[A Rank Exam] Guidance

Nothing, but the sound of snow, crunching beneath the feet. It felt strangely familiar, this path. /"Eero walked through here before, I believe."/ The boy thought as he walked ever forward. Fresh air was what he needed the most. Thankfully, the Guild was built within the confines of the Phoenix Mountains, which provided more than enough it. The path was leading him upwards, and once he reached a rather sizeable rock, he decided that it was high time that he took a break. Eoduun approached the rock and brushed off a layer of snow before taking a seat. It was cold on his buttcheeks, but he didn't care too much. Though it would most likely catch up with him, later.

The jacket he was wearing was fitting him a little weird, because one of the pockets was stuffed with one, peculiar item. The boy took it out and the chains that were attached to it glistened in the pale light. "How are you doing?" He asked the reversed pyramid in his hand. As if he would ever get an answer. But he wanted to know. What was Eero doing? Did he manage to find anything more about their past and identity, yet? But Eoduun knew that trying to speed the process, kind of unneccessarily was a bad idea. What else was he supposed to do, then? Just sit tight and wait until Eero comes out with a ray of light surrounding him, claiming that he holds answers to all his questions? Eoduun shook his head in defeat. "Ridiculous." He muttered under his breath.

Eoduun was ready to move on with his hike, when he noticed blue lights, flicker in front of him. His body stiffened, ready to spring into action on a moment's notice. The blue lights circled around the rock he was sitting on, before getting surrounded by blue flames and a gust of icy wind. The boy shielded his face from the gust and when his eyes had clear vision once more, he saw a pack of spirit wolves standing in a half-circle in front of him. The guardians of the Guild and the Mountains. Eoduun never met them himself. The wolves eyed him with curiosity, but did not come closer. The boy cocked his head to the side in confusion. "What are you doing here?" He would ask them and they came closer to the rock. Every pair of eyes was fixated on him as they sat down in unison. Their heads then turned around, as an another, an elderly-looking wolf came into view. It had a visible scar across its eye, despite its etherial form.

The elderly wolf came the closest to Eoduun. It was most definitely the alpha of the pack, if he had to judge from the way the pack acted. The wolf sat down right in front of Eoduun, looking up at him. "Thanks for not letting me stay alone, but I gotta ask again. What are doing here?" The mage would repeat his question to the pack once more. The alpha's head turned towards the way Eoduun came from - the Guild. Eoduun's eyes followed the alpha's gaze. "The Guild? Yeah. What about it?" He would question the alpha. The wolf attempted to nudge Eoduun's leg with its spectral head. "Me and the Guild?" Eoduun asked and the pack nodded their heads in agreement. "I'm part of it. I'm sure you guys know that." They nodded again. Then the question was just simply... What was the spirit wolf pack really doing there?

The veil of mystery was still hiding the purpose of the spirit wolves' visitation. Could they feel his distress, perhaps? "So... What are you doing here?" Eoduun asked the alpha. Again. The wolf eyed him and then stood up. He motioned with his head towards the path, the direction that lead further away from the Guild. Without looking at Eoduun, to check whether he was following or not, he started walking into the Mountains. The pack stood up, but they seemed to be waiting for Eoduun to get up and oblige. The boy didn't move right away and the pack lightly growled at him in response. Eoduun shot up from his sitting position and caught up with the alpha. He could feel that the pack was laughing.

Eoduun was surrounded by the spirit wolves as he walked ever further up the path. He could feel the freezing air around him piercing his lungs. /"I'm going to be so ill after this."/ But he could he really complain? He was out there of his own volition, wearing not the most protective of clothing. The chained artifact rattled rather loudly in the stillness, so he put it away. Back into the safety of his pocket. Even if it messed with the jacket a little bit. The alpha didn't bother looking back. Maybe he could feel Eoduun's presence behind him. Or maybe he knew that the pack would get Eoduun to follow, one way or another. Probably the latter.

They were following the path, that was now barely visible because of the amount of snow and lack of feet that travelled that far. Which reminded Eoduun that he had absolutely no idea where the wolves were taking him. They were going up and it was getting colder by each passing moment. Thankfully, the scenery shifted from the monotonous snowy mountain forest scenery into a snowy forest clearing. There was a surprising amount of space that was devoid of trees, but they grew thick once more little ways away. The alpha continued walking, but turned to Eoduun's left, into what seemed to be a secluded area of the clearing, that was hidden by trees. Eoduun was never this high up in the mountains, thus he had no idea what to expect. Once again, he followed the alpha and the pack in turn followed the mage. Some of the branches were hanging low and Eoduun had to push them aside to pass. Once he got through the obstacle, he saw a small shrine in the little enclave.

