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Phetiamwantip - Thank you! Also oH hOnEy we haven't even scratched the surface of the stuff they had to deal with Xp
Chapter 29
"You really fell for that?" Morro boredly asked, his consistently uninterested inflection tainted with the barest modicum of disappointment whilst Lloyd winced with sympathy in the background.
"I-Look it was a different time!" Jasper admitted defensively. "Elemental masters were for more….revered than they are now. Ok, Anyway," The former wolf sighed, exaggerating the 'Any' with the vigour of a funeral director. "We ended up stuck in that tree for...an unimportant amount of time until thankfully some local huntsman just happened to spot us on one of their trips. They were kind enough to let us down and even direct us towards the nearest village."
ForgottenFamily
"He'll be screaming like a little schoolboy when I'm through with him!" Elizabeth swore as she continued to gulp down lungfuls from the cup of lukewarm tea shoved against her chapped lips.
"Then -oh this is the best part Jasper- I'll bury him six feet under and you know what HE'LL STILL BE SCREAMING!" The wind master manaically cackled, her shaky grip sloshing bouts of liquid from side to side like a chaotic water typhoon.
The Inn room they had been gifted (perks of elemental heritage) was on the rather small side ,but thankfully also came with a set of twin beds. Jasper usually liked to sleep right next to his master ,but considering the course of the events that happened prior, the wolf was intelligent enough to see Elizabeth needed space tonight.
"First thing tomorrow we're gonna find that thieving little snake and…" Elizabeth trailed off as she slowly sat down on her bed and reached up to untie the twine holding up the majority of her raven hair in a high ponytail, her gaze suddenly seeming vastly far away and unfocused.
"Then we'll…..we'll get it back….we have to." Master hesitantly prophesied.
Whining in agreement, Jasper gently eased his aching head into the crook of his crossed paws after he had just jumped onto the other bed.
"Now we'll have to find work somewhere, urgh I don't know, maybe this village has some random thugs I can take down for a reward. " Elizabeth mused huffing a short exhale thus granting the side green bangs plastered to her cheeks momentary relief from her blushing skin.
With a throaty yawn, Master gently reclined onto her bed's course sheets as the miniscule candlelight barely lighting their shabby room began to die away and in its place came faint rays of moonlight creeping in through the windows and illuminating the whole space with a soft white glow.
As Elizabeth's azure eyes began to slowly ease themselves shut and Jasper was left to stare and wait for her imminent return come morning (just like every night), the ravenette mumbled a hoarse barely audible whisper.
"Mark my words,I eve-Once I see that filthy deadbeat thieving scoundrel again, I'll make his lungs explode…..or something"
ForgottenFamily
"So next morning we asked around for any info on the guy and well no one matched his description so we didn't get anywhere that day,or the next,.. or the next,...or the- Ok, point is, it took us while -around four months if we want to be specific here-,but then finally just when Master was about to ready to maybe consider cutting her losses and moving on we found her bag…"
"Four silver coins!" Master Elizabeth's jaw could have crushed the skeletal remains of a Grundle as she stared down at her long lost satchel pinned down to the crooked sales table along with a plethora of at least a dozen other cheaply sewn rucksacks, all adorning a fairly hefty price tag.
"Yeah? So? You gonna buy something or just continue standing there?" Asked the lanky market vender, his tone bleeding irritable impatience.
Graciously ignoring the man's flagrant disrespect, in favor of keeping her gaze trained on the bag and it's offending price tag, Elizabeth quickly asked. "Sir, how did you get this bag?"
"Eh some chump traded it to me an hour ago on my lunch break. Said it was an antique."
"Can you tell me what he looked like?!" The ravenette hastily asked as she leaned further across the sales table.
Sorry ,but that's against my rules of discretio-" The man's attempt at a sardonic retort was promptly aborted as the wind master silenced him with a handful of the sparse coin they had managed to earn over their increasingly long stay in this nowhere village.
"This can easily be yours if you first, sell me this bag then tell me about the one who gave it to you." Elizabeth calmly explained her eyes now trained straight ahead at the face of the salesman.
