Julian's House
Opening the door, he was surprised to see his daughter in front of him with the bags she tied together in one big bag. Wait a minute… Didn’t she…
“Mischka, what did you ask him?”
“Well… Since Flora knew some basic healing stuff… I asked him to at least spare stuff for you so that… If you’re ever stuck while looking for Orel, and need something to patch up for a bit… He told me I didn’t need to pay him. I hesitated but…”
She looked down sheepishly.
”If I wasn’t going, I thought I’d try help you now than later. I wish I could come but… I know you’d say no. So um. It’s not a lot but, just gauzes and stuff. I knew you wouldn’t ask for this specifically… But I don’t want you to get hurt too much.”
“Mischka…”
A ruffle on her head, Julian’s expression was a mix of gratitude and deep worry.
“You really didn’t have to do this. But thank you, I’ll make sure to use it if needed. All I ask for you is stay safe, okay? I’m sorry for how harsh I was earlier…”
“No, I understand… Papa, can I have a hug?”
Julian gave a nod with a smile and held his daughter warmly. He didn't know how long he’d be apart from her, how long it’d take. But he promised that he’d try to be a better father.
“Just you wait, Orel will come back. Okay? You won’t be alone for long.”
The girl gave a nod, however hesitating a bit but… She understood, she’d try her best to keep her hopes up. Yaryna was in the distance, with a soft look. It seemed she had calmed as well from earlier, she spoke up as soon as Julian approached her.
“I think you’re needed.”
“Oh, uh, no doubt but where..?”
Yaryna threw a glance in that direction…
A little farther from the window this time, Aphina had a few of her own bags on her. Perhaps she'd packed a touch light, but hopefully they wouldn't have to stray too far, anyway, right? Well, she supposed they'd find that out soon.
She waved at Julian. "Mr. Volkov! I do have a lead to follow, if you'd like to tag along... I believe he ought to be well enough to speak with today."
Oh right, well. That settled it then. With a nod to Yaryna, he turned to look at Aphina, waving back at her. If she was going to accompany him, he wouldn't complain, especially when she had shown herself to be helpful.
A lead... Who—Oh! With all the fighting and events happening, Julian had admittedly forgotten there was one person who was the one who needed the most help right away. Well the sooner it's done the sooner he could put it back to his mind... Also... Hm. He'd see later.
"Oh, sure thing. Lead the way, if you will?"
More socializing but eh, it's fine. He'd just relearn to use his words wisely in the right situation if anything. (Even though it's easier said than done.)
"But of course." Aphina did a little curtsy-adjacent motion and turned to get moving. "The others of the caravan have named Cortik as the best-equipped of any of them in regard to slaying beasts. As far as knowledge and supplies, at least. Physical prowess, well, there's the obvious issue... But I don't believe you'll require much assistance in that category, anyway, hmm~?"
This chat was certainly easier than breaching the subject of his abducted child. Knowledge-wisdom distinction my beloved.
Aphina was no joke, she really did know most things he wouldn’t have bothered to care about. Well then, that’d be useful. Julian nodded, not without a small smile, at the last question. Whatever happened, he trusted his own strength when it came to it.
“I see. I’ll make sure he won’t get any worse while helping us then… That is if he’s willing.”
No point in forcing someone who’s not cooperative. Unless there’s a good reason to do so.
“But yes, you can count on me for that.”
Julian's moment of faint cheer was good! Or Aphina sure hoped it was. Observant as she may have been, she hadn't spent a surplus of time with him, so she didn't have the best read on how well his expressions corresponded to his real mood. But that would come.
Infirmary Cave
Julian's not going to wake up Cortik yet. Especially in such a state, it would only be straining the man further and risking losing information. There’s this thought nagging back in his mind about time is of the essence but… Again, if he rushed it, he’d lose more than he’d gain, the werewolf figured. So, he went closer but still at a safe distance to not overwhelm Cortik and waited. That’s all he could do while thinking of what else could be useful to find his son.
