Ties to the Wanderer: Part Two

Also by draikmistress123

Part Two: Seek the Wanderer

A blue Shoyru appeared in the doorway.

     Keladra jumped up, yelling, "Lyco!"

     She almost knocked him over as she hugged him, joy apparent in her voice, her expression, everything about her.

     The Shoyru had dark brown hair, cut short. He was wearing plain brown pants and an equally plain brown tunic. His eyes sparkled merrily as he received Keladra's hug.

     Then he saw Will.

     "Aki," he said, gently detaching the Kacheek, "who is this?"

     He grinned a bit and stood when the Shoyru came in, bowing again and offering his hand to shake. "Hey there. Name's Will, friend of Keladra's. You their neighbor or something?"

     The sisters simultaneously appeared to choke, then, ceasing to restrain it, both broke out in helpless laughter.

     "I," the Shoyru said, with a bit of a smile as well, "am their brother."

     He blushed a bit, but it was sort of hard to see under his fur. "Sorry about the... erm... confusion." He grinned nervously, sitting back down and laughing a bit as well. "You're not the first person I've messed up on, believe me!" Will tried to appear completely calm, but we all know he wasn't doing such a great job.

     Chuckling, the Shoyru sat down as well, noticing for the first time the supper. Blinking in confusion, he began, "Kel, wh-"

     Akirinia shot him a not-now glance, and he subsided, returning to introductions.

     "My name, as you may have guessed from Kel's enthusiastic greeting, is Lyco. Actually, that's a nickname of sorts, but it's a long story." He began to serve himself some of the meat-and-potatoes.

     "In any case, I'm supposed to tell you that Dia's alive. She got a bit lost and couldn't find anywhere to send a letter from. She ended up having to send me."

     Both of the sisters sighed in relief. They had been quite worried.

     "But... I have this suspicion that there's something more to all this, something even Dia doesn't know about..."

     It was now Will's turn to choke a bit. "Something more?" he asked, still maintaining his composure. "Well... at least she's alive, right?" he asked, suddenly losing his appetite. He'd had enough of the 'things that so-and-so might not know about'. He'd seen enough of it himself.

     "Oh, I'm sure nothing much has happened, or at least, it hadn't when I left. But there were these little things, like getting lost like that, that make me wonder."

     Keladra thought about that. She could think of a number of possibilities, most of them extremely unlikely.

     But one... One was very likely.

     This had to do with the last trip.

     The trip to Faerieland.

     "Then we shouldn't be just sitting here," he commented, possibly thinking out loud. If he wasn't glad for a moment to rest, he was ready to hit the road again for whatever reason there may be. Hey, he was a strange guy.

     "Aye," Lyco said. "We shouldn't, but it's far too late to begin a journey, and I just arrived. I need some rest."

     The supper finished (with plenty left over, for Keladra had made a great deal too much), Keladra and Lyco arose and cleared the table.

     The two of them then went up the spiral stairs in the entry hall, but Akirinia arose and went into the living room, beckoning for Will to follow.

     Will obeyed, following her into the living room. Was there more explaining to do, or more regular conversation? Eh, either way, he had a few questions to ask, even though he knew they wouldn't really enjoy questioning.

     As soon as they entered the room, the Acara lost her composure.

     She collapsed onto a beanbag chair.

     "Oh!" she sobbed. "Oh, oh, oh..."

     She was weeping, her face in her hands, rocking back and forth ever so slightly...

     "What's wrong?" he asked worriedly. "You feeling alright, or do you need help with something... what?" Will wasn't exactly sure on what to do during times like these, and never was.

     "Y-you saw the look on her face, when Lyco came in... I can't do that for her. Dia's her rock, her stronghold, a steady presence in her life. Lyco is the rope that ties her to that rock, when she's too far away to touch it herself. But I... I am the little flower that landed in her hair. I am nothing. She is drifting, drifting away, and I am powerless to stop it..." She started sobbing again, her illusion of calm composure destroyed.

     "I did see it." He nodded, though he didn't seem to agree with anything the Acara said. "Well, if you want to stop it, we've got to get a move on and try to find Dia. We can't just sit here and expect her to come back unexpectedly," Will said, taking a seat in another one of the beanbag chairs. "I'm ready to head out when you are."

     Lyco appeared at the doorway.

     "Then let's go," he said.

     "I'm ready when you all are," he repeated, standing and smirking a bit. "Should we take Keladra with us, or should she stay? I think she'd be relieved to see her sister more than we all would."

     Akirinia managed a weak smile behind Will, knowing what the answer was.

     But it was Lyco who replied:

     "Only I am going with you."

     "You absolutely sure?" he asked, raising a brow. "I think Kel should go with us. Y'know, she'd like to see Dia, and it'll only take longer for her to if we have to bring her back to her," he pointed out.

