and then there were two // ayara

[raeh]

x x

promise

Even in darkness, there would always be light.

That was what a certain young girl believed, anyway. She never really saw the dark side of things, which was probably natural given that, whenever she needed it, she could always conjure a light. Which was what she was doing now.

She had seated herself on a nice, comfortable stone in the middle of a small glade amongst the trees, while she played with a little ball of green light in her hands, letting it fall up and down her fingers, attracting the attention of any number of woodland creatures. Well, not the usual idea of woodland creature. Things like squirrels and rabbits were all asleep. Instead, a fascinating array of small, flying insects were hovering around her little ball of light, naturally attracted to the light. She laughed and tossed it into the air, watching their little wings beat to keep up. She let it fall down back into her outstretched hands at a much slower pace, so they wouldn't have to rush. She pushed the light away, over to a tall place in the tree.

"There you go!" she said brightly, idly kicking her legs against nothing, "Now it's all for you." She knew, of course, that the insects couldn't understand her, but she didn't care about understanding. The little insects buzzed around the light, happily zooming around it, yet unharmed. There was no dangerous heat that might hurt them. She didn't know if insects could be happy, but she thought that if they could, those little insects were. A spider had made its way onto her toe. She held out a hand for it, and it crawled onto her shockingly white skin. It tickled, and she laughed. She laid it back down in the grass, then pulled her hood down. It was a little stuffy tonight. The stars were bright.

All was well.

[Ayara]

Traps were tricky things. Growing up, Ayara had picked up something of a natural instinct for them. A feel for the tension and placement and the faintest tremors that indicated prey. Adapting that instinct for small game had been easy, especially for catching birds. Her claws made climbing trees trivially easy, which was good because bird-catcher webs needed a lot of maintenance and repair. Dark nights such as this one were good for repairs. She could actually make out fine detail. Sorta.

She was just putting the finishing touch-ups on one of their more fruitful webs when it happened. Out of nowhere, a light as bright as the sun appeared right in front of her nose. The sudden blinding agony startled Ayara and she screamed, losing her grip and falling out of the tree. She landed badly, and there was the snapcrunch and sharp, breathtaking pain of her leg breaking.

Hyperventilating, moaning and whimpering in exquisite suffering, Ayara felt blackness creeping in on the edges of her mind as her vision remained completely stripped away by the all-consuming light. There would be time to scream for help later. Now was a time to not pass out. Don't pass out. Don't pass out. STAY AWAKE STAY AWAKE THERE'S SOMEONE THERE SOMEONE MADE THAT LIGHT STAY AWAKE

[raeh]

x x

promise

A scream pierced the quiet of the night.

Raeh looked up in surprise, her hands flying to her mouth as an ashen figure tumbled towards the ground. Raeh took a deep breath, then calmly walked over to where the person--a girl--had fallen. She bent down and supported the girl's head with hers. She heard the whimpers of pain, and smiled.

"It'll be okay." That was a fact. As she said those words, a green light spread from Raeh's fingertips, enveloping the poor hurt girl. Her left hand massaged the strange, horned girl's leg gently, and the bone snapped back into place. The wounds faded, the pain drifted away, and soon the girl was good as new! That wasn't anything really surprising for Raeh, of course, who had sort of never been able to see pain or injury as a permanent thing: more like a nasty prequel to a nap. Raeh watched the girl's healing body with some satisfaction, feeling fatigue creeping up on her, threatening to deny her consciousness. It didn't occur to Raeh to be concerned at all, but what she was was absolutely fascinated. She'd never seen anything like this girl, with her horns, her metal arm, and her strange eyes. She realized she was staring, but she smiled brightly, even as she suppressed a yawn. "There! Ah-ah-all--sorry!--all better!" she chirped, poking the girl on the nose.

She got to her feet and looked up at her light, which was pretty close to where the girl had fallen from. She frowned and looked back down at the girl.

