Closed Lullabyes (Ori)

[Cleon]

12th of Spring, 522 A.V. It wasn’t even bliss draining that bottle. Just the briefest of respites before another hunger came clawing its way up from within him. Scratching at the edge of his consciousness until he acknowledged it at which point it became a want. No, a strong desire for, a need to sate this new craving before it rendered him senseless. Standing in the dark near the door to the room he shared with Faye, Cleon was briefly in control of his actions, but he could feel that slipping away no matter how tightly he tried to grasp it. He watched her slight shadow in the bed for a moment longer before he pushed out into the hallway, and hastily closed the door behind him, leaning against it for a long moment while he contemplated what he was going to do. His right hand was in his trouser pocket, thumbing the edge of his razor till he felt a slight sting that offered a moment of escape and reality swinging in around him. He was alone for now, and he used that to take account of himself. Of the line of dark sweat down the middle of his gray shirt that hung loosely off of his skeletal frame. Not long from now, he’d be covered in another thin sheen of sweat that was not brought on by the heat but by these needs that were never far from his mind now. He squeezed the razor more tightly between thumb and forefinger, feeling it give slightly as pain blossomed up from his thumb to radiate across his hand. A dark stain started to form around the edge of his trouser pocket. Cleon clenched his teeth. This was no way to live. He wouldn’t be like THEM. The razor came out of his pocket then, a dull rusted slip of metal with crimson dripping off the edge and working its way into the bone handle into which the metal was set. Delicately, he wiped away what he could quickly then wrapped a dirty strip of cloth around it, then tucked it into the waistband of his trousers. His thumb had been worked across with a nasty curving cut from ball to base and he stuck it into his mouth, sucking on it briefly as he started to hastily walk down the hallway. His mouth was quickly filling with a familiar metallic taste that soured somewhat with his illness and it was all he could do to keep from retching until he stumbled to the railing of the main deck where he leaned over the side and emptied his guts. When he was done, and through the fit of coughing that always followed, he leaned against the wood for a moment before he let himself fall down onto his knees and fold against the wall. He felt completely empty, not just physically but emotionally as these needs strained him to his limits. He needed to find a way beyond this, but ignoring it simply wasn’t doing the trick, and entertaining it felt just as damning. Cleon clenched his fists together and bit the knuckle of his index finger as he suppressed a scream of frustration while he rocked slightly back and forth on his haunches. PETCH! How was he even supposed to get drugs here, and why was he wanted them now!? SHITE. SHITE. SHITE. It brought it all back, flooding back the memories, the sensations, the pain, the depression, the rage, oh the sweet, beautiful futile rage that gnawed at him day and night for years in that dreadful house. His pulse thundered in his ears as he squeezed his eyes shut, but that didn’t help, only brought the images flooding in. FATHER. MOTHER. The siblings he left behind. He remembered keenly the smoky smell of his father, and could almost feel a wisp of warm breath on the back of his neck as his skin crawled. NO! NO! NO! Cleon pounded the deck with his fist, then went still as he realized he was very much not alone while wanting to be desperate. His eye opened a crack to see the deck deserted for now and they followed along so he was looking through the slats of the railing at the jungle beyond. He thought about going out there and letting himself get consumed by some jungle beast, but that was weakness would be like submitting to the family he despised. His mind wandered from there to the brief peaceful respite he had experienced in that bottle, but that craving had been met for now, and there were more pressing issues at hand. Ones he had yet found a way to solve or alleviate till he thought back on the healer he took Faye too. He might have something tucked away in that building of his, enough at least to take the edge off. It wouldn’t be so simple if he had a lock for Cleon was without his tools, but who was to say he wouldn’t be lucky tonight. He got up to his feet, steadied himself on the rail, then hesitated. Was he really going to do this? Risk all they had here so he could feel a little less pain, and maybe, just maybe get some sleep? Would they punish Faye for his actions? Cleon shook his head. What kind of question was that, of course, they would, but only if he got caught. A part of himself that he hated desperately clung to that notion above all others, and it only took him a moment longer to steel his resolve before he swung his legs up over the railing and let himself drop onto the beach below. From there he started walking roughly in the direction of where he knew the commons to be while doing his best to keep near to the shadows along the way. WC - 977

[Faye]

