Chương 218: Another?

"Wait? Now you're officially courting? W-what have you been doing for the past years then?" Auntie Dove asked, clearly stupefied by Kite's mentioning of recent relational development.

"There there, love," Auntie Crow said with a gentle pat of her wife's head from where she sat next to her.

"Things are a bit different these days. And you know how adventurers can be. Our way isn't everyone's."

"Thank you, auntie-" Kite began, but was interrupted as Crow continued.

"And besides they have, for all intents and purposes, been courting for years already. They just didn't know it themselves yet," the onyx-haired celestine finished with a wry smile while casting Kite a knowing glance.

It was surprisingly rare these days for Kite to find himself alone with his adopted mothers, but as Raven was toddling along after Sprite, Glint and Dragonfly, Will and Laevyeth sat meditating and Verdant Evergreen had been sequestered in the astral space since her arrival, they had found themselves a blessed moment of quiet which Kite very much enjoyed. Smug remarks or not.

"Well, I will admit that the actual conversation was a bit belated. Just a little," Kite ventured in reply before sipping his tea.

"Still, it does feel liberating. And a bit odd to actually confront something unsaid that has been lingering between us. In hindsight, it feels odd to have felt such trepidation."

"The boy is at least making some sense now," Dove grumbled while Crow only chuckled in response.

"Time flies when life is busy, little Kite. A day's hesitance can lead to years flying by before you know it. Hopefully you will have found something to learn from this," she said before taking a dignified sip of tea herself.

"And we are happy for you, dear. Sarcasm or not."

"Well, I'm happy to hear that, as Dragonfly and I were talking quite a lot through the night. And as a result, you might have to suffer through some more construction being done with the compound. The two of us just sharing what was supposed to be a guest house just doesn't feel fitting. Honestly, it hasn't in quite some time."

"We shall manage, little Kite. What did you have in mind?" They spent some time with Kite going through his ideas and receiving pointers from his aunties, as well as bribing Auntie Dove with Kite promising to import a proper greenhouse to her in exchange for her having to once again redo part of her garden. Only when a soaking wet yet happy Raven came running into the house - dragging in what seemed like half of the snow in the compound in her wake - did they have to break their talks to intervene.

"Bwothew! I made the biggetht thnowball but then Spwite came and made anothew one and-" The toddler was all too happy to talk Kite's ears off until she suddenly seemed to remember something, aura shifting from excitement to sullen disappointment in the mercurial way common to children.

"But I don't want you to go…"

"I know, little Raven. But this time it will be quicker. Uncle Walker awaits me in Convergence. But if you can be a really nice little chick until I get back, I might just have a present for you."

"Weally?"

"Really," Kite replied, ignoring the pointed look from Auntie Dove as he was - once again - spoiling his little sister rotten.

"Fine…" the toddler eventually said, hugging him a bit closer.

"But I'll mith you."

"And I'll miss you too. But at least there is one good thing about missing you. Because it means that I'm going to be even happier as soon as I return." This statement had Raven lean back and ponder it for a while, her little mind processing the implications of the statement before she eventually reached a verdict.

"Bwothew. You awe thilly."

"I might just need to expand this vessel of mine, given how rich in company I am these days," Kite noted as he looked around those gathered in the small but decently cosy space inside the shrinkable boat which was currently carried by Glint on the final stretch towards Convergence. When ordering the vessel, Kite had thought that six seats inside would be more than enough, but with Will, Laevyeth, Dragonfly, Sprite and himself all inside, the boat's limitations was showing.

"If my aunties and Raven are coming too, things become quite logistically challenging."

"I don't mind though. It's pretty cozy," Dragonfly replied and leaned into Kite's arm, with him idly stroking her hair. This wasn't out of the ordinary though, and Kite was by now quite certain that Jarvan and the others had been right; they had indeed already been living and acting as a stable couple for a long, long time. Any further thoughts were interrupted though as a pair of auras were suddenly projected from below and off a bit into the distance.

Silvers, and two which both Kite, Dragonfly and Will recognized.

