daughter of darkness
Such a lovely day, yet nobody can shake the feeling of foreboding crashing over them in waves.
Perhaps it’s the ticking time-bomb that is the worms in their skulls, or perhaps it’s the tense postures of the siblings they rush to catch up with. Either way, nobody says much as they approach a cave sat at the edge of the river, with enormous animal footprints trail inside.
Whatever this creature is, it must be close by. Terribly close by.
“Whatever it is, it must be huge,” Kisame says, eyeing the tracks leading into a damp, rank-smelling cave.
The moment they set foot in the foreboding cave, the smell of rotten meat and excrement is overwhelming, a wall of miasma that hits them like a solid thing.
They step in warily, bracing themselves for whatever manner of vicious creature is lurking inside.
A rotten, half-eaten goblin is sprawled across the cave floor, flies and maggots crawling all over it.
The two newcomers take the lead, weapons drawn.
“This is definitely an owlbear den. Tread lightly.” Gale warns, trailing a little bit behind the others warily. “They don’t take kindly to being disturbed.”
“Very few creatures do.” Itachi remarks.
They creep forward cautiously, until they catch up with the sibling duo, and see what they came here for.
A terrifying creature- larger than any bear they’d ever seen before, with wickedly sharp claws and a razor for a beak, and sharp gold eyes that glower at them menacingly.
Its feathers are thick and glossy, though don’t totally obscure the musculature underneath- this is a powerful creature. No wonder that other man died so horribly.
The creature raises itself up on its hind legs, towering over both of them and hooting indignantly.
Strangers! How dare you come here?! it seems to say. This is my territory, get out!
There’s something about her that goes beyond mere defensiveness though. A look about her that feels familiar.
“Itachi, what are you doing?”
He’s able to crane his neck just enough to confirm his suspicion.
A far smaller version of the mother owlbear pokes its head out from behind her- still covered in baby down, peering at them in curiosity.
Despite Kisame asking him repeatedly what the fuck he’s doing, Itachi raises his hands up in a peace offering, stepping backward away from the owlbear without making eye contact.
“Easy,” he says, though he’s certain she can’t understand him. “We’re not going to hurt your cub.”
The mother owlbear lands on her front feet with enough force to shake the ground. She glares at him, sniffing at him warily.
Then, perhaps satisfied, she starts to back up, though she never breaks eye contact with him and keeps her tense posture.
“She didn’t attack him for no reason,” Itachi says, softly. “She was protecting her baby. That’s all.”
Unfortunately, the companions of the dead man don’t care about that.
They lunge at her with howls of grief. The owlbear swipes at them, stumbling, caught off guard.
Her cub shrieks in fear, cowering and shivering.
It’s all so fast that, by the time Itachi thinks to intervene, it’s already too late.
The owlbear swipes with its wicked claws and slices both of them down deep in a single strike, but not before the man manages to plunge his blade right into its neck and twist, creating a gaping wound hemorrhaging blood.
He tries to find the wound, tries to do something to help the creature, but the wound is far beyond whatever rudimentary healing capabilities he has.
A shame, really. Such a magnificent creature- it feels like a waste.
(And a waste of human life, too. He supposes.)
“We are wasting time.” Lae'zel snaps.
Itachi can only think of one thing, as he looks toward the smaller creature.
“What about the cub?”
Lae’zel rolls her eyes in aggravation.
“What about it? Without its mother, it will almost certainly die.”
The poor creature paws at its fallen mother, nudging her as if it could get her to wake.
Then, the cub, to their horror, with low, sad hoots and something sounding like a whimper, starts to eat its dead mother.
Poor creature. It would be so easy to end it’s suffering. Just a single strike- the animal wouldn’t even see it coming.
But as he raises his weapon to strike the creature, his hand falters, and his heart wavers.
He lowers his arm and turns his head, cursing himself for his weakness.
“You good, Itachi?”
“...Yeah. I’m fine.”
“We should not linger here. It smells of rot.” Lae’zel growls.
“Shame about those other two though,” Kisame half-laughs. “That thing wasn’t going down alone.”
“Good riddance,” Itachi grumbles. “They were annoying, anyway.”
“Check this out, though-”
Kisame strides over to where a picked-clean skeleton rests, still fully clad in armor crafted from leather and fur, slumped next to a carefully constructed nest where a single, large egg rests.
(He has to wonder how the armor is still in one piece, but after pondering it he decides that he most likely doesn’t want to know the reason.)
