I Know You...

DragonSong · October 03, 2023, 09:13:27 AM

Nani slept so deeply that she honestly couldn't remember if she'd had her usual dream--she thought she had, but it had been more as though she was searching a single house for someone rather than wandering endlessly in a great wide world. The sense that she was close, if she could just reach out and knock on the right door...

The rooster's crow dragged her back into the waking world, and the dream dissipated quickly, leaving only fragments of sensation in her memory. She blinked, reorienting herself to the world around her.

She was in barn. Right.

"Oh!"

Brunhilda the dairy cow had shuffled closer to her sometime in the night, and was sniffing at her white-streaked hair curiously, clearly wondering if it was edible. A surprisingly long tongue lolled out of the animal's mouth and began lapping at the side of her head.

Nani blinked, still half-sleep, then burst out laughing. "Cowlick," she realized with a giggle, remembering one of the trader's she'd traveled with briefly had used the word. "I get it."

MadEmperor · October 03, 2023, 09:29:04 AM

The cow lowed softly in such a way that, if Nani didn't know better, would have sounded amused. But the licking stopped.

Soon after, Ein appeared in the doorway. Had he been awake before the rooster crowed? Chuckling, he said, "I see Brunhilda's already said good morning."

DragonSong · October 03, 2023, 09:44:19 AM

With half her hair now a certifiable rats' nest licked into the side of her head, Nanai glanced up at him and chuckled before getting to her feet.

"Indeed she has." She patted the animal's head with one hand while she tried to sort out the matted mess on the side of her head with the other. "So!"

Turning back to Einhardt, she clasped her hands in front of her body and straightened her shoulders. "Where should I start?"

MadEmperor · October 03, 2023, 10:53:01 AM

"Your new friend needs milking," he answered with a slight smile. He pointed to a pair of buckets in the corner. "Milk buckets are over there. I can carry it back to the house if you can't manage it."

"Then Byrna. After that, I'm sure I'll think of something else I wouldn't prefer to just do myself."

DragonSong · October 03, 2023, 12:25:21 PM

Nani nodded quickly, already moving to gather up the buckets.

Hmm...maybe she could...

"I--I wouldn't want to inconvenience you," she said slowly as she settled the buckets in place and moved what she assumed was the milking stool. "You've already been very kind, and I don't want to put you out, but...I've been traveling for over three months now. If there's work to do, and if my help is useful, maybe--maybe I could stay a few more days? As long as I keep helping?" she offered cautiously.

That would give her some time to better figure out just what was happening with her pull and this farmer.

MadEmperor · October 03, 2023, 01:28:14 PM

"As long as you keep being helpful, I suppose I can agree to that," he said, nodding.

He gave her a sterner look. "But if you're bringing any complications to my doorstep, I suggest you tell me now."

DragonSong · October 03, 2023, 01:35:19 PM

...Well then.

So much for trying to do this subtly.

"I...might be," she admitted with a sigh, settling herself onto the stool. Her wings unfurled slightly behind her. "But the problem is I honestly don't know if I am."

She worried at her lower lip, then glanced up at him sidelong. "Do you remember what I said yesterday? About why I left Yoreiq?"

MadEmperor · October 03, 2023, 01:52:36 PM

"You said you were looking for someone, but you don't know who. Are you telling me that isn't true?"

He shook his head. "No. A lie would be more believable than that, so there must be something more you aren't telling me."

DragonSong · October 03, 2023, 02:57:34 PM

"No no, it's true!" Nani exclaimed quickly, starting to pop back off the stool before Brunhilda made a nervous noise at her sudden energy and she forced herself to settle again.

"I...since I was quite young, I've had these...dreams," she started to explain, not quite looking at him. "Dreams where I'm searching for someone. And then, in the last few years, there's been this pull." She put her hand over the center of her chest. "Here. Like there's a compass inside me, but it doesn't point north, it points to this--this person I'm meant to find. And--"

She glanced up at him and bit her lip again. "...You think I'm mad, don't you?"

MadEmperor · October 03, 2023, 03:14:08 PM

"All the best people are a little mad." He smirked briefly before becoming serious again. "But that much depends on what you say next."

DragonSong · October 03, 2023, 03:24:38 PM

She chuffed a bit at that, a sound that wasn't quite a chuckle but came close.

