Flashback [Flashback] Memories of a Mentor

[Aislyn Leavold]

3rd of Fall, 504 AV

Finally, freedom.
Aislyn had been locked up in the house forever. Or, at least, what seemed like forever. Her mother hadn’t let her leave for ages. Absolute ages. She hadn’t even explained why; it had just been a constant barrage of ’Don’t you dare open that door, child.’ or ’Stay in my sight, no matter what. We’re not going out again.’

Aislyn rolled her eyes at the memory of her mother’s nagging voice. Perhaps this would teach the woman you couldn’t lock up a caged bird forever. The girl wanted to explore; to find her way in the world. Yet her mother was so persistent. So protective. What was her problem? Being on Alvadas’s streets for a few bells wouldn’t kill her- and besides, she’d left her mother a note at home. ’Gone out to explore. Don’t wait up. -Lyn.’

So, freedom. This was what freedom was like. Aislyn took a look around the street which she found herself on. There wasn’t anyone around, nor did any particularly interesting shops appear to have situated themselves on the block. There wasn’t even a stray animal wandering about for Aislyn to attempt to befriend. Not that that plan had ever worked out well. The girl had the bite marks to prove it.

Taking a large breath of fresh air, Aislyn quickly came to a conclusion.
Freedom was boring.

At least, it was alone. If she could just find someone, anyone, to entertain her, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Besides, she’d taken the house key before leaving. Thus the girl would be able to find her way home, and her mother wouldn’t risk coming to look for her. The woman had never been very good at navigating the streets, despite her many years there. Aislyn, however, had gotten the knack of it at quite a young age. A turn here, a turn there. If you trusted the streets, Ionu could get you anywhere. Or maybe the deity just favoured her. Either way, Aislyn hadn’t gotten herself lost yet.
Well, not that lost. She’d always made it back before dark. Most of the time. Usually.

Nonetheless, Aislyn wandered the streets, taking in every detail of the scene. The hour was early, but even so, just a few people wandered the streets. A few clumped together in path-blocking groups, but Lyn was careful to avoid them. There was no reason to bother those sorts; If they walked in a group, they were going somewhere, and if they were going somewhere, they had something to do. And as the girl knew well, if someone had something to do, they had no time for little girls. Aislyn, especially. She’d learned quickly that she had a certain way of annoying strangers. Warding them off, in a sort of way. Even if she tried, no one seemed to stick around for long. Maybe it was Alvadas, or Ionu, or something, but Aislyn had never managed to make a friend. Not that she needed one.

Who needed friends when you had entertainment?

Aislyn looked around as she marched on. Unfortunately, she didn’t have entertainment. Not even a spare illusion of Ionu’s floating around. She supposed a friend would have to do, then…

”It’s a bet, then? Ye’ll regret this by the end of the night, I promise ya!”
Or, perhaps not.

The voice came from around the corner of the street, down a large back alley. Shuffling her way to the corner, Aislyn peaked her head around to get a better perspective. Immediately, she yanked her head back. A few feet away from her, a crossbow bolt embedded itself into a wall. Precisely where her face had been, moments before. Stunned into silence, Aislyn absently moved her hand over her mouth. She had been an inch away from death, and not even known it.
Unfortunately, the girl had no sense of danger, and thus, curiosity won over her mind.
Why had they shot? Had the men noticed her? Were they mad at her? Had she happened upon something important? Something secret? The questions ran over her mind like water ran over rocks. Fluid, one after enough. The only thing that brought her back to attention was the twang of another bowstring, and the thunk of another hit.

”Ha! Beat that, Snake-face!”
Another voice, another man. The second man, presumably. He sounded quite a bit more sober than the first one, though not an ounce less boisterous. A competition, it sounded like. And from the second man’s cheers, they hadn’t seen Aislyn at all. The girl let out a sigh of relief, before realizing what that meant. She’d nearly died, and the person who nearly killed her hadn’t even noticed.
Fantastic.

[Aislyn Leavold]

At least she’d found her entertainment for the night. After all, what was more entertaining than watching two men a good thirty years older than her duke it out, bow to bow?
Nothing. That was what.

So, silently, Aislyn lowered herself down to a sitting position, just barely out of view of the two men around the corner. She could hear what was going on quite well, along with being able to see the target that it seemed the two had allotted, which lay a few meters away. A singularly discoloured brick, with two arrows stuck near the center of it. One, of course, closer than the other. The second man’s arrow, it appeared, from the gloating.