The vendor stared down at the coins shoved against his chest for about half a second before he opened his mouth again.
"He's just some deadbeat always coming around to harass us vendors to buy his latest mystery item. Anyways, I can't really describe him too well, just got one of those faces you know. Best thing I can remember is he's always carrying around this ugly looking flute."
Oh so that's what the horrendously painted wooden tube was.
"Did he sell you anything besides the bag!?" Elizabeth more or less demanded with a harsh intake of breath.
"Uh no, not really. He did try to sell me this old looking sword though. Get this he asked for five gold coins for the damn thing. I tried to talk him down ,but he refused to compromise. Said I was missing out on a , like I hadn't heard that before."
"...Do you by any chance know where this man is now?" Jasper couldn't recall ever seeing the kind of glint that was currently in his master's azure irises.
"Well, last I saw him he was heading that way. Probably off to find someone more gullible to scam with that fake a** sword." The vendor explained with a half hearted point towards the edge of the village where civilization met wilderness.
"...Thank you sir." Elizabeth blankly aquised after all ,but dumped the coins onto the crooked table and immediately reached for her bag to reunite the dusty strap with her shoulder blade. "Please, keep the change."
ForgottenFamily
Jasper and his master were no less than hazy blurs against the green vibrancy of the forest.
Hearts pounding and breaths panted, the pair could have outrun the sun ….and that ….was probably the reason they failed to see the object of their pursuit had barely made ten feet inside the forest borders.
With a terrified howl, emanating either from Elizabeth or 'Adam' (definitely 'Adam') the two humans collided into one another in a heap of no doubt dislocated limbs and tumbled down the bumpy slope of what happened to be a nearby ditch the thief was probably a third of the way done climbing. Sounds of sharp cracks rang out along the way, they could bones or fallen tree branches and Jasper would have been none the wiser.
As they finally reached the very bottom, Jasper watched with wide anxious eyes from atop the forest floor- where he had miraculously been gifted enough traction to stop his own descent into the tumultuous pit -as Elizabeth abruptly shot to her feet and all,but sprinted towards the fallen rucksack the man had been lugging over his shoulder just before the crash.
With one deep inhale of breath the ravenette dove her hand down the smelly bag her lip shut tight with sour disgust as she fished around in it for a few moments until finally her face turned triumphant as she pulled out the vibrant red hilt of his sword.
After taking a moment to make sure the blade inside was intact, Elizabeth breathed a hefty exhale of relief…before turning her attention back onto the scruffy thief sprawled out on the ground like a sacrifice.
And he might as well have been with the glint Master eyes as a tightly clenched smile broke out across her face like an infection.
"Hello, Adam."
"Are you insane!" The bandit cried like he hadn't heard her, his left hand indenting itself against his eyes as he sat up and used his other to grope around his waist till it landed on the ugly flute still strapped to his patchwork pants.
"I swear you better have some good coin buddy otherwise I just might have to rip you a new one-...wait... what did you say?"
The man's hand suddenly seemed to be shaking as he slowly moved it away from his eyes, granting him the pleasure of witnessing Elizabeth's barely contained fury head first.
"Oh, sh*t."
"Oh, sh*t is right you little rat!" The wind master agreed with a crooked grin as she reached out to snatch the torn collar of the man's shirt between her increasingly white left knuckle.
"Ok,wait-"
"Wait?" Elizabeth laughed. "For what, you to hang me up in another tree for three days?! Or no, wait did you just want to thank your 'savior' again."
Growling in agreement, Jasper carefully crept down the mossy slope until he was once again at ground level with his master, the wolf's heated gaze never once leaving the cowering thief as the two's 'friendly' conversation continued.
To the surprise of everyone involved, the bandit actually possessed the audacity to sound annoyed as he shruggingly replied. "Well sorry you elemental 'masters' are so easy to fool, hell I'm surprised you can still breath alright up there on your higher than thou pedestal."
If Master was offended she didn't show it, instead opting to tighten her grip around the man's shirt as she brought his face closer to hers.
