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“Did you find her?” Syrene asks, eyes as darkly circled as the other knight’s. There’s desperation in her voice, but that too, is tired. “No signs?” She asks, in the face of that silence. Nothing, and Syrene folds, the palms of her hands resting on her face. “Go.” She commands, and the other practically flees.
It has been weeks. It is time enough that she must admit Vanessa was lost in the mudslides, while searching for survivors. She’d suspected, after the second day of no sign. Not of Titania, not of Vanessa, not any sign that they yet lived. No sign of them above the monstrous mess of shifted earth and mud.
She was just, gone.
Vanessa had been here a week, and it was time she were honest with herself. However she’d come to be here, there was nothing she could do to get home. It was time to stop looking for the odd gate that had left her here, and try to figure out where exactly here was . It was frustrating, and she and Titania were hungry. Starving, really.
She couldn’t stay in this wooded area forever, and so she didn’t. Picked a direction, a hand on Titania’s shoulder, and they walked. They walked, and walked, and eventually, there was a town. The architecture was not distinctive, the weather as usual as it could be for multiple parts of the continent, truthfully no true clue to where she was. It didn’t look like a village or town she’d passed through before, and apparently neither had any other pegasus knights, from the stares Titania drew.
Uncomfortable, Vanessa tucked some of the hair framing her face behind her ear, and concentrated on the uncomfortable pinch in her belly. Hunger motivated her to search out the inn, and once Titania was suitably stabled, she paid for two nights and meals for each day for herself and her mount. Once that was done, Vanessa moved off to a table to wait for her food, and stared with growing fear at her coin purse.
Soon enough, that would run out, for she had no access to the rest of her funds here, after all. During this crisis, Vanessa stared straight ahead, thinking that this was so odd, so horrible. Her mind chased circles around the problem, money and the fact that she was in Grado , of all places.
(And, a hysterical part of her thought, as she stumbled up the stairs to her room after she’d eaten, how in the Demon King’s name she’d ended up nearly twenty years into the past . She’d heard gossip about Emperor Vigarde’s infant son . If Lyon was only this old, then she was hardly two, and - her head hurt.)
The rest of her money, and her half-formed plan, took her into Jehanna. Where she might have preferred Frelia, and home...there was little choice. The past...there was no place for her in her home. Her parents were young, her father hale and healthy and yet to be struck down by that illness. Syrene was barely old enough to heft a practice lance, and her...child self was barely into the toddling years. How could she go home? There was no home waiting for her along Frelia’s northern coast.
So, Jehanna.
The sands were warm, the sun bright and the light harsh. The heat alone was intimidating, and it wasn’t long before her face and the bridge of her nose were burned and pink and hot to the touch. The water they’d brought with them lasted not long at all, and it was with great relief that they spent each night in the far flung and few between towns with wells. Eventually, they would come to Jehanna Hall (yet beautiful, and not the burnt husk that haunted her memories), the seat of Queen Ismaire, guildmaster.
And, if her predictions were correct, she’d just about spend the last of her funds to reach it. Though, if she were lucky, her plan would find no trouble. Get to Jehanna Hall, join a mercenary guild, earn a living. And at some point, make the time to mourn her lost life, her lost family. (And learn how to live, cast adrift from everything that had given her life meaning, with the one exception of Titania.)
Things went well enough, and she passed her mock fights, the physical fitness tests, with flying colors. Her probationary period was spent with her counting every copper coin and with stress lining her forehead. Keeping a pegasus fed well on probationary pay was...not easy. But eventually she graduated to being a fully fledged member of Dain’s mercenary troupe.
That first paycheck, as a full member of the mercenary guild, was enough to cover pegasus care and her own needs. She cried a little, out of sheer relief, clutching that bag of coin to her chest. And things only ramped up from there, as she proved to be a valuable and trustworthy member of her troupe.
It was with lance in hand that Vanessa met Selena for the first time (second time), an errant Bolting singing several feathers off of Titania. They met properly (for the actual very first time) after the bandits had been dispatched, and the caravan Vanessa was employed to guard finally stopped to rest, just inside the Grado/Jehanna border.
“Sorry about the graze,” Selena said, face split by a sheepish smile. She looked...young, though of course she would, Vanessa was only in the past. “You’re with the mercenaries?” Selena asked, peering curiously at Titania. “Oh, sorry, Captain Selena of Grado’s mage knights, at your service.”