”That’s five gold ye owe me,” Aislyn could just make out the grumbling of the other man, along with the sound of coin passing hands. ”That’ll teach ya to bet against a man of many trades.” More grumbling. The second man let out another laugh. Aislyn took that moment to peek around the corner. It seemed the first man had clambered off, back into the doorway of which Aislyn could only assume the pair had come out of. A back exit to a pub, maybe? A gambling place? Her attention wavered between the remaining man and the possible adventure within the mysterious back door. A choice that was suddenly made for here when the second man began speaking again.

”I can see you over there. Come on out.”

He hadn’t even looked up from his small pile of coins. How had he seen her? She’d been so quiet, hidden where he couldn’t see her…

”I said,” there was a slight pause, then the definite sound of an arrow being notched into the crossbow’s hold. [b]”Come on out.”

It took Aislyn several seconds to realize to connect the dots between the man’s words and the sound of the notched arrow. It was only when she peered around the corner once again did her mind process the fact that the sounds she’d heard were that of the man aiming his weapon at her. The arrow lying menacingly in the barrel of the bow, it’s point directed right at Aislyn’s face. With a squeak, the girl retreated back behind the wall. He was threatening her!
...Or was he?
She heard a sharp inhale of breath from around the corner of the alleyway. He’d known she was there. Why was he surprised when she showed herself? The answer came with the sound of the man’s voice, once again, though this time, the gruff tone had smoothed over. Like he no longer saw her as a threat.
Then again, why had he seen her as a threat in the first place?

”Hey, I didn’t see you were… That you just…” Aislyn remained behind the safety of the corner. She wasn’t taking any more chances. ”I didn’t see you were just a lass. I didn’t mean the whole crossbow thing, I promise.”

[Aislyn Leavold]

Aislyn didn’t trust the man as far as she could throw him.
And, with her small stature, how far she could throw him was not a very measurable amount.
Surely he couldn’t go from threatening her with a crossbow to attempting to make friends with her so quickly? How badly of a misunderstanding could they have undergone? He had made his intentions quite clear a few ticks before...

”Here, I’ll prove it to ya.”

Prove it? Prove what? He’d been clear before, there was no need to elaborate…
Yet he did anyway. Soon enough, a scratching sound made it’s way around the corner, like wood scraping stone. A flash of movement in the side of her vision caught Aislyn’s attention. The crossbow, still loaded, had landed beside her. The man must have slid it towards her. That must have been what he meant when he spoke of proving his misunderstanding to her.

Cautiously, Aislyn crawled out from behind the corner, making sure to keep her eyes on the strange man, so she wasn’t caught unaware if he pulled out another weapon. Reaching for the crossbow, her small hands grasped the weapon, and with a quick tug, she pulled it back behind the corner with her.

”Oh, come on now, that ain’t fair. I paid good gold for that…”

It was quite an interesting weapon, the crossbow. Aislyn ran her fingertips across the curved wood, feeling into every niche of the wooden piece. It looked expensive, and felt like quite a sturdy weapon, if Aislyn ever saw one. Not that the girl had seen many. Nonetheless, she quite liked the wooden piece, and, after several ticks of toying with it in her hands, held it up, as if she were to fire. Disappointingly, the bow was empty. The man probably hadn’t trusted her not to shoot herself with it. Aislyn sighed. Without ammunition, she was going to have to give it back. A weapon that couldn’t fire was of no use to her.

So, warily, she stood up, holding the crossbow in front of her. It might not have been loaded, but she assumed she could still look menacing with it.
Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to be her effect.

The man gave out a soft chuckle, tilting his head as to inspect her hold on the weapon. ”You’re not holding it right, you know. You shouldn’t have both hands smashed where the trigger is- Your hold’ll be unbalanced.” He took a step forwards, as if intending to take the weapon away from her. ”Here, let me show you…”

Instinctively, Aislyn shied away from his movements, moving backwards until she was practically behind the corner again. The man gave an audible sigh.
”Fine, have it your way, lass. Just… Hold it like this, okay?” The man made a gesture with his hands, as if holding an invisible version of the weapon Aislyn carried. In his demonstration, his left arm reached out in front, steadying the weapon, instead of scrunched back where Lyn had put her fingers. Immediately, she adjusted.

