"Dawnwatcher" - Sisters Reunited

A crisp and welcome wind skated down across the empty street and greeted the lone traveler making her way up the mountain.  The steep climb up Mon Shara to the tiny village of Havenbrook under the stiff afternoon sun had left her feeling dusty and warm well out of season.  The chill air from high on the mountainside made her feel a welcome guest.  She worried her reception from the more human occupants might not be quite so refreshing.

Glancing up at the tall and weathered archway marking the first steps into town, the traveler half hoped it might all be as abandoned as it looked; empty streets, shuttered windows, not a whiff of chimney smoke to be seen.  But the small handful of dilapidated homes all bore fresh evidence of repair, and the road leading onward up the mountain toward the few scattered homesteads nestled higher on its flank showed the familiar ruts of recent use.

Resting a hand on the pommel of her sword to keep it from slapping the side of her leg, the traveler swallowed the dry air at the back of her throat and stepped into the peaceful village square.

"Ruth?" Kestrid's voice called from somewhere in the basement.

"What?" the young girl minding the store called back, privately cursing at the uneven leg in the stool she was standing on.  It rocked dangerously back and forth as she stretched for the latch on the shutters on the high, round window to let out the foul odor echoing up from the basement below where Kes was no doubt whipping up something that could probably kill them all.

"Could you bring me that bottle of lola root and some thallus paste?" Kes called again, her words somewhat obscured by the rising sound of something popping.  "...Quickly, please," she added with some urgency.

Ruth swore somewhat less privately, rolling her eyes and giving up on the quest to get the shutters open.  "Coming!" she shouted back, mocking Kes' ever-pleasant tone with clear indignation.  Carefully, she dismounted the stool and swiped the thallus paste from behind the shop counter, tucking it under one arm before looking about the store for the lola root.

The bright orange bulbs smiled back at her from their home in a small glass jar sitting high atop a shelf above the door.  With a string of utterances not fit for any ears but her own, Ruth set the thallus paste firmly on the counter, snatched up the stool with the uneven leg and propped it in front of the door, grumbling all the while.

"'I was the top-ranked rune-caster before the golden city was destroyed,'" she said to herself, striking a pose with her fingers pointed at her chest, mocking Kes' typical pomp and poise.  "'I weave the very fabric of reality like strands of thread," she continued as she climbed up the stool again and began reaching for the lola root.  "'Yet I simply cannot be bothered to pen a single spell that fetches my materials down from high shelves, or fixes my poor assistant's wobbly-legged stool, or the busted chimney vent..."

Ruth's fingertips could only vainly paw at the lip of the jar, causing it to teeter and spin until it sat even further back on the shelf.  Hearing another call from downstairs, the girl stepped onto the seat of the stool, bracing against the rickety shelf with one hand while reaching for the lola root with the other.  "'Oh no,'" she added to the pantomime, feigning a look of distaste that wasn't far removed from her current mood, "'such pursuits are beneath a master arcanist.'"

Outside, the traveler continued her search of the many houses, walking up to each in hopes the name across the doorway might be the one she was looking for.  To her dismay, none of the names seemed familiar.  Worse still, many of them had been entirely scratched out or removed, leaving her to wonder if any of them were still accurate at all.

She was nearly to the point of starting up the hill toward the scattered, outlying homesteads when she caught whiff of a familiar scent.  A thin trail of smoke was ushering up from a small vent beside the last house in the row.  A faded apothecary's sign still hung on a rusted hook out front.  The smell was one she knew by heart:  the tickle of copper tinged with a fragrant oil compound and a note of old scrivener's ink.  The scent of her uncle's workshop.  She had found Kestrid at last.

The jar of lola root rocked again, but this time spun full circle until its lip was finally close enough for Ruth to grasp with the tips of her longest fingers.  "Gotcha!" she said, smiling in triumph and dragging the jar toward her as the popping sound continued with renewed fervor from the basement door behind her.

"Ruth, I don't mean to rush you..." Kes' voice had gained the slightest hints of concern, "but if I could trouble you for that thallus paste--"  Another rapid series of pops drowned out the remainder of her request as the lola root jar neared the edge of the shelf.  Ruth brought her other hand over to cup the bottom of it for stability as she finally drew it free and kicked one leg back to begin her descent.

It was then that she heard the squeak of the door hinge below her.

