Private Tales The Withering - Part II

A private roleplay only for those invited by the first writer
Several hours of silence and trying not to fall asleep on Baen's back. Her ears perked soon after he had answered her questions and she could hear that someone was approaching. It was a single horse and wagon from the sound that reached her ears. She quickly reached back and pulled her hood over her black hair. The hood also shielded her blind eyes from view. She hated the stares she got when she was outside of the Dusk Court.

She knew it was most likely a merchant or the like, but Aster still tensed as the sound rumbled closer, by them, and past them. She let out the breath that she had been holding at the same time Baen spoke. Village, supplies, food...good, she thought.

"Good, I am hungry and you are not very comfortable." Her voice was teasing. She was trying to let go of some of her worries.
 
"Your heels in my ribs isn't very comfortable, either."

CLOMP. Baen snapped his jaws at a bug that had been buzzing about his head and clamped his tongue down on it with a gulp. He wasn't particularly hungry, but an entire day of carrying around extra weight would catch up to him eventually. He might be fae, but he still had to eat.

The hound shifted into a clipped gait once the wagon behind them had moved on further. To the natives, the lady was breezing across the hillsides on her horse at a steady canter. For Baen at any other time it would have been considered a lazy pace, but opening up to his full speed would likely turn heads and lose his rider. They made good time regardless and reached the village by the early afternoon. It was a quiet place and not a town on any major trade route. Very few passerby. A place where everyone knew everyone else. A place where two strangers arriving would be cause for curiosity.

Baen extracted himself off the road and into the woods just on the outskirts of town. He'd been through here before on numerous occasions over the years and his chosen mortal appearance would be recognized well enough to deflect most questions. Once he was certain they were out of view and no one was around, he shifted to his bipedal form, catching Aster before she toppled to the ground in a whirl of black smoke.

He let her figure slide down his front within his arms before carefully setting her feet on the ground. "There," he murmured into her ear as he loosed the grip of his arms around her to let his hands drift to her waist while she found her feet, "that's better."

For them both, he was sure. She was probably more sore than he was, but Baen was glad for some relief from the saddle and gear.
 
It was not the first time that Baen had shifted with her on his back. It was not the first time that he caught her in his strong hands. Every single time, Aster got the same tingly feeling that ran through her body. The feeling that she got when Baen touched her. His breath on her ear made her smile as he set her down and waited for any vertigo to pass.

"Much better, Baen," Aster's voice was barely a whisper as she looked at him. They were the same height and she knew that she could simply lean forward to find his lips with hers. She didn't though. Instead, she adjusted her hood back down where it was supposed to be to conceal her identity. Aster made sure to not touch his skin with her hands since she didn't have her gloves on.

She did not move away from him though. She would never move away from his touch of her own volition. She knew it wouldn't be long until Baen stepped away from her though.
 
Dark eyes taking in the woman's fine features for a drawn out breath, Baenon stood unmoving as she drew her hood, even with the skin of her hands so close to that of his face. A line formed along his jaw as he suppressed a carnal urge and he instead extracted her gloves from the belt at her waist, "Put on your gloves," a command rumbled deep in warning. Now that he hadn't his fur coat as a buffer Baen would not suffer the consequences of her touch for a simple slip-up.

He took hold of her arm with his own gloved hand and firmly pressed her coverings into her palm before stepping away to check that their entry into the town was clear. There were few people in the square - most of the village dwellers were farmers and, if he had to make an educated guess, they were likely in breaking for lunch. Unfortunate. This meant they would likely have to deal with curious faces at the local tavern.

"There will be many humans in the tavern we are going to," he commented as he watched a wagon slowly making its way in along the road. They wouldn't be seen, but he preferred their arrival be as unremarked as possible. "I'm going to disguise you, don't fight it."

Being glamoured by another always felt a bit invasive. At least, that was his opinion of it. A bit like being dressed in clothing that didn't fit quite right. The issue was that, being inexperienced with mortals, Aster didn't know what would look normal to them.
 
Aster pulled her gloves on without a word. She would have grabbed them herself once Baen had stepped away but he was faster in this instance. Once they were on, she felt a little more comfortable know she would not accidentally touch a mortal and reveal them for something other than mortals.