”There, now you’re getting it. Now, could you give it back to me? I’d like to get going soon enough, and…” For the first time since she’d seen the man, Aislyn found her voice. She didn’t want him to leave, not after what he’d shown her, and then seemed as good a time as ever to tell him that.
”No!” Her voice came out a heck of a lot louder than she’d intended. Instantly, she lowered it. ”No. I want you to teach me. Show me how to fire.” The girl took a bold step forward, finally coming into the lighter part of the alley, where a patch of sunlight filed through the buildings above.

As soon as she did, Aislyn heard the man gasp. Had she done something wrong? She looked around, searching for fault. No, other than her words and her movement, she’d done nothing to surprise him. Yet still, his gaze remained locked on her, mouth agape. Surely she’d done something wrong…

Softly, in almost a whisper, Aislyn caught what had to have been a name, escaping as a breath from the man’s mouth. Riley, he had said. Riley? Aislyn had never met a Riley before. Had he mistaken her for someone else? Who was Riley? What about her question? Was the man actually going to teach her or not? Questions boiled inside the girl’s mind, but as she met the man’s eyes, she knew that it was not the time to ask. The stranger had taken on a forlorn, almost heartbroken look, and his eyes had taken a glassy sheen to them. His gaze was still locked on her, but something told her that he wasn’t really seeing her confused expression. No, the man appeared to be lost in thought. In memories.
After several ticks like this, bordering on a chime, a single phrase escaped the man’s mouth.

”I’ll do it.”

[Aislyn Leavold]

The young girl’s face lit up like a struck match. He’d agreed to teach her. She’d be able to learn! She could just see herself, wielding a crossbow of her own, shooting cans off fences and warding off attackers with nothing but the pure skill of her shooting…

”But.”

Aislyn let her face droop. With adults, there was always a but. Nothing ever came for free, did it?

”You have to do exactly as I say, alright, lass? Exactly as I say. Exactly.
Like a good student, Aislyn repeated the words.
”Exactly as you say. Exactly.”

”Good. Now, lass, let’s begin with a simple instruction…” Lyn stood at attention, ready to pick up arms, load the bow, possibly even shoot. Unfortunately, the order she’d expected was not fulfilled. Disappointingly, it didn’t even have anything to do with the crossbow she’d been so eager to learn how to shoot. ”Tell me your name.”

A look of dispirit crossed her face, but Lyn quickly wiped it away, not wanting to let her new mentor down. ”Lyn. Lyn Leavold. Or Aislyn. Whichever you prefer.” She gave the man a toothy grin, hoping to befriend him quickly. The faster he liked her, the faster he’d teach her, right?

”Lyn, eh? Well, little lady, how about I just call you L? You have enough of those in your name to warrant it as a sobriquet, dontcha?”
L? No one had ever addressed her by L before. A single letter didn’t seem to be enough for a name. The girl opened her mouth to protest, but was quickly quieted by the look she got from the man. Exactly as he said.

”Now, L, tell me, what do ya know about crossbows?”

Finally, a question she could really answer. She knew plenty about crossbows. They were different from normal bows, she knew that. And she knew that they fired with a trigger instead of a release...
That wasn’t a lot of things. What did she know about crossbows?

”I… I know that they’re easier to fire than normal bows… Right?” Aislyn gave an uneasy smile towards her teacher. She hadn’t realized how little she knew about crossbows when she’d bounded in, asking for the man to teach her.

”Wrong.” The man spoke definitely, with space between his words, speaking like a captain who was teaching his soldiers. ”It all depends on your preference. If you want speed, a crossbow is not your choice. Accuracy and power, however, can go in favor of the cross. On top of that, a bowman can always have an arrow notched in their crossbow, ready to fire.” The man winked at her. ”So if you’re ever caught off guard, you’ve always got at least one shot before they get’cha.” He jumped at her, then laughed when she flinched. Shaking his head, he continued. ”Another good thing about crossbows is the fact that anyone- anyone- can use them. You don’t need some fancy handhold or special training to pick one up and fire, you can just pick it up, and pick off an enemy at 200 yards.”