"Oh my, did I do that? I'm very sorry! I didn't think that someone might be up in the trees," she said thoughtfully, idly chewing her lip and rolling back and forth on the balls of her feet, assuming a hilariously sincere thoughtful pose, her arms crossed and her brows furrowed. "I'll have to watch for that next time I go throwing a light somewhere!" She managed to stop chewing her lips for a bit, then offered a hand down to Ayara. "Here, let me help you up! It's the least I could do! Sorry if I get sleepy, making people feel better makes me really tired. Oh! My name's Raeh! What's yours?" She smiled down at the girl, positively beaming. The first step to being happy was a smile.

[Ayara]

A voice came out of the light. A girl's voice. Ayara shut her eyes tight, alleviating some of the pain. She felt her head being cradled in someone's lap. This wasn't normal. People didn't do that. The only people who didn't run away from her were the ones who wanted to hurt her.

But that voice had such kindness. Kindness was a treasure Ayara rarely found in people. The relief of the healing was so complete Ayara almost passed out then and there. She felt the girl poke her nose and couldn't help but smile slightly. "Thank you," she said, remembering her manners. "It's alright, it's not your fault."

She climbed to her feet by herself, simply because she couldn't see Raeh's hand. When she was on her feet she covered her eyes further with her arm. "I'm Ayara. Can you put that light out, please? It's blinding me. Literally. You wouldn't happen to see my gloves anywhere, would you? Or my glasses. I think I must've dropped my glasses in the fall."

[raeh]

x x

promise

Raeh wondered who Ayara was.

Raeh knew that people very often lived out of the way, herself having spent most of her life living in the forest, but she did wonder what someone had been doing so high up in a tree, so late at night. She was relieved, at least, that the girl wasn't upset with her. Raeh didn't really know how to react when people were upset over something; she could never really see what all the fuss was about.

"Oh! I'm sorry," Raeh chirped, dismissing the lights with a wave of her hand. She felt bad for all the little moths that had been gathered around her light above, but a real person was more important. "Gloves? Um, okay ... I can't really see that well in the dark, though ...." Raeh said, her voice trailing off as she looked in the grass for any fallen pieces of fabric. She was bent down on all fours, not really aware that her tail was wagging cheerfully, as she determined to locate Ayara's dropped possessions. She didn't find the gloves, but her hands did bump into something sharp. "Oh!" she said, sounding more surprised than hurt. She sucked her index finger, which had been was bleeding from a thin cut, the blood a shocking red in contrast to her ghostly skin. The cut soon faded in a wash of gentle green light, and Raeh found herself growing drowsier. She took her finger out of her mouth and laughed when there was a funny pop. "Is it okay if I make a really tiny light? Just enough to see ... I think I found something," Raeh said. She forgot to wait for Ayara's answer and made an extremely faint light in the grass, which lit up several pieces of broken glass and a shattered wire frame. Raeh frowned.

"Oh no, your glasses ...." She went to pick them up, not really acknowledging all the tiny cuts in the glass was making. Her hands were bathed in faint green lines, as the healing force within her rapidly moved to repair the small bits of damage being done. Raeh managed to resist the urge to yawn; it would probably seem rude. She held her hands up to Ayara, the glass pieces sitting sadly there, some of them still a little dug into her skin. "I'm so sorry! Oh my, I made you fall and ruined your glasses," Raeh said sadly, with a rare frown on her face. "Well, at least you're o-o-o-kaaaaay," she said, arcing her back and yawning loudly. "Whoops! Um, is there anything you can do to fix your glasses, do you think?" Raeh asked, sounding weirdly hopeful, her spritely smile back in full force.

[Ayara]

When the light vanished, Ayara was left facing a stunningly pale minish girl who, best as she could make out, might be her own age. Except there was something about her. Her constant smile and the sound of her voice and the way she just glowed as if nothing in the world could touch her made Ayara's stomach clench and her mouth go dry and sent her heart racing. When Raeh bent over, her tail wagging excitedly and pushing back the skirt of her dress, revealing her stockinged legs and Ayara couldn't help but stare as her heart felt like it was trying to beat its way out of her chest. She was glad for Raeh's light, just bright enough to make Ayara instinctively turn her head, giving her plenty of space to panic.

Oh no. Oh no. Oh noooooooo. What's happening? This is new. New is bad. New is very very bad.

