It had only been a few short minutes since the group left behind S'warkii when Ophilia heard a small groan of pain coming from somewhere nearby. She immediately perked up and glanced around the area in confusion. "Did you hear that?" she asked of the rest of the group, keeping her voice low so as to not alert any of the nearby monsters to their presence.
"I did," Primrose confirmed with a nod. She reached for her dagger on instinct, preparing the blade in case she had to jump in the direction of any of the monsters found in the area.
"It sounded like a human," Ophilia told Primrose. "I don't think that was a monster at all... If someone got hurt while wandering around here, then we have to do what we can to help them."
Ophilia started to walk a bit faster, glancing around the area as quickly as possible. The Ember couldn't seem to decide if it wanted to glow brightly or recoil at whatever was taking place, but Ophilia ultimately resolved to stick it on her hip and let it sit there beneath her cloak as she concentrated on the task at hand. The rest of the group followed her lead, not saying anything but still clearly curious about what was taking place.
It only took a minute or two for Ophilia to figure out what was taking place, and a gasp left her lips as her gaze fell upon a young man who was on the grass in the shadow of a tree. He was leaning against the trunk of the impressive show of greenery as he grabbed at his leg. There was a small amount of blood flowing from a notable cut on his thigh, and the man was staring at it with fear and upset knitted into his gaze.
Alfyn moved to the man's side, crouching beside the blonde. He was wearing mostly blue, though his clothing hardly seemed to be fit for the road. He certainly didn't belong to the forests of S'warkii given his attire, though Ophilia wasn't entirely sure where he could have been from. "What's going on?" Alfyn questioned of the young man as he looked at the injury found on the blonde's leg.
"A monster came out of nowhere, and it got me in the leg. I can hardly put any weight on it..." the blonde man explained. He attempted to rise to his feet once again, but despite his efforts, he was brought back to the ground once more a moment later. "I hate to be a bother, but do you have a healing grape to spare?"
"I can do you one better," Ophilia smiled. She held up her staff after removing it from her bag, and she waved it down in front of the young man. Light immediately washed over the area with delicate droplets of energy settling over his injury. It didn't take long from there for the wound to stitch itself up, leaving behind little more than a small scar where the cut had once been. Ophilia allowed her staff to fall back down to her side once the healing process was complete. "How does it feel now?"
The young man pushed himself to his feet with the help of the tree he was leaned against, bracing one hand against the trunk as he did so. He tested his leg by taking a step on the foot that had previously been injured, and a grand smile broke out across his features. "Thank you so much!" he cried out. He took another few experimental steps, and when he felt no pushback from his body, he let out a light sigh towards the group of travelers. "Phew! It feels good to be back on my feet. I can't thank you enough. I'd have been done for if you hadn't come along!"
"There are quite a few monsters around here, huh?" Alfyn prompted, though he wasn't particularly expecting an answer. He watched the way that the young man moved for a few moments longer before a satisfied smile appeared on his lips. "It certainly seems like everything is back in order. You're all good to go."
"What's your name?" Tressa questioned as she dared to move a bit closer to the young man. She looked over him in full, seemingly trying to see if she could glean any other pieces of information from him along the way.
"My name is Kit," the blonde explained. He paused briefly before he smiled up at the rest of the group. "If you don't mind my asking, could I have the names of my rescuers?"
"I'm Ophilia, and this is Cyrus, Tressa, Olberic, Primrose, Alfyn, Therion, and H'aanit," Ophilia introduced, gesturing to each of the travelers along the way. All of them offered at least a nod of acknowledgement if not an outright wave save for Therion who continued to stare down at the ground with something akin to a scowl. "I'm glad that we were able to help you... What are you doing out here though? These woods are dangerous to be traveling in by yourself."
"I'm on a journey to find my father. He disappeared when I was just a boy..." Kit replied, his expression slipping to the ground. Ophilia felt a knot form in her stomach at those words. Her journey wasn't entirely all that different, was it? She was doing all of this because she wanted to find a way to return to Flamesgrace and bid farewell to her father. She was on the Kindling because she was trying to help her family. It was her reason for doing all of this and going on this grand journey.
"I'm so sorry," Ophilia told him, her features slipping into sympathy. She reached one hand out to place it on his shoulder. The Ember's flame flickered ever so slightly from its place at her side, but for the first time in what felt like forever, she didn't pay it any mind, too focused on the situation at hand to heed the advice it may or may not have been trying to give her.
