Getting back to the guild

When last we left our hero, he howled at the moon. We continue from there.

Haru's heart had not stopped pumping like crazy. He was back, to the Earthland, to the mountain, to the guild. He ran as fast as he could from the howling spot to the guild haul. There were so many things he wanted to tell them all about. He wanted to inform Quill about the floating swords, he wanted to explain to Leila about the iron pillar, he wanted to tell everyone about the whole mass of things that had happened in that strange dimension of Iron. His appearance was so different, there was a big chance that no one would be able to recognize him still he knew that they wouldn't forget him. Not being able to reproduce the effects here in the Earthland was just a minor set back, and Haru knew no one would doubt his words. He could not stop his excitement so he started singing.
"OUR LOVE IS ALIVE! PA PA PARA PAM PAM! AND SO WE BEGIN!"
Greeting all the spirit wolfs up the path with his signature 'I see you, you see me, double finger move' Haru made all of them embarrassed to be seen by him. Slinging his sword around like it was a small stick and not a giant piece of sharpened steel he pretended it was a sound echoing lacrima, missing his head just barely multiple times.
"FOOLISHLY LAYING OUR HEARTS ON THE TABLE. STUMBLIN' IN... SOMETHING SOMETHING SOMETHING HERE GO SOME WORDS. PA RA RA RA PAM PAM"
The singing has passed the point of sounding like a potential song and into the area of screeching, like nails on the black board. Anyone who was sleeping at the guild would have probably been awake by now. Busting though the guild door he slid into the room.
Haru was presently surprised how much it had all changed. It all looked much more sophisticated. The carpets, the wooden floors and the sheer amount of candles made this place feel warm like home
The singing continued but this time the screaming echoed.
"WHEREVER YOU GO, WHATEVER YOU DO! YOU KNOW THESE RECKLESS THOUGHTS OF MINE ARE FOLLOWING YOU!
Haru stopped singing and lifted his sword above his head like a bannerman holding a flag, signaling his own position.
"I AM BACK MY PUPPIES!"

WC: 380

-Silver Wolf Guild Hall, the cafe-

Wearing her green, white, and gold outfit with matching boots, Leona sat at a square wooden cafe table trying to think of what she could do next after that adventure in the well. It was a taxing adventure that had made the Wizard Saint earn her pay and prove her worth as the Wizard Saint of Courage. Now the blonde was looking for a slightly easier job to do before she embarked on her next big adventure to either Desierto or wherever the job took her. Leona still had to study for her GED test, but that project could wait. Leona's duty as a Wizard Saint and Guild Mistress came first and the need for her services had not let up.

Leona finished her cup of coffee and was standing up to get another when she heard the thick wooden door fly open with considerable force, then a rather loud voice start singing. At the end of the "singing" she heard him shout something that immediately caught the blonde's attention.

"I AM BACK MY PUPPIES!"

Leona set her cup down and blinked.

In her twenty years she had been called many names, some less complimentary than others, but she had never been called "Puppy." Perhaps the guy was mistaking her for someone else. He had to be. Leona shrugged her shoulders and walked over to the counter to order a second serving of coffee, then paid for both cups and got her second serving in a white styrofoam cup with the guild emblem in black on the side. The employee snapped a white plastic lid with an opening for sipping coffee on it and handed the drink to Leona, who nodded in appreciation and took the drink towards the foyer.

Whatever was going on there, she did not want to miss it.

-In the foyer-

Leona casually walked into the foyer, where she saw the source of the singing for the first time. It came from a tall fellow with white spiky hair and a rather large sword. Undaunted by the sight of the stranger, Leona approached him and took a sip of the coffee before engaging in conversation.

"Hi there. I'm Leona Jarnefeldt, Guild Mistress of Silver Wolf!" Leona greeted the white-haired stranger. She then took another sip of coffee while waiting for his response.

[Post Word Count: 392]
[Leona's Word Count: 392]

There were not many people around when Haru came in, and even less of the ones he knew. All the people were clearly new members and that made Haru very happy. The guild that he was a part of since its early days had now grown. Still the absence of old faces did surprise him, and made him realize that he could be considered one of the new guys also as his absence in the guild was quite big and long. Still he was happy to be back and protect his pack.

Short haired blond, in green, white and gold outfit with matching boots, was the first to react to Haru's entrance. She strolled slowly in to the room, holding a cup of what could only be coffee this late in the evening, like there was no need to be ready for a possible aggression. Haru did not know her and that made him even more uneasy. She did not look like someone who was ready for a potential attack. Either the world had become a quitter place or the guild has lost the part of its edge. An unknown man, with a giant sword, had just burst into the room and no one gave him any consideration of being a potential attacker, even if Haru was not so, the sheer reaction was really strange.