The man held up his hands, as if aiming an invisible bow. He smiled at her when he noticed the girl mimicking his actions with the real thing.
”You see? Easy. Now, if you’d just give it back to me…” The man reached for the weapon, which, of course, Aislyn immediately withdrew. Instead, she answered him with a question, as if he’d never made the advance.
”What’s your name? I told you mine, but you never told me yours.”

[Aislyn Leavold]

It took the man several seconds to reply. Had he forgotten his own name or something?
”Karron. Taji Karron. But you can refer to me as just Taji.”
Taji. That was a nice name. A unique, interesting name. One fit for a unique, interesting man. The man definitely fit the bill.

”That’s interesting. Taji. Tag-jee. Taah-gi” The girl tried out the name on her tongue, letting it float, suspended in between the two in empty space.
”No, no, there’s no hard ‘g’ in it. It’s a ‘j’. Tah-jee”
Aislyn tried again, pronouncing it as slowly as her patience would allow. Taaaah-gee. She heard the man sigh. ”...Close enough.”

Taji continued showing Aislyn various maneuvers with her newfound weapon. How to hold it properly, how to keep from accidentally pulling the trigger, how to make sure she didn’t shoot herself while the bow was holstered. Not that she had a holster- but it was good practice, anyways.
As she went, she would constantly hear the chirping of her newfound teacher over her shoulder. ’Don’t hold it so stiffly. Elbow more out. Less out! Yes, right there, in the center… No, you’ve moved it now. Back to the start! Try again. With more power this time. From resting position to firing position in a tick, alright, L? C’mon, lass, you can go faster than that!

Aislyn wasn’t entirely sure she approved of this chattering, but there was no way she could deny it’s helpfulness. Distracting, useful, or a little bit of both, she was definitely getting better. At holding the weapon, at least. She hadn’t even gotten to loading it yet.
But she would, Taji assured her. Patience, lass. You’ll never get there if you spend all your time asking me to bring you. If you’d just try a little bit harder…
Half a bell passed. Surely, her mother must have been worried, but at the moment, Aislyn hadn’t spared her a thought. She had to do better. Achieve just a little bit more. Taji said she could do it. She could do it!

She’d been with the man for under a bell, yet already she felt like she had something to prove to him. Or perhaps she just felt like she had to prove something to the world. Either way, she was getting there with a crossbow.

”Alright lass, take a break for a moment. You’ve worked hard, I’ll give you that. Nice work.” With that, he turned away, hands filing over something in a knapsack Aislyn hadn’t even noticed he’d gotten out. For an old man, he had extremely nimble fingers. If not for the weapon he'd brought with him, Aislyn would have guessed he was a musician. A violinist, or perhaps a piano.

"I can feel your eyes like a laser, L. Is there something ya want?"
Flustered with the fact that she had been caught, the girl shook her head warily, despite the fact that Taji wasn't looking her way. Nonetheless, he appeared to have eyes in the back of his head, as he replied with a soft chuckle, "That's what I thought."

Determined to find something other than the man to busy her mind with, Aislyn sunk her eyes back down to the weapon in her hands. She debated giving it back, but eventually decided against it, convincing herself that it was currently her only leverage to make the man stay, despite the fact that he could have easily taken it back from her by force ages ago. Still, she let herself feel as though she had power. Control.
Everything a ten year old Alvad girl could ever want.

Aiming an faux shot at the brick that had been used as a target during Taji’s bet, Aislyn pretended to shoot, even adding a bit of sound effects into the mix with a soft pshoo sound. She heard the soft chuckle of her teacher behind her. Guiltily, she felt a bit proud to have made her mentor laugh. That meant she was doing something right, right?

Suddenly, the girl had an idea. She could do better than make him laugh. She could impress him. Go beyond what he had taught her, do something new. Yeah, that’s what she’d do.

Her decision set in tone, Aislyn got up to put her plan into action. Calmly strolling over to the wall that Taji had used as target practice, the girl yanked one of the crossbow bolts (with some difficulty) out of the wall. Stumbling backwards, she tried to right herself, acting as if nothing had happened. She glanced at Taji, to make sure he hadn’t caught on. The man remained focused on his rucksack.
For a man with eyes in the back of his head, he wasn’t very perceptive. Or perhaps he had just fallen asleep sitting up.


