➹₊•°༉彡˚✧
THEIR COMMITMENT IS ASTOUNDING. Like, how in the world can they manage to keep quiet for such a long time without even getting alarmed by it. Especially with how it's the type where it was uncomfortable, one that had a pressurized tension flowing in the air. They had a mutual understanding of being dead silent, all because they were entering unknown grounds that they had yet to explore further. Even the fauns who recently blabbered a lot had gone into the similar hush!
Rainstone has been leading us with full concentration, snapping his eyes directly towards anything that he hears. His senses were admittedly good, as supposed to him being a descendant of the great Oreius. No rustling of a bush remained unnoticed by him as he just let his keen capturing of sounds be the principal of the journey.
But then there was just this one person who can never stay tight-lipped like the others, causing quite a ruckus to erupt in the whole group. "Thimbles and thunderstorms! Who tripped me?!"
"Quiet, dwarf!" Raundus shushed sharply, only receiving a dirty glare from him.
"Well, you should've thought of that first before deciding to trip me!" Brinkkin fired back, myself only biting my lip in amusement.
"I didn't do it!" The faun defended himself, huffing in annoyance.
Yet it didn't seem to phase the dwarf from shooting another retort. "Then who did!"
"Shut up, both of yo-"
"I did." Having enough of the fun, I finally admitted my blameworthiness. All of their attention flickered to me in a whiplash, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Most of them hesitated in questioning my actions, opening their mouths only to close it right back.
"Why?" A mouse whispered audibly, being the one who received the guts to speak out. Did I really have such title for them to be afraid of talking back to me? Or was it just because they made a mental debt of kindness for my recent aid.
"I was bored." Shrugged out my reply, the dwarf scowling in disdain. Merely rolling my eyes at him, he gave another one back with more impact.
"Your Majesty, we need to be careful in these woods. Neither of us knows what lies beyond-"
"You mean the lot of people who's been following us ever since we entered here?" I inquired nonchalantly, pointing my thumb towards the empty clearing behind us. They only became more puzzled with my declaration, seeing nothing other than large trees. "Although I dare say that they are splendid with their mastery of stealth."
Truthfully, my abilities has long captured the presence of six figures, all of which had eyes following our own forms the moment we stepped foot inside the forest. I had waited for the time where they would step up and handle our group, prepared to match their tactic of surprise attack. But it seems as if they had other plans with us, making me surrender my general idea of just advancing first. If these were the same people that took Brinkkin's relative, why have they made no move of doing the same to us? Perhaps it was the latter choice of the rumours only being a cover up for the safety of their vicinity.
"Have you lost your mind? There's no one there." As the dwarf countered my claim, a tug had pulled me from acknowledging him. The watchers appeared to suddenly feel alarmed, my eyes snapping to the possible reason why.
"Don't-" Being seconds late from halting Asterius from charging forward, all of the peace had abruptly been shattered to pieces. Everything looked to be happening so quickly, the six people coming out of their hiding spots to make a beeline towards our clutter. They split up to each take on two from my side at the same time, moving so quickly that it was difficult to focus on them.
As I was about to take a step to help them, a female suddenly landed in front of me. She didn't give enough time for me to react before she started swinging, quickly prompting me to take a sidestep in order to dodge it. I gave a huge leap backwards, wanting to regain my composure first before offering my own taunt.
My eyes involuntarily squinted at her, doing an instant observation from the lack of time to do so. She was smug in her poise, carrying both elegance and bravery in one standing. Her eyes were glaring harshly at me, growing more heatedly once it landed on my bracelets. After that, she then threw one of her weapons at me. I bent down to avoid it, having a chance to take a look at it which caused my eyes to widen.
The unknown female then blasted herself at me, raising her hand to receive the returning item then slicing it at me. I immediately used the wrist-guards to defend myself, curling my fingers to land a blow on her open stomach. It caused her to stagger backwards, not expecting for me to act unlikely from my appearance. To underestimate the enemy; the first faulting she made.
