Many months after joining together, Godrick and Alana were finally within days' distance of her Hometown. It had been a perilous journey they had agreed to embark upon. Without so much as a lead to a new field of research, Godrick remained aimless in his goal, however.
The opportunity came to him, in the form of his companion.
Alana had managed to convince him to take the road to Northend. Through stories and tales of her homeland, she recounted the channeling of power. Runic inscriptions, empowering her people through body and soul.
It was a mystical language, appearing to individuals in hallucinations. These individuals were called the Seers. Known to be correct as often as wrong with their gifted sight.
And having already traveled for so long together, the two companions had grown comfortable around each other. No longer minding the minor inconveniences or customs the other did not share. On this particular night, they sat around the campfire's warmth staving off the icy grip of the northern lands.
Godrick sat in rapt attention focused on his grimoire, opposite of the red-haired beauty. There was a sense of fascination that lingered around him whilst he inscribed intricate esoteric symbols onto the pages of his grimoire. Arcane energies filled the letters of its pages, unseen to all but the sight of Alana's onyx-blue eyes.
An elusive shimmer danced within the very fibers of the grimoires' pages and cover.
Yet Godricks body now demanded an escape, he looked up from the Grimoire a yawn escaping him. Forcing him to notice the blur that encroached on his vision. His sight, mind, and Will could no longer be focused upon the tome so he set it aside, and crossing his hands together while he rested his elbows on his knees. Beholding the campfire in a contemplative manner.
The snowy and windy silence of the northern tundra was all that could be heard in the darkened night. There was no sound of insects or birds, only the howling cold winds, mixed with the echoes of far and away howling. Predators and beasts, animals who had recognized these lands as Northender territory.
A close-by howl woke Alana up from her nightly ritual. She had been in the process of maintaining and treating her sword. The sword in question was six inches in width from the hilt. Its length which contrasted with the small frame of the petite redhead was a staggering six feet that ended in a broadsword-like tip.
Compared to her barely above five feet stature, her usage of the blade was inconceivable to the common warrior.
Unknown runes were inscribed within the core of its steel, which glistened with the oils of animals she had hunted. Her hands stopped sharpening, as she momentarily directed her attention to her companion. Who, was observing the fire enchanted by its mysteries.
Looking around the camp she scanned for any potential predators who dared approach. Yet neither smell, sound, or visage was present. And as boredom crept upon her, a sigh escaped her lips while she lowered herself onto her back. The winds went silent once the clouds cleared, unveiling the vastness of the Dark Upper Sea.
Many celestial objects dotted her vision within the stillness of space. The twin moons, acting on their monthly traditions, its form, was the state of the half moons. The illusion of the Singular shone from the twin, who joined together in image to portray a singular moon.
The stars around it seemed like twinkling yet unmoving bugs surrounding the illusion of the Twins. Constellations were visible to her but aside from the Northern light of Marni, there was none else she recognized.
Frustrated, she turned to her companion and asked.
"Hey heretic, you have a sec'?" A slight break came in her near-formal speech pattern.
Shifting his focus onto the warrior Godrick finally took in her beautiful form as she rose. She was lit up sensuously by the yellow tongues of the fire –enhancing her beauty with her fiery red hair.
As he was taken in by the sudden sight of her sensuousness sitting by moonlight that illuminated her form from the back. The fire in front of her lit up her now haunting beauty. Godrick gulped guiltily, his heart almost wavering, unable to blame these thoughts on the fruit. For some reason despite squatting upon a log roughly as she did the work of a warrior, he found beauty in her scarred form.
Her feminine charms hugged the blade in between them and her open legs, while she sat in a crouch-like position on the log. The contrast between her feminine and rough natures was an imposing aspect of her aggressive personality. She did these things purposefully after he had rejected her first advance. His heart, still, true to a love from far away.
"Yes?" He grumbled attempting not to cast his sight upon her.
"Heh!" She smirked with a lolling laugh, catching him as he avoided a lingering gaze. A small hunger woke her mischievous, yet alluring personality.
"What were ya just thinking about, eh?" Her impish grin told him that she was ready for whatever type of fight that would come about, as she tossed her blade aside and took a more provocative and tempting pose. All the while gesturing invitingly at him with her finger.
"Nothing really, you?" He stared piercingly into the flames harder than ever before.
"Ugh!" Frustration escaped from her disgusted at him so she moved on. Since a conversation had been started she would have to conclude when the first topic had been exhausted. As per polite custom indicated.
"The stars." She replied coldly, picking up the weapon again, and cleaning off the snow that shaved off its coating.
"Hm?" He motioned the question in a suggestive manner.
"The stars, ya know? I reckon there's many and I know the Northern Light of Marni." She declared proudly.
"So more constellations than the tripled horn helm of the heroic Marni?" He closed his eyes again, running through the compendium of knowledge that was his mind.
"Well without going into specifics, would you like me to point out the constellations?" He asked, looking at her directly, now that her posing had ceased, his strains were lessened.
"Well duh we're talking ain't we?" Scathingly she answered, as her frustrations slowly crumbled.
"All right, do not fret, let us see what the night holds up above." He said, trying to sound wise.
"Yeah, 'cause there ain't none here 'parently." Her venom flowed as he deflected with poetry.
"Up above as you see the cosmos of space, no?" He began speaking in rhythm as he had first been taught.
"We call it the Dark Upper Sea of the cosmos." She added questioningly.