Returning to her place in the alleyway, Aislyn put her idea in motion. Careful, as not to bring to much sound about, the girl placed the bolt on the bow, pushing the arrowhead backwards with the palm of her hand. It was an incredibly dangerous way to load the weapon, as her limbs were all in the way of the bolt, should it fire, but, at the time, Lyn didn’t know that.

At least, she didn’t know that, until the crossbow fired.

[Aislyn Leavold]

Aislyn heard the shot before she felt it. A sickening sort of fleshy noise, like someone slapping wet skin. Then there was ripping. A horrible, horrible ripping sound that was made worse by Lyn’s knowledge that it was her skin ripping that she heard. The sharp tip of the bolt against the soft skin of her palm. She tried to pull her hand back, but the damage was done. It was all she could do to not feel the pain. But one could never avoid pain for long.

It was a burning sensation, soft at first, then full force, hitting her like a knife to the heart. The girl’s eyes went wide in shock, and she could hear an ear-splitting shriek fill the air. Was it hers? Was it Taji’s? Her mind was too fuzzy to understand. She had fired the cross bow with her hand across the barrel. Or next to the barrel. She couldn’t remember. What had she done? The girl’s eyes fluttered as tears of pain began forming in her eyes. All she could concentrate on was the open wound on her palm. Blood. There was so much blood.

Her hands were shaking now, spilling tiny droplets of red onto the empty pavement. Tears were streaming down her face, some of them landing on her palm. The salty water stung horribly, but she barely noticed the pain compared to the torture of the laceration itself. She could hear fuzzy voices in the back of her mind. Sit down, they said, Stay with me. Who’s voice was that? Who was speaking? Was it her? No, it couldn’t be, she hadn’t told her mouth to move.
Yet her mouth was moving, her lips forming restrained gasps of words. ”It- it fired!”

”Taji, Taji help me.”

Aislyn felt as if she was watching what was happening to her from a third-person point of view. She was watching the little girl fall to the ground, her stained red palm clutched in her other hand, blood dripping onto the ground in a bloody red puddle that turned her stomach. All of it happening in slow motion, as the man across the alley, wide eyed and open-mouthed, practically teleported to beside the girl’s side, grasping her shoulders and trying to get a look at what had happened. For a moment, Lyn found herself looking up into the man’s eyes, only to find a heartbroken and pain-filled expression hidden there, behind his deep brown eyes. Aislyn never would have guessed how much care and concern went into that look, even if her mind hadn’t been clouded with confusion and pain. The man really, truly cared about her, whether she wanted it or not.

”Don’t worry, Aislyn, I got’cha, you’re gonna be alright…” The man cradled her in his arms, his hand gradually working it’s way up to hers, in order to cup her wound in his palm, examining the damage. ”Don’t cry, L, don’t cry… It looks much worse than it is, I promise. There’s just a lot of… Blood, and that’s alright. You’re alright.” His words grew stretched. Strained. Thick lines of worry creased his forehead. Then, all of a sudden, the expression was gone. Replaced with a stony look of determination.

Smoothly, as if doing it by heart, the man tore off a long piece of his sleeve before reaching into his backpack, which lay behind him, and pulling out a flask. At first, Aislyn thought it was water, but after the man opened the bottle, she stood corrected. A thick wall of stench hit her like it had physical form. Alcohol.

”Now, lass, this’ll sting like Hai, but you’ve got to promise me you’ll be brave, alright?”

Aislyn barely had time to register what he said and nod before he tipped the flask onto the cloth and pressed it into her skin. Immediately, she was brought right back to her original world of hurt. She tried to pull away her hand, escape the horrid stinging, but Taji held it in place, preventing her from moving. It was only when he took it away did Aislyn realize she had been screaming.

”There, L, it’s over now. See? It’s clean. Clean! We can just wrap it up, and you’ll be fine. I promise.”

The man was making a lot of promises. With any luck, he’d hold up to such promises. With even more luck, the things he’d spoken of would actually help her cause. Not that she had much of one. All she really knew was that her hand had been drowned out, reducing to a dull, throbbing pain. How many chimes had passed? She couldn’t remember. Five? Ten? Thirty? Her head was far too foggy for any sense of time.

Yet still, it felt like everything had slowed down to nearly a stop. She stared intently at her palm for what seemed like bells as Taji wrapped it, layer after layer, patiently, with the little cloth he had. She admired his efforts.
After all, what did he owe her, a little street girl with no last name that had begged him to teach her all she knew. Yet there he was, caring for her like a daughter.
He was certainly a strange, strange man.

