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fanartfic · 25 days

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I got this idea after listening to this song.

It's been living rent free in my head.

https://youtu.be/cDlGFbBipCo?si=jbWgIh9OmXkgicps

This is a standalone, and is not associated with my other fics.

TW: nightmares, death, afterlife.

CW: None. Pretty much all fluff.

Reincarnations

Tren woke with a start, her chest pounding, and her brow slick with sweat.

"What in the Hells was that?" She gasped, clutching at her chest.

A nightmare.

Just a nightmare. . .

Right?

She flung her blankets aside and climbed out of bed, walking over to the window of her new room in the house she now called home. She had to transplant herself to Baldur's Gate after a natural disaster had wiped out her old home at the foot of the mountains.

How she missed it there: the trees, the animals, the nearby Emerald Grove that she would go and visit to buy supplies. . . Their archdruid, Francesca, was always kind to her. She always felt a connection to them. Perhaps it was her unpracticed druidic nature that drew her to them. Maybe it was because a part of her felt at home there.

Tren shook her head and sighed, rubbing her temples. She was beginning to regret her decision to come to Baldur's Gate, instead of settling in Reithwin. But for some unexplained reason or another, she felt called here.

She needed to clear her head. Tren rubbed at her eyes and leaned over on the windowsill. The view looked out over the Chionthar, now glistening in the dawning light. Her thoughts went back to her dream.

She had been falling, from somewhere high. She had been trying desperately to do something. . .

Change? Into what?

An animal. . . A bird! A raven would do!

But she couldn’t do it. She didn’t have the strength left in her. She had felt the resignation in her heart as the water rushed up to meet her. A voice cried out to her desperately; calling out a name she did not recognize as her own. But the love and grief that voice inspired in her heart made her ache to her very soul.

What was that name again? Think, Tren, think!

Tav! That was the name.

In the dream, she didn't want the owner of that voice to be sad, to grieve her absence.

The owner of that voice felt deeply important to her. As if he had her heart, and she had his.

Tren wondered what the dream could mean. She had been having these visions every few nights ever since moving to Baldur’s Gate a few months prior. Perhaps there was something to it. Elves believed in reincarnation, and she was half, barely 23 years old. . . Perhaps?

Tren shook her head. “That’s insane.” she said out loud, turning away from the window. "It's a myth, nothing more." she told herself. Despite it being early dawn, Tren threw on some clothes and quietly left the house she shared with a few other tenants, heading towards the forests that surrounded the city. Some time in nature was needed, desperately.

Tren never quite understood her need to be outdoors all the time, but she never kept herself from her desires. As she made her way out of the city and into the surrounding countryside, she cast a spell she had recently learned.

“Amicus Animalus,” she said, waving her hands in a manner that seemed appropriate.

“Tren! You’re here!” She immediately heard a nearby bird caw out. A black raven with a stark white chest fluttered down and landed on her shoulder, nuzzling his beak into her brown hair.

“Hello Yungie!” Tren laughed as she reached up and petted the crows' smooth feathers. “Sorry for not coming sooner. It can get hard to get away sometimes.”

“You could always take me with you,”

“Well, I wouldn't mind, but my roommates might. . .” Tren shook her head. “Besides, I enjoy coming out here.”

Yungie let out a caw and nibbled at her ear, causing Tren to squeal.

“Hey! Enough of that!”

12 years later.

Tren stacked some wood outside of her small cabin in the woods. She had bought this little parcel of property from a local farmer five years prior, and they had graciously helped her with building the abode. Since then, she had studied plants and herbs; becoming proficient in the making of salves and tinctures for common injuries and illnesses.

Tren felt more at home here, more at peace. The years spent in the city had been difficult on her. Her nights were always plagued with dreams and nightmares of events long past. She would tell a few people about her dreams, and they said it sounded similar to something that happened in Baldur’s Gate over a hundred years prior.

The Absolute Incident, and the defeat of the Grand Design.

Some of the things she recalled from her dreams were uncannily accurate. Right down to the names and descriptions of some of the heroes who had risked everything to save the city.

Tren hoped getting out and back into nature would help alleviate the dreams. She had earned some skill as a Druid from an old Harper that still lived in the city. A grumpy old half orc that was the adopted son of Jaheira, who herself had been one of those heroes. He was the one who had taught her about herbs and their uses.

