Full Names

Freya Lukie

Known Relations

Muffin, a Golden Lucky Frog (partner)
Mako (friend)
Cazira (crush)

Background

Freya is a member of the Nosteramean people, a race indistinguishable from humans.

This is the story of a girl, blessed with uncanny luck, lost for inspiration…

Freya’s head rested on her white wooden desk. She had spent much of the night trying to design a unique costume for the upcoming festival in Victoro. Sunlight was already brushing her eyes when she roused with a couple heavy blinks, a prolonged yawn, and a strained stretch of her tired muscles.

"Agh, I fell asleep again." She said to herself, as she closed her notebook and put away all the sewing material. Freya was one of the most successful at her craft. She prided herself on being the world’s most renowned memory masker; someone who dedicates themselves to portraying the natural citizens of Nosteram through costume.

The young girl rose from her chair, flicked off her light pajamas and adorned herself with a loose shirt and a pair of baggy pants. She approached a small terrarium in the corner of her room, wiping the grogginess from her eyes. “Good morning Muffin.”

A golden light shown from inside the terracotta building nestled in the core of the terrarium. It built in intensity until a dazzling, golden frog hopped into view. *RIBBIT* Muffin was one of the few beings in existence more renowned than Freya. Most people had never encountered a Lucky Frog, much less a golden one. Meaning of course, the legends surrounding it were grand. It was commonly believed that as few as seven were given out into the world by Nost.

Freya, grabbed her lantern necklace from its holder nearby, opened the top, and sprinkled some food inside it. Persuaded, Muffin leapt into the lantern and began earnestly flicking away at the dried breakfast.

"I hope you're loaded with luck today, we're going to need it." She said as she stuffed some coins and her notebook into her purse. "We need to find the perfect source of inspiration. Today the wandering merchants arrive in town, do you think anyone will be able to help us?" 

*CROAK* Replied the frog. "I think so too." Murmured Freya nodding her head and furrowing her brows.

Without a breakfast herself, she galloped down the stairs and burst onto the street, filled with life and motivation for the day. The city was livelier than ever and a candied caramel smell wafted through the air. *RONG* A bell chimed from far away. The merchants had just arrived! Freya pulled her hair into a ponytail and started running down the middle of the street in the direction of the market. Her luck had proven time and again that no matter the danger, she always managed to walk away unscathed. "Careful miss!" Someone shouted at her, but she happily kept hopping from one side of the road divider to the other, narrowly avoiding carts being pulled by beasts with flames billowing behind them.

—

A great harmonious din of voices greeted her as she arrived at the marketplace. She stood enthralled, nodding her head as she took in each stall, assessing their wares. Her stomach loudly protested the run over. “Ugh, I should have grabbed an apple before I left.” she sighed extending her hands out dramatically. Muffin was too fixated on a fly just outside his jar to hear the comment, or the ruckus that had just occurred in a room several stories above the marketplace…

A window slammed open and a woman’s voice erupted from it. “YOU SPENT HOW MUCH AT THE MARKET?!” A quivering man’s voice replied, “It-it was a rare painting of the demon apples of Daba, this thing will be worth a fortune if I keep it in good condition.”

“OH I’LL GIVE YOU AN APPLE!” the woman boomed in response. Several thuds came from the open window, then suddenly an apple bulleted out of the window and across the street. It struck a cloak someone had left out on a line to dry and fell, ramping off a merchant’s tent right towards Freya’s exposed hand. Alarmed, her body jumped and she caught the apple. “Well look at that!” she exclaimed glancing down at Muffin who now had his tongue lodged against the glass jar’s wall. “Breakfast delivered.” She stated with a large smile. Freya rubbed the apple against her pants and took a crisp chomp as the duo wandered towards their first stop of the day.

—

Soon the sunlight was fading and admittedly, the stalls began to blur together. Freya had asked everyone she could about their travels in an attempt to find new inspiration, from Kerion merchants to Dabain explorers… nothing. The famous memory masker had used copious amounts of questionably obtained resources to create her costumes. That was the easy part. But going on 4 years now, the inspiration to create something new was getting harder and harder to find. It seemed as if every creature that had ever existed had been found.

