Hamilton Quinn got up before dawn in the small Iselia inn for the fifth day in a row. Like all the other days, he got up while cursing the state of his bed before getting dressed in his Academy uniform and going over to his pack to see what breakfast was going to be. This morning his breakfast was beef jerky, grabbed as he walked out of his room and down the hall. He made his way to the washroom to make himself presentable in case the miracle he was hoping for decided this was the day to manifest. As he washed his face, he studied his reflection in the mirror. Without his glasses, his sunken eyes were easily noticeable, and the weeks of not having a proper comb [forgotten in his rush to pack] left his sandy blond hair disheveled at best. Still, he made himself as presentable as he could, before heading out for the day.
This had been his ritual since he had arrived in Iselia looking for Raine Sage, one of the eight (some sources said nine, others even said seven) people who had set out with Sylverant's Chosen five years ago. The typical journey of world regeneration they started that day ended months later with Sylverant and Tethe'alla coming together...somehow. How exactly they managed that was something that historians couldn't seem to agree on. All that anyone had really learned the last five years was that an unimaginably large tree now sat ever on the horizon, one shared by the residents of both Sylverant and Tethe'alla. Everyone was far too concerned with reckoning with the new order of the world to go into how it had happened. But now, after wars and natural disasters, Hamilton thought it was time for those questions to be answered. Which brought him here, walking into the general store like every other morning in the last week.
"Good morning, Mollie!" Hamilton called to the back of the store, the front desk empty. He pulled his backpack off his shoulders, ready to accept the sting of defeat from another day of no one seeing Raine. He knew she still lived in town, but the few people he talked to said she was frequently in and out on business, and she kept mostly to herself. No one had seen her for a month, but Hamilton didn't have a better plan than to wait for her to come back, even with the clock ticking. He was browsing the lettuce when Mollie popped up to the desk.
"Hi, sorry Hamilton, good to see you! I mean it's not like it's ever been bad to see you, but I mean it's the same amount of good as the other days. Anyway, I meant to come by the inn, but no one would be here to watch the shop! Besides, I knew you came in everyday and if I waited around I'd-"
"Mollie, slow down." Hamilton came up to the counter with produce in his arms. "What's going on, now?"
"I saw Ms. Sage. She's back!" The vegetables tumbled out of his hands to the counter. "She came in, got a few gels, and went to the Temple of Martel! If you hurry, you mi-" Hamilton had turned and bounded for the door, leaving the pile of lettuce and tomatoes on the counter. "...catch her." Mollie filled her arms before walking to the tomato stand.
He quickly made his way through town and out the Northeast gate. The Temple of Martel was a short walk due northwest, shorter with Hamilton fueled by his goal being so close within reach. Soon the tower was in sight, resting on a hilltop with a staircase carved into it. Hamilton had been there once in the last week, but the priests had quickly told him that he wasn't allowed inside due to tradition. Which, until today, was fine. But now he might have to get in there to meet the person he came halfway across the world for.
It was in this tunnel vision that the first wolf jumped at him, which Hamilton registered a second too late. He had been fighting some of the local animals all week, partly to get money for the inn but mostly out of a vain attempt to pass the time and not think about failure. He wasn't ill prepared for a fight but being ambushed was something most couldn't be ready for. Realizing quickly what was happening, he managed to push the beast off him and scramble to his feet, drawing the saber at his side as he did. He wasn't much more than a fencer for sport at school, but it had proven to be a little useful against the wolves around Iselia. As the wolf charged, it ran into steel as Hamilton brought the blade across in a sidestep. It fell to the ground, as Hamilton noticed two more wolves surrounding him, now both coming in for the attack. Having to make a quick choice, he thrusted towards one wolf while letting the other have an opening at him. Both wolves dropped; one fell dead while the other fell very much alive on top of Hamilton. With teeth bared it made for Hamilton's throat, but at the last moment he moved, the wolf's teeth landing instead into his shoulder. Hamilton let out a scream, any attempts to push the wolf off failed, with its teeth firmly latched on and digging deeper with each second. It seemed to be a losing battle of attrition when the wolf was flung off him by a flash of red. Following through blurred vision, Hamilton turned his head to see the wolf skid across the ground, before it became enveloped in a sphere of yellow-white light. The brightness got Hamilton to shield his eyes, the wolf gone when he finally looked back. Out of immediate danger, his thoughts turned to whatever miracle had saved him, and whose footsteps were coming towards him.
"Are you alright?" When Hamilton turned to see who was talking to him, he found a woman with shock white hair and steel blue eyes coming over to him. She had a brass staff in one hand affixed with a ruby on top, her other was reaching down to his shoulder. When her fingers grazed the bite wound Hamilton winced, finally realizing how much pain he was in now that his adrenaline was dropping. "It's not too bad. Hold still for a moment." The hand over his shoulder began to glow and Hamilton suddenly felt the pain leaving it. The punctures from the wolf's fangs began to slowly close, and soon the only evidence he'd even been hurt was the tears in his uniform. "There, that looks better."
