Val and Celeste walked the trail to Mount Talon for quite some time in the dark. Val gave up all hope of reaching the village and snuggling in a nice, warm bed. She can only hope to now find a decent place to camp out.
Celeste liked traveling with Val. Val could tell that she didn't get out much, so she did her best to entertain Celeste with tails of the region. Celeste's full attention was on Val, almost forgetting the fact that they were on their way to find her brother.
"Val, do you have a family?" Celeste asked when Val ran out of interesting tid bits.
"Hmmm," Val hummed as she thought of a good response, "I wouldn't say I have one in the traditional sense. I was left at an orphanage in a small village. But when I was about ten, I made my way to Hillcrest. I joined a pick pocket crew, and they became my family."
"That seems like a sad life." Celeste said with a downtrodden attitude.
"Oh, not at all!" Val exclaimed. "It was the best thing for me. With no protection, who knows where I would have ended up. And of course, we always knew how to have a good time."
Celeste cocked her head. She was trying to understand how such a thing could be considered positive. But she has recently learned much more about the world around her, so maybe this is something else she needed to comprehend.
While they were trodding along in silence, Val felt a faint disturbance. These kinds of things only happened once in a while, but they were never wrong. She never understood what it was, but she noticed that this was a gift that only she seemed to have. She slowed her pace, and waited for the disturbance to get closer. She held her breath, and slowly took out her dagger.
Whoosh, her dagger was released from her grip with a good amount of force, before finding it's way into a tree. When she turn to see where it landed, she saw a man had dodged the attack. He looked at her with a stunned expression.
"Cosmo!" Celeste squealed, and ran into his arms.
His gaze softened when they met. He fully embraced her, and patted her head. "Where have you been? I've been looking all over for you."
From behind this man named Cosmo, another man of a similar build emerged. They were both tall, and had golden eyes. They looked strong, but lean. And it was clear that it wouldn't take much for them to overpower someone.
"I am sorry, brother." Celeste explained. "I got lost, and I couldn't find you. Thankfully, Val came and saved me before anything bad could happen."
Now that both Celeste and Cosmo were looking at her, Val could see the similarities. They both looked otherworldly, in an attractive way. It almost felt as though his eyes contained a blaze. While Celeste's eyes were more like a calm sea with a light breeze. They both had jet black hair, his was close to the head, but it did come to just above the eye with a light wave pattern. Val kept looking at the two, because even though much about them seemed the same, there was something different as well.
Val shook her head, not wanting to seem rude. But before she could speak, Cosmo answered her unasked question. "We have the same father, but different mothers."
Val nodded, she didn't want to pry any further. "Well, since we have a happy family reunion, why don't I just take my leave."
"No!" Celeste shouted. "You should stay with us. We are also going to Antronal. It would be much safer to travel together."
Cosmo looked at Celeste. It seemed like he didn't want to disappoint her, but he couldn't just trust a random woman he just met. Thinking about what to say, he looked back at Val. Val was a bit uncomfortable with the state, but she wasn't one to back down. She simply straightened up, then walked past him to retrieve her dagger.
The unidentified man leaned closer to Cosmo, and said, "Perhaps we should let her stay with us for the night. It's not safe to be alone at night."
Cosmo gave him a look before relenting. "Fine, Val, is it? Stay with us at our camp tonight. Tomorrow we can discuss any other plans."
Val turned around, wiping off the tree residue off of the dagger. "That sounds good to me. I'm not planning on being a burden to you. I can make off on my own tomorrow."
"Good." That was all Cosmo said before turning to leave. He grabbed Celeste's hand, and walked off.
The other man cleared his throat. "Ahum, I should introduce myself. My name is Orion."
Val smiled at him, and replied. "And I'm Val. Nice to meet you. I take it that Mr. Dark and Brooding is very protective of his little sister?"
Orion chuckled a bit. "I would say that he is over protective of her. But he is right to be upset today. The others were entrusted with keeping her safe, but they lost her in unfamiliar territory."
The two walked together, looking at the siblings. It was apparent that, even though Cosmo was rather gruff, he held Celeste in a high place in his heart. He was listening to every word as she recounted the events of the day.
"They look very close." Val observed with a bemused smile on her face.
Orion kept his eyes ahead, as though he were keeping watch. "You could say that. Cosmo is a good bit older than Celeste, but when he learned that he had a little sister, he made sure to visit her often. He is taking her with us on this journey because she begged him non-stop to show her the outside world. She's lived her entire life with her mother, and her mother's people. She always enjoyed our stories about traveling, but her mother was too scared to let her only daughter leave."
"So, he has to be extra careful with her, or else, he'll be in a sticky situation." Val winked at Orion. He nodded in agreement. They were relatively quiet the rest of the way. It had been a long day, and Val was ready to just eat and rest a bit.