Returning Home

Two

After the evening prayer, many of the attendees came to speak with Zataya and Vaalyun, many with just some kind words, others just welcoming her home. It was a welcome feeling, being given all these kind words and welcomes, but something was still missing. There was this overarching sense that something wasn't right, that something was missing. She felt so alone. After spending the past year with the people who formed the group know to almost no one as The Sleep Deprived, being away from them felt so strange. Yes she had been alone for over a month now, as she traveled back to this city alone from where the group decided to split their own ways. Altair was the closest to her now that she knows of, and even he was about a months of travel away.
Her and Dathré had plans to visit each other when they could, but the distance was definitely an issue since magic, although in Zataya's wheelhouse, was not strong enough to travel the distance that now stood between her and the rest of her party.
These was something different about tonight though, the over-washing sense of calm and peace. It was a relief to see the world still standing, the One not to be named, in fear of being to wake him again, had left his scar on the her, her friends, and the now disintegrated corpse of a Count. He to, hopefully, never to awaken again.
Touching the necklace that hung around her neck, Zataya felt the warm metal beneath her fingertips, She was looking and watching of her as She always did. Zataya was finally home again, the others where home too. Dathré going to work on a farm where there was a Half-Orc gentleman he fancied till hopefully he could get is own farm restarted. Altair was going back to his studies. Pathile going to locate the Orc Clan that raised her. Winter heading back to her church,near where our adventure started. Urrrah going back out on the open road to discovery all he can about the arcane.
The Sleep Deprived was scattered, and despite being encircled with all this love and care, Zataya felt alone.
The last few people finally trickled out of the church within the next half hour. Vaalyun stayed for the whole time with much surprised to Zataya, he had many opportunities to leave as most people were only interested in talking to her. Once all the people has dispersed, she relaxed her shoulders, not noticing  how stiff she had been talking with all of these people, giving out a quiet sigh she looked to Vaalyun, who had also visually relaxed now that all of the people where gone.
"That was a lot of people who came to see you," he says simply, as the two turned and began their way back towards the small kitchen where the most of the night staff had also retreated to now that the prayer was over.
"They most of them have watched me grow up here under your care, there are as proud of me as they are of you for training me how to take care of myself and others. Most of the people that came and spoke with me just know you don't like to talk very much."
"At least your people skills have gotten better." Vaalyun says with a nod opening the side door into the kitchen area.
"I have Urrrah to thank for that, he's definitely like mother in that he likes to talk and is really good at it too."
"So you found you brother, how has he turned out?"
Zataya told Vaalyun about Urrrah, what he looked like now, his magic, his self given purpose of protecting the Staff of the Eternal Flame, and how he was still out and about ever-exploring.
"You can't always tame a wildfire. Just happens you got one for a brother" Vaalyun says, as he gets up from the table they were now sat at. He walked over to one of the many cabinets and pulls out an almost flat, wrapped package from inside. Returing to the table, he places the package down Infront of Zataya.
"Open it"
"Is this what you wanted to give me earlier?"
"Just open it"
Zataya carefully began to open the package, upon getting through the back of the paper as saw the back of a small framed canvas. Turning the cavas over and removing the rest of the wrapping she saw a face that she hasn't seen in years.
"How... When..."
"When the devilish creature attacked all those years ago. I was there. I was in one of the groups that was tasked with driving it away and killing it if possible. I got to see your mother, you, and Urrrah when we were trying to get it away from the civilians. It was my job to write the damage taken to the city and see who needed care. As I wasn't apart of the group going directly for the creature itself. I wrote all of your discriptions down so you all could be taken to safety after your building was attacked, but you probably don't remember that I was there because I didn't directly speak to you. But this was ment to be your birthday present this past year. But then you vanished." Vaalyun said quietly, the long string of statements unexpected from the normally very quiet paladin.
Zataya sat there in silence the small framed painting was wonderful, it showed her mother, with her Zataya standing next to her and Urrrah on her hip, in the same pale blue working dress Zataya remembered she wore that day. Looking at herself, she looked like a spitting image of her mother besides the absolute puff of red hair a top her head, no visible horns, no visible scales, visably human. Urrrah also looked surprizingly human, besides his red skin tone and the faintest bit of horn poping of of his short red hair, both of the Ember children and there mother. One happy family.
"Thank you Vaalyun...." She says not looking up from the painting she now held in her hands. "This is wonderful"
"I am sorry it took so long for me to get it to you, I just wanted to make sure you were ready for it. But after what you have been through I think you can handle it just fine."
After about about hour of small talk and talking to the other members of the church that were excited to see that Zataya was home. Zataya headed back to her room with the painting in hand. Finding and grapping a small nail and hammer from Urrrah's box of tools she had shoved behind the curtain, she gently tapped it into the wooden support beam near her bed. Hanging the painting in the nail, she put the hammer back and took off her official paladin robes and returned to some comfortable night clothes. She kept the necklace on, and carefully hid her amulet away in a box that she said under her bed so already it would be harder to find if anyone came snooping in her room.
"Stop being so paranoid Zataya," she says outloud to herself, "your not out on the road anymore. You don't have to be as causious as you were then or at the inns you stayed at."
Blowing out the three candles that gave light to the darkening room, Zataya laid down in her own bed for the first time in ages and took a deep breathe of all of this things that she was returing to. A question poped into her mind. How long until she took a job request from the church again. She knew she needed a break  to let her body recouperate from the past year's stressing circumstances, but she also didn't want to stand around all the time. When's he past year had been filled with so much travel and exploration.
"A week at least," she told herself as she closed her eyes from staying up at her ceiling almost expecting to see stars glimmering above. Instead she got the dark wooden ceiling to greet her closing eyes.
The next morning seemed to come very fast. The soft glow of pre-sunrise light shining through the uncovered window next to the desk.
Upon sitting up in bed Zataya felt something roll off her chest. A scroll case clinked onto the ground beside her bed. Picking up the simple metallic object she inspected it for any thing she could devise to be a trap. Finding nothing, she open the case and took out its contents. Inside was a fine piece of paper Zataya knew to be a spell scroll from her time with Altair and a letter.  Opening the letter she found it was written with large font so the whole page was filled from top to bottom with words. It read:
"Zataya, I have safely made home in the area around where the Altair left us in the woods, and have begun collecting information about my missing city and while it's still probably months away from me finding the meaning of any of it. Keep this scroll until it is time for you to return to me. This will let you speak with me and we can figure out what to do next. Be safe. Azuroalmus"