"Okay, I'm really getting tired of your useless blabbering, now I'm going to ask you a simple question and you're going to kindly answer me that is of course unless, you want to be food for Jasper."
Despite his best efforts the wolf struggled to keep his eyes narrow and menacing as he internally whined. He'd eaten actual rats less dirty.
"I-"
"Understood?" Elizabeth asked without really asking as the hand gripping the sword slowly traveled upwards till the hilt was just barely grazing the grime of the young man's jaw.
With a less than subtle eye roll, the crook curtly nodded.
"Good. Now please tell me how the hell you thought you could sell for my father's sword….for THREE F**KING GOLD COINS!"
"Huh?" 'Adam' looked confused.
"This. sword." Elizabeth lifted the hilt upwards to face the young man's dull brown eyes for emphasis. "is worth more THAN ANY MONETARY VALUE THE WHOLE OF NINJAGO COULD EVER PRESCRIBE! DO YOU EVEN REALIZED WHO THIS BELONGED TO!?"
"Well, for starters I'm guessing your father?"
"I-" Elizabeth paused, her face momentarily flushing. "Nevermind, you can probably understand only so many words." The wind master mumbled eliciting a malevolent cackle from 'Adam'.
"Oh dropping to petty insults are we, that's not very heroic is it?"
Evidently having enough of the man's venomous words, Elizabeth drew in a sharp breath as she drew a nimble hand towards the bridge of her nose to clench the small amount of free skin as harshly as possible between her rough fingertips.
"This is stupid." The wind master said aloud, either to herself or no one or at all. "What am I doing arguing with you, it won't matter soon anyway." Elizabeth bluntly stated as she turned her gaze back to the still laughing 'Adam'. Well at least until he heard that.
"Excuse me?" He blurted out, his voice a fascinating mixture of annoyance and obvious fear.
"What? Did you think I'd just take my father's sword and be on my way?" Elizabeth asked,her lips quirking upwards obviously trying not to edge into a full blown smirk.
The man grimaced, eyes narrowing. "Okay, what else did you want, your highness?"
Ignoring the spiteful nickname, the wind master waltzed towards the man with relaxed footsteps and reached out to grab his grimy arm. Before the young man could yank it back, Elizabeth was already a step ahead of him-or behind him more accurately, as she twisted his arms to lock behind his back in a vice grip.
"Oh? Didn't you realize, Adam? Stealing is pretty maligned in these parts of Ninjago."
"Ah c'mon!" The boy shouted back, once again sounding more displeased than afraid much to Elizabeth and Jasper's continuous chagrin. "You've already got the damn sword back! Can't we just call it.. even?"
"Even?" Elizabeth blankly echoed, any trace of amusement utterly vanished from her inflection. "Even?" She repeated, her tone darkening by a keen flick of the wrist that had Adam crying out as his arm was twisted with the movement.
"Trust me until you've considered chewing a triple threaded rope in the middle of a f**king thunder storm we are nowhere close to even."
"Oh…. that really happened? Well sorry, I guess, thought we were in the middle of the dry season."
Elizabeth might have very well broken both the thief's arms were it not for a gentle tug from Jasper, pulling her attention towards the increasingly darkening sky. Night was coming and fast, the ditch's incline was already too hard to make out, amidst the moonless darkness.
The blue eyed woman spared a brief side eye glance at 'Adam' before breathing a quiet sigh and releasing the crook from her clutches.
As the young man stumbled, his limp making the movement twice as awkward and uncoordinated, Elizabeth turned her attention towards the ditch' steep upward slope.
"Alright, boy looks li-"
"Hey! You're like the same age as me-"
"Not you, you thieving idiot I was talking to Jasper!"
"Oh…"
"Urgh, anyways boy it looks like I'll have to use my powers to get us out of here. It's way too risky to try climbing out of here with how dark it is."
The Nira wolf's eyes shot open with the velocity of a grasshopper's wings as short panicked breaths began escaping his muzzle.
