A/N: Lalalalala~ This chapter is deticated to Willow-chan! I'm gonna be so lonely when u go away Dx
Disclaimer: X_X do you really think I've obtained ownership of GC in the last week? Because I haven't. Dx
Chapter 13: Forest Memories
Elesis looked up at the pair as they re-entered the clearing, setting down the spear she had been cleaning to stand up next to them.
"So, what are we going to eat? And why is Arme covered in dirt? It looks like something was chasing her..." She trailed off slowly at their expressions, then turned to the rest of the group.
"Okay. We need to decide what we're eating, and who's going to hunt!" She declared, receiving a nod from the rest of the group. Ryan raised his hand.
"Deer?" Elesis pondered the question for a second, turning back to the mage.
"Hey, Arme. You alright with cooking... Deer...?" She asked, her voice growing quieter when she noticed the mage's paling face.
"Could we not?" She suggested meekly, the assassin resting a hand on her head.
"Rabbit, then?" He gave a light laugh as she began shaking her head furiously, the thought of boiling a rabbit worrying her. Glancing over to where the druid was sitting and watching boredly, Lass motioned for him to come over.
"Ryan, do you mind coming hunting?" He questioned. The elf shook his head, going back over to pick up the axe he had left on the ground. Lass began leading the way into the forest with scimitar in hand when Arme thought to say something.
"B-but wait! What are you bringing back?" She asked. Lass shrugged.
"You'll see when we return." Arme watched for a moment as the pair left the clearing, sitting down resignedly on a log next to the muse, who had just taken out her violin. She seemed distracted by the woods surrounding them, blinking when she noticed Arme sitting next to her.
"It's really nice here, isn't it~?" Amy smiled, her gaze lost as she began playing a gentle tune. The melody swirled around quietly, matching the serene surrounding the forest provided. The magician nodded.
"Many people have been lost here because of it's beauty. The paths swirl and wind, and despite it's appearance there are many dangers." Arme shivered, realizing how easily she could have gotten lost. She turned back to Amy then, the look on the girl's face familiar to that of reminisce.
"Amy... Have you ever gotten lost in the forest?" The dancer laughed.
"Yup~! The leader of the silver knights found me before I could starve, though." Arme stared at her for a second.
"You... Were lost in here? How long, and why?" Amy paused for a second.
"Perhaps... About two years ago, now. I was lost in here for one week. " Arme opened her mouth to speak, but it appeared the muse wasn't quite done.
"I was just wandering at that point... Easily distracted, I ran into the woods. No one was waiting for me at home, so no one even noticed I was gone. It was... If I hadn't been found by the Master and the other silver knights I probably would have starved. They let me stay with them for a while and taught me a bit, so I owe them a lot. " She smiled lightly, Arme just watching her for a moment. She would have commented, if Elesis hadn't come up to them at that moment.
"Amy... Do you know the date?" She asked worriedly. The pink haired girl's eyes lit up for a second as she reached into her bag. She bit her lip when she eventually pulled out a small black book, and the anxious looks on both of their faces had Arme frightened for a moment. Finally, after flipping through the book for a few seconds Amy stopped. Her hand lingered on the page for a second, and she looked up at Elesis.
"Well...?" Amy sighed.
"It's April the second. Elesis... Can we maybe... skip the Elven Forest?" The redheaded girl shook her head, and Arme decided it would be best not to interfere with their conversation.
"You know it's not possible to get to the castle without going through..."
"B-but we don't need to go through the Elven Village, do we?" Amy murmured, receiving another shake of the head from the knight. At this point Ronan came over to join them, Jin watching with interest from his spot at a nearby tree.
"They've been expecting us. The troll is apparently on the loose again, and we'd expected we would be here earlier than now." Arme looked down guiltily and pressed the tips of her fingers together, fully aware she was the reason they had been delayed for three extra days.
"Hey! Don't make her feel bad, Ronan!" Everyone looked over in surprise to where the redheaded fighter was, and Ronan's eyes widened. He turned to Arme hastily.
"Ah- Oh! I didn't mean anything like that, Arme! It wasn't your fault we didn't make it here before now. And beside that, are you really all that certain it's that bad?" He aimed the last question toward Elesis. She stared back at him for a moment, a large frown evident on her face.
"It's April second, Ronan. We all know what tomorrow is..." Arme raised her hand meekly at this statement, looking up at the group questioningly.
"What is tomorrow?" She finally asked. Glances were exchanged between all the members until eventually Ronan took a deep breath. He let it out slowly, shortly delaying the start of the information.
"Tomorrow is April the third... It's also Lire's birthday." He paused for a second, waiting for her to take in the words, "And for Ryan, there will be no worse place in all of Bermesiah to be. It's bad enough that he's in the forest of her home village, but at least if we were anywhere else there was a chance he'd miss it. Ryan doesn't keep track of the calender, but here... The Elven Village holds a rather large festival for her birthday every year, and I doubt they're going to stop even if they do know she's been gone for almost a year. We have to stop there no matter what, and there's no way he's going to miss the gigantic 'Happy Birthday' banisters." He finally finished, looking at the others. Elesis nodded sadly.
"This... It isn't going to go well. If we try to give him something obvious to do that would keep him out of the village he'd just get suspicious, so that's ruled out too." Arme's gaze lowered to the floor as she realized their situation, a sigh issuing from her mouth. The red haired knight bit her lip harshly.
"Damn it... This had to happen right when he was starting to recover..." Her spear was thrust into the ground frustratedly, and she wedged it back and forth in the dirt until there was a thin line in the ground. She repeated the action several times, glaring at nothing in particular. Worriedly the magician began wondering what she could do to make the situation better.
"Elesis...?"
