Gone

[Amaranth]

A Note- Gone [plot part 1]

((Warning- in this plot, there are some time warps to make it work more smoothly. Don't worry, though- they'll all be explained so no one gets confused.))

As it turned out, it was only four months after her wedding when Amaranth abruptly left. She snuck out in the middle of the night, bringing Syrene, Naphtali, and Moonbeam (aka Squishy) with her. She hadn't told anyone that she was leaving, and she left no trail to follow. In fact, the only evidence of her dissapearance was the simple fact that she wasn't there- and a note.

Dear Zeth, it read.
I am leaving you a note so that you do not worry. Oh, dear, this is very difficult... I am not quite sure how to phrase this!
In any case, as you can see, I am not here. Anywhere at the Guild, actually, and I shall not be for some time.
There are some... things that I must take care of. Far away. For about a year. Please, though, do not worry! I am terribly sorry that I did not say anything about this yesterday, or any time at all, but if I had you would have asked why I have to leave, and I am frankly not very good at keeping secrets and I cannot tell you...
Anyway, Zeth, I shall be back in a year. Or so. Perhaps less.
I love you!
Goodbye.
-Amaranth
PS: Please apologize to Uni for me that I will not be here when her baby is born. Hug it for me!

Because this was a note from Amaranth, there was also a random squiggly line at the bottom and a smiley face. And because Naphtali had wanted to see, there was a rip at one of the corners with teeth marks. On the back were a few more lines of writing.

Oh, yes, I forgot to mention, I am bringing Syrene and Naph and Squishy with me. I was going to leave Naph and Squishy, but Naph refused to stay (you know how stubborn she is) and I could not leave Squishy here without her. I am also bringing some clothes. I just thought that I should let you know.
Again, I will see you in a year! I love you!

There were several more smiley faces, and another squiggly line, and another doodle that was unidentifiable. It may have been a bag, or a tree, or a duck. Who knew.
This note was entirely strange and rather rambling, but since it was Amaranth this was to be expected.

((Just to make sure everything- including timeline- is understood, Uni should be about eight and a half months pregnant at this point. Which means she's probably extremely volatile.))

[Amaranth]

Neona, who had been freed by Calyx, was following him like a puppy.

Ceredin was just outside the Guild, very high up in a tree. She sat on a wide, stable limb, hugging her knees to her chest. It wasn't fair. She'd thought that maybe... well, she'd known that he'd realize what she was really like eventually... but that had been so... sudden... He had been fine one moment, and then the next... Well. Anyway, he'd probably be happier without her.
She felt sick, both physically and mentally. Her head hurt.
She put her hand up to rub her temple, hoping to make it hurt less. It didn't help. Then, suddenly, it felt better.
Unfortunately, that only lasted a second. The side of her head exploded in pain, and her vision grayed, and then failed completely. Realizing that she was not on the branch anymore, she made a mad grab for it through the pain, but missed, and fell.
There was a muffled thud, and something moved too quickly to be seen, and Ceredin was nowhere to be found.

Neona stood straight, reaching out with a furred hand to grab Calyx's shoulder. Cere- she began, but she didn't finish the sentence, because suddenly she was gone.

[Amaranth]

Ary and Amy were out walking.
Since it was getting too close to full moon and full moon was not a good idea, Ary had forbidden Amy to be in wolf form.
Amy was not happy about this, but since Ary had a stick, all was forgiven.
Ary had a headache, but she was throwing the stick anyway, because she couldn't say no to Amy's 'cute' face. And she didn't want to get bitten when Amy tried to snatch the stick from her. Being bitten by Amy was not fun. Ary did not like being bitten. So she threw the stick.
She pondered this as she threw said stick, and then chided herself for thinking in circles. It was very illogical. Ary was not good with illogical. Ary liked things to be cold, hard facts, which made poor Paden very confused.
Oh, well.
He was going to have to deal with it.
Amy was begging for the stick again. Staring at the sky, Ary threw it. She watched it arc over head... and go over an inconveniently placed cliff.
Crap.
"No, Amy," she said, running after her 'sister' to the brink of the cliff and seizing her before she could run after the stick. "We'll get you another stick." She peered over the edge. It was a very long way down.
Ary did not like how far away the ground was.
Of course, it might turn out to be a two-foot drop, and she was just being illogical again, but she was not going to risk it. Swallowing hard, she forced herself to smile at Amy. "It's okay, there are plenty of nice sticks. Let's go-"
She stopped.
Her head hurt like hell. There was an annoying buzzing in her ears. She shook her head emphatically, and for a moment, it was better. Then it was suddenly much worse. It was so bad that the world seemed to shudder and dim around her, and then she couldn't see anything, and she was not imagining that she had reeled off the cliff and was now falling. Panicked, she curled into a ball, which wasn't going to help at all.
Amy, who suddenly realized that Ary wasn't there anymore, looked around. "Ary?" she said, confused. Uh-oh. Ary was going to be mad if she'd gone away without saying... But hadn't they been right here? She looked down. "Uh-oh... Did I break-" before she could finish the sentence, her head hurt a lot and she yelped in pain, jumping from the suddenness so that she followed Ary down.

At the Guild, Soz was not happy. His had run away from him again, and now he was stuck with the so-called 'little twitchy thing,' which turned out to be a very accurate description of Dancierta.
It wouldn't shut up.
Suddenly, he froze.
Oh, crap.
Ar-
And then Soz was gone.
Dancierta looked around for him.
Soz? she squeaked nervously. Um, where ever you are, I feel kinda-
And then the 'little twitchy thing' was gone, too.

[Amaranth]

It was, rather oddly, not a dark and stormy night when the doors to the Guild creaked open.
It was actually a bright and rather cheerful day, around noon, six months after Amaranth left and five months after Amber's birth, but it was about to seem quite a bit less cheerful for certain persons inside the Guild.
A peasant girl, clad in absolutely filthy clothes, entered, looking warily around.
"'ey." She reached out with a very quick hand to grab the sleeve of a servant who was bustling by, doing whatever it was that servants do. The man looked down at the hand. It was filthy, but there was something wrong with it, as though it was being viewed through a slight haze. He put it down as nothing, and returned his attention to the girl.
"What do you want?" he demanded. He didn't have to be respectful to this person.
"'ey, I'm lookin' fer a... a Mister... Oh, righ', a Mister Zeth. I need t'see a Mister Zeth. S'pposed t'be 'round here somewhere. Fin' 'im, there's a chap."
The servant grimaced at her, and then went off to fetch the mage, who had been rather mopey and very annoying lately, in his opinion.
The peasant girl clicked her tongue rudely as she waited, rocking back and forth on her feet.