Felinis: Loooong chapter
Yuri woke up the next morning with old teeth on his bedside. That ache from last time was sitting in his gums and his head still pounded in a dull throb. He wished there was a mirror so he could see the state he was in. Nobody had come in and woken him up so nothing bad happened. His hair felt greasy and he still had the smell of sewer lingering on him. Gross.
Eyes still clouded with sleep, Yuri set out to ask if he could find a bath or anything. Rich was setting up the fire for breakfast. "Morning."
"Oh... hi..." Rich muttered slowly as he turned to look at him. "Can I help you?"
"You have anything to wash with?" Yuri asked.
Rich nodded and gave him a rag. "There's a small a barrel of water you can use... I'll get you a bucket." Yuri thanked him and did his best to find some privacy. He ran the water over his skin and looked for any changes. None. There was more relief to the thought than there should have ever been.
Why couldn't he just be normal? Normal people didn't have to wake up and look into a bucket to see if their teeth still looked like... well teeth. Yuri gave a loud huff as he dumped the remaining water on his head.
He shivered from the cold and shook of the water like a dog. "Shit. Shit." Maybe this hadn't been the smartest idea. He should have just put up with being smelly.
"Yuri?" Fuck, Yuri grabbed for his pants. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, please don't walk over here!" He fumbled into the only pair of clothes he had and was grateful Estelle had listened. Even if decency was something Yuri didn't care about, Flynn did and he could hear the lecture now. Ugh, the guy needed to get laid or something. Yuri finally walks out to face Estelle.
"Were you taking a bath?" Estelle shrieks in embarrassment. "I'm so sorry! I should have left you alone."
"It's fine." Yuri waved her off. "Let's eat and get back on the road. Wait… did you wash up?" She gives a quick yes her face a bit red. "Good. We'll need to get a move on if you want to catch up with Flynn." She nods and they make quick work of breakfast before taking off. There's much to be done and standing around is not one of them.
There aren't many towns in general. It stands with how rare barrier blastia are and with how dangerous monsters are that they're only a few towns between Diedon Hold and Zaphias. Most closer to the latter of the two for better protection. The empire liked to pride itself on the Hold which supposedly discouraged the more dangerous monsters from going near the cities. Yuri didn't really believe that, but the empire liked to take credit whenever they could. Large egos are frail egos.
As they stood in the entrance of Diedon Hold Yuri did his best to walk innocently while Estelle seemed be moving in stiff jerking motions. "Just walk normally."
She nervously flitters her hands. "Do you think those knights followed you here?"
"I wonder. Well, let's do our best not to stand out." Yuri said looking carefully over at the bored knights on duty and walked past casually. "All right, let's see if we can just pass through the Hold." He said and turned to find Estelle had disappeared. "Where's she off to now?" Yuri looks over to see Estelle standing at a cart reading a book. So much for lying low. It's then he gets a lecture om swords skills and Assam The Blade Master. Yuri had no clue that the blastia could do something like that. He always figured that they were used just conductors for artes and nothing more, but then the how does Estelle use her power.
"I can't imagine business is all that great in a place like this." Yuri says to the cart owner.
The cart owner sighs. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not here because I want to be." The owner gestures to the gate. "There are monsters on the far side of the Hold, so I'm stuck."
"Monsters, huh…?" Yuri grips his chin and stretches his ears. Nothings sounds nearby and Yuri is certain he can steer them away from a fight if needed. "...Did you hear that?" Estelle hums as she looks further into her books. "And...she's not listening." Estelle finally turns from her book and he chuckles. "I said I'm going to go get some information, so you wait right there."
Estelle shakes her head. "Oh, I'll come too." She hands the book back but the vendor insists she keep it. Her face widens in a pure smile. "Th-thank you very much."
They head up onto the top of the hold in order to get a better view of the plains. Maybe then they can get a better hand on the supposed monster problem that's ahead of them. As Yuri's looking into the distance he notices Estelle has once more run off. Is he going to need a leash for her?
She's running up to a man drenched in red and hair the color of bleached bone. He tells her to wait, but she doesn't listen and gives a cheerful greeting to the man who huffs at her. "Um, I beg your pardon, but… what are you looking at?"
