[SE] puddle-jumpin'

Their staff prodded the mud and grass of the riverbank as Quanil walked along, listening to the melody the day was producing. It was overcast, gray and cloudy, which wasn't surprising after yesterday's rain.

Kedran had come to visit the VlamVloed and brought both Quanil and Freina their things. Final confirmation that home was home no longer. But it also meant they had their sweater - more patches than original yarn at this point - and their longer pants. Both of which they were wearing today, their red shirt showing through some of the holes in the undyed sweater.

They didn't have any sort of reason or excuse to be out here, except that they were a Loreseeker and they wanted to explore. Curiosity was Quanil's reason for doing most things; their entire reason for living, in many respects.

So, as the chilly wind sang along the river, Quanil watched and listened and wondered what the day would bring... and the day after, and the day after that.

MORGAN

Since Morgan had been on her visit to Torchline, she had found herself consumed with wonderlust. She'd never before been prone to a desire to travel or to disobey her orders, but when she was doing general chores or patrols throughout her normal Halo days, her mind had begun to drift back to the beaches, or wonder about what the Hollowed Grounds held, or the Greatwood...what could she find in these places, suddenly so available to her?

Eventually it had become unbearable, so she made herself a deal. Each month, she would spend one weekend out somewhere else. Call it a scouting mission. The portals had just opened up after all, and it would make sense that she wanted to go and see what any potential threats to the city might be doing around the world.

So she was in the Greatwood. Her first of her weekend visits and nowhere she'd been before. With it's tall trees and heady forest smell it felt again like an entirely different experience from Halo or Torchline; she had made note of where she started (tracking had long been one of her skills) then began to walk, not sure if she'd see anything but trees the whole time.

Eventually, she could hear water and walked towards it. A river might mean a town or at least some scrap of civilisation. Carefully Morgan edged closer then all of a sudden she saw a head - with a silent gasp she paused and squinted to see if this figure possessed wings: no. Disappointing, but at least she knew what she was dealing with when she came across human potential threats, so she could approach.

With little ceremony, she came to Quanil's side and asked: "Hello. Do you know where I can find Fae?"

Well I guess it's only life, it's only natural

We all spend a little while going down the rabbit hole

They jumped a little, and felt sheepish for it. "Oh, hello! I am Quanil of the Loreseekers' Guild." They gave what they hoped was a polite bow; they'd never really been taught anything other than "bend over at the waist a bit." They didn't know who this person was, but they seemed to carry themselves very... capably. It was better to err on the side of politeness anyway. They straightened up to answer the person's question.

"Uh... I both do and don't?" They offered a sheepishly apologetic (or perhaps apologetically sheepish?) grin. "They should be in their village, but I'm not sure where it is. First time in the Greatwood, and, honestly? I don't think they fancy guests. If you're going to seek out their village, be careful."

---

((If you'd like, go ahead and do a quick reply post to this and then I'll... summon puddles, or you can in your reply post. Either way. It just seemed a bit odd to tack on "OH AND LOOK AT THESE PUDDLES!" at the end.))

MORGAN

Quanil..of the Loreseeker's Guild. Morgan raised an eyebrow; few people identified so strongly with their guilds that they felt the need to tack them onto their names. She'd have to learn more about this organisation at some date; something about it sounded familiar. While the name initially sounded harmless enough, depending on what lore they sought, it could be a group of spies.

"They do not like outsiders? Understandable." Morgan nodded, respecting that. "I would still like to see the village for myself. I've heard it's quite remarkable." Her eyes, which had lifted up to look through the trees, came back down to Quanil, then drifted to a pool of water on the floor that somehow seemed distinct from the river.

"Still, there is much here to inspect. What...is that?" She asked, pointing to the puddle.

Well I guess it's only life, it's only natural

We all spend a little while going down the rabbit hole

"I'd like to see it as well," they agreed. "But I'm not sure we could do more than see it. They may not let us in. But I guess you never know until you try!" Never let it be said that Quanil turned down an adventure, after all.

"Oh, a puddle!" They headed towards it. "Lots of rain yesterday, maybe earlier this morning, too." They bent over, expecting to see their usual raggedy hair - maybe more raggedy than usual, actually; when was the last time they had a haircut? - and boring face.

