Shadow Slayers

'Hello, Mimisko. You have grown so much. Unlike me.' she giggled.

Luair saw Osseus carrying Novus. 'You are here! Thank heavens, I was getting worried..' She sauntered over to him, and ushered Arvid to follow suit.

'I should have remembered you were going to bring Novus too. I get so scatterbrained sometimes..' She clapped her hands together, 'That means the whole family is here! Truly wonderful.'

Arvid's mouth was agape at Osseus's size. He motioned Luair aside for a second. 'Is that him?'

'Why of course! Why would it not be him?'

'He's.. huge! I thought he was just a bit taller than you.'

'Well he was, but he is half dark elf after all. They are very tall naturally. You could say the opposite of us!'

'You can say that again.. and that baby.. don't tell me..?'

'That is Novus, he is more than I could ever ask for. I thought not to tell you and to keep it a surprise. I hope you are not upset at me.'

'I'm not. We've talked long enough. You should go back.'

'Alright. Do not wander too far, will you?'

Luair went to stand beside Osseus and left Arvid to be with his thoughts.

'She has a baby, she's a mother now.. that's.. pleasant.'

-----

Luair regrouped with the others, standing beside Osseus. 'Do you want to announce the good news? Or shall I? Oh, I am so excited. I have been wanting them to know ever since!'

    It had been almost a week since their parents had left on their mission, and Genesis couldn't help but feel somewhat sour that they weren't able to return on time for the festival. Or bring me along with them. So instead the child walked through the festival between their two guardians, grasping both of their hands. "Aunt Ooro, Uncle Alth, do you see anyone yet?" they chimed curiously, squinting through the crowd as they approached the archery contest.

    Their parents had kept in close contact with some of their former guildmates, but there were still many they'd only heard about from their father and mother's stories. The pink haired fire mage that conquered her fear (and according to their father that was the understatement of the century), the chilly ice mage, the pretty snake lady, the short priest, and the loud mouthed team grandpa were first to come to mind. After hearing about these people for so long, whether it was through personal stories or legends, they were thrilled to finally be able to piece together the names with the faces.

    A rather motley assortment of people had gathered near the archery contest, including what they could only assume was the noisy old hero of legend. Tugging gently on Ooro and Altheron's hands, they pulled them in a little closer and whispered excitedly to their guardians. "That's him right? Kama the master of fire, sword fighting, and alcohol!" And by the sheer volume of alcohol that came shooting out of the old man's mouth moments later, they could only further confirm the veracity of their parents' stories. "Amazing," they grinned, now staring at the others that surrounded the ancient hero as they approached, bottling up their excitement and listening quietly to the chatter.

    A familiar elven face arriving soon after broke their hush however, Genesis bouncing on their toes with excitement. "Look! Aunt Luair and Uncle Oss are here!"



((Genesis Uriel-Aldithley
Age: 15 (physically and mentally ~12)
Height: 4'10"))

   Twenty years.

   It was almost hard to believe it had already been so long since she had last seen their faces. While she did keep in touch with a handful of her past teammates, there were some that seem to drift away further from her presence; making her ponder where they had strayed off to after the ordeal. Though if there was ever an opportunity to learn of their whereabouts and exploits, surely now would prove to be ideal. 

   Since then, Ooro had acquired a settlement closer to civilization... though she didn't completely abandon her tree in the woods. It was a part of her, and parting with it wouldn't necessarily please her. However, she did have to pick up the habit of cleaning out its interior being that it was practically stuffed to the brim with piles of animal hides, trinkets, tools, and other miscellaneous items. Admittedly, a portion of it turned out to be pure garbage from a time lost. The corners of her lips curled as her hands sought to tie the sash around her waist. She could remember Osseus' face upon discovering the amass of junk. He probably thought he was going to have to clean it. A stifled chuckle could faintly be heard. Her fingers twiddled and entwined with a brightly colored ribbon as she stared into her reflection in silence, before tying it with her hair. After her home in the woods had been tidied up; it began a favorite spot to take the little ones to and fro for star-gazing. Her garden of bulbs still rested among the tree top as well as she continued to attempt to cultivate the flora. 

   Her lips pursed tightly, inspecting herself in the mirror once more as she prodded at her own face. Due to her elven blood, she hadn't changed much, but age was beginning to show in small steps. Her cheekbones were slightly more prominent than she remembered, and it even took her by surprise upon noticing the slight alteration. Altheron had grown and differed so much in comparison, she often felt she caught glimpse of his changes before even he did. Perhaps it was because she had grown somewhat accustomed to watching humans change, and while it interested her, it also somewhat bothered her. How different will they all be? In a way, she felt left behind with everyone changing so rapidly over the years. Luckily, out of those she kept in touch with a good few were elven like her, so it was reassuring to see that she wasn't the only one.

  ...Speaking of which.
 
  Ooro's pupils strayed to the stout figure behind her own reflection. Enoch and Daryn had been called out on another mission, and couldn't make the reunion. Instead, her nibling, Genesis, would be making up for the absentees. A smile spread across Ooro's face as she eyed the child in the corner. Not too far off, Altheron was also getting prepared and had improved at dressing himself since their first meeting. It was a festival, so they agreed to have a bit of fun when it came to traditional wear.
   It wasn't everyday one had the chance to decorate themselves, so why not take the opportunity? Albeit, she hadn't worn such colorful clothing in a long while. It was a bit strange to see herself in such garments. 

