Well… it looked fine, I guess…?
"Doesn't look like anything's wrong, Vim," I said as I studied the large village.
We were up on an extruding cliff, overlooking one of the several villages that rested in Tor's Valley. From up here one could see hundreds of buildings of various sizes scattered and bundled between trees or amongst huge swaths of farmland with golden wheat and other foodstuffs, and I could even see distant figures as they walked around and working in the fields.
Our last visit, thanks to Tor's order of letting in, had given the opportunity to actually visit the village for once. It took a mont, but I eventually found the large building where the head of the priestess family lived. The new head priestess, Frerit, the daughter of Silkie who had originally banished on the re sight of , lived there. She and her family had at first been a tad uneasy around but had quickly ward up and welcod .
I had expected us to go there, but instead Vim had brought us here up on this mountain. He hadn't said why yet, but I had a good hunch. He had simply wanted to assess the situation. Hard to bla him, really. Though from up here, even though from a great distance, I couldn't see anything… alarming. No fires. No chaos. Just… a normal, seemingly happy, village.
"Looks normal," I said again as I kept on studying the village.
"He's an illusionist Renn," Vim said softly.
Glancing at my husband, and the concerned look on his face… I wondered if I should ask what such a thing actually entailed. It wasn't the first ti I'd heard him use such a word before and once he had even sowhat described its aning… but…
Was he saying that the village we were looking at, with all the people walking around and stuff, was sohow not real…? How was that possible?
Though I suppose Tor did make a moon and even water in that cave, so… maybe it wasn't as strange as I thought.
"Do you uh… see anything? Or notice anything?" I asked him. Not only did the village look fine, it actually looked lovely. We had arrived a few hours after sunrise, and the warm sun was beaming down without a cloud in the sky. Plus there was a slight breeze, so it felt amazing at the mont. If I had called this place my ho, right now I'd likely be lying in one of the large open fields and resting under the warm morning sun.
Basically Tor's Village looked peaceful and calm. Nothing at all like a place that had been destroyed, or about to be destroyed, by a rampaging monarch.
"I'm not sure…" Vim whispered.
"Would you, if there was sothing wrong?" I asked. He said illusions right? How did one tell if that was what we were seeing or not?
He frowned as he kept studying the distant village. "Right now I'd say the fact I can't see or sense anything wrong… makes assu sothing is in fact wrong," he said.
"Okay…?" I didn't like the sound of that.
Vim sighed as he crossed his arms and tilted his head, while still studying the village. "Not that it matters. Even if nothing is wrong at the mont, sothing will go wrong once I confront him. Instead of saying sothing is wrong, I should say that sothing is inevitably going to go wrong either way," he said.
"Can we… not avoid that?" I asked. On the way here we had talked in length about this, and he had said his expectations were that Tor had simply acted out over the lack of us giving him his ancestor's heart. So he was hoping that this could be handled, or at least dealt with properly, by simply handing it over.
Though he had also said the act of us giving him his ancestor's heart could also be the cause… what with it then causing Tor to go insane, or sothing.
Made feel like we were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Or rather, the way I felt when I couldn't decide if I should sleep with Vim or one of my dear friends instead.
"We're going to do what we have to. And that is to ensure that Tor is not a threat," Vim said, saying the sa thing he'd been saying the whole way here.
And how exactly he planned to do that he hadn't been willing to share, but I knew better than to ask. I'd asked probably twenty tis since leaving Lilly's ho, and he's yet to answer. Though I knew better than to think he didn't have an answer to such a question, I was honestly starting to worry over the one he was inevitably going to show .
Hopefully it wasn't the sa kind of answer he used for similar situations, such as for Tim or the gods he encountered.
"So… what's the plan, then?" I asked carefully.
Vim nodded as he gestured down the cliff. "I'll head down first. Until I verify there's nothing amiss, I'm not going to endanger you. Once I'm sure all is safe… or at least, safe enough that I can ensure I can protect you, I'll light a torch and swing it until you notice. It's hard to make out from here, but you can actually see Tor's cave there," Vim pointed and I stepped closer as to follow it… and sure enough I found where he was pointing. I couldn't see the actual cavern entrance from here, but I could see the path that led up to it. It was a larger dirt path with a bunch of little lanterns running along it.
"Then what? I just… co down and join you?" I asked.
He nodded. "Yeah. Nice and easy."
