A Collab with [@POOHEAD189] & [@Stormflyx]



“Fear not, friend. I’ll be back to check on you in the morning.” 

Calanon stroked the neck of Brogach one last time, fearing the mane of the Elk’s fur run through his fingers. Brogach let out a soft grunt, indicating he was fine for the evening, and Calanon closed the door behind him as he exited and made his way toward the Inn. Outside of the doorway, Argon the Saurdraxus warrior had curled his muscled, serpentine body into a circle and slumbered. Calanon smiled, and he stepped inside, keeping to the outskirts of the common room before making his way up to one of the central rooms, now entirely sure who would wish to share boarding with him for the night. He was a bit surprised to see Aeryn already having made herself at home inside. 

Calanon knew she must feel very unwelcome, and though the ranger still had some small reservations about her, she had traveled with them safely and faithfully so far, and Beren seemed to trust her. “Hello,” he said, his voice warm and cordial as he stepped in. 

Aeryn had been sat against the window, staring out onto the village when she had heard footsteps wander inside. She had removed her hooded cloak and placed it on the bed closest to the window - a mark of ownership. She found it strange to be here. She couldn’t remember the last time she had slept in a real bed. Not that there was much she didn’t like about sleeping in the tunnels, beds were a weird luxury that she had seldom paid much mind to until now. She had half wanted to take the windowsill for a bed.

As she gazed outside, her lengths of silver hair were wound up in her fingers as she combed through them, taking out each braid slowly to reveal curls. She was trying to make herself look more human - even if she wasn’t consciously aware of it.

She turned to see the Ranger, Calanon, enter the space. Had it been anyone else - with the exception of Beren, she might have turned back to the window straight away. But with Calanon, she let her eyes take in his whole being. He had once again brought to her his calming aura which started to take effect on her nerves. His voice was warm enough, that she responded back to him quietly; “Hello to you as well…” 

Calanon seemed a bit unsure of himself for a moment, though it didn’t show explicitly. He simply had expected her to send him away, or to be a bit curt. But it was at this point he realized she had never quite spoken to him at length since Beren and he had freed her from the her Dark Elven captors. He realized he quite enjoyed her voice at this moment. “I hope I’m not intruding at all.” He said, giving a small bow, a very terse yet polite one meant for friends rather than greeting royalty. 

She tilted her head to the side slightly and raised an eyebrow at his bow. Nobody had ever really bowed at her, but it felt like a friendly gesture. It may have been one of his cultural customs.

He wore his traveler’s garb, and all of his gear was on his body, looking positively heavy for the comfort of an Inn. “I saw the room and felt I could spend the night here, but if you’d have me go I don’t mind.” His brows raised, the only movement keeping his smile from reaching his eyes. He earnestly seemed to be genuine. 

His speech held an air of sincerity which caused a smile to slip across Aeryn’s lips too, and she returned his bow by lowering her head just enough. “You don’t have to leave. There are two beds in this room, besides I-” she stopped herself from talking, there was something about Calanon that Aeryn instantly trusted. But she knew better than to let him know she was planning to slip away in the night while the slept. To go back home.

Her fingers danced across the latch of the window and she turned her gaze once more to the village outside, bathed in the golden sunlight - a stranger to her.

“Nevermind… Sorry, please stay here.” She slid off the windowsill and picked up her cloak from the bed and began again “you, you, you… you can sleep on this bed if you want. I think at night you will see moonlight - and you will be able to see all of the stars” she smiled again and wiped off what little dust her cloak had left behind on the blankets.

She had come across all flustered, and upon noticing it, a slight tone of pink began to rise on her pale cheeks. Stupid elf, the moment she was in one of these ‘houses’ had her acting human and trusting, and warm. “But it’s your choice really…” she said in a quieter, colder voice - as if to compensate. 

Calanon’s smile grew wider, still heartfelt, but there was a hint of something that seemed a mixture of amusement and pride at her. For his part, he couldn’t exactly read her inner thoughts, but Calanon knew nervousness when he saw it. For what reason, he didn’t know. But it was a nice change of pace to her previous aloof and standoffish attitude. He had to admit her trying to rein herself in was cute. 

“I would love that.” He admitted. However, he sat on the opposite bed and began to place his equipment and arms down. “But I wouldn’t wish to steal the stars from you. I often see them at night as well. I imagine you don’t get the chance as much as I.” As he spoke, he reached down and lifted off the chainmail hauberk of valdium he kept on his upper body. 

She listened, and watched as he took off his chainmail, a smile crept over her lips ever so at his words, “believe me, if stars could be stolen from the sky I would have done it long ago.” She sat down on the corner of her bed, pulling her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around them, squeezing herself tightly. “Some things are best left as they are. I think they would be not so good if they were torn from night and kept in pockets and closed fists…” 

This was really the only real conversation she had had with any of the group. Thinking about talking all of a sudden brought a knot to her stomach and she felt her face flush as her mind brought her back to the words of Nicademus. She groaned audibly and felt colour flush to her cheeks. For a moment she had been quite content but suddenly embarrassment, fear, and shame had stirred up within. It wasn't pleasant. A bitter seed had been planted by him. She went back to quiet contemplation, hoping that the sickly, painful feelings would leave soon. 

He laughed when she claimed she would steal the stars. “I believe if anyone could take the stars, you could. You seem skilled,” he said, but before he had sat down, he noticed she seemed to have withdrawn into herself, looking away from him. Normally, Calanon would simply look at them with concern if it were a steadfast friend, but she seemed somewhat distraught, and he could guess the reasoning. Nicademus had been quite harsh today, even if the reputation of the Dark Elves was something to be wary of. 

