Mabinogi Generation 1 - Chapter 5: Tir Na Nog

In the presence of the bear earlier was a strong feeling of sadness, the kind a child feels after their favourite stuffed animal goes missing or breaks; but, in the presence of this guy was more like the feeling of being close to finding something great, then having it torn from your grasp. You could see it in the way he dressed too, a dirty and ragged brown robe, shoes that have marched far too many miles, a pair of glasses that looked in fair need of repairs and a good wiping. But on his face were a pair of cold green eyes hidden behind those specs which seemed to silently hide enormous grieving.
“What the hell do you want...” his perception seemed to be great... I should be careful with what I say to him.
“You’re clumsy and dropped this!” I screamed while holding out his pendant, being absolutely haphazard instead of careful.
“...That’s!” As I looked up, he seemed to be in a state of shock. His eyes were fixated on the pendant as it swung in the wind, like a hawk on its prey shortly before striking.
“Umm...” I couldn’t quite gather the words I wanted to say next; he seemed to be having ‘a moment’. If I went with something like Would you like this back? that would be a bit rude seeing as it’s been out of his possession for... I don’t know.
“Oh, I’m sorry...” he spoke, relaxing his voice and expression. “Thank you, and would you mind handing that over to me?” He asked, a bit confusing seeing as he’s only a few feet away from me on that altar. “Please, I can’ leave this location...”
“Ah, okay!” I ran up to him and placed it in his hand. This Tarlach guy, can he tell me what I’ve been dreaming about?
“I’m assuming you want something in exchange for returning this to me, I’m afraid I can’t offer much.” Okay, Taiga, now’s your chance... though, saying ‘I saw you in my dreams’ is a bit weird, right? What were they talking about anyways...
“Well, last night I saw you and two other people in my dream... and you were talking about something... Tir Na Nog, was it?” And I looked at him again, the tension from before I shown him the pendant had returned.
“You don’t want to know about that...” he said with a grunt. “Anybody foolish enough to search for such a thing is the pet of a fool.”
“Wait, I really need you to tell me!” Okay, why not bring up the other night, that crazy nightmare? “The night before that, I had a really terrifying dream, something huge attacked Tir Chonaill! It was bigger than the inn, and it had four arms!” In front of a normal person, this would sound crazy, but this guy can probably see right through it and find truth in it.
“...what... did you say?” That worked? Oh, good... maybe a little too well. I rate frightened expressions on a scale of 1 to anybody who visits Ferghus with a broken tool, but I think this topped it. To put it simply, he was terrified of what I said, whatever it was.
“Umm... are you okay?” And slowly, his composure returned. Yet, still you could clearly detect he was disturbed. He faced me with his back and raised his hand to his face.
“It’s been a while since I’ve been confronted like this, you remind me of Mari... And with that, I advise you stop your search.”
“And if I refuse to stop my search?”
“Man, you’re annoying... if I give you my lead, will you leave me alone?”

---

“Look at this... a dungeon so close to such a peaceful village.” It was like Tarlach had described, the place has indeed been cleared out for easier access and in the centre of the entryway stood a giant statue of the Goddess, what people believed she would look like. I feel like I’m going to be seeing a lot of these in the near future...
“And what kind of treasure does a small kitty cat seek at the bottom of this well?” Sokk immediately teased.
“Well, it has to be good, or scary, for her to call on us for help~” Piko joined in, placing both of her hysterically quivering hands on my shoulders.
And of the four I met, only two were available to assist me; my tent mate who fears her own campfire stories, and Chou’s very own porcupine on two legs. This should be a pleasant ache...
“I’m looking for something, that’s all you two need to know.” If I told them about Tarlach and my dreams, it’d be being picked on for weeks to come over that stuff...
“And so he directed you here?” Of course they somehow know...
“So this is why she ran out in the middle of the night...”
“And collapsed the tent on you...”
“And kicked the food container open which attracted wolves...”
“Okay, okay, I get it! Will you two just shut up and help me?”
But really, this place is pretty creepy. The walls, which were crudely thrown together or cut from years of wind or manually chopped, were pale as sand sitting at the bottom of the Adelia Stream. That wasn’t because they were made of some sort of lightly coloured stone. If you were to walk up and touch them, you’d feel a delicate silk. Or, at least, it would be initially soft to the touch. If you were to attempt to escape, it would refine itself from a plush thread into a twine. With stickiness comparable to honey, it would imprison a person who would fall into the trap of thinking it a bed.
“Uwah...?!” Piko hastily cried out. Wow, I didn’t think there would be one so close.
I can’t believe that such a giant spider even existed... he said that was a Fomor’s doing. Is somebody else here in this dungeon? These things definitely aren’t smart enough, and I don’t think they would just stumble upon something to make them stronger. And Tarlach knows.