"Mmhm?" The knight looked back at her from the corner of her eye.
"Might it help if... Perhaps you could send him and I to go find the troll? This is a pretty big forest, and it might take more than one day to find it... If you arrive at the village before that, you can request that everything be taken down the moment the festival is over. I could try to delay us returning before it's over." She suggested quietly. Elesis' mouth opened quickly for a retort, but it closed again just as suddenly. Her eyes widened as she sent a glance over to Ronan, who's gaze was directed at the ground where Elesis' spear was propped up.
"Do you think it might help?" She asked, and the indigo haired knight hesitated before giving a nod.
"If we can really keep him away from the festival... Even if he realizes what day it is, it'll go a lot better if he's not in the village when the festival goes on." He finally stated, looking back at the two girls. Elesis turned to look back at the magician.
"So, you're all right with this? The troll is no simple enemy..." Arme nodded.
"I can handle it!" The knight looked at her warily for a moment, and Arme was almost certain she was remembering the gorgos incident.
"Okay, then. Don't let anything bad happen, I personally don't fancy having my head cut off if Lass finds out I sent you on a mission that had you injured." Arme blushed, staring at the ground.
"He'd be fine with it! It's my own accident-proneness that does it, anyway." At this point Jin walked over to join the conversation.
"Actually, I'm pretty worried about how hard it's going to be to get him to agree to the plan, seeing how badly the last big fight crashed and burned even when he was right there." Elesis sent a glare at the other red head, watching Arme. The magician sighed miserably.
"Well, it did go pretty badly..." Jin nodded.
"No kidding." At this Amy stood up, whacking him over the head with her violin.
"Hey! Don't be a pessimist! I'm sure so long as Arme's ready for the battle it'll be fine." She sent a smile over to Arme that the magician was pretty sure was supposed to be reassuring before she turned to look at the forest behind her, where rustling leaves were heard. The entire group watched as Lass and Ryan re-entered the clearing, Jin rubbing his head sorely. Lass was holding a large bundle of meat cut into square chunks, the druid following with a basket of what appeared to be mushrooms. Arme was struck by a sudden image of Ryan wearing a pioneer-like dress with a hooded cloak as he collected mushrooms in the forest, and she bit her lip to stop herself from laughing at the idea. The two stared oddly at her as they placed the items down on a cloth that had been dredged from one of the bags (most likely Amy's), and Arme began looking at the meat curiously.
"What is it?" She asked after a moment of inspection. The assassin shrugged, looking at her neutrally.
"Does it matter?" Arme blinked incredulously.
"You don't know?" Lass rolled his eyes.
"Of course I do. I highly doubt there's anything in this forest you wouldn't feel guilty about cooking, so why don't we just leave it so you don't know what it is?" After a second Arme had to agree, knowing she wouldn't feel any better about cooking it if he told her it was a rabbit or anything of the likes. She observed the supplies for a second, taking a glance around the immediate forest. It had multiple resources, and without even walking around Arme was able to spot several spices. She clapped her hands with a grin.
"All right! Who can get the wood for a fire?" Jin raised his hand.
"I did that a couple minutes ago." She turned in surprise to realize there were several dry logs near the center of the clearing, providing a good area for her work.
"Okay, then! Let's get cooking!" The rest of the group had nothing much to do other than watch as the short girl began her cooking preparations, pulling various leaves and grasses nearby to add to her resources pile as she left the meat in a pot on top of the fire she had started. Amy offered to help find some ingredients, but in the end she had had difficulties telling poisonous plants from herbs, so she had resigned herself to washing and cutting the foods that were brought. Ryan was the only other one with the ability to help in that area, but he seemed to distracted for Arme to ask for help. She whisked around the clearing quickly from spot to spot as she managed to gather enough spices for her chosen meal.
"Amy, do you have a pan in that bag?" She questioned with a smile that often appeared on her face when she was cooking. Amy nodded.
"Naturally~" The musician rummaged around in the large bag for only a second before surfacing a large pan that she promptly handed to the little chef. Arme took it gratefully, moving the boiling pot over as she made room for the pan on the fire. She took the sliced mushrooms among other ingredients she had gathered, pouring a small amount of water into the pot as she placed them inside. Elesis watched the process with a particular interest, not easily able to believe even in a forest with what she considered to believe limited supplies that Arme could still make a delicious meal. Said magician was humming happily while she stirred the ingredients in the pan slowly, checking on the meat repeatedly. Finally she deemed it ready, turning to look at Amy.
"Could you strain the meat?" She asked, recieving a nod. The pink haired girl took care of her job quickly, handing the chunks to Arme. When she received them the girl promptly threw them into the pot along with the other ingredients, brushing her hands together satisfiedly. It was only a few minutes before she dispelled the fire underneath the pan, pouring the contents into the pot. She held it up victoriously, grinning.
"Behold! Mystery-meat stir-fry!" She proclaimed loudly. The chasers stared at Arme silently for a moment before Elesis nearly tackled her.
"It's ready, right?" She demanded, getting a nod from the magician. Amy held out a stack of seven bowls, Arme filling them all and passing them around. The group ate in content silence for a moment until Elesis finally found the need to speak, her second bowl cleaned.
"So, Ryan... You know the forest really well." She started. The druid nodded as though it was obvious, and Elesis hesitated.
"Well, one of the reasons we're passing through here is that the Troll is apparently on the loose again." At this Ryan seemed more alert, his eyes locked on Elesis.
