Saving the Child! [Job Chain/ Vavantine]

So this is the fate of the child of one of the greater warriors of Imuchakk. Was it really necessary for him to be exiled from his home tribe? He was even seen as one of the strongest of his generation in that tribe. So why was he being punished? In short, the boy was a failure. He has been walking the ice caps for twenty years, and he has yet to defeat the Rampaging Unicorn. There were members of the tribes that were much younger than he was that have defeated the creatures, so what was his hold up? His pedigree was indomitable. His skill was no where near lacking. The answer... was in the boy's personality. The fact that he didn't take things seriously was the very reason why he has yet to slay the Rampaging Unicorn.

The young man walked across the ice caps, heading towards the next village. His aim was to find a way to survive there until he was mentally prepared to take on the Rampaging Unicorn once more. His physicality was not a problem and was never in question. He just didn't know how to plan for something like that. He wouldn't take it seriously. Maybe some time away from all that he knew would help him with that... At least, that's what he hoped. On the horizon, the unnamed Imuchakk could see the tops of buildings. He couldn't help but grin from ear to ear as the people of the village slowly started to come into view as well. Finally! Some human interaction.

Before he could enter the village, however, a group of warriors were heading his direction. The two parties stopped for a moment and they all looked over the wandering Imuchakk. Before they could say anything, he spoke up. "Is there something wrong?" The men and women in the other group murmured amongst themselves momentarily before the man leading the party stepped forward. "Actually, yes. There is a family trapped in a chasm up above... We're going to go and try to get them out." The unnamed Imuchakk's eyes widened for a moment. Without a second thought, he nodded towards the group and spoke up, "I'm going with you!" The party of warriors and the unnamed Imuchakk started to head to the chasm where the family was trapped.

News of an avalanche reached the ears of the the Sapphire Templar, a small family that formed a group of warriors, but only one could go aide the people that had fallen prey to the merciless snow. Vavantine, the youngest of the Templar had to go since much of her family were off on other assignments. Without missing a beat, she put on her clothes, sheathed her sword, and ventured off with other warriors of her tribe.

The march through the snow and wind was slow, but they eventually made it to village to gather more intel on what happened. Once they received the desired information, they proceeded their march, only to be halted by a large Imuchakk male. He was indeed tall, but he surpassed the height of the tallest Imuchakk within the group. The man even had pointed ears and a long mane of beautiful blue hair. Vavantine blinked as she gazed up at the man through the slits in her mask. She had never seen an Imuchakk that was as tall as him, or even as well built as him either.

Before the young Imuchakk girl could really examine the strange man any further, the group began to move. Vavantine only noticed that the man was following when she caught site of a giant figure striding right beside her. She looked to the right and craned her neck at the giant who was pretty much three feet taller. She averted her gaze quickly so that she wouldn't be caught staring and cleared her throat. "Aren't you a tall one," she said. "Taller than the tallest Imuchakk in the little band of warriors."

The large Imuchakk looked down at the woman who was next to him. She commented on his stature. At first, he blinked in confusion, but then he looked around. He really was the tallest one there. The man couldn't help but stifle a laugh at the sudden realization. "Sweet cream on an ice cream sandwich! I guess you're right! I am pretty large, huh?" His response was in a jovial tone. He wasn't sure why the fact of him being the largest man there amused him so much, but it did. He leaned down a bit and put his hand over the side of his mouth. "Maybe one day I'll shrink and be normal, eh?" He flashed her a smile and a wink before straightening up again and continuing after the others.

The group would shortly find themselves at the mouth of an icy chasm. The tall man looked around, a bit worried about what they may find. "I guess this is the place." Before he could continue, the man who seemed to be leading the group ordered that they all split up in two's to find the family. There was a man who seemed to be walking towards the woman who spoke to the unnamed Imuchakk, but the taller man turned to her first, "Hey, let's try down this way." He smiled and her and put his arm around her shoulder, walking nonchalantly deeper into the chasm.

Vavantine laughed silently at the Imuchakk's reaction to his own height. He even joked about one day shrinking to normal size. The expression he had was priceless, but his wording was odd. she didn't know of anyone who said that. "Maybe. I mean you never know right? Anything could happen. Maybe I'd even get taller."

She smiled up at him, but soon her face turned serious once they arrived at the scene where the avalanche had occurred. The leader of the band was splitting the search party into two teams, but before he could give the young girl her orders, the muscular Imuchakk guided her in another direction. Vavantine was a bit confused as to why he took her with him, especially when they were going to be given orders. Behind her, there was the unmistakable glare of the leader before he turned on his heels and joined one of the two other groups. When she looked back in front of her, she noticed that the tall man was leading her deeper into the chasm.

Vavantine's heart skipped a few beats as she remembered when she had fallen down a similar chasm that was smaller when she as just a small child. She had been alone then, and scared. Oh she had been very scared. Her time spent in the chasm long ago cause her to develop the fear of small spaces, or at least places where there didn't seem to be any escape. As she was being led deeper into the chasm, she sucked in a breath as if trying to contain this irrational fear.