"We'll see if you feel the same in a moment, given that we're about to have company," Kite replied while sending his mental assent to Glint to adjust her course towards the spirits acting as beacons. The doors to the cabin had barely opened after setting down before it burst wide, allowing a skittering swarm of rats to make their entrance along the ceilings and walls.

"Ooo, finally! A ride! And hi Kite! Dragonfly! Oh, and Will too! You're back~!" They who Wander called in a small chorus of exuberant voices which soon melded into one as the woman reformed. She looked much like her former self, with the brown pixie-cut and ever-roaming eyes as she took in the interior of the vessel and its occupants.

"Darn, are we lucky you came along. I was just complaining to Braid and- Hey, Braid, get in here! And close the door~!"

"It's not my fault you just rushed off like that. Not all of us can stretch out to cover such a distance," came the familiar voice of Braid Spun from Honesty as the weaver entered after his companions.

"And speaking of… Wander, you'd best scatter again if we're all going to fit in here. Not that we mind the company, and not having to walk the final stretch to Convergence on foot."

"Hey, you're a silver, Braid. You can just hang outside, flapping in the wind like a kite. Pun not intended~."

"Wander…"

"Fine, fine. It'll let me say hello to the new ones anyway~," the woman sighed before scattering into a - blessedly - small number of rats who crawled up the walls before they converged on Sprite. The elf girl just sat shell-shocked after the abrupt entrance, and didn't seem to know what to do with herself as a rat climbed into her lap and somberly gave a little Hua-Xi bow.

"Hey there! I'm They who Wander! And this is Braid! And aren't you just the cutest thing, all serious and driven~," the rat greeted happily.

"I… am called Sprite," Dragonfly's student began, still a bit stunned.

"Little Sun Sprite."

"Ooo, pretty name. How come you're here then? Because you're waaaaay too old to be Kite's and Dragonfly's kid. It hasn't been that long since we saw them. Oh, and you're an elf too, I suppose. That doesn't seem to stop Fertility though~."

"She's my student, Wander, so be nice," Dragonfly replied with a roll of her eyes, stepping in as poor Sprite didn't seem to know how to react to this development even after just under a year spent around her mentor and the other silvers.

"Of course, of course! Don't worry, Sprite! I'll teach you all the fun stuff that Dragonfly won't~!" the little rat stage-whispered with a wink before a few of her other bodies approached Laevyeth.

"And who are you then? Good aura control I can barely sense you- you…~" For once, it was Wander's time to trail off as she got closer to Laevyeth who took the inspection with more equanimity. More of her bodies joined the first, sniffing at the spear-woman.

"Hey, no way! You're an outworlder~!" the swarm of rats soon called in happy unison, causing the others gathered to start slightly in surprise. But that was nothing compared to what came next.

"I'm an outworlder too! Well what are the odds of actually running into another~?"

"Wha-""Wait, what?"

"Another?" The chorus of surprised exclamations caused both Wander and Laevyeth to look around, with one of the rats climbing up on the spear-woman's shoulder to look at them quizzically.

"What~?" she asked into the stunned silence.

"Wander," Kite eventually ventured.

"You are an outworlder too?"

"Well, yeah. I said so, didn't I?"

"But…"

"But you haven't noticed? Well don't be too hard on yourselves. I'm really good at hiding it. Worked really hard on it too. And besides, most don't even know what to look for as most don't know outworlders exist. A hint is to look for the scent of spring~."

"It's true, actually," Braid added a bit sufferingly, seeing the bemused expressions of the other.

"She does smell a bit like the spring. Fascinating, but quite hard to explain. And yes, I knew. But Wander doesn't like telling just anyone, so I let her choose when to make the revelation. Apparently, now was the time."

"Well I just don't want to let that define me. I'm my own woman, and won't be decided by some cosmic whoopsie which left me suddenly sitting alone in a wrecked ritual room. And besides, there were some nasty people shortly after that getting all kinds of weird ideas when they heard of it. Good thing though that the super hot elf with the solid blue eyes helped me out.

Decent fellow, but I still thought it best to just go somewhere rural enough so that no one would know enough to ask any kind of relevant questions~." Her explanation did cause two and two to add together inside Kite's head as he recognized the story.

