Closed Lullabyes (Ori)

[Faye]

Kelvic? Faye cocked her head at the name, peering at Oralie curiously as she offered a cautious smile. She wondered distantly if she was having some joke played on her, but pushed the thought quickly from her mind.

“What’s a Kelvic?” She asked, her tone a mixture of amusement and curiosity. There was just so much about this world that she didn’t know, and Oralie somehow made her feel comfortable enough to be free with her questions. Faye was starting to like the woman a great deal, even before she gave her the dress which sealed it in her mind that they were going to be the best of friends. At least, she hoped so.

She didn’t let the doubt get to her though, nor did she readily dispense with the coat despite what Oralie had said. She knew how to take good care of precious things as she had a lot of experience making things last as long as possible. She could have stayed in that moment forever, chatting pleasantly with Oralie and maybe would have even broached the subject of going out together when there was daylight to be had. It never got there though.

There was something wrong. There was something terribly wrong with Cleon, more than just his hand. It had to do with his mind, a change that had overcome him since coming here that she didn’t quite understand as much as she didn’t understand the changes her body was experiencing. Perhaps it was natural and Cleon had this mental break a long time coming, but this felt different from all of the other times which were almost mild in comparison. She didn’t like this one bit. Watching him disappear down the beach broke her heart, and she feared for him in more ways than one.

Faye practically sank into Oralie’s arms as she held her as the tears came on, and on. She’d almost manage to compose herself once when she saw the blood all over her new dress which got her bawling all over again. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” She mumbled against Oralie as tried and failed to compose herself. It was as if all the anxiety and fear that had built across their long trip was suddenly pouring out of her then and she couldn’t do a thing to stop it.

Fortunately, Oralie was there for her, holding her and giving the support that she desperately needed in that moment as the one sure thing she had in this world ran away from her. It was almost too much to handle.

Eventually the tears dried up into sniffles as she clutched at the woman’s arm. Faye looked up to see that she had gotten Oralie’s clothes all wet and almost started to cry again when she asked a question that took her mind off of that briefly.

“Never, he doesn’t lose his temper like that. There must be something wrong with him, maybe he’s sick and needs some medicine like they gave me. Something about dust in my lungs they said, a nice woman gave me some syrup to drink and it has been really helping to keep me from coughing so much. Though I’ve never acted like he has now so maybe he has a different sort of illness.” Faye suggested, blurting out everything as she didn’t have a clue what would be important in all of that information. She was glad to hear thought that Oralie still wanted to help him, which made her feel she liked the woman considerably more if such a thing was possible.

“I’m.. Sorry if he scared you. He’s not normally like this I promise. He is usually rather restrained, if not kind in his own way. I just don’t know. Do you think he might have gone to find something to drink? He quit drinking before we went to live on our own, but if he’s started up again, that’s were he would go I think. Its.. He’s.. Well there is a lot he’d like to forget. I’ve heard him and my sister talking about it one time when they thought I was asleep so maybe its those memories coming back that’s causing him to be so irritable. Do memories do that? Bad memories I mean, come back? Do they ever leave or are they just stuck with you forever.” Faye said, and suddenly she realized she had been babbling as Oralie guided them along, and she had the presence of mine to give Oralie a nervous grin.


“I’m sorry. My sister Farren says my mouth runs faster than my thoughts when I get going. You don’t have to answer any of that if you don’t want to, I was just thinking aloud really.” Faye suggested, hoping she hadn’t offended her new friend in any way. She would go along with the woman wherever she lead, though she hoped they would check along some of her suggestions if there was such a place in Syka because Faye did not really know the place well even after having been given a tour. She supposed she hadn’t been paying it as much attention as she should have thought she couldn’t really blame herself on that account as there had been so many wonderful distractions from the good food to the talking birds. She smiled fondly on that memory now before the anxiety and worry set in again. They needed to find Cleon, and soon before he did something drastic.