Faye stirred as a door closed, half emerging from her slumber as she stretched out in her bed and felt her toes hit the baseboard. Then she rolled over, saw that Cleon had gone, and saw too that she had changed again. Not as drastically as the night before but still. She ran a hand across her body just to make sure, and truly her body was significantly different than it had been the day before, and a lot different than it had been before coming to Syka. Everything about her was larger and more shapely for one, and Faye didn’t think the food, while good, could account for this. Gradually the more awake she became the more panicked she felt as she wondered what could be making these strange changes occur in her body. She had breasts and a disturbing amount of hair for petch sake. It wasn’t like it was something she could talk about to her brother about. He was just as confused as she was, and seemed more absentminded than usual these past few days. It was scary. It was strange. It was certainly not the new that she had expected when coming to this place and yet here she was. She got so very worked up by all of these ideas spinning in her head that she started to hyperventilate, then leaned across the bed as she felt a tickle in the back of her throat which was followed shortly by a series of hard coughs that racked her body. When the fit had passed, she was left with a throat that felt rather raw and Faye longed for something to drink though when she looked under the bed for their water skin she couldn’t find them. Cleon must have taken them to get them filled up she thought as she quietly padded across the room to the door when she opened it a crack. Unfortunately, he was nowhere to be seen out in the hallway, and Faye was noticeably bereft of clothes that would fit her. Well, there was that cloak, but it still is really revealing. Her throat tickled again, changing her mind as she hastily threw on the small cloak before walking quietly out into the hallway seeking something to drink. It was fortunately bereft of all noise and traffic for the moment but that could all change once she reached the common room. Faye hesitated where she was in the hallway and took a good look at herself. While the cloak had been a bit big on her coming to Syka, it now draped to about mid-thigh and barely wrapped around her bust when she tried to pull it together. Worst of all she still looked pretty knobby around the joints and she could see her ribs just as plainly as before even though she had most certainly gained weight. It probably made her walk look a little funny as Faye found it a little tricky to balance with this new body that had shifted its weight around so drastically. Her hair was also a fair bit longer, coming down to her lower back as it hung loosely about her shoulders. She really should have tied it into a ponytail before leaving the room, and she almost took a step back in the direction to do just that but her throat was so dry and she seemed on the verge of another one of her fits. That was probably something she would need to tell the healer about when they went to him tomorrow, or rather later today when the sun was up. Faye wasn’t quite sure what time it was, but she was curious to know if this was some kind of reaction to the medicine she took. More than anything, she wanted to know if there was a way to turn back to the way things were, which was quickly becoming a point of desperation for her as while she kind of liked how she looked, the sudden transformation of it all was jarring and beyond scary. Faye clenched her jaw and decided to just go for it, storming up the hallway until she caught the side of a person's shadow at which point she quickly turned on her heel to walk speedily back to her own door. There she hesitated to go back inside just yet, just kind of hovered there with her fingers pressed against the wood grain as she looked fretfully back at the common room while forcing a dry swallow. Would they really care? Would they even recognize her? The questions were sort of comforting and Faye found a measure of resolve in them as she strayed away from her door with a step in the right direction. It, this, how was she supposed to react? Act? These Sykan’s didn’t mind their nudity she knew, but it was one thing knowing with your head, and another to know with your heart, and she didn’t feel that knowledge just now with all the crazy spinning about her head. She took a step back towards her door and laid her head against it with a firm thunk that kind of stung as she squeezed her eyes shut. Petch, where had Cleon run off to and why couldn’t he have just left her some water. WC - 888

[Oralie]

Oralie was standing in the kitchen, stirring her mug of tea to help the flavours seep out of the leaves and into the water. She was studiously ignoring the thing behind her, even though the back of her neck was crawling with its presence. If she pretended it did not exist, then hopefully, it just might not anymore.

She stirred and stirred the tea, needing as much of the energising boost as she could get out of the leaves. She was a little more tired than usual, her sleep restless under the ever-present stare of the shadow being. The first night it appeared Oralie had refused to try and sleep at all, only succumbing when her body literally couldn’t stay awake anymore.

She heard a door open and close somewhere along the hallway. No footsteps followed though, and she tilted her head to listen. After a moment there came the sound of someone walking closer, and Oralie determined it was one of the new guests, for the gait did not match Naadiya’s at all.

From her position in the kitchen, she could see when then boy – Cleon if she had remembered correctly – hastened onto the main deck. She watched with a frown as he vomited over the side and then crumpled to the floor. She hoped that he had not bought some illness with him to the Settlement. Then again, everyone seemed to be having a rough time of it right now.

Oralie carefully set the spoon to one side, making sure it didn’t make any noise as she did so. The boy seemed frustrated more than anything else. As he rose to his feet again, Oralie decided she would make sure that he was okay, so she made to head out onto the deck. As she took a step though, he vaulted right over the side and onto the beach below.

The Kelvic quickly rushed outside, abandoning her mug. She stopped at the railing to see his slight form heading in the direction of the commons. She watched for a chime, a slight frown creasing her brow. She considered going after him to make sure he was alright, but she did not want to be presumptuous. Before she could come to a decision though, her keen hearing picked up the sound of another door opening. That would be another guest most likely. She turned away from the railing, coming to face the shadow creature and she jumped. It stared at her with silver eyes, but otherwise did not move. She had no idea if she was meant to be afraid of it or not. All it did was follow her around. It had never been violent or even made a noise. Oralie glared at it before heading back inside to see if the guest needed anything.

The footsteps hurried up to near the kitchen before turning and hurrying right back the way they came from. Oralie smiled to herself. They were definitely the young girl’s steps. She heard a thunk, and decided to go and see if she was alright. It must be scary for her to not have her brother around in a new place.

She stepped down the hall, making sure her footsteps would be heard so as not to startle the girl. Oralie tilted her head curiously as her golden eyes fell upon the girl standing with her head pressed into her door. She stopped a few paces away.

“Faye, is it? Are you okay?” Oralie waited until the girl turned, blinking momentarily in confusion. She was certain that someone had told her that Faye was supposed to be eleven, but this girl was quite obviously well into her teenage years. Perhaps whoever it was had been wrong.