Raeh finding her glasses snapped Ayara out of her panic. Then she saw the state they were in and let out a single, involuntary mewl of indescribably sadness. "My glasses." This would mean days, if not weeks of being nearly blind and constant eye irritation.

Even the faint searchlight Raeh had conjured was making her eyes- All disappointment and frustration was momentarily blown out of Ayara's mind as Raeh stretched, silhouetted by the light, arching her back and pushing her chest forward in a way that made Ayara feel indescribably complicated. It took her a moment to realize that she was staring. And another moment to realize that she'd opened her left eye. Her blind, useless, grotesque left eye. Horrified, Ayara squeezed her eyes shut and covered them with her hands. "No," she said, still mourning the loss of her glasses. "I'll just have to wear a patch until we can get them replaced. Ah, is there anyone out here with you? Does anyone know you're here? Is anyone expecting you?"

[raeh]

x x

promise

Raeh was determined to make the girl smile.

It wasn't exactly unique to Ayara, since Raeh was more or less determined to make everyone smile, but the strange girl was already a special case for Raeh. She couldn't help but feel a little--well, a lot--guilty for Ayara's fall, and she felt even worse about the glasses. When Ayara made a sad--though really cute--noise of distress at the broken glasses in Raeh's hands, her optimistic grin faded into a flummoxed frown, looking closely at the glass. Despite the fact that tiredness was beginning to eat away at the edge of her consciousness, her concern for Ayara far outstripped her own physical demands.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I'll fix it, I promise!" Raeh declared, though she had no idea why. She let the glasses and the frame fall to the ground, the glass still stained a little by the blood that had managed to escape her hands when the glass had first cut her. What little blood was left over on her hands was stunning in contrast to her pale skin. She stared at her hands for a while, then looked at Ayara, into her eyes. Her own eyes went wide and she let out a little gasp. "That's amazing! Your eye! It's so special," Raeh said softly. She raised her hands and walked closely to Ayara, laying her delicate, pale fingers on Ayara's tougher ones. The metal hand surprised her at its warmth; Raeh supposed it had to be warm, or it would've been unbearable. "Don't hide your eyes," Raeh said softly, dismissing the small light that was still hovering around broken pieces of glass. She gently pulled Ayara's hands from her face. She was left staring at Ayara's firmly closed eyelids.

"Open up?" Raeh asked, her voice soft and gentle. It wasn't a demand. It was a request. Astonishingly, the strange, sad girl opened her eyes, her lids slowly opening. When she opened them all the way, she found Raeh's hands near the air around her face, while Raeh's own eyes, bright and vibrant green, stared into Ayara's. "Your eyes are very pretty, Ayara! Well then again you're really pretty in general," Raeh said absently, as a pouty sort of frown worked its way onto Raeh's face as she tried to figure out the right dimensions for her illusion. "Just try and hold still a little? It won't hurt. Promise!" A low, green light came out of her hands, then faded into darkness, taking shape around Vriska's eyes, mimicking the exact dimension and color of her old glasses, save that her left eye did not have a dark patch over it. "I hope that will do! I feel really badly that I made you fall," Raeh said again, forgetting she had already apologized. She was feeling sleepy, soooo sleepy, and it was hard to keep track of things. Concentrating hard enough to get the glasses right had tuckered her out, somehow, though her illusions were completely unrelated to her waking state. Her legs felt a little weak, or more like a little more eager to give out than they should've been, and she found herself leaning forward onto Ayara, her hands resting on the other girl's shoulders. "Sorry," Raeh muttered quietly, stifling a yawn, "I'm just really sleepy. All that healing, you know ... really ma-ha-ha-akes me tired." Her eyelids suddenly got very heavy, and she found herself leaning even more on the spider-girl, completely ignorant of ideas such as personal space or familiarity.

[Ayara]

"No, you don't have to do anything, it's really-" Ayara tried to say, but when she felt Raeh's fingers take her hands the words seemed to get tangled up and trailed away because Raeh was the first person aside from her father to touch Ayara in years and it felt so good.