WC - 915

[Oralie]

“I’m a Kelvic.” Oralie smiled. “We are people who can turn into animals. Or animals who can turn into people, I’m actually not entirely sure which is the right way round. Look at me properly.” She widened her eyes a little, letting the light in the kitchen shrink her pupils to black slits swimming in the golden irises. She grinned too, showing off pointed canines. “I can become a cat whenever I want to.” The girl did not need to know that Oralie had not actually taken her other form more than a handful of times. The lesson that her kind merely existed was enough for now.

Oralie wondered what was happening in Cleon’s mind as Faye cried her heart out in her arms. She held the girl tightly, resting her chin on the top of her blonde head as she looked in the direction of the commons. The boy needed help, but Oralie had no idea if she was the right one to give it – she had barely had to deal with minor physical ailments before. Could the Settlement healers help cure ailments of the mind?

“It’s okay, it’s not your fault.” She softly consoled Faye over and over as the girl sobbed apologies into her shoulder. Eventually her shoulders stopped shaking quite so violently and Oralie looked down into Faye’s tear stained face. She nodded to show that she was understanding what the girl was telling her.

Cleon did not have a temper. Or at least not an explosive one. Faye seemed to think that he might be sick, agreeing with Oralie’s unsaid suspicions. Her brows knit together worriedly as Faye then went on to explain why she was sick. Dust… healing syrup… That made up Oralie’s mind and she decided that the Panacea would definitely be their first stop. She didn’t imagine that Cleon would have gone there, but they could get Faye her medicine and let the healers know of the boy’s state so that they could keep an eye out for him.

Oralie held on tight to Faye’s hand as they made their way along the Cobbled Pathway to the Core. She gave a mental ‘ah’ and a nod as the girl told her that her brother used to drink. That could well explain his behaviour. The Kelvic did not know the word addiction, nor alcoholic, but she did know that there were people who did not do so well without a drink.

Her expression shuttered for a moment as Faye asked about bad memories. It did not stay that way for long though, for the shy smile Faye gave her soothed her heart again. Cleon’s behaviour was starting to make more sense now. Oralie gently shook her head. “Bad memories hang around, I’m afraid. Sometimes they get pushed to the back because you fill up with new memories that are good, but they will always be there. There are some lucky people though, who forget that they have bad memories at all because there are so many good ones that come after.” Oralie hoped that one day she would be one of those people.

She let herself chuckle at Faye’s words. “Ask as many questions as you like Faye.” The girl really did have the demeanour of a young child. The knowledge of that fact continued to gnaw away at Oralie like a pest, but she had more important things to worry about for the time being.

Soon enough the pair reached the Commons, and Oralie headed over to the far side where the Panacea was located. Inside, Kami noticed the pair first and came over to see Faye. Oralie let the girl speak with the healer to hopefully get her medicine while she located Jansen. She quietly let them know about Cleon, repeating Faye’s words to them about the drink, and informing them that he had a deep wound on his hand that would probably need tending to if they saw him.

As she exited the Panacea with Faye she saw the shadow figure lurking at the bottom of the step. For some reason Oralie had thought it might stay at the Inn, but clearly not. She chose to ignore it again, stepping past it as though she did not see it at all, though the back of her neck prickled where she knew the silver eyes watched her.

The next place Oralie went was the Tidepool Bar. If Cleon really was after a drink it would be the logical place to look for one. Upon entry she scanned the room looking for him, her golden gaze roaming over the few scattered faces. She couldn’t see him, and went over to check with Stu to see if the boy had been inside. The man shook his head. “Nope! Kid’s not been by here, sorry.”

Outside again, she sighed and glanced at Faye. “I’m sorry Faye, he’s really making it difficult to find him.” She looked over at the treeline nearby, hoping with all her heart that he hadn’t gone into the jungle. The shadow figure drifted into her peripheral vision again and she sharply looked away, her eyes instead falling on a familiar person over in the Commons proper. She quickly headed over, motioning for Faye to follow.

“Randal!” The Founder stopped and waited for them to catch up to him. “Randal have you seen a boy, Cleon? He’s hurt himself and is not in a good mind… he looks um… Faye can you describe him to Randal for me?” Randal listened patiently. “I haven’t seen him I’m afraid but I will keep a look out okay. I’ll let any Rangers who are heading out know too, just in case.” Oralie nodded, though she hoped again that Cleon had not gone into the trees.

