Tales of an adventurer: Meeting Alberic #2

The two little girls had spoken. Alberic did wonder though whether the girls could speak more, or if maybe they spoke an entire different language, which was possible too. Then it would be more difficult to communicate, but he was not giving up after all this. He wanted to help them. So when all the food was gone and they sat there for just a few minutes, he took the last thing he had in his sack out. He had taken one of his blankets with him. It was an old blanket, one who had been in the back of his closet for years. But yesterday he took it out, washed it and took it with him this morning.

Now all he wanted was to make sure the girls took the blanket, so they would at least have a little warmth that coming night. The thought of them out there in the cold and damp woods made his heart hurt. Immediately Mikki’s eyes grew a few sizes when she saw the warm and fuzzy blanket. She jumped up and made a girlish laughing sound. But Alberic knew what he had to do. He had to give the blanket to Caelia. She was the one looking after her little companion. She was the elder one, she was responsible, or at least, she took that role probably. And Caelia was the one who needed to trust him, if he was to help them. He looked at her and with his deep soft voice her said her name and reached the blanket to her. Caelia immediately drew back. Even though they had been eating lunch here now for a while, she was still wary and flinched every time he moved. But he just looked at her and said: “Take it. For tonight.” She looked at the blanket and squinted her left eye. He had seen her do it more and thought it may be some sort of thing of her. When she questioned things, she would squint her eye. It look quite adorable, but it also made her look older than she probably was. But she held out her hands and took the blanket. With her fingers going over the blanket and feeling the soft and warm fabric, she looked up at Alberic and there it was, another milestone. “Thank you.” Alberic looked at her in shock. They speak the same language! Mikki jumped all around Caelia, happy and content. But Caelia just looked at Alberic and showed him a very small smile.

Suddenly this one moment of trust between the Elezen and the Miqo’te was abruptly stopped. Being in the woods for so many years, Alberic knew the sounds and noises. He knew when a sound was good or bad. And that one second he heard a noise coming from the bush behind him. The woods housed many sorts of animals, most stayed far away from men like him. But this sound was different. It was as if something was lurking behind him, ready to attack. He stopped all his movements, but not before he turned to Caelia and Mikki. Caelia had heard the sound too, her eyes grew big, but not afraid, which kind of surprised him. In one look he saw that his axe was lying too far away from him to reach without moving too much and alerting the presence in the bushes. He looked back at Caelia, Mikki was still stroking the blanket, happy and content, unaware of the dangers around her. The axe was closer to Caelia than Alberic and the next minute changed everything between Alberic and Caelia. Mikki was sitting next to Caelia on the floor. Suddenly, with amazing speed, Caelia grabbed Mikki at her arms and pushed her with a flowing motion into Alberic’s arms. His instincts kicked in instantly and he wrapped his massive, strong arms around the little girl. No one was going to hurt this little happy creature! But what Alberic saw next blew his mind. After Caelia had made sure Mikki was safe, she lunged at the big, heavy axe from Alberic and with an amazing strength he had never seen with such a small and young girl, she lifted it up, swung it in the air and swirled towards the bush where the noise had come from. Being not that big, and the bushes being think with leaves, she disappeared immediately. All Alberic and Mikki could hear were smashing sounds from the axe and screeches from a dying animal.

Mikki clutched herself to Alberic, he on his turn wrapped his arms even more around her, covering almost the whole girl. She was shaking and started to cry, and all Alberic wanted to do was to run away with Mikki in his arms, away to safety, but he did not know if there were more evil creatures lurking in the woods.

Not one minute later Caelia emerged from the bushes. She was panting, but Alberic saw a fire in her eyes. She looked at him, saw Mikki safe and sound in his arms and smirked. She dropped the big axe on the floor and walked towards them. Then Alberic could see that she was dragging some sort of wolf like animal behind her. The sight was gruesome, but it was clear, that Caelia has had her way with the axe and chopped him up. The animal was bloody all over, missing limbs and most certainly very very dead. Curse the Twelve! That was an Alpha Wolf! They never go near humes! They never come out in the middle of the day! Yet this one did, only to be halted by Alberic’s axe, handled by a small Miqo’te smashing it in his skull!