Kit shook his head, not wanting to linger on the subject for any longer than he had to. "It's alright," he assured her. His gaze shifted to the rest of the group, and he scanned over the strange ensemble of characters gathered before him. "Are you all on a journey too?"
Ophilia glanced at the others in her party and let out a small chuckle. "I guess you could say that," she responded. Describing everything that her and the rest of her team was doing as part of their adventure would take quite a while, and she didn't think that it would be the best idea to unload all of that onto Kit so suddenly.
"Perhaps our paths too will cross again someday," Kit smiled. He took a few steps away from the rest of the group, offering a wave in the direction of the party of eight gathered nearby. "Be safe, and may your travels bring you all that you seek!" He started walking off through the woods once again, first shifting into a silhouette before he vanished from sight completely.
Ophilia waved to him before she let out a small sigh, her hand falling down to her side once more. "I'm glad that we were able to help him. I would have felt awful if we weren't able to do anything to assist him with his injury," she told the rest of the group. She turned to face them with a small yet lovely smile on her face as she tucked her staff back into her bag, reclaiming the Lanthorn between her fingers. "I hope that he's able to find his father soon too. I can tell that it means a lot to him, so I'll wish for the best on his behalf."
"You're certainly trusting," Therion muttered under his breath with a shake of his head. This was one of the first things that he had openly said to anyone since they left behind S'warkii, and it could hardly be stated as anything positive. His hand was hidden under his cloak in an attempt to mask the fool's bangle from view.
"He was struggling, so I helped him," Ophilia told Therion simply, her expression slipping into something somber. "I want to help those who are unable to help themselves. They deserve that much from the rest of the world. I know that times can be hard, but... I want to do what I can to add a bit of light to make everything that little bit easier for them."
"I can certainly appreciate that," Alfyn smiled as he moved over to Ophilia's side. His hand came down on her shoulder, his grin just as bright as the sun itself where it hung suspended in the sky above the trees. "You've got a big heart, and that's one of the best qualities that a person can have in my eyes, Phili."
Ophilia smiled gently in his direction, trying her best to pretend that hearing a reference to Lianna's nickname of her didn't feel a bit like a punch to the stomach. It wasn't as if that was Alfyn's fault or anything; in fact, the direct opposite was true. Alfyn had no way of knowing that there was a past connection with the name that he had assigned to her. Alfyn had also given nicknames to Primrose and Tressa (Prima and Tress respectively), and it wasn't as if Ophilia was the only one who had been given this new privilege by him.
Still, it only made Ophilia yearn once again for what was taking place back in Flamesgrace. Josef had stated quite clearly that he didn't think he was going to be able to survive for much longer, but Ophilia was choosing to have faith that he was going to hold on for a bit longer. Aelfric would look after him the same way that she always did. Aelfric was a kind goddess, and Ophilia had learned as much as soon as she first entered the Church of the Sacred Flame. At one point, Ophilia had doubted such a truth because of her seclusion and bitterness towards the world in the aftermath of Creek's collapse, but she had accepted years ago that Aelfric did what she could to look after her people the same way that all of the gods did. The Sacred Flame was a sign of all that Aelfric did in the name of others, and Ophilia wasn't going to protest it.
Ophilia didn't say any of this to Alfyn though, instead offering him a gentle smile. "Thanks, Alfyn," she said softly. He returned the gesture of the grin with a nod before he moved away from her by a step, retreating to stand at Therion's side. The thief seemed to be resisting the urge to pull away from Alfyn. Ever since Therion was injured during the battle against the ghisarma, Alfyn had been hovering around him just to make sure that he was still alright. Therion was hardly the type to show his pain openly, and Alfyn could tell that at a first glance. That was likely the reason for his shift in behavior in the first place regardless of how much it irritated Therion.
Ophilia let out a small sigh, and she held up the Ember once again when she glanced over her shoulder to where Cyrus and Tressa were standing together. "Alright... We're headed to Stillsnow next, aren't we?" she questioned. Primrose had said that her objective was likely time sensitive, and she was going to need to travel in the direction of the wintry town as soon as possible to make sure that she was able to accomplish her goal before it slipped from between her fingers.
Cyrus unfurled the map that he had tucked away into his satchel, holding it up so that Tressa could see it as well. Olberic watched from his place not far off from the duo. "We are," Cyrus confirmed with a nod. He glanced over the surface of the map with a light hum escaping his lips. "We can head through the Woodlands in the direction of the Frostlands, and we should be able to arrive at Stillsnow soon enough."
