They stopped for the night under the shade of a particularly thick tree. Being a team that did better in situations where they could attack from a distance, it was always difficult to decide whether to camp in tighter, more defensible locations, or to camp in the open, where they could see and respond to enemies coming from aways away, but were likewise exposed. Fortunately for her tired mind, far too muddled to contemplate the pros and cons of various tactical choices, the decision was taken from her. The forest was simply too dense for them to do anything other than find a relatively sheltered area and hope for the best.
Matfie had already started a fire, and she had sat down and propped herself up against a tree, as on guard as she could be in her exhausted state.
"Shall I search out edibles while you rest, Master?" Matfie asked.
Oh. She hadn't even realized she was hungry, but her stomach clenched painfully as soon as she gave it attention.
"Keep close," she said, but nodded her permission.
"Yes, Master," Matfie replied. "I'll well search the immediate area, but you will not be left undefended as you sleep."
She was equally worried about him, but also too tired to properly vocalize that. So, she just nodded, and removed her magick bow, the daggers at her side, the circlet on her head, and the various pieces of jewelry adorning her person, and placed them, especially the weapons, in a pile that she could reach in moments. The Arisen then removed her neck scarf and folded it into something resembling a pillow. She immediately made use of its new form, and laid down on the ground.
There was a strip of stars, just barely visible through the knot of arching branches above her. She stared at them through lidded eyes, and jolted up after a few seconds of watching.
"Master?" Matfie called, from a few paces away. He'd bent over to examine some sprouts rising from the ground, but he straightened up as she stood.
Immediately, she pulled herself onto one of the lower branches of the tree she'd been under. Matfie ran to the base of it, and watched worriedly as she continued to climb higher on its boughs. Experience and practice had her at the top in minutes, and she looked out across the forest. It was really too dark to see anything, so she turned her attention to the sky.
As she had expected, the curtain of bright light, the stars, were wrong. Entirely.
She'd spent the early years of her life in a fisherman's village, and no sailor worth their salt didn't have at least some experience navigating via starlight. As an adventurer, she'd only grown more practiced with the skill.
But, the major constellations, the central, polar stars, they just...weren't there.
She shakily made her way down the tree, taking nearly twice the amount of time to get down as it had to climb up.
Matfie reached out to her as she neared the bottom. She took his hand as she jumped from the lowest branch, and it was only his grip that saved her from falling, though from fatigue or shock, she did not know.
He guided her to the ground, and she leaned back against their tree with wide eyes. Matfie knelt beside her, one hand on his stave, the other at his pouch, ready to offer healing or whatever remained of his curatives, should she need either.
"Are you debilitated, Master?" Matfie asked. "You are usually more agile."
"I'm fine," she said, shaking her head. "Matfie, the stars are different."
"The stars are, what?" he replied. "I do not follow."
She shook her head again and looked up. "They're in different places, all of them. Or, perhaps they are completely foreign bodies. I know not."
Matfie stared at her quietly. "This pawn would see for himself, Master," he said, after a few moments of thought.
"Go," she replied, pointing towards the top of the tree.
"At once," he said, and reached towards one of the sturdier looking branches.
The pawn climbed just high enough to breach the lower levels of the thick forest canopy, and spent several minutes staring at the sky.
"Master," he said, still looking at the night. "I know none of these lights."
So, it wasn't weariness distorting her vision then. The sky had truly changed.
Matfie made his way down the tree, stopped at her side, and said nothing. The pawn's expression was blank as he awaited her guidance. But, she didn't have any to give, and the two of them sat in, in her case at least, overwhelmed silence.
"Matfie," the Arisen said. "I'm going to rest now. Come tomorrow," she paused uncertainly. "...come tomorrow, we can better sort ourselves."
"Wise counsel, Master," Matfie replied. "There is no use contemplating such matters in our current state. Hopefully, with the morning light, clarity will come," he stood up to resume his search for food, and bowed towards her. "I bid you goodnight then, Ser."
"Stay safe," she nodded back.
The Arisen laid down on her impromptu pillow and closed her eyes. Sleep took her near instantly.
Matfie watched his Master fall from wakefulness, before walking over and placing his red cape around her. He knew she didn't appreciate being coddled but, having never experienced sleep himself, at times he still felt a jolt of nerves whenever she slipped into it. The fear that she'd never awake (humans oft died in their sleep, from what he understood) had been a constant companion in their early travels. The pawn knew better now, that such things only happened as a result of either old age or illness, neither of which afflicted her but, after the events of the day, he was hesitant to rely on any of his prior knowledge.