And they did see themselves, but they were... older. Hair long, white, gathered back at the nape of the neck. Their brown eyes full of wisdom and knowledge, both gained from experience as much as from reading books. A strong - possibly magical?! - staff at their side. Sturdy, attractive clothes that had obviously seen much use but were still in good shape - and none of them brown.

Quanil saw themselves the way they'd always dreamed of being: an elder who had survived the world through learning of it, had seen much of it, and loved it still. They saw this long-held wish of theirs and their heart swelled as they stepped back. Oh please, please let that be true some day. Their eyes were wide and tear-bright with the desperate hope and the... the sheer joy of even seeing it somewhere other than in their mind.

MORGAN

Quanil walked over and confirmed it was just a puddle caused by rain, making Morgan feel quite silly for even bringing it up in the first place; she had just been so desperate to make some kind of new discovery on this trip. At first she didn't pay attention as Quanil walked over to look into it, but the long silence and time they spent bent over the water made her look back and finally walk over herself. "What is it..?"

As she reached the puddle herself, she looked into the water to see not murky brown forest floor or a sloppy reflection of herself, but...a much different image. Herself, barely, grey hair no longer orange pulled back into her collar and her face looking out from behind a scarf, eyes mellow and hard...and a scar running up her skin, chin to forehead.

"Do you see that...?" She asked Quanil, wondering if this was some kind of spirit's omen or perhaps a trick.

Well I guess it's only life, it's only natural

We all spend a little while going down the rabbit hole

"I... uh..." They swallowed down the lump in their throat. "I mean... I didn't see what you saw, but I didn't see what I should have seen, either. That is..." They took a breath and tried again.

"I think we found a Wonder Puddle. They can happen this time of year, in the Greatwood. They don't show reflections, they show... wishes or fortunes or other visions." They glanced back at the puddle. "I hope mine comes true." They barked a laugh. "My parents would probably say I wouldn't live that long in the first place."

They looked up. "I hope yours was good, uh... Miss...?" Quanil assumed they would be corrected if "miss" was wrong, but more than that, they hoped they'd get a name.

MORGAN

As Quanil explained that what lay before them was a wonder puddle, something that wouldn't sound out of place in the average children's book, Morgan felt like she was being joked with..but she couldn't deny what she'd seen in the reflection, what she still saw when she caught her own older eyes in the puddle.

"Morgan. It was satisfactory. Still alive in older age, which is more than my father." She'd always assumed she'd be dead in her 40s at the latest, so if what the puddle showed was true, it meant she had weathered the storms to come for the time being, at least. "Yours was good, then? If you believe your parents would doubt it. ...Oh, and your name?"

Well I guess it's only life, it's only natural

We all spend a little while going down the rabbit hole

Miss Morgan, then, Quanil noted with a nod to the so-named.

"Uh, Quanil, Miss Morgan. And I'm sorry to hear about your father. Mine also showed me alive and well when I'm older, and... well, I am a Loreseeker. My parents think I've doomed myself to an early death by joining the guild." They shrugged. "Also, I wasn't wearing anything brown."

They looked down at themselves, their slightly-torn-at-the-bottom red shirt the only non-brown item of clothing they possessed. "Someday," they promised themselves. They looked back up to Miss Morgan and smiled.

MORGAN

Quanil seemed more surprised than Morgan that they had seen themselves alive, but she found the explanation to be unsatisfactory. "A Loreseeker?" She repeated, feeling like she had heard the word somewhere before but unable to place it; it did not inherently sound like a dangerous line of work, but perhaps she just didn't know what it entailed. "What is involved?"

As for only wearing brown...she looked Quanil over, wondering if she ought to feel conscious about her own dark brown and black outfit, the cape over her armoured shoulders always being chosen for practicality rather than fashion. "Can you not simply buy yourself new clothes at this moment?"

Well I guess it's only life, it's only natural

We all spend a little while going down the rabbit hole

"Oh, Loreseekers... uh, seek lore, wait, that's not enough of an explanation. We," they had to pause to soak in the fact that they got to include themselves in this illustrious guild, "explore the world, try to collect information. It started as a way to help Outlanders, so they could easily find out what they don't know about Caido, but it's good for Naturals, too, especially Grounders like me. There's so much we were cut off from for so long, and so much we don't know about the world. And, y'know, some of the stuff we don't know about the world - even a lot of what we do know - has fangs or claws or venom or... whatever."

