Fall 74, 124
Fluffy gradually opened her eyelids and the harsh light pouring in through the window made her squint. She gradually blinked herself into focus to a room or area she could hardly recognize. She was in a small cottage, which had a small looking bed, a small kitchenette and a small table and two chairs. The walls were painted with what seemed to be portrait of a couple and their two children.
Feeling sore, Fluffy started to stand up from the bed, the one that was different from the one she had grown accustomed too. Her memories of the past day were very fuzzy. She'd been in a leviathan's stomach and now she… she was in another body. She had killed whoever lived in this cottage and taken their form. She'd been near death – she hadn't had much of a choice. She vaguely remembered them putting up a fight, but she repressed most of those memories.
She started panicking as she tried to recall all that had happened before she found herself in the cottage. She had been chasing along a trail in an attempt to get away from someone. She could not recall the name of the person, but she knew they had been dressed unlike any faelnir she'd ever seen.
She shook her head, and attempted to dispel the rising sense of urgency. She had to get her mind off the past and focus on the future. She breathed in deeply and looked around the cottage. She saw some food in the kitchen - enough for her to take her for a few days.
"Where are you?" came Kage's voice in her ear.
"I don't know," she whispered.
"You have no clue at all?" Kage asked. His tone was harsh, as if admonishing her for being clueless. He had only the vague idea of the direction his tether was in, not any concrete information that he could plot on a map. The treant he'd put in her ear wasn't exactly the best of his work and hadn't been designed to go through so many hardships.
"I don't. I saw dragons in the sky when I fell from the sky. The faelnir I came across dressed strangely… that's all I know. I'm in a forest."
"Look for some clues, then. I cannot help you if you give me nothing to work with."
Fluffy didn't know whether she wanted to be helped. She did want to go back to Kage and be his little pet once more. It was much simpler than being in a strange place just trying to survive. Then again, the notion of him coming to help her seemed laughable. How was he going to come all the way over here, wherever here was? She wasn't in aelheim, that was for certain. She was far away, so far away that a leviathan would take weeks to get there.
She started going through the belongings of whoever was in the cottage last. She saw some papers and read them to Kage who consulted some of his maps. It wasn't long before he said, "Fluffy, you are in Jian. Or near it, I can't tell for certain… but those papers you read are quite clear and those names aren't anywhere else I can find."
"Jian?" Fluffy asked, rubbing her head. She knew very little about geography.
"Yes. You are on the northeast end of Antarok. This will be… interesting."
"What should I do?"
"Nothing, for now. Sylvia has a nexus teleport to forests near Jian, but those forests are vast. It is unlikely that we will meet in the immediate future. Still, I do wish to see you again soon. I will do my best to fetch you."
Kage rubbed his temples and waved over his most 'advanced' treant. It had the form of a generic humanoid, though it housed a pseudowisp of a master level mage. That only meant that Kage would be able to cast his magic through it to an extent. It wasn't ideal, but it was the best shot he had at getting to Fluffy without going through the trouble of going there himself. Jian was… dangerous to say the least, especially for a foreigner like himself. There were good reasons why he had never tried to invade the territory, though Fluffy gave him a good reason to give it another go. Plus, he could meet up with his contacts in the area, introduce Abraia… there were many reasons to go personally now that he thought about it.
Alas, he was not the type to make that kind of decision on a whim. He would have to think it over for a few hours. For the time being, his treant would have to do. Kage put his hand on it and started replacing parts of its body to make it more durable. The skeletal structure would be made of aetumetal while the outside would be made of hard woodlike bark. He tried his best to make the treant look like a normal human, but he could only do so much with his skill level. It would be obviously inhuman, magical, and made of wood.
Afterwards, he worked on improving the treant's vocal capabilities. He threaded haerpsi into the throat and into the ears so that he could hear through the treant as well. Lastly, he sent a letter to Sylvia so that she could come meet with him. He sent other letters as well, informing those who needed to know that he would be travelling to meet some contacts and wouldn't return for at least a week or two. He gave details such as the location, who he planned to meet, etc.
His thoughts drifted to Abraia and whether or not he should have invited her. He figured he might as well send a letter to her as well, thought if she was late then he wasn't going to wait for her. Besides, he hadn't even talked to his contacts about teaching Abraia, so coming might be a waste of time for her. He also sent for White, who was still recovering from her injuries but she would be useful if they ever encountered any animals.
Several hours later and his teleporting servant hurried into his home and created the portal to her nexus. She, Kage, and his treant all entered. Kage was excited to go on this adventure and to see whether or not his pet had succeeded in imprinting on the leviathan. He was more excited to do that than to meet with his contacts.
Meanwhile, Fluffy realized that she could not remain in the cottage forever, but it was equally impossible for her to return to the forest. he was done with preparing breakfast and she ate in solitude in the cottage. Then she cleaned the cottage, sorting the things into the same mess she found it and made sure everything was returned to its original place.
She began to run and her shoes hit the ground as she moved faster on the trail. At one point, the inari tripped on a rock that was half buried in the ground. She cried out in surprise as she collapsed, her hands stretching out in hopes of getting her back on her feet. But it was too late. She couldn't catch a win.
Fluffy groaned as she laid there, she could feel the cold wetness of the water penetrating right through her stolen clothes and into her skin. She attempted to get up, but ugh, the world was too much for her to bear, her muscles were just too tired. She dragged her body to a tree and leaned against it. Fluffy was a little relieved now but she was still frightened. She knew not if there were predators in the area.
Kage arrived in the forest around that same time and tried to figure out which direction to go based on where the tether was pointing to. He still couldn't tell how far away Fluffy was, but he was quite certain on the direction.
"Go east," he told her while he took a moment to assess his surroundings. He was in a clearing where he usually met his Jian contacts. It was a relatively safe area that was used by merchants to camp in. He'd never had reason to fear for his life here, especially when he had treants to guard him. The one he'd brought was a little lackluster so he put his hands on it and grew it to an appropriate size – Elysian. He hadn't bothered doing this beforehand simply because Sylvia's nexus portals were not very large. Now that he had lots of space to work with… he felt it fitting to have a bodyguard that was intimidating to keep mundane threats at bay.
He carved out a spot for him and his guests to sit within the treant itself and he told it to march West, towards Fluffy. With any luck, they would meet soon. And if not, then he was ready to fight.
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