“Owlbear eggs are supposed to be worth a fortune,” Gale remarks, admiring the egg with wide-eyed wonder.
“I suppose the mother won’t be needing it,” Shadowheart says with a shrug, though she cringes at the thought of purloining an animal’s unborn offspring even as she watches Gale stash the egg away in his pack.
While the rest of them root around to see what else they might find, Gale wanders off, following a set of decidedly humanoid footprints down a shallow slope, and hopping a narrow gap to get to where what appears to be a small shrine is set up.
“Everyone, this might be worth a look!” he calls out, beckoning for the others to join him. "I wonder why there's an altar in a place like this."
“An offering to Selûne in a place like this?” Shadowheart sneers. “Fitting.”
Itachi examines a small chest set up in the middle of this makeshift shrine, pondering how they might get it open.
“You shouldn’t fiddle with the Moonmaiden’s trinkets,” Shadowheart snaps, perhaps more harshly than she meant to.
Raising an eyebrow, Itachi cocks his head at their companion.
“Why do you care so much?” he asks, from a mixture of genuine curiosity and annoyance.
Shadowheart has a horrified expression, like she’s said something she knows she shouldn’t have.
“...I shouldn't have said anything.”
Shadowheart sighs, rolls her eyes, and finally relents.
“If you must know- I worship Lady Shar- Selûne's twin and sworn enemy. There- now that I've told you, pleasedon't make a big deal out of it.”
Itachi blinks a couple times.
“...Okay?”
“What do you mean, okay?”
It takes another painful silence for Shadowheart to realize why he looks so confused.
“-Sorry. I forget you're new here. All you need to know is that Lady Shar and her worshipers don't tend to get along with the Lady of Silver.”
Itachi nods, still puzzled, but more curious than anything.
“Shar, my goodness,” Gale remarks. “My goddess Mystra doesn’t exactly get along well with the Nightsinger.”
"It's a good thing I'm not seeking Mystra's favor, then."
Itachi is silent for a moment, glances at Kisame, and then answers.
“If it matters any, I don't care who you worship. We have far bigger worries to deal with.”
Shadowheart offers up a half-smile.
“I should have expected you to react so pragmatically. Maybe I should have told you sooner.”
“Maybe,” Kisame answers, happy to dispel the tension. “But still- whatever is in here might be useful. It would be silly to leave it here don't you think?"
Shadowheart moves her head from one side to the other, conceding the point.
“Ugh, fine. If nothing else, maybe we can sell it for a few coins.”
“Noted.”
“You should be able to read that prayer you found and I think it should open that chest,” Gale says.
Itachi looks down at the paper in his hand, squints at it briefly, then passes it over to Gale.
“I think you should do the honors- I can’t really read, even in my own language.”
Gale blinks rapid-fire a few times, then the most pitying look crosses his face. Then, that pitying look changes to one of determination.
“You don’t need to worry, my friend!” he declares, trying to grab Itachi by the hand, though the other man flinches away. “I happen to be an excellent teacher! A few nights of tutoring when we make camp and we could make some headway!”
Itachi’s brow furrows. The corners of his mouth twitch upward in what might be a smile as he lets out a loud breath that might be a halfhearted attempt at a laugh.
“I appreciate the offer,” he says, shaking his head, “but I’m afraid that wouldn’t really do any good.”
“What do you mean?”
Itachi waves a hand in front of his face, with a resigned expression.
“My eyesight really isn’t what it used to be. I can get around day to day just fine, but reading is a hobby of mine I don’t really get to indulge in much lately.”
“Oh…”
Itachi waves it off, trying to reassure him it isn’t a big deal.
“You don’t have to feel sorry for me. I promise it isn’t so bad once you get used to it.”
Gale still seems terribly saddened by the situation, but he turns his attention to the paper and reads off the prayer scrawled upon it.
When he’s finished, there’s a click, and the chest swings open.
“Well what do you know?” Kisame marvels. “Turns out prayer works after all.”
There’s a pendant in the chest, along with some gold, a few assorted vials of strange colored liquid, and a small idol depicting what they assume to be Selûne.
Gale pockets the pendant, and they decide once again that leaving would be a good idea.
They leave the cub and the remnants of the shrine far behind them, trying to banish the awkward atmosphere.
The fresh air is a welcome change from the damp, rotten smell inside the cave.
“I hope that cub is going to be alright,” Itachi says, quietly.
“He seems like a tough little guy,” Kisame reassures him, while giving him an awkward pat on the back. “I think he’ll be just fine.”
“...I hope you’re right.”