She was in many ways reminded of the days when her eyes were first changing. Except nobody had called them special. 'Dead' was a word they'd used frequently. 'Rotting,' too. Her mother had gone to great lengths to expose Ayara to as much light as possible, even forcing her eyes open that one time. And yet, standing there, holding Raeh's hands, Ayara wondered if it might be okay to do this. This was just one strange girl in the middle of the forest, right?

A strange girl who made her heart race so fast she was trembling. It was just nerves. Ayara felt she was doing shockingly well so far. Part of her feared she'd forgotten how to hold a conversation a long time ago. And despite how she made her feel, Raeh was a risk. If anyone were to come looking for her...

Those shockingly clear eyes were almost as bright as Ayara's own. She felt a brand new pair of glasses settle on her face and they brought Raeh's eyes into sudden focus. They were like two cut emeralds, bending light into infinite complexity. They reminded Ayara of a meadow she'd visited in the last summer before she'd lost her vision. Before she'd ruined everything. The memory shone bright in her mind, so sweet it hurt.

So immersed was she in that old moment she almost didn't register what Raeh said next, and suddenly she was being leaned on. Raeh looked like she was about to pass out (oh no) and it was up to Ayara to catch her. With painstaking precision, Ayara maneuvered Raeh's surprisingly light frame down until she was sitting and eventually lying on the ground with Raeh on top of her (oh yes?). It was a totally new feeling for Ayara, being so physically close to someone. It didn't escape her for a second that it was also extremely fucking dangerous. And... nice. Really nice.

As they got settled, Ayara had a chance to go over Raeh's words in her head. "Pretty? How can you possibly think I'm pretty?" Her voice had a hard, brittle edge to it, but her tone was more surprise and curiosity than anything. It was a genuine question; one that had to be answered before Ayara would let herself acknowledge the butterflies it sent fluttering in her stomach.

[raeh]

x x

living mice

Raeh forgot herself sometimes,

and when she did manage to remember things like decorum or personal space, she never seemed to be terribly concerned about them. She did realize, though, that she might have been making Ayara uncomfortable by getting so close to her; not everyone else had a personal bubble the size of a dog's, after all. She smiled as Ayara was so careful to let her down gently, so as not to harm her. Funny, considering the first thing Raeh had done to Ayara was to drop her out of a tree. Raeh decided then and there that Ayara was a good person, and that Raeh was going to make things up to her somehow. She could detect so much sadness in Ayara, so much pain, that it almost hurt ... but more than that it filled Raeh with determination to make Ayara's world a brighter place.

Well, not literally. That had gotten things messed up in the first place. Raeh smiled and cuddled into Ayara's warm body, again not really thinking how the gesture could possibly be interpreted. She was a dog minish, and the ancestors help her if she wasn't going to cuddle into the nearest warm body around while she was sleepy. She let out a loud yawn and laid down next to Ayara, curling into a ball at her side. She was smiling, though she was clearly exhausted. The smile was complicated by a frown when Ayara demanded that she explain how she was pretty. Raeh blinked. She wasn't exactly sure how to answer that question. It was like someone asking you to describe the way that grass was green.

"Um, well, you just are!" Raeh said simply, smiling genuinely at the other girl. She didn't think, though, that was exactly what Ayara had wanted. Raeh frowned, and leaned forward, looking closely at Ayara's face. "Well, you've got really great bone structure. And your skin is soft, and unique," Raeh whispered, reaching up with a hand to touch Ayara's cheek, her finger barely touching the skin. "Your eyes are amazing! I've never seen anything like them. They're so nice-looking, with that rich yellow, like the sun! And besides that, your eyes are shaped really well. You have very pretty eyes," Raeh said, matter-of-factly, trying to remember what she might be forgetting. "Oh! And you have these really beautiful lips. Really attractive. That, and your hair is amazing. I kinda want to snuggle into it," Raeh admitted with a laugh. Her eyes suddenly lit up, as she remembered something that was really too obvious.

