The Otter — Roleplayer Guild

Ranbu no Izayoi and Esben Mathiassen

That evening, Esben would happen upon a most peculiar sight as he ventured slightly deeper into the woods where they were camping. Izayoi, apparently having wanted some alone time, could be seen in a clearing up ahead. With her, however, were two glimmering lights buzzing around the Mystrel. 

Upon approaching closer, it was more evident what those lights were: fairies. Woodland sprites that served as lesser elementals within Drana Asnaeu and western Edren. That closer inspection would also reveal each of the two figures carrying something of Izayoi’s: her whetstone and bottle of sword oil. 

For her part, it was unclear whether Izayoi was on the verge of murder or merely swatting them out of the air with her sandal, but her expression was growing more and more irritated with each passing second as the fae duo buzzed around her sitting form.

Truthfully, he had intended for his evening stroll to be just that and nothing more. Him, alone with his thoughts, enjoying the cool night-time air as it blew softly through the trees. An evening that would be far more comfortable and relaxing than any in Osprey, or even the ship that had carried them on down.

His plan, had he strayed across wherever Izayoi had chosen to go, was to simply alter his path and continue on alone. Doubtless, she would have preferred that too. Unfortunately for her, she’d been chosen for the attentions of some of the forest’s residents. He could have left them to it; perhaps he even should have done so.

Yet Esben still held a strong sense of curiosity, and in the face of something so harmless, he wasn’t one to deny it. So he had walked closer, his tread softening the moment the decision was made. Silently, he stepped into the clearing, leaning his back against one of the trees at the edge of it as he watched the scene unfold before him.

”Thieving ingrates!” Izayoi hissed in frustration, seemingly loath to resort to violence against the forest fairies as of yet. After a moment, she stilled, closing her eyes. And in a moment, vanished. With the two fairies being as close to each other as they were, Izayoi ripped her belongings out of their hands in the blink of an eye, her speed having increased a fair measure beyond what it had been in Osprey. It seemed weeks of intensive training and life-or-death battles were having their effect on her.

Her maintenance tools reacquired, Izayoi took care to secure them in a pouch before turning back to the fairies with a finger raised to lecture them.

”Do you often go about stealing what doesn’t belong to you? What a fine way to invite reprisal from those more unscrupulous!”

”Aww, this lady’s no fun, Eos…”

”No fun, Selene! No fun!”

It was then that the fae duo turned, spotting Esben.

”Oooh, what about this one? He’s dressed funny, too!”

”New friend, new friend!”

”That’s what I get for standing out in the open, is it?” He’d almost expected the pair might manage to keep playing keep-away with Izayoi’s things, despite knowing how quickly she could move. Whether they just weren’t prepared or were truly unable was a small disappointment—immeasurably better than what chaos may have resulted had Izayoi truly needed to resort to attacking them, but still a disappointment. ”I don’t have anything to give either, so don’t be thinking you can try the same game with me!”

With his hands ready to fend off any pickpocketing attempts, his eyes fell to Izayoi rather than the floating sprites. ”Do you always find strange new acquaintances everywhere you go? I thought Chisaki was a one-off.”

The two sprites, one glowing purple and the other green, began to orbit Esben nonetheless, occasionally pulling at his hair or poking him in the side. 

All the while, Izayoi sighed, sitting down atop a fallen log. 

”It is a distressingly constant pattern in my life, yes.” The ever-growing glint in her eye seemed to suggest that she was taking no small amount of satisfaction in seeing someone else be harassed in the same situation she’d just been in. 

”How much do you know of these spirits? My master once had a phase in which he believed he could provoke an Eidolon to challenge. I learned much of them by osmosis during that time. And by proxy, lesser spirits such as the fae.”

When one of the two fairies started pulling at his eyebrows, Esben’s hand shot up, gently catching her leg between his thumb and finger. ”That’s enough,” he commanded, letting the green one go after a moment. While pulling at his clothes and hair was much more preferable than trying to open up his pockets, something he was keeping a watchful eye out for, there was still the easy possibility of pushing it too far.”I’ve never encountered one, so any information I have is academic at best. The closest I’ve come were Eve and Siren.”

Once he felt he could safely take his eyes off the fairies for long enough to gauge Izayoi’s reaction, he frowned at the clear look in her eyes. ”I do hope that look isn’t just reserved for me, but I suppose I should be glad you’re getting some enjoyment out of this. Just so long as I don’t have to see that expression too often.”

”Hardly,” Izayoi huffed, though she made no move to help Esben. ”Any of you would suffer the same from myself. The gods know I could use some form of entertainment for a minute.”

”Wheeeee~” The green fairy seemed more thrilled than anything to be picked up and moved slightly before both of them continued to whirl around Esben. All the while, Izayoi sighed and rubbed her forehead, the constant movement and noise of colors threatening to give her a migraine. 

