For Your Sake

EmiRose · Oct 1, 2018

Nature could speak, and whenever it did Tacitus was there to listen. The forest was his ears and eyes, it told him things he couldn't see. With the forest's help Tacitus kept tabs on who walked these paths, and helped the forest protect itself. And sometimes he helped whoever got lost or was in danger, helped the forest protect people from itself.
That wasn't exactly the case this time, but Tacitus was a sentimental fool to some extent. Even he experienced nostalgic moments, and the two he had kept his eye on had reminded Tacitus of something he had had centuries ago. Something he still missed.
Affection.
So Tacitus made his way through the forbidden forest, in his over 2 meters tall spriggan form. The beasts around here knew him, and didn't have the guts to even go near him. Most couldn't even detect him, his scent blended in to the forest itself.

Tacitus knew where he was going, and he knew what had to be done. He had known for a while, but hadn't been bothered to do anything about it. Tacitus was a firm believer of "eye for an eye", and the elf had done nothing for him aside from never hurting the trees. But this was a favour, and Tacitus expected the elf to pay him back somehow, someday.
Tacitus soon saw the clearing where the cottage was, he still remembered how the original resident of that cottage had built it. They had used the trees from the forest, that had hurt. But this elf was treating the forest well, Tacitus respected that.
The trees told Tacitus the elf was still inside, so when he stepped on the clearing he approached the door with purpose. He could fit on the porch, so Tacitus made his arm longer and knocked on the door from the grass in front of the steps. And when the elf would open Tacitus would just say.
"You're cursed, right? If you want to break your curse, follow me."

@Rockman

Rockman · Oct 3, 2018

The time in the Forbidden Forest seemed to move slower when Ria wasn't around, but even Ain didn't expect her to spend all of her freetime with only him; though he would very much like that he wasn't that selfish. It still was pretty unknown to him what she did when they were not together, he did however know small fragments of what she let slip like her sister that he had not met.

Ain finished washing off the blankets and clothes, putting them on a wire line to dry in the central room, and before that he had already cleaned up his cabin. He sighed to himself, though he was relatively fine, he was running out of things to do on his own; to make matters worse he just couldn't get his mind out ofd the gutter and remembered every detail of what he had done with Ria.

He gulped, and blushed a bit out of embarassment that was not present in the moment but thinking back on it made him feel awkward. This weird feeling caused him to put on his cloak and helmet to conceal his outward appearance, though only for himself it helped him calm down to his normal serious expression and calm demeanor.

It was then that he heard a knock at the door, thinking it was Ria he ran swiftly to open the door and opened it in one motion — a excited expression on his face that faded to bewilderment at the sight of spriggan. He had seen a spriggan before, but the one that was at his door was larger by a bunch.

'It is--' realizing after a moment that it was the spriggan he had seen many times over the last 51 years, always at a far distance away and never approaching his clearing, similarly he recognized him as a protector of the forest like himself and Coriander the insectoid woman. '--bigger up close.'

When it spoke bluntly about his curse, his brow rose from under his helmet, 'Wait, how the hell does he know about me!?' he thought as he was a bit too shocked to give a better response. After a moment however he stepped outside and looked up at the Spriggan, he then signed to him "I seen you before, who are you?" and would slowly follow him without much thought.

@EmiRose

EmiRose · Oct 3, 2018

It was almost amusing how clear it was that the elf had been expecting to see his woman, the one the trees had told Tacitus about. The way his expression morphed from excitement to bewilderment was entertaining, and Tacitus couldn't help but smirk.
The same woman had taught the elf those weird hand signs he directed as Tacitus, he knew it was a way for deaf people to talk, but he didn't know that language. He knew spoken languages, but not that one.
"I don't speak your hand language, elf. You'd do well to just follow me, I'm your best chance of breaking the curse."
With those words Tacitus gestured for the elf to follow, and he did. Smart boy.