"Oh, right! And you have a really great body! I mean, I'm kinda jealous of your chest," Raeh muttered, her drowsiness setting back in. It was warm enough that sleep was really attractive, and the little momentary excitement couldn't really hold her attention for that long. Sometimes it was just nice, to lie down and appreciate the simple things. "You're not just pretty, though," Raeh said, her voice having faded to a groggy whisper, "You're really kind. You didn't even get mad at me, even though you could've ... please don't go, Ayara. Could you please just stay here a while?" Raeh asked, without the slightest trace of coercion or duplicity. She knew she wouldn't be able to stay awake for much longer, but she didn't want to have to say goodbye to this fascinating new girl yet, either.

[Ayara]

When they landed, Raeh pressed herself into Ayara in a way that tensed every single muscle in her body and she didn't relax until Raeh had slid off her to lie by her side. Not really knowing what to do, Ayara figured she could at least make her comfortable and slid her arm under Raeh's head so she could rest her head on her upper arm and shoulder. Her hand happened to idly fall in a way that could possibly be interpreted as resting on Raeh's waist.

And then she regretted it. Raeh had been fucking with her this whole time. She had to be. Her compliments and her touches were playing Ayara's heartstrings like a fucking guitar. She wanted them to be true. She needed them to be true. But she'd accepted it a long time ago that the world would always be as repulsed by her as she was repulsed by herself. She used to get angry over it. Now it was simply one of the many facts of her life.

So instead she simply moved so that her head was touching Raeh's; smiled, but not enough to show teeth; and let her flattery, empty as it was, make up for most of the offense. "You're very pretty too," she purred. Purred? She never purred. Murmured. Much better word. Whispered was even better. Wouldn't want to keep her awake. "Prettier than me, that's for sure. I can't stay past sunrise." She grasped for something suitable to say. "So don't forget to wake up."

[raeh]

x x

promise

Though her eyes were barely open,

they managed to convey a wide range of emotions; sadness, a little disappointment, but also hope. She'd sort of expected that Ayara wouldn't be able to stay with her ... it had been a stupid request, really. But Raeh just didn't know what to do; she was so sleepy, it was all she could do just to keep her eyes open and her ears working. Any finer subtleties in Ayara's speech--bitter, recriminating sarcasm, for instance--were completely lost on her.

"Thank you, Ayara," Raeh muttered, when Ayara paid her a compliment. She often forgot her manners, but this time she really meant it. "I don't know about prettier than you, though. You're so unique ... I'm kinda plain-looking. Then again I guess we all think we're plain-looking ourselves, since it's what we're most used to ... sometimes I forget most people don't have tails. My mom had really white skin, too, so when I was growing up I just thought that was normal. Then it turned out it wasn't, and I got to see that there are so many other kinds of people, like goron and zora!" Raeh was barely even conscious, now, her thoughts simply blurring together and tumbling out of her mouth as she spoke. She remembered, not long ago, having taken a brief trip into Castle Town ... the vast array of people there had scared her. Once or twice, someone had tried to rob her, though when they found out that she had nothing of value and immediately healed her own wounds, they seemed to give up pretty quickly. Then another, kind man had given her a room and food for a little while, in exchange for favours that Raeh hadn't thought not to give.

But ... but, no, this wasn't right. She couldn't just give in and let a little ol' thing like sleep end this whole thing! What if she never saw Ayara again? The thought was strong enough to give her the energy to start to move. She slowly managed to push herself to her knees, then flopped lazily back on her butt.