”In any case, they seem to like you. Keep this up, and they may even deign to offer a summoning pact. Though I’ve little idea of what goes on in such a process. My knowledge of spirits ends at that point.”

”Seems like a question for Cid, no?” he mused, taking some small satisfaction of his own seeing that Izayoi was struggling to follow the two flying around him just as much as he was. The mutual skadefryd made things just a bit more bearable. ”Or Isolde, not that I particularly want to deal with either for the time being.”

Or the pair of fairies, though he doubted either would give much of a straight answer.

Izayoi only returned that inquiry with a noncommittal shrug, but the fairies seemed to perk up at the mention. 

”Ooh, pact? You hear that, Eos?” The purple fairy, apparently Selene if the process of elimination was anything to go by, spoke first.

”Contract?”

Both fairies began to whiz around Esben at even faster speeds, seemingly sizing him up. More pokes and prods ensued, with Eos staring straight at Esben unblinkingly.

”Jiiiiiii~”

Perhaps he should have known this would happen the moment Izayoi mentioned anything of the sort. As it was, it was mostly thanks to his own self control that he was able to meet Eos’s stare levelly, ignoring Selene’s continual attempts at messing with his hair and clothing. ”There’s nothing really stopping either of you from following us around anyways, is there?” he asked, entirely rhetorically; the only real answer on that front would likely be ‘getting bored with the Kirins.’

But he couldn’t deny that they might be useful, assuming they could actually follow instructions. ”You’d have to behave yourselves. I’m trying to get the others to keep a lower profile, too, so that means you would have to be keeping quiet and hidden a lot of the time.”

”Oh, we can always leave if we get bored. The pact calls us back when you actually need us!” Selene piped up cheerfully. 

”I heal people!” Eos chimed in before pointing at Selene. ”She makes bad people slow!”

”—But if you wanted to, we could do the pact right now! You seem nice enough that we wouldn’t mind helping out every now and again!”

”Hmm.” Heedless of the fairies still flying around and poking at him, trying to get a faster response, Esben fell silent as he thought. Certainly, with Neve having to leave them, having some additional source of white magic to keep the group alive would be useful, and take some pressure off of Miina. In the same manner, if they could be used offensively, it could help to make up for some of what they were lacking now that Eve was gone, and once again, take some pressure off of Miina. Assuming there was more to it than just what Eos had said, which he was assuming was the case.

But he wasn’t one to enter into contracts lightly, certainly not with supernatural beings that he’d never seen before in his life. That was the stuff of story, and was nearly always presented as folly, and arrogance of the highest order if the one making the deal thought themselves able to avoid any trouble and control whatever was making it with them. ”What would the details of this pact be?” he asked, breaking his silence. ”There has to be something in it for you, beyond just entertainment travelling with us from time to time.”

”Weeelllll, there’s the small price of a chunk of your...your...what do you people call it?”

”Mmm...aether?” As much as she was helping Selene, it looked like Eos’s mind was focused on something entirely different. She almost looked...hungry?

”Yep, that! It’s not like we’re asking for your soul or your firstborn or anything. Plus, we’re not wanting as much as, say, Leviathan or Ifrit would! Besides, it comes back!”

Esben nodded once. ”Well. How about we see how well we work together, before we set anything in stone? We’re all travelling to take part in a trial of some sort right now. If the two of you care to accompany me, we can consider that a trial all its own?”

Selene tilted her head at that, giving the matter some thought. Eos seemed content to follow her lead, patiently buzzing around. After a moment, she nodded. 

”Okie! We’ll be holding back the good stuff for now, then. Just basic healing from us, maybe a little fey wind to speed and slow things down. Well, I say holding back, but that’s about the most we can actually do without a summoner feeding us aether. What you put in is what you get out, really.”

”Oh, wait!” A light seemed to shine somewhere in Eos’s brain. ”Trial? You mean Leviathan’s?”

”Right, that tracks! Hers ought to be the only one around these parts, unless it’s some silly mortal thing.”

”You would be correct. I’m not sure I’m interested in what passes for a legal trial here.”

”Oh, goodie! She probably won’t kill you unless you tick her off too badly, so…try not to? In any case, we’ll just tag along with you somewhere now.”

”Like in a funny hat! Do you have a funny hat?”

Meanwhile, Izayoi observed the proceedings, her head tilted. 

”I must admit, I am impressed. Your actually succeeding in winning these two multicolored gnats over was not an outcome I was expecting.”

Esben looked over the pair towards Izayoi, one eyebrow raised. ”Women usually find me some degree of interesting,” he replied with a shrug, before turning back to the fairies. ”I’m sure I’ll find something for you. But, then, to start this off, I do have one request of the two of you...”

He leaned in closer, whispering so that only Eos and Selene could hear him.

”Get me that ribbon she uses to tie her hair back.”
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