Aphina watched Cortik for a few moments, humming softly to herself, but he didn't stir. Oh, he'd just been awake earlier... Surely he couldn't be that deeply asleep now? But she didn't want to jar him, with his condition...
She paused, then silently extended an arm towards the sleeping man without making contact. Moments later, a little ladybird rose from her wrist and lighted on Cortik's forehead. Aphina made a quiet sound, and her friend started scuttling back and forth to kick up a good tickle.
Julian had been practically lost in thoughts until he saw what Aphina was doing.
What was she—…
…
… Was. This. Oh. Ohhhh.
Aphina’s companion? He thought that it was strange to see she was talking to something, as he couldn’t make out what the heck she was doing.
Cortik's nose crinkled briefly. A hand twitched. Finally, his eyes (or, the eye that didn't have a patch over it) began to slide open. Satisfied, the ladybird flitted away again...
Only for Cortik to go wide-eyed, shriek, and practically leap backwards in his cot. Something thumped against something else, but he seemed more concerned about the ladybird right now. "What—What—"
It was an understandable reaction. If it was Julian himself in the bed, he too would have been confused at a bug crawling on him.
Confused, Aphina had expected. This, not so much. How was she to know the man feared insects so? ...was something that a goddess of hidden knowledge didn't get to say. She could really only mark it down as carelessness on her part.
Even with the surprise from the shriek, Julian had to try not make it worse, approaching the man in the bed slowly, considering Cortik’s state. He had to try to be reassuring, but let’s see if it’ll truly work.
“It’s harmless, calm down..!”
Perhaps the stress from the situation wasn’t helping himself, but he had to try to be in control of his emotions.
Wide-eyed, Cortik attempted to continue scooting backward, even though there was nowhere left to go. He sputtered. "What's harmless to—to—to a whole wolf-man isn't always what's harmless to me! Most things are harmful to me! The—The—"
He gripped the top of one shoulder with a wince. Though he was too covered up to be sure, perhaps it was bruising from being bashed into the bedframe.
Julian sighed; this was not helping at all. So Cortik was really frightened of bugs… Another of some acquaintances that couldn’t bear these many-legged creatures. He wondered himself what it is exactly about bugs that frightened people. So many questions, no answer. But there was a more urgent one, however.
Trying to ignore what was certainly a dirty look from at least one healer within earshot of the fuss, Aphina slowly turned her hand to make sure her ladybird was hidden. "Everything is all right. We just heard you were the man to ask about beasts..."
Aphina got the question there, so Julian would only back her up, and with a personal reason to add.
“Please. Take some deep breaths. There’s that and…”
... Wait, how much did Cortik see of the fight? Was it right to assume that he was passed out for the entirety of the event?
How was he to explain that his son has been kidnapped? By a giant Osmogorch, no less, that somehow managed to slip through the cracks of a place he couldn’t reach. And to say that it was supposed to be a tale. It was just supposed to be a tale.
…
“Do you know of the Osmogorch tale?”
Aphina added, “Because it seems as though we’ll need to be hunting one down.”
Julian nodded at Aphina’s affirmation briefly before looking back at Cortik for the answer. He hoped it wouldn’t give Cortik further heart attacks from a grim tale, but Julian noted how strange it was that the topic of the story was in fact real. Hadn’t it been said that tales were inspired by real-life events? Could it be the cause?
Cortik still shivered, but his panic seemed to wane the longer he went without seeing any ladybirds. Physically he didn't look to be doing that well, either, but at least he wasn't visibly bleeding...?
Huh. The werewolf noted Cortik’s reaction, while waiting patiently for him to talk.
Cortik didn’t seem especially perturbed by the mention of the beast, either, and just nodded. He propped himself up to sit more properly, but it apparently made him dizzy enough that he needed a moment to blink it off.
