Spirits of the Earth

Whitebone laughed to himself as he started a small fire in the clearing. He loved this place. This place so full of history and mystery. If he were not a traveler he would make this his home, but because of his love for people and new places and the respect of this historic place he did not.

With his small fire made hot, he gathered his pots and filled them with water and set them to boil. Leaning back against a tree Whitebone lit up is pipe and waited. Waited for something interesting or his water to boil. Getting board quickly he shook his head and stood up.

With one look around he decided to have a look around at the new set of ruins that he found the other night. With a smile he hopped off the log that we was standing on and headed down to the stone building that was still mostly standing.

Juliana had heard plenty of horror stories regarding the Fell. Supposedly, any mage who dared to travel into the Fell became afflicted with a terrible curse that turned their greatest strength- an ability to cast magic- into their greatest weakness. They would completely lose control of their magic, causing frequent misfires and unintentional casting of spells. Worse still, anyone who is affected by the curse will have a negative impact on anyone close to them, wasting away both physically and mentally.

The effects of the curse obviously weren't very desirable to anybody, let alone a healer like Juliana. However, she simply couldn't resist the temptation of potentially coming across strange of powerful artifacts in the Fell. After all, the nation that once stood here was supposedly very advanced when it came to magic, and Juliana was always looking for ways to enhance her own abilities. On top of that, she'd been skeptical of the curse, as she'd never actually come across anyone afflicted by it. Even if the curse was real, she surely wouldn't contract it if she only spend a little while in the Fell and didn't touch anything that was obviously dangerous.

That being said, Juliana still found the Fell to be rather unnerving. To think that such a grand nation could be reduced to rubble and ruins from a single incident was actually kind of sickening. What kind of forces could the mages possibly have awakened in order to cause destruction of such magnitude? Maybe it was a better idea to turn back now instead of wandering any further...

Suddenly, Juliana's foot made contact with a small piece of rubble from a ruined building. The fact that she hadn't been paying much attention to her surroundings, combined with the nauseating aura that the Fell gave off, meant that Juliana was thrown off her balance easily. She stumbled over the rubble, falling to the ground and letting out a small cry as she did so. Her hands shot out in front of her in an attempt to break her fall. They succeeding in doing so, but also received a few cuts from the jagged ruins as a result. Muttering a few curse words under her breath, Juliana pushed herself up into an upright sitting position. Healing magic started pouring out of her hands, beginning to mend the fresh wounds.

Whitebone stood up quickly and looked around as he heard an unusual disturbance in the Erie silence of the ruins. It was unusual to find people around here, and even wildlife. Most people did not know what they were getting into when they come to the Fell, and usually got hurt.

Humming to himself he slowly picked his way around the fallen rocks and rubble towards the source of the noise. Head looking over a small wall he noticed a woman sitting on the ground. He could feel power run off of her and Whitebone grinned. You never know what you will see in the Fell, which made the place all the more interesting to him.

Hearing the woman curse he laughed "Cursing is bad for the health madam!" He called down with a cheeky grin.

Juliana's concentration was interrupted, causing her healing spell to quickly dissipate. Her cuts, not yet fully healed, started to bleed again. However, the cuts were the least of her worries, now that she'd caught the attention of some idiot who was now hollering down at her. She turned her head upwards to meet the eyes of a young man who seemed rather amused by the current situation. Juliana hadn't expected to come across anyone inside the Fell, let alone someone who could be cheerful while doing so. Just who on earth did this guy think he was?

Shaking her head, Juliana picked herself off of the ground- she would have to tend to her wounds later. They weren't exactly pleasant, but she could tolerate them until she could at least find somewhere to concentrate. Right now, she had this goofball to deal with.

"Hmph. If that were true, I'd be dead several times over by now. Besides, dealing with idiots is bad for the health, too. They drive me insane!"

Juliana accompanied her remark with a glare. Hopefully, this guy would take the hint and find someone else to bother.

Whitebone laughed even more and jumped up and over the wall, landing lightly on the ground. He brushed off his long coat and smiled up at her. His smile only fading a bit when he saw the wounds. Shaking his head he evaluated her with a bit of concern.

"Who said anything about idiots? Ya can't be one around here. And you need to heal those woulds, the amount of infections around here is incredible. Come on, I got camp set up not far from here. Food should be done soon anyway. " Whitebone said with a newly formed grin.

He ignored the woman's glare and shrugged his shoulders turning back around to start heading back towards his camp.

Apparently this guy intended to stick around, regardless of what Juliana had to say on the matter. Fortunately, that meant that she wouldn't have to waste any more energy trying to get him to leave, but that wouldn't stop her from voicing her displeasure.

"As a matter of fact, I was healing them before you showed up and started poking your nose into other people's business. I was doing perfectly fine on my own."

Juliana took a few seconds to focus on her healing magic once again, finally closing up the wounds. She was conflicted on what to do- she didn't exactly want to follow some random stranger, but on the other hand, he seemed like he kind of knew what he was doing. Ultimately deciding to follow, Juliana sped up in order to catch up to the man, the bell on her necklace jingling a little as she did so.

"What kind of maniac makes his camp out here in the Fell, anyways? That's practically suicide."

Jumping back over the crumbling wall Whitebone made his way out of the rubble and into the tree line. He looked back every once in a while to make sure the woman kept up, slowing down if he needed to. For a short man, he was surprisingly fast. He rolled his eyes at her comment about being fine. To him, being fine was enjoying yourself, not wandering around lost in a dangerous place.

Reaching a tree line he hesitated as he looked around.Shaking off the feeling he headed in, and into the small clearing where he found that his fire was still burning hot and his food almost cooked.

"Well, what maniac I would guess is myself and a friend whom you just missed. He was leaving for another adventure. We basically live here. Think about it. A place that no one knows about. Where is the more perfect place to explore? You will never find the same thing twice out here, that of course is if you don't know your way around. " He said sitting down on his makeshift chair and pulling off his cloak reveling his light t shirt underneath, and his tattoos peeking out from under it.

Not being the type of person who spent much time outside, Juliana was significantly slower than Whitebone when it came to traversing the ruins. By the time the two reached the tree line, she was almost out of breath. Combined with the foreboding feeling that she was already getting from the Fell, the exhaustion created a nauseating feeling that spread throughout Juliana's body. The more time she spent in this place, the more it seemed like it was a bad idea to stick around. On top of that, the fact that Whitebone seemed to stall for a few seconds before finally venturing into the tree line didn't exactly inspire confidence in her.

Juliana instinctively clutched her necklace in one hand as she followed deeper into the forest. She tried her best to keep her eyes locked in front of her, knowing full well that letting them wander would only make her feel worse. Her muscles tensed up, only relaxing when she caught a glimpse of a burning fire. Looks like this guy was serious about camping out here, after all. He seemed cheerful as ever, perfectly content to wander around a place that most people wouldn't dare step foot in. As he removed his cloak, Juliana took note of Whitebone's tattoos. Those kind of markings were often used to enhance a person's magical talents, though they could also simply be for decoration. For now, she couldn't come to a reliable conclusion.

"So, there's more than one of you guys, and you actually live out here?" Juliana paused for a moment and shook her head disapprovingly. "I can't even imagine what could drive a person to do something like that. Even if you find something interesting every once in a while, the amount of messed up stuff you come across out here must be sickening... but then again, I suppose anybody that wanders into the Fell has a damn good reason for it."

He smiled as he dished out the stew for the both of them. "Yeah there are a few of us around here, although my friend and I are the most common faces around here. We don't live here, its more of a meeting place, somewhere we can be both safe and at peace.We banded together a long time ago and made a pact to use our skills in a different way, it puts quite a bit of stress on us to be honest. its nice to come here and unwind." he states and starts to eat.

He grinned as he looked out into the trees, calming a bit. Adverting his gaze he looks up at the sky  and smiles a bit wider. "Good, I do not think there will be much trouble tonight. Sometimes out here, we get bears and other creatures but it seams like they are only out on the full moon, and we are no where near that time."

Juliana accepted the food, muttering a barely audible "thanks" as she did so. She had initially been very cautious around Whitebone, but he didn't seem to have any ill intentions. His constant smile and sincere demeanour made Juliana feel a little less stressed, as much as she didn't want to admit it. It would probably be best to stay here for a little while, at least until she knew what she was doing. After all, this guy would probably start making a racket again if she tried to leave so early.

She listened to Whitebone as she ate, becoming intrigued by the mention of a certain 'pact'. Once again, her attention wandered to the man's tattoos, which seemed increasingly more likely to be a sign of magical talent. If her suspicions were correct, though, did that mean that the stories of the Fell's curse were simply myths?

"Using your skills in a different way... What do you mean by that?" Julaina inquired, her eyes still fixated on Whitebone's markings.

Whitebone smiled a bit sadly as he reached up and ran his fingers over his favorite tattoo almost out of habit. As he finished his food.
" I am an Ice Mage, and well I have seen a lot..." Started off hesitant to share.

Not many people had the heart to do what he and Malki did on a regular  basis. He shifted a bit and looked out into the forest. But then again this was a healer, so she might understand a bit of what he knew. And she did seam fairly reliable and trustworthy. He noted that there seamed to be no intentions of attempting to kill him so he supposed he could give a light story.

"Malki, my friend, and myself started to put what we have seen to use. Neither one of us are healers, but we each found ways to 'heal' people. We call ourselves Field Medics. WE fight, no matter the side usually. But we also go into battle to get the wounded. " He said simplifying things. He shifted again dropping his hand from his arm as his smile returned and he chuckled.

"But that is depressing things, on a night like this it should be happy things, and a party" He said with a large grin

Juliana listened again as her suspicions about Whitebone being a mage were confirmed. That probably meant that she wouldn't have to fall victim to the Fell's curse. After all, if anyone was likely to become afflicted by it, it would be the guy who spend most of his time here. If someone like that wasn't affected, chances were that she wouldn't be, either.

