The Hero Party's Stray

Cain Luft fell from a cliff after his own party let him. You found him broken at the bottom, while his four former comrades move on without him.

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Story facts

Quests: 16
Quest completions: 1
Milestones earned: 1
Turns played: 13
Cast: 5
Languages: English, Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and French
Rating: Teen

About this story

Five gifted fighters were named a royal hero party, and four of them paired off as lovers, leaving Cain Luft alone in every camp meal, every conversation, every seating chart. His Holy Sword grows stronger with conviction and purpose, and weaker the moment he doubts his own worth, so watching himself become invisible to the people beside him has cost him more than any monster has.

During a battle, a demon's blow sends him over a cliff edge. He reaches out on the way down, certain his comrades will catch him. Not one of them moves. You are the one who finds him at the bottom, alive but hollowed out, and decide what happens next.

Gald Vane and Lilia Vane, Torin Haar and Noel Haar: two devoted pairs who barely register Cain exists unless it is inconvenient for them. Whether you nurse Cain back to strength, confront the party that left him, or build something with him that his old comrades never offered, is entirely up to you.

Who you play

You are the one who found Cain Luft broken at the base of a cliff after his own hero party let him fall. Whether you are human or something else entirely is yours to decide. You choose how far you go to help him recover, whether you ever confront the four comrades who left him to die, and whether you become the first person in his life who actually stays.

The cast

Cain Luft

the abandoned hero you pulled off the cliff floor

Cain is twenty-three, once bright and easy to like, now flattened by months of being the only person in his party without a lover to look out for him.

More about Cain Luft

Gald Vane

the possessive warrior who tolerates Cain at best

Gald fights with a great axe, speaks rarely, and puts Lilia Vane above everything and everyone else, including his own comrade Cain.

More about Gald Vane

Lilia Vane

the priestess whose concern for Cain is mostly guilt

Lilia is gentle-voiced, easily swayed, and entirely wrapped up in her devotion to Gald Vane, who restricts her more than she seems to mind.

More about Lilia Vane

Torin Haar

the archer who never quite noticed Cain's pain

Torin is flippant, half-dependent on his lover Noel Haar, and says careless things without any real malice behind them, simply because tact has never occurred to him.

More about Torin Haar

Noel Haar

the mage who assumes the hero will be fine alone

Noel is cool, sharp-tongued, and thoroughly smitten with Torin Haar, sweet only to him and frank to the point of haughty with everyone else.

More about Noel Haar

What to expect

Cain's own hero party watched him fall and did not move to save him, on purpose.
His Holy Sword's power rises and falls with his sense of purpose, so your presence can change his strength.
You can play human or demon, and decide exactly how you found him and what you want from this.

Introduction

Narrator: Voices ring out one after another amid the fighting. Yet not a single one is meant for Cain Luft. Voices worrying over a lover. Voices trusting in a lover. Even in battle, their eyes naturally seek each other out. Cain Luft bites his lip as he swings his sword.

Cain Luft: (…When did it start?)

Cain Luft: Something aches deep in his chest.

Cain Luft: (When did things get like this?)

Narrator: Looking back, there had been countless signs. Meals around the campfire. Conversations on the road. Where everyone sat at the inn. Before he knew it, he was always the one left over. The only one alone. The only one who couldn't join the conversation. It wasn't that anyone bore him ill will. …He just felt like he was the only one nobody needed.

Cain Luft: (Even without me…)

Cain Luft: He swings his sword. Cuts down a demon. Still, the emptiness in his chest remains.

Cain Luft: (Wouldn't this party get along just fine?) (What's the point of me being here…?)

Narrator: It happens in that instant. An overwhelming wave of bloodlust surges from behind him.

Cain Luft: —Hh!?

Narrator: He turns—but it is too late.

Narrator: A demon lurking in the shadow of a rocky crag swings its enormous arm. A direct hit. There is no time even to block. The impact tears through his entire body.

Cain Luft: Gah…!?

Cain Luft: His vision spins, his body hurtles through the air, toward the cliff's edge.

Cain Luft: The ground falls away—

Cain Luft: He's falling.

Narrator: The instant he realizes it, Cain Luft instinctively reaches out. He wants them to save him. Not because he is the hero, but because he is their companion. For that reason alone. “————” The four of them are there, beyond his outstretched hand. They are looking at him. They are definitely looking. Their eyes meet his. And so he believes. That someone will reach for him. That someone will call his name. But not one of them… reaches out. As though he had never been there at all. As though they cannot see him. None of the four moves. That is the last thing Cain Luft sees before his body is swallowed by the darkness below the cliff. And the hero understands with absolute clarity.

Narrator: From the very beginning—no one had ever needed him.

Try one of these first lines

I kneel beside him and check his breathing first. "You're still alive. Don't you dare stop fighting now."
I keep my distance, studying him. "Your own party left you to die. Tell me why I should be any different."

Questions about this story

Who is in the cast of The Hero Party's Stray?

The Hero Party's Stray stars Cain Luft, the abandoned hero you pulled off the cliff floor; Gald Vane, the possessive warrior who tolerates Cain at best; and Lilia Vane, the priestess whose concern for Cain is mostly guilt.

Which tropes does The Hero Party's Stray use?

The Hero Party's Stray is built on Hero Party Adventures and Hurt/Comfort Romance.

Who made The Hero Party's Stray?

風間湊 (@kazama_minato) created The Hero Party's Stray on Teasa.

Content notes: abandonment