Whew! I have a good start on chapter 14 now and I'm just happy I was able to squeeze this one out in the midst of my very hectic life. I'm in the middle of a job change and an international move! So, if everything goes according to plan, I will be posting these from South Korea in the future! In other news, Fable Legends was cancelled and Lionshead is being closed! What? There go all chances of more Fable games and here I was still holding out hope for a true Fable 4. Booo!
Oh well, we always have fanficition right? Shout out to everyone new and old, thanks for sticking around and I hope you still will! We got a bit to go still before the end.
It was late afternoon by the time the two hit the road, settled with provisions, camping gear, and weapons. It seemed like the whole camp was following them as they walked the twisting paths of Bowerlake. As the forest thickened more of the travelers peeled off, shouting or singing their goodbyes and blessings at the two. It was all very idyllic. At last, at a turn in the path that looked like every other turn in the path to Reaver but was somehow significant, with only a handful of gypsies.
"Take care, Sparrow." Lotus stood on her the tips of her toes to plant a kiss on Sparrow's forehead. Even then Sparrow had to lean down for the healer. "Know you will always have a place with us."
"I know." Sparrow smiled at the woman. "If anyone comes looking for me or us," she amended with a quick look at Reaver. "Tell them we are headed to Westcliff. After that I don't know."
"Chasing the wind, eh Sparrow?" one of the men in the pack of remaining gypsies called to her.
Sparrow shrugged but didn't say anything else about their quest.
Lotus nodded at her, "Of course. Anything else you'll be needing from us?"
"There is a purse in my caravan. If you could have a runner take it to the Sheriff in Bowerstone for repairs and compensation, I'd be grateful. I'd do it myself, but we need to be in Westcliff as soon as possible."
"Aye, I'm sure Gus or River will be happy to go." Lotus agreed.
There was a brief argument in the ranks about who was faster and more reliable a runner, apparently the two individuals in question were present an eager for the job.
"Shut it!" Lotus cried over the din and then turned back to Sparrow and Reaver. "Off with ye then. May the wind be at your back and your path ever clear before you." She raised her hands above her heads and the group behind her did as well. She waved them left, right, backwards and then forwards. Then she actually shooed them. "Until we meet again!"
Reaver watched amusedly and once he and Sparrow were a few yards down the path he asked,
"What in heavens was that?"
"What?" Sparrow raised her eyebrows in surprise. Her hands were busy behind her head, deftly twirling her now braided hair into a tight coil at the back of her head. She flicked a long, thin metal instrument from her coat sleeve and expertly pushed it into the bun. "Did you see something?"
"No, no." Reaver waved his hands in circles over his head. "All that." As an aside he added, with a chuckle, "You look like an owl." Sparrow had started to earnestly inspect the woods on either side of the path.
Sparrow quirked her head to the side and then her eyes brightened as she realized what he meant.
"Oh! The blessing? That's just how we say goodbye." She decided to ignore the owl comment.
Reaver arched an eyebrow in classic distaste. "Why?"
Sparrow rolled her eyes, "Is this the part where I'm supposed to be shocked that you don't understand kindness or is that still coming?"
Reaver rolled his eyes in answer and an uneasy silence fell between them because yes it was that part.
They walked in silence after that, each lost in their own thoughts. Sparrow used the time to plan their route, mentally making allowances for Reaver's current condition and potential obstacles. It was unclear to her what Reaver was using the time for, until she caught him snagging a leaf from a bow backed tree that arched over their path. He was sightseeing.
Unable to help herself, Sparrow laughed aloud and then clapped her hand over her mouth, quickly stiffling the sound.
Reaver gave her a quick questioning look before his gaze turned mischievous. "Did you just have a naughty thought?" He asked.
Sparrow shook her head, "No, of course not!"
"Oh." Reaver sighed, seeming disappointed.