It seemed that, even if he didn't possess the abilities most suited to the job, Whitebone used whatever talent he had available to him in order to help others. In other words, he was the opposite of Juliana, who had the ability to heal others but rarely made use of it. Not that she cared too much about that, though. Her own needs came first and foremost.

"Maybe tonight is happy by your standards, but for most people any night spent in the Fell is a terrible one. How could you have a party out here?

He grinned and shook his snowy white hair.

"You are like the rest. All the stories got you scared. Trust me. Most of them were for small children to stay home and work, or were started by pranksters. But with that said, ya still gotta be careful. It still is a dangerous place. " He said with a grin. He paused and looked at her.

"And why would you have a party? Come on live life! Working about things are pointless." He said with a laugh and a wide grin.

Sitting up shaprly he gasped "did I introduce myself?!" He exclaimed horrified, forgetting if he did or not.

Juliana shot him a dirty look, clearly not pleased with being compared to a small child.

"You know what? There's times when being cautious about things will save your life. Sure, you could just go along not worrying about anything and trying to make the most out of what you have, but none of that counts for anything if you wind up getting yourself killed!"

She paused, giving herself a moment to calm herself down. Her hands clamped around her necklace and her eyes closed until she spoke again.

"...Uh, sorry about that. No, I don't think you ever told me who you were."

He chuckled "Then you have not found the balance yet." He said watching her with amused curiosity he shook his head again.

"Then pardon my rudeness. I am Whitebone." He said with a small bow of the head. He smiled a bit and reached over to tend to the fire some more. Finishing adding wood to the blaze, he unstrapped his bow from his back and laid out his bed roll.

Juliana wondered what Whitebone meant by 'the balance'. Maybe it was a balance between being cautious and trying to enjoy yourself, or maybe there was some deeper meaning. Whatever it was, she really didn't want to think that right now.

"Whitebone? Pretty strange name," Juliana replied, without even considering that saying so could be considered offensive. She stared into the fire for a few seconds before realizing that she should probably introduce herself, too.

"Oh, right. My name's Juliana. As you've probably figured out by now, I'm a healer."

She didn't reveal too much about herself, which was usually the case with a person she'd just met recently.

He nodded with a large grin plastered to his face like always "Yes it is, but man, it is a great one. " He agreed about his name. "But Juliana is a beautiful name. it suits you. And yes I assumed you were a healer considering your not bleeding anymore and with unblemished skin" He said stretching out his shoulders and back with a few pops and cracks. He sighed contently and let his shoulders drop.

"You never did say, but why would you come to the Fell? It is always an interesting story to tell, at least from the people i have met up here." He asked.

Juliana shifted around, obviously uncomfortable when it came the the subject of her presence in the Fell. She didn't wish to divulge the true reason, as doing so would reveal details about herself that she preferred to keep hidden. On the other hand, though, she couldn't just outright refuse to answer the question without seeming incredibly suspicious. After thinking about it for a while, Juliana finally decided on an answer.

"...I'm searching for magical artifacts. You know, the kind of stuff that you would find here all the time before it became the Fell."

Again, it wasn't the whole truth, but as far as Juliana was concerned, giving away very little information was the best choice in this situation.

Whitebone nodded thoughtfully "I hear that a lot but mostly they have an underlying dark tone so I point them to regular building to look in, but I can show you the way to some decent structures. I don't know what would be in them but its worth a try. They haven't been touch yet, or at least by my knowledge. " HE said with a shrug

Juliana sighed and shook her head.

"Look, I'm going to be honest for a moment. I have no idea why you put so much more trust in me than you do in others, especially in a place like the Fell. You have no guarantee that I'm not lying to you, or at least that I don't have evil intentions. But, if you're really sure about showing me these ruins... then alright. That would be pretty cool."

"well for one thing you haven't already tried to kill me. And for another thing you followed me without me giving you a reason to save food and some company. Already you are vastly different. " He said putting his hands behind his head and stretching out on his bed roll

Juliana crossed her arms and looked into the distance.

"Okay, as long as you're absolutely sure. But if I were you, I would've questioned what a person was doing in the Fell before inviting them into my shelter. There's no limit to people who are willing to take advantage of those willing to help them."

She paused for a moment, then shrugged.

"I guess there's no use trying to get someone who devotes their whole life to something to change their mind about it so easily, though. If that's what you want to do, then you'll end up doing it regardless."

Juliana glanced down at Whitebone, who was currently making himself comfortable on his bedroll.

"So, uh, when are we planning on leaving here?"

He just shrugged "haven't been out in a while. " He said simply "and yes. It gives me an excuse to go exploring myself. Don't care what you are looking for, take what you want t but new ruins are always sweet. Ooooo maybe I'll find a new bow! Or a sword! " He said starting to get excited with a happy smile. Thinking for a moment he grinned "fist thing in the morning. You look tired. Get some rest. It's a half a days journey from here."

Juliana frowned, a little disappointed that they couldn't get moving right away. However, they couldn't exactly be walking for hours in the middle of the night. The best thing she could do was to try and get as much rest as possible.

"Alright, then. G'night."

With that, she approached the fire and curled up on the ground next to it, pulling the hood of her robe over her head. It wasn't exactly the most comfortable position, but she decided that it would have to make do. She stayed awake a little while longer, trying to shake off the feeling of dread that constantly radiated from the Fell. For all she knew, this might be a sleep that she never woke up from...

Finally, after a few minutes of silently staring into the fire, she drifted off to sleep.

Frowning he watched her drift off. With a small sigh he stayed laying down until he saw her fully asleep before forgoing his own rest and sat  up to keep watch. Leaning back with his back to the tree stump that he was on earlier he began to think on the days events. He normally was not this trusting but maybe it was because of the lack of interaction with people these past few months that lead him to gladly accept any remotely friendly person. Or maybe it was one of the few times he really felt something other than evil coming off of a person when they came here. The Fell was a strange place with strange things, but generally if you come with the intention not to harm then harm normally did not come to you.

Touching the ground softly with his hand he smiled gently. This was a place to learn, to learn the past and the future of Mages and the world in general.

Truth be told, Juliana was pretty relieved to wake up in the morning and realize that nothing too eventful  had occurred during the night. As far as she could tell, everything seemed the same. At the very least, it didn't look like they'd been ambushed during the night.

Juliana sat upright, spending a few minutes stretching and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. That wasn't the greatest sleep she'd ever had, and as a result she still felt a bit tired from the previous day's events. Eventually, she stood up, removing her hood and trying to fix her hair.

"Hey, are you awake yet?" she asked, not bothering to go and check for herself.

" yup" he replied quickly. " Breakfast is ready whenever you want to eat but we should head out soon before the sun becomes too hot. We can stop for lunch before we get there . " He said standing up and stretching running his hand through his hair. He already had his coat and bow back on and his pack already packed save the cooking utensils

"Don't worry about it, I can eat while we're travelling."

Juliana was clearly more energetic than she was yesterday, after getting some rest and having a renewed sense of hope that she would actually find something in the Fell. She'd survived one night just fine, so she felt a lot more confident than she did initially. Heck, today might even be enjoyable.

Whitebone grinned and chuckled "Alright lets go then!" He said with a fist pump. Jumping up after putting out the fire and putting away the supplies he shouldered his pack and started making his way out of the trees  with a massive smile plastered on his face.

Thinking about all the possibilities of what could be found, history, maybe some cool weapons and even some sort of coffin would be cool. He did not care about magical things but he could let Juliana have her way with that stuff. Unless it was a book or a journal then he would pass out of happiness. Or something that has not beenrusted.

Juliana simply gave a nod in response. She wasn't entirely sure what she was going to be looking for in the ruins, but she had a few rough ideas. Most of all, she wanted something that could amplify her magical abilities, something that would help her to achieve her true potential. If no such thing could be found, though, then perhaps there were some writings left behind from the mages of ancient times. Finally, if she was going to frequently visit places like this in the future, something to defend herself with wouldn't hurt.

"Okay, lead the way." Juliana responded plainly, eager to get moving.

In one of the abandoned cobbled streets, half buried under rubble, lay an old sword. Despite its age, it still shone with the same silver sheen it had when back when it was newly forged. An opaque auburn gem adorned the hilt, just below the curved blade. A weak magical energy emanated from it. Even if most could not sense that power, it did not take a mage to see that this weapon was enchanted. The exact source of such power was a mystery...

The sword simply lay dormant under weathered stone and debris, with no owner to wield it any longer. The one who had previously owned it was long dead, with any remains long turned to dust and lost to time. It had been here for an age, awaiting the day someone new would find it. And by chance, it seemed that this could be that day...

Whitebone smiled softly as he came upon the old structures looking around he nodded "take whatever way you want but sundown I'll be making dinner here. So meet up by then if you want to eat. Yell if you get hurt and can't get out. Old things fall easily" he said making his way down to the rubble below

"Yeah, I'll be sure to be careful around here. Make sure you don't hurt yourself, either."

Leaving only those words, Juliana left to go explore the ruins on her own. Whitebone wasn't terrible company, but she did like to have some time to herself once in a while. Plus, this way each of them could examine whatever interested them without slowing the other down.

For Juliana, the first hour or so of exploring was... uneventful, to say the least. The closest thing to relics she came across were a few pages from various books scattered across the ruins. Unfortunately, they were all rendered essentially useless for one reason or another. Some of them included diagrams that were near impossible to understand without proper context, while others were written in a language that had likely been forgotten over such a long period of time. The most common problem, though, was that the pages were burnt beyond recognition. Regardless, Juliana decided to gather them up and keep them in case they proved useful at a later time. Mostly, she just didn't want to walk away from this place empty-handed.

As luck- or perhaps fate?- would have it, something unusual eventually happened. Juliana was searching around, trying to find buildings that were actually accessible, when a familiar sensation washed over her. She stopped dead in her tracks, trying to recall what the cause of that particular feeling was, when it hit her.

