Chapter Text
Meetings were the worst.
Not only were they beneath someone as great as Veldora, the Storm Dragon; they were also incredibly boring. Usually Veldora passed the time reading manga, leaving the uninteresting parts to his partner. Ryn was far better at things like diplomacy and strategy. Truly, she was the brains to his brawn. But this time she was preoccupied elsewhere, and had left him with instructions. “It’s just a routine check-in with our city planning team,” she’d said. “Rigurd will take notes, so all you have to do is make your appearance, listen respectfully, and if they ask you to make any decisions tell them you’ll consider it carefully.”
She made it sound so easy. Now, twenty minutes into a discussion about problems with the new running water system, Veldora was wondering for the umpteenth time how Ryn managed to stay focused during these excruciating things. The temptation to find some excuse to leave was nearly unbearable. But Ryn was counting on him. To let her down was unthinkable. And that was aside from the matter of being stuck in his now-miniaturized prison bubble, unable to move unless someone carried him around. So Veldora stifled a yawn and did his best to focus on the report being read to him.
Relief came unexpectedly with the sudden blossoming of a familiar aura in their midst. All present save Veldora jumped, startled. The Dryad Treyni materialized in her customary green glow, leaves drifting around her as she bowed to Veldora, worry clouding her lovely features. “My Lord, forgive the interruption, but I have urgent news.”
Veldora perked up immediately. “What is it?” he asked, forgetting to disguise his interest.
The Dryad clasped her hands in front of her. “A nearly unprecedented aura suddenly appeared in the Northernmost reaches of Jura Forest this morning. I’ve never seen anything like it. Its power is certainly catastrophe class.”
At this Veldora sat upright. “Stronger than me?”
Treyni held up her hands. “No, no, my Lord! Of course not! But whatever it is, it is certainly more powerful than myself and my sisters.”
“Is it hostile?” he asked.
“No, my Lord,” she said again. “At least, not yet. We Dryads didn’t dare approach it, but thus far it has remained in a very small area of the forest, beside a river.”
This time Veldora remembered to temper his reaction, and made an effort to hide his disappointment. If it wasn’t an emergency, it was no excuse to bail on the meeting, not when Ryn depended on him. “I see. Well, in that case, I have other matters at hand that must be attended to first. Keep an eye on that aura, and update me if anything changes. I will investigate after Ryn returns.”
“Lord Veldora,” Rigurd said, “if the Dryads need you, I can handle things here.”
Veldora hesitated. On one hand, even if this strange aura remained harmless, it was certainly worth looking into. On the other, remaining at his post would surely result in Ryn praising him when she learned how stalwart he had been. He waved a hand dismissively. “Bah, whatever it is, it’s no match for The Storm Dragon! It can wait a day or two.”
Treyni looked a little surprised. Then she smiled. “That’s our Lord Veldora for you! As long as you are confident, we can always rest easy knowing we are safe under your protection.”
Veldora threw back his head and laughed. “Of course I’m confident! No ill will ever befall this forest as long as I stand guard!”
She bowed again. “We will continue to observe the anomaly as you requested.”
With that, she vanished, leaving a few petals where she had been standing. Veldora turned his attention back to the meeting and steeled himself. “Now then, where were we?”
--
“I still can’t believe you forgot about a catastrophe-class something-or-other in your own forest,” Ryn said in exasperation.
Veldora, carried as always in her bag as she marched through the same forest en route to investigate the disturbance, squirmed uncomfortably at her displeasure. “We were all a little preoccupied with the orc invasion!” he protested. “Besides, it hasn’t moved in weeks!”
“That’s weird, though!” Ryn replied. “You know that’s weird, right? It could be something hibernating, building power, preparing for goodness knows what.”
She turned to Benimaru, who, together with Soei and Shion, had come along for additional muscle. At least, that was their excuse. No one in the company really believed that Ryn needed backup. In fact, it was abundantly clear that everyone aside from Ryn was hoping for a fight. “What I said earlier about a diplomatic approach notwithstanding,” Ryn said, “we do need to be prepared for anything.”
“Of course, Lord Ryn,” he replied coolly. “And we are, as always.”