No, no, no, she couldn't mea-the only other time Elizabeth had used her powers on him was when he had 'accidentally' chased her up a tree during playtime and the then four year old had thought she could simply ease them both to the ground like a fallen leaf.
In short, she could not.
As Jasper found himself in the midst of shuddering at the ancient memory, he had apparently been none too subtle about it because within a fraction of a second, Elizabeth was on her knees before him raising her scraped hands to comb through his fur in a comforting caress.
"Shh, it's okay boy. It'll all be alright. I've gotten alot better with my powers you know that, it'll be just fine I promise."
As much as Jasper wanted with every fiber of his being to trust his master, flying was something he could never find himself comfortable with not in a million yea-
"Uh hey-"
"What?" The ravenette grumbled through gritted teeth, shooting 'Adam' a dirty look over her shoulder.
The young man actually looked close to sheepish as he stared down at his own sandalled feet.
"I uh,... have a box of matches in my bag. We can use those to climb out."
ForgottenFamily
"Ok, so you caught flute guy then what?"
"Well, we turned him into the village counsel once we got out, then headed back to the inn to get our things packed for leaving next morning…"
Elizabeth was quite possibly the definition of satisfied as she and Jasper exited the parameters of the inn and entered into the town center where the oh so appealing sight of their former robber residing bent over in a set of stocks was currently dazzling them and all the other nearby onlookers.
With a mischievous quirk of one of her thick brows, the wind master casually strolled up to the punished criminal with Jasper trailing not far behind.
"Comfortable?" The ravenette kindly asked, completely unresistant to the alluring temptation to taunt the perpetrator.
"Oh wow," 'Adam' sardonically gasped. "Say did you spend all night thinking that one up, or did it just come to you?"
"How long?" Elizabeth replied, seemingly unfazed by the sly comment.
"Eh, three days including nights, plus I've been officially banned from stepping foot in this village ever again once my punishment's done here, so you know not so bad." The bandit explained, with a limited twirl of his constricted hands.
"Hmph, then I guess you can say we're even now." The wind master proudly mused with a smug shoulder shrug. "Well it's been fun you dirty rotten scoundrel ,but unlike I have better things to do than rob people-"
"Like waiting around some random nowhere town for a couple months searching for some guy who took your daddy's sword?" The young man rudely interrupted,lifting his head slightly to boredly peer up at Elizabeth through his shaggy bangs.
"So," The blue eyed woman firmly continued with only the slightest pinch of her brows to display her obvious frustration. "Sorry, to cut our reunion short ,but I really must be on my way."
With that the wind master and her wolf walked away and never saw the man again. Ever.
At least that's what would have happened were it not for 'Adam' replying a bold snort before calling out, "Well that's nice to hear, and hey better luck with directions this time right?"
Jasper had already strutted a few good steps away from the bound man, before he realized Elizabeth was not ahead of him.
Looking back in confusion, the animal's already present bewilderment was amplified when he saw a deep frown crease his master's features as her eyes went unusually wide and pale.
A moment of nothing more than the rowdy bustling of the village and its inhabitants filling the otherwise silent air passed before 'Adam' suddenly decided to open his mouth again.
"I mean you could try buying another map at the market ,but judging by your last purchase I'd say that didn't go too well." The boy teased with his own lopsided smirk.
"Are you just trying to taunt me?" Elizabeth spat, her tone stiff and serious.
"Well yeah kinda," 'Adam' honestly replied. Before the wind master could dismiss him however he continued, saying ",but also seriously wherever the hell it is you're going, you ain't getting there without a guide, because let's face it your bloodhound's not exactly been doing the job."
Jasper growled offense, tempted to go behind the stocks and bite the man's ankle.
However that train of thought was promptly derailed, as a throaty chortle erupted from Elizabeth's previous stone faced express.
"Oh my-no seriously am I hearing this right?" The ravenette asked not bothering to wait for an answer before continuing. "Are you- the man who left me hung up in a damn tree for three days- actually about to offer to be my guide?"
