Natalya Returns

Life, Milestone

Natalya returns to the cave with a family from Lenisily who need help.

Fenneck looked up as he heard the sound of snow crunching in the ravine outside of his cave. He got up and put his boots on and walked out of the cave to see Natalya and a couple of wood elves with a small child. He felt a lot of emotions when he saw her, predominately anger and confusion. She walked up to him confidently and met his eyes. "This family needs shelter." She said before he could speak and gave him an understanding look. He glanced at the family who clearly needed help and nodded, "Come inside. I'll get a stew going." He turned and led them into the cave. He got to work fixing the stew and Natalya came to help by chopping up vegetables as if nothing had happened between the two of them. "My name is Pavel," The wood elf father introduced himself and his family, "This is my wife Svitlana and our child, Pyotr. We..." The elf looked at Natalya who nodded and continued for him, "They need help escaping Lenisily. I told them I could get them to Flottenheim." She went back to cutting up potatoes, trying to avoid Fenneck's gaze. "Of course. You'll be well taken care of there." Fenneck assured them. He tried to catch Natalya's eye multiple times throughout the evening, but he figured it would be wise to wait till they were alone to find out what the hell was going on. "What's your name?" The young child asked him. Fenneck smiled, "Fenneck Frostears. It's very nice to meet you, Pyotr." He told the child who was looking up at the apples on the ceiling in awe. Fenneck plucked one and handed it to the boy who looked over at his parents who nodded to tell him it was okay to eat it. He watched the small child bite into it and smile gleefully before running over to his parents to let them taste the sweet fruit. His heart started to glow as he watched the child who would hopefully have a wonderful life in Flottenheim now, full of apples and other wonderful treats. He finally felt a sense of relief hit him. This was what he had been waiting for. He had craved this feeling after becoming addicted to it in the years following their successful revolution as he had helped build farms and housing for their citizens. In the years when he was able to introduce tons of small children and desperate families to wondrous foods and delicacies they had never had the privilege of experiencing before. He looked over at Natalya in wonder. How did she do it? He felt the thiramin in his heart flicker and he couldn't help himself from hoping that maybe there was some sense to this. When the family finally settled in for the night, Fenneck beckoned Natalya outside. When they were out of earshot of the family, he looked out over the mountains. "How did you find them?" He asked her, desperate to know where she'd been. "Dimitri was supposed to kill them." She said hesitantly. Fenneck felt the flicker in his heart start to dim at the mention of Dimitri and decided to ask for the truth. "You never told me what happened." He said, still avoiding her eyes, "The last time you saw him. I assumed it didn't go well." He paused as he surveyed the land. "Have you been with him these last few months?" She sighed and crossed her arms and looked out into the mountains with him. "It didn't go well." She said, "And no, just... just two nights ago. He caught me trying to sneak into Lenisily and nearly killed me. We talked and..." She swallowed and Fenneck knew that they had been together. She tried to brush past it though, "-and then he suggested I sneak his targets into Glitterfjell. He said he'll think of a way to communicate with me so that he can coordinate when to send refugees into the mountains." Fenneck took a deep breath as he tried to control his feeling on this matter. He couldn't help but feel hurt. "I didn't realize you would be here." She finally said, clearly upset that he was. "Baegla sent me up here to patrol the border and to finish mapping out the land." He explained flatly, thinking it should have been obvious to her. "I'm not back for you." She said coldly. He slowly turned and met her gaze. Her green eyes were full of fear and frustration. "I should hope not." He told her, equally icy, "That door is firmly closed." Natalya looked conflicted by his reaction. She looked as if she didn't recognize him for a moment. She swallowed and crossed her arms, "Do you want to help each other? I'm not asking to go back to Flottenheim," She qualified, "I know my place is out here. These people need help though... Pufuktin is ordering more kills than normal. Dimitri is willing to risk a lot but we'll have to meet him halfway." Fenneck thought for a moment. He hated how much it made sense. How well the puzzle seemed to fit together. He remembered Pyotr's glee from biting into an apple for the first time and knew that that feeling was better than anything romantic love could ever bring him. "Okay," He agreed, "but I'm done with you. I don't care about our connection, or