She noticed that the girl seemed to be a little distressed. It was also not hard to see that she was painfully thin, much like Oralie herself had been when she had first come to Syka. The tatty grey cloak did little to hide the fact. She made Oralie feel like a bright tropical bird in her pink blouse and white skirt. Oralie gave her a warm smile. “Faye, I’m Oralie, I work here. Would you like to come with me to the kitchen? I can make you some breakfast? I saw your brother leave a chime or so ago, if you were wondering where he was.”

Oralie did her best to gently coax Faye into the kitchen, where she set her up at the table and placed her own untouched mug of tea in front of her. She then set about readying the woodstove for cooking. “What would you like to eat? We have eggs and meat, and there’s also fruit, lots of bread… whatever you like. Anything else you need too…?” She couldn’t help but notice how the cloak seemed to be several sizes too small for the girl and wondered if she had not had many clothes to bring to Syka.

As she was speaking, Oralie prepared a second mug for tea for herself, and had placed a skillet over the stove to warm up. She had also retrieved the jungle bread and cut off a couple of slices ready for toasting.


+867

[Cleon]

He made it about as far to the dock before the doubt started to creep back in, and he hesitated, considering strongly what he was about to do. These people had been kind to him hadn’t they? More than that, they’d been welcoming, an he was about to steal from them? Cleon gritted his teeth and wavered there for a moment before yanking out his pouch of mizas an roughly counting them out till they started to spill from his hand.

Falling to his knees, he fumbled for those coins in the dark an when he found them he let his hand rest on his lap while he caught his breath thinking about what a fool he must appear here on the beach. Then thinking about how a drink or smoke might make him feel better which in turn turned back on itself to make him feel even more shame which only made him want that drink more. It was a vicious cycle that he had once known all to well, and now it was once again, only this was not natural he was sure of it. He didn’t know how, or why, but something wasn’t adding up.

This wasn’t like the flashbacks he’d experienced before. This was more like he’d given it all up cold turkey the day he landed in Syka which is when he could first recall feeling those cravings itch their way through him. An there were more cravings that he had never experienced before, much more than he knew what to do with logically, but they were all crying out to be filled with varying degrees of intensity.

Perhaps he could drown them he thought looking at the water longingly, wondering if calling to Laviku for succor would do anything about this addiction he felt.

Cleon took a step back towards the Protea, and hesitated. What was he doing out here? He ignored the question and took another step, followed by another. His steps gained traction as it occurred to him that he might find a way to drink himself into a stupor there that might edge out these other desires, at least so he could eek out a numb sleep. That was something else he had been having trouble with lately. Sleeping, waking up in a cold sweat several times a night with these cravings driving him up the wall.

It got to the point that he started sleeping on the floor in the room he shared with his sister just so that he could avoid waking her. With a healthy dose of drink in mind, he thought he could hear that piece of floor calling to him now. As much as it turned his stomach to think like that, he had to do something to get by and avoid hurting Faye by proxy for his rash actions.

Even now his mind yearned for drugs he had never even heard of, and he didn’t know quite how that could be, or quite how he could know that, but they were there. Hovering just on the edges, and when he turned his thoughts to them he could feel the desperate pull, the promise of sensation and an end to all this pain. Petch, he knew he carried his share of baggage from the days back as a child in Sunberth but this was a whole different beast altogether. It was like he was being tugged in a dozen directions at once.

To avoid going insane, Cleon focused just one putting one step in front of another. The feel of wet sand clinging to the underside of his soles. The cold spray of the ocean on his face. The wind through his hair. The pain in his head. The rapid beat of his heart. Cha-thunk. Cha-thunk.Cha-thunk.Cha-thunk.Cha-thunk. Before he even realized it, he was standing in front of the doors to the Protea Inn..

Hesitantly Cleon pushed the door open a crack and heard someone moving about just inside the Inn to his right. He could hear the clatter of plates and pans. Cleon almost pulled the door closed, but there was a part of him that wondered if it might be someone who could help him get his fix, just for tonight then he’d see the healer first thing in the morning.

Clenching his hands together, he took in a deep breath and carefully crept across the entrance way as silently as he could managed just so that he might get a peek into the common room to see who all was involved.

The first thing he saw was a woman at the table that looked to be around his age, if not slightly older. She had a cloak draped across her that barely covered her butt sitting down and she was hunched over the table enjoying a meal by the looks of it. The gray threadbare cloak was familiar, if not outright noticeably the same make as his own and to his horror he could see the bones in this woman’s back as the thin cloak left little to the imagination. There could be no doubt in his mind of who this was.

“Faye.” He called out, stepping away from the shadow he’d slipped into, and walking into the center of the common room towards where she was seated. Through his watery eyes he couldn’t tell if she was looking at him or not. “I’m sorry. I should have stayed. We’ll go to the healer tomorrow. I was only out for a drink.” The words came out of him profusely, in a tumbled, and mumbled mess. Then Cleon froze as he caught movement and noise out of the corner of his eyes and recognized another woman, a face altogether unfamiliar to him though her hair was similar to theirs.

“I’m sorry.. I..” Cleon took a step back confused. He suddenly wasn’t sure what he had just walked into and he started to hyperventilate, backpedaling until he felt the reassuring solidness of the wall behind him. Slowly he allowed himself to slide down until he was seated on the ground, his gaze flicking from Faye to this other woman as he tried to make sense of just what he was doing here. All the while he started mumbling over and over again softly: “I just wanted a drink.”