"Kestrid?" the traveler called, peering into the dark shop as her eyes adjusted from the sunlit street.  The smell of ink was all but overbearing inside, and the sound of popping told her Kes was still hard at work.  "Kes?" she called louder, swinging the door wide and stepping into the room.

The door caught something unexpectedly in its arc, knocking it aside with some force, so eager had the traveler been to be reunited with her sister.  The woman turned in time to see something falling as if from a high shelf.  At once, her arms went out to catch it and ferry it to the ground, surprised to find that it had all the warmth and give of a human form.

Ruth stared back at the stranger with equal surprise, catching mostly her outline shadowed against the bright sun from outside.  Strands of wavy yellow hair were tucked behind slightly pointed ears, but the wide shoulders of her armor made the rest of her form little more than a bulky specter.  She hardly noticed as the jar of lola root landed squarely in her lap, cradled instinctively by her hands while the rest of her mind struggled with what to think of the intruder.

"Ruth, I really cannot understand why it is so difficult to--" Kes started to say as she stormed up the stairs from the basement, covered from hip to head in a rich, violent ink from the backs of her thick leather gloves to the forward-flung locks of her wavy brown hair; what little strands had tugged their way free from the pin binding the rest of it back into a bun.

She paused at once when she saw the scene at the door:  Ruth cradling the jar of lola root next to the tipped-over stool as light flooded into the room through the open door, highlighting the symbol on the armor of the woman crouching on the floor.  The woman slowly set Ruth down and got to her feet, meeting Kes' puzzled gaze with one of worry, unsure of the reception she was about to receive, and rather wishing the only thing on her mind to say was something more cordial than "oops."

"...to--" Kes stammered, trying to finish her original admonishment, but the sight of the woman standing in the doorway had completely disrupted her train of thought.  She reached up a hand to tuck some of the stray strands of hair behind one of her pointed ears, smearing a line of dark purple ink across it as she did so.  Her face moved quickly through a series of emotions, the kindest being puzzlement and the least kind being one of great anger; all of them forming a wordless monologue of Kestrid's internal struggle over how to feel at seeing her half-sister again.

The traveler, by contrast, shifted slowly to a bashful smile as her eyes finished adjusting to the dark interior of the shop.  She smoothed down the front of her armor out of habit and cleared her throat quickly, saying only:  "Hi, Kes."

A pop from the workshop below caused Kes to twitch noticeably, though the sound also seemed to startle her into action.  She turned and clutched the thallus paste from the counter, pointing to the jar of lola root still cradled in Ruth's lap.  Her young assistant hadn't moved since her fall, too busy staring up at the two women and waiting for someone to explain to her what on earth was going on.

The traveler reached down to pick up the jar and offer it to Kestrid, closing the space between them at last. It was only then that Ruth realized just how much taller the other woman was.  The traveler smiled as Kes gripped the jar of lola root and turned toward the doorway to the basement again.  "You've picked a bad time to come and visit me, Sydney," Kes told the woman.  "Can't you see I'm busy?"

"It's good to see you, too," the traveler said softly, watching Kes take the first step down toward the basement.  Kes then paused, shifting the jar to the crook of her arm and tossing a glance back at the traveler standing in her shop.

"Why are you here?" she asked, as if the question had been discussed before, only moments ago.

"I just wanted to see my sister," the traveler said.  "My tour was up, and I--" she hesitated, breathing out a long sigh.  "I didn't have anywhere else to go."

"Whoa whoa whoa," Ruth interjected, finally getting back to her feet.  She stepped into the space between them, looking quickly from Sydney to Kes and back again.  "...You're her sister?"

"Half-sister," Kestrid corrected, continuing her descent without another word.  Ruth spun at once, one finger raised in a gesture of admonishment, only to find its target already out of sight.  She felt a strong hand rest on her shoulder as Sydney stepped further into the shop.

"Don't worry about it," she told the girl.  In the short space while Ruth wasn't looking, a more confident smile had appeared in place of the troubled look the woman had borne earlier.  "It's just like old times."

Ruth was about to ask, but found her question cut short by a rather substantial pop from the basement below, one loud enough to shake the floor beneath them.  It was followed at once by a symphony of glass shattering and one oddly calm "oh, bother," from the resident arcanist.  Ruth and Sydney exchanged a look, each looking as fearful as the other, and then hurried down the stairs to the basement together.