Oralie was at a loss for where to look next. She didn’t suppose he would have gone anywhere with people – though of course she may be wrong. “Maybe we should go back to the Inn now? In case he decides to return on his own.” If Faye agreed, she would lead them back.
After they had passed by Mathias’s home, she thought she could see someone moving inside the Inn. She narrowed her eyes, trying to see clearer for it was still a little way off. Oralie could see in the dark thanks to a combination of her Gnosis and Kelvic race. She couldn’t be sure, but it looked to her like it might be Cleon, though she knew there were other residents who may be about at this time.

As she entered the Inn, Oralie paused and listened carefully, focusing to hear past the sounds of Faye. The Inn was very quiet, nobody was moving around anymore. She found the communal area empty, but voiced her suspicion to Faye. “I think he might be in your room Faye.” Depending on what Faye wanted to do, Oralie would either wait in the kitchen or go with her, but would not enter their space without Cleon knowing she was around.

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[Faye]

Faye nervously giggled when Oralie showed how she could contract her eyes, and then revealed narrow, pointed canines. Now that Oralie had explained it, she could see a similarity of features and immediately thought that was the coolest thing ever. There were so many fantastic animals in Syka that she had met already, and now she had met one that could talk even better than the birds. She wondered if there was a totem in Syka that allowed Kelvics to talk, though after looking at Oralie’s earnest face she decided to wait to ask that another time as she wasn’t sure how the woman would take the question. The last thing she wanted to do was offend her new friend with prying questions.

She needn’t have worried for the conversation went mostly forgotten in the chaos that followed, and Faye’s mind didn’t truly settle down until they started looking for her brother. A little perturbed by the dark, she kept close to Oralie’s side, lacing her free arm through the woman’s if she would allow while leaning her head gently against her shoulder. It felt a little oddly comforting doing it to someone who was essentially a stranger, but Faye needed desperately to trust someone now.

For now, Oralie was that person. She had been nothing but kind, not giving Faye any reason to doubt her as she lead on through the dark. The more they talked together, the less scary the darkness seemed as they closed in on their destination. It wasn’t her first time at the Panacea so she recognized it easily enough, though her heart sank a bit when they did not immediately see Cleon. She supposed it was foolish to expect him to have been waiting her for them after what had happened, but she hoped that he hadn’t gone far, wherever he had gone off to.

Kami was as Faye remembered, ‘cept sleepier which made sense. The woman had kind green eyes that Faye saw regarded Oralie with familiarity, while the woman’s look turned strange as she turned to Faye. It looked to her as if Kami was trying to remember something, and so Faye decided to speak up first.

“Its me, Faye. You gave me some syrup for my cough. I came in with my brother Cleon.” Faye explained, though it didn’t do much to resolve the confusion on Kami’s face as she continued to study her.

“How? It hasn’t even been a full two days..” Kami asked as she gestured Faye forward. “Please, come a little more in the light.” Faye did as she was told, and Kami’s confusion only seemed to grow on her features.

“I was actually coming to ask if this was a side effect of the medicine, or normal you know” Faye said nervously. Kami shook her head and gestured Jensen over. “This is the girl I treated to other day. How old are you again sweetie?” Kami asked.

“Eleven.” Faye said, and she started fidgeting with her cloak so that it came open. Kami’s expression turned fearful when she saw the blood and she reached out to touch Faye much like she had the other day. “Oh its not mine, its my brother’s blood, right Oralie?” She wasn’t exactly sure why she had pulled the woman into it, but all of the attention focused on her didn’t feel so good so she just didn’t want to be answering all of this alone.

Kami relaxed somewhat when she learned the blood wasn’t hers, but still she seemed clearly unsettled. “Have you ever experienced anything like this before? Before coming here I mean.”

Faye shook her head briskly.

Kami chewed her lower lip and gave Jensen an indecipherable look, raising her eyebrow slightly. This time it was Jensen who spoke.

“And you haven’t eaten anything out of the ordinary, meaning anything you found in the wild or something like that?” Jensen asked.