WC - 1,057

[Faye]

She almost jumped out of her skin when she heard the woman’s voice, and looked to see a blond woman with honeyed eyes bearing down upon her. Well that was perhaps a mis-characterization as the woman seemed to give her some space as Faye registered the words she had spoken. She managed a weak smile and nodded nervously as her hands fumbled with the latch on the door, opening it a crack.

While she didn’t exactly plan on going in, it gave her some sense of security to have it open, and ready should the need to take that option arise. More importantly it helped ease the overwhelming dread she was feeling for being caught out in the open like this, though she was grateful it had been a woman and not a man. She had a comforting face too. Guarded, but honest. Something that she could latch onto as the uncertainty of the situation filled her. Then she mentioned her brother and Faye felt a blossom of hope.

“Really? Did he say where he was going?” She asked eagerly, though her eyes would fall to the floor when Oralie told her otherwise even if that too was very much in keeping with Cleon’s personality.

Oralie. It was a pretty enough name, and she did say she worked her. Her eyes flicked up briefly to meet the woman’s as her hand finally slipped away from the latch. “I suppose it would be a good place to wait for him.” She said softly as she studied her other hand for a moment that was currently clutching together her cloak.

Without further reservation she ended up following the woman back into the common room where she quietly took a seat that faced the fireplace, and huddled as best she could manage under her cloak. The wooden seat dug uncomfortably against her bare skin as the kind woman set a cup of something in front of her, and then started busying herself about the kitchen. Her stomach started to grumble at the mention of food.

“Mmm.. Anything is fine. I’m not picky.” Faye said over her shoulder before taking the mug in both hands. Tentatively she brought it to her lips and took a small sip, finding rather to her surprise that whatever this was, she rather liked it. Perhaps emboldened by this and how nice this woman was being, Faye turned around slightly and decided to ask something that was on her mind.

“Um.. Miss.. Orileee? Have you.. Um.. Ever.. Uh.. Well when you were a girl.. Did you.. Um.. You know.. Suddenly change overnight? Physically I mean…” Faye asked, looking down at the contents of the cup she cradled between her hands. It started trembling slightly without the support of the table, and so she set it down on the bench between her legs while she sat astride it.

This woman was nicer than Faye felt she deserved, and now that the question was out there, she felt a little foolish for it. However she also didn’t feel like Oralie was the kind of person to judge her for it. She was a lot like her brother in this way, though perhaps of slightly better temperament seeing how patiently the woman had dealt with her so far.

Regardless of the answer to her question, Faye would soon follow it up with a request as she started to feel exposed sitting their in a too small cloak. “Um.. Also if its not too much of a bother.. Do you.. Um.. Well.. Is there a.. Um.. Well something to cover up with.. Um.. Like a blanket or something..? She asked quietly before she took another sip of her drink.

When the food was finally put before her, she realized just how hungry she actually was and started to tuck into it with almost a ferocity and only because she caught a glace of Oralie did she manage to remind herself to slow down and take her time. Which was still a hard bargain because it tasted so good compared to the cold rations they had been living off for so long.

When she managed to get some of it actually inside of her, she looked up chagrined at Oralie, almost apologetically when she heard a familiar voice behind her. Cleon.

Faye turned immediately to see him standing there confused. His hands were out to his sides and he was bleeding all over the floor. Just as soon as he entered he started backing away towards the entrance way though he stopped to sit down against a wall. His face looked like a contorted mixture of pain and confusion.

Faye practically bolted from her seat. “Cleon! Cleon! What’s wrong? How did you hurt yourself?” She asked, and belatedly she realized she had been shouting. She crouched over where her brother sat, going over his hand fretfully until she found the nasty cut on his thumb and getting much of his blood on her in the process. Hesitantly she looked up at Oralie.

“Is there anything we can do for this cut?” She pleaded.

WC - 850

[Oralie]

Faye was very sweet, and reminded Oralie a lot of how she had been when she had first arrived in Syka. Thankfully, she had been welcomed warmly and cared for, and she wanted to do the same for this girl. She noticed the hope in Faye’s eyes at the mention of her brother, and she was sorry that her words took it away again.
“No, I’m sorry, I didn’t get to speak to him. He was headed to the Commons so perhaps he is up early to look for some work.” She offered Faye another warm smile as the girl agreed to come into the kitchen.

Oralie gave a satisfied nod when Faye told her she was not picky about her food. That was good - it would make it easier to build her up. She decided then that she would make a bit of everything. Even if Faye did not want it, Oralie ate more than enough for a large human man, plus there was Naadiya and Cleon about too. Well, Naadiya at least for now.

Pork was sliced into bacon, eggs were cracked and whipped in a bowl and an assortment of fruits were arranged in a different bowl. As the bacon popped and sizzled in the skillet, Oralie turned to face Faye as she hesitantly posed a question her way. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the shadow figure still lurking at the other end of the woodstove, it’s eyes never leaving her. She shuddered internally before putting all of her attention on the young woman at the table.