"Wait, you mean Sir Ilmaril? Ilmaril Thenston?"

"Yeah, that's right. But how did you know that~?"

"He's one of my closer superiors in Gauntlet. Gold-ranker. Prison confluence. Very dignified. He actually helped Laevyeth here too, and mentioned other outworlders he had met. Among them, one peculiar young lady who declined offers of help and simply set out on her own along with the rat essence she had somehow found. That was you, wasn't it?"

"Hah, well I bet he was plenty confused. Didn't have an aura sense at that time, and besides I couldn't have read it anyway even should I have wished. But yeah, it felt good to just get away from what seemed like places with too much power. Too many and too powerful essence-users in one place still gives me bad vibes these days. Give me a nice, rural and low-magic place for a few more decades any day~."

"But where are you from then? If you don't mind telling?" Dragonfly asked, turning to the closest of Wander's bodies who sat in a nearby window.

"Oh, I don't. But the answer will disappoint you, as I don't actually know too much. I came from a big city, but was probably in my teens when I actually learned that it was called Regalus. Or was that the country? Or world? I don't know actually. We street kids were more busy staying alive. But what I did know was that there were essence-users were there too, but they were generally a lot meaner. Some kind of ruling caste beneath the Primus, whoever that was. If you saw one, you ran as quickly as you could.

Way nicer here. Sure, there's plenty of us here too, but at least the bag is a lot more mixed. Overall I'm very pleased with how things turned out, given that I was about to be sacrificed as fuel for the ritual of some nobody-crimeboss and his thugs. And now I'm a silver-ranker with friends, adventure, and spying on people to my heart's content~." The explanation was indeed brief, and raised quite a lot more questions than it answered.

But it did cause Kite to reevaluate a lot of his earlier assumptions of the woman and her quirks; manners whose odd nature were indeed proved to be alien more than idiosynchratic. Or at least both, he decided as he saw the playful rat swarm in constant motion and interaction. Wander was probably a bit odd even back from wherever she came. Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"Well, I thank thee for sharing, Wander," Laevyeth eventually said with a smile.

"It does feel most fortuitous for us to meet. We shouldst sit down and share experiences in the future. Thanks to my Lord and Kite, I know a quite a bit of this world, but there are a lot of matters where I would appreciate a fellow outsiders perspectives."

"Oh you got it! We can have all kinds of outworlder girl-talk~!"

"Which is different from normal girl-talk how?" Dragonfly asked, curious and miffed at being excluded in equal measure.

"Well, you'd have to be an outworlder to understand~," Wander teased in return, and the conversation devolved into surprising normalcy as Convergence came into view in the distance.

"Truly -," Kite thought, "- what kind of life am I living that the revelation of there being not one but two from beyond our world present can be dropped upon us, and we somehow find it not too much out of the ordinary?" As it turned out, Braid and Wander were heading back to Convergence in the same errand as Kite, Dragonfly, Will and Laevyeth. Uncle Walker had called upon them all, which made Kite most curious as to what the guildmaster wanted to discuss with them; the bulk of the guild's silver-rankers.

Will had, of course, joined the guild soon after his return even though Laevyeth still preferred to keep a more secluded profile towards most of the world. This still left the guild's main meeting chamber in their Convergence guildhall quite full as they all gathered. Walker, with Spring at his right, presided over the meeting from one end of the low, oval table.

Outside of Kite, Dragonfly, Will and Laevyeth - the latter in her spear form resting against the wall just behind her wielder - Soul was there too, as well as a human iron-ranked woman Kite had not met before, dressed in the robes of Knowledge's clergy while openly wearing the guild's badge.

Braid and Wander rounded out the group gathered around the table, even though the latter stayed true to form and was currently scuttling all over the room with only parts of herself occupying her seat in the shape of a dozen rats balancing on each others' shoulders with surprising grace.

"Fortune be praised for most of you arriving together. It does save us a lot of waiting around," Walker said as he looked around the room.

