A/N: Sorry about the long wait. As I said, I was busy and this chapter also fought me a lot. Tbh I'm not completely happy with it, but I figured it probably best to start posting.
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It didn't take you long to decide on a course of action. As much as you wanted to see a sorcerous breakthrough, it was probably better left for another time. Maybe when a spirit wasn't threatening us? You didn't have too long till dawn, so you needed to finish this fast.
Naturally, you decided to go to Rhea. She was the one person you knew who could actually tell you anything about the forest clan. While she was supposed to be sleeping, you know her well enough to know that she'd already be up.
The real challenge it seemed was actually finding Rhea. By the time we found someone who knew where Rhea was, half an hour had already passed. Then walking actually getting to her took even more time. By the time you finally reached the room she was supposed to be sleeping in, Elise had begun yawning behind you.
Did she get any sleep last night? You wondered.
The room itself was not very different from the clinic you woke up in, only smaller and with one bed. Now that you were somewhat familiar with the hallway, you could tell these rooms were very different. They were actually pretty similar to our own houses, meaning that it was the forest clan who added them later.
Rhea was already up and about, standing faced away from you. Her hound Henry was curled up on the floor as she performed some morning stretches to wake herself up. Her birds were missing - most likely either patrolling or sleeping. You glanced out of the half-open window to see the tell-tale lightening of the sky that signified the sun was coming up. An hour? Half an hour? Dawn was coming.
"Hey, Rhea." You say as you enter and wave. "Sleep well?"
"Tara, come in!" Rhea replies, not turning to face you. "Sit. I'll be a minute." You glance at Elise as Rhea speeds up her motions.
"I'm here with Elise," You inform her quickly, in case she thinks it's just you. "You know the girl I told you about?"
Rhea nearly stumbles at that and turns towards you two, giving the two of you a wry smile. "Right, right. I've heard you from Tara." She says as she quickly walks towards you two and extends a hand. "It's nice to meet you, Elise. I hope our Tara wasn't too much of a bother."
"It's nice to meet you too, Rhea." Elise said, taking her hand. "Did she tell you about barging into my caravan right after the pale-man showed up?"
You blink at Elise. Was this going to be a thing? "Not in those words, no." Rhea answered, grinning. "But I read between the lines." You felt your face heating up at that.
"A-anyway," You say, quickly moving the conversation along. "You were tired earlier, are you feeling better after some sleep?" The last conversation you had with her comes to your mind.
"Yeah," Rhea smiled sadly. "It's not a full night's sleep, but I'm functional." She glances at the two of you together. "So, did you just miss me or do you need me for something?"
"A bit of both?" You replied, shrugging at knowing gaze. "I was exploring and I ran into Elise."
Rhea nodded. "Do you mind if I work while we talk?" She asks, as she begins to start checking her arrows. You shake your head and Elise takes the moment to take a more comfortable seat on the bed.
"So after I found Elise," You continue, leaning against the wall. "We found this ritual in the hall that we were curious about."
"Ritual?" Rhea asks, curiously.
"A set of actions and/or magic used to communicate with spirits," Elise added. "Requires manipulating four elements and a communication spell? Quite elegant, if it works as intended."
Rhea stops what she was doing and looks up at the two of you frowning. "Just to be clear, you are talking about the five flowers, and a circular room at the center?"
You nod. "You know about it?"
Rhea sighs and closes her eyes. "We call it the communion ceremony. Did someone happen to show it to you or…?"
"We found it." You confirm, a little perturbed. "Is everything alright?"
"You guys didn't happen to perform the ritual by any chance, did you?" She asks, glancing at you and then at Elise. "Especially you, no offence." The two of them looked at each other for a moment.
"We couldn't," Elise finally admitted. "Tara didn't meet the skill requirement, and I couldn't. It only recognizes your clan members. I
could though." She looked away. "If I had time to break into the next circle of my power."
Rhea sighs and nearly collapses next to Elise. "I didn't actually realize that second requirement was a thing." Rhea replied, her eyes closed. "Elise was the one who figured that out? When you actually try to use it?"
You nodded guiltily. Elise looked away. "Yeah." You reply, a second after the nod. "What… what did I do wrong?"
Rhea opened her eyes and glares at you. "The forest clan shamans have spent generations studying the Guardian and how it reacts." Rhea replied, a hint of anger leaking into her voice. "We had three shamans skilled enough to manipulate it. I saw one of them
drown while using the ritual. It's really dangerous Tara; that could have happened to
you."