Iron.

Yes, the sensation was unmistakable. Juliana was approaching something made out of iron. The question was, where exactly was the object located? She couldn't simply try feeling around with her hands, as she would end up burning herself if she touched it directly. That really only left her with one option, which was to wander around like an idiot until she felt the sensation get more powerful.

Faaaaaaaantastic.

Whitebone nearly had a heart attack as soon as he realized the floor beneath him gave out and crashed to the ground. With a small pout he rubbed his sore butt and got up. Shaking off the dust from his coat his smile returned even brighter than normal. He had no idea that he would stumble into a room of weapons. Weapons meaning not all rotten bows and swords. No powerful stuff as far as he could tell but this was just as good. Finding some decent arrows and arrow heads was a treasure itself until he came across a dead guy holding a no rotten book. Overcome with joy he skipped around the room until he had calmed down some to pick up the book and store it for some reading later on. Grabbing a few strange looking bows as well he started to look around for a way out.

After a few minutes of searching, Juliana finally felt the sensation of iron growing more prevalent. It didn't take long after that for her to pinpoint the object in question: a blade that had been buried in the ruins for god knows how long. Juliana took her time removing rubble from around the sword, being careful not to touch the blade of the sword. Afterwards, she slowly wrapped her hand around the handle, extracting the sword from the rubble and holding it up to the sun to examine it. It certainly looked customary made, with its odd shape and the gem planted on the hilt. Strangely, it looked brand new; the blade was completely devoid of rust, contrary to most metal found in the fell.

Trying to decide what to do with it, Juliana took a few small swings with the sword. A lot of people made doing so look easy, but the thing was a lot heavier that she expected. Tiring herself out pretty easily, she quickly decided to stop fooling around with it for now. Instead, she tried to find anything else unique about the sword. Judging by the embedded gem and untarnished metal, there was no doubt that it was enchanted in some way. However, she knew nothing beyond that, and the aura of the iron interfered with her sensing anything else coming from the sword. If she wanted to learn anything more, she'd need some help.

"Hey, Whitebone? I found something you might want to see!"

Whitebone perked up at the sound of his name "Ok! Ill be there in a moment!" He called back. With a shrug he finally decided to chose the lazy way out out of the ole and make a staircase of Ice. It was not exactly the most perfect plan that he had ever but it worked all the same. Jumping along the rocks as he made it out safely he strung the two bows on his back and made his way over.

poking his head through the a hole in the rubble he smiled "You called?" He asked with a big grin.

Juliana jumped at Whitebone's sudden appearance, nearly dropping the sword out of surprise.

"Oh, for god's sake! You could at least warn me before popping up out of nowhere like that!"

The response was more out of shock than of anger, but it wasn't exactly easy to tell the difference with her. Taking a second to regain her composure, she then held the sword in front of herself so that Whitebone could see it.

"Check this thing out. It might look brand new, but I found it like this buried under a bunch of rubble. It looks really strange, so I thought it might have an enchantment of some sort. What do you think?"

He laughed at her reaction with delight and came around the corner. Taking the sword from her he looked intently at it. Poking it he laughed "Who knows! " He said with glee and swung it with precision that made him speechless.

"Oh by the heavens above it is beautiful...If I could marry a weapon I would marry this one" He exclaimed at design and the way it moved in the air. Whitebone looked at Juliana with happiness "This is a beautiful sword" He gasped at her

Juliana frowned disapprovingly when Whitebone shrugged off her question. Sure, it was a pretty unique sword, but she didn't think that was something to get so excited over. She was more interested in the sword's more supernatural quality, the ability to stand up to the ultimate trials of time without even a scratch. Something was definitely up with this sword, and Juliana was determined to figure it out.

"I don't know very much about weapons or enchantments, so I was kinda counting on you to know something about it. I just know there's something special about this sword, beyond how it looks."

The magic energy of the ancient blade reacted to the human's first touch, only slightly. It slowly began to intensify over time, even as the woman was swinging it. It was as if the weapon was waking up.

Such a strange phenomenon... The work of older magic.

The process was slow, due to the long amount of time it had been dormant. By the time the two were huddled around the old iron blade, the power of the weapon was obvious. A dim light began shining from the auburn gem in the hilt.

HE laughed "It is very special, but I have no idea what it could do. Oooo watch this" EH said as it started to glow brighter with each swing. Grinning again, Whitebone tried out a move that Malki thought him, he did not care to use swords as much as bows but he was proficient enough. Humming he smiled.

"You think its named?" He asked poking the sword again with a laugh

Juliana's eyes grew wider as she noticed the gem start to glow. It definitely wasn't like that when she saw it lying on the ground. So, the sword must have been enchanted in some way after all. That was cool and all, but it also meant that swinging it around without knowing what it was capable of could be dangerous.

"Be careful with it. We don't know what that thing can do yet."

Juliana slowly leaned in closer to the sword, her eyes naturally drawn to the gem. Out of curiosity, she gently slid her finger across the gem to see if it would react somehow.

"I don't know if it has a name or not. Is it engraved anywhere?"

The more the sword was swung around, the more it came to life. However, it was not complete until the woman's hand came in direct contact with the gem.

It emitted a bright glow, only for a moment or so. Then, it quickly faded again. It seemed ordinary once again... just as mundane as when it was first recovered from the rubble.

That is, until something happened to prove the contrary. A noise was heard from it: a soft yawn...

Whitebone held the sword out to here "here you have it. It seams to react to you more, and plus. I got my bow and you have...ummm well you have a sword now" he said after the glow died down. Then his eyes got wide.

"THIS IS SO COOL! "He exclaimed in pure joy and wonder "did you hear that?!?! It like totally just yawned. Oh my gosh this is epic!! "Whitebone fangirled over the sword. He was already over exuberant by finding some stuff that he could use but a yawning sword set him over the edge of happiness

The prolonged yawn waned and fell to silence. However, it was soon replaced by another sound.

"Woah... How long has it been? It feels like an AEON since you last picked me up!"

The voice that emanated from the sword was soft, and was at a bit of a higher pitch than that of a human's. It almost seemed uncharacteristic for a voice like that to come from a weapon of iron.

Juliana accepted the sword, once again examining the gem. It seemed to react more violently when she touched it, but now it seemed to have died down. For a moment, Juliana was a little worried that she had broken it, but not long after, the sword emitted a soft sound. Was that... a yawn? No, that obviously couldn't be it. Swords didn't yawn. However, it continued to do another thing that should have been impossible.

The sword talked.

Juliana's jaw practically hit the floor, her eyes alternating between staring at Whitebone and staring at the sword. This was ridiculous. It had to be some kind of joke, right?

...Right!?

"...That didn't happen. Tell me that didn't just happen."

"Oh!" the voice exclaimed, finally hearing the another.

"I... I'm sorry! I didn't know you had a guest..."

It was suddenly apologetic. However it did not seem like an apology for rudeness. It was more like an apology out of fear, as if a child had broken some known rule.

"yes it talked oh goodness!! Hello! How are you?what's your name? What are you? Are you really a sword?" Whitebone started to bombard the sword with excited questions.stopping suddenly he took a deep breath "nononono don't be afraid we are chill! Hi am Whitebone!" He said with an electric grin

This couldn't be happening. It had to be the product of some messed up dream. Luckily, Juliana had an easy way of testing if this was the case. Disregarding the caution she had shown before, she poked the side of the sword... and immediately recoiled from pain.

"Ah!"

That hurt like hell, but nothing else changed. She was still standing there, holding a sword that was apparently capable of talking. Juliana couldn't make that up if she tried.

"Hey, I'm not 'chill'. How on earth can someone be calm when a sword starts talking to them? If someone doesn't explain this, I'm gonna lose my mind."

Whitebone just grinned and made grabby hands like a little child " if you don't like it can I hold it?" He asked with wide eyes "come on talking sword. This is epic!! I mean look at this pose you can do" he said while pretending to hold the sword high in the air and in a lunge with a crazy smile

"Woah, woah, WOAH!" the voice retorted against the onslaught of questioning.

"Easy there!"

As it spoke, the gem began shining again. It was only a dim light, but it was there all the same. Other than that, the weapon did nothing. It was, after all, just a sword.

"I like playing twenty questions as much as the next guy... but I have some first:
Who are you two?
...and where is my wielder?"

As Juliana watched Whitebone strike a pose with a pretend sword, she made a mental note to hold onto the real sword. She might not be too open to the idea of a talking sword, but handing it over just seemed downright dangerous.

Taking a deep breath, Juliana decided what she had to do. She was going to do the unthinkable. She was actually going to talk to the sword.

"...Alright, listen up. My name's Juliana, and that crazy-sounding guy is called Whitebone. We're here because we're looking for artifacts. Well, at least that's what I'm doing. As for your 'wielder'?"

She paused for a moment to think.

"If you're referring to your owner, they're probably dead. People generally don't leave this kind of stuff just lying around."

He pouted and sat down and fiddled with his bow " yeah people do" he said softly and leaning back looking around he frowned a bit "we better get going for today. It's getting dark" he said getting back up with an uneasy feeling

"Dead...?" it asked incredulously.

"Well, he IS a bit absent-minded at times... You shouldn't jump to such conclusions!"

There was a short pause. The gem's light waned, until it was completely gone again. Still, the voice was not finished.

That is... unless you 'saw' something happen..."

The tone was more curious than before. The voice said this with a certain air of accusation.

"...sword...i would hate to break this to you but it's...it's uhhh benn a long time...and if you can see what's around you...well this place is dead" whitebone winced as he spoke softly sobering up, being more uneasy than before

Juliana nodded in agreement to Whitebone's words.