A gentle smile wound over her mouth and her eyes softened. While Faye was actually older than Oralie, being a human, Oralie was a Kelvic and had therefore done her growing to adulthood at a much quicker rate. She nodded and began to answer, “Well, it happens to all of us girls at some point. It’s very strange, you feel different right?” She paused as she ran the question back over in her mind again.

“Did, did you say overnight?” Oralie tilted her head, much like a cat or dog might do when something had their attention. “I guess it can happen quickly for some people… maybe it started a little while ago and you only just noticed properly. It’s nothing to be worried about, it’s a totally normal change but it will take you a bit to get used to how it all feels.” Oralie remembered it well – all alone in her masters house with nobody to explain anything about being a woman to her. There were still things that she knew she had little clue about, but she had figured out all the important parts. It must be hard for Faye with only her brother to talk to – or not – about it.

She scooped the bacon onto a plate as she spoke and replaced it with the egg mixture, which she stirred vigorously. Eggs done, they were then replaced with the bread slices to be toasted up. Faye asked another question, her voice halting with uncertainty. “Oh! Yes, hold on…” Oralie thought for a moment, struggling to recall if they actually had blankets. Syka was not particularly cold and she had never used on in the Inn before.

She had an idea and quickly disappeared around the corner. Her room was next door to the kitchen and she grabbed her white and yellow dress. As she turned back to the door she almost walked right into the shadow creature that had silently followed her. Oralie growled at it under her breath, stepped around it and went back into the kitchen. She didn’t need to turn to know it was behind her again.

“Here, this will be better than trying to eat while holding a blanket.” She was sure it would fit her as well as it needed to at the moment. If it was too long they could easily knot it to make it shorter. Oralie then gathered all the cooked breakfast foods onto a serving plate and placed it on the table. She gave Faye a plate with some toast slices and a knife, and also set some butter and the fruit on the table too. She was pleased to see the girl fall upon it hungrily and turned to make herself a new cup of tea.

A new voice sounded from the doorway, and Oralie turned to watch a young man – Cleon – step into the kitchen. He looked no better than he had when she had seen him earlier and Oralie’s brows lowered in concern. He had eyes only for his sister, speaking of healers and apologies. Her nose wrinkled as it filled with a metallic scent. Blood. Oralie ran her eyes over him, noticing a stain on his trouser.

She startled a little as he reacted quite suddenly to Oralie’s presence, but quickly pulled herself together as Faye bolted out of her seat, her voice loud with worry. Oralie stepped over too, though she left some space as she was not entirely sure if it was her that he was afraid of. She crouched too, bringing herself down to his level on the floor.

Golden eyes roamed over his hand as Faye inspected it, and Oralie swiftly stood to retrieve her small kit from her room. It did not have much in it, but it did have enough to hopefully sort the cut out until they could get him to the Panacea to have it healed properly. She returned quickly to the kitchen, ignoring the shadow figure completely.

She handed the kit to Faye. “Find the bandages in there.” She poured some water into a bowl and found a couple of clean cloths, returning to the boy with them both. “Cleon? I’m going to rinse your hand, please don’t struggle." She gently took his hand and held it over the bowl. The cut was deep on his thumb. “How did you do this? Is there something broken in your room?” She soaked the cloth and squeezed the water out and onto the wound, rinsing the blood from it. She did this a couple of times, the water in the bowl turning red. The wound looked clean with no debris in it, so she dabbed it as dry as she could with the other cloth and then held her hand out to Faye for a bandage.

Oralie was not sure how to tie a bandage but she managed as best as she could, making sure it was tight enough over the thumb to not slip off, but not so tight that it would totally cut off the circulation. “I think you should hold it high, and hold onto it with your other hand.” She was not sure why, but somewhere at the back of her mind she knew it might help.

“We should have Jansen and Kalum take a look at this for you, they can heal it right up in no time okay?” She glanced at Faye. “He said you needed healing too? Are you poorly Faye? We should get you both down there quickly I think.” She belatedly remembered Cleon had been after a drink, so she got him some clean water in a mug. “Here, and then we should go.”

+1213

[Cleon]

Shouting. Shouting. Who was shouting? Faye. But why?

“Faye are you hurt?” Cleon mumbled as his eyes focused in on the blood covering her hands. He sensed a distant rising worry that felt somehow apart of himself, as if he was examining it from another angle. Blood everywhere. His hand hurt something fierce. Faye was squeezing it. Where had he gotten that cut? Oh, right..

He tried to pull away from her. Tried to hide his face with his hands, and when that didn’t work, turned towards the corner of the wall he sat against. Hot tears streaked his face now as he tried, but not really to pull away from the concern wanting nothing more than to crawl into a bottle for the rest of the night. He didn’t need their judgment, hadn’t meant to cause any pain. This reality was too much for him.

Both of the women were speaking now though he could hardly hear them over the thump of his own heart. Faye let go of him, and someone else took her place, pulling his hand. He did not resist. Couldn’t have even if he wanted to. It was as if he was no longer in his body, but watching this happen to another poor soul that was just as weak as he was.

This man looked at the women with dull eyes, and hardly winced as the woman cleaned his wound before asking Faye for something she wrapped quickly around his thumb. He watched as this man’s hand was guided by Faye’s to clasp his wound, his figures manually curled around it as the woman said something about holding it tight. Watched as Faye spoke, each word a burden on his heart.