   After dressing themselves, they were ready to head out and meet with the others. As they sauntered out of the house, she had locked hands with Genesis, and on the opposite side Altheron had done the same. For the whole way, she had grinned from ear-to-ear. It was rather... nostalgic. Those days with Lily and Anju were decades ago, and yet she felt as though she was almost living them again. She had her own family once more.

   Her eyes squinted as she peered around her surroundings curiously for any familiar faces. "I think so! Let's keep going just a little bit more," but before she could even spot one of the faces among the crowd, her hand was given a slight tug as she kneeled down to hear out the young one.

   In an instant, Ooro's eyes widened and glimmered with excitement upon seeing the haggard man still going strong. "Y-yes! I can't believe it!" an excited laughter poured from her, elated by the realization that their guild leader had still been walking on his own two feet. Without hesitation, her nibling had promptly pointed out a set of pointed ears among the crowd. "Osseus! Luair!" Ooro called out as she waved back and forth, before putting a hand to her mouth upon spotting the infant he was holding. "Genesis," Ooro quickly rushed behind them, resting both hands on their shoulders, "There's someone you need to meet!" The pure excitement was evident in her voice, as she gently pushed her nibling toward the couple. The two had kept their newborn a secret for the most part, minus for herself being that Osseus was a little... lost, at how to handle a child at first. Luckily, Luair was efficient when it came to caring for the baby. 

  "You too Alth!" Ooro motioned over in a rush, as though the infant was going to walk out on its own. 

"It sure is!" Ooro had given a light hug to the man, who now towered over her. "Did you see? Kama is right across from us! Oh- can you imagine his face when he sees you so TALL?"

Galystris grimaced.
Didn't these people's families tell them to learn to shut their damn mouths when there was something odd about another person?
She shouldn’t have come…
The magic she’d explored had left her a monster.
But, she’d become used to it.
Even though over the years she had put these people on a pedestal, she’d have to remember they were people.
And some of them were assholes too, despite their attempts to be polite

Imari, though, was ecstatic.
“Y-Yeah!! Mom said you were the one who took the final blow on Sandor! It’s almost surreal seeing you!!” Imari chimed.
Seeing Mimsko was almost surreal to her
Galystris turned over to Clarissa had approached her, confused for a second as to who this person was.
Oh wait.
It was bitch witch who took over Celty.

“Oh…er…Hello…” Galystris said.
Ugh, more comments about the shit coming out of her.
Clarissa had moved over to her daughter.
Galystris went to put her hand on Imari’s shoulder, but she remembered she would fucking stab her.
God she hated her hands….
Imari smiled widely.
“Thank you, miss! You’re too kind!” she chimed. Clarissa was a stranger to her but, she seemed really nice in Imari’s opinion.

"I couldn't forget you either, Zerah." She said with a polite smile and a light nod, doing what she did best and masking any and all emotion.
She looked over at Imari, as he had siad the mother comment.
"I could see where you're coming from."
She couldn't believe she was doing this.
"After all."
She's going to do it.
"I do seem a little...."
Here we go.
"Cold hearted~"
Imari sighed loudly and buried her face in her hands.
"Mom not again." she said into her palms.
Galystris smiled triumphantly at her reaction.

Imari watched Kama walk in, her eyes widened.
Another comment about the shit on her face.
Well, at least he didn't get scared.
“Mom! Mom! Look, look that’s Kama Varthorn! Mom, you said he was your guild leader???” Imari whisper yelled
Galystris laughed and looked at Imari.
“Yeah, that’s him. The first thing he did was throw up on me.” she whispered back.
Galystris waved at Kama.
“That’s debatable. It's been 20 years, so you’re doing well.”
Galystris looked back at Imari, who still looked completely starstruck by Mimisko and Kama’s existence.

A barely stifled giggle escaped his lips as Ooro's comment reached his ears, added excitement brewing in my veins. "Oh my god..." He could barely contain the grin on his face imagining the scenario: it might even give the old man a heart attack. His attention was diverted to the child being prodded about by his infant, asking him a question.

"This little man's Novus, sport!" He replied in an ecstatic manner, the little baby giggling along. He faced Novus and pointed towards his young nibling. "And that kid's name is Genesis! Say hi little buddy!" 

Novus cooed in response, barely able to form any sort of coherent language at his age. He struggled with producing the sound that referred to their older cousin, instead coming up with a jumble of noises that vaguely resembled the nickname "Genny" while waving his hand. 

Osseus went to scoop up his bundle-of-joy when his arm brushed up against a familiar object. A warm smile graced his face, remembering the time he received the dagger that he always kept on his person.Then again, the fear of someone looting his home of this precious artifact if he left it there kept him holding on to the dagger at all times in case of danger. Whether or not it would actually come, it would always come in handy whether the situation would arise.

Io smiled, head tilting to the side as she did so. The small man was just as her mother described, right down to the whiskers on his face. "One of those mercs is my mom," she replied, feet shuffling as the girl got into a more comfortable position.

"She spoke really fond of you, so I'll make sure to tell her I saw you today. That is," the vishkanyan pointed her finger, "If you don't mind Manasa knowing Rezza light met her daughter." Her ton was matter-of-fact and posture prideful, yet Io still looked down at Rezza with sparkling eyes and a wonder struck smile.