Silence fell between the hero and the pirate once again, but this time Sparrow kept an eye on Reaver (under the pretense of watching out for bandits and hobbes which she was totally doing too). Every so often his hands would dart out, brushing against the rough bark of branches or the slippery texture of new spring leaves.
"How long has it been since you walked anywhere?" Sparrow asked finally. It made a little sense that he probably did not come to these woods, or, even, any woods at all. He was a pirate, semi-retired, and he grew up in a seaside village. The Dark Wood was nearby but it was hardly a good example of forest. So many of the trees in it were ancient, gnarled, wicked looking things that hid dark fairies and balverines. So, with that in mind, his need to touch everything made sense, but Sparrow was not going to get poison ivy because he picked the wrong leaf from the wrong plant out of curiosity.
"Two years, but I was busier then." Reaver said thoughtfully. "We all came out here once didn't we? Something for Garth? I honestly can't remember. Hammer's hair was distractingly atrocious and your shirts used to be lower cut."
"Scoundrel." Sparrow chided him as her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. She had never been one to pay much attention to fashion. Sparrow had never had the money to, but she had rebelled against the high-necked dresses that were in fashion at the time with unlaced shirts with plunging necklines. Ah, youth.
The conversation petered out again and Sparrow occupied her mind with plans for their route to Westcliff while Reaver continued his nature walk.
She was deep in planning a dozen different scenarios for the Bandit Coast when she sensed Reaver starting to lag. A quick glance at the lofty trees, already full with new leaves, and dull grey of Witch Stones peeking through the trees ahead told her that they were near Garth's Tower. The sun would be setting soon and Reaver clearly needed a rest, and Sparrow suspected he wouldn't ask for it.
She veered off the wide path, choosing a narrow trail marked with a glossy black stone at its mouth. The hero glanced back to see if Reaver had followed her and, upon seeing that he had, she pointed further down the path towards their destination.
"Garth's Tower isn't too far. We can rest there for the night." Already they were losing sunlight under the trees, but there was still enough for them to see. If it was full dark before they reached the tower, Sparrow could easily light the way with mage light. Years of hobbe hunting and supporting the guard-turned-farmer Giles against bandits meant that the forest was relatively safe. She hoped that hadn't changed in the last two years.
"If I recall correctly what you call a tower," Reaver paused to swipe a tree branch from his path. "Is in reality a ruin."
"In some spots...yes, but the tower itself is in fine condition." Sparrow pursed her lips in thought, it had been more than two years since she had set foot in Garth's home. The last time had to have been before they performed Theresa's ritual but after her time in the Spire. "I hope." she muttered under her breath. She also thought it wise to not mention the haunted bed.
It was another hour of picking through the overgrown trail before they reached the dilapidated stairs that marked the entrance to the ruins where Garth's tower resided.
Reaver, for whom the novelty of hiking through a forest had clearly worn off, was grumbling under his breath with a slight wheeze about how nature "ruins everything" and "idiot heroes who lie about time and distance always get their comeuppance."
Sparrow was in the midst of loudly reminding him just how lucky he was that she had decided to help him rather than "barbecue him and do the world a favor."
"Oh how heroic!" Reaver sneered. "Always putting the world first, aren't you?" He was a whole set of stairs behind Sparrow. The meager silver lining was that it was the last, crumbling grand staircase before the door to Garth's Tower.
"If you're going to be like this for the entire trip I'm going to burn off my own ears so I don't have to hear your screams!" Sparrow tossed back at him with equal venom as she pushed off the last step and then turned to watch Reaver as he finished the climb. Next time she saw Garth she was going to tell him exactly where he could shove all of these stairs.
Reaver paused catching his breath. It had to be nearly a thousand stone steps to this point. Shadows, he was out of breath.
In the dull light of twilight Sparrow looked mythic. Like the ghost of a Hero of Old, risen from the ruins. It was something about the light and something about how her copper red hair caught the last hidden rays of the light and little wisps had fallen out of her braided bun to frame her face. She seemed to stand straighter, despite her own fatigue, as if she were at last in her element out here on the ground of an abandoned mage's tower.