"There have also been some problems going on with the village, so... I was thinking of sending you and Arme after the Troll while the rest of us reported to the village. There's been an explosion in the ammount of monsters over the last month, so we need to check all the villages anyway." She continued slowly. The orange haired boy spared a glance toward Arme, who kept her head down. She stared at the bowl intensely until she heard a quiet, "That sounds fine." Letting out a breath, Arme smiled as she looked around at the others, stopping only once she reached Lass. His eyes were wide as he looked at her, nothing else indicating his surprise at the situation. Ronan looked over at him as well.
"Lass...? Does that sound alright to you?" He questioned. The boy opened his mouth in what Arme was pretty certain would have been a protest, but then he looked over at Ryan. After a sigh, he nodded.
"It... That's fine." He murmured quietly, setting his empty bowl down next to Elesis, "About when will we be meeting up again?" Elesis shrugged.
"Hopefully the Troll won't be too tricky to find. It should take about... two days? We'll meet back in the Elven village." He nodded, eyes flickering over to the magician again as he leaned against a tree. Ryan stood up, stretching.
"When are we leaving?" He asked. Elesis paused for a second, thinking it over.
"As soon as you can." She mentioned finally, turning to Arme.
"Sound good with you?" Elesis questioned, looking at the purple-haired girl.
"It's good!" Arme smiled as she stood to help the muse, who had began dealing with the dishes, "It should be a couple minutes until I'm ready to go, though." Ryan nodded as he walked over to the edge of the clearing, grabbing onto one of the lower branches of the nearby tree, pulling himself up higher. He maintained that position until Arme was finished and ready to go ten minutes later. She watched the sliver haired boy carefully, who kept glancing at her as though he had something he wanted to say. No words were passed between the two, however, even as the two groups waved their goodbyes. The magician turned around slowly, only taking a couple steps before her arm was grabbed lightly. She turned around, not expecting to see the pink haired dancer who was looking at her concernedly.
"Arme, has your stomach been bothering you at all...?" She asked quietly, most of the other members ignorant of their conversation. With a sigh Arme nodded, her hand resting on the wound lightly. She frowned as she looked back at the muse, who was watching her with worry. Fishing something from her pocket, a small see-through vial filled with a vibrant red liquid was soon placed in Arme's hand.
"Take that before you eat tonight, all right? It should help a bit, I was experimenting with mixing potions with healing energy a while ago. I didn't want to mention it in front of Lass and make him even more worried, but you need to be really careful. I'm pretty certain your wound was disturbed when you were chasing the deer." Arme scratched the back of her head embarrasedly, nodding.
"I'll be careful. Thanks, Amy." The muse nodded, mouthing 'no problem' as she waved and turned back to the rest of her group. Ryan glanced at Arme as she caught up to him after slipping the vial in her bag, making her way through the forest with some difficulty. He took extra measures to make sure the path was cleared after she tripped, watching her quietly. There was no conversation between the two of them as they continued on, taking a more mild pace than Arme was accustomed to, but one that she was grateful for. The silence was nearly suffocating, but the magician couldn't think of anything she could say to make a conversation. She decided to simply observe their surroundings as she walked, taking in the trees that seemed to be growing larger and larger as they walked. The whole forest in itself seemed magical, with large mushrooms sprouting from the sides of most of the trees and reminding Arme of Alice in Wonderland. She giggled lightly at the thought, earning a strange look from the druid. He didn't comment in the end, allowing her to continue looking around in awe. The further they went, the more animals appeared. It wasn't uncommon for a rabbit to nearly run into their path, causing Arme to laugh happily.
"You're really loud..." Ryan finally murmured after about half an hour had passed, the magician pointing out every animal she had seen to the exhasperated druid.
"But everything here's so pretty!" She exclaimed, gasping as a butterfly landed on her shoulder, "Like this!" Ryan sighed.
"Amusing as that may be to you, there are also monsters here..." Arme blinked, jogging forward to catch up to him.
"R-really? There are monsters even in a place like this?" Ryan nodded.
"Warrior orcs and Harpies are pretty common, and they're not all. I wouldn't be surprised if you get bit by one of these 'pretty' animals... The forest is beautiful, but not all of the inhabitants are friendly." He explained. Arme pulled her hands back to her sides cautiously, looking around again. She remembered the harpies with a particular distaste, not only from being attacked by one but also having to defeather one. She shuddered at the memory, following along closer.
Night set faster than Arme was expecting in the forest, the glowing of the mushrooms and the greenery surprisingly luring in the darkness. She finally managed to get Ryan to agree to setting up a camp under a large mushroom, glowing softly in the black forest. She looked around quietly for a food to prepare, and ended up gathering a small assortment of the mushrooms and leaves she could find. Grateful she had packed some foods in her bag, Arme was able to make a small but decent dinner. They ate it without a word, Arme setting up the blankets Amy had given her before she left. She looked around worriedly as she put out the fire, finally realizing she couldn't find the druid. Her eyes hovered through the camp site slowly, and she finally noticed him sitting on top of the mushroom she had set her blanket up underneath. He looked somewhat lost as he stared out into the woods, and Arme bit her lip. Closing her eyes and hoping she wouldn't make him more miserable, Arme teleported up next to him. The druid looked over at her with a mild interest, staring back out into the woods a moment later.
"The forest is... Really nice..." She whispered quietly, following his gaze. She gasped as she saw small fairies playing in the distance, but didn't point them out for fear of stating the obvious. She looked down at the mushroom they were sitting on and with a shrug pulled out a piece. She was about to pop it in her mouth when the druid grabbed it out of her hands, throwing it off the side and into the dark bushes below without so much as a glance.
"Anything that glows in this place is poison, so if I were you I wouldn't eat it..." Ryan explained quietly. Arme blinked, looking back at him.
"Ah... You know a lot about this place, don't you?" The magician asked. Ryan leaned back on the glowing surface, gazing up at the tree tops.