"First of all, most of you haven't met Clarity of Wit, acolyte of Knowledge and our new archivist." At his gesture, the priestess rose and bowed to the silvers in turn. She was, of course, most polite even though Kite could feel that she wasn't as intimidated by the room full of silvers as most irons probably would be.

This was rather common among members of the clergy however, given their closer communications with actual deities, so Kite supposed that some middling essence-users didn't stand up too well in the comparison.

"Greetings, all. As guildmaster walker said, my name is Clarity of Wit, and I was guided here by my Lady Knowledge in search of an opportunity. I want you to know that my goddess sees and recognizes each and every one of you for how you are spreading connection throughout the north here, the very foundation required for knowledge to spread." Everyone gave their own greetings, even though the acolyte - true to form for one of her ilk - did seem to know everyone's name already.

And before he even had the time to ask, the iron-ranker turned to Kite.

"I would also like to mention that I have been apprised of your part in taking actions against certain… undue activity in the region. Trust in my goddess, through me, to add what help I can." Kite glanced towards Walker who gave a brief nod and a glance which said 'There's a story here. I'll tell you later' before the guildmaster once more addressed them all.

"The rest of you know each other though, even if you'd better prepare to welcome more among your ranks as some of our bronzes are very close to reaching silver too now," he said, glancing towards Spring who sat primly at his side.

"But for now, it will be you who'll lead the efforts of a new undertaking for the guild."

"Oh? Pray tell, Master Walker," Will asked, and similar sentiments soon followed from the rest.

"Our organization has received a contract," Walker explained, waving towards a set of heavy scrolls which lay rolled up before him.

"The Tengu clan want our assistance in searching for some elements of 'you know who' which are suspected to have left the capital for the north. They are apparently quite busy with activity in the Heavenward itself, and decided that retaining us locals would be more efficient. Given their generous offer and us already being involved, I found no reason to object. This has given us the opportunity to give out contracts of our own to our members. Ones I hope that you will accept. Wander, a little help please?"

"You got it, Walker~!" the rat swarm cheered as one, and some of its members were soon handing out smaller scrolls to each of the silvers present.

"As I said, I believe that this is important, but you are free to decline. Please give such a response soon though, so we can adjust our plans accordingly." Walker turned to Braid and Wander first, continuing.

"I don't believe you'll be much surprised to hear that you will be the one who I'll work the hardest, at least initially. Gathering information around settlements is leaning into your strengths, after all, and I would prefer to send you to do the actual investigation of leads the others will turn up."

"Hear that Braid? We're strong. Plenty strong~," Wander called happily as some rats rose to their hind legs and struck flexing poses.

"We'll carry this mission for you, guildmaster~! It was a while since I got to really peek around Orchard too."

"I'm glad to hear it, although Orchard will just be your initial deployment. Prepare to travel a bit as needs dictate," Walker replied.

"The rest of you… Well, I deeply respect each and every one, but subtle investigations aren't really your forté. Still, I would ask you to go out and take ordinary contracts in these assigned regions if possible. Keep your eyes, ears and spirits open to anything suspicious and send it back to us. Priestess Clarity here will help sort through it all, related to our mission or not as it never hurts to know the goings on of the kingdom. And if we find any promising leads needing to be dealt with…

Well, trust that you will be called upon." Of all the silvers present, Soul was the only one who had only taken a quick glance at her scroll before once more sitting back in meditation. Walker, of course, noticed and chuckled as he addressed the celestine.

"Soul here will be our reserve, remaining here to be sent out only once we know more where she can direct her ministrations of Warrior's creed. I figured that you would not want to go contract-hunting and be away from your arena for too long anyway."

"In that you assumed correctly," Soul replied.

"But give me the chance at a challenge, Walker, and I will go where you wish. Briefly."

"Also, note that we would, if possible, like for you to check in on our latest set of roving teams, should the opportunity arise. It never hurts to give them some encouragement and pointers to show that their senior brothers and sisters are looking out for them. Questions?"

"If we should happen upon these foul characters ourselves, are we free to deal with them as we see fit?" Will asked, furling up his scroll and tucking it away.

"You are," Walker replied.