Yet, as we walked deeper and deeper in, I couldn’t help but feel déjà vu. All these webs lining the walls and portions of the floors, and not a single spider about to spin them. It’s a shop of fantastic and beautiful gowns and hats, walls lined with the fabrics that would go into the making, the seamstress is shaking your hand, but the needles are nowhere to be found.
“By the way,” Sokk had breached the silence, “may I ask why you only use a knife, Taiga?”
“Uhh...” Actually, I can’t exactly afford anything better. Any money I would have left over after buying a new weapon would go into shipping it into Dunbarton then even more to have it repaired. Daggers are really just small and durable, which keeps them used for a long time, and Ferghus won’t be allowed to touch it for months on ends. And when I do have to give it to him, it’s the one weapon he can actually repair with a greater chance of success. I can’t say that though, I need him to experience Ferghus’ magic touch without any prior influence.
“Probably because they’re tiny like she is,” Piko suggested.
“Or your attention span,” Sokk replied. Well... that’s true.
“I find it easy to use and fast.” And Ferghus can easily, painlessly, and affordably repair it. “I can move in tough situations,” like going against a hungry pack of wolves, “and I even can throw it pretty well, too.”
“Throwing the knife, huh? And what will you do once you throw it? You’re completely unarmed after you throw it.”
“Well...”
“Huh, even with a combat instructor, you don’t know that much about actual combat planning.”
“Combat planning?” Ranald never said anything about this... maybe it’s some sort of crazy war zone thing.
“It can’t be helped... I guess we’re going to have to teach you the strategems.” We paused for a moment. “There are three of us, so I’ll teach you guys the trio set.” From the scabbard on his waist, he drew out a sword with a short handle and wide blade. “So far, we’re looking like a perfect set, two offensives and one supportive. A trio’s a team set to take on the world, but only if they know what they’re doing:
“To clarify, Taiga and I are the offensive combatants since we hold weapons that can usually only be used in closed-quarter situations. Piko on the other hand is a distanced weapon holder, and in this case would be the support. Stratagem 1, we go all out while the support looks out for anything that might cause us trouble. Stratagem 2 is actually the exact opposite. She, or whoever is the support would commence their attack while we keep a sharp eye for anything that would hinder her. Stratagem 3... this team is far too young for...”
He’s telling me it’s something I can’t do. Okay, fine, I can deal with that. However...
“No we aren’t! We’re so ready for it, right? Right?!” Piko here doesn’t like being down-talked too much. Sokk simply smirked.
“You can ask my bro about it later; these are the only two we will use today.” He laughed a bit as he turned a corner. And the laughter ceased. “I hope you two get the basic idea of them, we’re going to have to execute the second stratagem real soon.”
Of course, the curiosity (and the fact that it’s within our path anyways) got the better of us and we caught up to Sokk and glanced around the corner. Where the hallway ended stood a door, and it was guarded.
The skin of the guards was gruff, a pale green colour. Their eyes appeared tired, and long, but blunt, teeth came out of their mouth extending a bit past their jaw. Each carried a crudely maintained hatchet and a circular piece of wood (might be a shield). There were two of them.
“Piko, remember what we taught you.” Sokk said as he placed his hand on her shoulder.
“If they can stand on two feet, don’t fire with lethal intent...” she murmured while reaching for an arrow. Did she have an issue with that?
“So... is she shooting to scare?”
“No,” that was the shortest answer I’ve gotten from her in my life. And the missile darted across the hall from her bow and...
“GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!” Into it’s knee.
“Darrel? What’s wr- GRWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!” And the other one’s knee. That aim... scary.
“Taiga,” I felt my hand being grasped. “Run.” And we dashed through the hall, past the two writhing goblins (that’s what Sokk said they are), and right up to the door. At this point, I think respect for whoever set that door flew right out the window. Sokk drew back his foot, then released it right into the knob, forcing it open. And on the other end...
“The hell?” My thoughts exactly, but not my voice. We charged in past the small door into a very wide, spacious room, not alone of course. Our company was standing at the other end with a red spider. He was garbed in a black robe with a red sash, but his face was hidden behind a veil with the Fomorian inscription on it.
“You fools...” and he’s angry. “This is a forbidden place that you cannot enter!”
“How’d we get in here then?” Piko taunted.
“How dare you disturb the guardian of the Fomor Medal!” he lashed back.
“So?”
“So, you are clearly disobeying the will of the Goddess!” Huh? “Those who rebel against the gods don’t deserve to live! No one will remember your existence, I’ll make sure you will be forever forgotten.”
“I don’t know what goddess you’re talking about,” Sokk started as he stepped forward “but we’re kinda here on orders from ours.” You couldn’t see his face, but his body language clearly shown aggravation. And focus... and electricity! Why am I just standing here?!
“Sokk, move!!” But my warning was too late, the charged bolt had flown in a flash into his heart, knocking him off his feet and sending him backwards. He’s... dead?