Easy for you to say… "What if you uh…"
"Have to kill him? Then once I'm done I'll light a torch and alert you all the sa, that ans it'll be safe then," he said.
Gosh that wasn't what I ant… "Okay… I guess," I mumbled, not sure what else to say or do.
I an, I got it… it wasn't like I could actually help him here and now. I couldn't help him fight Tor, if it ca to that. In fact the only real reason I was even here was more of a contingency than anything else. I was here to handle and deal with prophecies or things alike them, for him. If it ended without having to deal with such things, then I was useless.
Which was honestly the best outco for this scenario. I'd much rather be useless and have wasted a trip down here than have to actually deal with prophecies, since that would an the worst had happened.
At the very least hopefully everyone is okay… I had not liked how they had outright banished originally, or how they didn't allow so of my friends and family here as other locations did, but that didn't an I wanted them to be in danger.
Especially Frerit. She had been a nice young girl…
"If, by so weird chance, sothing terrible happens… take the bags and run. Go to Rapti, since she's nearest, and alert Light and the rest. Then once you confirm they got your ssage head back north where it's safer," Vim then said.
I frowned at that. "And what…? Abandon you?"
Stolen novel; please report.
He frowned back at and nodded. "Yeah?"
Staring at him, I wondered if I should sigh or smile at him. He wasn't joking at all, he ant it.
I know he didn't really fear death or pain like I did, or any normal person… but still…
"How about you just… handle this properly? Please? So nothing bad happens?" I asked.
Vim held my gaze for a mont, and then looked away from and sighed. "Tor is not a slouch, Renn. No matter how tiny and cute you see him as… he's not sothing to underestimate. He is not a Miss Beak, but he's as close to one as those like him can get. He's beyond the realm of normalcy, and as such should be treated with such caution," Vim said.
"This information would have been far better shared before we got here, Vim…" I said with a groan.
He flinched, but nodded. "I know. I'm sorry… if anything it's your fault, you flirted the whole way here what else was I supposed to do but drool over you?"
I couldn't help it; my face flushed with heat as I tried to not laugh and failed to do so. "What…! Vim!" I groaned as I chuckled and tried to stop myself from doing so, which only made make even weirder sounds than usual.
He laughed back at , which only made my face even hotter as he reached over and gently patted my back. "I promise to do what I can, Renn… really. Now that the gods are back in play, I need as many allies as I can get… as we can get. So I'll not waste one of the better ones we have without just reason," he said.
"Vim…" I groaned as my face quickly cooled. Why was he again saying sothing so drastic…!?
"Honestly this might just be sothing like what happened to the bear… so…" Vim went quiet as he shrugged.
Great. "So uh… since this might be that serious, can I ask what you an by illusionist, Vim?" I asked.
"Hm…? I've not explained it?"
I shook my head. "Not… in detail," I said.
He slowly nodded as he gestured at the village below. "Illusionary abilities are a play on one's senses. They're things that trick you into believing sothing that isn't real. Most abilities and techniques can only trick the eyes, making you see what isn't actually there or changing the appearance slightly of sothing that is. And that's why most fail, because those like us can easily notice them because of it."
"Because of what…?" I asked. What'd he an?
"The eyes," he said as he pointed at his own. "Even if one could trick your eyes, Renn, they cannot fool the rest of you. Your nose, your ears, your sense of self and surroundings… your instincts and so forth. Sothing that can trick your eyes cannot trick the rest of them, and so because of it you'd notice right away. The proof of that is in the way Folz makes you feel uncomfortable. You notice the odd and your nerves beco unsettled because of it," he explained.
Ah… "That water and fog had felt very real to ," I said, talking about the so called illusions Tor had shown last ti.
Vim nodded. "Thus his danger. Tor's illusions can do far more than trick one's eyes. They can make slls, tickle hairs on the back of your neck, make you feel wetness, make you feel fear or other emotions when there aren't any… basically they can actively influence the mind. They're potent things that turn the fantastical into real. They can even outright kill you, by making you believe you died without you actually doing so," he said.
"That's uh… not good," I said.
"No, it's not."
"Especially since that's basically Liora's prophecy concerning your mother," I added.
Vim flinched. "By my parents Renn, please don't point it out so blatantly. I'd been avoiding that this whole ti for a reason," he said stiffly.
Woops… "Bad ti to also ask if Tor might have been the cause for the bear's oddness too?"
"Rennalee…" he groaned.
