[Commentlog]

[angha_firebird]

[Aara stares in horror at the Kanan pumpkin, face pale as she tumbles to the ground. Back. Away from the angry and hurtful words being screamed at her.]

'You are not a part of us. You abandoned your Clan. You shirk responsibilities and spit in my face! You are never welcomed here! You mean nothing to me. I should have let you die. You are no

Comments

[stillseecracks]

[The screaming. Always, always the screaming. It's probably just a pumpkin, but as Xanth can't make out the words, he runs to investigate the sounds.

Oh, Aara.

Grimacing, Xanth hurries to her side.]

A-Aara, hey, hey...

[He goes to take her hand.]

[stillseecracks]

[Xanth looks downward, the cogs turning in his mind. He really hadn't heard that much, though she seems to think he's heard everything.]

S-So they...

[He finds himself at a loss for words, and for a few moments, he's silent. Finally, he looks up.]

Th-they kept you... p... p--p-prisoner?

[If not physically, then at least metaphorically...]

[angha_firebird]

[Shock tears through her, and lifting wide eyes to Xanth, Aara is startled by the fact that she wants to protect her Clan even to this day. She forcibly swallows her denial, heaving a sigh once more.]

No one was permitted to leave. [But that wasn't right either, was it? Didn't the male angha warriors leave day after day? Couldn't they soar through the skies? Hadn't Kanan left the day of his initiation, only to find Aara's crumpled form miles away on a lone mountain? Something stills within her, and she remembers her two dearest friends. Her two only friends in the Clan.]

That's not right. Only the women are not permitted to leave. Or race is dwindling, so maybe...

[Maybe they were being kept there. It seemed something the Elders would demand.]

I...I have to go back. My friends-- [She didn't want to. Especially not after faking her own death. They'd know she was true angha now. They would never let her leave. She knew how to navigate the Rift now, though. No prison would hold her again. Not while she had room to fly.]

[stillseecracks]

[Xanth shakes his head. His hand slips down Aara's arm to clasp hers.]

Y-You don't... have to-- do a-anything. N-Not anything y-you don't want to. N-Not... not a--anymore.

[Her friends are gone, and even if they aren't, she'll probably never see them again. Xanth has never seen any of his family again, after all, and so few of his friends have made it to the Keep.]

[angha_firebird]

Gone?

[Her voice is tiny and somewhat disbelieving. She shakes her head, then clasps Xanth's hand in turn.]

You mean... you believe it's true? That we're--we're all that's left? Suri... Nesrin... they'll never...?

[stillseecracks]

I--I-I don't-- I don't know i-if it's true, but...

[But that argument? Is half-hearted.]

It's... i-it's just... that's what I-- w-was told b-before. S-So. I-I kinda just... g-got used to... b-being all that's l--left.

[They can't be all that's left, people keep appearing all the time, but... Redd said that he picked up people clinging to the fragments of their worlds. Maybe Deior was doing the same.]

B-But, we're... a-all that's here. S...So...

[He shrugs, his gaze falling to the ground.]

[angha_firebird]

[Feeling blanketed in sudden cold, Aara stares. Part of her can see the truth to them being all that was left, even if she hadn't wanted to believe it. That chill encases her.]

If my world is gone--

[A deep breath. No. She couldn't regret her decisions now.]

I feel guilty, Xanth. Kanan saved my life. I lived because he thought my life was worth saving. My people have lost their knowledge in our ways over centuries of time. When a young woman comes of age, she creates a Rift in the sky and--disappears inside where none can follow. I was the first to survive being in... that... in a very long time.

It would have been so easy to give up. Let go. Give in to loss and confusion and die there like the others before me. But I didn't. I always thought I was meant to do something with my life. But... now what?

Now I'll never have the answers to where I come from, or who I am.

[She supposed she would have to strive to help and do things here.]

[stillseecracks]

[No, she never would. Xanth would never meet the mother who bore him, either, nor would he ever get a chance for vengeance against those who tormented him as he grew up.

He shrugs.]

N-No. I-- I guess-- I-I guess not. I-It... it doesn't-- r-really matter so much, a-anymore, though... d-does it?

[angha_firebird]

[Aara bites her lip. Hard. Then winces at the pain. No pity parties here. Now she was angry. A slow, steady anger consumed her--rose from deep within. Someone had destroyed all their worlds. All their answers, and loved ones. It was inexcuseable.

But... They were still alive.]

Xanth...

[Aara tasted blood. She licked it away, hands fisting at her sides, then bent to look up into Xanth's face.]

We are alive, despite what has happened to those around us. We must... do them proud. Do you agree? I will do my best to help those I am able to help now. I will find my strength here Xanth.

So, let us look forward together?

[stillseecracks]

[Xanth looks down, frowning, and for a few moments he is silent. Then, he looks up and asks,]

S-So you... you b--believe me? A-About our-- our worlds being g-gone?

[It was the rumor that circulated, yes, Xanth had such a hard time accepting it until he saw it with his own two eyes.]

[angha_firebird]

[Aara's own posture turns into a slouch--something seen only when emotional turmoil gripped her and she attempted to protect herself from it.]

I suppose I must. I have already seen so much destruction here. Even if it is not true, I have no place I call home to go back to. I can make my own home, yet, but...

[She trails off with a graceful shrug of one shoulder, looking away.]

[stillseecracks]

[She's got a point. Whether their worlds are gone, there's no easy way of getting back or getting out. Might as well make the best of things here. But that seems so... dismissive.

So, Xanth dismisses the entire train of conversation.]

... d-do you... I-I don't know, w-want to-- g-get-- s-something to eat? [throat clear] O-Or, just, b-be-- not-- h-here?

[angha_firebird]

[She looks at him, then around at the pumpkins before wincing slightly and shifting her gaze back to Xanth's. She nods slowly.]

Where do you wish to go?

[Aara knew a topic change when she heard one, but she didn't wish to keep dwell up depressing matters any more than Xanth seemed to.]

[stillseecracks]

I-- I-I don't know. The-- springs, m-maybe, or-- the l--

[not the library not the library]

Th-the lake, or, w-we could, I-I don't know. A-Anywhere away f-from these... d-decorations.

[angha_firebird]

[The springs were warm, and Aara desperately yearned for even the smallest bit of warmth. Looking down at herself, feeling rather detached, Aara realized she did not care that she was wearing another pale dress of hers. She would cross that bridge when she came to it.]

The springs? Please.

[Maybe the heat and steam would help liven her up--stir some feeling inside of her. Glancing once more at the decorations, Aara visibly shivered. Yes. She definitely wished to be away from those.]

[stillseecracks]

[Xanth nods, then offers Aara a weak smile. He nods in the direction of the springs, then takes a step that way.]

C--Come on. Th-they're not-- too far.