873 - Home Front
Slipping away had proven to be harder than Solvei had anticipated.
After bringing everyone back to the village, she’d spent most of the morning trying to quell the chaos that had erupted as a generation’s worth of resurrected adlets had returned home. The shock had hit harder than expected for many, as their reappearance flatly contradicted the belief that devouring their bodies had led to their subsequently being reborn among the new generation of adlets.
The result was that quite a few of her people had initially refused to accept that their loved ones had come back to life, thinking that they were deceitful spirits sent by either Nuti-Amaguk or Ikumak-Amaguk to trick them into servitude. Others thought some sort of catastrophe was happening among the spirits of nature that had forestalled their rebirth. A few took that belief even further, thinking that the world itself was preparing to come to an end.
The result was that the sun had passed its zenith by the time Solvei – with the help of her grandmother, Yotimo, and several others – had managed to calm everyone down and explain what was going on.
Even then, there’d been a general sense of stunned disbelief that had hung over everyone – particularly the elders, despite her grandmother’s singling out several of them by name – struggling to take in everything they’d been told. A witch who had birthed to a new band of yetis? Their shaman pledging herself to a pony goddess? Hvitdod coming back to life? It had been too much for everyone to take in, and Solvei had seen fear and doubt in everyone’s eyes, rather than acceptance or relief.
Solvei had just been starting to worry that the tribe would fracture between those who’d been reborn and those who hadn’t when, to her intense relief, Panuk had managed to fix things.
With a little help from his sisters.
The biggest heartthrob of all the boys his age, Panuk’s popularity hadn’t been because he’d been impressively handsome, or because he’d been particularly athletic. Rather, it was simply that he’d had an uncanny knack for being charming. A few minutes in his company had been enough to reduce almost any girl his age to a blushing, stammering mess.
Naturally, more than a few of his peers had tried to mimic their friend’s suave manner, but no matter how hard they tried to copy his easy laugh or infectious grin, all of the girls had agreed: none of them could hold an icicle to Panuk. More than once, the adlet in question would find himself pulled aside by his friends and asked how he had such a way with girls, to which Panuk had always made the same joke:
“When you grow up with three older sisters, you learn to be charming real fast.”
The truth behind his jokes had been proven just as the fear and suspicion in the village had reached its breaking point, as his sisters had suddenly rushed through the crowd – discarding the baskets of laundry that had kept them at the lakeside for the entire morning, missing all the commotion – and tackled their little brother.
At which point they’d begun to throttle him.
“THEY TOLD US YOU WERE DEAD!” screamed Cupun, the eldest sister, as she’d wrung his neck.
“DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW THAT MADE US FEEL?!” howled Nuliajuk, the middle sister, as she twisted one of his arms behind his back.
“WE DIDN’T EVEN GET TO EAT YOU!” roared Ikiaq, the youngest, as she’d tied his legs in knots. “HOW COULD YOU BE SO INCONSIDERATE?!”
Panuk’s gurgled response had either been an apology or a plea for mercy, but either way it had been enough to reach his sisters, because only a few moments later their shrieks of rage had turned into wails of heartbreak, pulling their little brother close as they’d begun to weep into his fur. Panuk’s eyes had been wet also as he’d gathered the three of them in his arms, holding them tightly.
And just like that, all of the mistrust and suspicion had vanished. For the village adlets, religious implications and concerns about new enemies and fears for the future had all melted away in the face of a single, undeniable truth:
That the people they loved were back.
Slowly, as though awakening from a trance, all of the villagers had begun to mingle with their formerly-deceased friends and relatives, and the heartfelt reunion shared by Panuk and his sisters had begun to repeat itself. Parents hugged their children, lovers embraced each other, and old friends clasped hands for the first time in a long time. All too soon, every eye was teary and every tail was wagging. Even the elders, whom Solvei had always known to be stern and irascible, had worn smiles.