"That tends to happen when you grow up in a place..."
"Oh... You grew up here..." Ryan chose not to answer, and the conversation was brought to an end. Arme sighed in frustration as she realized she didn't have anything she could ask him without worrying about hurting his feelings. She pulled her knees up to her chest for a second as she thought, and finally resigned herself to going to sleep.
"Good night..." With these final words she slid off the mushroom, hitting the ground roughly. She curled up in her blanket quietly, pulling the cover over her head to dim the glow. She heard footsteps nearing a fair while later, but was too tired to care.
Arme rubbed her eyes as light made it's way to her, infiltrating her vision. She sighed as she sat up lazily, stretching her arms over her head as she looked around.
"Ryan?" She called when she realized she couldn't find him anywhere at the camp. Her sights were brought to the top of the mushroom, but to her dismay she found that the druid wasn't there. She teleported up to search, though even from higher up Arme found she was unable to see far.
"Ryan?" Arme called again, louder. Yet again she recieved no response. Jumping down from the high up area, Arme looked back around the small site. She noted with confusion that the orange blanket she had set down the previous night was gone. Maybe he got fed up with me trying to make a conversation and left...? She wondered, peering around. She somehow doubted it, knowing at the very least he had more loyalty to Elesis than to just abandon her against the red head's instructions. With this in mind, Arme hummed while she packed up Lass' blanket; she had somehow ended up taking it with her. Leaning against the tree trunk, Arme had nearly fallen asleep when she heard leaves crunching nearby.
"Hey, where were yo..." Her voice trailed off as she opened her eyes, realizing that the sound wasn't Ryan but a large orc holding a gigantic hammer. It seemed to have noticed her when she spoke, and it lumbered toward her with it's hammer poised to strike.
"Ehh!" Arme rolled to avoid the hammer as it struck down by her, grazing her leg as she looked around. She scrambled frantically for her bag left lying near the empty fire-pit, but the orc seemed determined to keep her near the tree. Tossing a hammer at her that just barely missed, the orc continued closing in on her. Arme gritted her teeth as she did the best she could without a staff, fireballs spiralling from her hands and toward the orc. One hit directly in his eye, causing the monster to shriek loudly as it flailed it's hammer around at random. It connected solidly with her arm, and she grabbed onto the injured limb tightly as she was sent skidding a few feet back.
"Stone curse!" The spell lacked quite the effectiveness it held with her staff, but it was enough to give Arme a chance to send the orc flying into the air with a spiral of wind. It came crashing down moments later, ceasing movement as the stone cracked against it's skin. Cautiously, the petite magician sent forth a few fireballs to burn into it before she could be certain it was dead. With a sigh of relief she collapsed onto the grass, head down as she breathed heavily. Her eyes flew to her bleeding arm, and she flexed it cautiously. It was still able to move, though it sent pain through her in waves. Wincing, she allowed it to hang down beside her.
"You'd better hurry back..." She closed her eyes for a brief moment, though they flew open again when she heard a loud thunk next to her. She felt her stomach twist as she did, turning her head slowly. There's no way that was anyone's footsteps...Her worries were well founded. A stone hammer lay embedded in the ground next to her, and not far away stood two more large orcs. A small orc stood between them, a wooden club held in it's hand and a cruel sneer on it's face.
"Just great!" Arme moaned as she forced herself to stand again, glaring at the bag that seemed miles away. She conjured as many fire balls as she could to fend off the approaching group, edging over to the bag. A shriek distracted her, and Arme turned just in time to find a harpy launching itself at her.
"Gahh! It's to early for this!" The violet haired girl complained as she managed to make it out of the way. She gasped when she turned back to see the harpy. In missing her the bird had ended up sinking a talon into her bag, which was now held several feet above the ground.
"This is sonot my day..." She murmured as she conjured more one-handed fireballs, trying in vain to set fire to the harpy's large wings. Before the small flame balls could reach the bird flapped it's wings, creating a gust that easily dispelled them. She let out a groan as she was hit in the side with another stone hammer, remembering the orcs that were approaching from the other side. Her eyes winced shut tightly as she held her side, the same one the gorgos had bitten. She wasn't given much time to think as an axe was flung into the picture from somewhere beside her, and for a second Arme was certain that was headed for her as well. A grin reached her face as it spun past her, landing squarely in the harpy's chest. It dropped to the ground immediately, and Arme ran to grab her bag as footsteps were heard coming near.
"Lass really wasn't lying when he said you were danger-prone..." Arme laughed embarrasedly as Ryan's voice was heard, and by the time she had managed to yank the staff out of the bag she could see him in the immediate area. She sent some proper fireballs over to assist in the battle, running in to help.
"Stone curse!" The three orcs were imprisoned in stone as her wand was pointed toward them, making them an easy target for the druid's axe, retrieved from the chest of the harpy moments prior.
"Phew...-"
"That's not all!" Her sigh of relief was cut off as a thunder of footsteps was heard from her right, and she turned rapidly to find a solid wall of orcs approaching. Harpies flew above, and Arme gasped at the sheer volume of monsters approaching.
"How did all of them find us?" She demanded as she teleported up onto one of the mushrooms higher up on the tree.
"I don't know!" The druid seemed equally confused as he transformed, a orange wolf taking his place on the battle field. Arme bit her lip as she charged her mp, realizing how difficult it must be for the orange haired boy to fight solo. Several enemies were cut through, all of the orcs lacking in skill. The harpies were a bit more difficult to take on, their ability of flight making them more difficult to hit. The attacks were sudden, coming down on the swarmed wolf as he fought the lower enemies. Before Arme could fully charge several harpies found her hiding spot, forcing her to move. She turned their wings to stone as she teleported, sending them crashing to the ground like dead-weights. Giving up entirely on just charging, the magician set out fire balls to the harpies. In larger masses it was more difficult for them to notice all of the flames, several catching the feathers. Shrieking harpies were soon filling the air as the flaming monsters crashed into each other, catching one another on fire until for a moment it seemed the entire sky was on fire. Arme watched mesmerizedly for a second, caught off guard when Ryan quickly grabbed her and dragged her out of the clearing.