He stroked his chin. “Oh, yes, I know them well. Not the greatest beast the Ironlands have to offer, but easily one of the strangest. And I can almost relate to it…” He patted a bandage and sighed. “Oh, that is, many of them are afflicted with something that makes them fall apart, which… isn’t exaaactly what's going on with me.”
… Relate? Oh. Hm.
“… I see.”
"Hmhm, indeed," Aphina said at the relating comment. "I don't suppose they've found any of your medicine around here, either...?"
Cortik's brow furrowed. "It doesn't seem so, no. But I'll be all right. Just a bit, er, dizzy. And such." And in greater danger from any amount of motion, but that was less important right now than rambling about beasts.
Ah, right. Cortik’s medicine still needed to be found. That’s another priority in the list. So as long as the man didn't die on them both.
He gripped the thin sheet as his gaze flicked from one visitor to the other. "But hunt one, you say? It's not a thing to be taken lightly. Hooo, no it is not."
Hunt... Well, to be frank, Julian was still enraged at the fact that his son was taken away without a reason by the beast. And it would be a lie to pretend that tearing it apart to free Orel wouldn’t be satisfying in his mind.
Hunts might have been his thing, and Julian knew some animals were easier prey while others were tougher, thus better off left alone. But he’s quite curious to hear what the man had to say about the osmogorch.
“Well, if you don’t mind then, can you elaborate on it not being taken lightly?”
The more knowledge, the better he supposed.
"Oh, they're mighty creatures. All muscle, and despite the many limbs, quite coordinated. Aside from gripping and thrashing, there's also the claws and beak for attacks of the sharper variety..." Some of Cortik's fingers absently traced a currently empty quiver at his hip as he went on. "Very slippery, too—both difficult to defeat and difficult to track should you lose sight of them. Yes, almost impossible to find again if they've vanished away, unless they're in poor enough condition to leave a trail of, er, bits behind as they go. Otherwise, your only hope is a well-trained hound to sniff them out."
The way Cortik described the beasts… Julian hummed, mentally taking note of everything that was said, until—
Aphina's fingertips partly covered a smile. "Oh, we may have one of those~"
…
…….
Wait. Their only hope was what.
…
Looking bemused, he pointed at himself. Did you mean him???
…You know what, this was fine, this was personal as f-ck. Even if he couldn’t get the monster earlier, he’d find it. He would.
Aphina made some attempt to politely stifle her laugh at Julian's reaction, but that only made it sound like some strange, uneven sort of chirping. She nodded.
Cortik seemed perfectly oblivious to that part of the conversation as he rubbed his temples. "Ah, yes, their movements are quite unpredictable! They do tend to return to their dens when able, but those are supposedly dastardly difficult to weave your way down into, for those of us with, er, bones. But it can be done!" He fiddled with an earlobe. "...Allegedly."
Julian said, “I would not be opposed to tracking the beast, on the contrary. I just… had no idea where it would likely go. But… Sure, it’ll be my pleasure to track that creature down. Er… Should we go the way where I chased it to and start from there, or do you think you have a better idea…?”
The crevasse was bothering him. How had it gotten through that size that not even Julian himself could get into…? Where did it drag Orel into…
… No it’s not the time to just sit around and ponder what’s happening to his son. Julian knew his son must have been worried and alone. It’s not fine, but…
Where did the crevasse itself lead to…?
Cortik listened to Julian again and nodded, gaze wandering. "If it was indeed fleeing from you, I can't see it going back that way anytime soon. But even a starting point like that is much better than just sticking your nose in random crevasses as you go and seeing what gets bitten."
So, it might have a way in and out. Allegedly.
Oh, so his suggestion held up then! Great, Julian did feel a little less useless than before. Though as he was going to guide them to where he'd chased the beast, the wolfman waited for both to be ready and fine to walk around. Which definitely would not be anytime now, lest he wanted a healer to glare at him for dragging Cortik out while still in this state.