Quanil looked down at themselves and sighed. "Not yet. I don't really have anything to trade for them at the moment. I haven't figured out a profession yet, so... unless someone needs some texts copied or... or more cleaning done, I guess. Well, anyway, this is all I've got. It works fine, I mean. I just... get tired of always brown all the time." They blinked, looked at what their companion was wearing and added quickly, "But it's a very nice color and it looks lovely on you, really, Miss Morgan." SMILE.

MORGAN

Morgan agreed that 'we seek lore' was not a very good explanation, as she'd already gathered that much; luckily Quanil went on. The goal of this guild as explained by this member seemed to be quite vague, more of an excuse to adventure and seek out whatever was wished rather than any specific task, but Morgan had known of such organisations for a long time and didn't think it to be that strange. "And have you been anywhere dangerous as a result of being a 'loreseeker'?"

That Quanil was a natural who had supposedly lived here for their whole life and did not yet have a trade made Morgan raise an eyebrow. "Your parents have not trained you in any kind of profession? You do not have any savings?" Clothes in the markets were hardly expensive unless you were looking for fine leather boots or soft cloaks; Quanil really had to be penniless.

She was not vain about her own clothes and she just laughed at Quanils quick save, shaking her head. "I am dressed for warmth in the Halo mountains, not for appeal to anyone else."

Well I guess it's only life, it's only natural

We all spend a little while going down the rabbit hole

"Oh, a couple places. I mean, I'm still pretty new to the guild. Most dangerous place was the Labyrinth, though that wasn't really a Loreseeker thing, I had to find my sister and it turned out she was in there. Right now, I'm mostly copying texts, trying to earn my room and board at the VlamVloed, looking after my sister while she gets her feet under her now that she's Aba-... er, now that she has magic. But it can be dangerous! Our guild master - maybe you've heard of him, Mr. Jigano Silversmith? - he's done lots of dangerous things." Their chest was swelled with pride the whole time they spoke, even though their personal accomplishments were few and unimpressive. Just to be in the same guild as Jigano Silversmith... well, they thought it was great, anyway.

The mention of their parents deflated them a little. "My parents run a farm. I... learned farming, I guess. But, they don't really... I'm not..." They cleared their throat. "Freina and I are on our own now. And I never really had all that much, as far as material possessions go. Freina and our younger brother, Kedran, got most of the stuff. So, mostly I do what I can to help out; I guess the most impressive skill I have right now is reading and writing." They brightened as they added, "But I've started learning how to use a staff!" They held it out proudly, back to puffing out their chest and trying to look Impressive.

Ohhhh but then Miss Morgan had to go and say where she was from. "Wa-wait! You're from Halo?!" They began trying to scan her clothes, looking over the details. "I was told to avoid going to Halo until I had warmer clothes for it." They were trying to make mental notes along the lines of "CLOTHES LIKE MISS MORGAN'S" except more specific.

MORGAN

"Your sister has become Abandoned?" Morgan asked, having immediately picked up on Quanil's slip. "Did she somehow upset the Gods? It is odd for an Accepted to be made Abandoned after birth." She had been cast aside by the deities from her first moments in Caido, the way it usually was: she supposed it must be harder when you had tasted their love to have it ripped away.

She had not heard of this Jigano Silversmith and shook her head. "I have not spent long outside of Halo. This man is not well-known there." Morgan liked to keep informed on what was happening in the Citadel, who was popular and why, who was selling what: if he'd had made a stir there, she'd likely know about it.

That Quanil had apparently not taken on farmwork made Morgan frown a little, but she didn't comment on it, looking at the staff thrust upon her with some force. "You can fight with it? A staff is a difficult weapon." Without a blade or heavy centre of gravity to swing, it required a dexterity and finesse that few could gather.

"Yes, I am Captain of the Guard in the Citadel." She confirmed. "...You likely should gather some warmer clothing, yes. You will freeze in the mountains, especially in Deepfrost, as you are."

Well I guess it's only life, it's only natural

We all spend a little while going down the rabbit hole