Chapter Text
Aphmau had not planned for their trip to Pikiro village to take as long as it had been. The path had changed way more than naturally possible in fifteen years. The creation of the mountainous land would have added more time to the trip but with it and the combination of seemingly endless snow and approaching darkness meant that it was time to find some shelter to regroup.
Aphmau was the first to notice the camp, “I’m surprised there are still people in the area. Hopefully, we can camp here for the night and maybe find some information on what happened to this area.”
As they prepare to head down the hill, Travis suddenly stops,
“As much as I would love to head down and camp for the night, we don’t know if this is even an open camp and all four of us walking in all at once could be a little intimidating.”
All in agreement, Aphmau set off into the camp and Travis, Laurance, and Aaron got comfortable, or as comfortable as they could.
Aphmau heads into the camp. She passes one of the many people in the camp who ends up heckling her for even coming into the camp before a woman walks out of the main building. She ignores him and welcomes Aphmau into the camp, introducing herself as Isabell, the owner of the camp. As well as asking if she needed any supplies. Aphmau assured her that she had no need for supplies but if she had enough shelter for three more. Isabell assured her she had the space but not the supplies.
This worked for them so the boys came down and they set up camp for the night.
Once they were set up, Aaron went off to trade with one of the campers and came back with a set of warmer clothes for Aphmau, who had been sitting on the outskirts of the camp thinking..
“You have to be cold but I know you wouldn’t say anything so I traded some gold for a warmer outfit”
‘What about you, how are you not cold?”
“My cloak is great for all sorts of weather.”
He returned to the camp, slightly lost in the memories behind the cloak.
She stayed there for a little while longer before she went to see if anyone had any information about the area, Pikoro village, or Lucinda.
The older man from when she entered the camp tries to flirt with her but admits that he was put off by the three men with her and had no good information but another flirty jab this time towards Lucinda. The next person she tried was the man Aaron had traded with earlier but he was extremely unfriendly and she moved on. The third had the most information. They had been in the area around 14 years earlier before the terrain changed but had no information about how to get to Pikoro Village or of any witches much less Lucinda.
Slightly frustrated she heads towards their own camp to check on everyone. She runs into Aaron first but has nothing to really tell him. She checks on Travis next, who has been pouring over the map he had of the area. He promises her that despite the terrain change he feels fairly confident that he can get them to Pikoro the next day. She checks on Laurance last. He is still lost in his concerns about his transformation and his massacre of the prince of the werewolf and many other werewolves. He lets go for a minute to break the tension and to assure her that they will find Lucinda.
Once they finish she notices that Isbaell is standing outside of her house and goes to ask if she knows anything.
Aphmau starts with why the land had changed. To which Isabell replies with talk of how the snow came fast but seemingly unnoticed. She moved on and asked her if she knew anything of Lucinda. Isabell freezes for a minute before telling her they can talk of it near her husband and leads Aphmau away from the camp.
Once they reach just outside the camp she tells her the story of a white witch. She tells how the witch had saved her grandmother when she was attacked by bandits. She then talks about how a handful of men had been attacked and seriously injured by what is very possibly the same witch. She goes on to point out where these injured men had been coming from and what she thinks could be the best bet to find this white witch to go out into the snow alone and fake an injury. Finishing off by telling her not to do anything rash.
Isabell heads back to the camp quickly but Aphmau takes her time. As she heads back to the camp she runs into Travis who had gotten concerned when the two had left the camp and had overheard the tail-end of their conversation while coming to find her to talk about the map. Knowing her he made her promise not to get too reckless and that he would go and tell Laurence and Aaron of her plan and they would be back-up in case of something going wrong.
Aphmau made her way from the camp hoping that she wouldn’t have to go too far from the camp. Not much further into her trek, she was ambushed by a small group of werewolves. These werewolves had recognized her from the massacre of their prince. She raised her sword ready to defend herself but before they could attack they were killed by a burst of magic with Lucinda not far behind.
Once Lucinda got close enough to see just who she had saved, she froze.
“It can't be, I can't believe my eyes. Aphmau?”
“It’s me, Lucinda. I promise I’m real.”
Whether Aphmau was real or not Lucinda was willing to take that chance and quickly made her way towards her, enveloping her into a hug.
“You haven’t aged a day.”
“Neither have you”
“What can say I age gracefully, that and a little bit of witchcraft”
The two break from the hug as Aphmau asks,
“You aren’t going to ask where I have been for the last fifteen years. Everybody normally asks.”
“Darling, I knew something happened, though I was just never sure what but I knew that you weren’t gone. You had made such a big impact on everyone and so many of them were in denial. I knew that without you there everyone would leave. I couldn’t convince them either because I just had no proof.”
A couple of moments later Travis shows up telling them that he was coming to help and claiming that he had gotten there just after Lucinda had. Lucinda laughed a little while giving Aphmau a playful but judging look.
“Ah yes, One big, strong, man is here to save you Aphmau.”
The two have a small giggle while a flustered Travis tries to create a response.
“What do you mean by one?” He looks behind him and realizes that he is alone. “I know that Laurance stayed back at camp but I swore that Aaron was right behind me but I guess not. I kinda hope that he is back at the camp.”
“I assume you mean the camp nearby right? I’ve been meaning to head there and then we can head to Pikoro. Well, at least I assume that is where y’all were headed and we can catch up on all there.”
After a short trek, they get back to the camp, only to find Laurance, in his Shadow Knight armor, trying to attack a man they had never seen before with Aaron in the middle trying to convince him that harming this mystery man will do more harm than good. After a few moments, Aaron is thrown into the snow with a flash of light and Laurance successfully has his sword to the man’s throat.
Aphmau runs to the group and tries to calm Laurance down and he tells her that he had tried to hurt Isabell. As the husband tries to give his side of the story, Lucinda freezes him in a large block of ice.
She explains that Isabell had been kidnapped from Pikoro a couple of months earlier and that she had been looking for the girl but had been unable to get close enough to the camp until now. Isabell buts in that she had left of her own accord to come to live with her husband but that as time went on he changed as she was afraid to leave.
Laurance, barely controlling his anger, tells her that controlling someone else's life isn’t love.
Lucinda agrees with him and tells Isabell that her parents have been worried sick wondering where she could be and that she will help if there is more going on, but Isabell seemed too worried about whether her husband would be okay. She only reassures her that he will get the justice that he deserves for all of his crimes including her kidnapping.
Isabell asks to go home so Lucinda starts to lead Isabell away from the camp in the direction they had come from and tells the group to take their time but meet her outside the camp so they can head to Pikoro. Laurance had walked away to try and calm himself down so Aphmau went to check on him.