"Oof," she said intelligently, resisting the urge to pull her knees to her face. She'd only wind up falling right back to sleep. "Sometimes I do forget, though. When I've had to heal a lot, or if people are fighting near me. And then I wake up weeks later, not really knowing what's going on ... it's not very fun," Raeh admitted, sounding half-sad, half-dream-like. "You have a kind soul," Raeh declared suddenly. "I just ... know it," she finished, stifling a yawn with a pale hand. "And ... and it's my fault your glasses broke," Raeh continued, sounding slightly more coherent. "The glasses I made will go away if I fall asleep, or if ... or if you get too far away from me. And I really hate that I broke your glasses," Raeh said again, rambling without stopping to think. Talking was really all that was keeping her awake. "Before I left home, my mom always said never to break the balance. Always to make up for anything mean you did. And so far all I've done to make up for knocking you out of the tree is fixing your wounds and given you a fake pair of glasses. I've only come half way. I took your pain away, but didn't replace it with happiness ... and I broke your glasses, but only gave you temporary ones instead. So!" She suddenly announced, pulling herself up to her feet with surprising energy. "I'm not gonna go asleep just yet, and I'm not gonna leave you, Ayara. Not until my debt is paid, at least! I owe you some real glasses," she said, looking down at the monster girl with a smile on her face, "And I owe you a smile! So you're stuck with me!" Raeh said brightly, extending a hand to Ayara. It wasn't really so much to help her up--Ayara looked stronger than Raeh, although that wasn't saying much--as to seal a bond. "So wherever you're going, can I come with you? I promise I'll be helpful! I've, um ... I've been alone a long time," Raeh admitted, sounding almost bashful. "It'd be so nice to have a friend."

[Ayara]

Ayara, glad that she wouldn't have to stay with this girl much longer, listened to her rambling with half an ear, and promptly wished she could close that ear completely. She couldn't help but draw parallels to her own life. The first time she'd met a Zora she'd been ecstatic. She'd thought they were like her. That they'd been born normal and their bodies had betrayed them. But no, she was a freak even by Zora standards. At least Raeh had had the good fortune to believe she was normal. For as long as she could remember Ayara hadn't even fit into her own family.

And then Raeh had to go and try to get up. The more she talked, the more confused Ayara got. A mother who gave good advice? That was a thing that happened? The only advice her mother had given her was to stay out in the sun and keep her eyes open no matter how much it hurt.

What Raeh said next actually left Ayara gaping, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to find something gentler than "Oh hell no." Ayara had already broken all of the rules simply by letting Raeh see her and talk to her. But to travel with them? No. No no no. They'd worked too hard to isolate themselves from the world to let anyone in now. Besides, if Raeh could make Ayara feel the things she was feeling in minutes, who knew what could happen in days or weeks or years? It was safer for everyone if they go their separate ways. But how to make it so that Raeh would be satisfied?

Idea. "It's not really up to me," she warned as she got to her feet by herself. "You'll have to bring it up with my father. Follow me, I'll take you to where we're staying."

The cave wasn't that far away. The entrance was a tight crevice you had to squeeze through, but a few feet later it opened up into a lovely natural cave. Ayara slept at the very end, having constructed a cozy little alcove out of webbing, pillows and blankets. The main camp had been set up outside, where her father slept. Or would sleep, if he ever slept at all. The point was that it meant Rwaht was outside the cave, judging by the shapeless blob of shadow obscured by the firelight. "Hey, dad. The webs have all been reset. And also, uh." Not sure how to introduce her, she simply stepped aside and let Raeh present herself. "I found her in the forest. She followed me home."

[raeh]

x x

promise

Raeh smiled innocently as Ayara took her to a cave,

frankly excited to meet Ayara's father. She was still stupidly tired, though, and it was hard to keep her wits about her. More or once she nearly stumbled and fell, though she managed to right herself for the most part. It wasn't a long walk, but when every step was a struggle between sleeplessness, gravity, and a slight natural clumsiness, the length seemed to multiply. As they approached a cave, Raeh got a little excited, and when she saw a man--with long, silver hair and a pitch black cloak--sitting outside it in an almost pensive stance, she did a little skip of joy.

"Hello!" Raeh said cheerfully, stepping smartly towards the fire and holding a hand out to great the man. "My name is Raeh! I made your daughter fall out of a tree by accident so now I want to stick around and help her out until I can fix everything."

For a long time, the man simply stared, which, if Raeh had known him, was how he reacted to surprise. He'd been expecting his daughter, and had smiled when he'd seen her, but the smile had faded when he'd seen another, replaced by an almost predatory, blank expression. He was sizing the girl up, watching her every move, but for the life of him he couldn't help but feel a little foolish once she started bouncing around and speaking with all the enthusiasm of a small child. A part of him told himself to be wary that it could be an act, but he at least had the confidence that nothing she could do could hurt Ayara while he was here. Slowly, he accepted the girl's handshake. It was energetic, but sort of floppy, as though she was depleted of energy; he took a look at her and realized that the girl was drop-dead tired, judging by her stance and eyes. She smiled.

