Work Text:
Hiking up yet another shadow-cursed vine to a section of the land torn asunder, Rhian once again cursed the lack of sunlight and color and warmth. As an elf, she had a long memory, but it was starting to feel like even the memory of days spent in the sunlight were fading away the longer they were here.
Luckily, they’d happened across a Flaming Fist back in Last Light, and he had held a key to lifting this godsforsaken curse- the spirit of the land, trapped in the Shadowfell, finally brought back thanks to them. Or rather, half of him…
Rhian was trying not to rush them through finding answers, but the oppressive darkness was starting to weigh on her, and she was growing more snappish and irritable with each passing day. It almost felt like the curse was soaking into her skin, her bones, her heart, corrupting her the same as it had the lands.
She shook herself, rattling the contents of the pack on her back. Karlach stepped up next to her, laying a hand on her shoulder. She reached up, covering the tiefling’s hand with her own. There were, well, she wouldn’t say it was a small mercy by any means- finding Dammon again at Last Light, and discovering he’d had time to work on another solution for Karlach. It still wasn’t good news by any means, but the fact that Karlach was able to touch people again, to get close without burning and scorching…
Hope and love flared in Rhian’s chest, chasing away the shadows once more. She would take the wins as they came, and hope more would be soon to follow. “I’m alright,” she promised her, giving her fingers a quick squeeze before Karlach dropped her hand back down.
“There’s something up here, for sure,” Karlach noted, nodding up to the dilapidated structure coming into view now that they were closer and could see through the gloom.
Rhian’s gait slowed, taking stock of the area. Up the sloped dirt path, a dilapidated farmhouse sat looking out over the ruined lands. She heard Lae’zel curse behind her at the githyanki corpse lying on the road ahead. Rhian stooped to check the body; his flesh was cold to the touch, which admittedly didn’t tell her much given how cold she’d been since they’d gotten here.
She stepped past him, coming around the little fence to investigate an old cart in the yard. Aside from the house, an enormous tree, gnarled and twisted, and a couple of old remnants of a farm, there wasn’t much to see.
Her companions had spread out- Lae’zel headed towards the farmhouse, with Wyll and Karlach exploring around the side across the yard. Rhian followed Lae’zel after checking for anything useful in the couple of rotted barrels in the back of the cart, finding nothing that wasn’t spoiled.
The house was practically torn apart, with entire sections of the walls and roof missing or caved in. Lae’zel was knelt next to another dead githyanki inside, her expression betraying nothing. She wasn’t one to waste words on condolences, nor did Rhian think githyanki custom would warrant her offering any, so Rhian left her and took a look around.
There wasn’t much left after near a century, most of the furniture holding little to no integrity, and the few items scattered about didn’t look to be anything useful.
Rhian’s eye caught on a shelf in the back of the room, and sitting tucked away on the bottom shelf was a plush toy.
Carefully picking her way over, avoiding the broken and decaying floorboards, she stooped to grab it off the shelf. Brushing off the layer of dirt and dust, she contemplated her prize. It was a little owlbear. He was threadbare and one of his button eyes needed to be sewn back on, but was otherwise in surprisingly good shape, all things considered.
Turning back from the shelf, she caught Lae’zel giving her a look. “What?” Rhian asked, when the githyanki lifted an eyebrow, crossing her arms.
“I know you have a tendency to collect… various things,” Lae’zel seemed to be trying to find a tactful way to phrase her question, “but what is the purpose of taking a child’s toy?”
Rhian chuckled at that, for there were far worse ways to describe the tadpole jars in the bottom of her bag.
Rhian shrugged, holding the plush out towards her unamused friend, moving his arms in a hugging motion towards her. Beyond Lae’zel, Karlach and Wyll had made their way back around the building and were rejoining them. “He’s cute, don’t you think?”
Lae’zel frowned, unmoved by her nonsense, but she got a small snort out of Karlach, the tiefling always in her corner when it came down to it.
“Okay, fine,” Rhian slung her bag down off her shoulder, shoving the owlbear into the top of it and cinching it back up, mumbling out an admission, “I thought Shadowheart would like it.”
Straightening and fixing her pack, she caught Karlach jostling Wyll, the pair sharing an amused grin. Lae’zel had no further commentary, so Rhian brushed past, ignoring the lot of them with the intent to lead them back out into the cursed wilderness.
Until, that was, her right eye flashed, suddenly illuminating a small boy running past outside, and she paused. Halsin had said to be on the lookout for any sign of Thaniel’s other half…