Tren hadn’t told him of the dreams. . . Not yet anyway. She knew he had been around when everything happened, but she didn't want to do anything to upset the old man. Despite a sour demeaner, he really was a sweet old druid, and had taught her much over the past decade or so. But now Tren wanted to be out on her own for a bit, practicing her Druidic magic in a place where Nature abounded.

Her little cabin in the woods was perfect. She still made it a point to visit Jord every week, bringing him cuttings of plants she found in the forests that he would find useful for his achy joints. It was the only time she went to the city anymore.

After she finished stacking the wood, Tren took the remainder inside to light her hearth with. She made herself a small meal, then went to sleep in the pile of pillows and blankets in the corner of the two room abode.

She hoped and prayed to Sylvanus that this night would be free of the dreams. Despite being out of the city for 5 years, they would still plague her. But sometimes she would have a peaceful night.

She prayed for one tonight.

~~~••~~~

“Praise Sylvanus! You did it, my heart!”

Tav felt her love’s strong arms surround her as the party celebrated on top of the now defeated elder brain. They drew apart long enough for a passionate kiss, before suddenly the ground fell out from underneath them. The sudden jerk forced them apart, falling away from each other.

“Halsin!” Tav cried out, reaching for him.

The brain struck a tower and spun around violently, sending Tav flying off the side of the brain. There was nothing but water below her now, rushing up all too quickly.

“Tav! Hold on, my heart. I'm coming!”

Tav could only watch as the water rushed up towards her. She looked over her shoulder, and saw Halsin dive off the brain towards her, his hand stretched towards her as he plummeted after her.

She looked back towards the water. She tried to wild shape. Her free spirited raven was desperate to save her.

But she didn't have the strength left. She had already been sorely wounded during the fight with the brain, and all her magic was exhausted.

She looked at the water rushing towards her; at the docks nearby; and at the brilliant red sunset that lit up the sky in shades of purple, blue, and crimson.

She closed her eyes as the tears streaked across her face. She looked back towards Halsin, who was still too far away to offer any help.

“Halsin! I love you!”

She heard Halsin cry out in anguish.

Then impact, searing pain, and blackness. . .

But it was calm, quiet, peaceful.

Then a voice. . . Two of them, actually. One she recognized: Withers.

“Bone man, what are you doing here?” she wondered.

“This is my domain, mortal. And another has come here to bargain.”

“Bargain? For what?”

“For your soul.”

~~~~••••~~~~

Tren jolted awake with a loud gasp, startling a sleeping Yungie on her windowsill. He let out a disgruntled caw as he jumped down to perch on her shoulder.

Tren tried to catch her breath

“Sweet Sylvanus. . . Yungie. . . I. . .I died.” she clutched at her chest, then at both arms and legs.

That was the most vivid dream she had had yet. She threw off her covers and jumped out of bed, throwing on an overdress as she ran outside, not even bothering with shoes.

That dock. . . She had to get to that dock. She had to see it for herself.

And Halsin. . . She remembered that name. He was also one of the heroes of Baldur's Gate.

She. . . well, Tav. . .Had loved him. Loved him dearly.

She could still feel the heat of that last kiss on her lips, despite it being just a dream.

Was it just a dream?