Her smirk was amazing to see. Her eyes filled with a fire, like they were alive, even though a few minutes ago they were almost desperate and empty. She dropped the corpse of the slaughtered animal on the floor and stumbled to the tree log closest to her. Leaning against it, her face became pale as a sheet and Alberic saw she was clenched in pain. In his arms Mikki began to move and she peeked underneath his arms and saw Caelia leaning against the log. Somehow the small girl crawled her way free of Alberic’s arms and jumped towards Caelia with a soft sound of relief. But the second Mikki fell into her sisters arms, Caelia screamed out of pain. Mikki looked at her shocked, turned around to Alberic and motioned to him. Her eyes filled with tears as she watched the pain in her elder sisters eyes. Alberic did not immediately see where Caelia was hurt, but he moved towards her, grabbed the blanket, now lying on the cold ground and pushed it underneath her, so she would be able to lean against it. Then he saw the wound and flinched for one second. He had seen his fair share of wounds, he was a lumberjack, and well, axes are very sharp and one wrong move and they could hurt like hell. He had the scars to prove it. But seeing this wound, he shivered. Apparently the Wolf had ripped through Caelia’s clothes and into her leg. The skin was torn off and had left a gaping hole. The blood was deep red and gushing. In two seconds Alberic composed himself. He had to help her. Caelia’s face was getting paler by the second, the blood was draining out of her too fast. He didn’t think about anything, he went into overdrive. He grabbed his sack and took out a shirt he always took with him as a spare, in case of a hot day, and ripped it up. He gave a big piece to Mikki and said: “Water, make it wet!” Mikki nodded in understanding and the little girl leaped towards the water side and dunked the cloth into the water. With a remarkable speed she was back at his side again, handing him the wet cloth. “Hold her.” he said to Mikki and the girl wrapped her arms tightly around Caelia, who was slipping into unconsciousness. He let the water from the cloth flow over the wound to clean it, but the second he did, Caelia screamed with pain and lost consciousness. Mikki started crying even harder. He took another piece of cloth and bound it around her leg, just above the wound. With the last cloth he covered the wound to try and stop the bleeding. But the gushing of the blood was so heavy, within seconds there was no white cloth left, it had turned bloody red. 

“Okay, Mikki. Look at me!” The little girl had buried her face in Caelia’s neck, sobbing and scared. But when she heard Alberic strong and determined voice, she looked up at him, with the tears still dripping down her face. “Listen, you understand me, right?” he said while looking at her teary face. She nodded yes. “Okay, I cannot heal her, not here. I want to help you, help Caelia. You understand?” Again she nodded. “I have to take her home. There is someone in the city who can help her. But you need to come with me. We have to save her.” Mikki looked at Caelia and back to Alberic. All of a sudden she stood up, looked around and as swift as a fox started to gather Alberic’s belongings into his sack. Caelia was still unconscious and he knew they had to be fast. He picked the girl up and was amazed how light she was. Mikki tried to lift his sack and axe, but she was not strong enough for that load. So Alberic took the axe, swung it across his shoulder and together they went on their way. To Gridania. To safety. Alberic did not think about what would happen if he would walk through the gates with an injured Miqo’te in his arms and a small one by his side, all he wanted was to rush to  Master E-Sumi of the Conjurer’s Guild. He had known the boy-like wizard for as long as he could remember. He was a Master Conjurer and Hearer for decades, even though he had the appearance of a young boy. That was because of him being a Padjal, even though Alberic had never really understood where he came from, he and E-Sumi had been somewhat friends for years. Alberic has had his share of injuries and he only wanted to be healed by E-Sumi, because he only trusted him to do a good job.

So the tall, strong man walked through the woods with Caelia in his arms and Mikki following his every move, swiftly jumping around, barely touching the ground she walked on. He was somewhat amazed by that swiftness. She look like she would lift up into the skies, with only his heavy sack keeping her grounded.

Soon they reached the gates of the garden-city. It was a quiet day and there was not many people around, most were at home eating, or somewhere out in the woods working. Good, Alberic thought silently. The less people he sees, the less explaining he would have to do later. The moment he passed the gate, he felt Mikki stopping. He looked at her and saw how fearful she looked at the gates and was scared to pass them. “Mikki, it is alright, I am right here. Nothing will happen to you.” He said in a calm and soft voice. He had noticed how she would calm down, if he spoke in this manner. Normally he would be a little more loud and grunted a bit, but with her he was different. He felt she needed a gentle voice to convince her. And she did. Although with a small hesitation, but she entered through the gates.

He walked as soon as he could, the weight of Caelia’s still unconscious body in his arms not slowing him down at all. They passed the Aetherite in the Plaza, the Grand Company building, the florist’s shop. They passed several villagers, but he did not see them at all. He didn’t notice they were looking at him with surprise in their eyes. Was that Alberic? The botanist? Who is he carrying? And who is that small creature following him? But he did not see any of this, all he was focussed on was reaching the Stillglade Fane, where the Conjurers Guild was housed. They reached it sooner as he thought and by now he was almost running towards the entrance. With his free shoulder he almost lunged towards the heavy wooden doors and barged in. “Where is Master E-Sumi?” He almost yelled and with his heavy voice carrying through the large room, every one in there stopped what they were doing and looked up at him in shock. The Conjurer’s guild was a place of silence and tranquillity. Never had anyone barged in like this and screamed for the Master!