As soon as Baen's glamour flowed over her, she felt uncomfortable. She had never in her life needed to be disguised so it was weird on multiple fronts. She understood why he had done it though. She literally had no idea what they looked like.

"Can we go and get this over with, please? This feels so weird." Her complaints would fall on deaf ears so she was unsure why she even voiced her feelings to him.
 
"Don't whine," he reached back to take hold of her by the wrist, pulling her hand into the crook of his elbow, "it's unbecoming of a Lady."

Waiting for the cart to dwindle by, Baen moved forward through the trees and stepped down into the road. from the higher banks of the forest. In the distance he could hear a dog barking and the sound of quail flushing from the underbrush. The hoofbeats of the horse-drawn wagon faded as it carried on through the village, to the far end and disappeared down the hillside.

They entered the tavern with little fanfare, catching short glances of the locals who quickly went back about their conversations and meals. Baen lead Aster in to a table off to the side by a small window, pulled her chair and placed her hand on the back so she could seat herself.

"Lord Graves," the voice of an older man from behind them, "welcome back. Been a while since your last visit."
"Duty keeps me on the road, Master Thatcher, and the winds bring me back."
"So I see, who is your... friend?"
"My wife, Faline Graves" Baenon intoned with the intention of correcting the man.
"Apologies, Lady Graves, it's a pleasure to meet you. You both look hungry - Rosa's made a fine rabbit stew."
"That will do. And water, please."
"No ale? Or, ahm, wine for the Lady?"
"We are on assignment," Baen impressed on the man as he pulled his own chair out and took his own seat, "water will do."

"Right away," Thatcher nodded and took his leave.

"Not. A. Word." Baen uttered to Aster as he turned to take a good look at the faces present in the building.
 
Aster sneered at him when he told her not to whine and that it was unbecoming of a Lady. "Asshole," she said under her breath knowing full well that he would hear her. She didn't fight him when he tucked her hand into its normal spot on his arm. He may be an asshole, but he was her asshole.

She walked alongside Baen in silence and when they entered the tavern she could hear that it was relatively busy. She stayed quiet as he led them to a table and pulled out her chair. His hand on her back sent a shiver through her body before she sat herself down and scooted the chair closer to the table.

Lord Graves. Master Thatcher. Wife. Faline Graves. She listened to the conversation intently picking out the tone that Baen spoke in. So he had used this glamour before and had spent time here. That did bring Aster a little comfort knowing that he was familiar with these surroundings and people.

His next words made her lip curl slightly. She had already agreed to stay quiet so she did not appreciate his patronizing tone. He was being extra dickish today and she would pay him back once she could speak again. She gave Baen a look that - she hoped - said go fuck yourself.
 
"No need for such uncouth looks," Baen murmured to her as he watched Thatcher bring over a tray with their meals.

"Ehe, trouble with the missus, Lord Graves?" the Innkeep smiled as he placed bowls and mugs down for both of them.

"When is there not," Baen replied casually with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Me wife gave me that same look the last time she told me she was pregnant."

"Indeed?" Baen raised a brow, "Is that not a joyous thing?"

"Not when it's the sixth time," Thatcher cackled and nudged Baen on the shoulder, too jovial to notice the sharp glare this earned him, "I've got some nice fresh bread come out the oven, special herbs innit. You fancy a peck? Goes nice with the stew, it does."

With a leveling, slow breath, Baenon gave him a nod, "Thank you, yes. Now if you'll excuse us, we've fasted all day."

"Right, right, enjoy. I'll bring that bread."

Lips pressed into a thin line, Baen's livid gaze followed the man until he disappeared into the back before looking back to Aster, "It's nothing like our food but," he lifted the bowl to just under his nose and let the aroma fill his senses, "it's not half bad either."
 
The stew did smell pretty good and Aster was hungry. She dug into it quickly and was surprised to find that it, indeed, was not half bad. It would be an adjustment from what she was used to normally, but food was food and right now it was required to survive more than to enjoy.

"He touched you, didn't he?" Aster whispered with a small chuckle to Baen. She had heard the slow breath that he had taken to control himself and seeing as the man hadn't said anything insulting, it had to be touch. She had a little more of the stew while she waited for the fresh bread that she was admittedly excited about.

