The train station at mid-morning was full of raucous activity as passengers rushed to board the second departure toward the coastal venue. Four figures stood out in that chaos - two adults and two teenagers. Their contrasting clothing styles and deanors might have hinted they were complete strangers to each other, if not for their constant close proximity.
Nohre fidgeted with the strap of her bag while casting furtive glances at the distinguished couple beside them. On the other hand, her sandy haired ’friend’ practically vibrated with barely contained excitent. It made her hiss a warning under her breath.
"Rember, Mas-... Elua said to be at your best. Don’t-"
"I know, I know, but can you believe we’re traveling with actual high standing mbers of a Guild?"
Fusand had rolled his eyes as he cut her off. He knew what their *mission* was! One of the adults cleared her throat softly, silencing their ’whispered’ exchange. Zyris’s smile was warm... if a touch strained.
"I do hope we’re not imposing on you two with the offer. When your friend asked us to escort you to the venue..."
Her husband nodded along with a professional grin that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
"It’s really no trouble at all. We’re happy to look after Elua’s... friends."
According to Yatrel that’s what they were, but Ondua seed uncertain whether she saw them as anything more than employees that she could practice giving advice to. His estimation of his daughter’s raw, sweet, kindness had plumted as her teasing and mischief beca more blatant. Even the woman had to admit that it was how they ’played’ with each other.
The Talcres couple wisely kept their mouths shut at the ti. Though the request from the young heiress the night before hadn’t exactly cleared things up, either! She only referred to the pair as ’two of her wedding guests’...
When they boarded and settled into their private compartnt, Nohre couldn’t help but notice the fleeting look that passed between the Talcres. With her assignnt in mind, she imdiately felt like there was sothing there - concern? - that piqued her curiosity.
Fusand seed oblivious and launched into animated chatter with the adults.
"I’ve been working on my Projection Astralism, you know. Just the other day, I managed to create a multi-layered image of a butterfly that could actually flap its wings!"
"That’s wonderful. I rember when I was your age, just starting to explore my own abilities."
Zyris interjected genuinely, though a shadow passed over her face that was there and gone in an instant. yran’s hand found hers without even thinking. The pair watching them noticed it all!
The train lurched into motion, carrying them toward the wedding. The teenage girl steeled herself for the probing conversation to co. Her partner in cri took the whole affair in stride... as if he hadn’t been tasked with ferreting out information.
"I’ve actually been focusing on my essence lately."
Zyris’s smile tightened almost imperceptibly at Fusand’s sudden admission.
"Oh? That’s... wonderful. Essence cultivation can be quite challenging."
Nohre felt a strange tugging sensation in her chest. It was as if her newly awakened Aspect was trying to tell her sothing about the woman. She opened her mouth to try and comnt, but thought better of it.
’Maybe I should just leave it to him...?’
"What about you, Nohre? What aspects of cultivation have you been exploring?"
yran asked with a neutral voice. The girl hesitated - acutely aware of Elua’s warnings and her own desire to stay ’unspecial’.
"Well, I’ve been working on my spirit recently... and I have an Elent that I practice with."
She demonstrated after uncorking her waterskin. Pulling a small orb of water above her palm, she separated it out into three drops and floated them back into her container. The Talcres wife leaned in to observe and Nohre felt that odd *pull* intensify.
It was almost as if it wanted her energy to reach out and... do sothing to Zyris. But what? She looked down while contemplating and everyone grew silent. The steady clatter of the train’s wheels filled the compartnt. The Talcres husband gazed out the window as the landscape blurred past.
"It’s been years since I’ve traveled this route. Not since..."
He trailed off his spoken musing, letting the sense of unspoken loss hang in the air. This ti it was Zyris who placed a comforting hand on his arm. She spoke to the pair of orphans solemnly.
"Before the last Descent. When we were wed. A lot of people choose to bind together then, in case it is their last chance."
Nohre and Fusand exchanged glances. A shared understanding passing between them. It was an appropriate ti to bring up the matter the young heiress had asked them to. Nohre shifted uncomfortably.
’Master Elua tasked us with uncovering the Talcres’ secrets, but is it really so easy to proceed without arousing suspicion?’
"My parent’s village... it lost a lot of workers."
