Setting Out
Dust had refused to go to the shop until he'd made absolutely sure that there wasn't anything in his house that he could wear for the journey that awaited him. Fidget had made a comment about how frugal he'd turned, to which Dust simply commented that he didn't like spending money if he didn't need to. On top of that, he needed a moment to process…everything. He'd accepted that he was Sen-Mithrarin reborn, for sure, but everything else…the deaths of the Moonblood guards of Aurora at the hands of the army…the capture of his mother…
He needed to be away from the pitying gazes of the other villagers for a few minutes.
Fidget opted to stay quiet for as long as Dust didn't feel like talking. She wasn't a motherly type and she wasn't going to pretend that she was, but even after so long she still considered Dust her best friend, despite the form he now took. In the end she simply sat on his shoulder, just as a physical reminder that she was there.
"Never thought things could change so drastically for me in the space of a single afternoon…" Dust finally said after raiding the house and finding a more hardwearing shirt and pair of boots. The place had been ransacked by the Royal Guard, possibly in an attempt to find more Moonbloods (Ginger was known to be a sympathiser, after all), and a lot of Dust and Ginger's possessions had been strewn across the floor; broken, torn and shattered. Ginger's herb garden had been left in ruin.
"We'll fix things, Dust," Fidget promised. "Just like we did before, okay?" she added, patting his shoulder gently. The boy nodded, holding back tears as he patched up the wound in his arm with a few medical supplies he found in the kitchen.
"I guess we left the job unfinished, though," he sighed, heading upstairs which was less demolished but still bore some level of damage. Falling silent again, he entered his room — he might as well have not bothered cleaning it earlier. It was in more of a state than he'd left it before pranking his mother that morning. Staying calm, Dust moved the pillows and blankets back onto his bed, pausing when a familiar doll flopped to the floor.
"I still can't believe you kept that thing…" Fidget grumbled. Dust knelt down and picked up the doll, holding it so delicately it was as if he was afraid to break it. Fidget flew over to get a closer look — the doll looked worn and faded from years of love and care, but it had also been patched up in several places where some blackened fabric was poking out from beneath the repair-fabric.
Scorch marks.
"It's…Mom found it with me in the Glade," Dust explained. "I guess it's all I've got from before…" Fidget regretted her tone and quickly apologised for it. "You don't mind me taking this, Fidget?" Dust asked, furiously wiping a stray tear away. "It's…just a piece of home."
"Go right ahead, Dust," Fidget said. "I'll make sure you don't lose it," she added, which Dust thanked her for.
Finding nothing else in the house, Dust finally relented and, after picking up the savings he and Ginger had, headed back out into the village, making his way towards the shop. It had barely come into view when a familiar purple Warmblood crashed into him.
"DUST!"
"Kalyn!" Dust gasped, tugging at the arms slowly choking him. "Can't breathe…"
"Thank the Overseers you're okay!" Kalyn half sobbed. "I meant to find you once the monsters cleared out but…"
"Kalyn, calm down," Dust said gently. "I'm fine. You're not hurt, are you?"
"No, I managed to find Tristan and the other Moonbloods," Kalyn replied. "The Royal Army didn't find us but we heard about the guards…"
"I wish I could have stopped them," Dust sighed. Fidget quickly reprimanded him which brought Kalyn's attention to her. "Oh, sorry," Dust winced. "Fidget, meet Kalyn. Kalyn, this is Fidget…an old friend," he said after a pause. Kalyn didn't even look shocked.
"So it's true, then…what Corbin said," she murmured. Dust shrank into himself slightly. "You're really him… Sen-Mithrarin."
"Yeah…it's hard to believe, but it's true," Dust admitted.
"I'll tell you what's hard to believe," Fidget muttered. "It's how accepting you are when it comes to these things. It's crazy."
"Crazy pretty much sums up Dust," Kalyn chuckled despite herself.
"Hey!" Dust exclaimed in protest.
"You're cool — I like you," Fidget grinned which set Kalyn giggling again. "So, you're Moska and Sarahi's eldest?"
"That's right," Kalyn confirmed. "Dad's told me a lot about how you and Se… I mean, Dust helped him out fifteen years ago," she said. "He still calls himself your biggest fan."
"Did he keep the autograph?" Fidget asked.
"Yep — still has it," Kalyn replied.
"We really made an impression on the guy," Fidget commented.
"I guess we did," Dust smiled in agreement. "Listen, Kalyn, I was wondering if you could help out."
"What do you need?"
"I…I'm leaving Aurora," Dust sighed. "I've got to find Mom. After everything she's done for me…I have to help her."
"I see," Kalyn said, her smile vanishing.
"Also, there's the fact that the Royal Army's going after Moonbloods again," Dust added. "Something's not right out there, Kalyn… I need to find out what it is and fix it."