Everyone present could feel the aura. It had started from several miles away, a sensation Ryn could not place until they had drawn much closer. Now it unmistakably felt like they were standing beneath a waterfall, the energy relentless and pressing, powerful but not malevolent - at least for now. At this point Ryn’s primary concern was that her trigger-happy companions would start things off on the wrong foot with whatever awaited them. No sense in unnecessary tension and drama, as far as she was concerned.
“Someone has been here recently,” Soei said suddenly. He pointed out a tree branch jammed into a fork at head height. “It’s a directional sign.”
“Could be a trap,” Shion suggested a little too excitedly.
“Let me go first,” said Benimaru.
Ryn held up a hand. “Wait. Soei, scout ahead and see if you can get a look at what we’re dealing with.”
He bowed. “Yes, Lord Ryn.”
In the blink of an eye he was gone.
The party waited.
It was not long before a shout rang out, the voice unfamiliar. Abruptly the waterfall-like aura exploded in force and power like a collapsing tsunami. Benimaru whipped out his sword. “Soei needs backup! Let’s go!”
Avi leaped from Ryn’s shadow in anticipation of her summoning. “Leader!”
With her heart in her throat, Ryn swung up onto Avi’s back, and the Direwolf followed Benimaru and Shion towards the source of the immense power.
--
The party soon arrived at the bank of a river. Soei was slumped at the base of a tree, a blue-skinned figure crouched over him. With a roar Benimaru rushed to defend his kinsman. Shion followed, pausing just long enough to call over her shoulder, “Stay back, Lord Ryn!”
Avi drew up, and Ryn took a moment to assess the scene. She watched the stranger startle at the sight of the Kijin bearing down on them. The stranger leaped back, fear plain in their expression. They ducked and covered their head with their fists. A bubble appeared around them, iridescent like soap, and when the Kijin’s weapons simultaneously struck it, it shattered, knocking both of them back several yards and leaving the stranger unharmed. The stranger glanced over their shoulder at the river just a short distance away. “They’re a Nixie!” Benimaru roared, switching his sword to his opposite hand and shaking out the sting from the impact. “Don’t let them get to the water!”
So that’s what they were. That didn’t really mean much to Ryn. Of course she was familiar with the nixies of Germanic folklore, but she had no idea how much would be true here, particularly given that the water sprites tended to vary wildly in levels of malevolence. Veldora, on the other hand, seemed very interested. “A Nixie! Jura hasn’t hosted a Nixie in my memory.”
Is that good or bad? Ryn wondered.
Shion leaped like a deer, clearing the stranger’s head with a graceful flip and landing between them and the river. The fear on their face escalated to panic. They held up their hands defensively. “Wait, please, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt him!”
Benimaru pointed his sword at them. “No one ‘accidentally’ overpowers one of ours.”
He tensed to attack again. Shion did the same. The stranger flung out their hands towards each of the Kijin. “Stay back! Don’t come any closer!”
The air grew cold. What had been a pleasantly warm spring afternoon suddenly felt like a blizzard as a wind whipped up, swirling around the stranger and forming ice crystals the size of shovelheads and sharp as blades…and strangely very familiar to Ryn. “Benimaru, Shion, hold up a minute,” she called.
She slid from Avi’s back and approached. The blizzard began to howl with the speed of the biting wind. “Stop! Stay where you are!” the stranger cried. “I don’t want any trouble! I really didn’t mean to hurt your friend!”
“Ryn,” Veldora said urgently.
“Hang on,” she replied, loud enough to be directed at everyone present rather than just Veldora. “I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”
She shifted her attention to where ‘Soei’ had collapsed. As she had expected, the body double faded at almost the same moment she checked on it. The real Soei - at least, she assumed it was the real one, since she could never really be sure - appeared beside her. “Indeed,” he agreed.
Benimaru risked a glance at him. “Explain.”
Soei nodded to the stranger. “You have impressive reflexes.”
They looked perplexed. “I— I don’t know what’s going on…”
“I think I do,” said Ryn.
She spoke evenly and kept her movements slow as she gestured to Soei. “He jumpscared you, didn’t he?”
Hope sparked in the stranger’s odd dark eyes. “Yes! I swear, I didn’t mean to hit him!”
“I believe you,” she assured them.