Nohre began to speak and Fusand nodded, picking up the slack just as she clamd up.
"The fields there never recovered. Other people with small wounds continued to decline. Livestock sickened and died. Crops withered with no one to manage them."
A flash of pain crossed the woman as the tugging sense pulled at the girl with braided hair. She spoke softly and articulately despite her feelings.
"Void essence corruption. It lingers in those injured long after the battles end. They even prick the beasts we rely on so that they die slowly and waste our resources."
yran’s jaw tightened as well.
"People carry the scars of the Descent, often in ways we can’t see."
Nohre resisted the urge to reach out, to try and... what? Even though it was her improved spirit informing her of the... the *need*, it didn’t feel spiritual. nd? The concept of using it was still beyond her grasp.
"Is that... is that what happened to your children?"
Fusand asked the man directly as his scholarly curiosity easily overrode his tact. Zyris’s breath hitched and her fingers curled into her palm. A heavy silence fell that mortified the one sitting beside the boy.
"Fusand!"
She hissed his na, but the Talcres man raised a hand to prevent her from berating him.
"It’s alright. No. My... my first family. The Descent took them all more directly. Voidlings..."
He paused, clearly gathering himself before skipping over actual details.
"But it’s the aftermath like you described that often proves just as cruel. Families torn apart by grief of their losses - and by the struggle to rebuild."
"My own children... they’re far away now. Safe, but..."
Zyris’s voice was barely above a whisper, but she chid in so that he wasn’t hurting in front of them alone. The pain in her voice stirred sothing in Nohre. She reached out without thinking, her hand hovering over the woman’s. A sense of wrongness intensified as she carefully made contact.
’I must ask Master what this ans as soon as possible.’
"I’m sorry."
The teenage girl said simply - aning it for more than just the intrusive line of questions. The woman t her green eyes and saw a recognition of shared pain. The girl’s features grew more determined.
"E-Elua told you... because I... it’s reprehensible for your family to leave you alone. Even when things are hard. I... I understand."
Her Master had suggested that she reveal her past of being left at the orphanage by a living relative, but made sure she understood that it was up to her. The sandy haired teenager watching and hearing it play out suspected that the crafty cultivator knew all along that it would happen like this! yran cleared his throat and it broke the uncomfortable spell that had been cast on all in the cabin.
"But here we all are, still moving forward. And you two... you’re also proof that there’s hope and progress that can co out of even the darkest tis."
He gestured to the pair of orphans certain there was more to their story. There always was more to people than there seed to be. His smile this ti managed to soften his eyes.
"But we seem to be getting a little dour. We’re on our way to your friend’s wedding."
"Yes. Let’s leave the past aside and witness the birth of a future."
With the change of mood asked for in such a way by the kind couple, the children couldn’t bring themselves to try and shake out secrets any more. Fusand was now eager to steer the conversation to more positive topics, so he leaned forward with curiosity.
"Speaking of the wedding, have you attended many other than your own? What can we expect as guests?"
The Talcres exchanged a fond glance, his question softened their prior lancholy further into nostalgia.
"Oh, cultivator weddings can be quite the spectacle. Especially for prominent families like the Goltbreds and Yecines."
"It’s a way of showcasing the couple’s strength and compatibility. The traditions after the vows have been taken are also quite fun."
The train rounded a bend causing sunlight to stream through the window. and casting a warm glow over the compartnt. Braided hair flitted to the side, montarily distracted from the earlier discomfort while watching the landscape shift from rolling hills to the first hints of the distant coastal mountains.
The thought of her Master’s wedding brought a mix of emotions – happiness, curiosity, and a twinge of sothing else she didn’t quite want to na. But she would admit that it had sothing to do with the girl being younger than her!
’Soday, maybe he will...’
She wanted to tune out the boy asking the adults more details about cultivator wedding traditions, but wanting to ignore him just made his familiar voice strike deeper. She shook her head and sighed.
Nohre eventually found her thoughts drifting to Elua’s instructions - to observe and learn what they could. At least, that’s what she said - but the girl was starting to feel there more to this assignnt than simply gathering information. The young cultivator couldn’t shake the feeling that her Master had set this eting in motion for reasons beyond her own interest.
Fusand bouncing in his seat animatedly talking had easily beaten her to that conclusion.
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