In anger, she then barrelled one hand fan in my direction, only getting thrown back by me. She retracted it once it boomerang-ed to her, closing her eyes for a split second then opening it with a large exhale.
Taking a slow step forwards, she then moved her hands in a fluid motion, taking a graceful twirl which boosted the momentum of her weapon's delivery. I countered it by catching it in my right hand, moving to the side once I heard her landing beside where I stood after she jumped there. Using the fan in hand, my hands expertly matched with her moves. In every kick she makes, I would defeat it with a punch or a dodge. With all the strikes she does, I'd let it meet my bracelets. It was almost an easy win to see, her getting more exhausted by the moment. Acting immediately, I jabbed my hand to the opening of her ribs, making her tumble backwards, momentarily loosing the sophistication in her moves.
Her mouth opened up from the painful plunge, even coughing out as she looked up at me with an alarmed gaze. "H-How were you able to deflect all of it!"
"How could I not?" Along with the curls of the sides of my mouth was my slow steps towards her.
"That's impossible, no one has ever done it successfully!" The mix of fury and fear on her voice was mingling together, reaching my ears like smokes of pure vulnerability. Once arriving in front of her, my hands quickly took my lasso from my belt then whipped it at her. It effectively held her in place, cancelling her predicted act of offense. A gasp echoed right from multiple places around us, all actions seemingly halting from continuing to move.
"Why wouldn't I know every step to the very dance that I made?" I then let my eyes glow a bright blue upon crouching down to her tired position, seeing her eyes widen in disbelief.
Just then, slow thumps suddenly sounded from multiple directions, my eyes catching the five other figures going down to bow their heads. Subsequently, as I finally landed my gaze on them, it occurred to me that all of them had the same feminine beauty, postures exquisitely balanced. Likely trained into polished fighters that had strong class.
Laid defeated on the ground were half of my companions, prompting me to click my tongue in playful disappointment. A snicker reverberated from me when I caught sight of Brinkkin's demise, face so scrunched in full irritation that it felt painful to watch. The ones left standing were looking at the scene in bewilderment, puzzled with the unexpected turn of events. Which was a bit of a shock for me too, seeing as I didn't expect them to courtesy respectfully.
"We apologize deeply for the poor welcome, for we had no knowledge that it was you, Lady Vixen." One of them stepped closer, keeping her head down.
Brinkkin groaned from his position, voice sounding so beaten up. The label surprised me along with the others, not seeing this coming at all. "Lady Vix- Oh, you've got to be kidding me."
"I think it is better than the initial thing they have titled her!" Another female piped up with a smile, her tone lacing something so charming and gentle. She, as with the lot of them, had long pointy ears, faces looking juvenescent but had a pleasing aura that brightened the area.
"Which is?" Leinus sat up from his fall, his curly hair bringing dead leaves with it.
"Madame Wit," An unattractive snort noised from me, biting my lip in glee. "Or was it Mistress of Foxes? Maybe even Duchess Empath . . . Oh! I can not recall clearly-"
"You can stop now, Amis, thank you for that." The second female interrupted, sending her a small embarrassed look. She discreetly nudged the person next to her, it being the one I was recently combating with. But she only shook her head, refusing to utter a word.
"Are we meant to bow longer? I am starting to have pain on my neck." Another one suddenly giggled, getting strange looks from my own acquaintances.
"Please don't mind her, Amaril's the bizarre one in the lot."
"That is quite mean, Smee." Amis frowned in disagreement, placing both hands on her waists. Having being finished with all the unnecessary exchange, Rainstone then stepped beside me, an underlying protective stance misting around him.
"You are elves."
"Wow, what made it so obvious?" The one in front of me finally spoke, words dripping with sarcasm. She then walked away to the direction we were recently headed to, abruptly leaving us standing there.
"I apologize about her, she's just having a hard time," Smee muttered sadly, blinking at the storming girl. She then faced us with a small smile, a cheery grin replacing her pout. "You must come visit the camp, we have long been expecting your arrival."