"...Raine?" Hamilton finally managed, putting the pieces together finally. "Raine Sage?"
"I am." She dropped to one knee and helped Hamilton sit up. "You're lucky I was coming along when I did. But the question here is who you are? Have we met?"
"I... well," Hamilton wished he had prepared better for this moment. He had prepared a grand introduction that would lead into a pitch, but that clearly wasn't happening now. "No, we haven't. But I've been looking for you."
"The Chosen that United the Worlds?" Professor Morrison sighed, looking over the report in his hands at Hamilton. "This is a little ambitious for someone of your station, Mr. Quinn."
"I'm aware, Professor. But," I knew I'd need to convince you, "I've spent most of my down time here already doing research on them."
"Which would explain the reports I've been getting from your instructors." Hamilton was intelligent by most standards, but at the Palmacosta Academy the tireless work he had done most of his life in classrooms was giving diminishing returns compared to the naturally gifted around him working just as hard. "Besides, I can't imagine you've found much about the Chosen and her group to be obsessively researching over."
"But that's the point of the research I've been doing!" Hamilton reached to his right to start grabbing at the books he had brought into Professor Morrison's office with him. "There hasn't been any solid, united source on inarguably the most important event of the last millennia! A book from the Church of Martel; biased, incomplete. Guidebooks to the Elemental Temples; out of date, no real information on the trials inside. The very few primary sources I've been able to find; promising, but scattered and unorganized. This is all just what our library has." Professor Morrison looked over the books laid out on his desk, then back to the proposal in his hands, his expression never changing.
"So, what are you proposing?" The fish is on the hook.
"Classes are ending in a week and aren't going to start again for three months. At that time, I want to go to the Imperial Research Academy in Sybek." A pit was growing larger in Hamilton's stomach with every sentence. Was he doing enough to convince his advisor? "Once I've scoured that library for as much as it can give me, I'll put together a piece to present to our Academy's board as a pitch for a text." For the next minute, nothing. Only the ticking of the grandfather clock in the corner and the shuffling of the papers in Professor Morrison's hands cut the tension Hamilton felt. Finally, the Professor broke the silence.
"How do you plan to fund this all?" The one question he feared he'd hear the most but had the answer for regardless.
"If the school won't give me a stipend, I'll fund it myself."
"And they didn't." Hamilton and Raine had moved into the shade of a nearby tree, Raine leaning against the trunk, eyes closed. "So, I made my way to Sybek by boat, and after three weeks I realized they had as little as Palmacosta did. So, I did the only thing I could think of-"
"And started for the place you knew most of the group lived, hoping for a lead." Raine finished, nodding. Hamilton returned the gesture, even though she couldn't see it.
"I took another boat from Sybek to Izoold, hiked the Hima Trail, and got a guide in Triet to lead me through the desert to here." Raine finally opened her eyes, examining him. Hamilton felt a twinge of embarrassment, on top of the general malaise of shame he'd felt the last week as she did.
"You look in good condition for someone who hiked one of the continent's biggest mountain ranges and trekked through a desert." The complement hit him with another shot of embarrassment, different from the first one. "So why did you stay around here? Why not follow up on anything you learned here?"
"I…because you…" The words he had practiced for a week weren't coming out. Raine wasn't helping; she was standing straight now, and her crossed arms gave him the sense her patience was running out. But her face showed a genuine curiosity, as if the whole story interested her? It felt like he was on the edge of a knife, one wrong move and everything would be over. Deep Breath. Conviction.
"A few of the sparse sources I found mentioned there was a... a historian in the group. They all mentioned there was a woman in the group that, wherever they went she was always interested in the technology and artifacts surrounding her, from either world. One of those sources also mentioned, a little poetically, that the woman interested in technology and artifacts carried a staff. Not to support herself when walking, but to support others." His eyes moved for a moment to the gem topped staff that was slung across Raine's back. "When I got here last week and learned you still lived and taught here I-" He took a deep breath. It all sounded rather stupid and clumsy coming out of his mouth, but it was the truth. "I hoped that you, more than most of the others, would be able to help me...and would want to help me, for record's sake if nothing else." Raine seemed to have taken all the words in as he had said them but mulled them over in the shade of the tree. Hamilton waited, holding his breath as Raine held his future.
Finally, she nodded, and started off towards Iselia without a word. What had happened? What did the nod mean? Was it over, was his career over? As she got farther away, all Hamilton could do was stare, paralyzed with fear. But then, she turned to him and called "Well, come on. If we're going to do this, it's going to be done right." Raine continued walking away from Hamilton, who took another few moments to process what she had said. He was getting that interview. He grabbed his saber and quickly followed behind her.