"Laugh all you want ,but I'm serious." 'Adam' rebutted, unaffected and obviously unsurprised by the blue eyed woman's response. "No one knows Ninjago better than I do. How long do you think I've been doing this sort of thing?" He asked, obviously referring to the whole robbing people sideshow he had been running. "Trust me, this ain't even the first village I've been banned from." The crook added like it was an achievement.
"And may I ask, why I should trust you to actually navigate instead of, you know stealing from me again." Elizabeth asked with a less than subtle tone of disbelieving annoyance.
"Well.." The young man drawled. "Since someone here has kinda shut down my latest immoral business practices, I think it's only fair that I kindly repay them by doing them this kind service for…... let's say ten silver."
Elizabeth's palm smashed into her face so hard, Jasper was almost afraid she hurt herself.
"Are you kidding-No!"
"Nine-"
"I only have five-"
"Okay, then give me four and we'll call it even." The thief stretched his hands as far as his wooden restraints would allow in a mock attempt at a handshake.
"First off three, not a cent more and second you don't even know where I'm going." The green banged woman logically pointed out.
"Is it in NInjago?"
"Yes, but-"
"Then it's settled, I should be able to get you there in probably no less than a few months -definitely no longer than a year I promise-so what do you say?"
ForgottenFamily
Morro's gaze could have bored a hole through Jasper's head.
"Tell me you didn't-"
"We did. Look there was no one else in the village who-"
"I can't believe you two were that gullible-"
"Can I continue or not?!"
"Guys, let's just calm dow-"
"Alright fine wolfman by all means, go ahead."
"Thanks, okay so after his three days were up, we hit the uh forest and started our journey..."
"Adam where are-"
"Oh yeah, by the way, my name's not Adam."
Elizabeth snorted like the statement was a joke as she patiently walked beside the limping man.
"Why does that not surprise me."
"What? Like you would give your real name to the person you just robbed?"
"I would never rob someone to begin with, I'm-"
"A righteous elemental master and you're supposed to protect the weak or some s**t yeah yeah I know." The bandit interrupted like he had already heard the statement a dozen times. "Anyways my point is, I'd like you to stop calling me that, messes with my head you know."
"Then what should I call you?" Elizabeth retorted with narrowed eyes.
"Well real name's Terrance."
"Terrance." The wind master repeated like the name felt foriegn on her tongue. "Alright then, Terrance do you actually want to know where we're trying to go to, or can you just sense my desired location with that amazing intellect of yours?"
"Wow, harsh today aren't we?" Terrance replied, one of his less impressive comebacks in Jasper's nonhuman opinion. "Well, since you're so eager why don't you go ahead and tell me the name of the location and I'll tell you how close we are?"
Elizabeth hesitated, looking down to study the above tree roots cropping her path rather than making eye contact.
"Well It's not really spoken of much, all I know is...it's called the Stone Miasma."
"Hmph,...yeah never heard of it." The flute toting man shrugged, spurring a deep flush of crimson to swell beneath Elizabeth's once pale skin.
"You said-"
"Yeah and I meant it," Terrance weakly defended, increasing his pace despite the impediment of his limp. "I'll be able to find that place no problem….just first I'll have to do some research."
"Research?" The ravenette annoyedly parroted. "And may I ask where you plan on doing this research?"
"Well, obviously if we're looking for a place no one's heard of then trust me the place to go is that Library of Domo or whatever it's called. You know what I'm talking about? "
"I do, and it's pronounced Domu." The wind master generously corrected.
" Yeah that place, we just gotta head over there and look at some books and-"
"Do you really think I haven't tried that already?" Elizabeth argued. "I've looked at just about all their books on Ninjago landscape and there's nothing-"
"Well, you just weren't looking in the right places." Terrance shot back with another cheeky smirk. " Don't worry, I've got this old friend of mine, Joanna cool lady said she's trying this whole rehabilitation thing by becoming a monk or whatever, anyway she'd be thrilled to escort us into the more shall we say restricted areas to find that place you're talking about."
Elizabeth blanched, looking utterly appalled. "What if we got caught?!"