Ophilia nodded, and she started off in the direction that Cyrus was moving in. The rest of the group trailed after him. Ophilia risked a glance back in Therion's direction, wondering if she would be able to see anything on his expression from their brief moment of conflict. Ophilia didn't think that anything was going to come of it, but she did have to wonder why it was that Therion was so distrustful of the world.
It wasn't as if Ophilia particularly had proof that there was more to the dilemma of Therion than initially met the eye. She could simply sense that there was something else going on inside his head that the other members of the group were not aware of. Something in the way that he carried himself set off an alarm in the back of Ophilia's head for a reason that she struggled to solidly define. He struggled with opening up to others and being able to trust them, and something had happened in the past to make him believe that he was going to be stabbed in the back. His posture was guarded, and he refused to meet anyone's gaze while simultaneously never backing down from a challenge. He hid everything behind a mask that thrived in shadows and fire, and the rest of the group was simply yet another audience for him to pull into his show.
Primrose was no different though, was she? Even though they were on their way to Stillsnow, a destination that Primrose had set for them in the first place, she hadn't explained much of anything in terms of what her objective was. Nobody had wanted to ask about it right after Yusufa was killed, unwilling to probe the gruesome subject of the woman who had been murdered for daring to defend Primrose. After that, the dancer simply took to avoiding every topic that just so happened to come close to the matter of her objective. It seemed that her dancing was not simply a physical skill, instead reaching out to her emotional state as well.
Ophilia was glad that she had managed to construct a party filled with so many incredible people, but at the same time, she couldn't help but wonder just what it was that the Ember was trying to imply. It was the reason that she had found many members of the group, and Ophilia wanted to trust its judgement. At the same time though, they were a group of misfits that barely seemed to fit together. This would undoubtedly change with time, but Ophilia had to wonder if she would ever be given the chance to see their dynamic work out to begin with given the contrast of personalities and ambitions found among the party of eight.
The Ember offered up yet another pulsing glow, and Ophilia glanced down to it with a small gasp. She could tell that it was trying to tell her something yet again. It was as if the Ember had been speaking to her ever since she first claimed it in the Cave of Origin, and while Ophilia partially wondered if anyone else had heard its voice in the past, she knew that she didn't have the chance to ask anyone. Josef was the only other Flamebearer who still drew breath, and Ophilia didn't want to hold back their journey any further by revisiting her hometown. She had to keep pressing on, and for the time being, that meant going to Stillsnow.
Ophilia did her best to shove all other thoughts out of her head, though that was much easier said than done. The world didn't seem to want to give her the chance to find freedom from her past thought cycle, and there wasn't an easy way for her to escape that. Still, she had a mission to concentrate on, and she wasn't about to let herself get in her own way.
The grassy greenery and overhead trees of the Woodlands soon gave way to the snowy plains of the Frostlands, and the temperature began to drop slowly but steadily. Ophilia was more than used to the cold, but she could tell that there were others in the party who were struggling on that front. Primrose had been wise enough to swap out her clothes built for the warm deserts of the Sunlands for warmer clothing while the group was on a temporary stop in Clearbrook, and Ophilia was glad that she had. Tressa, on the other hand, was nowhere near as good with the cold. She came from a warmer region, and all she could do was shiver as she rubbed at her arms to try and beat away the cold. Primrose wound up wrapping an arm around Tressa's shoulders to help out with keeping her warm, and Tressa offered a grateful smile up at the older dancer. Primrose simply grinned back, but there was something haunted and distant about the gesture that Ophilia didn't know how to decipher. She knew that nobody else understood it either, so she chose to stay silent for a short while longer.
Ophilia pressed one gloved hand against a nearby tree, the last one of brown and green before the ground fully gave way to the snow of the next region over. The monsters that the group fought against had been getting stronger since they left behind S'warkii. The weakest creatures could be found on the inner rings of towns of Orsterra. The Central Sea was where the gods ascended to the heavenly plane so many generations prior, and their influence was still strong enough to keep the occupants of the continent safe at the center of the continent. The farther that someone got from the Central Sea, the more dangerous it became to travel and the more likely powerful monsters were to appear. Luckily, the creatures were hardly any match for the combined might of the eight travelers put together. Their teamwork was hardly up to the level that it could have been, but it was enough for the time being.
