Diane - The Strange case of Mr. Pendryg

Diane had finished her traking charm in no time, but Brune had yet to complete her tonic potion, and Artemisia had not come back with the wake-up potion. Diane’s impatience grew, and she began pacing inside the building, unhappy to wait. When Brune completed her tonic, Arty arrived with her potion. Everyone took what they needed to go on, and left. Diane had placed a tracker on Robert’s coat when Brune still had it. She was not sure why, but she had a feeling it could be useful. But for now, using a tracker on Luna seemed more relevant. They headed to the girl’s cottage, and Diane knew she wasn’t going to be in it. She said so, and when she opened the door, she was proven right. The darn girl had left without waiting for them. She cursed, and began to track her by smell. It was not too difficult, for the girl hadn’t tried to conceal her tracks, and Diane could even read the ground to know where she had gone. For a while, it worked, and they travelled the Misty Paths, following Luna’s tracks. But then, Diane found a soft spot in the ground, and both footmarks and scent ended there. She was very disappointed. Why did they do that again? Helping a girl who wouldn’t let them help, saving a guy she didn’t even know? But then, there was Brune. She did care. And Diane didn’t want to make her sad, so she pretended she cared too.

She told the girls the lead ended there, and Luna must have gone underground, through the goblins’ tunnels. She felt Brune fear and disappointment. Artemisia suggested they got back to the Heart and tried a divination spell, but it would take time. Diane confessed she had planted a traker on the coat, and Arty seemed to thing this was a brilliant idea. Good thing she wasn’t too picky, for Diane had feared the girls would frown at her initiative. After a short exchange, they decided to follow the coat’s lead, for Diane felt it was moving. A coat didn’t move on itself. Then, the longest track in Diane’s life began. The coat moved constantly. She felt like she was carted around by some elusive bait. Sometimes the tracker was so distant she could only faintly feel it. They went to and fro for the most part of the day. Diane began to feel exhaustion. She could sense Brune reaching her own limits and still pulling into her last strengths by mere willpower. Arty was pissed off too. She asked if there was a remote chance they could still find the coat. Diane was about to let go, for the tracker seemed too far away, when suddenly it came back to life, using the Misty Paths to go to the Heart. The Heart? All this night and day of hunting for a return to their starting point? It was very frustrating. But Arty said Luna must have succeeded if she headed back to the Heart. And she got a point. Brune’s hope lifted her heart, and Diane didn’t want to crush it by stating the other options. So they headed to the Heart, in the hope of finding Luna at last. Diane said she would feed her to Moonlight, and she was only partially joking, for the girl had made a fool of them, and they had lost precious time for naught.

When they arrived to the Heart, a man was half-crushed under Dragon, Robert’s familiar. The man wore Robert’s coat. It must be Robert, then, all evidences pointing toward that direction. Arty bursted into laugh at the sight, then turned all angry and tense. She yelled at the man, demanding to know where Luna was. Diane couldn’t blame her, she would have done the same, only Brune, a strong relief washing over her, lost all the nervous tension that kept her on her feet, and fainted. Diane felt it before it happened, so she could catch her in time. She checked on the girl, but it was mainly exhaustion, so all she needed was a good rest. She came closer, and listened to Arty when she tried to talk to Robert, whose answers were not quite satisfying. He didn’t even look at Brune’s limp body. Little Brune, fragile Brune who had given all her energy in the hope of saving him. Diane frowned. She didn’t like the man a bit. Ungrateful jerk. When Arty seemed to calm down and listen to Robert, it was too much for Diane. She began to growl, answering a strong urge to protect Brune. She would have been at Robert’s throat, if not for Brune’s body resting in her growingly tired arms. She yelled, she called him ungrateful, and insensitive, and many other things. She tried to make him see, actually see what Brune had done for him, but he seemed to think she was useless and only good at fainting. Diane couldn’t stand it. And when he refused them the cottage under the pretense that it was Luna’s and not his, she went nuts. Of course. Like Luna was going to refuse them a bed after what she had done to them, forced them to do! This guy was going to die. Now.

Moonlight’s presence soothed Diane and she calmed down, when she understood that the man had been through a lot, and was probably as tired as she was. The only thing she had in mind now was putting Brune to bed and just close her eyes and sleep, for she felt all strength desert her. She could as well faint too, if she didn’t rest. Now. She mumbled the closest thing as an excuse she could manage, entered the cottage, laid Brune down on the bed, sat by her side, and fell asleep just after making sure Moonlight would stand guard and don’t disturb anything. Then everything went black.

Two hours later, she woke up, and found a clumsy note from Arty’s tired hand, saying she had her own cottage and would be there, and they were welcome to join her. Why hadn’t she said so before? Not than Brune could have mustered the energy needed to carry Brune this far, at the time. But now she could. She lifted Brune again, checked the cottage to make sure they had not disturbed anything, closed the door behind her, and headed to Arty’s cottage. The Woodwife was sleeping on her bed. Orion, her familiar, noticed their coming, but didn’t react much. Diane put Brune on the couch, Moonlight came to sit next to Orion. Then Diane lied down on the floor next to the couch, and fell asleep again. Safe place. Must sleep.