"We won't trust me. I've done this plenty of times before and in any case this really is your only option. If you couldn't find any information on this place from that library then the only other place it could be-if it exists at all- would be with her."
The blue eyed woman's eyes seemed askance as her gaze darted back towards the ground whilst her fists continuously clenched and unclenched. She was conflicted.
"Alright Terrance against my better judgement, I'll trust you."
"Great shouldn't takes us more than about a week to get -"
"Oh and by the way if I come to regret trusting you," Elizabeth paused to grasp the limping boy's shoulder, stopping them both in their tracks. " from any means then,...well let's just say that fake screaming you did those months back will be nothing compared to the sounds you'll make by my hand…..got it?"
Terrance might've been trembling like a lost puppy on the inside, but all he allowed his latest travel companions the satisfaction of seeing was a brief sigh followed by a closed eye grin.
"Don't worry you won't be disappointed."
ForgottenFamily
Jasper was surprised they stopped to make camp so early.
It was barely dark yet and here they were, Terrance crouched over a pile of sticks as his hands shakily lit a match.
"I'm surprised they let you keep those." Elizabeth pointed out from her spot on a nearby log, where Jasper lay just below poutingly resting his muzzle against her crossed ankles.
"Who? The jailers?"
"Yes."
"Urgh don't get me started. I was lucky to keep these good things. It's hard to prove something is stolen when your name's on it" The brunette explained, gesturing towards the letters carved into the box spelling out his name.
Once Terrance managed to keep a steady flame (after at least four unsuccessful attempts) he gently tossed the match box into a pile consisting of his empty green rucksack and his ever present flute.
Elizabeth's eyes followed and for a brief moment the pale skinned woman's eyes refused to tear themselves away from the offensively ugly instrument.
Without meaning to-Jasper was certain of that-the ravenette suddenly asked, "Do you play?"
"No." Terrance tersely replied, his gaze never leaving the growing flame that had now grown to illuminate his face beyond the grime covering it, to showcase the obvious bags weighing his eyes down like bricks.
"Then wh-"
"Well, I'm starving." The young man abruptly blurted out like it was urgent information.
Elizabeth slightly confused by the sudden interruption took a moment collect her senses, and in between that brief period Terrance had apparently found it suitable to get up turn over a nearby rock and proceed to begin plucking out a handful of various insects before then popping them into his mouth-
"What are you doing!" Elizabeth yelled, broken from her reverie by the troubling display.
"Huh?" Terrance said around a mouthful of what was probably beetle. "Oh, did you wanth thome?" The young man asked, grasping another handful of the squirming bugs and attempting to offer them to Elizabeth.
In response the ravenette looking rightfully horrified slapped the insects from Terrance's hand.
"Hey!"
"Do you even realize how many diseas- they haven't even been cooked!" The blue eyed woman screamed, her agitation clearly at its peek. "Oh my- is this the reason you wanted to stop so early, so you could find some f**king bugs!"
"Well," Terrance paused to swallow. "My apologies your highness ,but they don't exactly like to feed prisoners at the stocks so excuse me if I'm a little hungry after going three days-"
"Urgh you are so unfathomably disg-Wait, what?!" The green banged woman looked at him with disbelief. "They didn't give you...anything?!"
"Well, water occasionally ,but other than that no. Wanted to teach me a lesson you know."
"I.." Elizabeth trailed off as if lost in her own head, whilst her gaze turned concerned. Jasper found himself sharing the sentiment. He could understand very few human problems ,but going without food was something just about every creature in Ninjago could share a disdain for. Even when they were up in the tree, Elizabeth at least some emergency bread and water stashed within the pockets of her gi. Jasper almost couldn't help ,but wonder if Terance had known that.
For a moment under a tense blanket of silence the three simply sat around the fire watching one other's every movement. Then without a word, Elizabeth sprang to her feet and all ,but marched over towards her discarded bag.
In a flurry of movement, the ravenette quickly shuffled around inside or less than a second before yanking out a leftover loaf of bread and cheese the innkeeper had graciously gifted her before they left.