The Arisen had bested many a foe, and he highly doubted sleep of all things would be the enemy to finally claim victory from her. Still, he stoked the fire a little higher, and stared at her a little closer, just to make sure her chest continued to rise and fall.
The fire danced around the clearing, creating interesting shapes and shadows, but doing a generally poor job of illuminating their campsite. It bounced off the metals of his Master's gear and casted strange patterns over her sharp features and bronze hair. The shadows under her eyes seemed only exacerbated by the flickering heat, and it made her already fair complexion look washed out and wan.
She looked small underneath the his cape and the fire's glow, and that was truly bizarre. Only hours ago the archer had been scaling a dragon whilst barking out battle commands and strategies to him and his fellow pawns, and she certainly hadn't seemed small then.
In reality, the Arisen was of an average build, and height. But, that was something he'd stopped noticing a short time after the beginning of their partnership. The countless enemies at her feet had always made her seem larger than life, both to himself, the other companions they'd travelled with, and even the people of Gransys, once she'd started to make a name for herself.
So, her obvious exhaustion worried him. And, her obvious unease at the current situation was even more unnerving. It was true that his Master was the thoughtful type. She'd spent many nights staring at their campfires, or even the lanterns at the various Inns they'd patronized, lost in her mind, and planning their future actions. However, he also knew that that same thoughtfulness often translated into devisiveness. Once the Arisen made a plan, she carried it out, without fail.
Though he couldn't blame her, and was even glad to see her resting, it still wasn't like her to choose sleep over strategy. To see her so overwhelmed by the day's events was disheartening, and even a touch alarming.
However, he also knew it wouldn't last. Likely, the Arisen would wake up with innumerable plans for moving forward, and whatever time he spent silently worrying over her would be wasted. For the time being, he knew sitting and fretting was the least helpful thing he could do. His Master needed food, first and foremost, and she also needed a pawn who could offer her clear, useful counsel for whatever she decided to do next.
It was time to learn as much of the area as he could. He pushed his unease aside and stood up.
She awoke to a chill in the air and the smell of cooked meat. Her stomach released a loud growl as the scent wafted towards her, and her pawn looked over at the noise.
"Good morning, Master," he said, as she sat up. "I hope you slept well."
He'd placed his cape on her at some point in the night, but she couldn't bring herself to complain. It wasn't necessarily cold out, but her gear was designed to be as light as possible, and it did little to ward off even the smallest drops in temperature. So, she wrapped the pawn's cape around herself and moved closer towards the fire.
"I did, thank you," she replied, which was more or less true. She'd fallen asleep so fast and woken so abruptly that she couldn't remember any of what happened in between, dreams or otherwise. But, that wasn't necessarily something to be discontent over. Untroubled rest seemed more and more a luxury, with each passing day.
"And, how was your night? What did you learn of the area?" she continued, knowing he'd probably spent the majority of the time scouting out their current location.
"I learned that not everything in this forest is unfamiliar, Master," he said, reaching for a spit at the edges of the fire. It housed a small, roasted animal, and he held it out to her. "'Tis a rabbit."
She smiled gratefully and took the stick from him. In all likelihood, she would have eaten it, even had it been goblin flesh, but she was thankful such extremes were unnecessary.
Matfie continued speaking as she started eating. "Unlike some of the animals I encountered, all flora here is different. I was unable to find even the most common of herbs and roots, something I find quite odd in a forest this lush. Regardless, I imagine our curatives will be poorly stocked for quite some time to come. In addition, I have no knowledge of which plants are safe to eat, and which might debilitate."
"We can figure that out by observing the local animals," the Arisen said, between bites. "At the very least, it might give us some idea as to what we should avoid."
"Wise as always, Master," Matfie replied.
She waved off the compliment and motioned for him to continued.
He shot her a knowing grin, an expression he'd most likely learned from her, and said, "Also, I encountered, but did not engage, an unfamiliar enemy. T'was humanoid in appearance, though grotesquely so. I believe it was made of stone, or at least had a hide as thick as it, and it measured about twice and a half my own height."
He continued. "It spoke briefly to itself, and in a recognizable language, though I cannot say the same was true of its accent. However, while its speech was fairly unintelligent, it was crafty enough to lay a trap for a deer. The beast then feasted upon it until the sun came out, at which point it retreated into a cave. It seemed bothered by the light, something we may want to take note of should we ever be of a mind to engage it. Other than that, I was met with no other predators."
"Sounds an interesting foe," the Arisen said. "And, you have no idea as to the manner of creature it was?"
