Adventure Log - December 6, 2023
The Descent of the Flamebearer
Solaire's Main Lobby is rather comfortable. Large plush couches and vases of fragrant fresh flowers are scattered throughout the room. Near the front of the room is a receptionist's desk. In front of the desk, a rather large light blue panel is on the floor. It's glowing ever so slightly and the word "waiting" flashes sometimes. Past that, there's a large television screen on the back wall behind the desk showing some kind of slideshow. No other doors exists in this room, strange considering how large Solaire Enterprises is. Violet enters as she takes in the building and its interior. She approaches the front desk, hoping to see Rebecca there. Rebecca is laying down on one of the couches. On seeing Violet enter the building, Rebecca sits up and waves with a slight smile, but she seems slightly tired. "Oh hey Violet, glad you found us. Welcome to Solaire."
Violet waves back with a nod and walks over to Rebecca. "Of course. Good to see that you are doing well! Solaire looks like it got a new coat of paint, which I guess is good. Ready to head out?"
Rebecca nods, "of course, but let me explain what our task is first. Simply put, a loud screeching sound has been heard throughout the city. The Agency requested I, or in this case we, investigate and try to figure out what exactly is making this sound. Sound good?"
"Sounds good to me!" Violet gives a thumbs up, signaling she’s ready to go.
Rebecca stands up and stretches a bit, "awwright, follow me." She walks outside of the lobby and into her 1969 Cherry Red Corvette Stingray convertible. "Hop in, Violet!"
Violet hops into the car, buckling her seatbelt, "So what else do we know about this loud screeching sound? Anything that the AAA believe it to be or anything they think it is connected to anything?"
Rebecca shrugs, "there's all kinds of weird shit in The Outskirts. Considering the AAA wants us to investigate, there's a chance it's something magical causing it. We'll need to be on alert while out there. Most of the creatures are undocumented. But that's kind of why it's fun." They zoom off towards The Outskirts. About a half hour later, they arrive in The Outskirts, a usually verdant and dense forest outside of Capital City. Due to it being nearly winter, however, it's nowhere near as green. The dull colors of white and grey cover the ground in fluffy fresh snow and many of the trees are dead. They can hear various sounds of things running around and birds flying. Rebecca steps out of her car and equips her knives to her belt, just in case. "Alright Violet, let's see what we can find out here. Hopefully it's nothing."
Violet steps out of the car as she summons an axe, holding it at the ready, "Crossing my fingers. But I am curious what it could be."
They both step into the forest and find nothing of note. The trees all seem to be intact, and various footprints of different animals, like deer and raccoons, squirrels and the like, can be found. In some of the trees, bird nests are sometimes found. There are so many dead leaves on the ground, as if autumn immediately transitioned to winter without any warning. It's rather quiet in the forest and extremely peaceful. All that is heard out there is the usual sounds of nature. "Huh. You'd think with how much they've been asking for help with this, there would be something more here. But it's nothing. Just... kind of quiet." Rebecca shrugs as they continue to walk.
"It’s a bit too quiet if you ask me. I’d think we would at least find something of the sort, even if it is not what we're looking for," Violet responds as she continues walking alongside Rebecca.
"I agree Violet. There are rumors of animals having Magical Abilities out here, but there's nothing." Over in the distance, they can see a large group of deer running away from something, adding some various distressed yelps to the otherwise silent atmosphere, "Speak of the devil and he shall come, fucking hell." Rebecca heads that way. Violet quickly follows, keeping her guard up as well.
They rush over to whatever is scaring the deer but they don't find any creatures. But that in of itself is strange. Up to this point, the forest has been covered in snow, but over here, it's no longer snow covered. In fact, the once cold air that permeated the forest is now a lot warmer. The ground seems to be charred a bit too and the green grass underneath the dead leaves now black and smoking slightly. "What in the fuck," Rebecca looks uncomfortable.
Violet looks a bit worried as well, hoping that her worries don’t come to light, "What in the.. Are we dealing with some magical fire creature?"
"Wouldn't surprise me Violet. I've heard tales of something called the Flamebearer existing in these woods, but I have no idea if it actually exists or not." They hear the screech of something in the sky, a screech well known to Rebecca, "wait... that can't be," Rebecca looks up into the sky.
"What?" Violet looks up as well.
[Loading - One moment please]
[Now Playing - The Flamebearer]
On looking in the sky, they see an extremely large red bird-like creature. A brilliant scarlet and gold plumage combined with glowing golden eyes and massive wings can be seen. Anytime it flaps its wings, a gust of very warm air, usually much too hot for anyone to be around is sent down to the two. Thankfully, due to the crisp winter air, the gust is cooled down significantly. Still warm though! Another loud screech is let loose, loud enough to knock anyone out with hypersensitive hearing or temporarily deafen anyone else. It seems to be flying closer to the ground to face the intruders. Behind Rebecca and Violet, the dead leaves begin to spark and catch flame which blocks their exit. The creature doesn't seem to be very interested in the two, nor does it seem to be hostile. Rebecca looks stunned by what's in front of her though the screech forces her back as she puts her hands to her ears. "The fuck. It's real???" she manages to say, though otherwise she's completely silent.