"They're going to start dropping soon. It's best not to be caught in their midst..." Shuddering, Arme nodded. One by one the harpies came crashing onto the sea of orcs, and soon the entire area was filled with shrieks of pain. Arme winced, closing her eyes to the deaths of the group of enemies. It was several minutes until the sounds quieted down, and the magician opened her eyes hesitantly. She wished she hadn't the moment she did, eyes falling on the burned enemies ahead.
"Let's go." Arme turned to see Ryan standing next to her, still a wolf. He was kneeling down, causing Arme to stare at him confusedly.
"Hm?"
"You need to get to the Elven village... That arm looks bad, not to mention your side where you were hit." Arme's eyes widened.
"No! We can't go to the village or- Nnnh..." Her hand clutched her side again, and she winced as she looked at the wolf.
"Get on, now. Or would you rather walk?" His tone suggested quite clearly that no matter what she chose she would end up back at the village, so Arme sighed dejectedly as she allowed herself to be piggy-backed. His fur was surprisingly soft, and Arme excitedly patted his head, pulling on his ears. They quickly flicked out of her grasp, the wolf shaking his head quickly.
"Hold on tight, or you'll fall..." There was a hint of sorrow in his voice, and Arme couldn't help but wonder if she had done something wrong.
"We're almost there..." Arme stirred quietly as Ryan spoke, her eyes opening slightly. The trees appeared to be thinning out, those that were left thicker and with much larger mushroom platforms on them. She immediately noticed the lack of weight on her back and reached over her shoulder.
"Where's my bag? ... Oh." She remembered briefly the crashing of the harpies and sighed. Anything in the bag would have been in flames by now... Her heart dropped for a second as she remembered her necklace and her book, and her eyes widened. Feeling sick, she pressed her head down on Ryan's shoulder.
"Arme? Are you alright?" He questioned after a minute. Arme didn't respond. My necklace... It's gone. I can't believe I... She felt like crying, misery flooding into her the more she thought about it. The wolf didn't comment on her sudden misery, tangible enough that he could nearly feel himself running through it. She couldn't conjure up enough will to try to stop Ryan from entering the village, unwilling to even move as the druid approached the village. Fur began receding from his body as he transformed back into himself, and soon he was completely back to an elf. They were going at a slightly slower pace, yet even so Arme could hear the sound of upbeat music coming from nearby. She opened her eyes slightly, lifting her head to look up to where bright lights were beginning to enter her vision. More worry began filling her, and she tugged on Ryan's hair.
"M... My arm is fine now. We shouldn't go in the village..." She murmured in a last ditch attempt to get the orange haired boy to turn around.
"We're almost there anyway. That needs to be checked or it'll get worse." The druid replied, setting her down when they got closer to the entrance.
"But..." She couldn't think up a response, words dying in her throat as they approached two large wooden gates. The posts at either side held guards, bows held in their hands as they looked around. When their eyes fell on Ryan they opened the gate nearly immediately, looking at Arme curiously. The gates seemed to open slowly, glowing from the village terribly obvious. Ryan began approaching the entrance, stopping only once the gate was entirely open. His body had frozen, and Arme watched as his eyes widened. A look of despair entered his face, and Arme soon traced his gaze to the rather large banner that read 'Happy Birthday, Lire!'. The accompanying music in the background added even more of an impact, causing Arme to sigh. This... Not only did I destroy everything in my bag, I also failed at keeping him away from the village.
"Ryan..." The elf didn't seem to hear her voice at all, taking the slightest step back. Uncertain of what to do, Arme reached cautiously for his arm. She was only able to graze his arm before he flinched back, taking a few more steps back before turning around entirely and running.
"Ryan!" It was no use. The druid disappeared from her sights nearly immediately, and Arme knew without trying that he was several times faster than her. She stared helplessly after him for a moment, finally turning back to the village. It would be best to find everyone else before I try to do anything on my own... She stepped into the festival hesitantly, looking around at the group of elves that turned to look at her. The music, she eventually decided, would be the best to find the others; it was a violin, which meant that they had very possibly asked Amy for a song. Her hand flew gingerly to her arm as she remembered she also needed to get it checked by the muse. She let out a sigh as she noted that Lass wouldn't be happy with her wound either, but that would have to wait until later. With a destination she began making her way towards the music, unable to stop herself from admiring the scenery as she went. The forest village maintained the beauty of the forest easily, the elves inhabiting it seeming to have an air of grace around them. Most of them held bows and deep green eyes, and all were clothed in dresses that seemed to be of light, white cloth materials, most likely for the festival. The music got louder as she continued walking through the paths, and she was soon greeted by the sight of a large group of elves surrounding a stage where, as predicted, Amy was standing. She was dressed in a similar attire to the elves with a pink tint, and she had her eyes shut as the bow ran back and forth quickly on the strings of the violin.
"Arme?" The magician turned quickly to see Elesis standing next to her, clothed similarly to Amy yet with a red tint. Arme supposed most of the others would be dressed the same, and her guess was soon confirmed as Ronan came to join them wearing a similar outfit to the other two, though with a hint of blue and altered to suit males. The two were staring at Arme with wide eyes, causing the amethyst-eyed girl to look at the ground.