"Hmhm, I would hope so." Recovering, Aphina drummed her fingers lightly on her her lower lip. "Have you hunted one yourself?"
He heaved a melodramatic sigh that covered a good few pitches. "No I have not. Someday..." He looked from her to Julian. "But you... You sound as though you plan to do just that very soon, don't you?"
…Cortik never caught one? Hm, interesting. At the question though, Julian squinted his eyes a bit, to show that he was quite serious.
“I’m not coming home empty handed and I’m sure as h-ll not letting my son be gone forever with that creature. I do not know why it took him specifically, but I will bring him back home.”
...
“Whatever it takes for me to rescue him.”
Or his remaining family would never forgive him. Not even Orel…
Cortik blinked rapidly at Julian's reply, as if that would help him connect some dots. Less rapidly, his expression began to shift. "Oh... Ohhh..."
Both hands began to move as if to cover his own mouth, but they shook and suddenly veered to grab one of Julian's hands instead.
"Oh, I had no idea...!" Cortik wailed. He'd moved straight to tears alredy—hopefully not from pain, but an alarmingly sudden change either way. "Your own son... Oh, the heartbreak you must—I...!" His voice got strangled up in tears for a second before he abruptly let go to throw off his covers.
Julian froze in place, as if completely caught off-guard from the man’s answer. He just listened and listened, unsure of how the heck a guy like Cortik can show a range of emotions for someone that isn’t even related to him. In fact, shouldn’t Julian be the one to show more emotions? He sucks at it, and he knows. But he’s trying. Still, he did indeed feel the heartbreak but… The moment Cortik changed in his manners was enough to throw him off in a loop.
“Uh—Please wait—“
"I'll get to work right away! If we must hunt the beast, then I can craft you a—" He began to get up, but Aphina rushed to cut off his exit before he could make himself much dizzier.
"That's quite all right, thank you!" she said, keeping an arm held out to bar him from further motion. "Considering you've yet to mention anything of the sort, I assume there's no terrible rush to hunt the thing before it, mm... does anything?"
He squirmed. "Oh, but there's always a terrible rush! Life is short, dear miss, particularly mine, and there's never-never an acceptable time to leave a poor lad out there without his father...!"
Aphina’s voice sure was becoming the voice of reason more and more, huh…
“… Yeah. I hate not knowing what could happen to Orel, but… I doubt—I don’t…”
He’s quite lost but, both Aphina and Cortik made good points. Still… To avoid the ire of the healers nearby, Julian collected himself and spoke again after a moment or two.
“I really, truly appreciate your eagerness to help. I do. But the last thing I want in this moment is that you go and screw up yourself in a rush. Neither me or Aphina would want you to do anything without any consideration to yourself. So please. Don’t push your luck. I’d advise you rest enough.”
Time is of the essence as Aphina said, but as she also said, rushing in unprepared would do worse than planning out.
“Once you’ve recovered enough, only then we can leave as soon as possible.”
Cortik shook his head enthusiastically, which certainly wasn't helping with his balance. "Nonono, you see, as it stands now, I'll never recover for long! So it's no use trying to wait on me. I probably oughtn't come—but at least allow me to fletch a few for you! Osmogorch hide is—Well, if you hope to get to the heart of it quickly, then an arrow is your truest shot by far."
Julian's lips pressed together, just how stubborn was Cortik? ... Now the question should be would the healers be on their trails if both Julian himself and Aphina said 'alright' right now?
Cortik finally paused to look from one of them to the other. No quivers there, but they were in the infirmary right now... "Er, at least one of you can shoot an arrow, can't you?"
Aphina shook her head. "No training, I'm afraid. And close as I may be to Hodr by blood, that's quite a bit out of my divine purview as well."
Cortik squinted at her, nodded slowly, and then very distinctly and visibly gave up trying to figure out what all that was supposed to mean. "Ah, but surely..." He turned to Julian. Those nails didn't look great for nocking arrows, maybe, but who was Cortik to judge?