“Vanessa,” Vanessa answered, a small answering smile on her own lips. Once, she would have introduced herself differently. Captain Vanessa, of Frelia’s pegasus knights , but now...she hadn’t been that person in months. In a year. “Of Jehanna’s mercenary guild, under Chief Dain.” And she shook the knight’s hand, feeling only a little bitter that she had lost her own knighthood. “A pleasure.”
They separated as night fell properly, Vanessa to tend to Titania, and Selena to her border patrol group. Admittedly, Vanessa watched her go, warring feelings in her stomach. To see her career hero so young, so approachable, was an odd experience. And Selena found her again, that evening, after dinner had been parsed out, and watches assigned.
Having first watch, Vanessa welcomed the distraction to help keep her awake. The fight had been decently long, and the heat still sapped her of her energy if she exerted herself past a certain point. “Captain,” she greeted, feeling again strange. In another life, she’d never met the Fluorspar, except on the battlefield.
Smile big and bright, Selena sat very close. “Please, you’re no subordinate of mine, I insist you call me Selena, Vanessa.” Acknowledging that with a nod, Vanessa and Selena sat in a decently companionable silence for a time. “How did a pegasus get into the hands of a mercenary?” Selena asked after a time, as Vanessa’s eyes began to drift closed.
“She’s my partner,” Vanessa said, hands spread as though that were the entire explanation, beginning to end.
Cerdic, the troupe archer tapped Vanessa on the shoulder, just as she was about to ask Selena a question, a while after the silence had settled. “Shift’s up.” He groused, unhappy. Flashing Selena a rueful smile, she got to her feet and shook off the drowsiness long enough make it to her bedroll, and crashed hard. Morning dawned too soon, and she waved to Selena as they marched the caravan off to a major port.
“Oh, Selena!!” Vanessa called, juggling her bag of groceries from hip to hip. “I hadn’t thought I’d see you here.” Though of all the places to run into her, the market was probably the most likely place. A Grado market, months after the caravan. She’d decided to make her mother’s soup, since a chill was beginning to settle around the area. Dain’s troupe had been hired for a minimum of six months to supplement a noble’s guard while a treasured artifact of that noble’s house was being held on the property, and she wanted something warm to combat the cold with.
“Are you stationed out here?” She asked, as they fell into step with each other. “Our troupe is working for the Clemont family, hired in for a while.” She explained, shifting the foodstuffs back up into her arms. “So if you’re nearby, and when I am off-shift...perhaps we could meet up every so often?”
Because while she liked her fellow mercenaries, she was homesick for a place that wouldn’t exist as she knew it for years yet. Selena, despite her youth, was a somewhat familiar face. It would be a comfort to know her, even a little, and Vanessa had very few comforts these days that might soothe this particular ache.
“I know a fair few card games I might teach you,” Vanessa continued, thinking of ways to tempt her into agreeing. “And my family’s recipes are good for chilly evenings, tested and proved against the Frelian winters.” She chuckled sadly to herself, thinking of making it with Syrene and Princess Tana, after the war. None of them had escaped the haze of flour in the air, but it had tasted like home and Princess Tana had been so delighted with her culinary prowess…
“It could be fun,” Vanessa finished awkwardly.
Selena made a considering noise, and they walked in step for a time, as Selena presumably thought it over. Eventually, she made a sharp tsking noise, and smiled brightly, warmly. “Well I certainly don’t oppose the idea.” She said honestly. Then, eyed the bag of groceries obviously, and returned her gaze to the path ahead of them.
“What sort of recipes?” Selena asked, eyes bright with curiosity and tone light. A half-skip of a step brought her ahead of Vanessa, and the mage knight turned to face her and walked backwards for a few moments. “Frelian cuisine?” She fished, smiling wide.
“Oh, yes.” Vanessa admitted, heart lifting. “Though, the fish recipes will have to wait.” She mock-mourned, half serious. Fresh fish was the only fish worth using in her family’s recipes, and this far inland that was...hardly economical. Or possible. (This far inland, all she had as options were stock fish, dried or preserved in casks of brine. Not very appetizing, for one who’d long been accustomed to fish fresh off the boat.)