thiramin or how close we might have been before. You are done playing with my heart." He told her sharply. "Fine. Good. I don't want it either." She said, shrugging at him indifferently, "I'm happy with what I have with Dimitri." "Good." He snapped before turning on his heel and going back inside the cave. Natalya followed him inside. "I'll keep watch in case you were followed." He told her as he wrapped his cloak around his shoulders, "You need rest." He nodded to his bed and grabbed his weapons as he left the cave again. He walked a few feet away and glanced back to make sure Natalya hadn't followed him before sitting down in the snow and taking a deep breath. Erikur came up and sat down next to him. "She came back." He said, trying to cheer Fenneck up a bit. "She was with him." Fenneck said disdainfully. Erikur shook his head, "Did you not do the same thing with Alexei?" Fenneck looked at him in shock that Erikur would accuse him of such a thing, "No! It is not the same. She left me. Again-" Erikur cut him off, "She chose to leave, Fen. She's allowed to do that. Just because she's your thiramin doesn't mean she's forced to be with you. You do realize how selfish you sound, right?" Fenneck looked away and tried to think of a way out of this. "I was finally starting to love her." He said sadly. Erikur rubbed his back, "I know. And that... sucks. But maybe you should take a break from thinking about love and romance right now. She's figured out a way to help people. I know you miss that more than anything." Erikur said meeting his eyes, "Remember when we built that longhouse in the Vallee for that family of dwarfs? I remember you planted a garden for them and taught some of the young kids enough magic to help them grow their own crops there. I watched and..." Erikur smiled sweetly at Fenneck, "I guess that's not fair of me. To tell you not to think about love when I bring up the first time I confessed my affections for you. But it was that spark. That spark of doing good and helping others that made you glow with joy. How could I not fall in love with someone who took joy and pleasure in such pure things?" Fenneck smiled at the memory, "I've missed it." He confessed, "Almost more than you. Everything in Flottenheim has been so good recently. Maybe it would be different if I knew others weren't suffering, but as long as Pufuktin stays in power I don't know if it's possible for me to just... be content." "Maybe this is what you've been looking for. After all, you couldn't have found it without her." Erikur said. "I suppose so..." Fenneck mused. Erikur leaned over and kissed Fenneck on the forehead before standing and fading into the falling snow. Fenneck collected himself and went back to the cave and sat in the entrance until a few hours had passed. He entered the cave and prepared a quick breakfast for the wood elves as they meditated. Finally Natalya woke up and came to help him get the family up. They ate quickly and then started their journey together toward Flottenheim. Fenneck and Natalya quickly found a groove as he led the way and she followed in the back. He noticed her shivering a bit more than normal and felt his heart break as he realized she'd removed her ring. He felt a great sadness overcome him but he tried to push through it. When they finally made it to the edge of the forest it was almost nightfall. Natalya stopped and met Fenneck's eyes. She wouldn't go the rest of the way. He walked back to her and pulled her from the group, "You need rest, it's far too late to make the journey back." He tried to tell her. She shook her head, "I'll be fine. I need to meet Dimitri and figure out how we're going to move forward with this." "It's too dangerous Nat-" "Don't worry about me. Get them to safety Fenneck, that's all that matters now." Her eyes met his and he realized that this truly was their new purpose. The reason she had entered his life. He nodded, "Fine, but be careful. I'll head back to the cave as soon as I've made sure they're safe here. You should tell them goodbye." Natalya nodded and went to the family, "Fenneck will take you the rest of the way. You're safe now." She told them. "Thank you, Natalya." Pavel told her before letting Pyotr down. The small boy ran to Natalya and handed her something. Fenneck saw her put his ring back on her finger and thank Pyotr for returning it to her. Fenneck realized she had given it to the child to keep him warm as they had traveled through the mountains and in that moment he fell in love with her. He loved her so much and so purely for the first time. Everything started to make sense. But the moment was fleeting and his heart broke as she turned around and walked back toward the mountains, alone, to be with someone else. After a few moments of watching her disappear into the forest, Fenneck finally turned back to the family and beckoned them toward the city. When they finally made it to the palace it was dark out and the throne room was empty. He had a guard call on Baegla and she