In Which The Songseekers Meet The Baker
horizontal rules (except this first one i guess) means there's a big chunk missing. got it? ok.
On a cool and pleasant evening, the Songseekers were setting up camp for the night. They were in a stretch of wilderness between the two closest towns, and were as relaxed as they got. Their previous job went well and then they had time for themselves. Howard was humming a tune while he and Eads washed up from dinner. There was still a bit of soup left over the dying fire, sending pleasant aromas around the camp. There were very few animals in this area due to some wizards’ labs, and there were wards that could detect the latent magic in animals that did happen to come around, so none of the Seekers were worried.
There was a rustle in the bushes, and everyone was instantly more wary but didn't stop what they were doing. Howard transitioned into a different tune, a prayer to the Wayfinder, god of the roads. The rustle came closer, louder. There was a huff of air, almost a sob. Ana finally looked up from the fire, and stared out into the bush.
"You can come by the fire if you'd like, little one. We have some leftover food as well, if you eat soup."
Yeong looked at Ana warily. "Who you talkin to, Ana? Is - oh." They stared, too.
A horned person in dirty scrubs came out of the bush. They looked terrifying, and, more importantly, terrified. They raised their hands, which were long and webbed to the first knuckle, in a shaky peaceful gesture. They looked somewhere between a human and a dragon, but they were clearly not a natural hybrid like Pierre was. They looked like something forced. When they tried to speak, it came out unintelligible. When they stumbled closer to the light, it became clear that they didn't have lips.
The person looked frustrated. Pierre looked sick. Orobela just looked furious.
"Oh, child. what did they do to you."
The person broke down in tears. Ana and Orobela helped them to sit by the fireside.
"Can you write?" Pierre asked, already getting out paper and pencil. The person nodded, breathing shakily.
I am human, they wrote first, I need help please believe me.
The Songseekers looked at one another, and gained a temporary member.
“Welcome aboard,” said Zee, “what can we call you?”
I have a name. I know I do I dont want to be called by a name that isnt my own but-
Ana cut them off gently. “I can keep calling you little one, I suppose. Or if you have a title?”
Im a baker, they wrote after a time, I dont remember much but I remember that.
“Alright then. You’re the Baker, for now at least,” Ana said, “And for a little while, you’re a Songseeker, too.”
The first step, after giving the Baker some clothes that weren't scrubs and a good nights sleep, was finding a place for them to stay.
its not that Im ungrateful, but vagrancy is difficult and Ive had enough of hardship for now, they wrote at a near-abandoned rest stop. The only other people there were the two workers, a host-visitant pair. The Songseekers had been here before, and knew that an escapee of an amoral magical experiment was not the strangest thing they’ve seen. When they came into the building, they didn’t bat an eye. The Demon waved at them, and the Elf just smiled.
"I think we can find somewhere for you to stay," Howard said, scratching his head. "My sibling and their host live in the next city over, and one of their friends is a Proxy, I think," Eads added, "Since you've got a weird magic thing, a god might be able to help."
Eric hummed. "The Sedas run a gym with temp housing in the same city. I think there's our best bet."
"We have a ridiculous amount of contacts in Nerouawe," Pierre grumbled through his fist, "None of us are even from there."
“That’s not true, Margo is.” Yeong pointed out.
Pierre scoffed. “Margo is also dead. And we had the contacts before he joined ”
Yeong puffed out their cheeks with a huff. They could all hear Margo laugh from outside.
(this part is a little out-of-date. phones and all.)
The Sedas, predictably, were quick to accept the Baker, but they were also out of town for a few days and no one was living in the gym to let them in.
“Really, we should give y’all a key or somethin,” Lyn said over the phone when they called her to check in. “This is just inconvenient.”
So instead, the Songseekers met up with Eads’ sibling, Ra, and their host, Leigh, at a diner. Well, Pierre, Howard and Eads, and Ana did. The rest were doing supply runs around the area.
“Our apartment’s pretty small, so we can’t host you right now,” Leigh says, “but I’m pretty sure my cousin’s boyfriend owns a house. We can ask him if he has room.”
“That’s the Proxy, too, right?” Eads asked.
“Hm? Oh, yeah, Tim’s technically a Proxy,” Leigh said, and Ra followed up, “He’s good friends with a minor death god, and technically related to the Sunwarden.” “Technically.”
Howard hummed. “Could you call him?”
“What, right now? Yeah,” said Leigh, who pulled out her phone and put it on speaker.
A cheerful voice greeted the call. “Glory house! What’s up, Leigh?”
“Hey, Emerald,” Leigh said, sounding fond, “You’re on speaker. Can you get Tim? I’ve got something to ask him.”
Emerald, apparently, responded easily. “Sure thing, should I grab Ole too?”
“Oh! Actually, yeah, they might have good insight.”
“Alright, give me a moment! I’ll leave the line up.”
“Thank you,” Leigh said with a smile.
“Do they still have a landline? Emerald answered the phone with the house name,” Howard muttered.
