Chapter Text
Tristen Knight, the Warrior of Light and adventurer by trade, sighs in confusion as he and his husbands, Urianger Augurelt and Thancred Waters, walk away from the Noumenon, each lost in thought as they think about their current situation; one of their friends seemingly disappearing into nothing without even a warning beforehand. The sky, sparse in clouds to block the sun's light, mirrors the world's ignorance to the current situation. If they didn't notice now, they surely would soon.
"This doesn't make any sense! How could he have just disappeared?" Tristen's tail shifts in frustration, his facial expression sharing a similar emotion.
"It's unlike him, that's for sure. Surely there must be a good explanation for it," Thancred takes note of Tristen's tail movements, although he decides to not mention anything on it.
"'Tis truly a strange predicament. Perhaps Mistress Krile simply overlooked G'raha's whereabouts? I am unable to imagine why he would slip away without speaking his intentions," Urianger puts a finger to his chin as he suggests his thought, knowing that this thought isn't the only option in a situation such as this.
"It's not as if he just suddenly ceased to exist," Thancred mumbles, sounding both sure and unsure of his response as if this was a possibility.
The three roam around Sharlayan, searching for their missing friend, however their search reveals naught as the group reaches their final destination. Tristen looks out to the harbor, the water crashing against the white of the stone as the world continues on despite their situation seemingly getting worse the longer they go on. His tail falls low and his ears dip downwards, showing the utter worry racing through his mind. Thancred, careful and slow with his movements, places a hand on Tristen's shoulder as a form of comfort for the worrying miqo'te.
"Shoudst we inform our companions of our lack of findings, or shouldst we keepeth searching?" Urianger buds in as an attempt to distract his husband from his growing worry.
"I'm sure he'll turn up..." The miqo'te looks to the sky, his evergrowing worry not showing any signs of slowing down.
"Maybe we should rest for a while, Uri," Thancred suggests, worried for both their missing friend and his husband. "Tristen's wound up."
"Thou art correct," Urianger nods. "Pray, let us return to the Annex. Mayhaps it'll cleareth our heads. 'Twould do us no good to search if..." His sentence trails off.
"Uri?" Tristen questions, worry laced within his vocal tone as he hopes that Urianger simply had a change in thought. There is no reply, only the sound of the wind blowing by.
"Urianger..?" Thancred turns around only to see the space where Urianger was standing to be empty. "By the twelve," He huffs out in frustration. Maybe they are disappearing..
Tristen, although having a similar thought, just turns to look at where his tall husband once stood, his ears and tail shooting upright as he speaks, "Maybe we should tell the others..?" His voice lowers to just above a whisper as he makes his suggestion.
Thancred gently grabs his partner's hand while grabbing his linkpearl with the other. Holding one finger in the position required, he and Tristen begin walking towards the Baldesion Annex, Thancred speaking to the others while Tristen simply listens.
"We have a problem," his brows furrow in mild frustration as he speaks, however he seems glad that someone picked up the line.
"We know," Alphinaud Leveilleur's voice comes through. "I know, at least. It's Alisaie, she's-" His speaking gets cut off as Thancred responds.
"She disappeared?" He asks, sure that he's correct in this assumption.
"How did you..?" The young Elezen sounds both confused and worried.
Thancred sighs, "G'raha and Urianger are gone too."
"This isn't good. Anyone else missing?" Alphinaud asks, worry showing in his voice despite the slight distortion caused by the linkpearl.
"Not as far as we're aware," Thancred responds as he and Tristen walk up to the entrance to the Annex, opening the door and immediately looking around the building.
After their quick search, knowing that she would probably be back in the Annex by now, Tristen tugs at Thancred's coat before muttering out one word, "Krile."
"Shite," Thancred grits his teeth, growing further frustrated by their situation. Everything is happening too fast for them to react, let alone try and stop whatever is happening. "You get that Alphinaud?"
"Indeed. This..." Alphinaud goes silent.
Thancred takes note of the silence, letting out a noise of frustration. Moving his hand from its position near his ear, he begins walking to their chambers. The younger of the two trails behind silently, tail swishing behind him as he keeps his head down, anxiety and worry clouding his mind from any reason.
Upon their arrival to their bed chambers, Thancred wraps his arms around Tristen, pulling him into a gentle embrace. The younger of the two buries his head into the other's shoulder and does his best to keep himself from allowing tears to fall.
"We'll figure this out," Thancred finds himself stroking the other's hair. "I promise, we will," He smiles and keeps a brave face, hoping his husband won't see through this façade.
“Uri,” His voice is just barely audible as he slightly trembles in his lover’s embrace.
“We’ll get him back somehow.”
He pulls away from the hug, putting his hand on Tristen’s cheek. The miqo’te leans into it. He closes his eyes for a moment. When the feeling of his lover’s hand has left, he opens his eyes to see an empty space. He, too, is gone.
Tristen’s hands ball into a fist as he falls to the floor. His tail wraps around his body as he curls up. He isn’t aware of how much time passes until his vision goes dark.
Tristen opens his eyes, or at least he thinks he does, to see only darkness no matter what direction he chooses to look. "What..?" He mumbles, the pure loneliness setting in without any warning. He is alone, he realizes, in this vast expanse of black which surrounds him with only his thoughts to accompany him. This lasts for an incomprehensible amount of time before someone's voice echoes throughout the space.
Greetings, Creature of Light, The voice says, it's echo being distorted yet still understandable.
"Where-" He starts, his vocal tone clearly showing the emotions racing throughout his mind. "Where is Thancred.?"
The voice takes a moment to respond, although when it does it sounds uncaring and, frankly, quite cold, Oh, him? I never touched him.
"Then where..? Where is he!" He responds, doing his best to remain as calm as possible (and is failing).
It laughs, it's laughter reverberating into Tristen's mind. That's not important. You do want to see them again right? It pauses for a moment, gauging a reaction and seeming disappointed when not much changes. I can lend you my assistance~ All you have to do is form a contract with me.
Unbeknownst to Tristen, his tail softly curls around one of his legs as he speaks, his question being as straightforward as it could be, "What do you want?"
Loyalty. For the most part at least~ There are a couple other parts of this deal, however those details aren't as.. Important as the others. The short pause in the middle of the voice's speech would, of course, say otherwise.
"How can I trust you? What even are you?" Tristen responds, looking around for any signs of this being and finding none.
This strange echo gasps, or at least seems to, before speaking once more, Me?! Untrustworthy? I'm using my precious magic to speak to you, Creature of Light! It chuckles lightly, Although, to answer your question, I suppose I am similar to what you would call a Primal~
"I am no creature; I'd rather you not refer to me as such. Damn false god," He utters the last three words with distain.
Fine. We'll do this the hard way, after all. The voice echoes, its voice showing it's utter disappointment at Tristen's response, as strange vines come out from the ground, which had seemed somewhat non-existent before, and grab Tristen's ankles. Several other vines appear, seeming to each want to grab Tristen, however before any are able to so much as come in contact with the miqo'te, a strange being of light grabs Tristen from behind. Whipping his head around in an attempt to catch a glimpse of whatever had grabbed him, he is only able to see a pair of long, white, antlers reaching up and away from some being's head before his vision once again goes dark.