"I know I can't say for certain, but when you find something half-buried in a place as dangerous as the Fell, it doesn't take much to put two and two together and conclude that the owner isn't sticking around. Besides, if anyone knows where your owner is, it should be you! You were with him when it happened, weren't you?"

It was obvious that the conversation was growing tenser, but Juliana didn't care. She'd never been great at trying to defuse a situation, anyways.

The glowing rose as the voice cut in with a sharp interjection.

"HEY! Don't call me that! I am not a SWORD!"

After that remark, both the voice and light calmed down.

"I'm just stuck in one... it said with a bit of sadness.

"...AND" it started once more, "...one  of the drawbacks is that I can't see what's going on around me! What's 'the Fell'? This is not the city?"

"well if you would have told us your name I would call you by that! And why are you In a sword then? Can't you get out? And yeah it's a city. Well was a city Juliana it's what a few thousand years since the fall of this society?" He asked her after criticizing the talking sword

"Okay, Woah. You're doing it again. I can only process one question at a time!" snapped the voice with a snarky tone.

Finally, the being inside the sword said something that Juliana could actually understand and relate to. The feeling of being trapped against your own will... nobody should have to go through that. With that thought in mind, Juliana finally began to calm down. For now, though, all she could do was try and find all the information she could get.

"Alright, alright. Just calm down. Yes, the Fell used to be a city, but it was destroyed years ago. Right now, we're standing in the ruins of said city. If you're old enough to remember a time when this place was still a city, then your owner is certainly dead by now, by old age if nothing else."

Whatever was trapped in the sword was clearly not pleased with being overwhelmed by questions, so Juliana decided to take them one at a time.

"Okay, we'll start with something simple, then. What's your name? If you can even remember it, that is."

Whitebone stuck his toung out at her with a pout. But of course that did not stay long and he quickly gave up grinning like a mad man. Slipping off his new collection of bows he listened in silence while inspecting them. Patting his own original bow he smiled "don't worry I would never give you up" he said to it and it gave no reply like always. He kinda liked his bow like that. He found it in the fell and it has served him with a loyalty that no per has ever generated him. With a small giggle he tested out the new bows with some ice arrows, shooting them around the place

"D-Destroyed?!"

That word seemed to hit like a tone of bricks. The full effect was stifled, since the chuck of iron that was the sword could not show any sort of emotion.

"How... Why did it...?"

Now it was the voice that started with the questions. That is, until it stopped itself.

"Umm... You can call me Flit..."

Juliana paid little attention to Whitebone's antics, only showing a reaction when he started firing arrows. At that point, she shot him a glare to make it obvious that she was not impressed. Now wasn't the time to get all moody.

"Okay... Flit? I'm afraid that's not a name I'm familiar with. I do have another question, though. Like Whitebone asked, how the hell did you get trapped in a sword?

He ignored her and continue to talk to his bow while continuing to shoot ice arrows. Aiming for the far wall he drew the string back, formed an arrow and decided to freeze it a bit more and letting go. With a twang the arrow crashed through the wall, surprising him. He did not do that often, even by accident.

"These are sweet bows" he said to himself with a grin. "Flit eh? Cool name bro!" He called over his shoulder.

"It's a... bit of a long story..."

Flit's voice retained that same saddened tone from before. The exact details were still a painful memory to visit. He was extremely hesitant to retell them, especially after receiving such news. This was clearly evident in his tone of voice.

"The other one... Wishbone? Was it? ...said something about 'few thousand years'. What did he mean by that?"

Unfortunately, it looked like that line of questioning was a dead end for now. Trying to get Whitebone to stop firing arrows was apparently also a dead end, which was not surprising in the least. Maybe answering Flit's own questions would be the best course of action.

"Well, 'Wishbone' wasn't kidding when he said that. It's been a damn long time since this place could even be recognizable as a city. Been so long, in fact, that nobody even remembers what it was called before it fell. You'd probably know more about the city itself than we do."

"She ain't wrong" He called over his shoulder "And hey! Its Whitebone. Like my bow! Its white, like ice and its made of bone! like the stuff in our bodies! Ya get me?" He continued stopping only to glare at the sword for a second and then he continued what he was doing with a small pout on his face "It aint that hard..." He grumbled

The blade grew silent. Flit voice no longer sounded.

The humans couldn't see it, but he had been overwhelmed by such information. Thousands of years... He could not believe that he had been dormant so long. In fact, a part of him even refused to believe it. If only he could see the outside world. That was a luxury he no longer had...

For a moment, complete silence overcame the ruins. Nobody seemed to be in the mood to be asking or answering any more questions. There was only one thing they could do in a situation like this. Giving a sigh and lowering the sword slightly, Juliana called over to Whitebone.

"Hey, you were right, we should get going. There's nothing left for us to do here, and I really don't want to be wandering around here in the dark."

"She sees reason!" He said raising his arms to the sky with  a chuckle. Getting up he slung the bows over his shoulder and walked out looking around to make sure no one was around. Nodding he followed the ruins and stopped at an overhang. Deciding that was a good sport he sat down to start the fire for a meal.

Juliana quickly checked over her shoulder before following Whitebone, going into a light jog to catch up. When they reached a spot where they could rest, she sat in silence as she watched the fire grow from a small ember to a decently sized fire. As much as she didn't really think about the situation she'd found herself in, she did have one final question to ask.

"Hey, Flit? I know that you have a lot of things to consider right now, and you don't have to answer it, but I think this question is really important. What are you going to do now that you're, y'know, awake?"

In response to the question, the blade remained silent, and the gem did not shine. Flit was still there, listening to every word, but said nothing. On the outside, it seemed like he had become dormant once again.

After moments of silence, the gem began to dimly blink.

"What do you mean, 'what am I going to do'?" said the voice. It sounded... annoyed.

"I can't DO anything! I'm going to be stuck in this thing!"

It paused again, shifting from annoyance to full-blown anger. The gem came to life, glowing brilliantly with a light that almost rivaled the fire's.

"I can't move, I can't see what's around me... I can't even feel anything anymore! I'm going to stick around and be trapped, giving this sword the magic it needs to make fire! Or lightning! Or whatever the wielder wants!"

The light once again died down to a dim glow.

"Other than talk, that's all I can do..." he grumbled.

Once again, there was a moment of silence, save for the crackling of the fire. Juliana tried to find the words to respond with, but they refused to come out. How were you supposed to respond to something like that?

"...I'm sorry. Forget I said anything." she mumbled quietly, her words almost completely drained of energy. It was the only thing she could think to say. She couldn't motivate herself to say anything else on the matter, or even ask Flit to expand on the sword's abilities.

Slowly, the sickly feeling that Juliana had felt the night before started to creep up on her again. Perhaps it was for a different reason than last time, but it was definitely there. In an effort to comfort herself, she started to fiddle with her bell, creating a quiet jingling.

From the sword came the sound of Flit letting out a sigh.

"No... Don't worry about it..." he said apologetically.

"It's just, getting myself trapped like this... then waking up to find I've been asleep for a few thousand years?" It's just... a lot to take in..."

Whitebone remained silent listening to what the sword man had to say. Frowning deep in thought he sighed "if only there was a way" he grumbled to himself. He hated to hear the pain in the voice of the sword,mKing him want to do something for the voice

Juliana shook her head in response to Flit, despite the fact that he had no way of knowing that she did so.

"Nah, it was my bad. I shouldn't have asked such a dumb question."

Turning her attention to Whitebone's comment, she rested her chin in her palm and did some thinking aloud of her own.

"That's the thing, though. Even if there is a way to undo the enchantment, I don't have the slightest clue where to start. Neither of us have much experience in that field, and anyone directly involved in the incident should be long gone by now."

"Wait... A-Are you two... actually considering freeing me?!"

The voice had a more hopeful tone to it. Flit asked this, hoping he was hearing the conversation correctly.

"Well, I can't think of any reason not to. The way I see it, finding a way to reverse the enchantment is more beneficial to me than just leaving it like this. I'm no warrior; I don't stand to gain much from a sword that I'll rarely use, if ever. Especially not one made of iron. On the other hand, if I learn how to break the enchantment, it means that I've learned a little more about how magic works. That's part of the reason I came here in the first place. It's a win-win... as long as you're not planning to go berserk when you get out of there."

The last part of Juliana's explanation was said in a joking manner, but she really didn't know what Flit was capable of. Returning to a more serious tone, she continued to speak.

"Seriously, though, I can't forgive someone who would trap someone like this against their will. Everyone should have a say in what they want to do with their lives, not... this."

Whitebone nodded "the fact that someone would do that is outrageous. " He said thinking " hey maybe we should go exploring tomorrow, maybe there is a book or something that could help us. It's not much but it's a Start " he shrugged

The gem began to glow brilliantly once again.
Flit was all choked up. All he could do was let out an excited squeak at first.

"T-Thank you... Thank you!" his voice said, after he composed himself.

He no longer had this capacity, but there would have been tears to accompany such joy. He went on as if he would be freed within the next few minutes, even though it was clear that these two had no clue on how to free him.

"You... You h-humans never seemed to care about us before... Thank you!"

It was nice to hear Flit in a better mood, but Juliana didn't want to risk providing a false sense of hope so early.

"Hey, don't say 'thanks' yet. Like I said, we don't have any leads right now and I don't want you to get your hopes up over something that might not be possible. Besides, we can't exactly start searching right now, when everything's pitch black."

"Pitch bla-" the voice questioned, before coming to realization.

"Oh... It's night?"

"What? Of course it's night. Can't you see it?"

A few seconds passed before Juliana's palm collided with her face.

"...Right, you can't see. Sorry, that's not going to be easy for me to get used to. Yeah, it's nighttime, or at least pretty close to it."

"Well, anyways... I have apparently waited thousands of years, right? What's one more night?!"

There was a hint of doubt in those words, yet Flit tried his best to cover it in a bubbly and optimistic tone. He had come to terms (at least mostly) that he would never be released from the sword. Now, there could be a chance of freedom once again. They may not have known how, but there had to be a way to do it, right?