Ana shrugged. “That’s pretty common for Magicians, I’ve found.”
“Mhm. The landline is next to this absolutely massive Slate. It’s useful for when someone needs to collaborate but can’t meet in person,” said Leigh.
“Tim,” Dee said softly, “you don’t have to figure this out on your own.”
“I know that, I just... They came to me, you know? I feel like I haven’t done something... like this, since I died.”
“Oh, Tim.” Dee leaned forward, pulling the ghost into her arms. He shuddered, outline going a bit hazy. They stayed like that for a while.
“I know you don’t like each other, but… Do you think we should call Cookie?” Dee mumbled into Tim’s shoulder.
Tim shot up. “Cookie! That’s either an incredibly good idea or the worst one!” He hovered back down to Dee’s level. “We should probably ask the Baker if they want to talk to her. E’s scary when e wants to be.”
“Where are they?”
“I think they’re still asleep,” Tim hummed, “but they should be waking up soon. The sun’s coming up.”
“They just woke up,” said Ana. Ana was the only Songseeker still in the house, though Howard and Eads were staying with Leigh and Ra nearby. “They’ll be down in a moment.”
“Right, mail gang. Early risers. I’ll get started on breakfast, then.”
“Tim, use my good coffee, not Oleander’s cheap stuff,” Dee said.
“You don’t have to,” Ana said, “We're used to crap coffee.”
“All the more reason to have good coffee when you can,” Dee said primly.
Emerald came down the stairs as the buns came out of the oven. “Good morning! Don’t mind if I do,” she said, grabbing a fresh bun.
“Those are still hot, Em,” Tim scolded.
Emerald waved him off. “You know I’ll be fine.”
The Baker and Oleander came down a few minutes later. They ate.
“Baker,” started Tim, “I have
Oleander, Emerald, and Dee all went to work, leaving just Tim, Ana, and The Baker.
Tim called Cookie. She picked up the phone but didn’t say anything. Because Tim was calling from the landline, he couldn’t tell if e had picked up or hung up.
“...Cookie?” Tim tried.
“Yes. It has been quite a time, Tim. This had better not be a social call.”
“Of course not. The Songseekers - a mail gang - have found a survivor of some magical experiment, looks like fusing dragonic and ironic essences pos-”
“I’m coming to you.”
“--t… Cookie?” He sighed. “She hung up. E’ll be here soon.”
The Baker fidgeted. They underlined Es safe? from what they had written on the Slate earlier, and added sure?
“Yeah, I’m sure she’s safe. Scary, and has a grudge against me, but safe.”
Grudge?
“That is… a very long story. Short version, eir dad and I killed each other”
“Oh,” said Ana. Tim turned to her. “I thought I had heard of you before. You’re Tim the Feared.”
“The one and only.” If he had a mouth, he would have smirked.
“Hello, little misery. I am Cookie, and I know what you need to find.” Cookie was huge, larger than anything the Baker had seen. How she fit in the Glory house was a mystery. She had eight limbs, including her wings, and was covered in what looked like shards of red glass. “You need to find a unicorn.”
Tim choked. Ana narrowed her eyes. The Baker held their ground.
“Specifically, you need to find a specific unicorn, somewhere on the lower continent.”
The Baker nodded.
“Wait,” said Ana, “Unicorns exist?”
Cookie turned to her. “Of course unicorns exist. Why wouldn’t they?”
“I thought they were a myth,” mumbled Tim.
“They aren’t just… Demons pulling pranks? Sick Dragons? Hallucinations?”
"Sometimes," Cookie intoned, "But sometimes they are unicorns."
“You’re sure you don’t want any of us to come?”
no, Id like to go alone.
“I’m sending you to a trusted contact - Owl Eyes knows everything that goes on around her, probably if there’s a unicorn in the area, she would know?”
alright
“Let us know what happens, and you can always call if you need us. Or text! Any of us!”
I will
“Good luck, Baker.”
“Shit. Sorry, Baker, but I need to take care of something. I’ll be back soon - in the meantime, you should talk to Crow. He knows a lot about this kind of stuff. He’s the tallest Ironperson here, you can’t miss him.” And they were gone before the Baker could say anything about it.
“What the HELL?”
“Oh, shit, is that-- Are you the Baker?” nods. “Right, Owley told me ‘bout you. Well. She mentioned you were coming, and you don’t talk. What languages? Greater common sucks, and we’re really bad at upper common.” shrug.
“What if,” this is kite, “we just start talking in a bunch? See if something sticks?”
cant hurt
blach blach kite and crow know about five languages each, mostly overlapping
when crow switches to [obscure dead west language] the baker GETS IT
that one what was that
“what, that one? I don’t think anyone speaks [this] anymore! I learned it for necromancy reasons.”
THATS ENCOURAGING
“sure is!!! fuck! for the lady’s sake!! what the hell happened to you???”
...i have ideas for where this is going but i don't really know how to get there lol