2021-01-09: It's A Big World Out There
- Log: It's A Big World Out There
- Cast: Lan Lilac, Loren Voss
- Where: Gemstone Cave
- Date: January 09, 2021
- Summary: Loren wanders off from the campsite on a walk; Lan, concerned, goes looking for him. Fortunately she finds him before anything can go more wrong than it already has, but...
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
She'd pooled their money and what extra herbs she still had left over and gone to the nearest town. They need extra food, and it hadn't really occurred to her until Gwen mentioned it but Loren can't keep wearing that Solaris field uniform if they expect to get around unchallenged. So she picked up a few pieces of clothing that she was pretty sure would fit him (and that he wouldn't hate) along with some rations and an extra bedroll.
Gwen was set to watch him for a bit, but even the world's cheeriest courier has to nap eventually! ...And apparently that's when Loren finally got bored enough to wander, judging by the lack of him at their camp.
If nothing else, she can be glad that he's not trying to cover his tracks. Lan dumped their new stuff off at camp (except for a change of clothes) and promptly headed back out again. She's got to find him before... well, before he gets eaten or disappears into the forest or something.
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
He'd been good and stayed, until the point where the flames had died down and Gwen had drifted off. Eventually even his patience had given up the ghost and he had gotten up and taken a walk.
The bad part of this is the fact that he's gone a'wandering without even a weapon at his side -- and who even knows if he remembers how to use Ether at this point?
The good part about this is that he's been pretty obvious about where he's been headed: he must not have even thought to have needed to cover his tracks. Would the Loren she'd known have done likewise?
(Probably, because the Loren she'd known has fairly poor-middling wilderness skills)
The better part of this is that it isn't terribly long before she tracks down where he's gone:
Which is, into a cave. Which is also where he's still standing, gazing up at the large crystalline and gem protrusions jutting from the cave walls. They glitter slightly in the light filtering in from the cave mouth.
He turns, hearing her approach.
"Lan? Oh..." He pauses, looking about himself. "I took a walk," he explains. "I saw something in here so I went to look at it. ...It's pretty, isn't it?"
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
It's only natural for someone who's bored to seek out entertainment. She's really going to have to make sure he's got something to keep him occupied, once they get back to camp and take care of all the other pressing things.
It's not too hard to track him down, though how he managed to find the cave entrance she'll probably never know. Please don't let him have gone too far inside...!
But he's just inside, within view of the mouth of the cave, and she heaves a sigh of relief when Lan finds him just standing there, admiring the crystals growing from the walls. Rushing over to Loren, Lan barely stifles the urge to throw her arms around him (she's still a little huggy after spending time with Gwen). Instead, she does a quick circle around him, looking for any sign that he's gotten injured. He seems okay, and he's still in that strange-for-Loren curious sort of mood.
"I was so worried about you! You can't just wander of by yourself, okay?" She reaches out to take his wrist, giving it a gentle tug. "Okay? Especially into places like caves and old ruins and stuff. Monsters can live in them, and you don't have a weapon to protect yourself!"
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
He looks completely fine, which may be greatly to Lan's relief. Not so much as a hair is out of place.
For his part, he regards her quizzically, until she begins to explain.
"...Oh," Loren utters, breathing out what just might be a sigh of a sort. He doesn't even resist when she takes his wrist. "I didn't see anything dangerous," he half-protests. "I just saw... alright. I'll be more careful. Sorry. Did I worry you?"
A long pause follows.
"Monsters..." He seems to be thinking this one over. "I understand. ...Did I use a weapon?"
He's probably forgotten even that.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
She's got to be patient with him. And Lan isn't the type given to yelling at others, anyway. But she's still glad to see him unhurt! "...Okay. I should've reminded you about them, but I didn't even think about... well, to tell you why you ought to stay at camp unless Gwen or I are with you."
The explanation mollifies her a lot, though. Just seeing him whole and in one piece is a huge relief. "And yeah. I got really worried when you weren't where I'd left you. I was afraid something might happen to you."
But he really couldn't have picked a more beautiful place to wander off to. Lan can't help but want to look around them, now that Loren has been found safe. "You sure did find a heck of a place, though. I've never seen anything like this before. All these crystals..." Even that one mine they ventured into wasn't overgrown with them like this!
She lets her hand slip down until his hand is clasped in hers, though if he tries to extricate himself Lan won't fuss. "You used a sword. I think you'd been practicing for a couple of years, because you were pretty competent, but..." She tries to think of how to phrase that stiffness he'd always had. "I don't know. You were a little tense. But you improved even over the time that I knew you. And you also were good at magic - you called it Ether, though. Uh... I saw you use a lot of earth spells. We even did some combo attacks occasionally!"