Ophilia offered a final glance over her shoulder to the rest of her party to make sure that they were all still with her. When she counted over seven people and two other creatures, Ophilia nodded to herself and allowed her foot to come down on the nearest patch of snow that led into the Frostlands, and by extension, the territory surrounding Stillsnow. The city near Flamesgrace was one that was said to be filled with mystery, almost seeming to blend into the snow around it. The only way that a person could find Stillsnow and its occupants would be to intentionally search for it, and luckily for the party, they most certainly were. If Primrose really was on the hunt for a few shady figures the way that Ophilia assumed, this would certainly make sense as a hiding place. After all, Stillsnow was one of the best places to be obscured from the rest of the world.
As soon as Ophilia's shoe came down on the snowy white expanses that spread before her, something in the back of her mind seemed to change. It was like the flip of a coin or the pull of a lever. There was something inside of Ophilia that seemed to grow more alert while another part went dull. Bright blue eyes were suddenly overtaken by a gentle sheen of silver, and the world seemed to exist on the other side of stained glass coated in a soft glow the color of snowfall. Ophilia stared down at her hand that was outstretched before her, almost not fully understanding what was happening in front of her. For a long moment, all she did was look down at her palm where it was hiding beneath her glove, and the world around her seemed to fall away to little more than the general cacophony of static that whispered at the back of her head.
"Ophilia?" came the voice of Cyrus from somewhere nearby, but Ophilia wasn't able to figure out exactly where he was standing. She was vaguely aware of the fact that the rest of the group was staring at her, but she couldn't bring herself to care. There was something in the area that was calling for her, and Ophilia knew that it had to be something of significant.
Press onwards, young Flamebearer... I havest faith in thou.
"Look at the Ember!" Tressa exclaimed as she pointed at the Lanthorn draped between Ophilia's fingers on her other hands. The Ember was glowing even brighter than before. The snow around them began to fall heavier than it had been previously, but it didn't at all seem to impact the group walking through the storm. The overhead skies were cloudy the same way that they always seemed to be in the Frostlands, but the storm didn't touch the group of eight where they stood around the Ember. It was as if the small beacon from the goddess Aelfric was defending them from the full influence of the snowstorm.
"Why's it glowin' like that...?" Alfyn questioned, his eyes going wide. He took a step closer, but he didn't seem to be able to bring himself to get anywhere near the Ember beyond what he had already done. Even Therion appeared to be surprised as he, along with the rest of the group, stared at the Ember where it shone bright and crisp from its home within the Lanthorn.
Ophilia took a step forward, not entirely sure what she was doing but pushing herself onward regardless. Her body seemed to move on its own, not at all minding the commands that Ophilia may or may not have thrust upon it. The snow around them continued to part, almost as if it was opening a path for them to follow as they grew nearer to their destination. However, it had little to do with Stillsnow as far as Ophilia's dulled mind could tell. She was simply following the directions that the Ember provided for her, and she had to do as it commanded. There was a deep instinct that thrived in her core that told her this was her only option for the time being.
"Ophilia? Can you hear us?" Primrose asked. Ophilia did hear her, but the words were so distant that it sounded as if they were being spoken on the other side of a wall of water that could never be penetrated or destroyed. As such, she couldn't bring herself to respond, too concentrated on what the Ember was asking of her to bother. Around her, a small barrier of light appeared amidst the snow, protecting all of them from the storm that raged on all sides. None of them had been touched by even a single snowflake since the Ember began to glow, and the soft shield of what seemed to be light magic protected them from anything that could have dared to harm them.
"Are you responsible for this magic?" Olberic questioned as he looked over in Cyrus' direction. The scholar shook his head in response, a heavy frown on his face that was formed out of something between curiosity and concern. Despite these silent musings, Cyrus didn't stop or force Ophilia to answer his questions, and nobody else did either. They all followed in the path that the Ember provided for them as well, not at all sure what was taking place but unwilling to protest its requests at the same time.
Ophilia reached out one hand ahead of her. She could feel something calling for her even though it spoke no words. It was as if there was some distant force that was beckoning for her to come as close as possible. There was a power found within the area that she had to locate. It was asking for her, and Ophilia couldn't refuse. She didn't want to, but even if she did, protest would have been impossible to begin with.
Comen closer, child... Destiny awaits thou.
Ophilia didn't respond to the voice in the back of her mind, and the Ember continued to glow even brighter at her side. It almost seemed like a beacon that fended off everything in the area ranging from the snowstorm to the growing darkness of the sunset. The environment around them was a mess of fury and rage from the part of nature, but it didn't have even the slightest impact on the people who were trying to find truth at the heart of the disaster.