[Aislyn Leavold]

Aislyn didn’t remember much after that. More wrapping of her wound, some more, fuzzy words spoken by god knows who, a gentle hand running through her hair, and then all of a sudden, she woke up on the cold, slightly damp alley flooring, with some sort of pillow underneath her head.
No, not a pillow. Too warm for a pillow in such a cold area. A person. She was lying on a person. Immediately, she shot up, twisting around to see who she’d been laying on.

And, just as quickly as she had rose, she fell back down, her head spinning with the sudden movement and a sharp pain in her hand forcing a whimper through her mouth. Where was she?

The world kept twirling in brightly coloured spirals around her. She continuously attempted to get up before she felt a heavy hand on her torso, pushing her back down into a lying position. Immediately, she felt a sense of dread well up from within her. She was definitely laying on someone, and that someone didn’t want her to leave. Where was she?

After several terrifying ticks of silence and blurred vision, Aislyn finally felt her eyes adjust. Slightly clearer figures began to emerge, taking shape of a singular person, a man. Taji.
Immediately, it felt as if a huge weight had been taken off her chest. She was not, in fact, in major danger of death or maiming. She was safe… Or, really, as safe as was possible, given the circumstances she found herself in. Lying in a dark alley, on the lap of a man she barely knew, at a time quickly approaching dark, with what could be a quite severe hole in her hand. Not her best moment, nor best choice of decisions leading up to said moment.
But the girl would go with what she got.

Hesitantly, with the care one would expect from a ten year old girl who, chimes earlier, had shot herself with a crossbow she should have been nowhere near.

”You shouldn’t worry me like that, Lass.”
There it was. The fatherly sort of tone that both annoyed Lyn to no extent and also comforted her just as intensively. ”You gotta be more careful, L. Much, much more careful.” The man’s eyes drifted to a corner of the alley, in which a crossbow was laying, as if strewn to the side in a rush. The most prominent feature of the spectacle, however, was the unmistakable shiny glistening of tiny specks of blood, dotting the weapon. If it hadn’t terrified the girl about the fact that it was her blood, she would have found the sight almost pretty.

”That crossbow ain’t a toy, lass. It’s a weapon. A weapon made for hurting people. Your only hope is that the person who gets hurt isn’t you.” With a short pause, Aislyn heard the man let out a deep sigh. ”You’ve gotta be on the right side of the barrel when the bow fires, L. That’s the only reason I’m allowing you to continue learning.” Another excruciatingly long pause. ”You can do this.”

Encouragement. That was what the man was giving her, despite the grave mistakes she’d made and the even graver decisions she’d proven that she shouldn’t have the responsibility of choosing. He was encouraging her to continue, even with the wounds she’d accidentally inflicted upon herself. The one thing she hadn’t expected, and it was being handed to her on a silver platter. Of all the possible outcomes she’d imagined, this was not one.
”You’ve got potential, I’ll tell you that. For a tiny lass, you’re certainly able to hold a bow well. And that hand of yours…”

Gently, the man lifted her hand, inspecting his bandaged handiwork. ”Well, Ionu’s Mercy hasn’t turned up yet, so I’m sure you’re fine.” He let her hand drop after several ticks, allowing it to rest openly on the cold flooring of the alley. ”I’m no doctor, but after you’ve lived in this world for as long as I have, you learn how to patch a person up.”

”Something to clean it, something to patch it up… Good as new, right?” His eyes once again met hers, and for the first time, Aislyn found a slightly strained look hidden behind his smile. She really had scared him.
Somehow, the idea of being cared about let her rest a little easier.

[733]

[Aislyn Leavold]

It was certainly a new feeling. Being cared for. Not one Aislyn was used to, obviously. Her mother might have hovered over her, making sure she didn’t go throw herself off any cliffs, but beyond keeping her alive, she hadn’t exactly been the best mother in the world. It had been just recently that Aislyn had begun noticing such things, perhaps two, maybe three seasons back? A certain insanity in her mother, especially once she had begun ‘caring for’ (if you could call it that) her garden. Lyn swore, that tiny piece of land got more attention than she did. And said patch of land was dead, unlike Aislyn.