Dusk soon arrived and the shops began to shutter for the night. Exhausted, Freya slouched onto a bench in the square and stared crestfallen at the stone floor. A Theryan approached and sat down next to her wearing a recognizable hat and reeking of alcohol. Freya did her best to put on a personable charm, expecting it to be a fan. "Greetings there!"

"Hello." Replied the mysterious gentleman who appeared to be studying the cobblestone as well, "My name is Mako, nice to meet you." He held out a ragged paw sideways towards the young woman.

"I'm Freya, a pleasure." She greeted him, delicately shaking the paw. She studied him up and down for a second curiously taking in his haggard appearance. “Rough day?”

"You.. could say that. I'm a detective. Been on a case for months and I don't have any clues yet." Mako scoffed.

“Yeah I know that feeling.” Freya nodded along. “Bit lower stakes in my work I’m sure but…” she stopped mid sentence noticing Mako’s gaze had dropped to her chest. “Er em?” she raised her eyebrows unbelievingly.

“Is-is that a…” Mako stammered nearly falling off the bench before catching himself.

“Yes it is,” Freya chuckled rolling her eyes a little at his inebriation. “Say hello, Muffin.”

*CROAK*

Magical fireworks began to light up the sky declaring the end of the wandering marketplace for the night. The decorative street lights of the island illuminated, magically projecting a spotlight aurora of colors into the sky. Freya stood up and gawked as the islands floating above shimmered in a gradient of hues. Something on a nearby island glimmered peculiarly as the lights waved over it. Her pulse quickened.

"Mako!" she rang. The detective jolted from his craned position trying ever so fruitlessly to remain seated while keeping his eye on Muffin. He gave up and stumbled to his feet glancing upward frightfully.

"You know how to get up to those islands?" she inquired, not at all able to contain her excitement.

"Legends say that only those of pure heart can go up there, but I doubt anyone has ever made it," he said.

"I'll try." she stated in a chipper tone, reinvigorated by the curious glimmer.

"You'll fall down a hill and get hurt." Mako took a swig of Dabain wine from a flask he’d pulled from his belt. “Even with that" he gestured his head at Muffin, “no one can reach them from here, it’s too high.”

"If I thought like that, I’d never try anything." Freya stated, starting to walk in the direction of the nearest mountain. "See you!"

The detective stood thoughtfully and pulled out a black and white photo of a tavern, lost in thought. “Yeah…” he glanced towards Freya as the golden shimmer of Muffin faded away from him. “You will.”

Freya jolted through the streets as Muffin lit the way, drawing the safest route she could follow. "Muffin, we're gonna make it." They both looked at each other smiling.

—

At midnight she finally emerged from a thicket of trees and found herself at the base of Silva Mountain just outside the city. Freya rolled up her sleeves. "Alright, the islands are nearby, if we can climb this mountain we can find a way up. I just know it." She glanced skyward, Silva’s peak loomed kilometers above her. “Agh but this is going to take hours to climb in my state.” She gestured at her baggy pants. “No bother.” she rationalized. “We’ve got luck on our side. Now how am I going to get up there?” She shook her head to rouse her fading energy supply. “I could really use a coffee right now.”

*HOOT HOO-CRASH* Far above her, a Night Owl not paying attention to its flight path had just slammed face first into the sheer cliff wall. It bounded hard, and in its confusion dropped what it was holding.

“Ah!” Freya exclaimed and scampered back to get a better look at what had caused the noise. A shadowy item barely noticeable in Muffin’s glow grew in size until suddenly it slammed against grass in front of her, shattering violently, light brown liquid splashing in every direction. “Not exactly what I expected.” Freya stared unblinking at the remnants of the coffee mug. *SQUEAK* A line of bushes to their left rustled and an amber colored squirrel roused from its sleep at the commotion, poked his head out and stared inquisitively at Freya. Freya made to walk towards the squirrel when it squeaked in alarm and turned to run away. *SLAM* In a flurry of colors and squeaks, the injured Night Owl had found its prey and dove at high speed right into the squirrel sending it flying backwards into the brush.

Freya screamed and rushed to help the poor beasts as the hoots and squeaks persisted. She tore through the bush, Muffin encouraging her the entire way until she reached the other side and discovered an opening in the forest. The Night Owl and squirrel tossed, scratching and pecking at each other. Freya scampered to her feet and ran to separate them when a loud whistle blared spooking all parties involved into stillness.