"I mean, she shouldn't be hurt anymore! I heal people when I'm near them, you see, though it makes me really tired but I didn't want to go to sleep and leave Ayara without making things better so I followed her here!" Rwaht blinked. The girl was talking awful fast.

"Is this true?" Rwaht asked Ayara, but Raeh apparently thought he'd been directing the question at her.

"Yep! See?" In a swift movement, the girl reached into the fire and pulled out a burning log, grasping it in her hand and wincing. Rwaht moved to stop her in alarm, on pure instinct, but just like that she tossed the log back into the flame and spread out her hand. Rwaht's eyes widened slowly as a faint, green light encompassed her hand, soothing the welts, reducing the reddening of her skin, and returning it to its natural, snow-white paleness. The girl suddenly yawned. "Oh, crap. It makes me really tired and I've done a lot of it today--"

"You already said that," Rwaht said, not unkindly. He sounded almost amused. Certainly, his warrior's stance had relaxed back into that of a quiet, unassuming man by a campfire.

"O-oh, did I? So-o-o-orry," Raeh said, suddenly collapsing into a fit of overwrought yawns. She slumped down onto the ground and tried to support herself with her arms, but failed. "Maybe that was kinda ... dumb," the girl admitted, her eyes sliding shut against her will. Rwaht looked alarmed for a moment and moved to let the girl down gently, laying her head softly on the earth. He couldn't help it; having a daughter of his own, seeing young women in peril triggered a primal, protective instinct in him.

"Where are you from, Raeh? Who were you travelling with?" Rwaht asked quickly, hoping she'd be able to respond in time. This was key. The tone of his voice made that abundantly clear.

"Oh, um ... I lived with my mom for a long time. I never really knew my dad, but a couple years ago I decided to leave home and travel. Like o-o-o-o--sorry!--old minish," Raeh explained sleepily, pawing into Rwaht's lap in a purely affectionate way. If Rwaht was alarmed, it wasn't obvious. "I'm travelling alone. I usually do!"

"I see ... but if you were raised the old minish way, where did you get these clothes?" Rwaht asked, his eyes closely examining the girl. "They're certainly not traditional."

"Oh, I met a man in Castle Town who helped me out. He gave me some better clothes if I did nice things for him, but ... I didn't like him much. He smelled funny," Raeh muttered, and suddenly there was a noticeable change in the look in Rwaht's eye. It was hard to pin down, but it was somehow dangerous and protective all at once. He did not seem to be looking at Raeh so much as through her.

"Raeh, this man, what did he--" But the girl had already slipped off to sleep. He gently picked her up and laid her on the bedroll that Rwaht kept around, but never used, then took off his cloak and draped it over her as a blanket. He stared at her for a long time, then turned his attention back to his daughter, immediately going over to her and embracing her. He kissed her on the forehead, and was silent for a long time. He simply held her, pulling her close. A tear threatened to manifest itself, but he managed to repress it. He had his suspicion about what had happened to Raeh in Castle Town, and the thought of that happening to any young girl immediately translated to it happening to Ayara. He couldn't bear it.

After a long moment, he let her go, put out the fire, and indicated that Ayara should sit next to him.

"I love you so much, Ayara," Rwaht said, suddenly. His voice sounded choked by emotion, which was astonishingly rare. He cleared his throat and started again. "Sorry. Tell me everything, Ayara. I'm not mad. You did the right thing bringing her back to me."

[Ayara]

And just like that the wall they'd both worked so hard to maintain between themselves and the rest of the world was under bombardment. The only thing Ayara could do while Rwaht so valiantly held the breach was to rummage around in the cart for her extra gloves and eyepatch, finally exhaling in relief as her hands and eye were covered once more. She leaned against the cart and watched as Raeh talked and Rwaht asked pointed questions, cutting to the heart of things with ease.