"...There are powers in this world beyond our understanding. Beyond even magic," she said softly after a few more moments of thought. "Different peoples have called it all manner of things--fate, destiny, chance, luck--but there is something that called me here. Pulled me here. To...to you."

Nani looked up at him again, sincerity and something like excitement shining in her eyes. "I don't know why, but I've been looking for you."

MadEmperor · October 03, 2023, 03:36:27 PM

"Is this a con?" Ein asked nervously but with an annoyed tone. "Because there's no way I'm a chosen anything. I just want things to be simple. And besides, I've got nothing worth stealing."

DragonSong · October 03, 2023, 03:46:10 PM

"I'm no thief!" Though usually soft-spoken, Nani's voice rose sharply in indignation at the perceived accusation. The cows lowed nervously and she winced, forcing her tone to be calmer as she continued, "I am not trying to trick you, Ein. I do not want your material goods." She spread her hands. "I am Yoreiqi--what use would I have for such things? Why would I leave my home and come all this way if all I wanted was to take something from you."

She tried to hold his eyes, her own gaze now almost pleading. "You don't have to believe me, but I...I am meant to be here, I know I am. Please don't send me away?"

MadEmperor · October 03, 2023, 04:05:41 PM

Ein's thoughtful gaze bore into hers, as if he were trying to see into her soul. He exhaled through his nose as if he were a bull himself, accepting her story but not liking it. Why couldn't things just stay simple?

"And what am I in this destiny of yours?" he inquired with a touch of aimless anger.

DragonSong · October 03, 2023, 04:13:59 PM

Nani went still, hearing the hint of anger in his voice and not sure what she should--or could--do to soothe it. She couldn't blame him; if a stranger showed up at her doorstep claiming she had some sort of pre-destined meeting and...and whatever else while she was just trying to live her life, she doubted she'd be thrilled herself.

"I'm...afraid I'm not sure," she admitted carefully. Twisting on the milking stool to gesture to her pack, she said, "That book I have, the one I mentioned last night--it might have some answers, but I'm afraid most of the text is...challenging, for me." She shrugged. "Some of it isn't even in Common, which is the only mainland language I speak. I don't suppose you know any other languages?"

MadEmperor · October 04, 2023, 08:32:50 AM

Traveling around the western territories and communicating with members of his gang that hadn't spoken common had forced Ein to pick up a sampling of many languages. Unfortunately, he couldn't actually read most of them, nor would they have been in the context of magic. Well, except for the former orc shaman who had joined their violent little family.

"I know enough of quite a few to get by, but none that I think could possibly be of help with a book of magical lore. Unless there's any orcish in there," he said as if that were perfectly normal for a farmer to know.

DragonSong · October 04, 2023, 09:05:37 AM

Nani gave him a very sheepish smile. "Honestly--there might be. I wouldn't recognize it, and there's certainly passages in languages that I can't even guess at. But..."

She flushed a bit, feeling foolish, although she knew that wasn't logical. Yoreiq's contact with the mainland was relatively recent, all things considered, and she knew in the grand scheme she was actually quite a bit more fluent in Common than many of her countrymen.

So she straightened her shoulders a bit and continued, "To be perfectly honest, even most of the more arcane passages in Common are difficult for me. If I had a little help just getting through those, they might...shed some light on the situation."

MadEmperor · October 04, 2023, 11:37:04 AM

Ein sighed, expelling his rising temper in one long breath. He held out hand, palm up in a 'hand it over' gesture. "I might as well take a look. Just don't expect anything."

DragonSong · October 04, 2023, 11:56:22 AM

"Oh, of course." Nanie stood and rummaged about through her pack for the book, then handed it over easily before she resumed her seat on the milking stool. Seeing as she had yet to actually begin that work, she did so, setting one bucked beneath Brunhilda and patting the cow's side gently before she started milking her.

MadEmperor · October 04, 2023, 12:36:46 PM

Ein began fingering through the tome. He went through page after page, until he reached something he could make sense of. Frowning deeply, he said, "There's a passage here about what happens if the 'Paladin' doesn't reach their 'Charge' quickly enough."

"One, who couldn't reach their 'Charge' in time, finally ended his search at the graveyard of a gargoyle clan in the Thunderblacks. Another found that hers died in a bandit raid. There are more, but the results are the same; an untimely death that could have been prevented."

"So if I choose not to believe you and send you packing only to find that you're right, I'll die. And not long from now. So, that's fun."