In short order, tears had turned into laughter. Laughter had turned into cheers. Cheers had turned into jubilation. And when the reborn adlets had shown the food that Lex had sent them home with, things had turned into a festival for the second time in as many days. Just like when the reborn adlets had celebrated their return to life, music had filled the air and games had been taken up as an impromptu party broke out, with Solvei pulled in a dozen different directions at once.
She’d spent the rest of the day recounting various parts of her story, demonstrating the magic that she had now, and – to her surprise and delight – received several surreptitious requests to be told more about the Night Mare. Apparently the powers she’d gained, and the incredible feats that Lex had performed, had made quite the impression on several of the tribe, especially coming from their shaman.
By the time she’d managed to satisfy everyone’s curiosity – and pledged to lead a group of eager young converts to the Shrine of the Starless Sky (though she didn’t tell them that her grandmother would also be making the journey, knowing it would have scared most of them off) – night had been falling, and the party had been in full swing. But unlike when the resurrected adlets had celebrated among themselves, the village had a luxury which Lex hadn’t seen fit to provide everyone the day before:
Alcohol.
At first, the presence of several casks of liquor – with fermented drinks made from sour berries, bitter roots, and sweet tree sap – had been innocuous. The laughter had been a little more boisterous. The singing had been a slightly more off-key. The games had been more casual and less competitive. But at some point, things had gotten...wilder.
Like when Yotimo’s beloved had convinced him to act out the part of the story he’d been in, offering to play the role of Paska in that last fight, the two of them stumbling around a makeshift stage as they’d giggled like teenagers, much to Toklo’s mortification.
Or when Ujurak had begun bellowing slurred challenges about wrestling anyone into submission.
But the final straw for Solvei had been when her mother had begun dancing on top of a table, dragging her father up there with her. The lack of space meant that the two of them had quickly begun brushing up against each other, and the crowd had egged them on as the touching had become less accidental and more prolonged. When hands had begun to roam, she’d made a hasty exit.
Instead, she’d gone to see the one person who had been conspicuous in his absence:
Silla.
It had been a bittersweet meeting, as Solvei had known it would be. Although the maimed warrior had been delighted by what was happening – his father had been one of the resurrected adlets – Solvei had clearly seen the pain in his eyes as he’d limped around his mother’s home on makeshift crutches, knowing that while he’d never begrudge anyone their joy in having their friends and family back, he still felt forgotten.
He hadn’t believed her when she’d initially told him that Lex had gained the power to make him whole again, gently chiding her for trying to cheer him up, and it had made her heart ache to see such someone who’d always been so stoic be too afraid to hope. But after she’d sworn three separate oaths – to Aselu, to the spirits, and to the Night Mare herself – that her master had magic capable of restoring limbs, and that she’d personally petition Lex to restore his missing leg when he came to the village in a few days, Silla had finally broken down, collapsing to his knees and shaking as he’d hugged her around her waist.
That had been when she’d felt that something was wrong with Lex.
She’d managed to hide her reaction as she’d gently comforted Silla. Leading him to the edge of the party, she’d fought back the urge to wince as she registered another injury to her master. It was only a small one, from what she could tell over their link, but the fact that he’d been hurt at all despite being a titan was unnerving; she'd felt him take a few injuries after they'd left for home, when he'd gone to confront Adagio Dazzle, but that had been hours ago, and given his lack of further injuries she’d assumed he’d defeated the Siren; why was he fighting again now?
She hadn’t been able to stop herself from thinking about that while she’d brought Silla to his father, the young warrior having been too ashamed to let his sire see him in such a state prior to then. Fortunately, his father had been less concerned about that than he was about seeing his boy again, and they’d embraced while Silla’s mother – a willowy adlet who’d looked lost ever since she’d been widowed – had looked on happily.
That had been a few hundred heartbeats ago, and now that she'd excused herself from Silla's reunion with his father, Solvei was hoping that no one would notice her absence as she skirted around the edge of the village, heading toward-
“Where do you think you’re going?”
Solvei almost yelped as her grandmother’s voice came from up ahead, Yura stepping out from behind a nearby tree a moment later. “G-grandmother?! What are you doing out here?!”