When Ayara's vision suddenly blurred it took her a moment to realize that the glasses Raeh had conjured up had vanished, meaning she had finally fallen asleep. Even with her glasses Ayara's vision was bad. Without them the world was reduced to an indecipherable mess two inches from the tip of her nose. She was caught completely off guard by Rwaht's hug, but she welcomed it. Raeh's interference had exhausted something bone-deep inside her. She could detect a wrongness in Rwaht. Something was troubling him. Well, at least he put the fire out.

"I love you too, dad," she replied, puzzled. Even when he wasn't the Holy Destroyer she had almost never heard him get this emotional. "Well, I was up in a tree fixing the web that caught that owl last night when a really bright - and I mean really bright - light flew up in front of my face out of nowhere. I lost my grip on the tree and fell so badly my leg broke. Then this girl shows up out of nowhere, heals me, finds what's left of my glasses after the fall broke them and almost collapses on top of me.

"So we're lying there and I'm waiting for her to fall asleep so I can leg it and she's snuggling with me and then she says I'm pretty and unique and that she wants to travel with me. Obviously she was messing with me this whole time so I brought her here so you could tell her that she can't come with us. It's for her own good, really. I'm not exactly safe to be around."

If she could see, she would no doubt have looked to Raeh when she made those last few comments. Perhaps with a kind of regret for what could have been. In a parallel world they could probably have been friends. But alas, it was not to be, so Ayara simply stared ahead blindly, the luminescence of her eyes visible now that the fire was out.

[rwaht]

x x

Path of Honour

The father felt very lucky,

in that moment, where he was safe to hold his daughter and protect her. His eyes would shift, occasionally, to the young girl lying beneath his coat, and he reached out with an arm and pulled Ayara close to him. It was too easy for him to think of the hardships he had suffered ... but he had his daughter, and she had him. He would always be eternally grateful for that. He listened to Ayara's story silently, the slightest of frowns creasing his face. His heart ached for his daughter. His eyes drifted over towards the girl.

"From what I can tell, she was raised in the style of the old minish. They have as much in common with their animals halves as their human portion. She doesn't think quite like most people do. That much was obvious when she thrust her hand into the fire. I don't find it hard to believe she would find you pretty. And I don't think she was lying. People don't often tell such cruel, blatant lies, Ayara, and I very much doubt this of this girl." He looked away from the girl and towards his daughter, and he smiled. It was the slightest, faintest of smiles, but all expression on Rwaht's face was muted. That was his curse to bear, his inability to express to his daughter how fully he cared for her. "And she was right. You are very pretty, Ayara. Your skin, your claws ... they are only differences. I wouldn't say you were pretty if I did not think it was true. I would tell you another very true thing: that how one looks is irrelevant to the most important thing, who they are, in their heart. Though you're entirely different from her, you look very much like your mother ... I know you must hate to hear that, but it is the truth. And she was beautiful," Rwaht said, with a sigh. He knew Ayara did not like to hear of her mother--how could she?--but Rwaht would not deny Ayara's own heritage. Her mother had, and Rwaht had never forgiven the woman who he had thought as his wife for that. He would not hear of it.

"You are beautiful, sweetheart, no matter what you've convinced yourself otherwise. I wanted to mention to you earlier, that your webs have become very beautiful, like silk. You need to see the beauty in yourself, and what you can do, Ayara. I can't say for sure if Raeh is being truthful, but I would be very surprised if she wasn't. And I think she represents a rather unique opportunity ... yes, your body can be dangerous, but this girl doesn't seem able to be hurt. Certainly, I wouldn't let her leave now anyway," Rwaht said, and his voice sounded strange. Strangled. He didn't know if he wanted to share this with Ayara ... but he felt as though he had to. "I think that man in Castle Town, the one she spoke of, used her for sex. If she's the sort of person I think she is, she wouldn't think to refuse. She's alone, and she is ignorant of the way the civil world works. I'm glad she found you. I wonder how many people have taken advantage of that girl, lying there. And I think of you," Rwaht said, kissing his daughter on the forehead again. "I think of what would happen if you were alone, and I cannot help but be reminded how grateful I am to have you here, with me. How special you are to me."