"Really really long . . . much like my hair but I had cut it short now." Amaril scratched her head strangely, having an air of curious wonder spinning around her.
Ignoring them, I then faced the centaur beside me. Rainstone had moved to gaze in my direction the same time I did, nodding at me making me roll my eyes. Walking to where the others stood, he just followed closely behind.
"Have you pondered?" I crossed my arms over my chest, them already knowing what I meant.
"However appealing the proposition, I suggest we continue our move with haste. We are already running of late for our return." Peepicheep declared, his mice friends adorably bobbing their heads in agreement.
"But we have been walking for hours, a little rest could make do." Hoafus frowned, reaching into his bushy hair to pluck out a small twig.
And then the next one spoke, myself already ready for whatever he had to say. "Is your definition of rest being slaughtered mercilessly? We know not about our own safety."
"You merely say that because you are still humiliated from being handled by them." Raundus scoffed at him, Rainstone ceasing them before they'd start another round of their banters.
"Whatever your decision we will respect, Your Majesty." His declaration made most of them look at me in anticipation, my eyes flickering to Asterius as his strings tugged of hunger.
"We'll accept the invitation, I don't wish for any of you to faint from starvation and dehydration," I uncrossed my arms, nodding at them before starting to walk where Smee excitedly led us. "Much more shall it be of exhaustion."
After that, we just proceeded with journeying to the mentioned place. The remaining females had already introduced themselves with pride, my own side being more difficult with opening up but just later spoke their names. All of which had one on each of our sides that were too grumpy to do so, Brinkkin still not trusting them for his own reasons. While the other was the female I faced a while ago, surprisingly waiting for us by a few distance away.
On our way there, most of them had started friendly conversation with each other. It was a sight to see seeing as they were recently fighting but they let it go to past as it was only for both defenses. My abilities already located the destination, feeling every single individual that was busily bustling in there. Silence was basking my entirety for the rest of the trek, anxiousness rising up from deep in me. Nervousness was suddenly swallowing me whole, heart beating rapidly in tenseness of what I would see there.
So in hopes to calm me down, I momentarily shut my eyes. Tugging on the links of connection, I forced myself to mentally travel afar until it would reach where I wanted it to. It was still the same as before, them feeling so unmotivated to move around. This time, I pushed further in sending them some energy, smiling softly when it proved effective despite it only being little.
"We've arrived." The voice took me out from my tranquility, washing down the slow walls with such simple words.
"Unbelievable! I never assumed the tales to be true." Raundus awed at the sight, stunned at how everything looked dazzling. Compared to other camps, this one just had an alluring bubble to it, people diligently doing their works with smiles on their faces. It was even worthy to be titled a village, the structures being so intricate with the outlines. A hidden smile curled at my mouth while holding in a deep sting in my eye. Tears were threateningly attempting to escape, myself not even knowing how long I could hold it from being overwhelmed.
"Welcome to Camp Vixen," Amis delightedly declared with open arms, her gaze travelling to me with her ever large grin. "A name proudly inspired from you."
I bit my lips while blinking, desperately connecting to people around us in order to keep my composure. The girl was about to speak more before an alarmed elf suddenly ran to us.
"Y-You need to come quickly!" His gaze was focused solely on the one who didn't give out her name, her face showing a sliver of vulnerability before pushing past us to speed away.
The male elf's eyes then trailed to us, lastly landing on me with his eyebrows furrowing in contemplation.
"I believe you might want to trail after her, Your Majesty." Smee sent a sad smile in my direction, finally speaking out after her group finished their small argument of wanting to tell me.
Wasting no time to pass, I quickly rushed off to the direction my abilities were leading me to. My fast heartbeats were silencing all types of noises in the background, eyes suddenly glossing with tears. It was in my mind that clicked the clear reason as to why, the familiar string of someone already waiting for me to reconnect back to them.
No apologies came from me as I pushed the people on my way, my breathing feeling ragged from multiple emotions wanting to surface upwards. And then it strengthened even more as I stopped abruptly in front of a structure, hearing quiet cries from inside there. My steps were slow as I slipped through the entrance, seeing something that made my throat want to release a whimper.