Although the situation was serious, I couldn't help but smile. It seed I wasn't just onto sothing, it was so serious that it was making Vim utterly uncomfortable. "Sorry…"
Vim took a deep breath and reached up to rub his eyes, as if suddenly tired. "Really…" he whispered with defeat.
"Sorry, Vim… but I an… aren't you used to such things? You've said you fought them, or have been fighting them, all this ti right…? So you should be used to it," I said.
"I am… but it's a terrifying truth I really don't want to admit. Because there's sothing beyond what even you are hinting at, and if it's all true, then…"
"Like a god being behind it all?" I asked.
Vim flinched again, and did so with such a quick jerk of a motion a large piece of nearby cliff broke off and started to tumble down the cliff face.
I awkwardly stepped back a step, not just from the ledge but from Vim… as I listened to what was likely a bunch of stones heavier and as big as fall down the cliff and start hitting trees beneath the mountain.
Woops…
Vim didn't sigh… but he did groan as he rubbed his eyes so more. "Now I need to go right now," he said stiffly.
Right… cause the sound of those rocks falling had likely echoed throughout this whole cavern… "Sorry," I apologized again.
He took in a deep breath and held it in as he nodded. "It's okay. Yes. So uh… stay here. Safe. Keep an eye out for my signal," he said, still talking stiffly. It seed my comnts had really disturbed him.
"Okay… Be safe."
Vim hesitated a mont as he glanced at , and I felt a tad sheepish as he did. He had obviously not wanted to leave just yet, but now had to, and it was my fault.
"Stand Tall, Vim," I said softly.
His eyes softened. "Stand Tall, Renn… but not too tall, okay?"
Oh…? "Okay…?" I whispered as he stepped forward. "Ah! Vim!" I panicked as he nearly stepped off the ledge, and I reached around to grab at his spear. He had almost forgotten it!
"It's okay. Keep it. You might need it more than ," he said.
"You sure…?" I might need it more than him…? I didn't like the sound of that.
He nodded with a frown. "Tor's… weak, Renn," he said simply… and then stepped off the ledge.
I groaned as I stepped forward, and flinched as I heard and watched him slide down the slide of the cliff… sounding not too unalike the rocks and boulders that had just done the sa.
"Weak…? Saying that after going off on a long tangent on how dangerous he was…? Really, Vim…"
Sighing at him as I watched him reach the end of the cliff, and disappear into a cloud of dust and trees, I waited impatiently for him to erge again from the dense forest below. Oddly I didn't find him until a few minutes later, not until he entered the village proper.
From here, so far away, I barely recognized him. The only reason I even did from here was because of how fast he was moving. Could I even run that fast…?
For a long ti I just… watched him. Vim seemingly didn't run straight to Tor's cave. Instead he stopped to talk to soone. From here I couldn't really see who he was talking to, but it looked like a villager. They wore so tan robe looking styled clothes here. A few minutes passed, and Vim still continued talking to them.
Daring to take my eyes off Vim for a mont, I looked around for what I could use as a seat. As to wait… since it seed this might take so ti. But there wasn't really anything more than a few trees and so small rocks and pebbles around .
Stepping away from the cliff, I went to find a log or sothing like it. I guess it was ti I just… patiently waited.
Usually waiting for Vim was sothing I didn't mind, even if it made anxious. Since it felt good to actually have soone that I could wait for, and it usually ant upon his return I'd be able to beco very happy. For one reason or another. But right now it wasn't a good feeling at all.
"Hopefully all goes well…" I mumbled as I found a decent log to use as a chair.
By the ti I brought it back to the spot Vim had left at, Vim was gone. I sat down and tried to find him again amongst the village but couldn't… so instead went to watching the distant figures instead.
People were working the fields. A small group was fishing a river to the north. Soone was on the roof of one of the bigger buildings, seemingly working on it.
They were all… seemingly busy. Fixated. Going about their daily routines.
Maybe this was all for naught. Maybe nothing was wrong… maybe Light, like many of Celine's prophecies, had been mistaken…?
"If only," I whispered as I went to dig out a snack from one of the bags.
I felt bad for Vim, since I knew he might be soon fighting a deadly battle with Tor… but I was now hungry. And it was his fault.
"We hadn't flirted that much on the way here," I mumbled as I dug out so dried at, then went to chewing on it angrily… as my face once again felt a tad hot… which only made angrier and hungrier all the more.
Tor better sort his issues out, or I was going to personally give him a piece of my mind. Really!
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