Ripping the large loaf into three large scraps and tearing off another three huge chunks of cheese, Elizabeth practically threw a piece of each towards Jasper and Terrance offering them both no more than a gruff "Eat." before devouring her own massive slices in no more than a few bites.
Terance meanwhile simply stared at her from across the camp- whether in awe or some other complicated human emotion Jasper was unsure -before shrugging and taking a surprising tentative bite of his own.
Maybe he was afraid it was poisoned.
ForgottenFamily
That night as the fire eventually died away and Elizabeth gradually let her eyes slip close with the expected knowledge that Jasper would of course be awake to watch over her, the wolf couldn't help but feel strange having spent so many nights alone with her only to now have an unhygienic thief lay just a few feet away, awake as the surrounding fireflies.
To say the wolf's defensives were up was quite literally the understatement of ever.
Every movement that Jasper could catch from his peripherals as he sat over his master's body, was rewarded with a resounding growl threatening violent action at the slightest suspicion.
"Don't worry mutt." Terance replied with a yawn. "I ain't gonna try anything. I've As it were learned my lesson."
Jasper growled harder still, unconvinced.
Terance arched a brow as if confused. "You still mad about the tree incident."
The wolf hoped his unimpressed sapphire orbs were enough to communicate that yes he was.
"Well, I know this might not make it up to you completely ,but" The thief paused to retrieve something from his pocket.
Jasper recoiled as the young man sat up and brought his filthy closed fist towards him. He only ceased his panic, when Terance's hand opened to reveal an almost microscopic piece of worn rabbit jerky that looked possibly staler than his clothes.
"Here, you can have it." The criminal offered.
Jasper paused to consider if perhaps this was another trick…...for all of two seconds before grumpily snatching the jerky from his hand just like before.
Surprisingly enough, the wolf felt no immediate consequences for his consumption so for now he assumed he was safe.
"Is it good?" Terance quietly asked, an almost playful smile present on his otherwise shadowed features.
Not bothering to answer Jasper simply turned his gaze back to Elizabeth.
He didn't growl for the rest of the night.
ForgottenFamily
"So like Terance said about a week later we were finally pretty close to reaching the library, only about a day away..."
Jasper had never seen Elizabeth look so pleased to see water in all her life.
There before the three man- well one man, a woman, and wolf- band lay a quaint stream at most likely at least seven feet deep, maybe eight with a thin yet powerful waterfall cascading earthy liquid at every creature lucky enough to be within its proximity.
Master wasted no time discarding her shoes and gi, leaving only her oversized undershirt and shorts remaining before diving into the crystal clear stream water like a man on fire.
"Finally!" Elizabeth called out once she rose up from beneath the gentle tide. "I thought I'd never get a chance to clean up before we made it to the library."
Jasper was inclined to agree as he gently eased himself into the water from the bank. He hated getting wet possibly more than any other creature alive ,but he hated his coat getting musty even more.
As the wolf mindlessly floated for a moment before paddling towards his owner, he suddenly found himself looking back to Terance who stared at the two amused, but unmoving.
"Well have fun! I'm gonna go and-"
"Aren't you gonna come in!" The wind master shouted as she gracefully swam toward the bank housing the bandit with Jasper not far behind.
"No, I prefer dry land." Terance explained like it was obvious.
"But-"
"Sorry nope. No can do." The young man said, shaking his head, almost sounding defensive(?).
Elizabeth 's suddenly narrowed as if she had been told he preferred not breathing.
"Yeah so-"
"No."
"What?"
"No. I've had to live with your smell day and night for a week now, I'm not about to let you drag that into Domu as well." The ravenette promptly decided as she rose to her feet and stumbled onto the mossy bank.
"Okay first hurtful, second, it's a library it probably already smells like old people right? I don't think I'll make that much of a differe-"
"Don't care." The green banged woman earnestly replied (the same mischievous glint present in her eyes from back at the stocks) as she reached out to grasp the young man's arm.