Ophilia only stopped walking a few minutes later when something deep inside of her told her to halt. The Ember was just as bright as it had been during the journey, an inferno at the heart of the gentle shield that was guarding the group from the storm around them. Ophilia's eyes remained glazed over by silver, and she reached out one hand gently. The place that she had to travel to was right in front of her. She could simply feel it.
However, at a first glance, it simply looked like yet another mound of snow. The Frostlands had never melted in all of Orsterra's time existing as a grand continent, but the ground beneath them was assumed to be hilly to explain why the land appeared the way it did. This particular mound of snow was so large though that it couldn't have simply been a hill with the way that it rose so high above everything else in the area, almost as if it was trying to get as close to touching the sky as it could as a pile of snow.
Ophilia closed her eyes, and her hand glittered with gentle white light as the snow began to shift. The side of the hill had been shaped somewhat oddly, curving upwards naturally on all sides before cutting off abruptly and shooting downwards just in front of where the group was standing. It was this very abnormality of structure that ultimately began to change shape when the white light spread outwards, threatening to temporarily steal the vision of anyone who was unfortunate enough to stare into the heart of the inferno.
Ophilia was the only one unbothered, and she was able to easily stare at the hill's core when the straight edge slowly began to move outwards. The snowy ground rumbled gently, and two panels shifted out of the way almost as if they were a type of sliding door. The panels retreated into the hill before disappearing from view. On the other side, a dark space could be seen with a few traces of snow right beside the entrance. The white light on Ophilia's fingertips faded away as soon as the door had been opened to show the inside of the cave.
"What is this...?" Cyrus questioned, his eyes going wide. He stepped to the side of the hill to examine the space where the panels had disappeared from view, trying his best to find an explanation for what had taken place. He ran his fingers through the snow, and small piles of flakes fell between his palms before hitting the ground below. His breath didn't fog up in front of his face the way that it had previously. The inside of the cave was warm enough for that to not be a notable issue.
"It seems to be a cave of some kind," Primrose remarked. She took a step closer, the first to brave the threshold between the snow and the darkness found within. Certainly enough, the warmth of the area was enough to make her extra layers of clothing almost immediately unnecessary. She didn't move to remove the fabric though, instead simply bearing with it.
"We have to check out what's inside, right?" Tressa asked. She glanced to the others in the group for confirmation, and when she was met with a nod from Alfyn, she took a step forward, a gasp leaving her lips. "Hey... It's not cold in here! I think that's reason enough for us to look around at what's inside!"
Ophilia allowed her hand to fall back down to her side, and she glanced down to the Ember. The silvery sheen to her eyes had grown faint, but it was still present if one looked close enough. Her eyes asked the Ember a thousand questions about what had just taken place or why it had led her here, but she didn't vocalize any of them. Instead, she simply turned her face up to the cave. The path ahead was mostly dark, but she could tell that there was something of import inside. Why else would the Ember have led her here?
"Let's do it," Ophilia declared, the fog around her finally starting to clear. She walked past Primrose and into the depths of the cave, the rest of the group following in her footsteps. H'aanit wound up taking the rear position of the party, offering a quick glance over her shoulder to make sure that they weren't being followed. Linde and Hägen trailed in her footsteps.
Once the group was fully inside the cave, the ground began to rumble once more. A moment later, the doors pushed themselves closed once again, cloaking the party of eight in complete darkness save for the strong pulsing glow of the Ember. Ophilia held up the Lanthorn, casting her features in resplendent white light, before she continued onwards. She didn't know what they were going to find at the end of this path, but she knew that it had to be important. Finally, she was going to get a few answers about just what was going on inside her own head.
And so we return with our first weekly chapter since shifting posting schedules! Woohoo on that!
This chapter acts as a transition of sorts, and at long last, we have Kit! I know that there were some people wondering where he was all this time, and the answer is that I decided to wait on introducing him until after the full party was there. After all, I need everybody to know who he is, and that's the easiest way to make sure that happens. As such, we have Kit.
The rest of the chapter has the group moving towards Stillsnow, and I promise that next week will actually have a few answers that will explain just what's been going on with Ophilia as of late. I've been foreshadowing this for a long time, and I'm going to actually explain it after leaving so many questions open-ended. After that, we'll get started with chapter twos, this time with a lot more character interaction than what is allowed in canon. Party banter will be tackled on a case by case basis, but there will be tons more interactions either way.
There isn't all that much else to say about this chapter, so I'll leave it here to contribute to the aura of mystery left behind by the cliffhanger there at the end. Next time, we'll figure out just what's waiting inside of the cave. Until then, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Feedback is appreciated just like always. Have a nice day, everyone!
-Digital