Chapter Text
You’re trudging down an old path in the woods, the way barely visible beneath all the overgrown roots and fallen leaves. There’s a newer, more open path that you could have taken, but you need some time away from the world right now. A secluded forest is the perfect place to be alone with your thoughts. The perfect place to forget what just happened, forget the town you just visited, forget how everything was perfectly motionless.
A curse is spreading throughout Vaugarde, Crafted by someone known only as the King. People are saying that unless the Change God’s chosen Housemaiden defeats the King, the whole country could be frozen forever. Including yourself, if you remain here. It might be wise to leave… But people here have been friendlier and more welcoming to you than anywhere else. Then again, if the Housemaiden fails…
No. The Housemaiden will win. The Housemaiden will defeat the King. The Housemaiden will save Vaugarde. You shouldn’t consider the alternatives, or else they might come true instead. So, as a gust of wind rustles the leaves all around, you change the subject of your thoughts.
You’ve been traveling from place to place for as long as you can remember. You’ve seen so many places, talked to so many people, but you always feel alone after. Vaugarde is so welcoming that it almost feels like a home, but you haven’t made a connection with anyone so far. Is that your fault? Have you done something wrong, not made the effort to get close to anyone?
You keep walking forward, leaves and branches crunching under your feet, until you stop in place, stunned by the sight of what’s easily the largest tree here. Its branches extend above you, leaves blanketing the sky, little dots of light trickling through… Standing beneath it, something about it feels familiar.
You’ve heard that the biggest tree in a certain place is known by the locals as a Favor Tree. Followers of the Change belief would ask a tree like this for favors. As you ponder the tree before you, you pick up a leaf from the ground. Most Favor Trees are found in towns or cities, where the locals can ask things of them. But isn’t a forest like this a kind of town, just with different inhabitants? Most of them probably don’t know how to make a wish, so this tree must have been waiting a long time to hear one.
You turn the leaf over in your fingers, pondering what to ask the tree. Your first thought is to wish for the salvation of Vaugarde, but most people have probably wished for that already. Yours would be redundant. But you'd feel bad wishing for something big and taking away from everyone's wish to save Vaugarde. Something small, then. Something simple. Something nice.
You’ve been alone for so long. A foreign traveler, with no connections anywhere you go. You’d like to have someone important to you. Someone special. Someone you can call “home.” You don’t want to be alone anymore! A wish in mind, you look at the leaf you've chosen, and wish. You breathe your wish into the leaf, repeat it three times, and fold the leaf closed, keeping your wish safe. Gently, you let the leaf go, and continue on.
As you continue down the path, you see the end of the forest up ahead. Distantly, you hear a commotion. Like someone fighting, maybe? You pick up the pace, stepping around gnarled roots and fallen branches as you hurry towards the source of the sound. When you exit the woods, you see a group of three people battling a large Sadness. These people… you’ve heard of them, haven’t you? That Housemaiden, with the rapier… that’s the Housemaiden, isn’t it? Then she and her companions—the older woman with the book and glasses, and the towering mountain of a man with the lightless gloves—they must be the saviors!
The Sadness towers above their group, easily two heads taller than even the muscular one. Tears stream down its face as it attempts to embrace the empty air around it, before it lashes out at the saviors. Two fingers extended, it strikes at the older one, piercing her in the side. She tries to put on a brave face, but as she winces in pain, the Housemaiden goes to her side and uses a healing Craft on her while the muscular one takes the next blow, shrugging it off like it’s nothing.
They’re well-coordinated, but they’re on the defensive. The Sadness has the advantage, and soon enough it’ll wear them down. The Saviors of Vaugarde, thwarted by a chance encounter… You make a split-second decision. You rush forward, unsheathing your dagger. You charge and strike, slicing into its amorphous torso. You’re not sure where its torso ends and its arms begin, the two blending together in its conical shape, but as you strike without abandon, you’re sure you’ve hit both several times.
The Sadness turns towards you, giving the Saviors time to recover. No matter how this fight ends, at least you’ll have rescued them. It strikes your side, leaving a stinging wound to match the growing ache that’s begun rising in your chest. You continue to exchange blows, neither caring to defend yourselves. You push through the pain that subsumes your body, inside and out, and you see the Sadness start to falter. You smirk, swinging your dagger for a decisive blow…
…But the Sadness strikes first, knocking you to the ground. It towers over you, preparing another strike. You’re at the end of your rope. But just as the cord tying you to your frail body is about to be severed, the older one interrupts it with a slowing Craft. The Housemaiden rushes to your side, opening a tonic and holding it to your mouth. It tastes sour, but as it courses through your body, you feel your wounds close up. The muscular one delivers a powerful blow to the Sadness, and the older one is saying something to him, tone level despite the danger. Something about Craft types?
Regaining your strength, you slowly stand up, dagger ready. “Thanks for the tonic! I hope you don’t mind the way I cut in, but it looked like you could use help. This Sadness tried to stop your quest, so I’ll make it SOUR-y it ever lived.”
Amidst the giggles, guffaws, and groans of the Saviors, you grip your dagger and lunge at the Sadness for one final strike. You plunge your dagger deep into the enemy, ignoring the burning pain in your chest. It flares as the Sadness weeps… then vanishes as it stops moving, then slowly dissolves.
The Housemaiden is the first to speak, approaching you meekly as she sheathes her rapier.
“Th-thank you!! I-I… I don’t think we’ve met you before, but we’re…”
“On a journey to save Vaugarde?” you reply.
“Yes! Would you like to come with us? We could use all the help we can get. B-but I understand if you’re busy! Please don’t feel pressured!!”
You smile. “Sure, why not? I’ve never saved a country before, might as well take a stab at it.” You hear the muscular one laugh in the background.
“G-great! Thank you!! I’m Mirabelle, the fighter is Isabeau, and the researcher is Odile. What’s your name?”
Your name… “Siffrin. It’s nice to meet you all.”
Mirabelle beams. “It’s nice to meet you too, Siffrin! I hope we can all be friends!!”
Friends… you think you’d like that. You remember your wish to the Favor Tree, so distant now despite being made mere moments ago. Maybe it gave you the companionship you seeked, and gave Vaugarde’s saviors the ally they needed. If so, if that’s your role, then… You’ll try to live up to that. A lot of wishes are riding on you, after all.