came out of her room in her robe having been woken from her sleep. "Fenneck dear! What's all this?!" She asked excitedly before seeing the family. She studied them for a moment before a huge smile filled her face. "Well what's everyone waiting for?!" She exclaimed, "Go wake up the chefs! This family clearly needs some food in them!" There was a brief gust of magical wind and Baegla floated up so that her face was level with the elves'. She bowed midair as she introduced herself and shook each of their hands. "I'm Baegla Snowma, the premier of Glitterfjell. Welcome to Flottenheim!" She greeted them excitedly before Fenneck could even say a word. As she returned to the ground and returning to the same height as Pyotr, Fenneck chuckled and spoke. "This is Pavel, Svitlana and their son, Pyotr." He introduced the family, "They are refugees from Lenisily." "Well of course they are! Come come!" She said, excitedly leading them to the dining hall. They all sat down and the family ate and enthusiastically filled Baegla in on their story. She listened intently as they spoke, managing to keep her eyes on them whilst eating everything that was put in front of her. Eventually they all had their fill and Baegla showed them to a room. She turned to Fenneck and pulled him into one of the spare rooms across the hall to speak with him privately. "Well?!" She's back?!" Fenneck shook his head, "She's going to be bringing refugees in from her boyfriend in the KAV." He said pointedly. Baegla sat down at the table and pondered this for a moment. "How are you feeling?" She asked him, her expression impossible to read. Fenneck paced the room a bit, trying to decide how to answer this. "I'm happy to be helping people." He decided. "I haven't felt joy like this in years, Baegla. Since we first set up our great city. It doesn't matter what I feel for her. We both need each other for this to work and I'm willing to suffer the pain of not being with her if it means we get to save others from Pufuktin's cruelty." Baegla smiled at him. "Good. I'll get a fresh batch of supplies organized for you tomorrow for you to store in the mountains and to help make your lives easier out there. Especially since you'll be feeding more than one mouth." She said standing up and walking to the door with purpose, "You should get some rest and tomorrow we'll help settle this lovely family and set you up with those supplies." She said as they walked out into the hallway. "Sounds good. I'll see you in the morning, then." He told her. "Wonderful, my dear!" She said as they parted ways for the night. Fenneck walked up to his room and settled onto his bed to meditate. In the morning, he opened his eyes and felt better than he had in years. He stood and walked out onto his balcony and looked down at the city below with a renewed love and admiration for it. He spent the day showing the city's newest family around and eventually settling them into a house on the third level of the mountain because of the child's excitement over the animals. He helped find proper furnishings for the house and assisted Pavel in organizing it until the family felt at home. They were so excited and grateful to be in Flottenheim and Fenneck was beyond relieved to finally have a purpose again. After a few days he loaded a very heavy bag of treats and goodies from Baegla onto his back and headed back into the mountains. He finally reached the cave well into the night, exhausted from carrying the huge load. He pushed open the pelts and saw Natalya reading in the opposite corner of the cave. Fenneck felt a small pang of sadness as he realized they wouldn't be resting next to each other anymore. He dropped his heavy pack on the ground as he entered. "Hi." She said flatly. "Hello." Fenneck greeted her formally as he removed the rest of his travel gear. He dragged the extra bedding Baegla had stuffed in there and put them in one of the crates for any refugees they hosted. He then started organizing the food. "Do you need help?" Natalya asked him, standing up. Fenneck hesitated before nodding, "Sure. Baegla sent some extra supplies she thought might be useful." He explained. Natalya nodded and they put up the rest of the food. Natalya grabbed one of the rolls and ate it hungrily as they worked and Fenneck realized she'd been eating shitty rations all winter. "So, what exactly happened? How is this going to work?" He asked her as they started sorting out the slabs of meat in the bottom of the bag. He put them into a box that was full of snow and salt magically enchanted to stay cold. She sighed, "I was here for a while feeling sorry for myself while the worst of the winter kept me from adventuring into Lenisily. When I finally did, I was fully intent on running straight to Leniscow to kill Pufuktin. I'd barely made it to the forest outside of Vladigrad when I was shot down by Dimitri." She cast Fenneck a guilty glance as she said his name but Fenneck tried to keep his eyes steady on packing the meat into the box. "He realized