The girl's stroll ended in front of Haru. He felt her eminence and magic energy, and that did make him feel better, but he was still not fully in level with it all. Her presence did show composure and when she spoke the confidence was present.
Haru moved his sword next to himself, so he could lean on it. The tip sank deep in to the wood floor, but he gave it no mind.
"Leona Jarnefeldt" Haru repeated after her, with a slight confusion.
"Guild Mistress of Silver Wolf... Don't make me laugh, Leila is the master you can only be the substitute in her absence. On that note what happened to her, where is she?" Haru's concern disappeared the moment his mind switched to Leila. Thinking about her always gave him peace of mind. Without waiting for the answer Haru continued.
"Oh, by the way I am Haru." he extended his palm to shake hands "One of the founding members. But you must recognize me from the pictures." retracting his palm, he looked around the walls but no pictures of him were there.
"Where are my pictures? Oh, I forgot to put them before I left."
He facepalmed and scratched the area that should have had mustache, but didn't.

WC:435
HWC: 815
TWC: 1207

Leona listened to the new arrival express incredulity that she was the Guild Mistress. He claimed that she was just a stand-in for Leila Vergious and asked what had happened to the former Guild Mistress and the Wizard Saint of Radiance. Leona heard Leila's name and felt sad for a moment. She had not seen Leila in months and had heard nothing on the news, not even rumors. For all intents and purposes the silver-haired mage had dropped off the face of Earthland.

Uncertain as to how to address the matter other than to be completely honest, Leona faced the newcomer and spoke.

"I haven't seen Leila in months, Haru. I don't know where she is or where she's gone to." Leona told Haru the truth of the matter. He could believe her or he could choose not to. It was up to him. In the meantime she focused on the fact that he claimed to be a founding member of Silver Wolf and decided to ask him about that. Leona momentarily shifted the coffee cup to her left hand, then took the hand that he offered to her and shook it with her right hand before asking her question.

"You said that you're one of the founding members of Silver Wolf, right? I've met Yuvon Mu-Myu and Kitalpha Aurence and neither one of them mentioned you. Neither did Leila, for that matter." Leona said to him. The blonde realized how bad that sounded just after she had finished saying it. It probably sounded like she was calling him a liar and she needed to address that misconception as quickly as she could before she accidentally made him an enemy.

"I'm not doubting what you're saying, Haru. I joined Silver Wolf a little over two years ago back when Leila was still Guild Mistress, so I didn't get in on the ground floor like you did. When I first joined I met Yuvon Mu-Myu and Kitalpha Aurence. Later I met Quill Scorchwood and Poko Monstar along with Morrigan and another person, but I'm having trouble remembering their name at the moment... it's Aiyama Mizumi, I think. None of them mentioned you." Leona explained to Haru that she had arrived over two years ago and had met some of the founding members of the guild, but none of them had mentioned him. A lot of people had come and gone since the blonde had joined over two years ago. She missed Poko Monstar, Eero Saarinen, and Leila Vergious because they were the three that she had known the longest. However, nothing could stay the same forever. It was a lesson that she had learned years ago, but knowing that did not make things any easier.

Leona took a sip of coffee and then thought about Haru and what he had said about the pictures of the founding members. She did not see any of them hanging in the hall when she had first joined, but Leona was not the most observant mage in existence. Maybe the pictures had simply been placed in storage and were waiting for the order to be hung on display again.

"As you've likely figured out, a lot has changed since you were first here, Haru. Not only has the membership and the leadership changed, but the guild itself has changed too. For example, we now have a new guild mission that's carried out by three guild divisions." Leona calmly informed him. She was not sure if Haru would accept her authority or see her as only a pretender holding Leila's place until the silver-haired mage returned. She would wait and see what the returning guild member had to say before she said or did anything else.

[Post Word Count: 620]
[Leona's Word Count: 1,012]
[Total Word Count: 1,827]

That was too much information for Haru coming at the same time. Nothing seemed to be as it once were. Leila was missing, and no one knew where she went. There was a change in the guild, and he was not sure in what way, so he approached every problem as logically as he could.
"OH MY GOD! LEILA IS MISSING." Haru shouted out of nowhere, and then continued like it did not happen.
"Well she is not a small kid, give her more time. She is very capable of taking care of herself."
Taking Leaona's hand, Haru nodded, as much as it was strange for Leila to be missing, the one before him seemed very capable of filling her shoes. He looked Leaon up and down in a moment and made some notes inside his mind. He was never much of a smart person, but in some lucid moments he would seem like a savant.
"Her shoulder muscles look tense, right more than left. The way she gripped my hand with her fingers indicated she is used to holding a sword. That is always good. She favors her right side, but for the way she stands she uses a shield in the other. Combat capable, and magically gifted."