"But please use your best judgement. Reporting and waiting are much preferred to you finding yourselves in over your heads. You all know that our targets can be quite tricky, and often surrounded by others to fight their battles. But as you've also seen, you don't have to leave this instant. We expect this to take place over months."

As no one else had questions to be put before the whole group, the meeting was adjourned, which left Kite seeking out his uncle while the others were still gathered in the room and talking.

"Little Kite?" Walker asked, and Spring too perked up as Kite drew close.

"Uncle. Spring," Kite greeted in turn.

"I just wanted to inform you that there were some things which I procured in Vitesse for us to sit down and consider. Do you have some time?"

"Oh? You managed to get a hold of some of the essences then? That's my boy," Walker replied.

"We should have time right away. Come, let's go to my office." They soon settled down in the smaller, more cozy space that was Walker's office, complete with a series of lovingly kept bonsai decorating the desk and window sills. Together with the many shades of well-treated wood which made up the furniture and interior, Kite felt that Walker had really made the space his own during the years. Even if he would not point out to the older man that he had perhaps finally come to enjoy the position he was in.

"Don't keep us in suspense, boy! What was the haul?" Walker asked eagerly, leaning forward over his desk.

"Better than I'd dare dream, to be honest," Kite replied, whereafter he got to enjoy seeing his uncle's jaws drop after he started arraying the essences in question in a row.

"Dimension, magic and rune for a gate confluence. Probably the most expensive investment of the guild to date. If this won't result in a portal power, then Fortune has truly taken offense by our actions. But I did decide to go for some other options too, even if they're a bit of a gamble.

This combination of mirror, cloud and balance felt like it might have a chance together with some of the awakening stones I managed to snag; one stone of connections, two stones of the gate, three stones of travel, a stone of the tunnel, among others. We could also add them to a combination along with the tree essence and other more nature-aspected ones for what I believe would be a chance for something along the lines we're hoping for."

"Senior brother Kite, this is a king's ransom in essences and stones. Did the fruit really sell for that much?" Spring asked, sounding a bit awed as she leaned forward to inspect the mind-boggling cube that was the dimension essence.

"Ah, right. I haven't had the chance to tell you," Kite realized, finding a bit of smug glee in the look of Uncle Walker mentally bracing himself again.

"The fruit sold for four diamond-ranked spirit coins, and it secured me a tentative alliance with a greater organization of magical creatures calling themselves The Grove. One of their numbers will be residing with us for an extended time and help us learn more of the tree within the astral space. And as to the coins, I spent a great deal securing us these essences, but I have stashed one and a half with the guild's bank and kept one for myself.

This should give us plenty of room to consolidate and stabilize the guild for the foreseeable future." At that point it seemed that Walker could no longer help himself, sitting back in his chair with an almost dazed impression.

"Oh sweet heavens. Run a little guild, they said. It'll be a small thing, they said," the older man murmured.

"And now the cheeky little boy comes home with such fortunes for us… Do you know what you've gone and done, Kite? Now this old man will have to step up his game even further instead of settling down to relax at this lofty position of mine," he accused with faux consternation, even though his sour facade broke only a few seconds later as he joined Spring in inspecting the impressive array of essences and stones now decorating his desk.

"Jokes aside though, you've done a wonderful thing for us here, little Kite," he continued, poking the swirling cloud essence.

"We're going to do our best to live up to the investment you've made with us. Where the first step, I suppose, will be to figure out how by the gods we'll find someone reliable and loyal enough to give this particular set," Walker said, pointing towards the combination that would result in the gate confluence.

"It would be hard to keep someone like that close with a contract alone, as the powers they'll get will just mean that they could easily up and disappear to some far away place whenever they please."

"That does feel like a challenge, yes," Kite agreed with an overly sympathetic nod.

"How fortunate, then, that we have such a wise and dedicated guildmaster to handle tough decisions like that."

"Oh no. Oh no no, little Kite. By the heavens, you're not saddling me with this alone," Walker protested, giving Kite a withering glare.

"You'll keep an eye out as well and help me evaluate any prospects brought before us, or so help me I'll resign and run for the woods at once!" Even though it was, of course, pure bluster, Kite couldn't help but agree that his uncle had a point. Had he been in Walker's stead, he surely would have felt the same when given such a task.