“Any creature worthy of life will be able to fend for itself,” Lae’zel quips, annoyed at being sidetracked yet again.
Shadowheart says nothing, but cringes and clutches at her hand like she’s in pain.
“Are you alright?”
“Fine,” Shadowheart lies, holding her hand behind her back. “It’s nothing, I swear.”
Despite how obviously untruthful Shadowheart’s words are, Itachi leaves it alone, figuring everyone is entitled to their secrets.
(boy does his head ever hurt…)
Hidan frowns, getting sick of the painful silence that’s been stretching out for forever.
“You’ve been awfully fuckin’ twitchy the last little bit. Somethin’ up?”
“Hm? No, I’m alright.”
“Oh don’t bullshit me. What’s wrong?”
Hidan’s probing has the desired result, even though Wyll isn’t happy about it.
“...It would be unfair for me to hide this from you. Alright then.”
With a heavy sigh, raising his hands palm-up in defeat, he relents.
(Hiding things that might affect them is a stupid idea, after all.)
“I’m a warlock- I’m not sure if you have people like that where you’re from.”
“It’s news to me, actually.”
“What’s important to know is that we get our powers from a pact. I hope you understand that I cannot get into the details of it, but I am bound by the contract I made. By sparing Karlach, I have broken that contract. So-”
He makes a broad gesture to their surroundings.
“One day soon, when we make camp, you will see what I’m talking about. All I can do is say that I’m sorry you will have to witness it.”
Hidan quirks an eyebrow.
“Eh? How worried should we be?”
“You aren’t in any danger- you have my word. I can’t say the same for me, however.”
Wyll lets out a nervous laugh.
“I’m the only one who’ll be facing the music, though I don’t relish the thought.”
Up ahead, Karlach is admiring a cluster of dandelions with a look of awe. As though she hasn’t seen any type of greenery in her life.
“You think it’s worth it?”
“Karlach is no monster- I’m afraid you’ve been witness to a pantomime. Whatever the consequences are for sparing her, I’ll take them.”
Hidan ponders this situation, scratching at his chin and grumbling to himself.
“You seem pretty goddamn sure of that.”
“No sense second-guessing myself now, is there? I made my choice. I’ll have to live with it.”
“Hey, you!” Karlach calls out, getting both of their attention.
“Hm?”
“This might be weird to ask, but do you think I could ask a favor?”
They pick up their pace to catch up with her.
“Depends on what you want, I suppose.”
“After I crash-landed here, I was bein’ chased by some people callin’ themselves Paladins of Tyr. They’re a real pain in my arse- think you could help me take ‘em out?”
“Paladins of Tyr? Usually they’re out helping people in need, not chasing down rogue tieflings,” Wyll points out.
“Well that’s what they said they were. Not that I believe it, with how they acted.”
Wyll and Hidan look at each other, debating their options wordlessly.
“They’ll probably be riding our assess if we’ve got her around,” Hidan decides. “Might as well take ‘em out if we’re fuckin’ around here.”
“An unfortunately accurate assessment,” Wyll agrees. “Let’s go see those paladins.”
“Fuck yes!” Karlach declares, pumping her fist in the air. “Let’s go! They’re in that tollhouse right up there-”
So, they’ve got some people they can wantonly slaughter, consequence-free. Hidan considers that a win.
Doesn’t hurt that he can impress an absolutely smoking hot girl (in more than one way) in the meantime, either.
He catches her cringing out of the corner of his eye, and pauses.
“You good?”
“Eh? Nah mate, don’t worry about me. Just my engine actin’ up a bit. Don’t gotta worry about me.”
“...Doesn’t it fuckin’ hurt?”
“A shitload, yeah. But I won’t be seein’ my mechanic for a while, so I’ll just make use of the extra heat. Just don’t get too close.”
That sounds…unpleasant. But Hidan shrugs it off.
“Whatever you say, lady.”
“I ain’t a lady, soldier. Name’s Karlach.” She says, rolling her eyes at him.
“Well, I ain’t a goddamned soldier, and I’m nobody’s fuckin’ mate. Name’s Hidan.” he snaps back, even though he can’t help but smile.
“Have it your way, Hidan.”
Karlach looks up at the birds flying overhead, and at the clouds drifting through the brilliantly blue sky.
She grins, and the joy radiating off her is absolutely contagious.
“Damn, it feels good to be alive.”
Wyll manages to smile back, even though he has whatever dire situation he’s hiding to look forward to.
“...Yeah. I suppose it does.”