Planting his sword deep in to the wood floor, Haru started flailing his arms around fighting and arguing with air.
"You go on a tiny, incy, wincy two, three year mission to another dimension and tell no one. And they forget about you."
Putting his hand on Leona's shoulder Haru slouched, pushed forward his lower jaw and started speaking with a pattern imitation an old person.
"Back in my days, we used to mean something. We had swords, friends, and food, did I say swords."
Haru was always kind of a joker, never taking things too seriously. It was a trait that usually only annoyed people, but sometimes it would have been needed. The conversation he was having was much too serious for him to do those things, but he always felt the need. It was a kind of self-defense mechanism.
He straightened his back, and returned to his normal speech.
"Well I wasn't really much involved in founding the guild as much as I was in being there when the guild was formed, I mostly set outside and when I was bored I went in to a strange portal, and now I am back."
He curled his lips and showed his teeth like he was smiling, but putting too much effort into it.
"They probably thought I left them." he said with a sad intonation in his voice.
"Which I kind of did, and now I feel bad."
Haru moved his cheeks like he had water in his mouth.
"But I really am a member."
He looked the guild master straight into her eyes, and moved the collar of his shirt to show his chest on which the silver wolf guild mark stood.

Haru was really surprised when he was informed that the core values, the guild mission, could have been changed. He was afraid of asking about the size of the change, as it all already too much. His doubt was that he may not fit the new guild, as he was always an outsider, a vagabond of sorts, his first home was the guild, and he was sad if there was a chance for him to have to leave it. He swallowed slowly trying to extend the moment of uncertainty as much as possible.
"What is the new mission? Tell me I can take it."
Haru took a deep breath expecting a devastating answer.

WC: 606
HWC: 1421
TWC: 2433

Leona was a little upset to hear that Leila was missing. Even though the blonde already knew that Leila had disappeared, hearing it was still a little upsetting. The silver-haired mage had given Leona her start in the world of magic and Silver Wolf had given Leona a chance to grow from a bumbling Guildless mage who almost died at the hands of a mundane serial killer into a less bumbling Guild Mistress and Wizard Saint who had taken on numerous bandit gangs and won.

Leona then felt Haru put his hand on her shoulder and start to imitate an older person while telling her about Silver Wolf at its very beginning, back before Leona ever left Desierto. There were swords, friends, and food with Haru placing particular emphasis on swords. The blonde did not understand the reason for that emphasis on swords, but it sounded like Silver Wolf at its founding was an exciting guild to be in. Leona had missed that boat, so to speak. However, meeting Yuvon Mu-Myu, Kitalpha Aurence, Poko Monstar, and others when she had joined the guild over two years ago had been excitement enough for the blonde from Desierto.

Then Haru stood up straight and resumed a normal speech patter before he explained that he was not so much involved in founding Silver Wolf as being there when it was formed. One day while hanging around outside the guild hall he found a strange portal and entered it out of boredom... that was how he had gone missing for as long as he had. Leona found that curious, but considering all the strange things that had happened to her over her career, the blonde was willing to go on a little faith here.

The blonde listened as Haru took on a sad tone of voice as he surmised that his colleagues likely thought that he had left them before adding that he kind of did. Then Haru insisted that he really was a member of Silver Wolf and not just someone trying to weasel their way into the guild with a sad story. Leona took a moment to determine the veracity of Haru's story for herself and recalled that if he had been a liar out to destroy Silver Wolf he would have been misguided by the spirit wolves instead of guided to the guild hall. That fact was evidence enough for her.

"Yes, Haru. The guild mission's changed quite a bit since you were first a member of Silver Wolf. Now the guild's missions are magical research, conservation, and treasure hunting. The guild's also been split into three divisions in order to work towards those missions." Leona told the silver-haired fellow how the guild had changed after he had assured her that he could handle the news. It was probably not the stunning blow that he had expected, but there was still a decent chance that the change would come as a surprise. Leona was not sure how he would take the news, but she was fairly certain that once she had explained the divisions and what they did the transition would be a relatively painless one for Haru. However, that was assuming that he wanted to rejoin Silver Wolf.

"I can explain to you the divisions and what they do if you'd like, Haru. If you want to hear about them, I'll explain whenever you're ready." Leona offered and assured him that there was no rush on her end.

[Post Word Count: 578]
[Leona's Word Count: 1,590]
[Total Word Count: 3,011]