Chapter Text
Heejin has seen, well, she has seen a lot in her 234 years of life in this world. She has seen a pompous merman attempt to swim up a waterfall (and get surprisingly far). She has seen a meteor shower on the same night as an eclipse. She has helped dwarves create artificial parhelions. She survived fighting the biggest war in recent millenia. She has even been to the underworld.
(A story for another time.)
After seeing the things she has seen, it was hard to say why Heejin was so surprised at seeing a demon in a life or death battle with a cat.
Her day started out like any other, wandering the forest she was currently living in, foraging for berries and roots.
As she went about her business, a sudden noise touched her ears and put her on alert. Her instincts kicked in. It was the scream of a demon.
Heejin had heard enough screams to recognize this particular one instantly. Knowing what she knew about demons, that scream was bad news.
She concealed her presence with her sorcery, materializing a sword in her hand. Then, she made her way towards the noise.
Her sharp ears directed her, and soon Heejin was standing on one of the roads that cut through the forest, where a demon was being clawed into by a housecat?
That small orange tabby was clawing at the creature's back, staying out of reach as the demon tried to stretch its limbs behind its back, desperate to pry the cat off.
Due to Heejin’s shock, she didn’t realize it at first, but now a few moments later she was able to deduce that this was no cat, but rather, a druid shifter. Heejin could sense that this person had very strong magic ability considering they were able to put up such a convincing shift. Yet they couldn’t have been very smart considering they decided changing into a housecat would be best in fighting a demon.
It seemed they were in a stalemate for the next minute or so, until Heejin decided she had seen enough and gripped her sword firmly, charging from her hiding place and joining the fight.
This demon couldn’t have been very smart either, because it almost tripped over its own feet at the sight of Heejin charging it. She cut it down easily, taking extra care to avoid the druid still clawing at it.
Heejin only vaporized her sword when she was sure it was dead, the orange cat had jumped off the now corpse and was looking at her strangely.
Heejin was confident enough in her Drueidan, so she greeted the creature in the language.
“Hello,” Heejin attempted a reassuring smile, kneeling down so she was more level with the cat.
In mere milliseconds, the cat was replaced by a person, transforming almost instantly. Again, Heejin’s thoughts were derailed and she was taken by surprise. She stood up instantly making eye contact and wow.
Heejin realized this druid was a forest nymph, a beautiful one at that. She had long brown hair, but it was ever so slightly tinted green. She wore a silky and flowing white sleeveless gown that ended just above her knees, covering her gloriously tanned skin.
Heejin stood up, clearing her throat and repeating the greeting in Drueidan.
The forest nymph giggled when Heejin spoke, and the unfamiliar heat of a blush flooded to her cheeks. What could possibly be so funny? After all, they were talking over a disintegrating demon corpse.
Then the nymph spoke, but in the common tongue. “Sorry for laughing at you, it’s just you have a little accent when you speak in Drueidan and I found it cute. My name is Hyunjin, by the way.” The nymph's voice was soothing, almost to the point where Heejin might consider it dangerous. There was something magical in her words, the same feeling of a siren's song, easing your worries and dulling your common sense.
Something about this nymph was different than any other she had met. In her travels, Heejin has met many nymphs of all species, but none with such potent magic ability.
Heejin smoothly switched to the common tongue as well. “My name is Heejin. Would you mind telling me what happened here?” She asked, gesturing to the corpse at her feet.
“Well, this demon was getting too close to my lake, so I tried to kill him.” Hyunjin sighed, taking a step away from it. “There have been a lot of demons entering the forest recently. Something strange is happening.”
“In this forest?”
“Yeah, these past weeks I have been noticing a lot more demon appearances, some even in the day, like right now. It is strange, usually once every couple months a stray demon would appear, and me and my sisters could easily vanquish it, but now it's an everyday occurrence and we are spread too thin to deal with it all.”
Hyunjin sighed, glaring at the half decayed demon corpse beside them.
“Thank you for your help elf. I appreciate it.” The forest nymph smiled, and Heejin felt warm.
“You’re welcome, I often visit this forest too, I would like to keep it safe.” Heejin said, deep in thought. “There must be a cause for the sudden increase in demons in this area. Perhaps I could look into it…” Heejin wracked her brain, this whole area, it's mostly forest and there aren't a lot of humans or dwarves here for the demons to hunt anyway. Why would they come here?
Something wasn’t adding up.