The man doesn't turn his head and looks straight outward in boredom. "Humanity at work. Their tenacious attachment to this life." Estelle tilts her head in confusion. "Why…? Why must humans live the lives they do? They fight for a share of monopolized technology and hurt even those closest to them."
"Are you talking about blastia?" Yuri interjects and the man scoffs. "I can't speak for anyone else, but… it doesn't seem to me like there's any reason why get dumped into the world." Yuri spent a lot of his childhood wondering on that and it got him nowhere. "But, once you're here, you just do what you can to give this life everything you've got."
The man nods, still focused on the plains. "Perhaps there is truth in what you say…" He looks down at his sword and walks away without a second word.
Estelle looks at him with a puzzled face. "What was that about?"
Yuri shrugs. "I dunno, they say the heat can make people go a little crazy."
As they get down a warning bell rings as knights scramble about frantically to close the gate and ready the arrows. The sound of arrows can be heard as people scream in terror to get inside. It's chaos and the knights are arguing whether to hold the gate or close it to keep the rampaging stampede out.
Yuri sees in the distance a man and a little girl and a man just outside the gate. "Are all those monsters?"
Yuri huffs in frustration. "We just left the capital and things are already getting crazy... That's it. I'm cursed. I know it." Hell, Yuri could just assume his life was just one big unfortunate curse. With his luck, it probably ended with him becoming a monster and destroying the world. Or being burnt at the stake. Either works.
Yuri runs ahead recklessly towards the gate as Repede knocks the knight away from the lever. It's a gamble, but it's one Yuri's willing to bet on. Estelle runs ahead of him and he calls for her to stay behind, but she ignores him. Idiot, this was Yuri's gamble not hers.
"Help the girl!"
Yuri runs to the girl while Estelle attends the man clutching at an ankle that's been twisted and bent. Yuri picks up the crying girl runs her inside the gate feeling the pulse of Estelle's artes as it rips through the air. The kid cries and tries to run out again as Yuri holds her back.
"My doll. Mama's doll." Estelle tries to run off, but Yuri catches her with his claws.
"Let go me!"
"You wait here!" Yuri runs out and snatches the pink doll off the ground. The loud stampede is almost to the gate and he can hear it closing behind him. So much for keeping a low profile. The monsters are at his feet as slides under the gate with a few strands of hair catching underneath. He sits up and takes in deep breaths. No wonder Flynn is always convinced that Yuri's going to get himself kid with these stunts.
A small group has gathered and they earnestly thank their deeds, but neither one of them want anything for their actions. Estelle smiles and once the group finally wanes she collapses on the ground worn by the adrenaline loss.
Yuri sits next to her she regains her wits. "All worn out, huh?" A few battles might actually be needed if Estelle is going to have the stamina to last out here. There's no guarantee she'll be perfectly safe once she finds Flynn.
"It really is dangerous beyond the barriers with so many ferocious monsters around." She says as she looks at the empty blue sky. While lovely it's foreboding as it lacks the promise of safety a barrier holds.
"This place could definitely use a barrier against a pack that big."
"Couldn't they install a barrier blastia here?"
"No. Barriers are a precious resource." When Shizontania fell, it had been a major loss on all ends. Aside from the major cities only a few towns Yuri visited had barrier blastia. In the heart farmlands, giant walls were used in order to keep crops safe since building a barrier for that alone wasn't worth the resource. It said something about the world when staying safe was prioritized over food. Walls and draw bridges were how almost all towns managed to keep themselves safe from attacks. A barrier here would just be wasted.
"You're right...and with the current technology, we can't make anymore." Estelle sighs. "If only we could recover the secrets of the ancient Geraios civilization... They created the blastia." And, the language that Yuri apparently speaks when he's not thinking. The closest they had to the modern Geraios were the Krytians, but they were wiped off the continent years ago.
"Even if that were to happen, I can't see the empire using the knowledge for the common good." Yuri hisses thinking back on Garista's plans. The man was making cores and the process had destroyed a forest and wiped a town off the map. Such plans couldn't be furthered.