"Y-You think we will find one of the family members down h-here?"

The taller Imuchakk kept moving forward, not giving the man another glance. He knew that the two were still being watched, a glare being directed up at himself. The rest of the search party seemed to be searching each part of the chasm, but only those two seemed to travel deeper into it. I wonder why they're wanting to take so long? Those people could be near death. He thought to himself with a quiet sigh

Thankfully, the woman that the tall Imuchakk drug with him wasn't the silent type. Even though she seemed to develop a stutter for some reason, she seemed to try to cold a conversation with him. This brought a relieved look to the man's face. As the chasm began to get even more narrow, he stepped in front of the woman, feeling as though he should lead the way for the two of them. "Well. My hope is that we find them. It'd be a shame for us to have taken this extra bit of exploration when they were all at the entrance, y'know?"

A few moments of silence passed them by when the Imuchakk suddenly stopped. The passage way was narrow enough to where they would have to be in a single file line. He slowly turned to look at her and stared at her for a moment. "Oh yeah! Now I remember what I wanted to ask you! What was with the stuttering?"

The farther into the chasm they went, the narrower the path became. With the walls on either side getting closer and closer, Vavantine found it difficult to breathe. Her chest hurt and it was taking all of her willpower to keep walking behind the towering man in front of her. The words the man spoke were blurred due to her fear jamming her sense, so she could only manage a stuttered 'yes' in reply.

Unfortunately for the young Imuchakk, the man turned to face her, his blue eyes looking down at her with curiosity as he asked why she had stuttered earlier. Vavantine swallowed hard enough to feel her throat constrict and tighten. "I-It's nothing. L-Let's just complete our m-mission and get them out of this icy p-prison."

The girl felt uncomfortable about telling a stranger about her fear of tight areas, a fear that had infested her heart when she was just an innocent child and blossomed into an almost uncontrollable beast. "W-we should find them b-before night falls."

The unnamed Imuchakk raised an eyebrow at the woman's response. "Hehe! Well someone's pretty secretive huh? That's all fine. I won't pry." He flashed her a quick smile before nodding and turning back around. As they continued to travel, the large Imuchakk put his hand on the side of the wall and stopped. Ahead of him was a sight that he didn't think he would see. There was a pocket within the chasm that widened out slightly. From within the pocket, the Imuchakk could hear a feint coughing and crying sound. He paused for a moment and began moving a bit faster. He couldn't run, there wasn't enough room for him to be able to move all that quickly.

Once inside the pocket, the Imuchakk found the young girl and kneeled in front of her. "Hey there, little one. We're here to get you to safety. Come with me." The little girl's face was covered in tears and turning a blue tint. The sight was enough to shock the rather large Imuchakk. Their race of people had always been able to withstand the cold with no problem. Though, this girl had seemed to be suffering from it. The Imuchakk picked the girl up, not waiting for a response from her and turned to look towards his companion for the mission. Before he could say anything to her, the child started crying loudly. "M-m-my mommy! Daddy!"

The large Imuchakk raised an eyebrow and looked from his partner to the child again. "What now?" he asked as the girl pointed to a large mound of snow and ice. The Imuchakk looked from the girl to Vavantine and nodded towards the area the little girl was pointing to.

The unnamed Imuchakk found the child that was lost and picked her up. The poor creature had been turned blue due to the cold, a trait that would normally be odd for an Imuchakk unless her resistance to cold had been stunted somehow. The important part though was that the child was unharmed. Her parents, on the other hand, were a different story.

Once Vavantine dug in the pile of snow and ice, she found a arm, tainted with blue just like the little girl's face, and frostbitten at the hand. When she had completely dug the person out, there was a woman laying there with her eyes closed. Her chest moved slowly, signaling that she was alive, but for how long, the Imuchakk warrior did not know. Vavantine picked the woman up carefully, placing her on her back, then sighed. "Come on. Maybe the others found her father."

Sure enough, when they had left the chasm, the others had found the body of a man who had perished under the merciless avalanche unlike his daughter and wife. Vavantine took a deep breath of the wide, open air then shook her head. "Looks like we're done here. Let's get these two home where they can be warm and provide that mad with a proper burial."

Without another word, Vavantine and the others walked off toward the village where the family had come from.

The large Imuchakk smiled at the woman. She seemed to be all about her business. The unnamed Imuchakk was relieved when she found the girl's mother. That meant that the two wouldn't have to break any bad news to the young girl. He couldn't imagine a more awkward or heart breaking situation than explaining to a young girl that both her mother and father died in the avalanche that she managed to survive. The thoughts ran across his mind until the woman got closer and suggested for them to go. The giant smiled and nodded, adjusting the girl's position so that she would be a bit more comfortable.

After meeting up with the main group, he could see a bit of difference in the girl's manner. Without paying it any attention, the Imuchakk followed the group, the young girl in his arms clutching onto him for dear life.