Tale Twenty-Five, The First of Many Ends
Long after H'aanit and the Octopath Travelers had defeated Redeye, they would have nightmares of the glaring eyes the malignant beast had been known for, staring at them.
But those would be other nights. This night, H'aanit anxiously waited in her room, eager for the moon to disappear and the sun to take its place. Not many in Marsalim would wish for the sizzling rays of the sun to return so soon to turn the cool desert into a sea of burning sand.
Yet wondering if the curse upon her master would be broken, the huntress could do nothing but hope and wait as the stars faded into the alighting sky.
Slowly they did so, following the ever-flowing cycle of night and day.
The dawn brought with it a sense of urgency within H'aanit and Linde as they waited for the chance to return to Stonegard from their night at the Marsalim inn. While the huntress wished to leave the very moment they struck down Redeye, the Octopath Travelers knew that they would need to rest before making the trip halfway across the continent.
It would be many days of traveling ahead before they reached the Highlands, yet H'aanit felt all the more invigorated to make such a journey.
A soft knock on her door brought the sleepless hunter out of her thoughts. She turned her gaze from the world outside her window to the door leading towards the inn's hallway.
Ophilia stood there, a shawl wrapped over her shoulder and the white nightgown she wore.
The cleric had a soft smile on her face. "Good morning, H'aanit. I see you did not get much rest."
H'aanit stood from her seated position with a dry chuckle. "No, 'twould seemest not. I am much too eager to returnen to Stonegard."
"I know, but we must be well-rested for the trip, should we not?"
"That we shouldst. I hopen that I hath not worried thou."
Ophilia shook her head. "Not most of us, at least. We understand that's who you are. However…"
The cleric quieted before she could finish her thought. A pensive look on her face told H'aanit that she was contemplating whether to continue or not.
Curious about what this thought could be, H'aanit urged her friend on.
"However…?"
Ophilia held her tongue for a few moments longer, still thinking about her words. It was only after mulling over what she wanted to say did the cleric slowly continue.
"Sir Olberic appears to be the most concerned out of any of us, even though it does not seem so."
"What dost thou mean?" H'aanit asked.
Ophilia sat down on the edge of the bed in H'aanit's room. She patted the spot next to her, that soft smile of hers returning, attempting to ease any tension the huntress may have felt.
H'aanit understood and sat down next to her friend, Linde remained at the base of the window, ears flicking back and forth as she attempted to hear the conversation.
"Sir Olberic has been up all night worrying about you, in his own way. At least, that was how Alfyn put it when he woke up to find him training in the middle of the night."
That fact alone struck H'aanit as odd. Of course, with the window open and her eyes towards the stars all night, the huntress had heard and noticed the warrior going through his sword forms. She had thought it quite normal of the man. So normal, that she didn't even notice how intensely she had been watching him; she only turned her eyes away - with a faint smile - when she wanted to continue watching the sky.
H'aanit was completely oblivious to the gaze she had directed Olberic's way, feeling it was normal to have appreciated the martial prowess and strength of a man she had come to respect.
'Respect' was what she called it anyway.
Linde, having watched her master through the night, noticed H'aanit's staring all too easily. The snow leopard couldn't say anything about it, obviously, and could only keep a close eye on H'aanit as she unknowingly developed feelings of her own for the wandering warrior.
However, though there was more to it, the huntress and the warrior had a fond, mutual respect for each other. They knew their strengths, their abilities, and that they could take on almost any challenge thrown at them.
So, what Ophilia had told her perplexed H'aanit even more.
"Why wouldst Olberic been worried about me?" the huntress asked of Ophilia.
This struck the cleric as odd. Surely, H'aanit had noticed the feelings developing between herself and Olberic, hadn't she?
But that was when it struck Ophilia.
H'aanit hadn't noticed her feelings for Olberic, likely confusing it for something else.
The cleric had no idea how right she was.
Even still, Ophilia gave her friend a curious look that told the ever-observing huntress that she had missed something.