"Where's Ryan?" The redhead demanded, her voice low as not to catch the attention of the elves nearby. Looking back up at them, Arme paused before answering.
"We were swarmed by orcs and harpies... He said we needed to return to the village." She murmured quietly.
"Where is he now?- What happened to your arm?" The magician looked around uncomfortably.
"We were in a fight, it's not as bad as it looks. Ryan ran off when we reached the gates, there was no way I could have caught up with him. I figured you guys might know what to do, so..." She trailed off quietly, watching as the spell knight grabbed her arm to inspect it. His hand hovered just above the bloodied skin for a moment, a soft blue light spiralling through it as he turned to Elesis.
"What should we do...?" Elesis bit her lip, a frown showing up on her face.
"Ryan knows the forest better than any of us. If he doesn't want to be found, he's not going to be found. I think... I think we should just leave him be." She finally concluded, glancing between the two other chasers. Arme turned her head to look back to where the gate was, the forest towering over and branches leaning into the village. Looking back to where Elesis stood, she gave a hesitant nod. Ronan sighed.
"I suppose there's nothing much else we can do... " Especially since everything's been acting up lately, the elven corps have been having a difficult time keeping the village safe. Today, when most of them are home with their families, there isn't much guard for the village."
"Yeah. As it is, Jin and Lass are keeping a lookout, right?" She received a nod from Ronan, then turned to Arme.
"You should probably get cleaned up, they have an outfit prepared for you for the festival. And don't ask me how they did it, I don't know." She added the last part at the magician's questioning look, giving a shrug. Arme nodded, looking around.
"Where do I go...?"
"Over there." The spell knight pointed out a building that was a decent distance away, shingled with what seemed to be red flower petals. Arme gave a small wave to the pair before she left, glancing up to the stage where the muse didn't seem to have noticed their presence. She made her way to the building carefully, noting her injured right arm seemed to be in much better shape than before Ronan had looked at it. Making it a point to thank the indigo haired man later, she continued on until she was standing in front of the door, an arch with a thin white cloth covering it.
Entering quietly, the first thing she noted was that the room was somewhat like a bedroom, the bed pushed up against the wall with three outfits left lying on it. She walked over to them carefully, inspecting each. The first was slightly orange, and she easily identified it as Ryan's. It seemed slightly more fancy than the outfits the other chasers had been wearing, and Arme attributed that to the fact that it was his home village. The next was a pale purple, and Arme picked it up cautiously. It looked to be the right size for her, and she held it out in front of her curiously. Walking away from the bed, she decided to change in the small side room. She figured out quickly that it was a bathroom, and her eyes went to the shower. Checking her own appearance in the mirror, she decided to quickly wash up before switching outfits. It only took her a few minutes to finish in the shower, and she was changed just as quickly when she got out. She looked at her staff, and finally decided to pick it up and bring it with her. Leaving her regular attire folded and on the bed, Arme was just about to leave the room when the third outfit on the bed caught her eye. Made of a fine light green material, the dress was much more elaborate than the others, practically screaming 'important person!'. A hand running over the dress, she concluded quietly that it was probably Lire's. With a sigh she turned back to the door, and she had hardly stepped outside before a blur of pink entered her vision.
"Arme! I heard you were hurt! Are you okay? And how did they know your measurements to make that?" Questions were thrown at her from Amy, and Arme took a deep breath.
"I was hurt a bit, Ronan looked at it and he thinks it's fine. I feel alright too, so that's not a problem. And the dress... I have no idea." She shrugged, getting a confused look from the dancer.
"Huh, really? Wierd. Anyway, there's stuff going on at the town center! Let's go!" Amy grabbed her injured arm hyperly, causing Arme to wince slightly as she was dragged along. The muse remained unaware as she pulled Arme until they reached the stage, where a performance was going on. Elves in elaborate costumes were spiralling around, dancing in difficult looking routines across the stage. There weren't many seats left when Arme and Amy made it back, and they were forced to take two seats near the back.
"Oh! You probably left your bag back in the room, but when we go back there can I have that vial back? It would make a good container for some of the other potions I've been working on." Arme's face paled as she remembered the potion Amy had given her before the groups split and she thought back to her bag, burnt to a crisp somewhere in the forest.
"Amy... I think I owe you a new vial." She said quietly, eyes to the ground. Amy blinked.
"Really? Why?" Sighing, Arme began her explanation.
"Well, you probably heard that we were attacked by harpies and orcs, right? Well... My bag was snatched by a harpy, and I got my wand back, but later on I set some harpies on fire. They fell down to the ground and set everything on fire, where my bag was..." Amy patted her on the back.
"That sucks... Wait. Was this before or after your dinner?" The dancer asked, looking at her seriously.
"After, it was this morning." The magician said quietly. Amy sighed with relief.
"That's good. You have to be really careful about your side for a while." She said. Arme bit her lip, looking down at her hands as she tried to think of how exactly she could tell the muse she had completely forgotten about the potion. Before she could, Amy shot up.
"Oh! I said I would tell Jin when I finished with my performance!" She exclaimed, turning to wave at Arme.
"I'll be right back!" The magician watched while the energetic dancer ran off, headed in the direction of the front gate. With a sigh, Arme looked around. Elesis and Ronan were nowhere to be seen, and she recalled Jin and Lass being on guard. Looking up at the stage, Arme couldn't find herself in the mood to watch. Bringing up the lost vial had also reminded her of her lost items, making her feel miserable. With a sigh, Arme stood up and walked away from the town's center. Thought majority of the festivities were taking place in the center, the entire village seemed to be bustling with energy. She walked through the dirt and grass paths of the village, finally ending up at a small gate on the wooden wall surrounding the town. A shine outside it caught her eye, and before she could stop herself Arme found herself pushing the gate open. Directly outside was a long path, and there was indeed something shining at the end. Curiosity piqued, Arme began walking down the well-beaten path. The flora around seemed more vivid than inside the village itself, or even outside in the forest. Flowers of many colours spiralled up the trunks of trees, blossoming in no particular order.