“Come on, Yungie.” Tren jumped into the air and wildshaped into a raven with a white back and flew off towards the city, her companion flying after her. She had to figure out what prompted that dream, and her answer lay in the city.

~~~•••~~~

Halsin hadn't been to Baldur's Gate proper in over a century. He couldn't bring himself to after suffering the pain he had been through after the fall of the Absolute. But Shadowheart and Astarion had invited him for a reunion of sorts, and he felt he should make the effort.

One hundred and fifteen years. . . Had it really been that long? Settling in at Reithwin and establishing it as a colony had taken decades, coupled with the nine cart loads of children he had taken there.

They were all grown with families of their own now. Those of shorter lived races left their descendants, who were just as enthused about keeping the colony, now a town with a nearby druids grove, up and running smoothly.

It had been early morning when he had arrived at the gates. He was let in with no issues. Much different from the last time he entered the city. As he walked the quiet streets, looking around at the rebuilt buildings and gardens, he saw a pair of ravens fly overhead, cawing back and forth. One was much bigger than usual.

Halsin’s curiosity was piqued. As far as he knew, there weren't many druids in the area outside of Jaheira’s now elderly son, Jord, and his apprentice. They had kept in touch with letters over the years, and he had kept Halsin up to date with the going ons of the city. Including the process of training the aforementioned apprentice druid in herbalism in his spare time.

Tren was her name. Halsin was looking forward to meeting her. He had been told much about her in their correspondences. About how much she reminded him of their old friend Tav, before she had tragically died during the fall of the Netherbrain.

Tav. . . More than a friend, she had been his whole world, his heart. . .

Halsin could feel the ache in his chest even now, remembering back to the moment she died with a sickening slap into the water. He had wildshaped just in time to avoid dying himself.

But there was no saving Tav. She was too far gone by the time they found her body washed up a day later.

He had been unable to find her in the murky depths, and had hated himself for decades for failing to find her. If he had, he could have saved her.

He had thrown himself into the task of taking care of the orphans in Reithwin and rebuilding the town there. Moonrise had been converted into an orphanage and dormitory, with hanging gardens and trees planted all around the scarred landscape. Despite its dark history, the land had come back to life. Thaniel and Oliver had made sure of it.

Several druids from the Emerald Grove had also joined him in Reithwin. Nettie and Rath, the two he considered friends the most, came to help him establish a new grove. Halsin served as a mutual leader over both, though he gave Rath the task of being archdruid, and Zevlor, who had returned to Moonrise with him from Baldur's Gate, the job of leading the refugees in resettling the town.

With him serving as a mediator, the two had formed a symbiotic relationship and had prospered greatly over the last century.

Nettie now served as Archdruid, as Rath had passed on into nature. Zevlor served for another twenty years before he retired, passing from old age a few years later. Elections were now held every five years to appoint a new governor.

His hopes and dreams of healing the Shadow Cursed lands had finally become a reality. . . but he couldn't have done it without Tav.

The harsh caw of a raven brought him out of his reverie. He had unconsciously made his way down to the dock where Tav’s body had been found floating in the water. Her raven companion had been circling overhead, calling loudly to anyone who would listen.

It had been a heart wrenching day.

Halsin wondered why his unconscious mind had brought him back here. He was loathe to re-live that pain again. He looked at the city around him as the early morning light began to brighten and turned to walk away when something caught his eye.

There, on the end of the dock, stood two ravens. The smaller one had a white chest, while the larger one was white all up and down it's back, with a black tail and wings. The same ones he had spotted flying overhead when he had entered the city.

There was a flash of green light, and a young woman stood in place of the larger raven. Her hair was cropped short at her shoulders and she wore a simple dress tied above the waist with a woven belt. She wore no shoes, and her feet were muddy.

Her back was to Halsin. She held on to the pier's pillar as if to steady herself and looked out across the water. She hadn't noticed Halsin’s presence. He felt he should keep it that way.

As he began to turn away, he heard her speak to the raven beside her:

“Yungie. . . What am I? Who am I? Why do I keep having these dreams?” she said, looking down at her raven.

He fluttered up onto her shoulder and nuzzled into her hair to comfort her.

Halsin caught his breath.

Tav's raven used to do the same thing.

Could it be possible? Halsin took a tentative step forward onto the dock. No, it couldn't be. Tav is dead. I buried her myself.

He shook his head and turned away. But as he began to walk back up the hill, a voice echoed in his mind.

Go back, faithful one.

~~~•••~~~

Tren clutched onto the pillar for dear life as a voice echoed in her mind.

“You have come at last, my child.”

“Sylvanus?”

“The same. Now, close your eyes, and remember….”

~~~•••~~~

Tav blinked as she looked at Withers. “Gods. . . I really am dead aren't I?”

Withers nodded, then turned towards another figure that had appeared.

"Oak Father!" Tav fell to her knees and bowed low as her god approached her.

“Rise child, and come with me. I have a favor to ask of you,” Sylvanus replied, holding out his hand to her.

Tav looked up at Withers who nodded in approval. “Go now, warrior. Thou art needed elsewhere.” he said, a smile on his dry lips.

Tav took Sylvanus’ hand and let him pull her to her feet.

“What do you want of me?” she asked, hesitantly.

“How would you like another chance to live, to be with the one you love?”

“I would give anything.” Tav replied, with no hesitancy.

Sylvanus nodded. “Your memory will be wiped clean, until the time is right. You will have dreams, flashes of memories, of important moments in your previous life.”

“My previous life?”

Sylvanus nodded and looked down at her with a smile.

“My child. . . You will be reincarnated. And when the time comes for you to fulfill your destiny, everything will be laid bare, and made clear.”

He leaned over and kissed the top of her head.

“Now, Tav, my child, my ever faithful one. . . Awaken.”