A knight walked up to them with a displeased attitude. "You two there. I'd like to have a word with you." Figures something like this would happen.
They can't help turning to listen to the loud argument between two men and the knights. One screaming to let him kill monsters and the other staring down in a menacing fashion at the exasperated knight. Yuri finds himself feeling bad for the poor knight who has to put up with this. The knight leaves them alone to deal with the two men who are trying to bust through the gate to slay the monsters that lie in wait. They decide to find another way around this roadblock in their journey as if they wait around it's only a matter of time before the knights catch them.
As they walk around the tents for a clue Estelle chuckles. "We made quite a scene, didn't we? I was so worried once those knights noticed us."
Yuri gives her a light flick on the head. "I told you we couldn't stand out."
Estelle glares up at him. "You were the one who just jumped."
Yuri crosses his arms blind to the citizens who are snickering at the arguing duo. "I can't just look away when monsters are attacking someone right in front of me, right?" Estelle laughs softly and turns her head down. "What's so funny?"
She stops laughing and there's a deep amusement in her eyes. "I'm sorry. That sounded just like the way Flynn described you, that's all." Oh really? "He often said that you could never turn a blind eye when someone near you was suffering."
Hypocrite. "Well. Next time you see him you tell him that I said he's the same way." As They hide behind the carriages to be more inconspicuous, a woman with cherry hair and a confident smirk strides up to them.
Her red eyes carry an unwavering confidence as he calls to Yuri. "You there, how about coming to work for me? You'll be paid, of course." She holds up a large sack of gald and Yuri just turns his head. Money is the least of his concerns.
The man behind her takes this as an insult. "Watch your manners around the President. Well, whaddya say?"
Yuri chuckles and throws his head back slightly. "So, it's not bad manners to try and buy someone without even introducing yourself?"
"Watch your mouth!"
The woman snorts slightly and brings a finger to her lips. Yuri can't help feeling like he's being appraised. "You're just as charming as I expected. I'm Kaufman of the merchants' guild, Fortune's Market. We handle everything from trade to distribution." Guilds, huh… Yuri's had only very brief experiences with guild people and while he doesn't hate them he can't say he's too fond of them either. "You see, I'm in quite a tight spot, and it's all thanks to these tremors."
"I'd rather not know, but was that the work of a monster?" Even with everything Yuri's seen the fact stands that must be a powerful monster to make the earth shake from inside the Hold.
"Yes, the Lord of the Plains."
Estelle's eyes widen in fear and curiosity. "The Lord of the Plains?"
"He's the leader of that pack of monsters."
Estelle looks at Kaufman with pleading eyes. "Do you know if there's another way we can cross the plains? We're in a hurry."
"Hmm, I'm afraid you'll just have to wait for the Lord of the Plains to leave."
Yuri shrugs. "Huh. I guess there's no point getting worked up over it."
"But I can't afford to just sit and wait. I'm going to get a second opinion!" Estelle runs off and Repede rolls his eyes.
"I'll keep an eye on her." He yawns as he follows after the girl.
Yuri looks skeptically and the posture of Kaufman and firmly sets a hand on his hip. "You're with a guild that does product distribution, but you don't know any other routes?"
"I could hire you and just charge through once the leader moves on, but...you don't seem interested."
He's not. "If it's bodyguards you want, why not hire the Knights?"
She glares at him bitterly. "Are you forgetting that we guild members have thrown away our rights as imperial citizens? Once leave the empire behind, you can't expect them to help you a whole lot." She clenches her right hand. "So naturally, the Imperial Knights would never deign to escort the likes of us."
"Wow. You really stick to your principles." Yuri says as he walks off.
Kaufman looks up to him with steeled passion. "Without that level of determination, one could never hope to run a guild."
Yuri ignores her and smirks to himself. "Well, maybe you could use your determination to do something about that Lord of the Plains." He walks away, but not too quickly.
"Go to the Quoi Woods that lie to the west of here." There it was. "If you pass through the forest, you'll come out on the far side of the plains."
"But the fact that you guys aren't going that way must mean we have some surprise to look forward to." Yuri says.
"I like a boy with quick wits, but I like one that doesn't waste a potential investment even better."