“I was reassuring those shriveled old sacks of bones that call themselves our elders that the spirits wouldn’t abandon us if we offered our prayers to the Night Mare,” answered Yura curtly. “Fortunately, calling out her name didn’t stop me from summoning an ice elemental, so that should quiet their grumbling. For now, at least.”
“Oh.”
An awkward silence fell that...or at least, it was awkward for Solvei; Yura, on the other hand, continued to stare right at her, arching an eyebrow. It was enough to make Solvei shuffle her feet, feeling like she’d just been caught trying to sneak away from the shamanic lessons she’d so often endured in her youth. “Well, um, if that’s all taken care of, you should go relax. I think there’s still some maple liquor left. That’s your favorite, right?”
“As I recall, it’s your favorite as well,” noted Yura pointedly. “Or at least, you liked it enough that you were too drunk to walk home after you snuck out to celebrate Ujurak’s birthday.”
Groaning inwardly at the reminder of yet another embarrassing memory. “I told you, I only drank that night because we were all playing a game! My number came up on the dice, and if I’d refused the cup-”
“Then you’d have had to accept a penalty, chosen by the birthday boy himself,” snorted Yura, shaking her head. “Honestly, that game was old when I was young.”
“Grandmother-”
“You know what’s new, though? The ice elemental I summoned was acting strange when I showed it to the elders. They didn’t notice, those bunch of withered old know-it-alls, but I could tell. It kept glancing west instead of standing at attention, and it actually shuddered a few times. Imagine, an ice elemental shuddering, as if it was cold!”
Solvei nodded, shifting in place as she felt Lex take another small injury across their link. “That’s interesting, but-”
“So naturally, after I was done with those old fools, I asked it what was wrong. And do you know what it said?”
Solvei shook her head mutely.
“It said,” pronounced Yura darkly, “that ‘the Lord of the Endless Ice’ was near, and pointed westward, which as I recall was not only the direction that we all came here from, but was also where your master was heading.”
“Grandmother-”
“So naturally, I figured I should talk to you about it, as you’re both a fellow shaman and the Great One’s confidant. Imagine my surprise” – stepping away from the tree, Yura growled softly as she stalked toward Solvei – “when I asked the spirits where my granddaughter was, and they informed me that she was apart from everyone else, and heading toward the west!”
Flinching at the tirade, Solvei stepped back. “I wasn’t-”
“Don’t lie to me, girl!” One finger came out to poke her sharply in the collarbone. “You were going to rush toward the Great One’s side, even though he told you to stay here!”
“He’s in trouble!” Fighting down the urge to plead, Solvei took a moment to remind herself that she wasn’t the little girl her grandmother had bossed around anymore. “He and I are connected, and I can feel that something’s wrong! So I’m going to go help him, orders or not!”
“You’ll do no such thing, Akna! Your master has already done this tribe a favor we can never repay, and I won’t have my granddaughter embarrass us all by disobeying his explicit instructions!”
“You think I care about being embarrassed?!” Snarling, Solvei increased her height then, her stature rising up until she towered over her grandmother. Nor did she stop there, conjuring her black crystal armor around herself, ice blades forming in each hand as a serac sprung up under her feet, her eyes glowing green-and-purple. “He’s in danger, and I’m not going to sit here and pretend like I don’t care when he needs my help!”
Yura didn’t bat an eye at her granddaughter’s transformation, crossing her arms under her chest to make it clear that the temper tantrum didn’t move her. “And is all of that going to be enough to help? Your master defeated Hvitdod on his own, and according to you that was before the Night Mare made him even more powerful. Can all of that magic you’re showing off do anything against something strong enough to threaten him as he is now?”
“Maybe!” spat Solvei defiantly, hating that her grandmother had a point. “Which is why-”
“Which is why you need to stay here!” snapped Yura. “Because if ‘maybe’ turns out to be ‘no,’ then he’ll have to worry about protecting you and not fighting his enemies!”