     This time it was Akirinia, her calm returned, who replied:

     "Keladra is not strong enough to make such a journey. Nor am I."

     "You know, you may not think you can make it, but you do know that a blind child travels with us and can even wield a sword with great accuracy, right?" he asked, grinning a little. "I think he'd be strong enough to make this journey, and I'm pretty sure both of you would be able to as well."

     "You don't understand," the Acara said. "I do not mean strong in body. I mean strong in mind, in heart."

     Lyco nodded.

     He finally got it, and nodded in understanding. "I see. Well, should we head out?" Will knew he'd never be able to convince them to go with him and Lyco, so he knew he shouldn't bother.

     The Shoyru nodded again, and they left.

     The Lost Desert, despite not being lost, still deserved its name.

     It was very easy to get lost there.

     Fortunately, they did not.

     When they reached Sakhmet, the sun had just begun to set.

     "Wow, unbelievable, huh?" Will asked Lyco, sort of amazed at the sights of Sakhmet. "Nice sights, I'm pretty sure most of the food is decent, and it's perfect weather for swimming if you find an oasis or two!" he marveled.

     Lyco had come back to Brightvale from Sakhmet, so he did not reply, instead saying, "We need to find somewhere to stay for the night."

     "Like where?" he asked, scratching his head. "Do you know of any places? You've been here before, haven't you?" Will raised a brow, crossing his arms as he followed Lyco.

     "Now that I think about it," Lyco replied, "Dia and I camped just outside the city. I should look for her." So saying, he turned around and headed back out of the city, flying up above so as to scan the ground more swiftly.

     Will scoffed, shaking his head a little. "So, he just leaves me out here? Real nice, man, real nice." He sort of smirked as he spoke, and went on to enjoy himself in the Sakhmet marketplace.

     ~~~~~~~~~~~

     Soon Lyco found what he was looking for. Not realizing that Will was not following him, he landed, entering the tent...

     "Oh, no," the Shoyru said, horrified at what he found.

     ~~~~~~~~~~~

     "Psst," a voice whispered from an alley. "Come here, Gelert, I wish to show you something..."

     Will stopped, glancing at the alley from which the voice came from. Raising a brow, he looked around to make sure he wasn't hearing anything. "Yes?" he asked, turning to face the alley.

     A black sphere of -well, he might have said light, but it so clearly wasn't that- appeared before him. There was something oddly beckoning about it as it spread out into more of a disk shape, the sibilant voice whispering, "Come closer, closer..."

     ~~~~~~~~~~~

     The tent was in ruins.

     Lyco examined the wreckage, turning to ask Will what he thought of it-

     -then realized that Will hadn't followed him.

     "Oh, no," he groaned. "He must have lost me when I took off..."

     ~~~~~~~~~~~

     From his own memories, Will knew he probably should avoid the darkness. And yet, he had to wonder what it was wanting with him. "What do you want?" he asked frankly, staring at it for a moment. "You obviously aren't some salesperson, or anything, that's for certain." He smirked to himself, since he believed he knew something of this thing.

     The voice hissed slightly, then a new but similar one whispered, "You came here seeking something. I know where to find that which you seek..."

     The disk flashed, an image forming on it as though it was a mirror. No, as though it was a window, but a window which looked into a place far away.

     The image was of a blue Wocky, her black hair flowing about her like a cloak, her eyes laden with sorrow.

     There was something familiar about the brown dress she wore...

     The stars!

     The skirt of the dress had the Brightvale star in four places: one on the front, one in the back, and one on each side.

     Just like Keladra's.

     The Wocky's dress was the same as Keladra's.

     Will was quite amazed at what he saw. That had to be Dia! There was no question about it, it was the missing one! Now, that was quite the discovery. "So... you say you have what we're looking for, but how do you plan to give that to us?" he asked, still suspicious.

     A few chuckles. No, giggles. No, the sound was cackling! It was not a pleasant sound.

     "Did I ever say," the voice replied, "that I had it? I said that I knew where it was.

     "As for your question," the first voice added, "did we say that, either?"

     More cackling.

     "Well, aren't you the little dealmaker?" Will laughed, crossing his arms as he stared at the disk-like thing for a moment. "Well, 'wordplay master', how about this? Will you not never tell us where she is?" he asked, raising a brow at the thing.

     Even more cackling resounded at that.

     "Clever one, eh?" the first voice called.

     "Well, 'tis for us to know and you to find out!" the second voice added.

     And the disk returned to a sphere, the image vanishing, tendrils reaching out for Will...

     What the... Will was quite surprised, no doubt about that. The shock of the things reaching out for him somehow froze him in his tracks. He paused for a moment, sort of staring. He knew he should run, he just couldn't.

     And that was the last thing he knew before darkness engulfed him.

     He could hear the cackling resounding all about him.

To be continued...