Julian shook his head as well.
"I don't have any training either, as I've never really needed to rely on arrows usually."
That and his nails were indeed not ideal for such a task.
"I can however use my strength if I have to. That's my better shot just in case things go awry."
Cortik tapped his fingers together repeatedly as he listened, then shook his head. "If you lack an archer, then I suppose there really is no choice!" He immediately set about readying his things, though there was very little on him in the bed, so this mostly consisted of adjusting his empty quiver.
"There is a choice," Aphina insisted. "Surely someone else has some archery training, if indeed we can't find another way—"
"A waste of precious, precious time!" he declared. "I won't allow it on my watch!"
She let out a slow breath, but it did nothing to settle him. "Remind me, you said you couldn't recover for long? Because of your medication, yes?"
"Well, I shan't find any by sitting around here!"
She stroked her chin. "And if we were to locate some for you? Before you try to leave for the hunt?"
"But there is still the issue of time, time that we cannot spare with that poor boy out there—"
Aphina interrupted, "But surely fletching your special osmogorch arrows takes time as well?"
He frowned. "Of course. But it really is the best way..." He trailed off as she waved him away.
"Suppose Mr. Volkov and I go to find your Lodurr's Tears while you work on the arrows. Then all will be ready when we come together again. No time wasted, da?"
His lips pursed. Thinking.
Julian held himself from sighing exasperatedly. In some situations, stubbornness wasn’t a bad thing, but for Cortik’s case… Why was he like this. Especially in his state.
Not sure how or when to interrupt, he held back from saying anything, listening. He nodded at Aphina’s suggestion that both go before Cortik even tried.
Oh boy, this was getting on his nerves a bit. It’s… Quite annoying that Cortik seemed to show that he cared so much about someone he didn’t even f-cking know. There’s the empathy part and there’s the overdoing it. Julian wasn’t sure what to think of Cortik, really.
But then, Aphina had gotten the topic to go where Julian thought was best and less time wasting.
“Honestly, I agree with Aphina. The less time we waste with debating, the sooner we’ll get things done. Let us search the Tears for you, you’ve got time to prepare properly until we’ll come back.”
What else could he say except nearly telling Cortik to f-ck off, but he shouldn’t. The help was important, it was just frustrating to deal with someone like that.
Cortik frowned, but they did make a good point... Sitting around arguing wasn't getting anything done, and if it came down to it, they could easily knock him out or some such thing.
He frowned a bit more. "...I'm not just being tricked into staying here, am I?"
"No." Aphina's patience was being tested at this point. She sighed. "It wouldn't be right to take your arrows without proper payment—unless you intend to offer them up as tribute to me?—and I'd prefer not to let a man bleed to nothing if I can help it."
Julian was frankly quite close to just slapping Cortik on the face for his stubbornness. No you f-cking weren’t tricked to stay here against your will. While some of Aphina’s words were odd, the point was made.
“Yeah, that’s the last thing we want; you continuously bleeding for nothing,” he said.
She reached beneath her scarf, lifting the fabric just enough to show she was gripping something made of iron. Cortik wasn't quite in condition to tease out the implications before she spoke:
"I vow to bring Lodurr's Tears back to Mr. Cortik."
Oh? What’s this… Wait… He had heard of it. Well, what else was Julian waiting for? He repeated the same vow.
“I also vow to bring Lodurr’s Tears back to Cortik.”
Aphina hadn't necessarily expected Julian to fully follow suit—or had he touched something iron to swear upon? She hadn't really thought to look—but she was glad he agreed in any case.
To be honest, swearing an iron vow wasn’t literal to Julian. Regardless of touching something iron, it wouldn’t mean anything if you didn't have conviction to keep going, at least in his thoughts.
He'd have to ask soon after for anything to lead them toward the item. Maybe his circle knew something, perhaps even Yaryna could have heard about it. He wasn’t sure, but if he didn’t try as always, he wouldn't go anywhere.