Again Faye shook her head. “No, I’ve only eaten what I’ve seen other people eating, and they’re fine. Well.. My brother has been acting a little crazy but..”

“Crazy how?” Kami asked.

“Well, he’s been restless since coming here, and not long ago he came into the inn acting strangely asking for a drink, but when Oralie tried to give him water he flipped out. I.. Um. We.. Think he’s after some alcohol.” Faye explained, feeling the flush of embarrassment from relating those words.

Kami’s brows knit together as she thought about that. “That isn’t exactly strange considering the shape you both were in when you arrived. Did he have a drinking problem before this?”

“Um.. He used to when I was little, I think three to five years ago, but I haven’t seen him touch the stuff since we started living on our own. He’s usually very reserved, and likes to keep to himself in a room. I’ve never seen him just wander away like this.” Faye explained.

“And this didn’t start happening till he came here?” Kami asked. Faye nodded. Kami and Jensen seemed to mull over this for a long while before looking over both of them.

“I’d like you to come back tomorrow so I can see if you’ve changed anymore between now and then. Its nothing to worry about I’m sure, just make sure come so we can try to get to the bottom of this. Oralie would you mind taking her if her brother is unable?” Once she had gotten a response, Kami would continue. “Speaking of Cleon, I’d like you to get him over here as soon as possible as well, doesn’t matter the time. I’d like to help your brother and find out what’s wrong so things can go back to normal for the both of you, and if there are any changes with your condition, come by as soon as possible.” Kami said, giving her a reassuring squeeze on the arm before seeing them both off into the night.

From there they started searching nearby locations for Cleon, although Faye remained much quieter than she had on the walk over to the Panacea as she nervously thought about what could be wrong with her and her brother. She hoped it wasn’t too serious and that there was an easy fix, dreading even thinking about the alternative. When they ran into another familiar face, Randal’s, Faye stayed quietly by Oralie’s side, practically clinging to the woman as the man revealed he had not seen Cleon, and didn’t seem to recognize her either which was just as well because she didn’t feel like talking to anyone but Oralie in that moment.

So when they were alone and Oralie posed her question, Faye gave an almost sleepy nod of her head.

“Yes, lets do that.” She said, for as much as she wanted to find her brother, she was getting tired and Syka was so big. There wasn’t much to do but hope that he would come back to him, to know that he would come back to him because she couldn’t see her brother doing any differently otherwise he wouldn’t be her brother anymore. It hurt to think like that, though there was a certain comfort to it because she thought she knew her brother rather well.

Together they made their way back to the Inn where Faye felt a certain tension from Oralie as they neared the place. Her heart started to beat a little faster as she remained hopeful that Oralie had seen something significant about her brother. Cautiously they entered though when they found the common room empty, Oralie seemed to relax and so too did Faye then. She nodded at the woman’s assessment.

“Can you walk with me to the door? I can go inside and check to see if he’s there.” Faye asked and when Oralie accepted she would go on down to the far end of the hall till they reached the door on her left. Opening the door as quietly as possible, she slipped through when the crack was wide enough and at first thought the room was empty because she couldn’t see any shapes in the dimness, but then she heard him, somewhere behind the bed, snoring away.

Carefully Faye crept forward till she was around the bed and saw her brother laying across the floor, using his backpack as a pillow. She couldn’t make out his hand it the dim light, though she could tell it was him clearly there sleeping. Hesitantly, she started back to the door, and once she was through, she closed it quietly behind her.

“I think he’s asleep. I.. Um.. Is it alright if we don’t wake him just yet.. Maybe he could just sleep this off? I didn’t see any blood so he could have gotten that taken care of somehow don’t you think? I uh, just don’t want to wake him.” Faye fretted as she looked at Oralie expectantly. Whatever the woman decided she would go with, though if that lead to waking up her brother, she would do so hesitantly. On the other hand, she wasn’t quite sure if she wanted to sleep in that room just now, even as tired as she was so if Oralie proposed that they let her brother sleep she’d check with the woman if she could stay the night with her because as bad as it sounded she felt much safer spending the night with the woman than she did her brother at that moment.