"Long story short," Fidget cut in. "Have you got any decent travelling gear lying around?" she asked. "Aside from the boots and hole-less shirt this guy's found we've not got anything that'll cut cross-country travel."
"I understand," Kalyn nodded. "Come on in — I'll see what we've got."
She ducked into the shop, which in itself had seen better days. Dust wondered how long it would take for the place to get back on its feet properly, and if it would be by the time he returned. He had confidence in Kalyn and Mordecai — Mordecai did price his items higher than the Moonblood merchants did but he was nonetheless a good businessman, selling exclusive items that he didn't share with other merchants to keep customers, and Kalyn was rather business savvy herself. Knowing the pair of them, Dust made a guess that the shop should be back to a relative normality by the time he returned home.
"Right…I've got some more hardwearing pants back here you can use," Kalyn muttered as she sifted through the stock. "As well as a light mail vest — that'll give you a bit more protection than a cotton one."
"Kalyn, you know I can't afford something like chain-mail!" Dust protested. His friend shot him an insisting pout.
"You're taking the mail vest or you're not leaving this village," Kalyn snapped.
"Ooh! Dust got told," Fidget giggled.
"Besides, Dust, I'm not making you pay for anything here," Kalyn insisted. "This village owes you so much. This is the least I can do."
"But you don't owe me anything…" Dust protested.
"Dust, shut up," Fidget huffed. "It's not very often we get stuff for free so take it while it's on offer." Dust made to argue again but Fidget threatening to bite his face off succeeded in making him agree to the offer. The vest was big on Dust when he initially put it on but not even Kalyn knew how to adjust chain-mail so it had to do for now. She also found a whetstone and a couple of smooth rings which she also gave to Dust free of charge.
"Hey, Dust!" Fidget called from the back of the shop. Her voice was muffled and when Dust turned around he could just about see her tail poking through a pile of clothes.
"What is it, Fidget?" he called back. The nimbat then emerged with a satgat in her paws and a playful smirk on her face.
"How about this as well?" she snickered. Kalyn giggled next to her friend, remembering the statue in the town square. Of course: in his previous life, Dust had worn a satgat. "For old time's sake?" Poor Dust just looked confused.
"Uh…" he mumbled but Kalyn gave him a nudge.
"Oh, go on," she encouraged. "Try it on, at least." Seeing no point in arguing, Dust took the hat from Fidget and placed it on his head, his ears poking through the holes at the top to avoid getting squashed. With the hat on, Fidget could see her old friend once more — the satgat covered the whole upper part of his face, hiding his eyes and leaving only his mouth visible. Dust did not look amused.
"How did I even see anything from under this thing?!" he snapped. Fidget couldn't help but hide a laugh behind a snort.
"I take it it's a 'no' to the stupid hat, then?" she sniggered. Dust tore the hat from his head and threw it like a frisbee into the back of the shop.
"Yes, it's a 'no' to the stupid hat!" he cried in exasperation. Fidget mock sighed.
"Well, I guess the Stupid Hat Club just lost one of its founding members," she smirked. Dust shot her a dry glare as he picked up a cyan travelling cloak. He later guessed he'd selected that one out of sheer nostalgia.
"There never was a Stupid Hat Club, Fidget," he grumbled. Fidget mumbled something under her breath in response but Dust elected to ignore her that time. Kalyn giggled nearby. "What?"
"Nothing," the purple rabbit-Warmblood grinned. "Just that Mordecai once told me about the time he made the nimbat dolls — Fidget insulted the hats."
"I remember," Dust chuckled. "Vaguely, anyway." Kalyn smiled and began leading them back out of the shop. They had all the supplies they could carry for now and the best protective gear they could find, so she knew that Dust and Fidget would be leaving Aurora almost imminently.
"Come back if you change your mind about the hat," she joked. "If you ask me it actually looked pretty good on you."
"Tell you what, Kalyn," Dust huffed as they stepped back outside into the village. "I'll wear that hat the day Fidget beats me in a fight."
"HEY!"
"Okay, deal," Kalyn smirked. "Fidget, start training up."
"Look, my magic is better than it was fifteen years ago," Fidget protested. "But he's the one with the sword that three times my size!"
Dust smirked — he shouldn't have to worry about having to ever wear that stupid hat, then.
Dust had slipped out of Aurora before anyone other than Kalyn knew that he was leaving. The last thing he wanted was a send-off — he wasn't quite ready for all of the expectations of a hero to be placed on his shoulders just yet. His bag was loaded with a few days worth of supplies — he'd need to restock somewhere and Fidget was fairly sure that Moonblood merchants were still stationed around Falana. For now, he needed to figure out where it was he was headed.