A shadowy figure approached and snatched the squirrel in a firm paw. “Squirrel of Distraction. You’re lucky to have not run into one of these before.” Mako chuckled.

"How did you-?” Freya began to protest.

Mako motioned over his shoulder. “There’s a lift to the peak over here. Didn’t take a detective to find the path.” He handed her a coffee he’d been tending. “Figured you could use some energy and a little wit to go with your headstrong luck. Least one of you is bright.” he winked at Muffin.

“Excuse me!” Freya shrilled, snatching the coffee from Mako’s hand embarrassed at the oversight, but relieved for his company.

“Oh there’s no need, now let’s get a move on.” Mako placed the now wriggling squirrel back onto the ground and shooed it away, then tended to the Night Owl, placing it on a branch nearby. “I’m curious to see what you found, and maybe for helping you, you can help me.” He eyed Muffin. “Freya, this case has me worried, it could start affecting more than you know. I’d like you and Muffin to take a look at it when we get back.”

Freya sipped the lukewarm coffee, her face still flushed from a blend of anger and ashamedness. She looked up into his yellow sunken eyes and found a surprisingly vulnerable soul looking back at her. She felt compelled to trust him for some reason. “Fine.” She agreed. Swallowing her pride a little she followed up with a “Thanks for the coffee.” as they both strode towards the lift.

—

They soon found themselves at the highest accessible point of Mt. Silva as the lift came to a creaky stop. The observation deck appeared to be coated in a peach colored fuzz, with numerous magical lights littering its circular railing. A timely blast of cold wind blew through Freya’s thin shirt causing her to shiver. Mako removed his overcoat and tossed it to her. “Got fur.” he rationalized shrugging. She put it on, finding the fit a tad tight, but certainly warming and acknowledged Mako’s gift with a nod. A wave of light from the marketplace below pierced the sky causing her to look down as it reflected off the floating isles. She flicked her attention upward once the lights had passed. Some fifty meters up, the closest isle float effortlessly. Vines dangled and curled in the wind as the trees atop shuddered, casting a steady mirage of pink blossom petals to fall to the observation deck below. She glanced back at the ground realizing the peach fuzz had been petals reflecting Muffin’s golden glow all along. She scooped a handful up a handful of them and observed closely as they slowly fell back down. “It’s still too far.” she trailed off.

Mako walked past her to the edge railing and leaned against it. “What now lady luck?”

A wave of intrepid determination flashed within her. "My friend, I'm going to jump.”

“I’m sorry, what now!?” Mako leaned as if his keen ears had failed him.

Freya looked down at Muffin who slowly craned his neck to stare eye to eye with her. “And with a little luck something will happen and I'll get up there... right?" Muffin stared bug eyed and oblivious at Freya. He gulped audibly. Freya’s heart was pounding. Propelled by something beyond her understanding she dashed towards the edge of the observation deck furthest from Mako. The unbuttoned coat’s tail rippling behind her as she accelerated towards fate.

“Freya!” Mako panicked, lunging forward to intercept her. He closed the distance with Pyrox-like speed and grabbed her by the coat. “Trust me!” she shouted as the coat left her arms mid-stride and her rear foot left the ground. For a palpable second their eyes met as her front foot connected with the railing and compressed, ready to propel her into the night. She briefly turned to see Mako’s horrified face and gave him a swift ‘here goes nothing’ smile and then she was gone.

—

Freya’s ponytail trailed behind her as she arced from the railing towards certain doom below, Muffin squealed in panic as he bounced uncontrollably in his jar, the wind threatening to twirl him free of Freya’s neck, had she not been holding his jar so tightly. The spotlights from the city began to wave towards her once more and she braced for the blinding event horizon. The light approached rapidly, then shifted at the last moment and slammed into her chest knocking the wind from her. Her vision dipped. Dazed from the impact she gasped for air, coughing hard as whatever she now clung to appeared to descend rapidly. She struggled to reopen her eyes and found something fuzzy and bright protruding from between her tightly gripped fingers. She traced its origin in a haze and discovered a dazzling compound eye looking backwards into hers as the great Lumoth flapped its immense wingspan and tilted shifting her so she lay belly up on its back. Her lucidity waned and her eyes watered as she caught the floating isles above fading from view, the colors in her vision blending to white as brilliant cotton-like spores replaced them in the night sky.