~~~•••~~~

Tren gasped and opened her eyes, falling to her knees to the dock. Yungie fluttered on her shoulder and cooed softly, trying to comfort her.

Tren. . .no, Tav, clutched at her chest to try and calm her racing heart. Her entire previous life had rushed back to her in that moment. Memories of her previous family, friends, loved ones, trials, and blessed times flooded her as her head pounded.

Was she even the same person? No, of course not. . . But Tren was still a part of her. The life she had had so far was still there. Memories of growing up in an orphanage, of her cabin beneath the cliff that she built with her bare hands, the rock slide that had nearly buried her, and would have if Yungie hadn't warned her. It was all still there.

She felt the tears pool into her eyes.

“By Sylvanus' beard, Yungie. I don't know what to make of this?” she gasped. “I'm still me, but at the same time, I'm not? I can't explain it,” she sobbed.

Yungie hopped down from her shoulder and into her arms, trying his best to snuggle into her and hug her with his wings.

He hated it when his master was sad.

As Tav closed her arms around him, she felt a warm comforting hand on her shoulder, and a voice spoke to her.

A voice from her dreams.

A voice from her past life.

“Are you alright?”

~~~•••~~~

Halsin had heard her fall before turning to see the woman on the dock on her knees, weeping and gasping for breath. He threw all caution to the wind as he jogged down the pier towards her, kneeling down beside her. He laid a gentle hand on her shoulder.

“Are you alright?”

Tav froze as that voice triggered a whole new set of memories to flood through her. Long moonlit walks, longer nights in each other's arms, and passionate kisses under the stars.

And those arms of his. How she desperately wanted to feel those arms around her again.

She turned a tear stained face to look up at him.

He looked different now. Older and more wise than before, if that was even possible. Streaks of silver now adorned his auburn hair, and the lines of his face had grown deeper. And his eyes, though awash with concern, held a deep and profound sadness in them.

She reached up a trembling hand and touched his face.

Halsin wasn't sure how to react. She was looking at him as if she was seeing a long lost lover.

She looked so familiar to him. Especially her eyes. Piercing gray eyes like a stormy sky before the clouds burst.

She looks just like Tav.

“Are. . .are you alright?” He asked again.

“I don't. . . I don't know.” She retracted her hand quickly, as if realizing what she was doing was strange, and rose to her feet. Halsin helped her as best he could. She looked up at him again, bewilderment in her eyes.

“How. . . How are you here?” She asked.

“I'm sorry?” Halsin was confused.

“Never mind. . .” The woman looked back towards the water, she shook her head and rubbed at her temples. “Sylvanus help me, this makes no sense!”

Halsin sighed and nodded. “Sometimes that is just the natural order of things,” he said.

Tav kept her back turned to Halsin. How she desperately wanted to tell him who she really was; what had happened all those years ago; how she came to be there now. But she wasn't sure how he would take it. She didn't know if he had moved on with his life like everyone else. Perhaps he had fulfilled his dream and found someone else, made a family with them. She didn't blame him if he did.

“That’s so like you to say,” she couldn't help but scoff at the absurdity of it all as she brushed the tears from her face.

“What?” she heard Halsin gasp.

She just got her memory back, and Halsin was standing right there, as if it was ordained to be so by Sylvanus himself.

Probably because it was.

Tav took in a deep breath. She wasn't the druidic warrior he remembered. She wasn't strong or powerful like she had been back then. In another time, another place. A whole other life. But she was still a druid, and her lifespan would easily fit into the remainder of Halsin’s.

Was this why I was sent back? To be with him for the rest of his days?

She turned around to face the large druid, tears still brimming in her eyes.

“I don't know if you will believe me. It's almost too good to be true,” Yungie hopped back up onto her shoulder to give her a reassuring nuzzle before hopping to the nearby pillar. “But we met before. . . A lifetime ago.”

Halsin felt his heart skip a beat.

“I. . I'm sorry. . . We have met before?”

The woman nodded. She took a step closer to him, mirroring a test they took with a dryad once upon a long time ago.

“You are a kind and gentle soul, who had so much grief and strife thrust upon you in your life.” she began, slowly. “You have no family, because they all passed before you. They are buried near the Grandfather Tree. It didn't surprise me that you loved nature, and I loved the fact that you whittled in your spare time. And I did indeed find it hilarious when you said you loved honey.”