To Benimaru and Shion she said, “At ease, guys. I don't think they’re a threat.”
“With that kind of power?” Shion replied. “Our attacks bounced off their shield like they were nothing!”
And you can feel that aura, Veldora added, using Thought Communication now that the stranger was in hearing. That’s definitely catastrophe class. They may be hiding behind fancy shields, but they’re capable of a lot more than that.
Ryn addressed the stranger again. “How about you cool it before someone gets frostbite, and we can all have a chat to sort things out?”
The stranger hesitated, glancing between the Kijin again. “…I don’t want any trouble,” they repeated.
Following Ryn’s cue, Benimaru sheathed his sword. “Neither do we.”
The ornate ice crystals shattered into flurries that quickly dissipated as the air temperature returned to normal. “I’m sorry,” the stranger said again.
“No harm done,” Soei replied, staring them down meaningfully.
“That’s enough,” Ryn said, now just slightly exasperated. “Let’s start over and try again.”
She extended a hand to the stranger. “Hi, I’m Ryn.”
The stranger accepted, slowly and hesitantly. “Hi Ryn. I’m sorry.”
“You’re new here, aren’t you?” Ryn asked gently.
They hesitated. “…you could say that.”
For the first time, Ryn took a good look around at the scenery and realized they were standing in the midst of a humble camp. There was a fire ring, a sturdy lean-to shelter of sticks and leaves, and a few odd square frames constructed of what looked curiously like scavenged planks. “You’ve been here all alone for months?” she asked.
The Nixie nodded. “Yeah.” Distress suddenly returned to their features. “Shit, am I trespassing? I’m sorry, I had no idea-“
Ryn held up a hand to stay them. “It’s okay, we’re not mad. We knew you were here.”
Their brow knit in confusion. “Then…why did you seem so surprised to see me?”
“We didn’t know what to expect from someone with so powerful an aura,” Benimaru explained.
The confusion did not dissipate. “Aura…?”
“Your power is literally palpable,” Ryn told them. “That’s why my friends here were so quick to jump to the defensive. We weren’t sure whether you’d be a threat.”
“I’m not, I promise!” the Nixie said quickly. “I really, really don’t want any trouble. I’m not a fighter or anything, I’m just a nerd— um, I mean, a researcher.”
“It’s okay,” Ryn reassured them with a kind smile. “You can relax. I think there’s a lot we can talk about, if you’re willing. It sounds like you probably have a lot of questions?”
None of the tension left their frame, but they looked relieved. “Yes! Um, jeez, I mean, my camp isn’t really built to be nice for guests, but if you wanna grab a seat on a log…Oh, um, I have some fish jerky if you’re hungry?”
The party exchanged glances. Hospitality was quite the unexpected change of tune. Avi licked her chops and looked hopefully to Ryn. I would like some fish jerky.
The Nixie’s eyes widened. “Oh wow, was that you? Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, I just— that’s new. To me, I mean.”
Mindful of her bag and its precious cargo, Ryn settled on a log near the fire ring. Her companions followed suit, Avi sitting beside her with her tail wagging slowly in anticipation of the promised snack. “I’ll try some too, thanks,” said Ryn.
One by one the Kijin declined, Shion making a mild face of distaste. “Is that all you’ve had to eat for the past few months? You poor thing…”
The Nixie ducked their head. “No, ma’am, I’m pretty good at foraging and campfire cooking, so I’ve been doing alright.”
They gave Ryn some food first, then Avi. Ryn couldn’t help but notice how their expression softened and relaxed in the way they smiled fondly at the Direwolf. “So,” she began, “let me cut right to the chase. You aren’t from this world, are you?”
The anxiety and hesitation immediately returned to the Nixie’s features. “Um…can you elaborate?”
“I’m from the United States, myself,” Ryn said outright.
The Nixie’s eyes widened. “You are!!! Me, too!!! Oh my gods, I didn’t want to just outright say so because it sounds insane. How did you get here?”
She shook her head. “I’m…not one hundred percent clear on that.”
They looked around at the others. “What about you guys?”
“Lord Ryn is the only Outworlder among us,” Benimaru replied.
“Lord?” the Nixie repeated in surprise.
“It’s a long story,” Ryn said. “Let me try to summarize…”