Then the woman left, and returned with a jug. Cleon felt himself return somewhat as he reached out desperately for the mug. It was cool in his palms and felt a little like salvation. He almost even managed a smile as he brought it to his lips and..

Cleon wrenched his face away and spat the contents out away from the women, then chucked the mug so that clattered on the common room floor with a loud thunk.

“Water.. WATER.. I ASKED FOR A DRINK!” Cleon shouted, and this time when he pulled away he was successful. On his feet once more, he balled his hands up into fists as his gaze flicked between the girls. Watched as their expressions abruptly changed to show how they really felt about him. How everyone who had ever known him felt about him. He felt the rage boiling up inside of him white hot as he belatedly realized he was still squeezing his thumb and it had started to soak through the bandage to drip onto the floor anew. Most of all, he noticed the look of honest fear on Faye’s face, and saw the eleven year old she had been only a few days ago.

His gaze faltered as his chest rose and fell, teeth bared like an animal with a mouth curled into a snarl. His inside had become his outside, and there was nothing he could do about it. The one person who ever looked at him as if he was worth a petch, and he’d gone and ruined it.

Cleon swallowed hard, looked at both of the girls, and left.

Footsteps as he walked back into the night. He whirled and brandished the razor that had been in his pocket to see Faye with her hands raised, eyes wide.

“DON’T follow me..” He said, trailing off with those last few syllables before he ran off into the night. It had started drizzling, which seemed kind of proper all things considered.

Cleon turned his mind away from the women and onto the jungle ahead. He would give the commons a once over looking for booze, and then he would go into that jungle drunk, ready to meet the end he always had coming. Faye would be better off for it, he was doing more harm than he was good and for all he knew, he was the cause for her present ailment.

He started running then, trying to get past all of these emotions that were welling up within him. Trying to outrun his past, but he never could run fast enough for that. Nor could he his vices for that matter.

Before he started tearing the commons apart for booze however he would have to make sure that he wasn’t being followed by the women or anyone they managed to enlist. Cleon considered a few ways of doing that and settled for climbing up into the vaulted commons room that was blessedly empty at the time. There he found a good shadow to perch in while he looked down from on high, trying to see if he could see any familiar figures running around in the dark.

Wc - 815

[Faye]

Whatever it was Oralie was cooking, it smelled absolutely delicious and made her stomach rumble pleasantly. She hadn’t realized just how starving she was until she smelled that food cooking, and part of her wondered if this too was apart of the growing phase. Maybe it was the case that it only just started like this because they had subsisted with so little for so long. If so, well it wouldn’t be so hard to get used to this new form, and she kind of liked not being the shortest one in the room anymore.

As to her host, Oralie was more than kind about answering her question even though she had struggled mightily to even get it out. Faye was more than a little relieved to hear that this was actually a normal phase of life, though she did start to wonder why her sister Farren hadn’t mentioned it to her. She supposed they’d always been so busy, but still. It kind of made her ache to want to have her sister back and she wondered idly where she was now.

Farren had promised her that she was headed to a good life, better than any they had ever experienced thanks to her gift, and Faye believed her, had wished to even go with her, but it was a ticket for one and that made her sad again till she remembered how improved her life had become since coming here. Maybe she’d ask Cleon later about how they might contact Farren so they could at least hear from her.

With that taken care of, she fell a little more comfortably into conversation with Oralie who seemed to have all the answers. Something in what she said stuck with her, and Faye quickly shook her head.

“No, I definitely was shorter before going to bed, and.. Um.. these weren’t quite so big.” Faye said, gesturing to her chest. She felt a little bad about disagreeing with the lady who was being so nice to her, but she wanted to clear up the misunderstanding more. It was a little bit of a peeve of hers when her words weren’t taken how she meant them, though she was totally willing to accept partial blame on that account.

As the conversation went on, Faye was relieved that Oralie had a solution because she felt so done with being naked with just this cloak covering her, and worrying about some man arriving and seeing her like this. It made her feel immensely vulnerable so her expression brightened considerably when Oralie brought out a beautiful dress.

A sudden shy smile came over her features then as she met Oralie’s honey colored eyes. “Really? For me? You’d let me borrow this? Oh my, I can’t thank you enough.” Faye said as she stood up, and a bright giggle left her lips as she hesitantly took the dress. Looking it over closely it really was beautiful, far better than anything she had ever worn in her life.

Faye looked up at Oralie again, and lunged forward to hug the woman tightly before running off down the hallway to the room she shared with her brother. There she laid the dress on the bed as she stripped off the cloak and carefully stepped into it. When she came back in the dress, she had a bright smile on her face that wouldn’t stop as she stood in front of Oralie for appraisal, even doing a little twirl before she found her seat again.

“Oh this really is so nice of you, thank you. If there is anything you need me to do for you, anything, just ask. I can sew pretty decent if you need so you don’t have to worry about me damaging the dress. I will be very, very careful.” Faye gushed, leaning against the table with one arm while she watched Oralie. She couldn’t get over how good this dress looked and felt against her skin. It was a bit loose around the mid-line, and she had to pull it up on occasion but these things were easily overlooked in the wave of pleasure she felt at having received such a gift, even if it was just to borrow for a short time.