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
He looks, at most, just a bit dismayed. "I didn't go too far," he says, though he nods nonetheless at her point. Lan might need to get him something to do. Maybe she can get him something to read -- unless he's forgotten that, too. It's going to be difficult, probably, working out what he remembers and what's lost to him.
But it's something to worry about at a later date. Right now, the both of them have more immediate things to concern themselves with--
Which isn't, in this case, the announcement of a monster lurching up from the depths of this cave. No, it's probably the nature of the cave itself, even this close to the entrance.
He nods, smiling as if pleased with himself, when she acknowledges that what he's found is indeed something. "You see? ...Though, if what you say is right, I guess I shouldn't go any deeper." Maybe it's a good thing she caught up to him when she did.
He doesn't pull away from her, his fingers gently curling about her own.
"A sword..." He frowns, as if thinking this over; he creases his brow. "And with magic? Ether... I don't remember," he finishes, sighing. "I wonder if maybe if I thought about it hard enough, maybe...?" A pause follows, before he shakes his head. "Maybe it's better that I don't. This is... in the earth, right?"
He's still bright enough. Just naive.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
"I know you didn't, and I'm glad. If you'd gone far enough to get really lost, I don't... I don't know what I would've done." Prayed, probably.
The feeling of his fingers curling around hers - like a perfectly normal thing, like he doesn't have the slightest hesitation - makes her go still for a moment from the sheer newness. If he'd done it any other time it would have been weird, no matter how much physical contact Lan might have been wishing for. But like this, it's just weirdly sweet.
She glances over at him, watching him gaze at the glittering walls. "You'll probably remember in a little while, especially if something jogs your memory. And if not, I'm sure you could learn it over again. Maybe Elly could help you, she uses magic too and she's from the same place as you are." That is, assuming Elly would agree to - and that just seeing the redhead wouldn't immediately awaken some kind of crazy transcending-psyches grudge in Loren.
...Maybe they'd better not.
"Right. We're underground - it'd be extra dangerous here, to try and use it." She supposes ruins are generally more sturdy than naturally-formed caves, but it's still really, really lucky that he hadn't brought them down on the both of them in his rage.
"...Come on. I've got some new clothes for you." Lan makes to tug him gently toward the mouth of the cave. "It'd be nice to put on clean clothes, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
"I'm glad I didn't get lost, either," he remarks, gaze on one of the gemstones. "I already don't know who I am. It would be bad to not know where I was, either."
He nods, when she suggests he'll get it back, in time. "Sure. Maybe I'll try later, and see if something happens?" He shrugs, as if it were just another thing in a long string of things that he's encountered recently. "Earth magic, huh... I wonder why that is. ...So this Elly person is from the same place as me? Have you been there?"
A pause, and perhaps the question she may have been dreading: "Do I have family? ...I thought Gwen was related to me, but she says it's not like that."
He nods when she indicates he should come along. "Okay. I think I've been wearing these for a while. Gwen said I should probably change, too."
He of course lacks the context for the uniform he's wearing.
"That's all back at camp, right?"
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
How terrible would it be to be so completely lost? Lan hopes neither she nor Loren ever find out.
"If you want! I think it might be good for you. I want you to be able to take care of yourself, in case we get seperated again. I mean, of course I'll take care of you! But just in case." Because Lan knows she can't be awake 24/7, and sometimes... things just occur. She doesn't want him to be helpless if that happens. "I... was there, once. You were hurt really bad in a fight, and the doctors had to make you sleep for a month so you could heal up. The people you worked for left me in your house, in that city. It was my first time being there."
She's quiet for a moment after he asks That Question. "...Yeah. Yeah, you had a-- you have a mother and a father, and an aunty, and when you were young you had a big brother. But he's gone now. ...His wife is still your sister-in-law, though. We both know her." And she could kick both of our asses without breaking too much of a sweat, but Lan still wants to ease him into that tangled web of fear-respect-fondness for Leah Sadalbari.
Lan is quiet for a little bit, only nodding when he asks if the extra clothes are back at camp. "Hmm? --Oh. I brought a change with me but we're not that far from camp. You can change in the tent where it's private." They walk on for a little bit, her hand still gently clasping his.
"...Hey, Loren? I don't think I can take you back to your family right away, but... If you thought..." How is she supposed to explain to him that he was, for all accounts and purposes, miserable?