Ophilia coughed into her hand, trying to recollect her thoughts. "Well… he's not worried about you, per se. But he's more worried about something… concerning you? I believe that is how I would put it."
"I still doth not understand thou's words. Speak plain, what dost thou mean?" H'aanit questioned, still not understanding the situation.
"I believe he's more worried about you leaving, H'aanit."
"My leaving?"
"He will miss you, H'aanit, after you return home with your master."
That… thought had never actually occurred to H'aanit. After all, the Octopath Travelers knew that they would part from each other's company eventually, as all adventures must come to an end. But then another thought occurred to her that she hadn't paid any heed to:
H'aanit would be the first of the Octopath Travelers to see her journey through to the end.
Her fellow travelers, her friends, her family, must have all been worried about what she would do afterward. Of course, none of them, especially Olberic or Ophilia, would think of asking her to stay if her task had been completed. They were too selfless for their own good. If the huntress wished to return to her co-existence with nature, along with Linde and her master, then who were they to refuse her wishes?
They would mask their sadness with bittersweet smiles and words, watching her return to the place she had called home all of her life.
From there, H'aanit would part ways with the Octopath Travelers, possibly never seeing them again.
And would the other Travelers leave after they had finished their adventures? Would they leave Ophilia or Alfyn or Olberic to face their individual challenges alone?
She couldn't see any of them doing that. Yet if she left, if she set the precedent for leaving…
H'aanit was nudged from her unusually spiraling train of thought when she felt a reassuring, furry nudge from Linde on her hand.
The snow leopard watched her with knowing eyes, telling the huntress all she needed to know.
It was one of those moments where animals and humans knew exactly what they would do.
H'aanit softly smiled and pet Linde.
"I wouldst miss him, too, Ophilia. I wouldst miss all of you."
The cleric chuckled. "Is that you saying that or Linde?"
The huntress turned to her friend. "I believen both of us. We wouldst never leaven thou without aid in thou's final trials after helping us in ours."
"We all hoped that was your answer, and deep down, I think we all knew that would be your answer, too."
H'aanit nodded. "I shallst inform Olberic, as well, when we returnen to Stonegard."
"About?"
"About many things, Ophilia."
As their conversation carried on, and unbeknownst or forgotten to both women, a prying set of ears heard much of the conversation. A mountain of a man rested against the exterior wall of the inn below the window of H'aanit's room, his sword next to him and flask of water in hand.
But his eyes and ears stood at attention.
Sounds of celebration and festivity rang out from the Stonegard tavern. If Olberic didn't know any better, he would've sworn that a party of nearly fifty people had been crammed into that small building to celebrate. But that wasn't anywhere near the truth: seven of the Octopath Travelers, Linde, and Hagen were being entertained by a drunk Z'aanta regaling tale after tale about H'aanit's youth.
Olberic chuckled at a few of them, unable to stop himself from eavesdropping as the huntress attempted several times to calm down her master.
Every time she would receive the same reply: "Calmeth down, H'aanit? I hath been turnst to stone for well on a year, I believen I deserven more than just a few drinks!"
Like the stories, the warrior would chuckle at the hunter's response and take a sip of his copper mug containing a strong Highlands' mule. The strength of the Highlands vodka caused him to recoil more than once, but the spicy sweetness of the ginger beer only brought him back to drink more.
And so the cycle repeated itself.
Until Olberic heard the door to the tavern open and then shut firmly.
He turned his eyes to see H'aanit shaking her head, albeit amusedly.
It didn't take long for her to notice Olberic and make her way towards his position along a stone wall overlooking the entrance to Stonegard.
"Reminden me: why didst I saven that fool of a hunter?" H'aanit asked Olberic with a small smile.
The warrior chuckled. "Something about him being as a father to you."
That might have been the drink talking.
A look of surprise took over H'aanit's face before she hummed in amusement. She shoved Olberic with her elbow, clearly having had more than her fair share of Highlands' mules to celebrate - or maybe to cover up her embarrassment.