Whitebone hummed in agreement not adding much "let's get some rest though. If we are planning on hunting for books, we better get some sleep. " He said finally and stretching out onto the ground, holding his bow in his hand

Juliana nodded, gently placing the sword on the ground beside her. Afterwards, she curled up much like she had done the night before.

"Okay, we'll start looking tomorrow. G'night, you two."

She fell asleep considerably faster this time. Maybe it was a result of getting more accustomed to the Fell, or perhaps it was because there was simply a more positive atmosphere overall compared to the previous night.

"Umm... Good night." Flit's voice said softly in response.

That part: 'you two' echoed. It was nice to be counted as a part of the group... As a living being. In his time trapped in the sword, he had never been considered as such. All he was to his wielder was a power source. Nothing more.

The sword lay 'awake' on the earth. The gem continued glowing dimly. Flit did not need sleep, or even rest. Time may well have not even existed for him in this state. He would stay there, refusing to go dormant, waiting in anticipation for the next day.

With a yawn whitebone woke up refreshed and exuberant once again. Looking around blinking in confusion to where he was at for a solid few minutes. As his brain slowly woke up he yawned again with more force "morning" he grunted and looked over at the embers that were a fire. "Mmm coffee" he grumbled and rolled over onto his back

Juliana took a little while longer to wake up, and would've been happy to sleep through the whole day if the sun hadn't disturbed her rest. Even when she was finally awake, she kept her eyes shut and remained in her curled-up position. Quietly, she mumbled out a few words.

"Morning, Whitebone. Morning, Flit."

It was definitely simplistic, but she figured that was good enough of a greeting.

"Oh! Is it morning already?" asked the voice.

The gem began to shine more boldly, but its light was outdone by the newly-risen sun's.

"Good morning!"

There was renewed excitement in Flit's voice. The new day meant possible freedom for him, after all! The night had passed so quickly it seemed, for all sense of time was lost to the prisoner. He had stayed up all night, in a span of time indistinguishable from any other, simply... thinking.

There was not much Flit knew about his predicament. From both previous knowledge before and knowledge gathered since the ritual, he toyed with some theories on how these humans could possibly release him. These were just silly ideas, thought up to keep the mind from going dormant again. They could wait until all other plans were exhausted.

Hopefully, it would not come to that. Some were... crazy, to say the least...
Others had an unpredictable possible outcome...

He just lifted his hand in greeting. There was no way he could bring out such a chipper happy mood without coffee. Groaning again and rolling over he helped bring the fire back up lazaly and put the pot on the wood to make coffee. As soon as it was hot enough he poured himself a cup and nursed it feeling a bit better and now willing to talk.

"Yup. Morning flit. " He yawned out. "Hey without getting us lost can you see if you can tell us how you got in the sword. Maybe that would be a good starting point to help us understand what we should look for"

"Oh, umm... Alright, I guess..."

There was definitely a change in tone there. Flit did not enjoy retelling that story, and it was obvious. Telling that tale meant he had to relive it again. He really did not want to go through that...

However, if there was a chance that it would help him, he would power through it. Flit decided to start at the very beginning:

"Well... I-It all started one day. I was flying through the forest, just minding my own business, when I caught wind of something shiny. I went to go get it, but it was a trick. Humans had placed it to lure Nimbats, and I fell for it..."

Upon hearing that Flit and Whitebone were indeed awake, Juliana finally sat upright and open her eyes, stretching as she did so. Afterwards, she listened intently to Flit to see if anything in particular caught her attention. As it happened, that didn't take very long.

"Wait, what's a Nimbat? I don't think I've ever heard of those before."

A human not ever hearing of a Nimbat? That did not bode well...

"You... N-Never..?" he asked nervously.

That was all Flit needed today: Anxiety that his kind had died out in his absence...
Of course, the odds of an entire species of intelligent creatures dying off were very slim. At the same time, however, a lot could happen in a few thousand years.

"It's what I am! Or... umm... was. Little flying things! Orange fur? Long bodies? Big... ears? Are you sure you've never heard of them?"

There was a brief pause as Juliana considered her answer. Try as she might, she couldn't recall any instances of people mentioning Nimbats. Flit did seem pretty worried about that, though, so maybe it would be better to just pretend for now? Although, that would just create a bigger problem if they eventually found out a way to undo the enchantment, and her words were proven to be lies...

"Um, I'm pretty sure I've never heard of them specifically. To be honest, though, I might not be the best person to be answering that question. I don't really... talk to people that much."

Whitebone looked up from his coffee "I don't recognize the name, maybe they went underground? I mean not to make you worried but this place is pretty beat up. It could be that they are hiding from everyone" he said hopeing it would help a bit. He wasn't good at consoling people but if there is a small hope then maybe he could try.

"Underground? Oh no, we don't do so well in holes in the ground... We were built for the sky!"

Flit both realized and appreciated what the two were doing. They had replied honestly, but neither of them wanted to submit to the thought that Nimbats were gone from the world. To make him feel better, they offered both excuse and possibility in favor of the opposite.

"Yeah... That's it. They're hiding! We've always been really good at hiding from humans! Why else would they have to rely on traps?"

Flit was reassured. There was still that doubt, as there was with all things, but there was no truth until he searched. If his kind was gone, he would have to see it with his own eyes. First thing was first: he needed to be free!

Flit seemed to accept the answers to his question without too much difficulty, allowing Juliana to relax a little. It meant that they could count of Flit to continue telling his story, which might not have been the case if he had gotten upset and stopped talking. That would certainly have been a problem, considering that Flit's account was the only thing they had to go on right now. Nodding and giving Whitebone a quick thumbs-up, Juliana continued her questioning.

"So, the humans set up a trap that was specifically meant to catch Nimbats. I guess they must've had a reason for trying to catch such a particular creature. It probably had something to do with the enchantment, right?"

Flit once again realized that he was in the middle of a story.

"Well... there's actually a good reason why we're so good at hiding... Humans have always wanted us for our magic!" he said with a subtle hint of anger.

So, it had to do with the magic of Nimbats, huh? As Juliana recalled, Flit had mentioned having some kind of magical powers the previous day.

"Now that I think about it, you said something along those lines earlier. You have the ability to enhance the sword with the power of the elements, right? Do you have any idea how that works?"

Whitebone listened carefully as he pulled out the book he picked up from earlier the previous day. Squinting at the text he started to read the legible words. Stopping he turned his full attention to the sword and Flit. This is where he would try and help but pro his best bet would be to remain silent. He was a happy person but he felt like he would just screw up and make Flit uncomfortable some how

"Nope!" the voice responded sharply.

"They didn't exactly... share any information when they did this to me."

Flit could have tried searching his memories for anything said about that, but he knew it would be fruitless. Not only did he never get that information, but a fair amount of it was deliberately withheld from him. It was best for a captured creature to know as little about its cage as possible, after all.

"Did you try swinging it?"

"Yeah, I tried swinging the sword, but it was before you were, um, awake. I think that might have actually been what woke you up in the first place, because the thing started to glow more after we swung it around some more. Then, when I tried touching the gem in the sword, it started glowing like crazy, and you started talking."

Juliana paused, leaning over to grab the sword.

"...I guess we could always try it again, now that you're awake."

"don't cut yourself" whitebone smiled at her going back to his book with a grin
He chuckled at his imagination of her swinging the sword all over the place. Stopping he looked around the sun was at already at decent point in the sky shrugging he waited for the pair to get done so he could go exploring again for something that actually may be of use

Finally, there was information he could give them.

"Oh! Yes, it's touch that activates the sword! That's actually... how they would wake me up..."

Flit thought of how he could best teach the humans to use the sword. Again, that was information he was not given. Yet, he had a faint understanding from what he could surmise in the past.

"Try thinking of a certain element! Then swing! My mag- I mean...The SWORD should do the rest."

"Of course I'm not going to cut myself. If I do that, I'm going to have a lot more to worry about than just bleeding."

Taking hold of the sword, Juliana got up on her feet and walked a few steps away in order to make sure she wouldn't accidentally hit something. Next, she had to actually figure out how to use the sword. Flit hadn't specified any specific element to use, so Juliana just went with whichever one came to mind first: the element of fire. Closing her eyes, she created the image of a raging fire in her mind. When she had a clear picture of it, her eyes reopened and she prepared herself to attack.

"Well, here goes nothing."

Taking a step forward, Juliana swung the sword in a wide arc in front of herself, putting plenty of energy into her attack.

Nothing... The blade cut through the air like the hunk of iron it was, but there was no fire. Not even embers came from the blade.

"It didn't work..."

There was no question in Flit's voice. It was a definite statement.

Flit heard 'here goes nothing' , then nothing happened. He would have known if the sword was activated. Instead, there was more nothingness.

"Umm... Maybe don't just think about it? Try feeling it! It should be like casting a spell!"

Could this human cast spells? This was never confirmed... Then again, humans in Flit's experience have always been magically inclined. What human couldn't cast spells?

Juliana frowned as she stared at the sword, which was completely devoid of fire. She hadn't exactly been expecting the first try to be successful, but for a moment she really thought the blade would burst into flames. However, this was no reason to give up completely. Determined to get a reaction this time, Juliana prepared herself for another strike.

Using magic wasn't usually a problem for Juliana, but elemental magic was completely foreign to her. She'd only ever been able to use life magic, so she mad no idea what casting an elemental spell 'felt' like. The only option she had was to try and emulate what she did to perform life magic, while still trying to focus on the image of fire. She felt her magic starting to flow throughout her body, but even then, something still felt... wrong. Nonetheless, Juliana struck at the air with the sword, using a downwards swing this time.