“Piko... we gotta get out of here!!”
“Ah ah ah!” She had her aim at the wizard, seemingly unfazed by the sudden death of a significant comrade. “Now, on who’s orders are you acting on, Mr. Wizard?”
“I’m acting on the will of the Goddess Morrighan!”
“No you aren’t,” and released.
“—hrk!!” into the left foot.
“Ahh... damn, that kinda hurt...” Huh? I turned around and saw... the corpse of Sokk rising back to its feet! “Damn it Taiga, I’m not dead.” He read my thoughts! Oh, I guess that is him. “Yeah it is.”
“I was wondering how long you were going to play dead...” and Piko’s in on it?
“Milletians... you’re all Milletians aren’t you?!” the wizard yelled out. “A curse on you Milletians, all Milletians!” With insane speed, the wizard turned to the spider it was standing by, and then began to chant something in Fomorian.
Have you ever seen a balloon being filled with air? This part looked something like that. The spider, grew. Seriously, it just grew into the size I saw in my dream, maybe a bit smaller, or bigger. I don’t know. I don’t know what’s going on anymore.
“Okay guys, explain...” I asked them. I don’t know what this Milletian business is, how Sokk survived that, and that this person who made a spider grow is sided with our Goddess.
“Milletians, that’s us, we can’t die,” Sokk said cheerily. “And who better to serve the will of the Goddess than people who can’t die?”
Turning attention back to the wizard, I think if you could see their face, it would be as red as a strawberry over how crossed he was. But obviously anger wouldn’t disparage him; he has a giant spider on his side. Actually, he has the ability to enlarge spiders on his side. Oh right, the spider.
“Any plans, Sokk?” I asked him, who at this point I assumed to be the group leader. Sword in hand, he faced me and smiled.
“No, not really...” His face resembled that of a person who was receiving a lot of compliments at once. I’m confident this one is an idiot...
“Piko?” I probably shouldn’t have asked, or looked for that matter. As it turns out, she’s arachnophobic and trembling the way Ferghus does when he’s handed something to repair.
“How about you, Kitty? Do you suggest 1 or 2?” I’m in charge now?! Well, I dragged them both in here, I probably have been all along.
Alright, I guess one of those two strategies would work. If I pick 1, we could go crazy on the spider, and Piko could chase the wizard... She has a bow, too, not much people can outrun or dodge an arrow. Okay, it’s settled.
“Sokk, you and me are going after the spider.”
“Sounds good to me. We’ll cut it down to mincemeat!”
“Piko, you’re going after the wizard.”
“O-okay!”
And off we split, Sokk and I charged to opposite sides of the spider, while Piko drew an arrow and began chasing the wizard.
With a normal sized spider, you can listen to it as close as you can, it will not make a peep. This thing, there was a strange moist growl to it. It stood on 6 legs as we drew closer, raising its two front legs in defiance to us.
“Alright, jump!” And it pounced, but we were a step ahead by leaping out of its path. “And cut!” With a 180 shift in momentum, we turned around and made a cut at the rear two legs. To my surprise, that one swipe was enough and it snapped.
“Woah.”
“Don’t stop, Kitty! Keep cutting away!”
Piko had stopped running and started taking aim, pulling the string back as far as she could. Earlier on she had nailed two stationed targets in the knee, but this one is moving.
“You’ll never take me, Milletian!” The wizard called out. “My magic powerful enough to subdue an argus in one strike!”
“I don’t know what that is, and do you want to show me that?”
“Aren’t you afraid? Do your feet not quake in the presence of such power?”
“No, because the moment you stop running to charge, I’ll put an arrow through your left shoulder.” Oddly specific... But truth is held in that statement. Only wizards on the level of druids have been known to cast spells in motion.
“Impudent little...” and the wizard stopped.
*fwhip!* the arrow was released. But the prophecy of the arrow to the shoulder would not be fulfilled as the wizard had suddenly vanished!
“Eh?” Unexpected indeed. Where could the wizard have run off to? Or was he still there in a cloak?
“Now Milletian...” Piko heard the voice one more and spun on her toes to turn around. “You shall peri—“
“KYAAAAAAAAH!!!” And... uh... she kicked him. With a kick powered by the epitome of fear itself, the wizard had been transformed into a raggedy ball and hurled across the room. Nicely aimed too, right into what was left of the spider.
“Alright, nice shot!” Sokk called out. Piko, the recipient of the compliment, was still standing where she kicked, dizzied from the recent slight trauma. But with that, had we won?
“The wizard, is he...” as I feared from taking the pulse... he’s dead. We just...
“Killed someone, yes,” Sto—nevermind. But this is bad. “No, he was trying to kill us, and besides,” as Sokk stood up, he held up an object, “I think we found your treasure.”
“Huh, let me see that...” Wait a minute, this is... “a priest’s medal."