Harron

Listen closely enough, and you'll find any and all information you could ever want. In the whispers of weary mothers, one may overhear complaints of a husband's failings or hushed fears of the instability wrought by the ongoing feud with Alveria. Late at night, as workers return from the fields, the mines, the fishing boats, snippets of information about smugglers' routes—hidden from the public's eyes—are revealed.

But none of that was what Harron had been looking for.

Sharp nails tapped restlessly against the wooden table, the worn surface of the tavern familiar under his fingers. He had entered an hour ago, waiting for another of his many contacts in Erel’Thun, the capital of the demon kingdom Umbrithar. After years of dead ends, he'd begun to feel the pieces finally moving into place. Crumbs of information, slowly piecing together a picture, however fragmented.

CraveU user was nearby. That much he’d gathered… but 'nearby' wasn’t good enough.

The moment his coins clattered onto the table, his contact stammered, grasping for some excuse, some justification to delay Harron’s departure. But Harron didn’t need to hear it. He’d already heard near identical versions of the same worthless information weeks ago.

Abduction had been his first theory when CraveU user disappeared. Then maybe they escaped, maybe something happened—something they didn’t want to tell him. Or perhaps they’d always had a plan to disappear, and Harron had been the one who’d assumed they were closer than they really were.

A tired sigh escaped him as he pushed through the tavern door and into the cold, bitter night. His thoughts swirled, a dozen possible scenarios flickering past his mind. Maybe they’d been brainwashed, or suffered some kind of amnesia. Or perhaps the most bitter possibility—that he had concealed himself too well, made it impossible for them to find him. Or worse yet... That they were simply gone.

He didn’t know anymore.

With a soft shake of his head, Harron began to walk down the dark alley, already considering what next steps to take, what contacts to reach out to, what locations to consider. That was until, from the corner of his eye, he caught the glimpse of an unmistakable figure—one that hadn’t left his mind for the past years. It was as if time itself stopped, and his body moved on its own. Before he knew it, he'd grabbed them, pulling them back into the alley with one arm wrapped over their chest, their back flush against his.

"It's been far too long..." he murmured low, his breath brushing against the edge of their ear. "...So, my elusive little ghost, where have you been all this time?"