The path widened out as she got closer to the end, finally opening up into a large circular clearing. It was surrounded by dense trees, creating an almost perfect wall. In the center lay a large lake, surrounded by flowers and bushes of all kinds. Arme carefully approached it, kneeling down at the side of the water to reach into it. Her fingertips grazed the surface lightly, the cool liquid bringing a smile to her face. She sat back up on her heels, eyes moving to the tree tops. Before her head was the entire way up something else caught her eyes, and she opened her eyes to stare disbelievingly at the orange that had caught her eye. Ryan was, in fact, sitting at the other side of the lake, knees pulled up to his chest and head down. He didn't appear to have noticed her at all, nor did he make any movement when she cautiously stood up, the grass sounding quietly underneath her feet. Walking around the side of the lake as quietly as she could manage, Arme only stopped once she reached the other side where the elf sat. Hesitating, Arme finally sat down next to him. The magician's eyes traced back from the lake to Ryan repeatedly, not quite certain what to say. She cautiously reached out to rest her hand on his arm, this time not receiving the same flinch she had earlier.
"Um... I don't know if I can help at all, but-" At this point Ryan turned his head to look at her, the pure dead look in his eyes enough to stop Arme mid-sentence.
"You're the last person I want to be around me right now. Please, go away." He said, his voice a cold monotone as he looked back out at the lake. Arme stared for a second, but didn't move. The druid made no further acknowledgement of her, and the magician sighed.
"I... I know you're upset, but...Shouldn't you go down to the village and celebrate her birthday with everyone else?" This apparently wasn't the right thing to say. Ryan turned to her again, pulling away from her hand.
"No! They have no idea what happened to her, for them to just be... Fooling around like that! Being in there just reminds me..." The druid's voice started out loud, quieting down as he finished. The last sentence ended abruptly, Ryan's head falling down to his knees again. It was a moment before Arme mustered the courage to place her hand on his shoulder, the druid not moving in the least.
"What does it remind you of...?" She questioned, looking back out at the lake. There was a long pause, and for a moment Arme was certain he wasn't going to answer.
"That I... I keep lying to myself. She's gone, and I'm never going to see her again." He whispered finally. Arme felt her heart clench in sympathy for the utterly miserable sounding elf, and she rubbed his back lightly.
"But Ronan said... Ronan said she wasn't dead. That means she's somewhere, right? It means that no matter what, you shouldn't give up." At this point the druid attempted to move away from the hand on his back, though his current position made it difficult to do so. Finally he stood up, looking down at Arme.
"There's no way I can get to her where she is, or I would have already! Ronan only says that because he has no idea what the hell happened to her! None of them do, obviously! Hell, I doubt you know, even though you should!" He yelled, causing Arme to shrink back.
"I... I should know?" She whispered confusedly, looking back into the angry green eyes.
"Well, it's obvious you're the exact same! Someone should just tell you the truth so you can get out of here!" This statement only proved to confuse the magician even more.
"Tell me what...?" She asked, earning a glare from the druid.
"That you're going to end up-" Ryan was cut off before he could finish his sentence, a loud crack sounding as a large green monster entered the serene clearing.
"T-troll!" The druid gasped, leaping back and out of the way. Arme, unfortunately, wasn't able to move out of the way as quickly as the druid. Seeing as it had burst right in behind her, the troll's giant hand, holding a nail, ended up swinging into her. Heavily striking her back, it wasn't long before Arme found herself thrust into the cold water of the lake. The shade of the trees hadn't helped at all with warming it, and the icy cold water bit at her skin. The outfit she was wearing was thankfully lighter than her everyday outfit, and it didn't weigh her down very much as she tried to remember the basics of swimming that Amy had taught her a few days prior. Finally she made it to the surface, pulling her staff out of the soaking pocket of her dress. She waded over to the edge, gasping as she pulled herself onto the somewhat wet ground. A little ways away was Ryan, transformed into a wolf as he lunged at the Troll. It lumbered immensely over him, but it's focus wasn't on the druid. It's head was directed at Arme, white eyes staring at her in an eerie manner that reminded Arme of the Gorgos much more than she would have liked.
Pulling herself up fully onto the shore, Arme first summoned a barrier around herself, teleporting so the lake was in between her and the distracted troll. Ignoring the wolf latched onto the strange, tree-like plant growing from it's back, the troll leapt up and into the air. It came thundering down a few feet away from Arme, but from previous experiences Arme was prepared. Teleporting into the air, Arme gave herself time to drop after the troll landed. The ground, still shaking underneath her feet, nearly knocked over the purple haired girl, yet she managed to retain her balance. Conjuring several fireballs, she sent all of them to burn into the troll's face. In a frenzy of attempts to avoid the balls of fire, it twisted in such a way that one ignited the tree on it's back. With a shriek it charged at the magician, though the distance easily gave her time to teleport. As the fire grew Ryan took the opportunity to jump off it's back. It flailed around wildly, arms swinging and crashing into several trees. The flames didn't seem to catch onto the trees around, causing a sigh of relief from Arme as she watched the Troll fall into a heap of limbs, most still moving around. Footsteps were heard approaching rapidly, and Arme turned to see Jin and Amy running toward them, more following behind.
"Arme-" Before she could hear what the muse was calling out, something struck her solidly and heavily in the side. The weight of whatever it was pressed heavily on her, and soon black dots were swarming in Arme's vision. Her head thudded to the ground, and she heard no more.