The girl spent several ticks in silence as she pondered this idea of a caring stranger versus an only slightly neglective mother. It was a heavy thought, but soon enough, the sound of Taji’s voice brought her out of it.
”Come on, lass, you’ve got to speak to me some time. You can’t swear yourself to silence now, not after all of… That.”

The man was right. She hadn’t exactly been talkative since her return to the land of the conscious. So, she decided to say something. ”What time is it?”
Aislyn was not very good at reassurance.

”That’s the best you can come up with, L? You’re an interesting girl, I’m sure you can find something more interesting to say.” He gave a soft chuckle, and Aislyn could practically feel the tension melting out of their conversation. Even so, she stayed quiet, closing her eyes with a mischievous smile plastered on her face.
”Fine. You want to play the quiet game?” He rolled her off his lap, forcing her to sit up and look at him once again. ”Well, lass, I want to play a game as well. A question game. I ask you a question, you ask me one. Easy, right?”

A game? It had been quite a while since Aislyn had played a game with someone- anyone. She didn’t exactly have many friends to play such things as games with, and her mother certainly didn’t have time to play. So, eagerly, she accepted, nodding her head silently as the man continued.
”I see. Well, since you’ve decided to be so quiet, I’ll go first.”

He spent several ticks making an infuriating humming sound and scratching his chin, pretending to think. Eventually, Aislyn grew tired of the taunting and decided to break her silence.
”Ask already!”

Faking a surprised look at the girl, the man spoke in a high voice, as if astonished by her sudden talkativeness. ”Now you’ve found your voice, lass. Why couldn’t you do that before?” He leaned closer to her, picking up the bandaged hand that had dropped to her side. ”It ain’t so hard, is it?” For a moment, he had an earnest look in his eye, as if about to say more. But he pulled back, releasing a breath Aislyn didn’t know he’d been holding. He obviously wanted to tell her something, but it appeared as if he didn’t believe it to be the right moment. The girl was halfway through asking him to continue anyway before she realized he probably wouldn’t tell her, even if she asked. She put off her questions for another time.

”Now, as for our game…” He paused for several ticks, obvious in his thinking. ”My question is: How’d a little lass like you end up in a place like this?” Quieter, with his eyes drawn away from her, the man whispered, ”Ionu’s Wager is no place for a child.”

[592]

[Aislyn Leavold]

Aislyn’s answer was easy. She knew exactly why she'd come out that day:
”Boredom.”

Taji’s answer was just as easy, though a bit surprised in tone. ”Boredom?” He cracked a smile at the girl. [b]”Lass, boredom gets a person many places, but at such a young age, and with such… Ambitious ideas…” He trailed off, his eyes wandering back towards the alleyway door he’d first emerged from, well over a bell before. ”Boredom gets you many places, but outside a gambling establishment and begging to be taught to shoot a bow is not one of those places.”

Confused at his response, Aislyn decided not to push on what he meant by ‘gambling establishment’. She’d heard of gambling before, sure, but an establishment full of it? She hadn’t been so lucky.
But, of course, the girl had to save her questions, and use them well.
”That means it’s my turn, then, right? My question is-” She was cut off as eagerly as she had begun by the sharp hiss of Taji hushing her.
”L, you didn’t answer all of my question.” He paused, giving her just enough time to become incredibly confused. ”Boredom gets you many places…”

”-but this is not one of them. Yes, I know. Now can I ask my question?”
Yet another hushing from the mentor. Aislyn was quickly growing impatient, as if her patience wasn’t thin enough.
”You’ve got to wait, L. Learn to listen, instead of speak. If you try to shoot a crossbow the same way you try to play our game, you’ll never get an arrow loaded. You’ll be firing before you’ve got anything to fire.” He chuckled, shaking his head. ”And, if you’ve learned anything today, you’ll know that firing a bow that isn’t loaded simply won’t work.”

Once again, Aislyn opened her mouth to argue, but his words made the girl stop before she spoke. Grudgingly, she forced herself to wait, hoping Taji would hurry up with his questioning.
It was several long ticks before he spoke again.
”Now, pray tell, are you ready to answer the rest of my question?” Aislyn nodded, though internally she swore she was never playing this game again. There was far too much frustration involved for her to survive another round of this questionnaire of a game. Finally, however, after what seemed like forever, Taji spoke again. ”Why?”

