Sympathy for the Outcast - The Forgotten: Part 1

Sympathy for the Outcast
The Forgotten: Part 1

   The caravan came to a halt as Cailu stopped, looking down from the ledge. The others gathered around to follow his example. Down there, in the spacious split, some scruffy Haedians were walking around between huts, which seemed to be composed of scrap and leftover materials. There were some sparse additional artificial or magical light sources scattered around the camp as this region didn’t seem to have enough glowing crystals to provide enough. Overall, the first impression of this settlement clearly spoke of poverty and lack of… pretty much everything.

“This suits nicely for your first test, see you!”

   Cailu smiled widely and before anyone could react and ask what test exactly, he managed to slip away with ridiculous elegance and speed, leaving the two puzzled Empyrians and mildly grouchy Puller on their own.

“Soooooo… what do we do?”

   Meline looked at her companions, clear confusion reflecting in her eyes. Eshin’s glance shifted at her for a moment, before he turned to look back down, let out a soft hum and then pushed himself off the ledge, gliding down towards the edge of the camp.

“I suppose we do that.”

   Aethone commented in response and began the descent herself, followed by a sigh from Meline before she once again just followed the other two. She would’ve preferred to have made some sort of plan with her comrades, but seeing how they insisted on being headstrong adventurers, she started to accept the fact that she’ll just have to improvise on the spot.

   Eshin seemed to be after something specific, as he sniffed the corners they passed and stopped at crossroads to pick a direction, all the while seeming very focused. Aethone and Meline simply followed him, while also keeping an eye on the Haedians around them. The Haes, stopped in their tracks, seemed cautious and an unfriendly glint was lingering in their eyes, but their worn faces also spoke of the unfortunate life they were living in their meager camp, as they were following the newcomers with a glassy gaze. The ladies’ attention shifted fully to Eshin when he released an excited whirr and leaped towards something around the corner. As Aethone and Meline rushed after him, they were greeted by a sight made of an interrupted conversation between Cailu and one of the clan’s ragged members. This dark-coated Haedian’s noticeable feature were deep scars running across its face and eerily glowing eyes, which were now locked at the hairy Empyrian near it. Eshin seemed to carefully sniff and examine the new Haedian from a safe distance, while Cailu was softly chuckling at Eshin’s behavior. Partially relieved having found Cailu again, the girls also approached the others to hear and participate in the conversation.

“Oh, you’re already here. This gentleman will show us the ways of the Forgotten.”

“I told you, I don’t have the time for this.”

   The new Haedian grumbled in response, but he still seemed somewhat interested in the appearance of the strange creatures that Cailu had just told him about and were now standing right before him.

“The… uhh.. the ways of what?”

   Meline inquired carefully, which made the stern Haedian grin, for some reason.

“You’re not the brightest, are you girl? We are called the Forgotten, just because we’ve been abandoned by our own clans and thrown out here like trash.”

   He then looked at Cailu, who seemed to be quite indifferent by this remark. Aethone thought it wasn’t such a bad idea to let Meline do the talking for now, as Aethone herself hadn’t made a decision on the whole situation yet. Eshin definitely wasn’t very helpful in that matter, but the Haedians seemed to be alright with his presence so far. Meline’s healer instincts took over, she had been helping the sick and less fortunate for the majority of her life, after all. Her voice softened and she seemed a lot more confident now.

“I’m sorry to hear that… and potentially insulting you. Is there a way we could help you? I would definitely love to learn more about your culture and way of life, if you’d be willing to teach us.”

   Cailu’s face beamed up with a warm smile, while the other one was slightly perplexed at Meline’s request. The topside dwellers sure were an odd bunch.

“Fine. We’re going to pay a short stealthy visit to one of the other clans. Follow me, and don’t mess it up.”

   The scarred Haedian turned around and entered a rather narrow tunnel behind him. It was barely big enough for Aethone to press through, so everyone else entered before her. There were deep scratch marks all over the walls, floor and ceiling, plus there were no crystals lighting it up, so it was probably very freshly dug. Meline admired the strength and durability of the Haedian’s claws who created this before entering, while Eshin had softly bitten into Meline’s tail fur so he could follow her in the pitch black darkness, while one ear flicked back at struggling Aethone’s direction. The lack of light didn’t seem to bother the scarred Hae and Cailu at all, once again proving how adapted they were to life underground.