Arme blinked as she cracked open her eyes, light filtering in. She was in the room from earlier, and her outfit had been changed into pajamas. A window was open and a gentle breeze blew in through it, ruffling Arme's wet hair lightly. Still wet?She reached up to grab a strand, and found that there was still water dripping from it. She sighed in relief as she sat up, placing a hand on her forehead. It was a comfort to know she hadn't been unconcious for too long. Thought was cut short as she was caught in a violent series of coughs, and when she finally recovered she rested her head on the wall. Her eyes opened again and she looked around the room, surprised to notice Lass standing in the doorway in his regular attire. A bag held in one hand and a tray of food in the other, he was watching her carefully.
"Ah-! Lass..." She exclaimed, more alert as he set down the bag on the desk and brought the food tray over. He set it down on her lap cautiously, taking the lid off the small container to reveal a breast of meat and some sort of pasta next to it. He handed her a fork and promptly sat down next to the bed on the floor, head leaning onto the sheets.
"It's Elvish Harpie." He said quietly in response to her questioning gaze. Arme nodded, looking down from the food to the exhausted-appearing assassin. He didn't continue at all, and Arme took that as a cue to start eating. She still watched him curiously, half surprised he hadn't lectured her on her danger-proneness yet. No words were spoken between the two until the magician finished her food, setting the tray down next to her.
"What happened?" Arme finally asked, earning a slow blink from cerulean eyes. He took a deep breath before starting.
"The troll... We're not sure if it was coincidence or not, but with the last of his strength he ended up hurling the nail he was holding. The blunt end crashed into you just as we all showed up, knocking you unconcious. We brought you here, where Amy and Elesis changed you and checked your wound. After that Amy came outside and spoke to us... From talking to Ryan, we found out you apparently forgot to take the potion Amy gave you. It was already getting a bit rough, and the impact on it was enough to hurt your stomach pretty bad. We alsofound out that you were hit with a hammer in the same side earlier, which didn't help the case at all." He concluded, standing up. Arme bit her lip, realizing that she really hadn't been helping her injuries at all.
"I... I'm still fine to travel, right?" She asked. Surprisingly, she received a nod from the assassin.
"We're pretty close to the castle, it's only about a two day's journey. We're going to be staying there for a while, where you can get some rest." Lass watched her, and Arme was almost certain he was leaving out something else he wanted to say. Placing a hand on his hip, the thief sighed as he ran his other hand through his short silver hair. His mouth opened and then closed again, eyes opening again. He picked up her bowl, setting it on the desk next to the bag he had brought in, causing Arme to stare at it curiously. He noted her gaze, and his hand hung over the bag for a second before he turned back to her.
"Hmm... Close your eyes for a second." Arme complied with the request hesitantly, eyes clenching shut to resist the temptation of looking. She could only hear the slightest sound of a clink, the only feeling she noted a slight pressure just below her neck. Then a definite weight was dropped on her lap, forcing Arme to work hard at keeping her eyes shut.
"Okay, open them." Arme did as instructed, her hand flying up to her neck. Her heart stopped for a second as she touched cold metal, and she disbelievingly wrapped her hand around the object. Pulling it a few inches away from her skin, Arme opened her hand to see a familiar gold and silver shape. Her necklace lying in her palm, Arme stared at it disbelievingly for a second before allowing it to drop, gaze directed to her lap. Sitting on it, it appeared was her book. She looked cautiously at the cover, and she opened to flip through the front pages. Her own hand writing was distinguishable underneath each of the sentences, and Arme silently closed the book to look at Lass, her eyes watering. Without warning she flung her arms around his neck, head resting on his shoulder as she held him tightly.
"L-lass! How'd you do that? I thought they were gone forever!" She let out, tears of joy flowing freely. After a second Lass' hand rested lightly on the back of her head, and he sighed.
"Amy said you told her that it set on fire, and Ryan told us all the actual story... I remembered hearing somewhere along the line that a mage's fire only burns what they see as the enemy, so I figured there was a chance..." She pulled back somewhat reluctantly to look at him, blue eyes peering back into her amethyst.
"T-thanks..." She murmured quietly. Lass shrugged.
"I wanted my blanket back." With that he stood up, a hand resting on her head.
"I... Arme, try not to go places on your own, alright? If Ryan wasn't at the lake that battle might have gone a lot worse. We don't know why, but monsters seem to be targeting you... It's not normal... Just... Be careful." He finished, his hand running absentmindedly through her hair as he turned around. At the door he turned back to look at her once more, but then turned away again, grabbing the plate as he left the small room. Arme stared at the door for a minute, surprised when Amy entered seconds later. She looked at the door with a sigh as she took up Lass' previous spot on the floor.
"Poor guy... Right now he's still trying to find the line between protective and overprotective." Arme's eyes went to the door as well, hands resting on her book.
"I..."
"He's probably going to have some trouble accepting some things, so just don't worry if he's confusing for the time being." Arme blinked curiously.
"What things?" The pink haired girl shrugged with a knowing smile, and for all that she tried Arme couldn't get any more information out of her.
A/N: ZOMG 47 freaking reviews for this random story? You all make me feel so loved! ;_; So... For the 50th reviewer I'm gonna write a oneshot! Just comment like normal, and If you're the 50th I'll message u back asking what you want =3 I feel so uber happy! And sorry about the late update and forcing Willow-Chan to stay up with me while I wrote it! She also helped me decide on the meal for Arme x3 I'm sorry it was late, all my weekends have been so busy lately x-x and what with exams coming up, I don't think I'm going to get a break.
Love you all!
-Utsuro