"You have seen me and know of me, and I know of you, more than you of me."
Tacitus spoke as he stepped into the shadows of the forest, heading even deeper into the forbidden forest, towards the coast.
"So I know lately you got yourself a woman. I reckon the curse is incovenient, though she seems like a strong one. But I know a way to make things easier for you."
Tacitus had random, long pauses between his sentences, and he occasionally stopped to touch a plant or a tree, or to just stare somewhere up with an absent expression. But all the while he walked he walked with purpose and knew where he was going.
"There was an old fool living in this forest long ago. He built this very incovenient lair, full of traps and who knows what. He was a wizard, had lots of fancy magic junk that might be helpful for you."

Rockman · Oct 7, 2018

Ain had not even considered that people were not able to understand sign language, but he supposed that he had to learn it as well and Ria learned it just for him. Regardless, the tall man had just wanted him to follow, saying such vague words as he was the best chance to remove the curse; it wasn't like he completely trusted the Spriggan man but he had othing to lose. He was going to research breaking the curse anyway when he arrived, the timing of it really was incredible, and seeing as he had seen the Spriggan around for 51 years he wondered what had changed to get him to come to Ain now.

When the Spriggan spoke of him having a woman, he paused with a hard step, not knowing that he also knew about Ria. The most important point was that he refered to her as his woman, he would never claim ownership of someone, but he definitely wanted to be with her. 'How exactly does he know about Ria and our relationship, he didn't see anything did he?' his thoughts raced a bit before continuing to follow with a bit more caution, a few steps further away than before if he had to make an escape.

The rest of the walk was long and awkward, but truth be told he didn't mind it all that much as he was used to such things with his affliction.

As he finally mentioned the goal of this walk was to see a wizard's laboratory, and he was very much aware of these. A place where a mage could cast magic hidden from the eyes of other mages and the masses, trapped to prevent people from entering and defending his lab from intruders. It his many years acting as an inquisitor, he had destroyed about 18 of these labs, this was curious though that one existed in the Forbidden Forest of all places. It was however true that wizards hoard knowledge, magic items, and books on various topics-- and there might just be something to what this Spriggan is saying.

He nodded to the Spriggan and continued to follow...

@EmiRose

EmiRose · Oct 8, 2018

When Ain stopped Tacitus didn't stop for him, just kept walking in his own leisurely pace and checking the condition of his forest at the same time. Tacitus felt some pain on his side, when a tree was harmed about a mile or so away, probably by two monsters fighting. Tacitus looked towards the direction the tree was harmed in, he'd have to stop by later and perhaps do some monster taming.
But Tacitus did notice that Ain acted more wary after Tacitus had spoken about all the things he knew about the elf. Tacitus smiled slyly, the boy was smart. Well, Tacitus already knew that, he had kept his eyes on Ain for 50 years now. No one stupid survived in this forest.

Tacitus was beyond and above awkwardness, and thus he didn't feel it the way Ain did. To him it was never silent, the trees and plants whispered things to him, the wind carried with it its own voice and the sound of life was all around them.
After a rather long walk Tacitus could see their destination through the trees. It was another clearing, much bigger than Ain's. And in the middle of it was a large ruin, that had been a stone tower a long time ago. Now it was home for moss and small plants, untouched for many decades.
"We're here, elf."
Tacitus said, and stepped into the clearing. He stopped for a moment to remember the one who used to live here, Tacitus' friend, who had died alone and in misery like a fool.
"The entrance is here."
Tacitus headed to the side of the tower, to a part that was still more or less standing. Tacitus pressed what seemed like a random stone among many, but it pressed down and the wall slid aside, revealing a stairway that lead down into the dark.

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For Your Sake

EmiRose

The Shipping Enthusiast

Rockman

Plan your actions for luck does not exist.

EmiRose

The Shipping Enthusiast

Rockman

Plan your actions for luck does not exist.

EmiRose

The Shipping Enthusiast