   To Aethone’s relief, they didn’t have to walk for too long when the dim glow of the crystals was already visible from the other end. After everyone had made it through into the spacious chamber, and Aethone had shook off all the small rock debris from her fluffy feet, mane and tail, they turned to look at the edge of the settlement before them, composed mostly of simple huts and caves. What surprised the trio of explorers the most was the fact that there were trees growing in the distance.

“This clan has unfairly cast me out, so I occasionally get back at them for that. Show me what you can do, let it be just a simple prank or ‘borrowing’ some supplies for the fellow Forgotten. Bonus points if you don’t get caught.”

   Before anyone could react, the member of the outcasts slipped away in one of the caves, potentially looking for loot. When Aethone, Meline and Eshin turned to look at Cailu in unison, he just shrugged and smirked deviously. It was obvious Cailu just wanted to see what they’d do without interfering too much.

“Okay, just a prank will do, so we can go easy on this.”

   Meline noted, to which Eshin nodded vigorously. Aethone rolled her eyes to that, but the idea of doing something potentially illegal but morally right tempted her enough to move forward, checking her surroundings for the Haedians. Some activity and voices could be heard closer to the trees up ahead, so Meline decided to carefully head there, Eshin closely behind her. Cailu was also moving around, but only to keep an eye on the whole situation.

   Doing their best to sneak between the bushes and trees without making a single sound, Eshin and Meline soon found a table carved of white rock in front of them. The table itself looked interesting, but it was no match to what was on it - various unknown herbs, some vials with mysterious liquids, a couple of empty vials, something that looked like an incense stick, a mortar and pestle, a small notebook and a piece of coal for writing. In normal situations, Meline would explode of enthusiasm when presented a chance to study new herbs or concoctions, so Eshin had to nudge her with his snout to help her snap back into reality.

“Right, we’re on a mission… hmm, let’s see.”

   Meline carefully snaked closer to the table, then picked up the small notebook. Somebody had started filling it in a script that she had never seen before, so stealing some knowledge was currently out of the question. However, the notebook had several empty pages, so that gave Meline an idea. She picked up the coal and utilizing her best artistic skills, quickly doodled a silly-looking Haedian on one of the pages while the mischievous grin on her face stretched wider with every passing moment. Eshin wasn’t just sitting around either, he sniffed at the vials, carefully picked them up one by one and arranged them all to stand under the table in a neatly organized circle, finally placing the incense in the middle of it. Neither of them had a moment to marvel at their achievement as the nearby bushes rustled, so faster than the lightning they both darted into hiding. As they carefully peeked out, it was just Aethone who appeared, mouth full of dried branches. She checked her surroundings, one ear moving towards the spot where the two Empyrians were hiding but after carefully looking around, she continued her journey back to the getaway tunnel. Before Meline and Eshin could follow her, they heard someone else coming their way. Holding their breaths, they watched a Haedian appear. Judging by the slightly suspicious look on its face, the Hae probably followed the sound Aethone made when she was passing by. The new Haedian’s attention broke as it now noticed the stone table and gasped loudly at the missing vials. After rushing there and frantically looking around, it finally noticed the vials being under the table, which made the creature stop for a moment due to the puzzlement. Cursing something under its nose, the Hae started to lift the vials back on the table, which prompted them to notice that the notebook was hastily put back in a different place. The Hae quickly grabbed it, went through the pages and after seeing the masterpiece Meline left there, it angrily shouted out loud someone’s name, dropped the notebook back on the desk and ran back towards the center of the settlement.

   Meline and Eshin couldn’t hold back laughter for long, so both were already wheezing as they somehow managed to make it back to the rendezvous point, where the scar faced Haedian, Aethone and Cailu were already waiting. It took them a good minute to catch their breath while holding onto their stomachs, Cailu also couldn’t help but grin at the sight and the scarred Haedian also nodded approvingly.

“I see you two had a successful mission, and you, big lady, had an even better one. Lumber is quite rare down here, so these sturdy branches will come very handy, thank you.”

   Aethone’s eyebrow lifted to that. She was so used to having an abundance of wood in Warrenfall wherever she went, so she thought it to be pretty harmless to yoink these from one of the tents. Oh well, since these weren’t locked away or guarded well enough then perhaps that’ll teach the clan to treat their valuables better.

   After Eshin and Meline had reminded themselves how to breathe normally again, the group of raiders headed back into the narrow tunnel while Meline described the prank she and Eshin had pulled, earning some approving chuckles from both Cailu and their guide in addition to the childish excitement they were already feeling in their hearts.