it was me and bandaged me up and... and..." Fenneck saw her blush, "You made love." He finished for her, a little too coldly. She nodded guiltily. "When we were done he told me to get back out to safety and then he came up with the idea. He would spare the targets he was given and instead bring them here to the mountains and tell them he was sending them to their death and I would find them past the ridge and bring them to Flottenheim. He said he's been getting more targets than usual with Pufuktin in charge." Fenneck nodded, "What about last time? What happened before when I found you frozen in the snow?" She sighed, "He caught me sneaking in again. He was angry though, and blamed be for what had happened. For Pufuktin. For hurting him." She looked down sadly, "He was really upset about you and the fact that I had been in Flottenheim. I came back into the mountains and collapsed into the snow and wanted to... die." She said sadly. Fenneck started to reach out his hand to comfort her and thought better of it. "So what now?" he asked, trying to keep his voice as even and emotionless as possible. She sat back, "Now... We wait for his next assignment. We have a code system of rocks that I can use to communicate with him. He said to check back at the end of this week and he'll let me know when the next refugees will be there and how many." Fenneck nodded and stood up, "Sounds good. We should establish a couple check points along the trail to store some food, bandages and potions in. It might be good to find a safe enough place to rest between here and there." He decided. "Yeah, I agree." "Good. I'm quite tired so I'm going to get some rest." He informed her abruptly as he took off his outer wear and boots. "Me too." She said, matching his abruptness as she walked over to her mat. They prepared their respective bedrolls in stubborn silence. After they finished, Fenneck got settled to meditate but Natalya paused, still kneeling. After a moment's consideration, she turned to Fenneck. "Were they okay?" She finally asked. "The family. Did you get them there okay?" Fenneck smiled despite his effort not to. "Yes. We set them up in a house on the level with the farm animals. Pyotr loved the baby goats and wanted to be close to them." He beamed as he thought about the small child's excitement. "I helped them organize their house and Baegla is going to help them get involved with different jobs and organizations in the city. They were very happy." He assured her. She smiled and Fenneck felt his warm admiration for her wash through him as their eyes met for a brief moment and they shared the same joy at having helped the young family find a safe home. "Goodnight, Natalya." He said, getting under his cover and facing away from her to hide his pain. It was a dull, aching pain and Fenneck had to push his thoughts down hard to avoid crying. Eventually, he meditated and they started this new chapter in their lives together. In spite of the love and pain she caused him he was able to develop a civil working relationship with her. He felt a sense of comradery in their shared goal. They started to see their similarities more clearly than before. They were both running from demons and trying to clear themselves of their guilt. Some nights, Natalya would have her nightmares creep up in her meditations and start crying or shaking and Fenneck would have to rush to her and shake her awake. Some nights Fenneck would be hit with grief and Natalya would hold him as he cried, like Erikur had all those years ago. But otherwise they kept their distance. Natalya didn't return to Flottenheim for seven years. Fenneck tried a couple times to allow her to come and rest and bathe in the warmth of the palace or to visit Jasna and Baegla but she refused him every time. Fenneck decided to enjoy the friends and family that he did have. He finally felt like he was moving on. That there was a light at the end of the dark tunnel that was his life. He enjoyed his new sense of purpose. He finally felt like he had found the thing he had been longing for all these years. He loved meeting the refugees and helping them find homes and new lives in Flottenheim. His favorite part of it though was when he would return from Flottenheim with stories and updates on all the families they had helped to tell Natalya. It was always so intimate and beautiful as they shared in this experience. She was always so grateful to hear about the joy and happiness they were able to bring these people and Fenneck always felt his love and affection for her grow with each of these moments. He was starting to enjoy life. Over the years, Natalya and Dimitri started to meet less and less as it became too risky for her to actually enter Lenisily. Some nights Fenneck would wonder if one day they would be together, but he never banked on it. He knew the reason they were thiramin was far greater than any romance ever could be and he found a greater love for her in the friendship they found for each other over the years.