Aphina smiled at Cortik.
"See? Surely this is best for everyone—we'll secure your medication, and you'll have time to fletch the arrows. And to rest, of course. If you intend to come with us bodily, we'll need you in top shape from the get-go, hmm?"
Cortik once again looked teary-eyed, apparently moved by the overwhelming show of support. ...Even if it was really more of a negotiation. No use getting caught up on details. "Understood! I'll do everything in my power to be of use to you all!"
Julian held back once more from adding commentary, seeing that Aphina was way better equipped to negotiate. At least this wasn’t a total dog-eat-dog world, but Julian knew that the surroundings weren’t as kind as imagined. He let out a small sigh of relief at the knowledge Cortik wouldn’t move from his seat. Hopefully. Not until he recovered well.
"Excellent." Aphina glanced to her shoulder to ensure her friend was still out of sight. "Could you tell us whereabouts we may be headed, then? Your caravan was on its way to trade for some of the Tears, yes?"
"Oh, er..." He deflated a bit. "We planned to find some at our next stop, yes... Though, you see, I'm not entirely sure if we expected it to be there or only hoped... And I'm also not certain where we were going."
Hm?
“The next stop…” Wait, it was… Julian didn't think he might need to ask his circle. He remembered Bas mentioning it. Once.
“Hm… I think your leader said that your caravan was headed to… Labhinn?”
To be honest, Julian had heard only rumors about this place, and oh boy were they not good. Speaking of rumors, lingering in his thoughts had brought him to a realization.
… But it’s too soon to tell if his guess was correct, there’s no way, was there…?
"Labhinn..." Cortik made a vaguely pouty thinking face before nodding. "Now, I can't say for certain that that was our next stop, but it does sound familiar! So we've at the very least been there before!" He sounded fairly triumphant for providing such little solid information.
Aphina hmm'd. "I assume you couldn't point us in that direction yourself, then?"
"Oh no, no. I still haven't the faintest idea where I am right now, let alone how to get from here to there."
So even if Cortik was there before, he couldn’t help in the end. Great. They’re literally scrambling for information at this point, it seemed.
"It's called Wolf's Rest..." she started before trailing off with a shake of her head. Either he at least knew that much, or he could find out from someone else. It was of little issue just this moment.
She turned to Julian instead. "It may not be much of a starting point, but it's certainly better than nothing. Is there any more information we need before we leave the cave, do you think?"
Not that she couldn't find out later by her own special methods, of course. But just asking might be easier. Depending.
“It’s better than nothing, indeed. But… I’ll see how exactly we’ll get there.”
Another problem to their belts, it seemed.
“We’ll ask around here. Perhaps we might have some luck, who knows. I don’t strike up a chat with everyone here often and I most certainly am not going in their business usually. So, maybe it is possible someone knows at least.”
Julian shrugged a bit, but he did have some hope that someone would have some useful information, even just barely enough to start from there. Just anything more to add. He would try. It's not like he had any choice.
Aphina nodded, then turned back to Cortik. "We'll leave you to rest now... Do let them check on your shoulder, won't you?"
Cortik responded with the toothy sort of smile of someone who was hoping you'd forgotten about that. "Yesyes... I'll keep it to a reasonable pace. Thank you both so, so much for going through the trouble—it will be worth your while, I swear!" He clasped his hands together. "Er, not on iron, though. Gotten myself into some trouble with that before."
She waved it off. "No iron required. I thank you for your services as well. We'll take all the assistance we're able to find, I'm sure. Until then."
She dipped her head and made her way out of the infirmary cave.
Julian nodded. Rest was what Cortik needed and more information collecting was always better than nothing. Now the question would be if Julian could actually get anything useful from his fellow villagers. But for now, he waved at Cortik while exiting from the infirmary.
"Until then, yeah...!"
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