WC - 1,577

[Oralie]

Oralie let Faye cling to her like a barnacle, and despite the somewhat tense situation they were in she found herself smiling. The Kelvic had never had a family, and had therefore never had to look after anyone in such a way before. She found that she liked it – looking after someone else. She noticed that the physical contact and the conversation seemed to keep the girl calm, so she encouraged Faye’s chatter with nods and noises of interest as they walked.

She didn’t notice Kami’s initial reaction to Faye when they did reach the Panacea as she was too busy letting Jansen know about Cleon. She turned sharply to look at the pair when Kami called the older healer over and Oralie stepped to Faye’s side in time to hear her confirm her age.

Her brow furrowed. She knew that she hadn’t just pulled the number out of thin air earlier. Faye definitely had the demeanour of an eleven year old, but judging by Kami’s expression Oralie had been correct in thinking that she appeared a few years older. The Kelvic had a somewhat skewed understanding of natural aging given that fact that she was a three year old who appeared to be about twenty-three.

She reached for Faye as the girl fidgeted nervously, placing a hand on the back of her shoulder to let her know Oralie was there for her. She nodded at the question, flicking her gaze to Jansen. “Cleon’s, yes, from the injury I told you about.” The healer nodded in response, mollified. She didn’t miss the look that passed between the healers, and supplied what she hoped would be useful information in figuring out what was going on. “She isn’t Kelvic either.” Kami nodded once, trusting Oralie’s words.

Oralie watched the healers as they tried to piece together the information they had been given. She thought it could be some sort of jungle bug that Cleon had picked up that was muddling his mind, but that would not explain Faye at all. Neither Jansen nor Kami seemed to be able to come up with an answer. “Yes, I can bring her back tomorrow.”

After they had been into the Tidepool and spoken to Randal, Oralie noticed that Faye seemed to have withdrawn into herself, practically hiding behind her from the Founder. She looked down at her, noticing the tiredness and worry on her face. Oralie placed her hands gently on Faye’s shoulders. “It will be okay Faye. We’ll find Cleon and I’m sure Jansen and Kami can figure out how to help the both of you, okay?”

Back in the Inn, Oralie noticed that nobody had been into the kitchen at all while they had been gone. Or if they had, they hadn’t touched anything. She picked up the bowl of bloody water from the floor and emptied it before discarding the stained cloths. She would have to try and scrub the spots of blood off the floorboards later.

When Faye asked Oralie to go down the hall with her, she nodded. “Of course.” She gave the girl an encouraging smile when they reached the door of the room the siblings shared, but kept her distance as Faye started to open it carefully. She didn’t want to startle Cleon, or make him angry again if he was awake in there.

As Faye disappeared inside the room, Oralie tilted her head a little to try and hear better. While her ears weren’t as sensitive as they were when she was a cat, her hearing was still better than the average humans. She thought she could make out the sound of someone snoring lightly.

Faye crept back out of the room and confirmed that he was in there and asleep. She nodded at the girl as she explained what she had seen, noting that she also hadn’t been able to smell any fresh blood since they had returned. That was hopefully a good sign. “That’s good. The cut might not have been as deep as we thought and the bandage did its job.”

“We can let him sleep in peace.” Faye herself looked as though she might fall asleep where she stood, and when the inevitable question came, Oralie smiled gently. “Of course you can stay with me if that’s what you want.” She led Faye up the hallway and to her room, just next to the kitchen. She opened the door to let her in first, and then Oralie stepped through and shut it quietly behind them. Just as she turned, the shadow being drifted through the door to hover right in front of her face. She had been so worried about Faye and Cleon that she had almost forgotten about it.

Oralie stared at the being for a tick before turning and encouraging Faye to climb right on into the bed. She went to the chair that sat next to the dresser and sank into it. The Kelvic had never shared a bed with anyone before, but if Faye asked her to, she would. Wherever she was, Oralie didn’t suppose she would sleep, not with the shadow being lurking. While it had not been violent towards her, she had no idea if it would do anything to other people. Just because they couldn’t see it didn’t mean that it wouldn’t. She stifled a yawn. It was going to be a long night.

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