Whitebone chuckled a bit and stood up unstrapping his bow off of his shoulder and drew it back forming an ice arrow "wanna try a little duel?" He asked watching her use the sword. He shot an arrow  past her, close to the sword. Maybe it would help with a bit of elemental magic being close, or even a bit of battle.

The sword came down upon the arrow of ice, snapping it in half and sending it to the earth. Some embers were hanging in the air from the strike, yet the dazzling flames it was capable of were still absent.

"Oh! There we go..." Flit said, having felt some power being used.

"Fire, I see! Huh... That's the first one everyone uses... Umm, that one was close, but not quite there yet..."

He contemplated what could be missing. His original wielder got it on the first try. Then again, he probably had instruction... This would have been easier if he had more sense of the outside world.

Watching the small flames dance in the air before promptly vanishing, Juliana was once again disappointed by the result. Sure, there was definitely improvement from the last attempt, but she really didn't have any idea what else she could do in order to unleash the blade's true power. Frustrated, she turned to face Whitebone and pointed at the shattered arrow.

"First of all, I don't know what possessed you to do something like that. If you'd have messed up, you could've hit me!"

Shaking her head, she once again turned away and held the sword in front of her.

"...Secondly, I can't duel. I've never even held a sword like this before we came here, let alone learn how to use it effectively. It would just end up with one of us getting hurt."

It was clear that she was upset with Whitebone for firing the arrow, but she was more angry with herself for struggling with what should have been a simple task. With a surge of emotion, Juliana took another wild slice with the sword. By this point, the strength behind her attack was fuelled more by frustration than anything else.

He sighed and shook his head " that is why I fired the arrow. You reacted without thinking. Flames. I don't know if it helped with such the power but something happened, that is what we found out. Secondly that is why we should dule. So you can learn. You can't survive only on healing magic. " He said standing up straight.  He lowed his bow down by his side.

"And I can guarantee that this sword will not cut my bow. " He added as a side note

With that wild slice, the gem in the holy began glowing brilliantly, and the iron sword was ablaze with a wreath of flame. Their red and orange glow left a bright streak through the air, the intense heat being felt by the wielder and all nearby. The human had done it.

"Whooh..."  said Flit in response. He sounded as though he had just lifted a heavy weight, and put it back down again.

"I felt that!" Good job..."

There was something off about Flit's voice... from his tone, there was a certain sense of secrecy. Something that he was not saying...

The sword suddenly bursting into flames probably surprised Juliana more than anyone else. Sure, she was the one swinging it, so she should have been the only one expecting it to happen, but that simply wasn't the case. Getting the sword to work had created more questions than answers.

"I... dont understand. I wasn't really trying to get it to work that time, and now it decides to ignite? What's going on here?"

Giving a sigh, Juliana finally lowered the sword to her side.

"In any case, I can't agree to a duel right now after something like that happens. If the magic activates when neither of us are expecting it, there's no telling what could happen."

"That's fire..." The voice responded in a more serious tone. The flames died once the sword was no longer in motion.

"Different elements have different triggers. At least, that's been my experience..."

Flit thought back to the past, when it was him casting fire with his own paws. This was how he could get through to them, by reteaching the lessons he was taught all those millennia ago.

"Fire is fueled more by emotion than anything else. I think... in your mind, you still wanted it to work. You were just thinking about it too hard before! Fire magic is something that needs to be felt..."

Flit was proud of himself. He quickly became a mentor, and felt he did not do such a bad job sounding 'wise' for once.

Whitebone laughed and nodded "I can believe that! I don't like fire mages. Always angery people." He said with a grin spinning his bow and deciding to shoot some stones, covering them in ice happily

For once, Juliana actually cracked a smile.

"Heh. Well, if all you have to do is get pissed off in order to set it on fire, then it shouldn't be much of a problem. If anything, having it go off accidentally is the biggest issue."

Pleased that she'd finally found a way to get the sword to work properly, Juliana gave herself a few moments' rest and watched Whitebone fire a few ice arrows.

"So, fire is activated with some combination of intent and emotion. Do we know how to get the other elements to work?"

"Now, you're asking the right questions!" Flit responded confidently.

"Elemental magic is my speciality. In fact, I think that's why this sword has that power. That... or it was coincidence..."

Magic was everything to a Nimbat. The voice rattled on in excitement, not once considering that showing the sword's abilities may convince the two humans against releasing him. Should he be freed, the sword would not be able to do anything like that again. A plain iron sword was practically useless compared to the steel weapons of this age.

"The more destructive elements... Fire, lightning, and so on... rely on strong emotion. Not really anger. That's just what most people think! Are there any elements in particular you want to try? Ice... Wind..."

"if you try ice then you better fight me" whitebone called over his shoulder as he walked a few feet away to inspect his damage " ice is what I live for. " He continued without missing a beat " but in any case let's practice and move. We don't want to waist daylight"

Whitebone made some steps grunting a bit as he casually walked up the wall to get a better view "man i wish there were like temples devoted to each element. Think of the possibilities of learning" he grumbled to himself

Following after Whitebone, Juliana casually waved the sword around as she considered what element she wanted to learn about next. To be honest, she'd like to have a basic understanding of all the elements, but they couldn't exactly work on more than one at the same time. Eventually, she just decided to go with whatever seemed most interesting to her.

"Well, I think the element of wind would have some unusual interactions with a sword. I'm not even sure how that would work... maybe it would increase the speed of the attack, or something?"

"No clue. I've never actually seen the sword in action..."

Flit was completely unaware that they had begun moving again. He continued as he had been.

"To be honest, I've never actually seen the sword!"

Wind was an interesting element. As flying creatures, Nimbats were more in tune with that element than any other. He went on, telling his own personal knowledge of wind.

"Wind is a little more tricky. It's more... passive... than the other elements. When using wind, you need to be aware of the world around you. It's moving you forward, and you're hanging on for the ride!"

Flit thought carefully on his next words, but came up a little short.

"What that means for a sword? I'm... not really sure..."

"sounds like cutting something without using the blade" Whitebone spoke up in thought "or a defensive type, knock them down maybe" he continued hopping over some rubble with a grunt and looked around making his way over to a set of cravings he grabbed his sketch book and started to copy the patch of turns and symbols

"Wait, you've never personally seen the sword? Huh..."

That particular piece of information seemed a bit strange. Did it mean that Flit was unconscious while the sword was being enchanted? Or perhaps, his spirit wasn't infused directly with the sword? Either way, it would be important to keep in mind in order to discover the truth of what happened.

"Well, if none of us know exactly how wind magic would interact with the sword, then I guess there's only one way to find out."

Trying to follow Flit's advice, Juliana took her time and went with a different approach than she had when producing flames. Like before, she closed her eyes, but she wasn't really trying to focus. Instead, she simply... listened. There obviously wasn't much to listen for, but she made sure to pick up on everything that she could. Eventually, she reopened her eyes and gripped the sword, using both of her hands to do so. She took a running start to her attack this time, picking up speed before thrusting the sword forwards. She wasn't really trying to force the magic to work this time- it was more like she expected it to work.

The gem began shining bright, just as it had with the fire.

As the weapon was readied, a magic wind began blowing from the blade. It started as a gentle breeze, but quickly intensified into near gale-force proportions. The sword zipped forward, effortlessly thrusting and cutting trough the air at high speed.

"Oh! G-good. You... Y-you got it."

It would keep going like this until either it was willed to stop, or it left its wielder's hands.

Spurred on by the rushing wind, Juliana kept running along with the sword. However, as the sword picked up more and more speed, it eventually started to pull her along. Quickly realizing that the wind wouldn't be stopping any time soon if she continued, she firmly planted her feet to the ground until both human and sword came to a halt. Doing so sent a cloud of dust flying into the air, sending Juliana into a coughing fit.

"...Woah, that was a lot more powerful than I expected. I need to be more careful..."

Utilizing the element of wind had some differences, but also shared some similarities with activating the fire magic. Both times, the gem had shone brilliantly, like it had done whenever the voice emanating from the sword showed intense emotion. There was also another similarity, something that Juliana hadn't picked up on until now...

"Hey, are you feeling okay? You don't, uh, sound very well."

Whitebone looked over and sighed softly. Nodding to himself he decided to try his own way at freeing the Nimbat.

Jumping down lightly to where he was the previous day he took a look around in the broader daylight. The racks of molded and rusted weapons hung on the cracking walls and the dead man he found the day before sat still and cold on the hard floor. He frowned a bit. The layers of ice that he had formed on the walls on the day before were still there in tact, not bothered by the heat of the day. Walking forward he began to inspect the walls themselves, starting to get that strange feeling back in his gut that took his normal good and overabundance of joy away.

"Me...?" Flit responded, sounding taken off guard.

"Oh... don't worry, I'm fine! It's just... That last one was a little more intense. That's all."

The gem dimmed down to the point that its glow could hardly be seen in the daylight. As it said this, the voice was a little more calm, but no less content than it usually was.

To be fair, the wind magic had been significantly more powerful than the fire had been. The reason for this was unknown; maybe Juliana was just more used to the sword, or she just had a greater affinity for wind in general. Whatever the cause, though, at least the magic worked. That meant that they could move on to another element whenever they were ready.

"...Alright, if you say so. If you're okay, I guess that means we can move on to the next one. How about we try earth next?"

"Yeah, I don't exactly have a physical form that can be... not... okay..." he reassured the human, whilst struggling to find any better words to finish that sentence.

In truth, it had been a while since the blade needed this much magic. Even though he could remember the last time as clearly as if it were the day before, thousands of years of being dormant were evident. There was a bit more strain on the sword's power source. In this case, Flit.

Still, he did not want the humans to worry for him. They had been so kind thus far. The least he could do was show them how to use the weapon properly, so they could use it if anything were to go wrong.

"Alrighty! Umm... Earth..."

Earth was perhaps Flit's least favorite element. It was course, it was dirty, and somewhat difficult for him to call upon. He struggled somewhat to think of a good lesson for this element.