Yuri nods. "Thanks, I owe you one." He waves as he leaves. "Maybe we'll talk about that job if we meet again." He pulls a confused Estelle along as they continue down their path. As they're making their way she looks at Yuri's hand and grabs it. "What is it this time?"
"Your nails are really long." She says as pulls his hand back. "It's just… I've been thinking about that."
Yuri plays it off nonchalantly. "Really? I never noticed before."
She looks at him curiously. "Every time you've grabbed me they always dig into my arms. It's like they're claws."
He laughs. "Maybe I could fight monsters with these for a change?" Estelle laughs, but he can tell she's still looking at him as if she can see that he's not normal. So, he spends the whole way walking far ahead and scaring off any monster that comes their way.
They're minutes from the edge of the woods when she brings it up again. "Yuri… I was wondering…" He waits for her to gather her words. "Have you been feeling well?"
"Look, I was just a worn out yesterday from the sewers and the fact I'm allergic to healing artes."
She huffs and rolls her eyes. "I didn't buy that excuse then and I'm not buying it now. The only way to be allergic to healing artes would be if you were allergic to aer which is impossible."
"I'm perfectly fine and not listening to you."
"Is this what Flynn meant when he said you're an idiot?" She mutters to herself, but still loud enough for everyone to hear. "I'm saying that you can tell me what's wrong."
"And, nothing is wrong. Nothing has ever been wrong. And, I am perfectly healthy as a human being." Yuri says as he keeps moving forward till they're standing at the edge of the woods.
Estelle gasps as she looks at the forest entrance. "...A forest in a place like this can only mean...the Quoi Woods...?"
"Bingo. You're just full of information, aren't you?" Yuri says as he turns back to face her. The poor girls shaking as she looks at the forest.
"I read in a book once that a curse will fall upon anyone who enters the woods..." She says her knees fidgeting as he walks into the shade.
"Ah, so that must be the surprise." Yuri says as he looks in. As far as he can tell the woods are normal. The aer isn't even that dense. Yuri walks on without a care as Estelle stands with a look of dread. "Not going in? That's fine by me, but what about Flynn?" Yuri's whole existence is cursed. One more isn't going to hurt him."
"I know…" She looks like she might cry. "Okay, let's go!" Her steps are quick and timid as they make their way through the woods. Estelle jumping at every little sound here and there. It be funny if she wasn't on the brink of tears every time something startled her. "…But what if I get turned I get turned into a frog or a snake by the forest's curse?"
Yuri pushes away a low hanging branch covered in moss as he turns around a bend. "If that happens I'll take care of you."
Estelle pauses. "You'll take care of me?"
Yuri looks back with a large grin. "Of course I would. Don't worry. I had pet frogs and snakes when I was a kid."
He expects Estelle to get a little mad at the statement, but instead she looks at him with worried eyes. "If you got turned into a frog or a snake I wouldn't have any idea what to feed you." Yeah well, the bigger concern is Yuri having an episode. Turning into a frog might be pleasant compared to that."
As they're walking they reach a clearing in the forest and Estelle stops. "Did you hear something? My feet feel cold all of a sudden… Oh no! Is this the curse?" Yuri gets ready to calm her down when a thought occurs to him.
"What sort of curse is it supposed to be anyway?
"The voices of corpses buried beneath the trees creep up and lure us to our doom..." She cries.
He rolls his eyes. "Oh brother." This girl has been spending way too much time in her head.
Estelle's eyes catch the glinting metal and her attention shifts. "What's that?"
"It's a blastia." Old and in ruin. Its metal rusted and covered in moss. The body fallen on the ground with no core and the runes once inscribed worn away by time. Yuri walks over to look it over. "What's it doing in a place like this?" Yuri notes that it's humming. Humming with no core. "Let's take a break."
Estelle protest saying she's fine. She sees something and runs to look at it near where the core used to lay in the machine. A bright force pulses from the spot knocking Estelle out and sending Yuri to the ground.
