21 Ashan 721
Elisabeth had laid out an elaborate trail of messages throughout the settlement with the intention that Balthazar find each note as he went about his usual tasks. He imagined, or would come to think later, that she had done it as a small way to remind him how much she cared throughout the trial but he thought it odd she did not simply choose to spend the whole trial with him. Regardless, he'd have spent his whole trial working in the Ashwoods to cut down trees if not for the message Balder delivered to him. So what had been set out as a bunch of notes to express seemingly gushing love was instead interpreted as a series of clues to try and lead him to her. Balthazar carried a bucket of cast-off wood from the first phoenix tree they'd cut down in on hand and Elisabeth's second or third note in his hand. He didn't need to read it again to remember what it said. He'd never have to read it again to remember.
He stopped by the research station that he'd set up and rented out to the Academy with the bucket of wood and he knocked on the door. The station was a strange part of the settlement because it was 'owned' by the Academy so long as they paid their rent and did their part, however Balthazar tried to foster the idea that they were as much a part of the settlement as any other building and any other person living in Haven. It was not the academics he had an issue with though he often found himself in debate with them. It was the politicians. After a few trills one of the researchers from Academy opened the door. It wasn't the boy with the flaming tiger fascination totrial so Haven must have been running low on coffee.
"Mr. Black?" The man seemed surprised to see him but it passed, "How can we help you?" Balthazar held out the bucket of wood chips and bark from the phoenix tree they'd cut down.
"We've started logging for wood to finish up our building projects and I thought you lot might be able to find out if there was anything more to this wood than meets the eye. Elisabeth confirmed it's resistant to fire and it has a strange color but you're probably better equip to experiment than us. Consider it a gift." Balthazar explained as the scholar took the bucket into his hand and looked at the pastel colored wood in the bucket. He seemed to remember something and gestured for Balthazar to wait before heading inside and coming back with a folded flyer. He held it out and Balthazar took it with a confused look.
"Your girlfriend left a note for you here. Could you tell her just to use your guards next time? It's not personal it's just-" Balthazar opened the flyer, it was advertising the Copper Prince Tournament he'd won though they did not call him The Copper Prince in Rharne. He read the note as he walked and a small smile crept over his face. Isabella had never been like this and maybe that was why it was easier. They had just been them and the romance happened but with Elisabeth it always felt like she was giving him far more love than he gave her. The notion that life began on Ashan 21st and hers only began when she met him didn't help but it was sweet. He knew, or hoped, she didn't mean it literally.
"Not your job, I understand. Thank you for keeping it, if you need anything let me know." The man nodded to him and then Balthazar realized the researcher had seen Elisabeth more recently than him. "Any chance you saw which direction she was heading?" The researcher seemed confused but after a moment he gestured down the street. He didn't seem sure but it was enough. Balthazar thanked him and he thanked Balthazar and then they separated. There were not many notable landmarks in the little village that Haven had become and he knew Elisabeth would only pick landmarks for her little clues. What good would it do to give a settler Balthazar was not likely to encounter a clue? The direction the researcher had pointed to lead to only one place, Munny Farm. It began as a house by the stone windbreak and slowly they'd been planting other things there to help the people.
The leader of the small haven walked up to the farmhouse and knocked gently on the door, folding both of his hands behind his back and looking over at Tib'ron who had been accompanying him the whole time. "When is your birthtrial?" He asked and received nothing but a stern look in response. "Alright, never mind." The door to the house opened and Edward Munny stepped out with the smell of dirt following him closely.
"Hey there," Edward said, a little more sternly than casually. "What brings you by?"
"I'm looking for Elisabeth, have you seen her?" Balthazar asked. Edward shook his head and as far as Balthazar could tell from his general posture and the speed/confidence of his response, Edward was telling the truth. "Alright, well, thank you. Let me know if you need anything-"
"We're running low on water." Edward said rather quickly.