"Fine, uncle. Fine. As I am ever the polite and emphatic young man you helped raise, I suppose that I will help shoulder this burden," he replied sweetly before his features turned more pensive.

"But as you said, we'll have to really think this through. Even though I'd love for a potential portal user to start practicing right away, we are better off choosing the right person rather than rushing it. Fortune willing though, our travels and travails in the upcoming months will deliver us some alternatives."

They spent a few more minutes speculating on the type of person they might want, but it turned out to be quite a challenging prospect as people and the myriad circumstances surrounding them weren't as easily and clearly categorized as one might think. As such, Kite soon changed the subject.

"Before we rejoin the others, I did have gifts for the both of you," Kite added, and started rifling through the special dimensional pouch he now carried which would make sure that living plants were kept thriving for extended periods of time.

"As Vitesse is the city of flowers, the theme probably won't surprise you." He presented them both with a single vine growing in a small pot, clearly temporary with the intent to transfer the plant to a more suitable vessel in the future. Both vines had buds and leaves dotting their lengths even though none of them had yet bloomed.

"When the botanist presented these, I thought of you two. They're apparently called union vines. Alone, they will not truly bloom, but when planted and cultivated along another of their kind they will apparently come to grow in a way unique to each pair. It's even said to be influenced by those taking care of them, and since the two of you seem to spend most of your time together these days, I thought it a nice pastime for both of you. With the both of you having the plant essence and all."

"Oh? Such a nice gift, little Kite. I am sure that they will make for a nice addition to this very office," Walker replied, curiously examining the vine and its buds while studiously ignoring the rather intense look which was now radiating from Spring's eyes as she too gazed upon hers, with a smile much like that of someone who had just received the most powerful weapon they had seen to this day. Kite left them like that, suppressing a smile of his own as he let the doors close behind him.

Having recently been on the receiving end of quite some nudge in the relationship department, he just couldn't resist the opportunity to pay it forward. That very same evening, Kite sat in the evening chill atop the rooftop of their Convergence guildhall. While not the same bustling metropolis as Heavenward, the mercantile city still bustled quite impressively even in the dark winter evening, with plenty of lights dotting the cityscape beyond in a variety of colors.

The guildhall contributed as well, of course, but this night Kite had lit another lantern which sat on the roof beside him and cast its purple glow. It was a good spot for meditation, and the chill was of little consequence to a silver-ranker like him. But as the hours drew long, Kite let himself float down to once again rest directly on the tiled roof as he sighed.

"It was perhaps too much to hope that she would be around tonight. Perhaps tomorrow-" A subtle flicker in his aura perception caused Kite to instantly jolt to alertness as the presence he sensed was quite a lot closer than what he was comfortable with. He shot to his feet before he knew it, creating proper footing for himself through panes for force which let him step out into the air. A dozen heartbeats followed, and then a dozen more before the evening calm was broken by another voice, cold and flat.

"Pathbreaker. You are fortunate. I was just about to leave the city when I saw the lantern," Dancer on the Broken River said as she emerged from behind a nearby chimney on feet silent enough to pass silently enough for even Kite's silver-ranked hearing to pick out. As always, the aura of Pain's acolyte felt a bit like a naked blade, and Kite was both impressed and terrified of how her control of it kept steadily growing.

As for the rest of her, he could feel that she too had progressed, even if it wasn't at his pace. Still, for one without the official support of the Adventure Society, it was impressive for her to have advanced her powers as much as she had at all.

"Given your investment in the matter I bring to you, Dancer on the Broken River, I might count you to be the fortunate one," Kite said, not taking his attention off the pale-haired woman. He wasn't sure, but he thought the thin mesh of scarring which covered her skin had grown even more elaborate than the last time they had met.

"We have received a contract. One which I believe you might want to partake in, as it pertains to our common foe." Even as he spoke, Kite had felt the intensity of River's attention increasing as she had started piecing together where his words were going. Still, it rose to a crescendo as she took a single step and a graceful leap to land at the rooftop before him.

"Tell me. Now."