"Earth is... Umm... Ah! Earth is very... sturdy! Very stubborn. You, uh, need to tap into the ground underneath you. That's it! Tell it who's boss!"

Flit was pretty much making this up as he went along. He wasn't wrong about it, he just never really had too much practice with it. As a being of the sky with very little physical strength or mental resolve, he was a poor candidate for such magic. Still, maybe this human could tap into it.

Whitebone ran his fingers over the wall he was standing by with a furrowed brow. He had spotted a very fine crack in the stone that was clearly not made my nature. With resolve closed his eyes and pushed his hand against the fine line and let loose his own magic. Feeling the exuberant rush of cold beneath his fingers and hearing the crack of stone he opened them.

Seeing a larger crack that looked like enough to slip through he did. He then cursed his own stupidity and fire mages. It was hot. Much hotter than he felt decent in. But he did bless them for fire had a light to it. Looking around he sticked to the sides of a large room as he coated himself in an icy blanket to cool off a bit. With a smile he shook his head. He could tell he found the heart of this temple. And it was clear that it was a fire mages home.

"So, earth is all about willpower, huh... well, that shouldn't be a problem."

Juliana was no stranger to stubbornness. By this point, she was completely committed to understanding how the sword functioned. She'd been able to use two elements so far, and wasn't intending to give up until she'd gotten all of them to work at least once. Besides, earth seemed like it would be simple enough to work with.

That being said, how the element of earth would work with the sword was a different matter. Usually, such magic involved manipulating the earth itself, so how exactly it could augment the sword's attack was unknown. Regardless, Juliana started to prepare. It seemed to her that the swing itself would have to be powerful in order to activate earth magic, so her approach was centred around sheer force. Once again using both hands, she brought the sword overhead before sending it plummeting towards the ground. She put plenty of her own weight into the swing, caring more about getting the magic to work than what it would actually do.

"Yeah! That's it... Willpower!"

The gem began to glow once again, shining brightly over the woman's head. Something began growing from the metal now, the element of earth. In only a moment, the entire blade became enveloped in a thick shell of solid rock. This greatly increased the overall weight of the sword, pulling it down to earth with much more force than may have been intended.

The weapon impacted on the ground, the sheer force causing it to shake somewhat. Some rumbling could be heard as well as the sound of the strike reverberated off the stone ruins. Sizable cracks were left in the ground under the blade, but no damage could be seen on the weapon or the earthen shell that surrounded it. As with the other magics, the earth stayed on the sword until it was dispelled or dropped.

This magic was indeed felt by Flit, but there was no congratulatory words this time. The voice remained silent.

Holding onto the wall whitebone attempted to stay still as everything shook around him " gosh. Quit it up there will ya?" He grumbled to himself as he looked for something to help. Spotting a few items that looked important, he quickly grabbed them and ran from the room glad for the colder air. Setting them on the ground he looked at them and an idea struck him. What if you needed each element to release the sword.

Noticing the changes that had taken place across the sword, Juliana tried to lift the sword from the ground with not much success. It already had some weight to it before, and the significant increase due to the magic made the task of lifting it difficult for someone like her. She eventually managed to move it upwards, but carrying it around or swinging it in this state just seemed like a good way to get injured. Instead, she waited for the stone casing to crumble before moving on.

"Okay... that's three elements down. That leaves water, but ice would probably be its more useful form in this situation... Uh, somehow I don't think that one's going to come naturally to me. I'm going to need something extra."

Making her way over to where she'd last seen Whitebone, she called down to him.

"Hey, what are you up to down there?"

"handling hot objects!" He called back up putting them wrapped up into his pack and made his way up " what's up? Did you need something?" He asked looking around for anything that happened, finding not much has changed he turned back towards her

"I've been trying to get the sword to work with different elements, as you've probably noticed. It's been going pretty smoothly so far, but I'm not sure I'll be able to get ice to work quite so easily. I figured you might have a few ideas, being an ice mage and all."

Juliana figured that Whitebone might just try and talk her into duelling again, but there weren't many other options. In order to learn about something, it made sense to consult with someone who had a lot of experience in the matter. Besides, if it started to go south, she could always go back to learning the way she had previously.

Whitebone frowned and looked at her. "Well... It's hard to master. It's cold. It's curle and you cant be afraid" he started off thinking how he learned to begin at first. He wasn't a master but he did know a lot he supposed. Looking at the sword he sighed

The auburn gem began blinking again.

"I... I th-think you are... better off learning water first..." Flit finally input quietly, sounding rather drained as he spoke.

As she expected, it wasn't going to be easy for Juliana to harness the power of ice. Learning to use water first could go some way towards using ice, but there didn't seem to be much it could do beyond that.

"I guess we can try water first, but to be honest, I highly doubt that water itself will have any useful interactions with the sword... anyways, how should I start?"

"Water... is good against fire, I guess." the voice responded, after regaining most of its former vigor.

"Water is a lot like air... One of the passive magics... Hmm..."

This was more challenging than he thought. Flit's spells had always been cast as some sort of projectiles. Although most elements transferred over quite easily, it was hard for him to imaging swinging water. After a bit of contemplation, Flit continued.

"Instead of letting it lead you, try leading it. For a sword, try being more... fluid? Look for the easiest path, then guide it along."

Whitebone sighed a bit "Can we let him rest a bit at least. I want his opinion on what I found. I t might be able to help." He said listing carefully to voice of the sword.

It certainly wasn't easy for Juliana to get into the right mindset to call upon water. It seemed to require some amount of flexibility, which she wasn't used to. She couldn't quite grasp the concept of trying to lead something without forcing it; she kept ending up with the mindset for using earth, or using air. In the end, she ended up swinging the sword halfheartedly, without much energy put behind it. To her, it seemed like she couldn't make any progress with the instructions she had so far.

"...I guess we could rest for a little while. If you found something interesting, then it's probably worth investigating."

"Hey! I don't need rest!" the voice protested.

It seemed that the outburst was premature. Upon hearing the news that there was an important discovery, he was silent. They wanted his opinion? It could help him? That must have been a possible escape! If it was not, his interest was still piqued.

"Yes! Umm... sure. What did you find?"

"Well I found these stones...THey are really hot nad I found them in a cave down here dedicated to fire. Or at least I assumed it was to fire. If there is a cave temple thing to fire then maybe there is one for all the elements? And maybe we can use the power to force you out using hte combination? Or something?"He asked laying down what he found on the ground

Listening to the ice mage's explanation, Juliana knelt down to the objects and ran her hand over them. Sure enough, they were definitely hot; clearly the result of some sort of fire magic.

"So, essentially, the plan is to use the power of the elements to overload the power of the enchantment? There's a few problems with that.  First of all, condensing all that power into one place just seems... dangerous. Secondly, we don't even know if the other temples exist, let alone where they're actually located."

Clearly, she was skeptical that such a plan would actually be successful.

"I say we try it!" Flit exclaimed with an sudden excited and optimistic tone.

"Better than nothing, right? What's the worst that could happen!"

The stone was glowing brightly once again.

"...I'd say the worst that could happen is us getting ourselves killed. We don't know much about the sword, so there's no telling how it would react to a surge of power like that."

The woman made it a point to voice her concerns about the plan. Breaking the seal on the sword would mean nothing if the whole group was eradicated in the process. She did, however, concede that having some kind of plan was better than nothing.

"Well, I guess having some idea of what to do is at least a start. We still need to figure out how we're going to find the rest of the temples, though. That is, if there are other temples."

"Oh yeah... That would be bad." the voice conceded.

Flit did genuinely care for the two who sought to free him. He did not want any harm to come to them for his sake. At the same time, deep in the back of what counted in his mind, a different thought was formed. Should these two die, he would be left alone again, still trapped (and unable to die) in his crystalline prison. This thought took form as the joking voice of the Nimbat continued.

"Who would get me out of here then?"

Whitebone shrugged "lets put it this way. If we died then we all die together. I dont see a bad thing in that. At least it would be quick. " He said with a shrug "And we got nothin go on anyway"

Whitebone got up and looked at the stones "Umm...you don't mind carrying them? I don't do too well in heat" He said a bit hesitant 

"Well, I don't know about that. I'd say that, in general, avoiding death is the preferable option. I didn't come all the way out to the middle of the Fell just to lay down and die."

The woman's voice was laced with sarcasm; she was obviously still reluctant to go along with the plan. However, all this talk about releasing powerful magic- and the potential consequences of doing so- reminded her of why the Fell was so dangerous in the first place.

"...Then again, I guess you're not going to give up on this plan easily. For all I know, undoing the seal could result in something like what created the Fell. I really don't want to find out what happens if you get caught in a blast like that and don't immediately get killed. Plus... if I came along, I could at least try to keep you from doing something reckless."

Finally accepting the situation she'd found herself in, Juliana sighed and shook her head. She knelt down and picked up the stones, holding them under one arm while gripping the sword with the other. Thinking silently for a second, she suddenly grinned and spoke up again.

"Hey, if this ends up getting me killed, you better believe my ghost's going to come back and haunt you."

Whitebone started to laugh hard " I would hope for nothing less than a haunting if such a thing could happen. " He said " in the mean time as we travel I can help with ice if you wish. It is a tricky one to master" he said his happy mood coming back in storm. He hopped up and jumped around slightly waiting for her to get ready. He was an already impatient person but now there was a possibility of more ice places and more history that he could study

The gem lit up again.

"I still think she should start with water!" Flit's voice protested.

Noticing that Whitebone was getting increasingly eager to start moving again, Juliana quickly began preparing herself for travel. She stood up again, proceeding to shake off some dust and producing a small jingle from her bell as she did so. Nodding to Whitebone in order to indicate that she was ready to get going, she then turned her attention towards the sword. Now that they had come to a conclusion on what to do, she could go back to trying to invoke the element of water.