"We covered a lot of this country the last time," Fidget said when Dust began wondering this out loud. "And it's a big place. I thought you would have some idea as to where to start."
"They could've taken Mom anywhere…" Dust sighed as they headed towards Abadis Forest. "I don't know where to begin."
"Master," the Blade of Ahrah spoke. "I would advise warning other Moonbloods of the Royal Army's movements. Denham Village lies through this forest, and it is likely that they may be targeted if the army are once more on the hunt for Moonbloods." Dust nodded in response.
"You're right," he agreed. "Mom's been to Denham quite a few times on medicine deliveries — the number of Moonbloods there is even higher than Aurora. If there's any place that's at risk from attack it's there." That is assuming they haven't already been attacked, he added in his head but didn't voice out loud. He could remember arriving too late to save Denham Village fifteen years ago and he did not want a repeat of that event.
"So, pitstop at Denham and figure out where to go from there?" Fidget checked.
"Warning the Moonbloods on the way, yes," Dust nodded in confirmation. "Whatever's going on, there's already been too many casualties." He began heading through the trees, one hand gripping the Blade of Ahrah's hilt and another resting on one final parting gift that Kalyn had given him — it was a simple looking knife, but one made of Iced Steel, a metal that was made in the Blackmoor Mountains. It was a knife that had been handed down for generations on her father's side of the family. Although she was more than confident with Sen-Mithrarin's skill with the Blade of Ahrah, Kalyn argued that a dagger may come in handy.
Also, Dust found it almost impossible to argue with his best friend but that was beside the point.
"You remember the way?" Fidget asked. Dust frowned and tried to think — true, Ginger had taken him to Abadis Forest a couple of times but never to Denham. However, he knew he'd been there before when he'd been around fifteen years ago.
"Uh…kind of?" he replied, his voice heavy with uncertainty. Fidget sighed.
"Don't worry, I'll lead the way," she offered. "Keeping an eye on that flying sword for the last fifteen years means I know most of this place like the back of my paw now."
Dust was grateful for Fidget's guidance, although he could vaguely remember her hinting that she didn't know her way around Falana when they'd met before (something about losing her navigation equipment whilst chasing down the Blade of Ahrah or something). Even so, the nimbat had been flying around the country for a decade and a half while he'd been living in Aurora so he really had no choice in the matter.
Heading through Abadis Forest, Dust was struggling to get used to the increasing number of monsters that kept treading on his tail. The imps, beasts…heck, even the Avees…he could handle, but thus far his least favourite had to be the slime monsters and the giants (his small stature gave him an advantage in dodging the latter but the former kept spiking him out of his dodge jumps so he tended to burst Dust Storm on them from a distance). After clearing out what felt like the hundredth wave of enemies that afternoon (in reality it was probably the fourth), Dust found the nearest boulder and slumped into a heap, letting out a sigh of exasperation.
"I hate Slimes…" he grumbled, grateful that his chain-mail tunic had prevented a spike from lodging itself in his shoulder.
"You're handling yourself remarkably well, all things considered, you know?" Fidget said. "Give it a few more fights and you'll be taking down those things in two hits." Dust could only hope. "Look, Denham's not far off now — we'll be there in a few minutes…"
"Shh!" Dust suddenly hissed, holding his hand up to silence the nimbat. His ears twitched and Fidget, trying to hear what had caught her companion's attention, also perked up in attention. The pair could hear the sound of rustling through the forest, and the sound of footsteps. Dust signalled to head up into the trees so Fidget flew upwards while Dust scrambled up the closest pine, hidden in the dense needles.
"What do you think that was?" Dust whispered.
"Want me to scout ahead?" Fidget offered. Dust nodded and kept himself balanced on his own lookout perch as the nimbat shot off a short distance. She came back within minutes with a worried look on her face.
"And?"
"We're…gonna want to find another way around," Fidget grimaced. "There's an army camp in the next clearing." Dust cussed under his breath. This was the last thing he wanted.
"Great. How're we supposed to get to Denham Village now?" he huffed. "We have to warn them that the Royal Guard are on patrol."
"There is another way to Denham Village through Ivydale Glen," the Blade of Ahrah explained. "It will take slightly longer but it will be enable us to safely travel to the village without being spotted."
"Well, Gianni sent me on laundry duty to Ivydale Glen once and I've been there a few times with Mom and Kalyn to get payback poison-ivy for him," Dust grumbled. "I know my way there at the very least."
"That's it," Fidget growled. "Next time I see that Gianni, I'm foreclosing his face."
"What?" Dust frowned in confusion.
"You know? Foreclose…? Never mind."
And so the terrific trio set out on a new adventure. This is the last we'll see of Kalyn for a while but Dust and Co. are going to be meeting plenty of other new characters on their journey. Also, the trademark hat makes a cameo because I could hardly leave it out of this thing.