"So what is the plan? Besides making me your wife, my dearest husband." She glowered at him. Of course it made sense that they would be married. She didn't know much about mortals but it was probably more suspicious when a Lord traveled with a woman who wasn't his wife or sister. It didn't mean that she was not going to give him shit about it for the rest of their trip.
 
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A tethered rumble answered her first question followed by the shuck's unmistakable stewing silence. How very rarely did he ever stew over a bowl of stew. Baen lifted the bowl and sipped quietly, surprised as always by just how tasty it actually was. Bit too much salt, though.

He leveled dark eyes on the woman over his bowl, returning her sightless, ill-targeted glower with a fleeting dark amusement. Studying her, he waited while Thatcher arrived again to drop off bread.

"It is not a complicated thing," Baen began, moving the bread into her reach and nudging her hand with it, "we will follow the map to the first location nearby. If there is an Ask, you will navigate us through so that I may begin doing what I do best, and if I find anything of potential relation to our target then you will do what you do best."
 
Aster felt the wicker basket touch her hand and she smiled at Baen. He always took care of her. She appreciated it more than she could ever explain to him and she hoped he knew. She took a piece of the still warm bread and dripped it in her stew. There was nothing better than soup and fresh bread. She brought the soaked bread to her mouth and smiled as she chewed it. "Delicious," she said simply before repeating the process.

"So how does Thatcher know my dear husband?" There was a smirk on her face as she asked. She loved needling him. Loved it and he hated it which made it all the better. Sweet sweet irritation.
 
Deciding to overlook the smugness in her tone for the important fact that she was at least playing her part, Baenon took his time in supping from his bowl of stew. He didn't touch the bread - it wouldn't do anything for him but slow him down - and calmly set the bowl down once he'd drained the broth.

"It pays to keep common routes for missions;" he replied quietly, skewering a piece of meat in the bowl with a wooden two-pronged fork, "familiarity with the locals begets trust. Trust pays with information and compliance when it counts." Reading between the lines meant that he'd come this way before, possibly many times.

"The second location on the map is near a small hamlet called Landen where I have a fae contact that may be of some further help. Remains to be seen what, if anything, we find at this first place."
 
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Aster let a soft mmmm as Baen explained the reason behind the mortals knowing who he was. It made sense and Baen would not want to interact with more mortals than necessary so if he could hit the same route, he would.

The took the last sips of her stew and set the bowl down. She nibbled on the rest of the bread she had in her hand still. Once she was done with the bread, she spoke again, "are you ready to go?" She was ready to get to the first location and get started. They had not been on the road long, but the silence between them as they road made it stretch forever.

Aster would not get up until after he had paid and taken her arm to help her from her seat. She knew how he worked and she also knew that he did not like when she messed with a routine and tried to help herself. It frustrated her sometimes, but she just paid him back by irritating him...out of love, of course.
 
There were out of the tavern and back on the road in little time, though they weren't able to leave the same way they arrived. Having been seen together in town meant they had to leave together. Aster leaving alone on a black horse and Baenon disappearing would be ... curious indeed. After they were well down the road and out of sight of the town, he checked for any more onlookers before shifting into his hound form. Once more they were off, the glamoured black horse and its dark, lovely rider.

This stint of the journey was a longer one and took them several hours until they both seemed to melt into the darkness of twilight. He came to a stop at last at a small bridge crossing, turning his head to follow the tributary upstream where a pathway should have been ... but was not.

The hound sniffed at the air, knowing well that Eske's map had marked the route to follow the stream.

"There's supposed to be a path here..." his voice rumbled low as he cast a probing gaze about. His own fae powers could not determine any sort of glamour hiding away their route, "perhaps there is an Ask here hiding it away. What can you sense?"
 
Aster actually fell asleep on this leg of the journey. Baenon was surprisingly comfortable for a moving mattress and all. She woke up shortly before they arrived at the bridge. She remained quiet until Baen's voice filled her ears.

"Yes, I can sense it." She slowly got out of the saddle and closed her eyes. It was a weird habit that she had developed when she needed to concentrate since she didn't actually have close them.