Eoduun stopped in his tracks as soon as he saw the shrine. Was it always there? It must've been, if he had to judge from its wear. It also probably hasn't been cared for for a long time. The shrine was a small stand and a bit taller construction above it, to support a makeshift roof. There were statuettes of wolves on either sides of the shrine. From the bottom of the makeshift roof hung several faded ribbons that had wolf-like emblems on their ends. On the shrine stand there was a small rusted bell and a stick with a felt end, that was presumably there to be used to ring the bell.

The alpha wolf was standing in between Eoduun and the shrine. The mage's form still hasn't moved. He certainly didn't expect a shrine in middle of practically nowhere. The shrine itself looked to be built in a Midi-style. Parts of it, at least. "Is this... a shrine to you?" Eoduun would ask the pack. Their heads cocked slightly to the side, in confusion. Only the alpha shook its head. Then it wasn't a shrine for them? Who was it for? "If it isn't a shrine for you, then who else? There are wolves shown everywhere." The alpha nodded and turn around in place and then looked around, before fixating its gaze back on the mage. The boy let out a little sigh. He wished the wolves knew how to talk.

He had no idea what the alpha meant by its actions. "The mountain?" Eoduun asked and surprisingly, the leader of the pack kind of nodded. So he rang close with the assumption of the mountains. But not quite. What else could there be? Technically, the spirit wolves helped out to protect the Guild. However, they also somewhat protected the Phoenix Mountains themselves, aswell. If Eoduun's hunch was right. He really hated this guessing game. "The guardians of the mountains?" Eoduun asked, once more. The alpha wolf kind of nodded again. He was missing just one little detail. Darn. "Do you mean.. That wolves of these mountains protect them? And this is their little shrine?" The alpha growled at the word 'little', making Eoduun flinch, but this time fully nodded.

Eoduun returned the leader of the pack its gaze, unsure of what he was supposed to do. He solved the riddle of the shrine. Should he go back? As if it could sense Eoduun's hasitation, the alpha stepped aside and motioned with its head towards the shrine. With shaky steps the mage did what was expected of him. He stopped in front of the stand. It wasn't too tall, more like just the right height for Eoduun to comfortable reach the stick. There was no box or anything for offerings. Was he even supposed to give any offerings? "Do I need to put down and offering?" He turned his head as he asked the pack. They shook their heads in response. Eoduun was glad for that - he had no money on him to put down as an offering. It was a Midi-styled shrine, after all.

The mage was standing at the shrine, reaching for the stick, when his hand stopped in mid-air. There were no offerings needed. But he still had to pray for something, right? Or wish for something? Most likely the former, as there were no offerings. Wishing for things may have been a bit more appropriate if he had a said offering. That left Eoduun with the option of praying for something. Then an idea hit him. The mage reached into his pocket and pulled out a very familiar object. The chained artifact. Eoduun swiftly put the artifact next to the bell. It shined beautifully, in comparison to the rusted bell. The mage picked up the stick, ready to bing bong. The question still persisted, though. What was he supposed to pray for? With a little sigh he closed his eyes.

/"Guardians of the mountains... As the Ace of the Guild that resides within your realm, I humbly ask of you to protect the other piece of myself. The piece that is encased within the artifact on the shrine. He is looking for our past and I am powerless to help him. Please, I ask of you that you make sure he is safe. I... Thank you."/

Eoduun opened his eyes and picked up the rusted bell. With an exhale he hit it with the felt tip. It let out a weak and high-pitched bong. He let the sound peeter out on its own and he set it down on the stand, along with the stick. Eoduun would then bow with head, out of politeness. He sincerely hoped that this would help Eero, even if a tiny bit. The mage took a step back and stood still for a bit. After he felt that he was ready, he took the artifact back into his hand and back into his pocket. Eoduun turned around to see the pack, including the leader, with their heads bowed. At the sound of his turning around, their heads shot up, looking at him. "Thanks for bringing me here."

Strangely enough, Eoduun's heart and mind felt lighter after the shrine visit. "I better get going. Thanks again." He would thank the pack. And even more strangely, he truly meant his words. It almost seemed that Eoduun had gotten a bit soft, after Eero willingly went on to search for the truth. The mage shook his head and left the enclave. He wanted to make sure that he remembered the place, so that he could return later. There was nothing on Eoduun's person that he could part with to mark the shrine entrance for future, but he would remember. He had to. Maybe he could take Leona up there to show her the shrine and perhaps refurbish it. With his hands back inside the pockets, he set off down the path where he and the pack came up through. He thought that he was going back to the Guild by himself, but the pack was still watching him, even if from far away.