Now as far as distractions went, this dress was a good one, but the plate of food Oralie put in front of her was one better, though Faye did retain the presence of mind to wrap her gray cloak back about her form. Though she hated to obscure this beautiful dress in any way, she would hate more if she got a stain on it moments after receiving said dress, so she was careful, but eager as she scooped eggs and bread into her mouth as fast as she could manage without getting it all over her.

About midway through she stopped chagrined realizing how she must look like she was raised by pigs or something, then- It all happened so fast. Her brand new dress had stains on it, and Cleon seemed insensible. She tried shaking him and when that didn’t work she did as Oralie asked and got a bandage out and watched fretfully as the woman took care of the wound.

She touched Cleon’s hand and brought it over to his wounded thumb, trying to get him to clutch it himself before getting frustrated and manipulating his fingers like he were a doll. What had happened on that trip to the commons? He’d been acting a little strange lately, but nothing like this. This. This was extremely unusual for him. He was always so calm. He was supposed to be her rock, and-

Faye recoiled at Cleon’s outburst shrinking away from him as she tremulously regarded the man that stood before her now. Looking down at them with an almost frightening intensity. He made so much noise that Faye was scared someone else was going to come and find him in this state, and then what would happen. Why? Why now when they were going to get a fresh start here? Something wasn’t right. Cleon was sick, but with what she didn’t know. A healer. A healer would know.

She watched as her brother’s face shifted into a morose expression before he stormed out of the Inn. At once Faye tried to follow him, but he turned on her quicker than she imagined he could. More than that, he was holding his razor, and Faye started crying as he turned to run away. Deep, shaking, earth shattering sobs that went down right to the center of her being as she sank to her knees and watched as he ran down and across the beach where he quickly grew smaller and smaller.

WC - 1,123

[Oralie]

Oralie studied Faye with curiosity, her head tilted to one side. The young girl was adamant that she had grown overnight. Golden eyes narrowed ever so slightly as she focused closer on her. “Faye, you’re not a Kelvic are you? A person who can turn into an animal?” That was the only explanation she could think of if what Faye was saying really was the truth. Oralie herself had grown very fast, but definitely not that fast. There were other animals out there though, ones she was sure likely grew even quicker – little mice and such.

She did not miss the shy excitement that came over Faye’s expression when Oralie handed her the dress. She was taken by surprise when the girl launched herself at Oralie, but she quickly smiled and returned the hug, chuckling to herself as Faye tore off down the hallway to change. Faye’s actions combined with the giggling and the way she spoke really did give the impression that she was much younger than she appeared to be. Closer to the eleven year old she had expected rather than a quite obvious teenager.

Faye returned and Oralie smiled at her again, nodding as the girl showed off the dress. “It was practically made for you!” She waved a hand. “Oh don’t worry, it can be washed quite easily.” She would have to try and find out what clothes Faye had with her. Presumably not many, or maybe she really had outgrown them all overnight. It was most curious. Either way, a trip to the new clothes shop might be in order – Oralie wanted to go herself anyway.

Faye needn’t have fretted about getting food on the dress, for it was soon soaking up a fair amount of her brother’s blood. Cleon was a surprisingly easy patient, his hand limp in hers as she carefully wrapped and tied the bandage. She didn’t miss the way he watched his sister, nor the way his eyes lit up at the mention of a drink.

He reached for the mug in her hands like he was a man dying of thirst, relief evident on his face. Oralie shook her head lightly – why would anyone come to tropical Syka and forget to drink?

She jumped, but only a little as he spat out the water and raged at her. In her past life she had gotten used to similar outbursts and had learned that flinching made them worse for her. Of course, this was different but the old habits still lingered. Next to her Faye had recoiled and she placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder as Cleon wrenched himself away from them.

The boy’s rage was different from any she had seen before, and Faye’s expression told her that it was likely unusual for him. She frowned. Perhaps he was sick. Maybe he had managed to pick up some tropical illness that was affecting his mind. Faye pulled away to run after him and she quickly followed. There were spots of blood on the floor – he had aggravated the wound on his thumb again.

Outside, she sprang to Faye’s side, clutching the girl to her as Cleon brandished what appeared to be a razor blade at her. She let Faye sink to the sand next to her, her golden eyes watching the retreating figure of the boy for a tick before she knelt to comfort the girl. If Faye let her, she would hold onto her tightly, rubbing circles on her back and letting the girl cry as much as she needed to.

She continued to watch the direction Cleon had headed in, worry gnawing at her. He needed his wound seeing to for a start, but more than that, he was not in a right mind and Syka could be dangerous even at the best of times. Once Faye had managed to calm herself down Oralie would peer down at her.

“Faye, has Cleon ever done anything like this before?” The Kelvic tried her best to think of a plan of action. She had never had to deal with anything like it before. “Lets see… he said that you were sick too? I think maybe we should head to the healers and have a word with them. We can let them know Cleon is hurt, so if they see him they can try to help.”

She had a feeling it would be very difficult to help Cleon – if someone did not want to be helped there was often little one could do otherwise. She chose not to voice her concern that he might wander into the jungle. Hopefully that would not be the case, for there was little she could do if he did. The best result would be that he would realise he needed to at least get his hand fixed. The cut was deep and bleeding profusely. It might not cause him to pass out, but she was sure it would eventually make him dizzy and tired.