Alberic felt a giant relief when he saw his friend in the middle of the room, surrounded by other conjurers. He looked up, surprised as everyone else, and took a step forward. “Alberic? My friend, what is wrong?” Then he saw the creature in his friends arms and gasped. Instantly he knew what had to be done. He looked around and without saying a word, all the other people moved away to make room. “Come, Alberic! Hurry!” Alberic ran towards him, only to fall down at his feet, holding Caelia tightly. He looked up at his friend and said: “You have to heal her! She is a child! A wolf, her leg…” He was panting, out of breath, the weight of Caelia in his arms, but he was desperate. He had developed a love for these two children, from the first day he saw them. A strange father-like feeling had awoken inside him. Master E-Sumi, somewhat shocked at the sight of his friend, looked at the girl and saw the bloody cloth wrapped around her leg. The blood had beaten the cloth and was flowing down her leg, dripping on the floor. Instinctively he took his wand and started to mutter a few words Alberic did not understand. A light began to emerge from his wand and just like that the room filled with a blue-ish glowing light, like an orb surrounding them. This was a spell Alberic had not seen before. E-Sumi would usually put his hands over Alberic’s wounds and do some weird magics, but this was something quite new to him. But as soon as the lights faded, Caelia moved. Alberic let out a sigh of relief. He knew E-Sumi well enough to know that Caelia would be healed. He looked down at her, still lying in his arms and looked at her leg. The blood was no longer running down her leg, so carefully he removed the cloth and saw what amazing magic E-Sumi had done. The wound was almost closed, no blood was seeping out of it anymore, the torn skin was healing up and no longer dark red with blood. He looked up at his friend and gave him his most grateful smile. “Thank you, my friend.” E-Sumi, still somewhat puzzled look at his friend and nodded. Then he saw a small girl emerge from behind Alberic’s back and take a look at the girl he just healed. Another one? What was going on here? He saw how Alberic looked at the little girl and smile at her. The small Miqo’te, he knew the race, looked at Alberic with joy and happiness, and then to the older girl with tears. She crawled onto Alberic’s lap and buried her face against the older girl’s face. Tears filled her eyes.

But what he saw next was something he had never imagined possible. He looked at his friend, sitting there, with two small girls in his arms, one coming back to life, one with tears falling down her face, but smiling and his friend looking down on them with… did he see love in his eyes? Could it be? Could this man, almost all his life surrounded by solitude, staying away from people, be having love for these children?

As if Alberic knew his friend was seeing all of this in his eyes, he looked up and said: “Thank you, my friend. I am taking them home. Let us meet later, so I can explain. For now, I want to take them home.” E-Sumi was shocked, but he knew his friend, a lot better than his friend would have liked, but being a Conjurer and Hearer, he knew things about people, without saying a word. So he just nodded. Alberic smiled and lifted Caelia up again. She was slowly waking up from her slumber, leaning against him, wanting to be safe. Mikki grabbed his sack and they turned around to leave. But as innocent as a little girl can be, Mikki stopped abruptly, turned around, looked at E-Sumi and ran towards him. She wrapped her arms around his legs, she wasn’t big enough, and squished him as if to say thank you. He was a little taken back by this, but he smiled and nodded to the young girl. The gratitude that oozed out of her was enormous, he could feel the energy filling the room. Something he did not feel often, but for now he remained silent about that. It was after all still a young child. And he needed to know more about them. But he was intrigued by the three of them, as he watched them walk away.

They reached the small house Alberic called home within a few minutes. Mikki was in awe of it, she was clapping her small hands and laughing again. She walked in front of Alberic with Caelia in his arms up the stairs and opened the door with a gasp of amazement. It was as if she had never seen a house like this. Alberic carried Caelia inside and walked to his living area where a small sofa was standing. He pointed to Mikki to get a blanket on his chair, one he used often on chilly nights. He softly put Caelia on the sofa and covered her with the warm and comfortable blanket. He went into his cooking area, took a glass, filled it with water and went back to the girl on the sofa. He kneeled next to her and noticed how Mikki had climbed next to her sister and covered herself up with a small corner of the blanket and cuddle up next to her sister. “Caelia, wake up.” Caelia slowly opened her eyes, looked at him and very slowly a smile appeared on her face. “Have some water. Then go sleep.” He helped her with a sip of fresh water and as soon as she touched the pillows of the sofa again, she slept. Side by side with Mikki, who had also fallen asleep. 

Alberic let out a sigh of relief. He did not know what would happen tomorrow, or even the day after that. But for this night he knew Big Cat and Little cat were safe, warm and alive. He sat in his own chair, looked at the girls and even though it was still midday, he felt sleep falling over him. Within minutes the small wooden house that Alberic called home was silent.