"You know, I liked you a lot better in the cave." He told Sparrow. He brushed the same two locks of hair that were always falling into his eyes now, he must look horrible with his hair unkempt and week-old stubble on his jaw.
She ignored his comment, instead waving him on with a quick roll of her eyes. "Oh come on you. It's only three stairs. What self-respecting pirate let's himself be defeated by three crumbly stairs."
"I knew one." Reaver pulled himself up and started up the last set of stairs of this horrendous hike. Oh Shadows, he was going to have to go down these in the morning wasn't he?
"You already did all the others. Come on!" She hesitated for a second and then clapped her hands together comically a wry smile replacing her tired frown. "Ra-ra-ra and all that! You can do it! "
Reaver paused, eyeing her with a mix of annoyance and suppressed amusement. "Really? That's how you encourage people?
"Get your bloody ass up here before I scorch it."
"That's more like it, Hero." Reaver resumed his tired progress up the stairs. It took him little time to reach the last step.
Sparrow reached out to steady him but stopped. Instead she just gave him an inquisitive look, pressing her lips together as she thought of something.
"You could stay here while I go on to Westcliff." Sparrow offered the pirate.
"I'm fine." Reaver answered, again brushing his hair from his face before heading towards the tower door.
Sparrow released a frustrated sigh and followed. He was obviously not okay. A week after the trouble in Bowerstone and Reaver was still short of breath. Sure, she was a little winded by the four thousand Light blasted stairs leading to Garth's Tower, but she didn't feel nearly as winded as the stubborn pirate looked. He should have healed just as quickly as she had from the explosion of the clock tower, but he hadn't and he wasn't.
"Reaver." Sparrow growled, preparing herself for another teeth pulling session of trying to get the most selfish and prideful man she had ever met to acknowledge that his immortality was literally being drained away before their eyes. Things were likely to get worse before they got better.
Several long strides and she was caught up to him, grabbing his arm, and spinning him right round to face her. Their noses almost touched and what had been intended as some grumpily delivered advice quickly died in her throat. Sparrow stood frozen for the space of a heartbeat. Her mind spun; they were too close, he was staring at her,she was staring at him, was he leaning towards her? Her last observation was enough to break whatever hold had been on her. Sparrow stepped back, dropping her hand from Reaver's arm, and glanced quickly about. Of course she needn't have bothered with that, there was no one around to see them other than the animals of the forest.
Reaver spoke first, as always, "Something you want to say, Hero?"
"Only," Sparrow absently tilted her head to the side, mentally digging for the thing she was going to say. Come on, we talked about this. Pretty face? Yes. Distraction? No.
"I wait with baited breath." Clearly he didn't think she had anything to say.
"Your immortality is being drained from you as we speak." There it was! "You're becoming mortal for the first time in centuries, Reaver. It's okay to ask for help." She nodded sharply as if agreeing with her own words again.
He stared at her back, his jaw muscles flexing beneath the three day old stubble on the edges of face. They stood about a foot apart, Sparrow facing him squarely while he stood at an angle to the imposing hero. Reaver's thoughts strayed to the morning of his deal with the Court of Shadows. She had confronted him just like this. He had remained silent. It was the first time his tongue had failed him. There were no words to describe the fear and horror he felt or the dreadful knowledge he had gained in the Witch Wood. The words hadn't come to him then and she had stormed off, enraged by his continued silence. Yet another difference between her and Sparrow to add to the list.
Sparrow rolled her shoulders and walked past Reaver an unfamiliar look in her eyes as their gazes locked and then disconnected.
"I'll try," Reaver announced in that quieter tone of his that Sparrow was to grow accustomed to. "To remember that in the future, Hero."
Sparrow paused and turned back to look at the unusually subdued pirate. "Careful, Reaver, or you might end up redeeming yourself."
Reaver chuckled, "Oh, I doubt that."