What concerned Heejin the most was that she wasn’t able to sense more demons in the area. Something must have been concealing them, but for that many demons to be concealed meant it was someone powerful.
Heejin was starting to think maybe she shouldn’t investigate further.
Whatever forces were involved, well Heejin wasn’t sure she was willing to lose her life.
But then Hyunjin looked at her, with hopeful eyes and eager words. “You would really investigate this? If we could put a stop to this, oh it would be amazing! I could help you know, I want to protect my home.” Hyunjin said, determined.
“Well,” Heejin sighed, her instincts were telling her that this was going to lead to trouble, and lots of it. “I guess I better get started then.” Heejin said, starting to walk down the road.
“Wait!” Heejin heard the nymph run up behind her until she was walking side by side with Heejin. “I want to help you. Like I said, this is my home and I want to protect it.”
“Look, the work I’m going to be doing will be very dangerous, to be honest I don’t think you’re cut out for it.”
Hyunjin’s expression hardened, and her lips pouted. “What makes you say that? I am very capable, I’ll have you know.”
Heejin arched an eyebrow, giving Hyunjin a questionable look. “You turned into a housecat to fight a demon and you couldn’t beat it. On top of that it was weaker than usual because it's daytime. What if it was at full strength? ”
“Well…” Hyunjin paused, seeming unable to come up with a good counter. “I just panicked, okay? Sometimes I transform into a cat when I get surprised.”
“Well, where I’m going there won’t be room for panic. You need to keep a level head or you will be killed. What I’ll be getting myself into is dangerous.”
“I’m stronger than you think.”
Heejin didn’t doubt that. If she has learned one thing in all her travels, it was to never underestimate someone. Heejin could sense Hyunjin was powerful. But still, she seemed to be relying on raw talent, with no real training. Plus, the elf didn’t like working with others.
-
It turns out Hyunjin was very stubborn because soon they were traveling together, making their way down the road. Hyunjin was a very talkative person, Heejin had soon learned.
“Don’t you want to let your sisters know you’re leaving? We may not return here for a while.”
Hyunjin nodded, taking a few deep breaths, suddenly a gust of wind ruffled Heejin’s hair.
“The wind will tell them.” Hyunjin said gleefully, and Heejin watched in admiration. The forest nymph’s magic was so elegant. It was truly breathtaking.
“So what kind of elf are you? I’ve never met one that is so hard to tell, I mean not that I’ve met a lot of elves, I’ve never even left the forest before.”
“You’ve never left the forest?” Heejin wasn’t really surprised. Nymphs draw their energy from their homes, usually bodies of water. It made sense they stayed in the area.
Hyunjin shook her head.
“Okay, well, there are a few things I’m going to have to explain about the place we are going to. The city, well, it’s nothing at all like the forest you’re used to. It is busy and loud and smelly and chaotic. There are a lot of people, of all species, crowded into streets and markets. Most people mind their business, but I’m worried about bringing a nymph into the city.”
“Why would you be nervous?” Hyunjin asked, looking at her with wide, curious eyes.
“Well, there are some people, who instead of seeing you as a living person, would see you as an opportunity to make money. Nymphs aren’t exactly common, and there is a market for rare creatures.”
“Oh…” Hyunjin seemed deep in thought, “If it is so dangerous, I can shift into something less rare.” In the blink of an eye, Hyunjin suddenly appeared as a human, with the same features, just her eyes were no longer such a striking green, and her hair and eyes were brown. She had on common clothing, and appeared human.
“How long can you maintain this form?”
Hyunjin arched her brow, “I’m not actually sure, I’ve never tested it before.”
“You’ve never tested how long you are able to shift for?”
“No, why would I?” The nymph shrugged.
“Oh I don’t know, seems like some useful information to know.” Heejin said sarcastically.
“Hey, you never answered my question earlier.” Hyunjin pouted, crossing her arms as they walked.
“What question?”
“What kind of elf are you?”
“Do you think it’s possible that I ignored that question for a reason?” Heejin said, even more sarcastic.
“Well, I thought maybe you just got sidetracked, plus I didn’t know that it was a very big deal. I’m sorry.” The nymph sounded so sincere, and suddenly Heejin felt bad for being rude.
“It’s okay, and thank you.”
“Anyway, we should be getting back to my place soon enough. There are some things I have to get before we leave.”
“You live here?” Hyunjin seemed surprised.
“No, I’ve only been here for a week or so. I just have a temporary camp set up. I’m just passing through.”
