Lost and Alone [Solo]

Blinding, deafening, eerie.

The magical presence bathed her in intimate energy.

Unable to feel anything, she was swept into a portal of time and space. She could not even think as her stomach turned and skin went clammy. What was this? Where was she? Why did she hurt so much?

Eventually, her feet hit solid ground, then her knees. She fell. Her hands sunk into a cold, wet fluff as Felicity emptied her stomach's contents. After an agonizing moment of vomiting, the girl opened her teary eyes. She was looking down at... snow?

Dreary and drained, Felicity pulled herself up to her knees, wincing at the intense stinging she felt. Looking down her arms, she was shocked to see numerous cuts, bruises, and bite marks all over her limbs. Thankfully, the knee deep snow was already working to numb the pain; despite her boiling blood melting some of it to steam. Yet, looking around at the intense flurry, she was more confused than ever. She recognized this memory fog well. When her powers reached their most intense peaks, Felicity lost her mind to madness. Many times, her memories of then were only partially there, or simply not to be found. The bizarre thing was, however, she could not piece together anything to explain where she was or what she was doing. Her mind darted rapidly to figure out even what time it was. Yet in the intense snow surrounding her, the sky was blocked by thick dark clouds. A single individual entered her mind in all of this... the image of a white trench coat and a familiar, thoughtful voice.

"... Shinsou?"

Felicity licked her lips. The iron smell of blood was thick in her mouth. Nothing made sense anymore! She shook in the combination of numbing pain, freezing temperatures, and mental disarray.

Yet, through the snow, she heard footprints.

"Lassie,"

Felicity recognized that voice. "Gwenael?"

His heavy footsteps stopped close to her. "We do not have much time. Any time."

"Wha..."

The sound of multiple items being dropped into the thick snow could be heard. She felt snow splatter on her frame. As a stinging piece hit her stinging cheek, Felicity listened closely.

"I could only take you here, I apologize. You are in Salvar."

Felicity gasped, "Salvar!"

"I managed to collect your belongings before-" Gwenael stopped mid sentence. Felicity felt magic flaring up. Turning with a groan, Felicity looked through her messy red hair to see his teleportation powers glowing again. She could barely even see him, just his glowing silhouette in the bombarding snow. He spoke rapidly, "Get back to Whitevale! And Felicity, I promise he's alive!"

He was fading. Felicity cried out, "Wait!Who-"

"-Felicity! I'm being summoned away, but I promise I'll come back to you!"

He disappeared, dissipating the raining snow in the dark.

Felicity looked down, a sack full of her things was already being covered in rapidly building snow. Despite the physical distress she was in, she reached for the bag with shaking arms. Shelter. She needed shelter.

She grew up in another snowy country, Eiskalt, so she knew very well how this weather worked. She felt the pain of wounds on her back and across her waistline as she flung the bag over her back. How did she get this beat up? She winced, forcing herself not to think about it now as she staggered to her feet. Her shoes and pants were soaked through as she trudged forwards. She could barely make out the appearance of some kind of tall structure just ahead. Was it shelter? She took several labored steps before her foot hit solid stone beneath the sheets of snow. She tripped, thudding on hard floor. She moaned, shivering as she looked up. She could tell now that she was laying under the shadows of ruined pillars.

"Get up." She told herself. With throbbing pain and frozen frame, she pulled herself up and tumbled forth with sloppy steps. She soon found herself under the shadow of a stone ceiling. As snow still fluttered around her, she sighted a crumbled doorway and hallway behind it. Good. She found shelter. She huffed, pushing onwards and stepping over the rubble with the grace of a drunk monkey. Still, she leaned against the cold walls as she entered the dark hallway. She was sure she was seeing things when she saw a warm glow down the hallway, but she followed it. She eventually found herself in a Temple, completely lit with roaring fires around the room. The change in temperature was drastic, and Felicity realized she had Gwenael to thank for this. Another realization hit her. She recognized the aged carvings of various Thayne on the walls. This was likely an old Thayne Temple the Church of the Ethereal Sway had not discovered in their campaigns.

Convenient.