Since the process of using water hadn't been very successful the first time around, Juliana decided to take a slightly different approach this time. She tried to think of what the motion of water looked like, eventually imagining a drop of water on the side of an object. The drop would slide downwards on its own, but if one were to tilt the object, then the course of the drop would be altered. Applying this idea to the sword, it seemed like there would have to be intent behind the swing, but trying to force a reaction wasn't going to work. Taking a deep breath, the woman took a moment to think of what she wanted to do with the sword. She sliced it through the air in front of her, trying not to use too much power and instead focusing on the accuracy of her attack.

Whitebone started to move again heading north. Taking out his bow he held it tightly in his hand. There were always creatures around the north. The only thing he liked about the north was the cold. He was sure that there would be something to the north, considering the warmth and the fire were corralled int he south. There was sure to be something to north, and maybe on the way.

He did not realize that he let his arm become coated with ice. It was a bad habit that he did, making a light layer of protection on his arm. He was nervous about the north, but he did not fear  what was in the north, he was afraid of what he cold can do to him. He never did enjoy what the cold did to his personality in general.

As the woman carefully contemplated her attack, the sword responded. There was the sound of soft bubbling and gurgling emanating from the hilt. Water flowed down the metal blade, sending thousands of droplets flying off in the direction of the swing. They splattered along the ground, darkening the dirt- covered debris with moisture.

"There we go... You really have the hang of this!"

The rest seemed fruitful, for Flit did not sound as drained as he had been after the previous attempts.

Juliana smiled a little as the blade started to produce water, pleased to be making progress at a fast pace. She obviously hadn't planned on finding a weapon like this in the Fell, but it was still helping her to discover more about magic regardless. Flit's praise also went some way towards lightening her mood, but she quickly took on a more neutral tone when she responded.

"Uh, thanks. I think that one might be more difficult to use on the middle of a fight, though..."

Now that she had water figured out to some extent, using the power of ice would probably be significantly easier. Juliana turned to Whitebone, about to speak before noticing that his arm had been covered by a layer of ice. She did wonder what the reason for this was, eventually concluding that he was probably just messing around again.

"So, how do you go about creating ice? I'm guessing it's a lot like using water."

"Well... It's like I said!" the voice responded.

He may have felt the energy being used, but he could only guess from there what exactly happened when the water was invoked. He assumed a bubble of water floated around the blade.

"Water is good against fire! With a sword... you can probably literally fight fire!"

He heard the woman's words and knew her attention had went back to her partner. He stopped talking and listened in, gem glowing dull as he did so.

Jumping a bit as he was shaken out of his thoughts he looked at his arm and jumped a bit more and shook his arm free of the ice "Well for starters, its an emotional element, or at least thats how I can see it. It can be like fire in a way, but it is easier to get a darker personality and a darker power, if you use it right then its a pure power and if you use it wrong it is an evil power. Its tricky. " He said running a hand through his hair freezing it a bit. Raising his bow he pulled back the icy string drawing a icey arrow as he drew it back.

"Concentration, and imagination. A hard and pure heart. " He said and let the arrow go "It is as hard or as easy as you make it."

Juliana went silent in order to let the other two respond, idly waving the sword around a little as she waited. She pondered their responses in her mind, eventually deciding to reply to Flit before moving on to using ice.

"Well, I'm not entirely convinced that there's enough water to make a meaningful difference, at least not against an actually threatening fire... maybe I'm just doing it wrong, or something. In any case, I'm less concerned about the applications of water than I am about getting it to work reliably. It's pretty hard to focus like that when you're in a life or death situation."

With that, the woman turned her attention back to the sword. She figured that since water was similar to ice, it might be for the best to use water as a starting point. Doing her best to replicate the process she'd gone through previously, she willed water to begin pouring from the blade. Instead of swinging it, though, she held it still and tightened her grip on the handle. She was aiming to make the water come to a halt, freezing in place and morphing into ice.

As it had before, water dripped onto the stone-covered floor from the enchanted iron blade. Some time passed... but eventually, the water dripped more and more slowly. This was due to the fact that a thin sheet of ice was slowly creeping up the blade from the hilt.

A soft yet strained grunting was coming from the brightly-glowing gem, sounding as a person would when lifting something heavy. Even though he was somewhat used to the sensation once again, the prolonged drain of his energy had a considerable effect on Flit.

Whitebone winced. "Maybe you should stop. " He suggested softly watching the light bit of ice form.

"I think that you will both need streangth later on" he continued and turned around and started to walk. Starting to whistle a tune he looked to a mountain in the distance " well if we head north then we will run into the cold part of the fell. I believe that there might be a few places to check out before that though. " He said running his hand over the small hole in the white bow.

Fascinated by the ice slowly creeping across the blade, Juliana stopped in her tracks and ran her hand across it. Contrary to the burning sensation she'd received from it before, this time the layer of ice provided a protective barrier that was (obviously) cool to the touch. She would have happily stood there for several minutes, admiring the abilities of the enchantment if she hadn't been warned to conserve her energy. Clearly disappointed, she frowned and begrudgingly dropped her focus on maintaining the ice layer. She started to walk again, lowering the sword to her side.

"The cold area of the Fell, huh? I have to say, I really wasn't expecting to go all this way when I first arrived here. I didn't exactly come prepared for a place like that."

Flit recovered much quicker this time, once his energy stopped being drained. After an eon without use, the sword's magic was almost completely revitalized.

"Cold?" Flit began.

"What's the problem with cold? You have a potentially flaming sword with you!"

Using the sword's magic to produce flames as a source of heat was definitely an interesting idea, albeit a highly unconventional one. Juliana kind of wished that she'd thought of it first, but she perceived a few problems with it regardless. Whether or not she was just looking for issues to take up with it was debatable, considering she had a certain reputation of getting into arguments.

"Well, I guess that might work, but that magic's not going to last forever if we abuse it like that. I don't want to end up in some terrible situation and not be able to use the magic because I used too much energy doing something unnecessary."

"That's true I guess..."

After a few moments of silence, light chuckle came from the sword. The gem began glowing as well.

"Then again... You two DID come here by yourselves BEFORE finding me. If this place is as dangerous as you make it sound, didn't you guys have a way to protect yourselves without the sword? It's not like you need to put any of your magic into it..."

There was another moment of silence before Flit spoke once more. His voice shifted into a more serious tone as the gem's light began to wane.

"Look, I just don't want you to freeze... I may be trapped in here, but I still wanna help you if I can..."

When Flit mentioned methods of self-defence besides the sword, Juliana's eyes shifted over to Whitebone's bow. She'd never actually seen him use it in a fight, but he was presumably pretty good with it, considering... well, he lived in the Fell. As for herself, she'd taken the precaution of carrying a dagger with her wherever she went. Admittedly, she wasn't at all experienced when it came to actually using it, but Flit didn't need to know that.

"Um, yeah. Something like that."

Still, the inhabitant of the sword insisted on using his magic for heat if it became a necessity. Knowing that she wasn't going to convince him otherwise, the woman sighed and caved in.

"Alright, alright. Fine. I'll use it if we absolutely have to. Believe me, though, I'm not going to be resorting to doing that very easily."

Listening in on the conversation he chuckled "If we are going that way then we will make a stop. I have some extra coats at home base, and plus. I don't need them. You can always have this one if need be" He said motioning to the long coat that he always had on.

"And Filt, I basically live here. Unfortunately I also understand this place a bit. " He mumbled shaking his head.

"If you say so..." the voice responded incredulously.

"I don't know what this place is like..."

"You don't know what the Fell's like?"

Such a claim would have been a little hard to believe under normal circumstances, but considering Flit's rather... unique condition, it made at least some sense.

"Well... it's basically the epitome of destruction. There's nothing but crumbling ruins as far as the eye can see. You'd only rarely encounter some sort of life out here, and you can be pretty sure that whatever you happen to run into isn't going to be friendly. Honestly, though, I'd say that the terrain itself is more dangerous than the things that walk on it. There's even a few rumours of a curse that befalls mages who travel here, but I think those are just the results of a bunch of incompetent mages with with too much imagination."

Hearing Whitebone's plan to stop at his base, Juliana gave a small nod. She did, however, decide to reject his offer to wear his coat. Doing so would make her feel weak, like she had to rely entirely on other people to survive, and that really didn't sit well with her.

"You can keep your coat, I'll be fine for now. How long would you say it is before we reach the base, anyways?"

"The end of the day, I hope. We are making good time. " He said. Listing to the conversation about the place he had called home for the past few years of his life. He did not know of any huge curse but he did understand that this place affects each person differently, here it helped him but it also was a negative effect on his personality to add on it. 

"Last time I saw this... "Fell"... it was a human city. My kind never really visited for... obvious reasons..."

There was some disdain in that last bit.

"To be honest... I'm not too excited to see the place."

"I don't think anyone is too excited to be hanging around a place like this. There isn't really anything left to see."

After giving those last words, Juliana would remain silent for the rest of the trip save for the quiet jingles from her bell. There was nothing left to be said on the issue, at least the way she saw it.

Whitebone lead them into a patch of woods. There were broken down stone houses, patched up to become a shelter from the majority of the elements. It looked lived in, or at least more lived in than the rest of the Fell. Carvings on trees indicated who came and left with what. An old fireplace in the center of the structures was cold and empty but still had the makeshift tree stump chairs. Looking around Whitebone strode into a shelter and carved into the wood of the makeshift door.

Seeing that they had arrived at their destination, Juliana began to to examine her new surroundings. Apparently, Whitebone wasn't kidding about living in the Fell, and what was more, it seemed that other people lived here too. She couldn't even begin to imagine what would compel multiple people to take up residence here... at least it didn't look like they visited their base too often.

"...Huh. I guess it's not too bad, considering where it's located and all."

"OOH!" Flit started excitedly as the gem began to glow.

"Are we there? Did we make it!?"