It did not take her long to work her way through the Ask. She had been trained to navigate the Asks from a young age and it was something she did quite often. Baen was correct, the ask was hiding their path.

"It followed the stream. That way," she pointed upstream. Her magic was weird. She was blind to the real world, but her magical sight was perfect. The give and take of fae affinities was a strange thing indeed.

Aster stepped back and ran her hand along Baen's side while she waited for his instructions. She figured it would be to get back on his back, but she wanted to make sure.
 
The hound's dark eyes watched after Aster with a keen attention. The Asks of the Dusk Court were only known to him because of who he was and who he knew. He'd never seen the true groves nor been told anything about the magics that protected them ... at least, not more than any other outsider ever had. If the Dusk Court did one thing well, it was keep its secrets. So it was particularly curious to watch Aster work in a way that he'd never personally witnessed before.

Enthralling, almost, and strangely ... alluring. Baen had never had any need to rely on her for much of anything beyond her day's itinerary when she came to call in the Winter Court.

The smooth fur beneath her hand dissipated and a breath later the black shuck's gloved hand clasped about her own.

"Lead the way."
 
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Aster smiled as Baen's fingers intertwined with hers. She touched him all the time because he guided her but this was different. This was better. "Baen, I have something very serious that I need to tell you..." She started to say in response to him telling her to lead the way. "I am blind," her lips curved into a joking smile.

She squeezed his hand as she started to lead them down the path that was right where it was supposed to be. Her magical sight was still activated from navigating the Ask. She never knew how long it would last but she would use it while she could. He would still have to help her with any obstacles though. Her magical sight was not perfect.

They walked in silence for a few minutes before she broke it. "I have missed you, Baenon. I think we still need to make up for missing our week together," she smiled wryly in his direction. They had gone to the Spring Court Coronation together but she needed more than just a single night with him. She had gotten quite used to their yearly time together over the past four hundred years.
 
The shuck did not return her joking smile, but merely remained staring down at her in an immutable deadpan. He knew she was capable of seeing through her magic to some extent ... at least, when it came to seeing magic, but that was about where his knowledge of her ability ended. After a moment of silence between them, he'd just about resigned to an eyeroll and a shrugging sigh when he felt the squeeze of her hand. Baenon followed, bemused.

"Focus," his response to her remark, jaw clenched and eyes narrowed as he allowed her to stumble over a root on the path. His grip on her hand kept her from face planting, at least, but he felt he'd proven his point. This was why he worked alone - distractions didn't help anyone.

A bit further on through the woods and he felt the shift of the ley around them, as if they had stepped out from an unseen fog and through a veil, onto a clear footpath through the trees. Just ahead in the dying light of day he could see the cabin, "There it is..." and the leader became the follower as he brushed past Aster and lead on the rest of the way. What he discovered as they drew closer was that it wasn't really a cabin ... but a tree.

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He wanted to ask her if this is what her home looked like, hidden within Mirlorne Grove, but held his tongue as he slowed their approach.

"No one has been here for a very long time," he could not pick up a trail for scent or magic aside from that which protected it from discovery, "we are safe here. Why don't you take wing and look around..."
 
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Aster stumbled over the root and she knew immediately that Baen was irritated with her. That was fine. She was irritated with him too. "I fucking hate you, Baenon," she growled at him.

She didn't hate him, but he was really being extra rude today. It was not like she asked to have him as a partner in this. She would have been fine with any tracker. It just happened that the asshole shuck was the best.

Their rolls reversed with Baen taking the lead. Aster stayed quiet though. She did not want to speak with him anymore. She was pouting...just a little...

When he suggested that she take wing and look around, she just glared at him. She would take a wing and peak him to death. Aster just let out a hmph before she transformed into a raven and flew into the air. She could also poop on him...

She banked to the right and flew around the tree before branching out slightly to expand her look. Nothing, no one. After a few minutes, she landed and transformed back to her fae form. "No one is here," she told Baen with the same glower on her face.
 
Yes, yes, she hated him. How many times had he heard that? And not just from Aster.

The shuck did not even bother to shrug the sentiment off - rather, it suited him just fine for the time being. If it meant she'd focus on the mission at hand, the priority and entire point of this outing, he saw no downside to her shift of mood. Baenon moved inwards while she circled overhead, keen senses sifting through the detritus of everything. Unfortunately...