Because there she was, weakly laying on a soft bed. Her dark skin was ever glowing with beauty, nostalgia swallowing my sense of holding. My presence then made itself visible as I stepped closer to the pair, their attention shockingly turning to me. I then went to my knees as I just stared at her, everything seemingly slowing down in time.
The woman then gasped as she finally saw the full image of my face, reaching her wrinkled hand to accept my own. It was the exact one that I had held multiple times, calloused yet firm. The girl beside me carefully stood from her position, giving a loving peck on the older female's head before exiting the room in understanding privacy.
"I-Is it really you?" Although her voice had changed, it was still recognizable even if I would hear it from afar. Because even if she was here old and wrinkling, I would still know that it was her. That it was the girl I once trained with, one who I saw myself in. It was Alimash.
"Yes," I gave up on the idea of holding everything in, the tears cascading freely down my cheeks. "It's me."
"You're here," Her other hand came up to wipe my tears, the action being so gentle and kind. "You came back."
"Well, I promised, didn't I?" A chuckle had came the same time as I sniffled, receiving a slow laugh from her.
"No, you didn't," Alimash smiled softly, giving my hand a squeeze. "You simply said you were going to haunt me if I didn't continue my dreams."
In moments like these were the times I disliked ever having this kind of ability. Yes, it was a privilege to ever bear something so unique and powerful in a world of strong personalities. But it doesn't change the fact that with it comes great responsibility.
"To which you did," Empaths were people who knew everything how individuals felt, if they were happy or sad, weak or strong. And the worst thing? They had the knowledge if someone was inevitably meant to go. "Your will has bloomed to something that exceeded my expectations. The camp is a place that everyone would absolutely love to reside in."
"You really think so?"
Shaky breaths puffed out from my mouth, blinking away the blurry tears from my vision. "I know so."
We then proceeded to just talk about things we missed, myself commending her about every single thing she's ever achieved.
"Forgive me for not taking good care of your sword." She suddenly frowned, myself quickly shaking my head.
"No, no," I caressed the back of her palm using my thumb. "You need not apologize for that."
"I tried everything to retrieve it, tell them that I knew the owner. But they just keep saying it belonged to a knightly sorceress." We both shared a small laugh, myself just blinking rapidly. It was fulfilling to see her radiant smile, like I was watching her younger self being all excited about telling her day. A lump was permanently stuck in my throat, making me just stay silent while listening to her words.
"Your Majesty, I've lived a thousand years." Alimash suddenly went to the topic I was pushing away, prompting more rain to pour over the clouds of my eyes.
The ties of her strings were slowly loosening, a light feeling lifting from the weight. Acceptance was laced innocently on her connection, myself just closing my eyes. "Thank you for waiting for me."
"It was worth it," Opening my eyes, I saw her pure beam directed fully towards my way. My own lips had curled up to a smile, getting up to sit beside her on the bed.
With the feeling of her beginning to drift away, I then bent down to lay a careful kiss on her forehead. It caused her grin to grow more, her hand squeezing my hand for the last possible time. Leaning closer to her ear, I watched as her eyes leisurely closed in passing. My small voice muttered a sentence that I made sure would be the final thing she'd hear;
"I'm proud of you."
And then it all came down to me just holding her until she began to fly away in small wisps of leaves. It was a scene that both intensified my contrasting feelings, observing the death of a dryad. Her tree would be going through the same thing as her, the reason because the creatures were connected to their branches. It went the same time as a multiple powerful gusts of blue mist involuntarily released from me, dancing like the waves of the tranquil ocean.
Later that night, I had went over with the plan of temporarily destroying the bridge, providing more time for us to regain both myself and the other's composure, all the while to retrieve my last objective. To make sure everything would go as planned, I'll deliver a message to the ones in the How, to which I knew the best way to do so. But all will never be forgotten, as I know Alimash will now rest peacefully after her long years of waiting.