A chill ran down your spine at that thought. You remember the pale-man and the darkness spirit born from him. "I am aware of the dangers," Elise cut in before you could say anything. "My clan has studied some of the most dangerous spirits in the world."
"I can't really comment on that," Rhea replied, her tone making her opinion known. "But it's for the best if you didn't. The forest clan
really wouldn't appreciate you doing that and especially since you are a sorcerer."
Elise frowned and opened her mouth to reply. You cut her off. "Right, no messing with the big spirit then." You say quickly. "I'm sorry we went in there, Rhea."
Rhea sighed again and looked at you. "It's not really trespassing or anything." She says, finally. "It's just that the people who
can influence it usually know better."
You look down. "Right." You say, "Sorry." For a moment there is no reply.
"I'm not really mad," Rhea finally answers. "Honestly, it wouldn't be hard to get someone to teach you. If you want. It's just dangerous to go after unprepared."
"Right," You say, and glance at Elise. She meets your eyes and you gesture at Rhea. She looks away. You look at her expectantly.
She sighs. "I probably shouldn't have been so insistent in looking at it." Elise replies, looking Rhea in the eyes. "I should have known better."
"It's alright," Rhea replies, trying to smile. "You've had a rough night too I suppose. Let's just keep this between ourselves, then?"
Elise inclined her head in agreement. You quickly nod along. "Was the ritual how you intended to deal with the Guardian?" She asks instead. "Since it's so dangerous, I'm just curious."
"It's being considered," Rhea replied carefully. You look at Elise curiously. "But the current available shamans are too inexperienced. We'd be open to other methods."
Elise glances at you. "John had an item which was designed to capture new-born spirits. Can you tell me whether it was used?"
"The ritualized dagger?" You ask, thinking back to the fight. "It was fast but I do remember something happening, but whatever happened didn't work well enough."
Rhea frowns as she recalls her own version of events. "Yeah, I think I remember that too." She says and glances towards Elise. "Do you think the capture would have worked if John wasn't unconscious?"
Elise shakes her head. "No, the dagger simply wasn't designed for spirits of the third circle," She explains, leaning against the wall. "But I do have an artifact capable of it. It's designed to trap a newborn spirit but it will work with a full spirit if we can drain it of all of its mana."
Rhea nodded. "I think I have an idea that can work with that." She replies, thinking. Then she looks at Elise suspiciously. "What exactly do you want in return?"
"Well, I would be risking both myself and a valuable artifact." Elise replied, smiling lightly. You glanced at her. You think John made her sit out the first fight with the pale-man didn't he? "But no. I don't think I would need anything else. I suppose it would be alright if I keep the captured spirit?"
Rhea shrugged. "I don't care what you do with it, as long as you take it far away from our village." She turned to you. "I'll need your help with my plan. You in?"
You glance at Elise and then you glance at Rhea. You nod. "Of course."
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Author's Note: I'll go more into detail on the plan in the next update, but it consists of three parts - Leading the spirit into prepared ground, using said prepared ground to drain it of mana and capturing the spirit after that happens. The different parts of the plan each involve one of the characters in the chapter above. Rhea will be involved with part 1, Tara will be involved with part 2, and Elise with part 3. There really isn't too much in-character choice involved here without the battle taking more than one update and I feel like this arc has been dragging on a bit, so I decided to do something different.
Pick a character through whom you will see the battle:
[] Rhea
- A look inside Rhea's mind and hunter magic. She'll have a high focus on the keeping away from the spirit while ensuring it follows her, and then she'll basically just be watching the battle from a slight distance away. She'll be informed by her understanding of the forest and the two clans involved.
[] Tara
- Her part will involve a high focus on her working with other shamans to create a trap that the spirit can't escape and give you a chance to see shamans in action. She will have limited understanding of the first part of the plan, but the second will involve her and have a high focus. In the third part she'll mostly be an observer, but will have a greater degree of awareness since it will take place on her territory.
[] Elise
- A look inside Elise's mind. She'll be an observer for the first two parts and as with Tara, her observation of the chase will be more limited. However, it will be informed by Elise's own knowledge. She'll have the third part of the plan - which involves sealing the spirit. Might be interesting.
As usual, questions are always welcome. I'll be going to sleep right after this, so I'll answer them in the morning.