Violet covers her ears to the sound of screech, looking up at it in awe, "Is that- is that a phoenix?!"
The creature's eyes glow a stronger golden hue while it blinks. Within Violet's mind, she can hear it speak to her telepathically, "Who dares disturb my slumber?" Its telepathic voice seems rather gentlemanly, as if it's seen quite a lot in its extremely long time alive. Only Violet is able to hear this.
[Alais note - Thankfully, it seems we are able to comprehend its telepathic messages too.]
"Oh! Um, well my name is Violet, and this is Rebecca." Violet motions to Rebecca, "We did not wish to disturb you, we only wished to see what was making the screeching sound from these woods. We are sorry for disturbing your slumber."
Rebecca tilts her head and asks, "who are you talking to?" She looks terrified of the creature in the sky.
Violet does not take her eyes off of the creature. "It's talking to me...in my head. Seems to be like telepathy."
The creature watches Violet intently, tilting its head. Then it responds, "are you a threat to my eternal rest? I have not seen any other humans in a while." The flames behind Violet and Rebecca continue to strengthen dangerously, even spreading to the trees in the immediate vicinity. A forest fire is imminent.
"No! Of course not! We will leave you be as you wish if that is what you desire," Violet responds confidently.
The creature speaks telepathically once more after nodding its massive head, tilting it from side to side. "Thank you. I will now return to my slumber." The creature disappears in a glitch of distortion. The hot flames behind Rebecca and Violet also disappear, as well as the charred ground. It is almost as if the forest was reverted to its normal state. The threat of forest fire is gone as well. Violet is able to remember everything it said as well as know its name, The Flamebearer, as if she knew it all along.
Rebecca blinks out of pure confusion, "what the fuck just happened?"
Violet explains, "The Flamebearer returned to its slumber. It's best we leave so that we don't disturb it again."
Rebecca shakes her head in total confusion, "....that was the Flamebearer??? So it wasn't just a myth. What the fuck."
On the ground, something fell off The Flamebearer. Violet looks towards the whatever fell to ground, picking it up. It's a rather large single scarlet colored feather. It feels oddly warm to the touch, but it doesn't hurt to hold. Violet feels compelled to keep it and summons a chain to makes a necklace out of it, tucking the feather under her shirt so that no one can see it. It feels rather warm against her skin, but it's not too hot so that it’s uncomfortable. Rebecca just looks worried after inspecting the area, "so wait, what happened to the fire in the area?? Ugh, uhm, whatever. Ready to head back Violet?"
"Hm? Oh yeah! Ready to head back when you are!" Violet nods.
Rebecca nods as well before walking back towards her car. The amount of wildlife seems to be back to normal, as does the sounds in the area. The group of deer they encountered earlier on are lazily grazing on grass, some laying down and taking a nap with their herd. No more screeches from The Flamebearer are heard. For now, it seems they've successfully completed their task. "Alright, so we met a literal Myth. I can't imagine the Agency will believe it." Rebecca sighs and starts her car.
Violet steps into the car and puts her seat belt on. "I recommend you don’t tell them about The Flamebearer. I fear some might take it seriously and try to harm or perhaps capture it, and I think that would disrupt their slumber when they’re just trying to live. Especially since they are not bothering anyone. Just tell them that it has been taken care of."
Rebecca nods as they drive off. They head through Australis district on their way back to Solaire. The houses in the area are broken down for the most part, though one of the houses is oddly still in good shape. Rebecca parks in front of this house. It’s a rather small ranch-style house, single floor. Rebecca comments, "Damn, I can't believe her house is still standing. It's a miracle."
Violet looks out the window to see what house she’s talking about, "Hm? Who’s house?"
The only thing wrong with it is the windows are shattered and the living room furniture is all gone, plus there are random acts of vandalism and graffiti, "This is Krystal's old house. I just wanted to see it again, it's been a really long time."
Violet says, "Oh! I see. How is it still in this good of condition?"
Rebecca shrugs, "no idea. The Magical Explosion should've leveled it but apparently not. Oh well, better we get back to Solaire. It's not safe out here at night." They continue to drive on. Violet keeps this in her mind.
On arrival back at Solaire, Rebecca parks in front as per usual. Then she turns to Violet with a smile on her face, "Thank you for coming along with me. It's nice to know I could have extra eyes to witness what we did. Still can't believe that was the Flamebearer, wild."
"Indeed, thank you for inviting me!" Violet steps out of the car, "Well I’m gonna head back unless you need anything else?"
"Nope that's it for now. I'll go prepare my report and have Allie process the Log, just maybe I'll remove the part about the Flamebearer. Doubt they'd believe me, it's basically a fairy tale at this rate." Rebecca smiles.
Violet nods, "Thank you. I’ll see you around then!" She shows a peace sign and vanishes. Rebecca returns inside of Solaire to process her report for the Agency.