"None, Master. It could be said that it was similar in appearance to an ogre, but had more the stature of a cyclops. However, I do not know if it fights like either. Though, unless I am grossly misreading its strength, I doubt it would pose too much trouble to either of us."
"What else did you learn of then, beside enemies?" she said.
"There is a river just south of our current location. I brought some water back to camp, but the stream itself is calm enough to soak in, should you wish to start the morning with a thorough washing. And, even should you be disinterested in the river, I believe southward still seems the wisest direction to head," Matfie said.
"Why?" she asked, not necessarily doubting his advice, but curious how he had come to that conclusion.
"The river seems to flow that way," Matfie replied. "Also, while I did not head too far out, the trees still seemed to grow thinner the further I travelled in that direction. It could be coincidence, but I would not be surprised if south was the quickest way out of this forest."
"Then we'll head south," she said. Considering the limited information they had to work with, it was as good a direction as any. For the time being, exiting the forest was the first priority, and, even if south wasn't the most efficient route, the flow of the river meant that, at the very least, there wasn't likely to be cliffs or other tall obstacles in their path. "Have you learned anything else?"
Matfie paused for a few moments. "I do not have much else to say...truthfully, Master, after many hours of observing these woods, the only sure conviction I have is that we are not in Gransys at all. Nor, perhaps, any recognizable country. My kind's knowledge is not restricted simply to your homeland, yet there is very little that is familiar here."
The Arisen paused her eating and lowered the spit. In truth, the stars alone, alien and wrong, had already convinced her, at least in part, of that fact. Her pawn's opinions only further confirmed her own.
In the morning light though, it was easier to reflect clearly on what that meant. She'd been exhausted and even a bit panicked the night before. But, waking up in a strange land was hardly the strangest thing to have happened to her. Thinking on it more rationally, she realized them being in...another world...didn't necessarily mean anything needed to change.
Their objective remained the same, regardless of circumstance. Returning to Gran Soren, as quickly as possible, was still the priority.
Being elsewhere just had the potential to make it more...difficult...to do so. However, she wasn't in the habit of letting difficult situations halt her progress. She'd set off to hunt down the dragon with only a rusted sword and shield as her companions. In comparison, waking up in relatively unhostile lands, with her most trusted ally at her side, was hardly the greatest of her challenges.
"Grigori's magick was strong," the Arisen said. "And, in hindsight, he oft spoke of the world in a very specific manner, 'this' world, and 'your' world, among other examples. It did not strike me as meaningful at the time, but, perhaps he meant to imply that our plane is only one of many. With that in mind, who's to say whether or not it was in his ability to send us to...another. It would not surprise me."
She continued, "Perhaps he seeks some sort of vengeance for his defeat, or perhaps he means for me to grow stronger and face him once more, or perhaps it is merely some twist of fate, or design of the Maker the brings us here. Regardless, our path is still clear. We seek the Capital."
"Then, finding civilization should be our first priority, Ser," Matfie said. "The scholars or magicians of these lands may have knowledge as to how we should move forward."
"I agree," the Arisen replied. "We'll head out shortly."
A/N: These sorts of chapters are my biggest pet peeves when it comes to my own writing. It's a 'these scenes aren't really connected to each other but they're too short to be their own chapter' type, haha. That said, I hope the jump from 'tired and upset' to 'moving forward' wasn't too abrupt.
In general, the Arisen strikes me as a very decisive person, who's had a lot of strange things happen to them. So, I don't really find it particularly in-character for them to spend too much time angsting over this sort of scenario. In addition to that, I really don't think it'd be all that entertaining to read about two characters blindly wandering a forest, complaining about how confused they are, so I hope no one minds my skipping that. ;) This chapter is already a bit boring, in my opinion. I didn't see any point in dragging it out. Next one should be a bit more exciting.
In terms of the whole 'other worlds' idea, and the Arisen's response to it, I just want to address the fact that this Arisen is post-Dragon, pre-Everfall/Seneschal meet and greet. So, while hypothetically the Arisen should be fairly comfortable with the idea of numerous worlds, this Arisen has not yet had that encounter, and, as a result, the idea isn't quite so familiar to her. Matfie, on the other hand, is very familiar with the idea of there being worlds without end. However, considering those should all be copies of Gransys and what not, what's throwing him off in this situation is the fact that he doesn't know anything about this new world, and the fact that it's not connected to the Rift. So, while the idea of 'other world' doesn't necessarily phase him, 'new world I don't know anything about' isn't quite so comfortable.
Anyways, thanks for reading! Feel free to leave a comment on your way out.
Also, if you'd like to beta this story, I'd be happy to have you. Shoot me a review or PM if you're interested.