She took another step towards the now shocked druid as his face grew pale.

“You spent a hundred years trying to find a way to lift the shadow curse. You were so desperate that you foolishly went with a band of ill-prepared mercenaries who abandoned you at the first sign of trouble. We had to come save you!" she chuckled and wiped at the tears in her eyes. “I remember helping you at the portal to the Shadowfell. I remember seeing how fearful you were when you were holding Thaniel in your arms, realizing he was incomplete. I remember the relief in your eyes when we convinced Oliver to return to him. The joy when you watched the Shadow curse disappear from Reithwin.”

It was Halsin’s turn to take a tentative step forward. His heart was racing, disbelief and hope on his face all at once as his color returned.

“It. . . It cannot be,” he stammered.

Tav took yet another step forward. “I remember your arms around me that first night we shared. How ashamed you were of yourself when you couldn't help your bear coming out. How happy I made you when I said I didn't care.”

“This. . . Is this possible?” Halsin felt chills running down his back and arms. He closed the gap between them, finding his hands firmly clasped in hers. Elves were known to believe in reincarnation, but it was so rarely heard of that there were many who doubted its reality.

The woman before him continued.

“I. . . I remember after defeating the Absolute. . . I remember falling.” Tav reached up and cupped his cheek in her palm. “ I remember telling you I loved you before I hit the water.”

She closed her eyes as a river of tears fell down her face. “And I remember that I still do. I still love you.”

Halsin felt like the wind had been knocked out of chest. “Tav?” he said, his voice wavering as the tears rimmed his hazel blue eyes.

She nodded her head, cupping both sides of his face in her hands now.

“It's me, Halsin. I'm here. I'm home.”

Halsin felt his strength give out as he fell to his knees in front of her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and buried his face into the front of her dress as he unashamedly wept, holding her tight, afraid to let her go again, lest she be a dream that would fade away. Tav ran her fingers through his hair, gently as he remembered her doing before as she leaned forward and planted a warm kiss on the top of his head.

They remained so until Halsin got a grip on himself. He stood to his feet, pulling Tav into his chest and holding her tight.

“Oak Father preserve me, is this really happening?” he asked, just as much to Sylvanus as to the woman in his arms.

Tav wrapped her arms around his waist and gave him a squeeze. “Gods I hope so,” she sobbed. “I missed you for so long and never knew it until now.”

Halsin tipped her chin up gently with his hand. His eyes darted back and forth as he took in her every feature. He looked into her eyes: those gray orbs that could be so kind, yet so fierce if they needed to be. But the rest of her was slightly different. She had been fully elven before, but now she was half. She was slightly shorter, with a stockier build. The human coming out in her for sure.

But it didn't matter. . . This was Tav. His Tav.

His Heart.

Halsin leaned forward until his forehead rested against hers, his eyes closing as his own tears began to fall.

"I. . . I never got to tell you," he said shakily. "You hit the water before I could tell you."

"Tell me what?"

Halsin opened his eyes, finding Tav's gaze as she looked up at him.

"I love you too."

Tav tried not to break into a new round of sobs, but failed as she jumped into Halsin's arms, wrapping her own around his neck. Her chest ached and she felt that her heart would burst.

Gods, how much she had yearned to hear those words from him. She had waited through death and back to hear them.

"Say it again. . . Please," she asked between shuddering gasps.

"I love you, Tav." said Halsin, wrapping his arms around her legs to hold her up more securely.

Tav pulled away slightly, practically sitting perched on his biceps. She cupped his face in her hands.

"Gods. . . Can I kiss you?" she managed to laugh through her tears.

"I thought you'd never ask," Halsin smiled back.

Tav wasted no time as she leaned forward, pressing her lips to his desperately. Halsin set her down slowly so he could enfold her fully in his arms, never breaking the kiss; drinking her in like a parched man who had found a crystal clear well in the desert.

Once they finally pulled away for breath, they shared a laugh. They were both blushing like young lovers that had been caught in the act. Halsin took Tav's hands in his.

"The Oak Father has blessed me this day. . ."

"I pray his blessings never end," Tav squeezed his hands, then began leading him back towards the city.

"Come on, we have a lot to catch up on," she said with a smile.

~~~•••~~~

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