Felicity dropped her bag. It hurt, the way it slid off her back and thudded against the floor. She sighed, walking like a zombie towards an alter in the center of the room. It was the closest thing to furniture, and Felicity had slept on worse. Flopping onto the flat, cold, hard alter, she winced. Felicity could not even curl up, the pain was so bad. Still the tempting void of sleep lured her. She needed to get some sleep, and regain her head, before she planned her return to Whitevale. Even as she drifted away, she still planned.

I heal fast. I'll try to heal myself and patch myself up if Gwenael got my alchemy kit. I don't need to eat, but I'll need water. I'll probably need to get more wood too in a bit, since these could burn out. But I don't have an axe. So, I'll have to look at what Gwenael got me and work with what I have. But what about...

...

"This isn't about the past, or what we've all lost, way back when. Right now, this is about what we have left."

"... Shinsou..." Felicity mumbled in her distressed sleep. "Portal... Don't leave me..."

Eventually, Felicity woke up.

Unable to tell what time, day, or year it was, Felicity moaned as she pulled herself off the stone table. Still aching and stiff from her wounds, she walked over to her bag. With the fires roaring strong enough in the crumbling room to keep warm, Felicity's hands were not numb as she opened the bag.

The first things she noticed were her weapons. All of them. Her bow, arrows, and many swords. She pulled our her war equipment gently and placed them all in an orderly fashion on the floor. Her talymar bow, Seeker, was of top quality. War bows made of yew were powerful enough to kill horses. Even if the arrows unleashed could not peirce armor, the blunt damage from the force was enough to wind a man. This bow, however, was made of far better material. It could kill not just horses, but dragons. Her arrows, made of redwood, matched Seeker's insane draw back weight and power.

Felicity had numerous swords as well. One arming sword, Heart, was Eiskaltian made with craftsmanship and even engraving in the design. Made of delyn, a quality metal, Heart had been Felicity's trusted blade for many years.

Another arming sword, Splicer, was an improvement over Heart. Unlike Heart, made of silverish delyn, Splicer was pitch black prevalida. Splicer has a lavish display of engraved art across its dark blade. On top of this, the pommel could be unscrewed from the pommel, allowing for a makeshift blunt throwing weapon.

Little Snowflake was a masterwork steel dirk. Completed with a swept hilt, it was a back up for if Felicity lost any of her other weapons. For its short reach, the swept hilt protected the hand that held it.

The most recent addition to Felicity's collection was her prevalida katana, Copycat. Black as night, Copycat was a quality katana Felicity acquired upon joining the Brotherhood. She had bought the weapon to mimic the fighting style of her valued teacher, Shinsou Vaan Osiris.

On top of this, there was her bird. A blue robin. Quite a cute little toy that could fly around, sing, and explode inflicting heavy damage. Ah, yes, the best kind of toy. A toy that could go boom!

Rummaging deeper into the bag, she noted other random trinkets as well. Her late cousin's amulet of Trisgen, the ice mirror bestowed upon her as a gift several years ago... In fact, Felicity was shocked to see that nearly all her possessions were here. Her sleeping bag for travel, her hairbrush, her botany journals... Of course, Felicity was pleased to see that her alchemy kit was amongst these things, neat and orderly.

With her alchemy kit, a canteen full of water, and bandages all present, Felicity could patch herself up before making her next move. Annoyed that she had slept on a slab of stone when a perfectly comfortable sleeping bag was in her sack, she grumbled as she peeled off her sweat and blood ruined clothes.

What happened?

Felicity winced as she wrapped a bandage around her stomach, which was afflicted with several sharp wounds. Mysteriously, they were likely inflicted to wound, not kill. She continued to wrap her blood crusted body in bandages as she grimaced at the bruises crying for relief. It took ages, and she had no ointments or creams on her. Still, she eventually put herself together enough to manage. Thankful for the white shirt and black pants in her bag, she put a fresh outfit on. It felt wonderful, the first form of pleasure aside the warmth of this room. Still, Felicity shuddered. Eventually, she had to step outside and find her way to a nearby town. She needed better medical treatment, some snow gear, supplies... and she needed pointed to the direction of home.

[I'm going to completely re-write this mess in a new thread. Submitting this for puny points.]

Flamebird receives 40 EXP and 35 GP.