Melina
The little candle stepped through the open window that led into the small fort. It was quiet, and the few guards here were sleeping. The dogs downstairs had not yet caught her scent, and she was grateful. There was an item here she knew would be needed on their journey, and their accord held no stipulations as to what she was allowed to do whilst they were out and about.
So she snuck through, carefully slipping by the spirit guarded totems that would prevent her with a small amulet that Ranni had gifted her. It was a round stone that glistened with a single pebble of specially treated glint stone that made the surrounding white crystal glean like it was a small moon hanging from her neck by a rather simple looking leather cord.
The fortress was not very different from any other. A couple floors of long dilapidated stoneworks and wood reinforcement that were long rotted beyond repair. A few guardsmen posted, hounds to sniff out the surrounding areas, and a single omen armed with a rather nasty looking sword. The spirit girl thanked her fortune for never having to deal with something quite so sharp.
Soft boot steps tread across cold stone as the sleeping sound of guards and snoring dogs filled the air. The hallway here should lead to a ladder where her quarry was tucked away. Likely in some sort of guarded chest she presumed.
Right about then as her thoughts had begun to wander did her foot land on a small object. It squeaked rather cutely under foot, and the little candle flinched and froze. Looking around, she fortunately did not see any wandering eyes, nor the sound of sniffing hounds. She then looked down to find an odd yellow thing that vaguely resembled a squatting duck. It had a rubbery texture and a squeak whenever she moved her foot that made her very anxious to move.
Slowly, almost with a painful stillness, she began to lift her foot. The odd object squeaked the instant she moved. She was about to grumble as she heard the slow sound of nostrils nearby. A hound had been woken up, and it was steadily scaling the nearby staircase. Slow and idle creeks of old wood bending against reinforcing stone made her momentarily wonder what sweating might feel like.
Just as the old withered beast emerged with its half shriveled head and skin tight against its bone, it found the little yellow object sat right by the top of the stairs. It sniffed it a couple times, before biting and carrying it back down to its post.
From a corner on the ceiling just above where she had stood, the little candle sighed to herself in relief. She was not looking for a fight, and she was even less inclined to harm an animal. She especially found butterflies to twinkle her eyes, when she had the time to watch and sketch them.
Slowly descending back with a much more aware step, she relaxed and continued her sneaky walk. The amulet allowed her an anchor when active, yes. It also made her, in every sense that mattered, flesh. Which meant that it would not let her fly, nor fade so long as she was within a spirit repelling field.
She took in the decrepit walls, and wondered a little what this place must have looked like once upon a time. She saw a pair of the guards laid back to back with one another as they slept by the ladder, discreetly resting a hand atop each other. Their armor made their identities, much less their faces indistinguishable, yet the action alone spoke more words than any expression. A quiet comfort in dark times. The little candle wondered what that sensation must have felt like.
She carefully maneuvered around them, a hand touching the ladder just as it began to crack. She stared, internally cursing, and then lunged towards a small set of barrels nearby as the ladder entirely collapsed. Its wooden rotten rungs landing on the once sleeping guards and stirring them, alongside a few dogs, to motion.
Meanwhile, the little candle peeked out of a barrel that stunk distinctly of liquor. A filled barrel. She would never get the stains out of her favorite clothes as the tar like fluid clung, but it was a small price.
The men meandered for a moment of confusion as two hounds came up with one sporting the yellow thing between its teeth.
"What the...?" One mumbled as they scratched their helmet while looking over the broken ladder, voice scratchy and weak.
"Looks like time... Finally caught up..." Their partner commented, turning and petting the hounds. After a moment of assurance, they soon turned and returned to their own little posts as the guards replaced the ladder. It took around an hour, and it cemented her distress involving her garments as this much time in this much alcohol had surely ruined them. A small price for easing a rather heavy roadblock to come.
After a full two hours, she finally crept her way out of the barrel. 'I smell like one of Mother's wine cellars...' she thought, jestfully crying inside as her beloved traveling clothes had been thoroughly tarnished. Her aroma was not fairing much better, but the guards and hounds likely didn't even recognize the smell anymore. Based on the surrounding aroma of old rust and rot, they likely could not smell anything not directly in front of them.
Both guards had moved to sleep near the ladder now, this one aged but nowhere near as badly. She rang out her cloak and tunic as quietly as she could while removing and storing away her pants and boots. It wasn't likely she could get them as dry in the time she had.
Quietly ascending the ladder, she peeked her head up through to find a single armored knight asleep near her suspected goal. A small chest tucked just behind them as they snoozed against it. Her eyes narrowed, thinking over how to get it open without waking the knight. It would not be easy. An idea then struck her.
After a couple minutes, there was a very loud ruckus downstairs. One of the dogs woke up and began to bark frantically, seemingly searching everywhere aimlessly as everyone in the entire fortress.was quickly woken. The knight even began to grumble and wake to stand and approach the ladder. "What in the name of Marika is the bloody hell wrong with you lot?? It's damn near half past midnight!"
"Sorry boss! One of the hounds seems to be losing its mind!" Answered one of the pair at the ladder base. It was then that the knight noticed a strange yellow object beside his boot.
"What the..?" He began to inquire, just as a slick puddle of liquor made him slip. He started to fall into the hole, and when he tried to catch himself he only grabbed the odd yellow object, before landing with a loud, though not lethal thud down at the base of the ladder with the yellow object clutched in one hand. "...ow..."
Melina giggled to herself as she slowly emerged from a small spot of damaged brickwork nearby, before quickly making her way over to the chest. A smile formed brighter as she opened it wide.
Very quick to make a hasty retreat, she scaled down the walls as the insides became full of chuckles as many guards assumed the knight to have gone on a bender, and stole the dog's toy as a joke despite his constant insistence otherwise. She didn't stick around to catch the specifics, changing to spirit form the instant she was able and beginning the long trek to catch back up with her compatriots.
The many trees beneath her flew by like sleeping little emeralds that dotted the world. The fact there even were trees that were not simply saplings to the erdtree gave Melina the hope she clung to most days. That this world could still be saved.