Fairyland Chronicles - Character Side Stories

[Validon]

(In which I sort of briefly follow up on the above... kinda? Short, but hopefully sweet.)

The wind blew coolly across the desert sands, kicking up a bit of dust in the young huntress's face as she walked back towards the desert city of Rachel. Mae, as always, flew beside her, and out of boredom occasionally flopped on top of Seikakuna's head, which prompted a quick "H-hey!" or "Maaeeeee!" and a few giggles. Despite a misgiving here or there, she was in a decent mood, much better than she had expected after an audience with the dark fey Lucretia. She still wasn't entirely sure what to think of her, or the three fellow fugitives that stood by her, but after having ran across them, they weren't as bad as she thought after their first encounter in Amatsu.

"Say, Mae, you think they'll eventually stop calling me newbie Seika? It's kinda embarrassing..." The falcon almost looked amused at the thought, and pecked her head in response. "O-ow! Maaae, come on, have a little more confidence in me!" Another peck on the head, and as amused an expression as a falcon could express showed Mae's thoughts clearly. "Aww... he was right, even you don't think I'm able to do it." She did a little fake pout, and bopped Mae on the head, causing the falcon to squawk and start pecking Seikakuna silly. "Ow, ow, ow! Okay okay, you win, you win! Help, falcon brutality, falcon brutality!" Despite the pecking, Seikakuna was laughing, knowing that this was the usual with Mae. Before long, the two of them continued back on their way.

She had not walked too much further after that before she heard something on the wind. She stopped for a second, turning back towards the fort. It seemed to be coming from there... from a figure on the rooftops. She squinted her eyes and looked closely, to find that the paladin, Summerstream, was standing there. She was singing, something Seikakuna did not expect, and the words rang with a saddened tone.

"...Is she okay...? I remember, last night..." The memory of the night before came back to her in a flash. She had decided to stay the night at the fort, and had settled down in the corner of the small audience chamber. It was then, from nowhere, she heard screams. She had leaped up off the ground, and ran towards the source. When she had gotten there, however, she saw the figure of Summerstream, sitting with her knees at her chest in the midst of the small garden within the fort. She was crying, panting heavily, and looked to be in a panic. Seikakuna had almost wanted to reach out, ask what's the matter, but she feared if she did, the paladin would have taken rash action. So she sat there, keeping an eye on her, hanging her head in shame over how she wanted to help but could not bring herself to, before she passed out from exhaustion.

The singing on the wind slowly died as the wind began to fade away. The huntress looked up towards the paladin sadly, not sure what to say, or what to even do. It did not feel as if it were her place to ask about personal issues, especially when the two had barely even met. She plucked Mae off of her head, and perched her on her arm, stroking her plumage. "...Hey... what should I do?" Mae looked up at Seikakuna a bit seriously, before glancing up at the rooftops of the fort. "...You want me to talk to her? I dunno, it feels like a bad time..." Mae looked back at Seikakuna one more time, before taking off from her arm. She glided around for a bit, stretching her wings, before flying back towards the fortress. "M-Mae! Wait...!" Before she knew it, Mae had flown up to the figure of the paladin on the roof. She seemed to perch there for a few minutes, with Seikakuna keeping a steady eye on her, not entirely certain what was happening. Then, soon after, Mae flew back, perching back on Seikakuna's arm.

"...Mae..." The falcon looked up at Seikakuna with a serious expression. "...Alright, when I come back tomorrow, I'll talk to her, okay? Don't give me that look, you'll worry me..." The falcon squawked a little at her, then flew back up on top of her head, perching there and letting herself rest. Seikakuna smiled slightly, and rubbed the back of her head. "...You always seem to know best, huh?" A light peck on the head was all Seikakuna needed as response.

"...Right then, let's get back to the inn, quickly. We'll see what happens tomorrow..."