He looked at her, and then knelt down and opened his pack. “Even the strongest of us need help, at times.” He began, and pulled out a flask. “Beren trusts you, and you seem to have a goodness I can sense. Don’t let words trouble you. You’re already more valued than you think.” He casually tossed the flask her way. It was filled with Guarden juice, the delectable drink of the wood elves each member had received at the beginning of their journey. No alcohol, but it has a subtle magic that lifted spirits. Not to mention, it was delicious. 

“I’m not as strong as I was once… Before all of this mess…” she recalled in her mind her glory days, she couldn't put a finger on when that had been. Just that she had been imprisoned and tortured more than once since. “I think that maybe I could be again… I think I’m finally where I should be.” Her mind lingered back to the feeling of steel against her bare neck as she took the flask from Calanon. A close shave indeed, if she hadn't stumbled onto their path she would just be another body by now. She took a sip from the flask, mulling over the flavour in her mouth before swallowing. It was, what someone might describe as pleasant - but to her it tasted bland, not unpleasant at all, just sweet with an amber taste to it. It wasn't a strong flavour. She did enjoy the peaceful feeling that washed through her though, so much so that she felt it bring a warmth to her cheeks. 

Aeryn smiled and handed the flask back to her new friend. Listening to his words of kindness filled her with a happiness too, and a flutter through her stomach as she held eye contact with him for a moment more. “Thank you… For everything…”

She uncurled herself and moved back to the window, her fingers drumming once again on the latch as she looked out across the town once more, the sun would be setting soon, and her companions would drift to sleep. In a few hours she would be back to the caves, but there was a sense within her that something else was afoot. Some level of intuition warning her to keep the latch shut for now, to stay with them for at least a while longer. 

“So… this quest?” 

Calanon treated life with a calm contentment, always ready to smile and give an encouraging word, or a pat on the shoulder. But he felt very much that he enjoyed Aeryn’s company. More than he expected. He placed the flask back in his pack, and then placed himself on the bed, crossing his legs and placing his hands on his knees as he breathed in, and out. Until she spoke and he opened his eyes. He let the question linger for a few moments as he thought of how to explain it to her. 

“It’s a perilous journey, or it has been so far. We’re to go and halt an alliance between the Dark Elves and the Vampires. We’re to go to the city of Dal’Maroth and dismantle it by any means necessary. We have a few months left to complete the task, but it has been slow going. We’ve been tasked by Queen Melda and Princess Vanya of Riverdale however.” He gave a shrug and a smile. “You don’t deny them your service if they ask it.” 

Aeryn listened as he spoke. She hadn't heard of a Queen Melda or a Princess Vanya. Maybe she had, but she couldn't recall. She thought momentarily of what it would be like to be royalty. To have people do your bidding like that. She had heard of Dal’Maroth though, and she had heard of Vampires. She felt a shiver crawl up her spine and clutch onto it for a while, making her feel a variety of emotions all at once. Fear, discomfort, anxiety. They all drew together in a cluster. “It sounds like a very dangerous quest… Two such dark forces brewing together… I, I really find it hard to believe.”

She began to pace around the room as she mulled over what Calanon had told her, wrapping her arms once more around herself. “Two factions like that cannot be an alliance, they will try to take over each other in time. Such… power hungry fiends.” 

“You might die doing this, you know.” She stopped pacing and looked the Elf dead in the eyes, “in fact I’d say there is a very high chance… You would die for this Queen and the Princess?” She didn't give him a chance to respond. “Of course... It would be honourable, wouldn't it?” there was a hint of sadness and defeat in her tone again. It was a suicide mission, but they all knew that going in. They must have. That they would stake their lives on stopping this - they were all honourable people. All of them. That's why they saved even her after all - that's why they had not killed her, or handed her over to Nicademus for him to do it. She wanted to be like them, part of her did, anyway. 

And she would do anything to punish the Dorcha. 

She quietly contemplated it, staying with them on this quest. 

“If it weren't for you I would be dead. If it weren't for all of you I…. would be dead, forgotten, just a corpse. I think that means that I owe to you my life…” She took several steps over to Calanon again, getting closer to him, inches from his face, not realising that such a move might make him uncomfortable, or impose on his personal space. “I will join you. I will fight by your side, not for royalty who I do not know, but I will do it for you! So that you can complete your quest!” 

She didn't realise how intense her speech might have been, or again, that she may have made Calanon incredibly uncomfortable - but there was sincerity and gratitude in her words - and she had spoken not just to him, but with his party in mind. She stepped away and awkwardly bowed her head, like one might do before royalty, or before pledging their life to someone. She really wasn't sure - etiquette did not exactly exist to her until now… 

For Calanon’s part, when she leaned forward into his face, he comically leaned back, eyes widening and face turning as red as a strawberry. He didn’t know if she was not used to above-ground social cues, so he didn’t say anything. When she backed off awkwardly and bowed, he could tell she was awaiting a response. 

The Wood Elf hesitated a moment, but honor drove him forward. Without a word, he slipped off of his bed, and returned the bow formally. “And I shall aid you in yours.” he said. His voice often had a calm, soothing quality about it. After a moment, he chuckled in good faith, smiling to her. “You should thank Beren as well. If not for him we might not have found you.”  

“I already did in a way” she thought back to her watching him as he slept. He was an interesting character, for sure. She felt her stomach grumble again, and she was sure that the Woof Elf had also heard it; “ahhh… I think maybe I should eat something now…” She smiled one last time at her new friend, before excusing herself from the room - not stopping to consider whether or not she should ask him to join her. Time alone would be nice, though. Just some time for quiet reflection - and so she made her way out of the Inn for a while to find a quiet spot to wind down during the last amber hours of sunlight.