His mind jumbles around he scrambles to get a bearing on his senses. He can't think, but he's still hearing the machine hum. He falls into a trance watching the red aer float up from Estelle as she lays unconscious and himself numb. He manages to pull himself together once the humming stops after what feels like hours. It's dark from what he can tell and he gathers some fallen fruit from the ground.
It looks okay, but once he takes a bite he grimaces. "Damn, that's bitter." Yuri always seemed to have terrible luck finding food in the wild. He hears Estelle stir and he's relieved. "You all right?"
"Ooh...my head feels a little... I'll be fine." She sits up from her pillow on Repede's side. "What happened to me...?"
"You just fell over all of a sudden. Don't you remember?"
"Perhaps it was the aer that made me dizzy?" she questions. "I read once that dense aer can have negative effects on people." That's an understatement. Yuri grimaced as thought back to his time in the knights. But, how did someone like Estelle that practically lived in the dense aer that would scratched at Yuri's throat get hurt like that? No, that was a shockwave of the blastia, but it shouldn't have worked. Unless… yes, Estelle was walking with enough aer floating off her that a blastia could easily feed on that alone. But the, the aer on the Blastia was still denser than the rest of the woods.
"Hmm. Maybe that's what started the rumor of the curse." Estelle stands up and Yuri looks at her with a bit of worry. "Hey, you only just woke up. You should rest a bit more."
She frowns. "But I can't. If we don't catch up with Flynn soon-"
"And what if you collapse again, and this time you're out for the whole night?" Yuri interjects.
"...You're right. I'm sorry." She apologizes with a bow and sits next to him. He passes her a fruit and she takes it slowly. As she bites her faces grimaces.
"Heh, I suppose we'll never get full trying to eat these." Yuri chuckles throwing his fruit to the side and reaching for the supply bag.
"It's delicious!" Estelle protests half-heartedly as takes another bite.
"Hold on a sec. I can make something simple." Yuri pulls gets the makings for a fire.
Estelle looks at him shocked. "You can cook, Yuri?"
"I'm not exactly a royal chef. I just have a few recipes I learned growing up." He takes a branch from Repede and starts to work on a pile. Estelle earnestly gathers firewood as Yuri sets up camp for dinner. He's never seen anyone so happy to gather up pieces of wood. Once the fire is stoked Estelle seems to calm from her euphoria turn to a glum state.
"Aren't you worried at all that Flynn is in danger?" She asks as Yuri gathers his ingredients.
He turns from his work to see her concerned face. "Huh? Does it look that way?"
She nods. "Well...yes."
"Honestly, I'm not worried about him. He's always managed to take care of himself." Yuri says with a smile as he sets the slices of bread on the pan along with two eggs. "Actually, it's the guys who are after him I feel sorry for."
Estelle cocks her head to the side as she watches him closely. "What do you mean?"
Yuri smiles as he closes his eyes. "Ever since we were kids, I've never been able to beat Flynn at anything. Swords, racing, whatever." As much as Yuri liked to say he'd won… the closest he's ever managed with Flynn is to tie. Even then, at some point it became hard to even do that. "After he'd won, he'd always have the nerve to say, 'You all right, Yuri?'" Another reminder that as much as Flynn said they were equals he still saw Yuri as something to protect. Maybe if Yuri had been born a normal human Flynn wouldn't have worried about him so much.
"That must be nice... I've never had anyone like that in my life." Yuri flips the bread over in the pan.
"You can count yourself lucky." Though he knows he doesn't mean it. He pulls the toast out and sets an egg on top before finishing the sandwich. "Dinner's ready." Estelle smiles widely as she takes a large bite. She treats it like a gourmet meal and Yuri laughs. There's not even salt on it. Yuri ends up teaching her the basics and laughs as he watches Estelle become ecstatic at preparing a sandwich. Just imagine when she learns how make soup. She marvels at the idea of tasting her food. "Well, you're a sheltered little princess who's lived her life in a castle. It's only normal."
She ponders the words. "Sheltered little princess..." He wonders if the remark went too far, but she just nods. "I suppose so."
Repede stands up and Yuri asks what's up. "Let's get moving it'll be dawn if we stay any longer." They clean up and set out.
Felinis: It's always been so adorable to me how much Estelle is enchanted by simple things that we call chores.