"How darest thou, Sir Olberic?" her words came out like honey with pleasant hints of mirth. "Insinuating that I wouldst callen a craven man such as my Master a father. I darest say 'tis not very knightly of thou to maken such claims."
Olberic laughed. "Remember, I am not a knight any longer. Just a warrior wishing to do what is right."
"Wouldst that not maken thou a knight? One who couldst fight for the weak and the wretched?"
The warrior mulled around the idea in his head for a moment. "Perhaps, but then that would make all of us knights, would it not? After all, we do not all have a single cause, such as a lord or king, binding us to an oath."
"Thou art correct. Our causes art our own."
H'aanit's words brought a chill that the wind blowing through the mountains did not. Olberic would quickly classify it as loneliness, something that had become all too well known to the wandering warrior. But the thought of being left alone after such an adventure with the Octopath Travelers - let alone losing H'aanit - made the loneliness feel all the colder.
"That we do…"
Silence fell between them, Olberic's words sending both warrior and huntress into their own thoughts. It wasn't an uneasy silence, but rather a bittersweet one - a silence that would be felt between close friends knowing they are such, yet soon about to part ways.
Neither of them wanted it to stick.
So, with a bit of courage, Olberic brought his drink to his lips and tilted his head back, draining his drink.
"Sir Olberic?" H'aanit asked.
"Olberic. Just Olberic, please. Especially with you," the man muttered as he gasped for breath and hung his head over the stone wall before quickly composing himself.
He turned to H'aanit.
"Okay. Then, Olberic, what art thou doing?"
"Summoning up some courage worthy of a former Knight of Hornburg. H'aanit, might I ask what you plan to do now that you have saved your master?"
She faced him in turn, smiling softly. "I hadst thought I wouldst rejoin Master, returning home to the Whisperwood. However…"
H'aanit paused, both to think on her words and watch as Olberic attempted to keep his face neutral. Little shifts in his brow showed that he was waiting on her every word. It caused her to feel a small amount of gleeful control of the situation.
But she couldn't have that hold over Olberic for too long.
"However, after haven spoketh with Master, Linde, and Ophilia, I hath decided to stay until we hath all finished our tasks."
Olberic smiled softly, but wider than H'aanit had ever seen him do so before. It was quite a joyful sight to see.
"Then I am glad. I had hoped that would be your answer, but a part of me thought you would wish to go home."
"A part of me does. But I cannot leaven thou to stumble without me."
That brought a brief silence between the two before H'aanit broke it.
"I jest. We hath to have our rematch first."
Olberic's smile returned, with a hint of playfulness. "That we do and I have a promise I would like to make you now that I know you will stay with me until then."
The warrior held H'aanit's hand in his before kneeling.
The huntress watched him calmly, her heart only jumping a bit at the action.
Then, they held each other's gaze.
"I promise, H'aanit," Olberic began. "As only a former knight, as a warrior. I know you need no protection - you are more than capable, as is Linde. Instead, I promise to you, H'aanit of the Whisperwood, to stand beside you and ensure that I have your side and you have mine until you no longer wish me to be there. This, I promise."
With his promise, Olberic kissed H'aanit's hand, unable to see the soft glow of red upon the huntress's cheeks.
But he had done what he wished and made his promise to match H'aanit's stride as a partner. Without saying a word, the huntress promised the same to Olberic. Upon this agreement, it was sealed with a chaste kiss to the worn hands of a huntress that could only be delivered by a former Knight of Hornburg.
Change.
Change is something all fear, even if only to a slight extent.
However, if one comes to help stand at one's side, not as a protector or a crutch, but as a partner, then any of us can face change with an exhilarating sense of giddy determinism.
H'aanit had set the precedent that Ophilia mentioned: now all of the Travelers would stay to see each of their journeys through.
After that?
Well, we shall see, as I continue recounting the final parts of this tale, what will change...