Immediately, the girl was left in confusion. ”Why what?”
”Why? Why would a girl such as you be so bored, so utterly exhausted with her life, as to go about wandering into alleys and making claims with strangers?”
So that was it. He wanted an explanation of her actions.
At first, Lyn was reluctant to answer. It seemed an awful lot like he was going to end up lecturing her about something or another, as many adults appeared to find joy in doing to her. Was he going to launch into some extended speech about how dangerous it had been for her to approach him? Spouting some nonsense about how ’It might not have been me you ran into’?
Aislyn had heard it all before.
Respectively, she was also not very good at following directions.

”So? Lass, are you going to answer or not?”
Right. The question. She was answering that.
”I didn’t go out looking for you, if that’s what you wanted me to say. I just wanted something new. An adventure, of sorts. My mother is just so boring. I wanted something to do, and I saw an opportunity, so I went for it.” She paused, looking up to Taji, a slight grin on her face.
”Can I ask my question now?”

[606]

[Aislyn Leavold]

With a sigh, Taji gave in.
”Fine, go ahead, shoot your question.” It was a simple few words, but enough to spread a wide smile across Aislyn’s face. She’d been waiting forever, simply forever to ask her question, and now, when the moment came, she realized that she had no question to ask. The girl spent several ticks thinking it over before she dared to even speak.
”How about…” She spent several ticks making the humming sound that had annoyed her so much when her mentor had been choosing his question. Eventually, however, she got an idea. ”I know! What’s your favourite colour?” She gave a crooked smile at the man sitting across the alley from her. It was a good question, was it not?

”Choose another question, lass.”
Apparently not.
”Fine. How about…” Her mind was brought back to the girl’s lack of friends. ”Do you have any kids?” Giddily, she continued her question, eager for him to answer. ”Like, my age. Someone I could play with?”
”Like…”

”I understand your question!” His words were harsh, grating on the girl’s confidence. Scolding. Almost shouting at her. She hadn’t meant to anger him. Had she done something wrong? Softer, the anger lost, he continued. ”I understand, lass...”

He looked up at her with sad eyes, a sort of recognition behind the look. Aislyn felt a memorable confusion and urge to question his sorrow, but decided to leave it be.
Even as a child, she knew there were some things not worth sharing.
The next few moments were spent in a dark silence, the thoughts of both the man and the girl stretching into the silence. After several chimes of this, however, Taji finally spoke, shattering the quiet.
”Two sons.”
It was a short phrase, met with immediate confusion from Aislyn. ”Two sons, and…” He trailed off, as if deciding against mentioning something. Aislyn took a mental note of this, hoping to ask later about what the ‘and’ was. ”Two sons. I have two sons. Julian, and… George.” The words were forced, almost fabricated. As if the man had planned out what he had meant to say in his head, only to have it come out entirely wrong.

Tenderly, Lyn decided to push onwards, trying her luck with another question. ”Where are they now?”
Unfortunately, the gamble didn’t pay off, and, although the smile returned to his wrinkled face, a certain sadness in Taji’s eyes remained, even as he spoke with jest.
”Ah-ah, lass, that’s one more question than you’re allowed. I answered your question, now it’s my turn.”
Several more seconds of silence. Infuriating, stalling silence. ”How about…” The man cracked a smile at Aislyn. ”When’s your birthday?”

It was a question the girl had never been asked before. Something so simple, so easy. A birthday, that’s all he wanted. Yet somehow, the answer seemed so far out of her reach. She’d never celebrated birthdays much before- never had anyone to celebrate it with, nor the means to celebrate it at all. Therefor, when the question came to mind, she had next to no answer. After some thinking, however, she came up with a date.
”First of summer, four-ninety-four AV.” That was most likely the correct answer. Most likely.

”L, did it really take you that long to come up with your own birthday?” He gave a short laugh when she scowled at him for teasing her. ”It’s your own birthday, for goodness sake. A lass like you should remember that.” When met with a confused look on the girl’s face, Taji continued. ”Any lass should remember that. Anyone, really. I remember mine, of course. Fourty-second of fall. This season, actually.” He waved his finger at her. ”Just in case you wanted to buy me any gifts, there’s ya chance.”

A sudden, solemn look crossed his face, despite the jesting tone he used. ”Unlike a lot of things, birthdays don’t change, no matter who you spend them with.”

[658]