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
"...Oh, yeah. That's a good idea," he remarks after a moment's thought, as if the consideration of him being self-sufficient is a new one. "Maybe I'll try it later. Should I try to use a sword, too?"
It... might be better to have someone on hand to show him that, especially if he can't work out how to heal himself. Which, speaking of--
"That sounds pretty bad," he remarks, almost mildly. "I wonder what it's like to sleep for an entire month." This is, probably, not the takeaway he should be having, but...
It might also be drowned by the subject of the rest of his family. A mother, a father... and at one point, an older brother. Along with his brother's wife, and an aunty.
"Huh," he remarks, turning that over in his mind. "I wonder if they miss me. ...Did you know my brother?"
It's a strange thing, to be told of the death of someone who must have been dear to you, and not feel even the slightest twinge in your chest.
He nods, his gaze distant as if he were thinking about something else when she tells him where he can get changed.
She can't take him back to his family right away, but...
"...But you'll take me back someday. Alright. I guess it's pretty far away," he considers, frowning. "It's weird. I... should feel something. Right? Maybe relief? Or joy? Or... But I don't feel anything," he tells her, shaking his head.
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
"Uh..." Somehow, the idea of trying to use a sword to see if Loren's got any particular kind of muscle memory doesn't inspire a lot of confidence. "Tell you what, if you remember how to use magic to heal people, we can try to find you someone who can re-teach you to use a sword. Okay? Because if you slipped or something and someone got hurt, I don't know as much first aid as you do-- er, did."
They emerge into the early afternoon sunlight, Lan raising her free hand to shield her eyes. "Geez, it's bright out here...!"
She leads him out of the cave, following the tracks they'd both left behind. The wind and rain will erase them soon enough, and Lan just hopes it'll be soon enough to prevent anybody unfriendly from hunting them down. Who knows how long it's been since Loren actually left whatever base he was stationed at? At the very least, two days. He wasn't kitted out for any assignment longer than a day at most. Which means...
People will have noticed. Leah will have noticed.
"...No. Your brother died a long time ago, way before you and I met. I think almost ten years by now, maybe." She's not sure, but it seems like a safe enough guess. "And... I only met your parents for a short time, and they weren't really... open. With their feelings, I mean. But I'm sure your family misses you. I'll take you back there someday. It is really far away."
He must want to go, right? And it's the right thing to do, isn't it? Even if... well maybe it would be best for him. He can start over. It would probably be too late for him to restart that 'Jugend' school. He could live as a civilian. Maybe even be content.
"Ah-- well, I mean, you don't remember them yet. Which is like not meeting them, I guess? So you probably can't miss people you don't know." She shifts her grip on his hand. "I'm sure you'll get it back, though. Even if it takes a while, we'll just take it one day at a time."
<Pose Tracker> Loren Voss has posed.
"Sure," he replies, simply enough. "It sounds dangerous anyway, using a sword. I'll see if I can figure out how to use magic first, and then..." He nods, as if to affirm this sentiment.
It goes without saying that he must not remember anything as far as performing first aid or any sort of battlefield medicine goes. Until or unless he can recall how to use Ether, they'll be in a rough patch if they run into any trouble out in the field.
He squints as they both emerge into the light and shades his eyes similar to her. "I guess I was in there too long," he remarks with a sigh.
"...So he's been gone a long time."
Nearly ten years gone.
"I guess my parents have to be pretty lonely if both their sons are gone," he muses; there's no lamentation to it or similar: it's merely a statement of fact. Lan says they were a bit reserved with their feelings and that she can't really speak to the depth of what they might be thinking or feeling, and to this he nods. "Yeah. It sounds like it's far away. The world is..." It's wrong to say he 'remembers' but he kind of knows the idea of a world, of something big, bigger than anything else anyone could conceive of.
"...The world's pretty big, right?"
And then he'll go back someday, and live peacefully with his family. This seems to be satisfactory for him; he lapses again into silence and follows where Lan leads him.
"...That makes sense. It's just weird, when I think about it. I think normal people have these things and I don't. But it doesn't bother me." This he says, as they near the camp. "It would be nice to get my memory back, but I'm fine with things as they are. See--"
He points, with his free hand. A bluish bird has taken flight, winging for the trees.
"I haven't seen that before," he says, grinning even after it vanishes. "...So it's okay, even if I don't get anything back." Because right now, everything, even if it's loud and busy and overwhelming, is something new.