losthunter | The Doors of our Heart

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The Doors of our Heart

Many thoughts about his latent magic had given Hunter a lot to think about in the past few days. He really wanted to find someone to help him learn more about his abilities. And maybe, help him to become stronger.

Kendra was gone, but that didn't mean there weren't ways to find her. Or at least find the people that were connected to her.

Hunter had spent a few days looking for the right door in the Nexus that would bring him the answers that he sought. And finally, he felt that he had found what he had been looking for.

But before entering into an unknown place, Hunter knew that he should have a couple of people come with him. He PINpointed a message to Jim first, since it was an adventure that he thought the restless captain would enjoy. Then he PINpointed a message to Faris, who had become his story-keeper in a fashion.

All that left was to wait for his guests, before the adventure could begin.

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"That should be easy enough to do. I already feel lost." Hunter chuckles slightly. He heads towards the river, the girls going back to playing with the tree as he moves away.

"Hidden in the cattails..." He looks at the bank after bank of cattails.

Jim nearly stumbles as Faris leaps off his arm, momentarily pulling the captain off balance at the unexpected move. "Apologies," the K'da says, and tastes the air as he pads over to the water's edge. "Such a treasure may not be swiftly found. We must all be vigilant."

"Think it would do any good to set up a search pattern?" Jim asks, glancing over at Hunter. "It might not count as being lost." He feels just as mentally lost here as Hunter, out of his depth with magic and riddles.

"Us searching for answers, and the treasure, doesn't mean that we are still not lost." Hunter points out.

"I am thinking that we should search areas that are untouched by moonlight." There are some dark patches here and there along the river bed.

"All right. Let's split up. We'll cover more ground that way." Jim moves towards the edge of the water, carefully sweeping the area for any signs of this mysterious treasure, whatever the hell it is. Faris pads amongst the cattails, paws sinking into mud, trying to detect any unusual scent to lead him in the right direction.

In the direction that Jim took there are a number of anemone, several pink flowers, scattered close to the riverbed. There is a large patch of them nearby. They glitter with evening dew.

Faris will discover a small colony of frogs, chirping away in the cattails. There is a batch of lily pads nearby, most of which have small white flowers in them. There is one that has a silver-colored flower.

Jim is momentarily drawn to the flowers, but it seems to him that these aren't it. There are too many of them, and the reflection of the dew isn't what he'd think the girls meant either.

Faris is undistravted by the frogs, once he determines what they are. The silver flower grabs his interest, however, and he wades into the shallows to investigate.

As Jim watches the field of flowers, a few of them start to bloom, a strange sight at night. A few small butterflies appear, dancing from flower to flower, as if attracted by the nectar. There is one butterfly that seems to be glowing slightly, nearby.

As Faris wades into the shallows to investigate, he will find a small silver chain laying in the middle of the silver-colored flower.

Okay. Magic butterflies. What's next, Jim wonders. The glowing one seems significant, but he's not sure how to capture it without harming it. "Hey Hunter," he calls softly. "Do you know anything about glowing butterflies?"

Faris, meanwhile, is slightly surprised to find an actual, not metaphorical treasure. It seems the riddle was far more literal than the K'da expected, but he is certainly not going to complain. He reaches out to the flower, delicately picking up the chain in his claws.

Hunter moves towards where Jim is standing. He watches the butterflies for a moment. "Nothing comes to mind. But I think we better try to catch it."

As the K'da picks up the chain, he can feel a tug on the other end, as if it is attached to something underneath the water.

Jim nods in agreement. "Wonder if they'd go for your tattoos," he says, only partly kidding.

"I have found something also," Faris calls out to them. He wraps the chain more securely around his forepaw and lightly pulls on it, judging how much force will be needed to retrieve whatever is on the other end.

"You know... that is not a bad idea. Kendra created the tattoos..." Hunter starts to undo his robe, so that more of his skin is revealed.

Faris can tell that he will need at least one more person helping him. There is something quite heavy secured on the other end of the chain.

"Just a minute, Faris," Jim says, not wanting to possibly lose the fluttering creature if it decides to fly away. Whatever Faris has found doesn't look like it's going anywhere, after all, and the K'da isn't behaving like it's urgent. "I'll see if I can catch it, if you lure it in."

Dropping his robe to the ground, it is a little weird to be standing in the middle of the field, wearing only his underwear. But the moonlight is reflecting a little different off his skin. Several roses start to appear on the usually empty rose bush on his forearm.

The glowing butterfly seems to be interested. It lands on Hunter's forearm.

"It tickles." He whispers.

Once again, it occurs to Jim just how utterly weird his life has gotten lately, as he slowly and gently attempts to guide the butterfly into his cupped hands, unsure whether it would be better to use his hands like a cage of sorts, or try to take hold of its legs so it can't fly away. "C'mon, little guy. We might need you."

The butterfly settles contently in the middle of Jim's cupped hands. With the butterfly caught, Hunter pulls on his robe again.

Then he heads to where Faris is waiting. "What is the best way to do this?"

Well, it doesn't seem like it's going to fly away in a hurry, so Jim tucks it close to his chest, careful not to touch the delicate wings.

Faris looks up patiently as Hunter approaches, and lifts the chain at a slightly better angle for him to grab hold. "You are taller than I, so it is best if you stand behind me. I do not know what lies at its opposite end, only that I cannot lift it alone."

Hunter moves behind Faris, then grabs the chain. Together they pull. There is a heaviness to it, but they are finally able to free an object.

It is a lantern. And the reason it is so heavy is because it is full of mud and water at the moment.

There is an engraving of a butterfly on the steel of the lantern.

Faris reaches a paw inside the lantern to scoop out the mud, attempting to rinse it in the river. And when he sees the engraving, he pauses, and looks up at Hunter. "I believe we have discovered the purpose of the creature the captain holds."

"Indeed. Here, lets get it clean." Hunter helps Faris to rinse out the lantern completely from the mud. Then once it is clean, he brings it over to Jim.

"Gently. Put it inside."

Jim is very careful with the butterfly, gently guiding it into the confines of the lantern and off his hands. "There you go, buddy," he says to it.

The butterfly settles inside the lantern. Once Hunter closes the lantern door, there is a soft glow from inside. Seven little stars illuminate on the lantern. They lift up and off the lantern, heading towards the girls. Six of the stars land on each of the six girls, while the seventh star just hovers... waiting.

As each girl is touched by the star, a small network of tattoos show up on their arms. Jim might recognize the patterns as star charts. It is these tattoo star charts that will reveal which girl is which.

The missing girl is Merope. The youngest sister.

It takes him a moment to recognize the patterns, but once he does, he picks out the missing one immediately. "We're missing Merope."

"The sister who hid her face," Faris remembers.

"Merope was the only one of the sisters who loved a non-God. A human."

"And I think... she represents Kendra's feelings for me." Hunter traces part of his tattoo on his left arm.

Faris tilts his head to the side in puzzlement. "It is possible. What might this mean?"

Hunter looks back towards the tree. And sighs. "Time to put my heart out on the table. Again."

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