“Ah, a pity,” Selena agreed easily, “Though perhaps another time, the southern shores of Grado produce quality fish as well, you know.” Vanessa stifled a judgemental snort, all the patriotism of a Frelian knight making Selena’s statement absurd. Cute though, how she thought her country could compete with Frelian seafood. (Rausten put up a good fight though, their fisherman could almost compete with her people.)
And yes, dinner went...wonderfully. As it did the next week, and the week after that, and every week to come until their contract was up and Dain and his troupe of mercenaries began to pack up their things. A return to Jehanna was in order, gain new orders from Queen Ismaire, and give respectful greetings to her beloved husband and son.
(Joshua had only just begun teething, last they were in Jehanna, and it was a painful, growing and breathing reminder to Vanessa that her world was gone.)
Selena had come, one last visit before Vanessa returned to the sands of Jehanna. A visit between friends, and Vanessa had a goal in mind. One very specific goal. “Might I write you?” she asked, between the tedium of folding and packing and gathering every aspect of her life back up and into one place. No matter how many excursions her troupe made, it was so...unnerving to see her entire life reduced to one pack and a saddlebag.
Anything more would prove cumbersome, and yet...for someone who’d previously lived a very stable life, it was quite different.
With a slight smile, Selena reached out to touch Vanessa’s arm. “Of course, I would welcome any correspondence.” The hand on her arm was a welcome touch, and Selena went on to say, “I might even miss your lovely pegasus.” Gentle and teasing, a side of the serious general Vanessa had never thought she’d see.
“You would miss my soups.” Vanessa chided, only half serious, and equally as teasing. The amusement was genuine, and the former knight knew that she would sorely miss Selena’s company. “Not my delightful Titania, of course not. Just my soups.”
Selena hummed thoughtfully, “Yes, I suppose that isn’t wrong. Your soups are wondrous and I shall miss them dearly.” After a pause, Selena removed her hand from Vanessa’s arm, and lifted a shirt and began folding alongside Vanessa. “I’ll miss you too, of course. I expect a letter as soon as you are able.”
“Of course, as soon as I am able.”
Letters flew between them, finding Vanessa first at her home in Jehanna, then in the rain outside a Carcino inn, after a battle with a colony of Bael while mourning the loss of the company healer, and so on. She sent letters back when she could, leaving each letter with someone with a solid reputation. And in between letters she would trace over the inked words she’d received, and tried to imagine what Selena would be up to now.
Training? Drills? Sleeping in a cot in a border outpost, while the wind howled and thinking of Vanessa? No, no, probably not that one . She shouldn’t be silly. Even so, the fact that she missed Selena’s company dearly, letters hardly a balm, remained.
In her next letter to Selena, she hesitated briefly, before writing with painful, nervous honesty, I miss you. I wish I could see you. Even the softness of Titania’s feathers, as she spent her downtime grooming her partner, could not alleviate the longing . Even holding a stack of letters, tied tightly together and every one of them in Selena’s neat hand, to her chest did not dull the sharpness of missing her.
So it was with great joy that Vanessa learned her next mission - solo this time, away from her troupe - would bring her into close contact with Selena again. A lucky turn of events, to have the both of them in the same area. The job would be tiring, nights and surveillance and - well. Hardly important, really, in the face of getting to see Selena again after so long.
Heart singing, Vanessa dropped her things off at her temporary home, and practically raced to the meeting place they’d agreed on. She was early, too early to see Selena yet, so she stood outside the diner and waited.
The feeling of Selena’s hand in hers, after so long of just letters between them, was like seeing dawn from the back of Titania. Breathtaking and stunning, and right. “I’m back,” Vanessa breathed, a smile on her lips. Selena was a welcome sight, her strength and her kindness and the warmth of her smile a gift.
“Saint Latona willing, you’ll return many more times.” Selena said, pressing a brief, but entirely bold kiss to Vanessa’s lips, before she rushed them both inside the establishment. “While you were away, I’ve been promoted.” She said nervously, as though she were still waiting for Vanessa’s reaction. “Major Selena, now.”
Still stunned from the earlier kiss, Vanessa could only blink, lovestruck. “You’ll be a wonderful general some day,” she insisted, when her wits returned to her. Just as nervous as Selena seemed, Vanessa gently captured her hand. “Perhaps I could offer you a congratulatory kiss, after dinner?”
Eyes sparkling, Selena grinned broadly. “Oh, I believe that would suit me just fine.”