left him unable to payeth his innkeeper," one of the hunters with the headman said, though it was clear as could be that he knew there was more to it. "For Hägen to cometh all this way alone... I cannot helpe but feare the worst. Prithee takest care."
H'aanit simply nodded in response. "We will," she vowed sternly. She had to trust that the other hunters of S'warkii would be able to look after the town in her stead. She was the strongest among the fighters of the village, but she had other things to aim for. Z'aanta was waiting for her, and the last thing that H'aanit was going to do was keep him waiting longer than absolutely necessary.
"And don nothing foolish. Don as Z'aanta sayeth, child... Not as he would doeth," the headman advised, his voice low and rumbling in all of its cautious sternness.
H'aanit nodded. "Thanke ye, Chief. Fearen not for us," she told him firmly. She knew that she would be able to handle this one way or another. The rest of the party would be there for her, and that wasn't even factoring in Hägen and Linde. They were going to find a way to rescue Z'aanta from the danger that had befallen him no matter what the consequences were. "We shall be back as soon as possible with Master at our side."
With those words, the headman responded with a nod, and he began to wave in H'aanit's direction. She returned the gesture before pivoting on her heel to walk away. The forest stood in front of her in all of its magnificent glory, but this time, something about the outside world felt ominous and hollow in a way that she had no words to describe. Something outside of the boundaries of S'warkii had caused Z'aanta to fall to hardship, and there was no way of saying just what had happened.
H'aanit stared at the trees for a long while, feeling the presence of the other travelers behind her. She knew that the time had come to depart, and she couldn't waste even a moment as long as Z'aanta was at risk. Her eyes fell shut in quiet contemplation, and she did her best to keep her mind from racing in a thousand different directions that told of tragedy she was unable to prevent. She had to remain levelheaded regardless of how much she feared that Z'aanta was in unspeakable danger.
H'aanit was the first to take a step into the wilderness once more, the others in her party following in her trail soon afterward. She knew what she had to do. Z'aanta had done countless favors for her over the years as her parental figure, and the time had come for her to return the gesture by rescuing him from this tragic fate. It was the least that she could do for him after all of the years that he had spent looking after her. The future was waiting for her, and H'aanit was never one to resist the call that change might send her way.
Stayest safe, Master. We're coming.
And with that, we're done with the first chapters! It only took 33 chapters, but here we are!
This is where things are going to start changing for this story in terms of pacing and character development. There isn't going to be as much of a focus on pushing the story forward since now that the entire main cast is here, the story can afford to take a few deep breaths to smell the roses. This is also going to be where canon divergence comes into play. There are a lot of things that will be changing from here, and that will become more than evident in the next chapter that releases.
Thursday is going to become the consistent update day for this story. I'm going to make this a weekly update thing on Thursdays as opposed to the wild card that it's been in the past. There won't be an update this Thursday, but there will be one starting next week and every week after that. I hope you're looking forward to it.
There is one last little announcement that I want to share here. Today is the three-year anniversary of Octopath Traveler, and I can't believe that I'm honoring it with the end of the first chapters for this story. I'm more than glad with that though; I started this project on a whim back in January, and I'm proud of how far it's come in such a short span of time. I'm looking forward to seeing where it goes from here, and I hope that you all are too.
With that said, I'm going to leave things off here so that I can get to sleep. I stayed up pretty late working on this, so it's time for me to crash. I'll see you all next time for the first chapter outside of the chapter one circle! Until then, I hope you all liked it! Feedback is appreciated as always. Have a nice day, everyone!
-Digital