"We've nearly got a solution for that. Wood for the windmill too. I'll keep you informed." Like last time, the conversation ended with a nod and Balthazar turned to leave, his shadow close behind him. As he went down the steps of the Munny family's porch, Delilah- Edward's daughter, came running over to him.
"Lizzie wanted you to have this," she said as she held out another gift and note to Balthazar. He took them in his hands with a confused look on his face.
"Do you mean Elisabeth?" Balthazar asked as he looked at the new clue. A steak knife and another note.
"Yeah, Lizzie, anyway gotta go, you two are cute, bye!" Delilah took off before Balthazar could analyze what she meant but he realized after he read the message that Delilah had most certainly read it. Their first dance? The Mummer's Ball! Now he understood where the steak knife was from. That had been a strange, strange night and yet for Elisabeth it was formative. To Balthazar it was a paradox. He had perfect memory and he'd forgotten something important there. It was also the last place he expected to end up in a fight but that was how things had gone. Balthazar versus the silverware. It didn't leave him with much to go on so he returned to his tent to put down the various things she'd already left to him.
It was there that he found a now cold pot of clam chowder and bread. He'd skipped the midtrial meal to follow her clues around the settlement and as a result the settlement guard she turned to couldn't find Balthazar while he was wandering around. It look like, perhaps, when the guards could not find Balthazar, they helped themselves to it because they had been invited as well. About enough for a bowl was left for Balthazar and he wasn't particularly hungry. He wanted to find her, not spend time sitting and eating while she tried to hide from him. He looked at the note and laughed then handed it over to Tib'ron. "I'd say she'd doing well but her timing is off. She should have asked what I planned on doing totrial." She was lucky he'd gone looking and hadn't stayed in the woods, he would have missed all her little gifts. Elisabeth's intentions were good and that was supposed to be all that mattered.
Balthazar noticed a familiar box on his desk and he gestured to Tib'ron. "You want to open this one first?" He asked but Tib'ron shook his head so Balthazar walked over and pulled the box open. He didn't know why he was expecting another dagger in the box he'd been given a dagger in but instead there were pieces of wood and a pouch of sand. He recognized the sand from the Dusk Festival but not the wood. If only she had his ability to impart memories so he knew. Without any immediate leads, Balthazar ate the cold clam chowder and then went back to the Ashwoods to help finish setting up the logging group. He didn't help with the actual cutting of trees this time but instead with logistical organization which he was much better at. Balthazar appointed Bran the lead of the logging operation and by extension their construction work since the two would be rather tied together regardless. They didn't have the materials to throw up a new building so instead Balthazar had one of the tents from before they had buildings brought out and set up just outside the Ashwoods. It was not the perfect shelter from the elements but it was a space for Bran and everyone who ended up working with him to meet, plan, and store the wood... well they could not store the wood inside the tent but they could pile it outside.
He worked there setting up the tent and laying out instructions for the operation till the sun began to set and Balder came with another message from Elisabeth. She wanted him to cancel the training? No, he couldn't do that. How would it be seen as anything other than him putting himself before the settlement. "The training will happen, just a bit later. Spread the word that I'll be a break later than usual. Balder nodded and went off to do just that. They needed to be prepared. Balthazar read over Elisabeth's last note, the most cryptic of the bunch and then turned to the woodcutting crew which was more or less just sitting around by that point. They'd finished, after much effort, trimming and quartering (well they thought quartering it would be enough but the tree was quite large and they determined it would be easier to cut it into eighths) the tree and begun stacking the wood when everyone essentially hit a wall. Balthazar felt alright, tired sure but he could manage. He didn't want to push his people too far though. "Alright, good work totrial everyone. Rest and eat well, I'll see you all tomorrow at mid-trial." A wave of relief seemed to wash over them when they heard they'd be allowed to sleep in. Balthazar waved to the group and departed for the Serenity Garden to finally find the woman who'd been dropping hints to him all trial.