"No one is here."

... he narrowed his gaze at her and had to remind himself that her repertoire consisted of Seeing the unknowable, not ... looking for the hidden, "Indeed... we need to look for clues that may help us understand why your Triumvir came here ... and why she left. Anything that may help us determine our next steps."

His gaze shifted to the open doorway of the treehome, dark inside but not with any sense of foreboding that he could detect. He smelled nothing that suggested foul play or harm, nor even ill omens or intentions. No remnants of nightmarish happenings or events. It was simply abandoned.

"You know her better than I, you will know her signs. Herdryads are painfully unknown among the fae."
 
Aster just threw him a withering look and held out her arm. "Bring me to the tree," she said in a tone that still let him know she was mad at him. Once he had brought her to the side of the tree, she took her glove off and reached out. As soon as she made contact, she felt the patterns in the bark that were Vashe's. The bark of the tree was a fingerprint. This fingerprint was similar to Eske's but different enough.

"The tree was grown by Vashe," she told Baen. She shifted without another words and flew into the tree home. She landed on the back of a couch and surveyed the room. No one had been here in a long time. The dust was thick.

She called Baen to come inside as she continued her search. Ahhh, there is it! She knew the heartseed had to be somewhere in the house. She flew over to the spot where it was hidden in the tree itself. She shifted back to to her fae form and reached out.

The visions flashed in front of her eyes, hazy and gargled but there. When she pulled back her hand again, she let out a small gasp and turned to find Baenon.
 
If Baenon could find one single word to encompass this entire ordeal--and he thought perhaps he might be getting a bit premature considering the ordeal had only just begun, but there it was--it would be tedious.

He lead, he waited, he stared distantly into the darkness of the forest and briefly imagined letting it take him, then he rolled his eyes. This tree was grown by Vashe. Surprise. Put-upon and dour-faced, Baenon's right eye twitched as the woman became bird and flapped about his face before winging into the treehome. With a long suffering sigh, he brushed a stray black feather stuck in the creases of his armor and silently stepped inside after her.

She needn't look to reach far to find his forearm and steady herself against him. Judging by her shortness of breath and the palor of her face, he assumed she'd found something of note.

"Find something?" Baenon asked after her as he lead her over to a small table and pulled out a seat for her.
 
Aster sat with the help of Baen and looked in the direction of his voice. She let the silence engulf them for a few more moments before she finally spoke.

"Yes, I saw Vashe and someone else. They were talking but I could not make out the words. It was blurry and muffled. It is like someone tried to erase it. I do not know if that makes any sense but it is not age. My visions are usually perfect even if they are extremely old. This was," she paused and closed her eyes, "different."

Aster set her hands on the table and as soon as her skin connected with the wood, she was pulled into a vision again. This one was the same as the other. Blurry, weird, and muffled. The difference was that Vashe was sitting at the table with the person from the original vision. Aster could see that he was human.
 
Someone else...

"The Warlock ..." or so they could only assume. Eske had only given his name for that was all she knew of it other than he was human and a man. Now at least they had proper evidence of Vashe and the Warlock's presence here, but how long ago? Why had the memories been scrubbed?

"Is that possible, to erase memories from an object?" This was not his area of expertise, though from the way Aster spoke it did not sound as though she was terribly familiar with the phenomenon either. She was young - comparatively speaking to Vashe and Eske. Was this a power that could only be learned by time and experience?
 
Aster pulled her glove from her belt and slid it on before she touched anything else. The messed up visions were causing her head to hurt slightly. It was not something she had experienced before and it was not something she enjoyed either.

"I do not think so," she responded to Baen. "I have never heard of it being possible but that does not mean it isn't. I know I am not as much help as you wish for, Baenon." Her tone came out a little snappy and she immediately felt bad.

This was beyond frustrating and she hated it. How were they supposed to find any answers if all her visions would be tampered with? Aster's hands closed into fist before she hit the table in frustration at the same time she stood and toppled the chair.

Between the lack of answers and Baen being his usual asshole self, she was getting irritated quickly. Her head was down as she stood at the table with her hands still balled. She felt useless.
 
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