—

“Hello?”

Freya recoiled as a flat, cold piece of metal touched her abdomen. She groaned, squinting her eyes open to reveal a blue sky silhouetted by a lovely young woman with a bandaged torso and a skirt made seemingly of palm leaves. In her left hand, an aquamarine scimitar with levitating decorations along its hilt rested against her. Freya’s vision focused to find that the purple-eyed woman was staring at her intently. Her cheeks flushed at the intensity of the eye contact and her breath caught. She coughed and gasped for air.

“Oh thank Nost!” the woman exclaimed, lifting the sword to flick tufts of red hair from her eyes with the hilt as Freya stirred and sat up carefully. “Ah!” the woman squeaked as the levitating bit of the sword caught in her hair. She tugged until the sword was free, but the levitating section remained tangled in her hair. The woman chuckled awkwardly.

“Where am I?” Freya inquired, looking around at the landscape to discover she was on a shore next to a vast lake pierced by glowing spires in a circular pattern. Tiny Lunarva could be seen dotting the clear water’s surface, giving the entire lake a living aura as it pulsated with light.

“You’re at the frog ponds sweetie. Name’s Cazira.” She held out a helping hand.

“Freya.” She grabbed the warrior’s hand, and leapt to her feet. “And this is M-” panic swelled within her. “MUFFIN??” she frantically spun to see several shards of glass scattered where she had once laid.

*ROBBIT*

*CROAK?*

Freya shifted to look behind Cazira where the source of the noise had originated. An indigo figure about a third of a meter tall with light purple lines running down its back was facing away from her. It craned its head sideways to reveal a very confused Muffin. Muffin perked up when he noticed Freya, but didn’t approach, opting to cautiously eye the purple figure and keep his distance.

“Oh sorry, that’s Mara.” Cazira turned and shooed the purple figure away, to no avail. It turned to reveal a menacingly devious smile. Freya’s eyes shot across its features, taking it all in as her initial horror turned to fascination and then uncontrollable delight at the peculiar beast. “What’s up with your Lucky Frog?” she inquired hesitantly

*ROBBIT* the frog croaked deeply. A fruit from the tree above them fell. Cazira seemed to have anticipated this and reacted with lightning quick reflexes to cut it in half before it collided with her. Her sword struck true gashing the hard shell which exploded upon impact sending viscous syrup raining down onto her, drenching the short haired warrior in a thick film from head to toe. Cazira craned her head back and sighed. “That’s… our Unlucky Frog, Mara. She refuses (Cazira inhaled sharply) to leave my side.” Cazira exhaled and whimpered a little.

Muffin squealed in anguish as Mara slowly closed the distance between the two frogs, glaring intently at Muffin. Mara slapped out a webbed hand towards the golden frog, antagonizing him as if she were swatting him away. Muffin’s golden color began to flicker between its usual sheen and a rusty bronze as Mara’s attack closed in. Alarmed at the development, Muffin hissed and leapt to Freya’s comfort just before contact was made. “Muffin!!” Freya screamed, fawning over the bronze spot on his leg which slowly regained its color.

“Play nice Mara.” Cazira replied dryly, clearly having had to do this before as she flicked her arms to remove the slime. “It’s the portal.” she gestured over her shoulder.

Freya followed the gesture to find a triangular glowing gate at the far edge of the lake. Its color not indifferent from Mara’s.

“Anything that walks into that gate, comes back wrong.” Cazira shook her head. “I’ve been camped here for the past week trying to block it off. Foxes, frogs, dragons, you name it I’ve seen it enter… well- whatever that thing is. You wanna wait and see what a Soul Jar comes back as??” Cazira warned as slime fell from her bangs. Freya’s eyes widened in horror at the thought. “Yeah me either. We could use a little-” she glanced back at Mara who now was licking the sap from the ground, croaking menacingly. “well I could use a little luck.” She tugged on the now sap-soaked portion of the blade stuck in her hair - managing to free it, but exhuming a large chunk of hair in the process. Cazira exhaled exhaustedly, but somehow in good spirits as she laughed it off. “I could really use some luck.”

Freya’s gaze wandered from the tropical warrior, to the portal, to Mara and back to Muffin. A crafty smile beginning to form on her face.

“Muffin… we just found our inspiration!”

—- To be continued —-