Solvei ground her teeth, seriously considering just zipping around her grandmother and speeding off into the night. It wasn’t like Yura had a serac of her own to chase her with, and she wouldn’t be able to take to the wind again until morning.
But somehow, she couldn’t bring herself to just ignore what had been said, needing to respond, to prove that she wasn’t making a mistake. “He took Nenet with him, and she’s less of a fighter than I am!”
Yura cocked her head. “You mean that sphinx who was cowering behind him? Maybe. But she has powers you don’t, isn’t that right?”
“...”
“I thought so. Those powers clearly make her helpful to him. Which means that since you don’t have anything that can be helpful, the best thing you can do right now is stay put.”
That stung, and there was a bitter taste in Solvei’s mouth as she swallowed, having only one more reply to make. “Would you sit around when someone you loved was in danger?”
To her mild surprise, Yura actually smiled a little then. “I did, many times. That’s part of being a shaman, and as I recall it was something you never understood.”
“I don’t need another lesson!”
“Yes, you do.” Yura’s expression softened as she looked up at her. “Akna, you’ve become a wonderful shaman, and you’ve transcended every expectation that I’ve ever had for you. But you’re still young, and you think that if you can just be by the side of the one you love, everything will be okay.”
“It will be! I can help him!”
“I know that you can. And I'm sure he knows it too. But can you help him more by ignoring what he said and being there? Or by trusting in him and staying here?”
For a long moment, Solvei glared down at the smaller adlet, her fists squeezed tightly and her jaw clenched. Then, all at once, the fight went out of her, letting her armor, serac, and ice blades all dissolve as she shrank back down to normal size. “I just...I'm worried about him,” she whimpered, unable to look her grandmother in the eye.
Stepping forward, Yura pulled her into a hug. “I know. Which means I have one last lesson still to teach you.”
“What's that?”
“That so long as you don't overdo it, drinking makes the waiting easier.”
Stepping back, she put an arm around Solvei's shoulder and guided her back toward the party. “Now, let's go stop your parents before they conceive a younger sibling for you right in front of everyone.”
Solvei grimaced, her ears flattening against her skull. “I think I'd rather face whatever Lex is fighting,” she muttered, though she let Yura continue to lead her back.
Instead, she settled for one last glance over her shoulder, offering a silent prayer that she only barely kept from sending across her link to Lex, not wanting to distract him.
Master, please come back safely.
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You never mess with an elder that doesn't bat an eye at what Solvei just did. Granted, Yura is her grandmother so there is that but she's still a tough one. Still, it was interesting to see Kyronex's influence affecting Yura's ice elemental this far away. Then again, as a demigod, it's not surprising and implies that if Yura hadn't caught Solvei then Kyronex might have turned her(or at least her own summons) against Lex if she somehow made it to Lex's side in a short span of time.
I can see Yura entering the Shrine first and pulling a Barbara Woodhouse on that Wolf Spider Guardian.
SIT.
Then turning to Lex. I take it this one is yours?
As for trying to sneak off?
she got freinds on the other side.
11713100 Yura is certainly fearless, especially when it comes to her granddaughter. She's seen Akna throw a fit before, and as far as she's concerned Akna is still Akna, and that doesn't change even if she's got powerful new magic, has a permanent bond to the Night Mare's champion, and merged her soul with a winter wolf. A stern talking-to from the adlet who raised her is enough to bring her back in line when she knows she's wrong.
Which is a good thing, since Kryonex's ability to control creatures of intrinsic cold would likely have seen Solvei used against Lex, and right now he's got enough problems to deal with.
11713367 Somehow I can't see Yura taking any nonsense from the Keeper or his minions when she heads to the Shrine of the Starless Sky. She'd probably have Teyu Yagua rolling over and showing his belly in short order.
11714236
SpiderWolf, SpiderWolf, gets his belly rubbed like a good Spiderwolf should?
11714275 He's more of a croco-wolf, but I'd say close enough.
11714323
Dont need a gun, I gotta Doug.