"An apt Name upon the concept of space, t'were it to be liquid it would be. Alas, it is space, void to all and carrier of all to celestial, whilst none but the gods remain exempt, as is in the scriptures." Satisfied with his skill he looked at her smugly.
"..." The silence that followed made his smugness soar until, "You're an idiot are ya?" Her ridicule, on point, and executed per her stance.
"Oh for the Light's sake, what now?" He cursed, disparaged by her remark.
"Just saying, all that fancy talk and I didn't understand a thing from it. Waste o' words, I say. Make em clear and direct is all, no flowers nor pageant mere words of the wyse ey." Her words rang true as Godrick reflected on them, smirking condescendingly at himself.
"You are correct. Knowledge needs no pageantry," He stood up and settled next to her. Her eyes sparked playfully for a second before he laid down, suggesting to her by tapping his hand on the ground to follow. A sigh left her at this but she followed anyway.
"Good, so you see the Marni, correct?" He asked. "Course," she repeated.
"Up above him, you can see one star that shines ever so brightly pink? Do you see?" he asked while pointing at it.
"Ay, reckon ain't ever seen no pink one till now." Her eyes remained fixated on the one star she now knew as pink.
"If you can picture imaginary lines that spread outwards from it, you will see that it contains at least 15 other stars immediately connecting to it. That is Cynthia the Healing Wind of Fertility." The sixteen stars shone connectedly. Revealing themselves to Alana, her eyes taking in a wonder of information with just this small exposure.
She saw them in their entirety, as the imaginary lines connected immediately and visibly to her. There was no error in her sight, once the last line had connected she could see; the image of Cynthia lay cemented in the sky for her to be in awe of. She was beautiful, Alana thought, and without the words to truly describe her beauty, she said the only words that she found could truly describe her.
"She's beautiful." A mesmerized response came from her shifting tone, seeming pleased Godrick continued.
Many more constellations were revealed to her. The Spear of Hadrian, The Aquila of the Empire, the Serpent, the Mouse, the Bull, and the Coin. Alana marveled in awe at all these constellations that had remained hidden from her until now. Their images, captured a vividness within her mind that even Godrick could not conceive. The two of them continued for hours on end until the flow of the conversation changed.
Discussing their lives, was no longer a mystery to either because of the current journey. So they recounted the tales of their journey reflecting on them, to the point that they re-lived them.
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The land of Northend was plagued by daily snowstorms, massive mountainous ranges, and a dangerous array of fauna made survival difficult. The tundra, in particular, was treacherous, its pure white snow capable of blinding anyone who dared to stare at the ground for too long. It was a harsh and unforgiving environment that tested even the most experienced of explorers.
Though their journey through the northern land had been perilous. Filled with all of the geographical trials and more, at this great risk, the rewards equally matched them. Godrick had taken the opportunity while traveling, to gather resources he could not acquire without venture or trade. So he met with many merchants procuring unknown materials for his research as he fomented friendships of benefit in the case that fate crossed their paths once more.
His magical research had also progressed well, once his divine powers had been severed, his studies on how to handle the body's mana had deepened. There were even a few spell constructs, he was close to solidifying. But most important of all, was his research on Forbidden Fruit which now held solid ground. The merchants he met along the road surpassed his expectations of their cunning and procurement capabilities.
He held four fruits with him now, all of them possessed different shapes, but all held patterns and gold upon their skin.
This led him to experiment with different avenues, and tools he would acquire along the way. Allowing him to identify a core that disappeared if tampered with anything but the smallest of needles. The only hypothesis he could drive from this was that it had to be related to the source of the madness.
But with no further idea on how to test this without allowing the core to dissipate, he set it aside once more.
While the travels certainly did a number on both of them, it was Godrick who had suffered the most. He had never been a person of battle or war, yet the road was not as forgiving as he. During one such occasion, on a quiet and sunny windless day. Negotiations with a group of bandits practicing their profession upon them were underway.
"I am sure you fine men and women hold no qualms with us; so I ask humbly if you would be so kind as to allow us passage Siblings," Godrick asked imploringly, throwing a quick signal with his eyes at Alana to not do anything drastic.
"No qualms Pilgrim, only business. You provide us yer belongings, we provide passage, deals of the road you see. We've taken the liking of them toll lectors from the Empire, mighty lucrative ya could say." The northern bandit stated matter of factly, his entourage agreeing with his words.
Shouts of "Yeah", or "up where I can see em", and "Why don't we just take her?" rang out.
"Now I am sure we can reach some form of understanding. She is Northender like you, and I am but a mere Pilgrim with naught but these robes and a lousy sack to my name." Godrick said clasping his robes and letting go immediately. Emphasizing their worthlessness, his briefcase had been modified and lay on the ground. Seeming like any other bag used by beggars.
"Nonsense your that er Pilgrim, the one with the Magic. Been hearing word about you. Traveling with the scarred Huntress of flaming hair and onyx eyes." Having declared them so openly beads of sweat poured from Godrick as he tried to hold Alana back. It was a second too late, as she sped past him sword at hand, weightless to her handling.
"He asked you so many times, so excuse me for being impolite, hahaha." Madness became her as she took her stance in front of the bandit leader.
"You disrespect our honor as warriors of the north, have you ever held trials, tasted power, brought low beasts stronger than yourself scum." She asked, sword flatly to him. An aura of violence seeped from her, causing the most primal of instincts to surge from the bandits, Fear.
"Marni's scrat, she's a Berserker, warriors to arms!?!" The bandit shouted to his group.
"No, Alana, stoooop!" Godrick screamed at her while he begged.
But she did not, there was no mercy in Northend.