If Faye agreed, Oralie would hold out her hand for her and gently guide her in the direction of The Commons. It was after all, where Cleon had gone to, and where the Panacea was, so she hoped that both of the kids could be helped. She wondered as they walked what Cleon had been after when he had asked for a drink. Surely not wine? She kept a tight hold on Faye’s hand as they went. The journey would be fairly short, for the Commons were not too far from the Inn. The Panacea was on the opposite side of the Commons, and that would be her first stop with Faye, unless they managed to find Cleon again along the way.


+952

[Cleon]

Oddly enough, Cleon did not experience much discomfort sitting up there so high up despite not having much experience with heights to begin with. He even dared to dangle his feet through the railing as he looked down on the commons below. At this point, he was pretty sure they were not trying to find him, or at least were looking in all of the wrong places for he did not see any figures approximating their description. He saw other shadows, people going about their night, but they were not Faye or that other woman. A factor that did little to improve his over all mood.

They were just people enjoying their night out, as he and Faye should be only things were different for them. They always had to be different for them. Why couldn’t they get the same as all the rest. One. Petching. Time. It was unfair, though then again, hadn’t life always been for them, for him especially. No, that was self serving and wasn’t how he wanted to think, couldn’t be how he thought if he was going to weather this night. For a storm was approaching, and he was not entirely sure that it was of his own devising.

If there was anything beneficial that had emerged from this unfortunate arrangement of events it was that it had given him plenty of time to think, and think he had. He thought with the cold clarity that only one coming off of an irrational rage could induce where he saw very clearly what he had done wrong laid out before him. Of course he realized too that the events leading up to that outburst were a byproduct of his overblown desires which were still very present in his consciousness. He hadn’t discovered the answer to that one yet, nor how to satiate most of his desires besides alcohol and maybe sex if he found someone willing to sell which didn’t seem too unlikely given the clothing he’d seen so far.

That still left quite a number of them unfulfilled, some of which were running him up a wall. Particularly his desire for drug induced euphoria, and another itch he couldn’t quite place. Even if he somehow managed to indulge them, it would likely have the same effect as the alcohol had which was to say a brief cessation of pain, and sense of unfulfilled expectations at not having something else to follow it. THAT was the best he could hope for which was rather depressing when he thought about it.

So he started walking, although he was not quite sure where he wanted to go, just that he wanted to get moving. It galvanized his mind that way, and got him thinking forward instead of backward. Now that he had cleared his mind somewhat, his hand was aching something terrible though he was reluctant to see the damage he had done to his thumb. In fact he didn’t want to think about it at all if it could be help because it was a keen source of shame for him presently for a variety of justifiable reasons. Part of him knew this was no way to think, that one needed to deal with some problems as they came and that it would only grow worse if he waited, however that part of him was easily ignored under the stress he was in.

He skirted across the edges of the commons, sticking to the shadows where he could as a conversation was the last thing he wanted presently. Cleon knew his moods keenly, and knew too he would only do more damage if he opened his mouth again. That didn’t leave too many options of where to go, though his feet happened to already be taking to the only place he could really go. Back to his room where he hoped he might be able to sneak by without Faye or the woman noticing.

Walking quietly among the shadows he could find wasn’t exactly a problem for him either. He had plenty of experience from his time as a petty thief in Sunberth, and had to sneak to even get into where they lived in the mines. It was something that came almost instinctively to him, almost comforting in its own way. In a shadow he was safe. Safe from everything but his own thoughts which leaked in every now and again as he made his way through the darkness.

Neither Faye or that woman had deserved what he had done in that Inn. He wouldn’t be surprised if he was formally uninvited later, but that was something to worry about later. As he crept back to the inn, more details came back to him, that strange dress she had worn and how much older she looked in it. Syka was changing them, he knew it. Him mentally, her physically and he didn’t know why or who could be behind this. He didn’t know who to trust either because it could have been anyone of them.

Worse than all of that was he didn’t know how they had done it. It couldn’t have been the food because he had started having those cravings even before they ate. The fact that he could place the exact time all of this got started for him just made it all the more confusing. It gave him a sharp pain in his breast, and aggravated his pounding headache.

Cleon realized just then that he was very, very tired and wanted to rest more than anything else. Some booze would be nice, but that felt like a lost cause at this point. He kept his head down as he neared the inn, being careful to be very quiet as he made his way up to the door, made a crack and peered through. After several moments when he didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary, he pushed his way through quietly, and then slowly inched forward so that he could see the whole of the common room.

It didn’t necessarily have to be empty, just needed to lack two particular people, and if he saw that it did, he would peer down the hallway that lead to his room before walking slowly down to it careful again not to make any excess noise. When he finally reached their door, he tried pulling it open a crack, then more until there was enough of a gap to put his head in. The room was thankfully empty, so Cleon quickly slipped inside, closing the door behind him.

Once inside he walked over to the side of the bed and slid out his backpack to use as a pillow while he got as comfortable as possible on the floor. It wasn’t a great hiding spot all things considered but he hoped it would keep Faye from the initial shock of opening the door to see him laying there since he was mostly obscured by the bed. Eventually, after laying there long enough, Cleon finally started to drift off, though his sleep would be far from peaceful.

WC - 1,182