Terance retaliated with a clumsy backward dash that in the end proved pointless when Elizabeth simply elicited a strong gust of wind from her palms to just push him back towards her.
As the limping bandit predictably came crashing against her, he evidently realized the inevitable outcome of the situation when the ravenette gripped the back of his arms and began tugging him toward the water.
"Wait, no! C'mon what have I done to you?! I mean besides the tree thing!"
Elizabeth actually began to giggle as both they're bare feet touched the water. Terance's reaction was a tad more extreme, with the thief going as far to let out a shrill eep and begin his pointless struggles anew calling out to any and everything within reach to come and save him.
Even Jasper.
"Hey mutt, why don't you come and help me out here! Mutt! I'll buy you more jerky if you want!" The young thief screamed towards, Jasper who had just finished shaking his fur dry before casually sprawling out across the bank.
Sorry human, but Jasper knew better than to go against his master's wishes.
Elizabeth let another chortle of laughter at the navigator's desperation before simply letting them both fall back first into the stream's deep waters.
Terance came up spluttering like a stray cat, predictable ripples of dirt and grime surrounding his now soaking body like a ring.
'You little-"
"Hold still." Elizabeth commanded dunking the thief's head underwater long enough for her to produce a tiny soaked bag of soap wax from her bodice and pour the contents all over her and the enraged thief, only letting the poor human up to breath so she could get a better handle on his hair to scrub.
ForgottenFamily
It was nightfall by the time the wind master had finished the herculean task of effectively cleaning Terance.
Jasper was downright shocked by the transformation.
There was just enough facial detail to support the fact that this was in fact the once filthy bandit and that was about it.
The man's skin now resembled a healthy tan that was only stained ,by the few and far between scars adorning mainly his palms and ankles. His hair, though still messy beyond hope of fixing, looked much better under the scrutiny of firelight, the actual color even lightening to a very dirty blonde.
"See," Elizabeth called out, tossing the sulking man a towel. "Was that so,"
"Never do that again."
The blue eyed woman seemed to struggle holding in a another bout of laughter, instead having to settle for a sly grin. " It's just water you know."
"Yeah whatever." Terance gruffly replied. "How long exactly till my clothes are supposed to dry."
"Probably an hour." Elizabeth shrugged sitting closer to the bright fire of their makeshift camp.
"Great." The young man groaned. "Well, we've already eaten and I can't sleep in wet clothes….you wanna just, talk."
Again the ravenette shrugged. "Sure, why not."
"Alright then," The guide paused awkwardly. "So, what exactly are you hoping to find in this Bones Miasma place?"
The blue eyed woman shifted, as if at unease. Jasper got up to curl around her.
"Something ….to give me more power."
"Power? Why do you seem to have a lot already? Don't know if I want to live in a world where you have even more."
"Don't worry." Elizabeth reassured as she continued to watch the dancing flames. "I won't use it against you."
"Oh, then just everyone else?" Terance heartily laughed, though Jasper could see the slight tremble in his hands.
"No." The elemental recanted blankly. "I would never-It would be just one person in particular actually."
"Oh yeah and who's that?"
"The man who killed my father."
"Oh…." Terance trailed off looking close to lost and obviously tempted to drop the subject. He didn't.
"You gonna..kill him, it is a him right?"
"Yes." The green banged woman replied without a moment's hesitation.
"To which?"
"Both."
"Ah….do you uh….do you know him? What his name is and all that?" The young man persisted, bordering on the edge of invasive, however much to the surprise of both present male parties, Elizabeth didn't reward the question with so much as a bitter retort, instead chuckling like Terance had just told her the funniest joke.
"I don't think anyone knows his real name, not even his face just…. his title."
"Oh and uh,why..why's that?" Terance asked, unwilling to relent for some strange reason. Maybe it was simply fascination, Jasper hadn't the slightest clue.
"Because he's the first spinjitzu master."
Omg guys, my fingers actually started to cramp when I finished writing this so that's something, anyway hope y'all enjoyed be sure to let me know your thoughts and opinions if have any. Till next time when we finally finish this flashback!