“Oh, I see.”
“I have been thinking about permanently living here though. I like it here.” Heejin gestured to the woodland around them. There was a gentle breeze ruffling the leaves of the trees, the songs of birds somewhere in the distance.
Soon they approached Heejin’s camp, and Heejin mumbled a small incantation, and the barrier protecting her camp dropped, allowing them to pass through.
“Your magic is fascinating, I’ve seen wizardry before, and it’s nothing like that, and it certainly is nothing like druid magic, what exactly is it? I mean elves are known to harness the power of their element, sun elves use the sun, sea elves use water, et cetera et cetera, but your magic is nothing like that.”
“You sure ask a lot of questions.” Heejin said, walking past her campfire, moving to greet her horse, Jupiter. “Wait out here, I just need a minute.”
Heejin went into the tent, filling up her pack with some camping gear and lots of platinum coins. She was going to need a lot of money for where they were going.
Why was she even doing this?
She could absolutely ignore this annoying demon problem, pack up her camp and ride to the next area on her map. It would be easy. But, Heejin had been noticing a shift in demon activity, not just here. There was a subtle vibration, something echoing through the whole world.
Something was happening.
It felt like the war Heejin fought in, when the giants were fighting the dragonborn. Heejin could feel the same static, something so big it was impossible to ignore.
She remembers her village being enlisted to help their allies, the dragonborn.
Her breathing spiked. Her right shoulder ached.
The scales on her necklace.
Heejin clutched them desperately.
She couldn’t just ignore this feeling.
Heejin sighed.
If she was meant to die trying to figure out what was going on, she found that she didn’t really mind. She had felt so empty for the longest time. With her mind made up, she tied her bag shut and exited.
Hyunjin was petting Jupiter’s neck when she walked out, mumbling something to the horse. It seemed as if the two were communicating, as Jupiter was stamping his feet and making grunting noises.
Heejin grabbed Jupiter’s blanket, strapping it on his back and then attaching his saddle.
“Okay, I know where we can start. We are gonna have to ride there,” Heejin said, double checking all the harnesses.
“Well alright! I like Jupiter, this will be fun!”
Heejin rolled her eyes playfully, although she was slightly weary of her new travel partner. It seemed like things moved at a rapid pace. How did she get roped into this? Was the nymph using magic on her? Surely Heejin would be able to tell, considering her experience in such types of magic.
Heejin mindlessly mounted on top of Jupiter, gesturing for Hyunjin to do the same.
“Hold on.” Was all Heejin said before spurring Jupiter forward, and soon they were riding. When they left the vicinity of the camp the elf put the protective barrier back up.
Hyunjin quickly grabbed onto her waist, but Heejin could feel her excitement, and she encouraged Jupiter to go faster, his hooves thundering on the road.
Hyunjin squealed in joy as the wind whipped through their hair, and Heejin felt herself smile at her childlike excitement.
“Your first time riding a horse?” Heejin asked, looking back at Hyunjin who had a huge grin.
“Yeah.” Hyunjin said, breathless and joyful. “There have been herds of wild horses passing through the forest, but they don’t like being ridden.”
“Oh…” Heejin smiled at the nymph, the pure joy on her face was endearing.
They rode in silence after that, the only sound being the thundering of Jupiter’s hooves on the dirt road. Heejin was lost in thought. She was trying to come up with an explanation, as her eyes stared aimlessly down the road in front of her, when it clicked.
The roads!
This forest had the quickest routes from the port cities to the kingdoms further inland. Making the forest more dangerous meant the caravans of supplies would have to take alternate routes through the mountains, which were much more treacherous, or go around the mountains entirely which added almost a month to the trip.
If the roads through here got too dangerous, it could lead to shortages of, well, everything. Food, clothes, fabric, weapons, lumber, steel, everything that kept the big cities afloat. It could lead to a lot of chaos.
Heejin was deep in thought, trying to consider every angle when Hyunjin broke the silence.
“So, where are we going?” Hyunjin asked curiously, her grip loose on her waist.
“The city we are going to is the homebase of a-“ Heejin paused, unsure of the right word, “I guess we are meeting a friend. She has information on everything going on in the world, seeing if she knows anything is probably the best starting point we have.”
Hyunjin hummed in understanding.
“Just to warn you, Jiwoo can be a little exuberant.” That was definitely an understatement, but there weren’t really any words in any language that were quite right to describe Jiwoo.
And Heejin spoke six languages.