Afraid of the Dark

Chapter 30: A Two-Sided Story

Reela sighs. "Sounds like Todo. And yet, he still wanted to take the Warrior's Test," she grumbles.

Taanys shrugs. "Maybe he wasn't fully beyond looking back. Maybe he wanted something from it. I can't say. I don't know him like you do."

Reela lightly chuckles. "Honestly, I've been feeling the same way lately. It's just... It's like he's trying to be... someone else that I don't know. So it's like I don't really know him anymore," she says and the two of them resume walking down the road, towards the bridge that leads out of town.

"Maybe that's what he's taking the test to figure out," Taanys suggests.

Reela looks down as she lets that sink in, and she guesses Taanys might be right. Maybe Todo's off having an identity crisis or something. This makes her momentarily feel bad for not going with him to help, but hopefully this will also help Corb figure his own shit out along the way.

She sets the thought aside to return her focus to Taanys. "So what song did you sing that pissed the centaurs off so much?" she asks to change the subject. Centaurs make her brain hurt, especially when those centaurs are her idiots.

Taanys glances over her shoulder to look at Reela. "'Sarabeth's Lament,'" she says simply before continuing forward.

Reela's brows slightly raise. "As in... Sarabeth Blackwell? She has a song?" she huffs. "I want a song..."

Taanys softly chuckles and stops walking again to face her. "Of course there's a song about her. A story like hers needs to be told. She lived a noteworthy life, so it's only right it isn't forgotten just because she's dead."

Reela frowns and crosses her arms. "But she was a bitch," she says with a pout.

"Maybe. But she was once a little girl just like you were – and like I was. To have everything taken away in an instant for reasons she was too young to understand leaves a scar. Some people let their scars heal, and others can't help but pick at them. Sarabeth was no different," Taanys says calmly. "Some people look at her and see a monster with only spite in her heart and a desire to watch the world burn. Others see her as a broken soul who took extreme measures to achieve her ultimate goal of one day reuniting with her family. Both are true. So both stories deserve to be told," she explains and watches Reela for a response.

Reela just stares at her, looks down in contemplation, then meets her eyes again. "She fucked my dad."

Taanys stares at her blankly. "...Oh."

They hear the scraping of stone down the path towards the bridge, and they both snap their attention over towards the sound. Reela doesn't see anything, but it is dark out. Taanys shifts to stand slightly in front of her and narrows her eyes across the bridge.

"I thought I saw something..." she whispers and glances at Reela. "Wait here, watch my back."

Reela grabs her arm to stop her before she can walk away. "Are you sure? That sounds really fucking stupid."

Reela knows that you never split up in situations like these. If this were a horror movie, the moment Taanys reaches the other side of the bridge, she'll turn around, say the coast is clear, then get her fucking head cut off.

Taanys sighs and glances at the bridge again before facing Reela. "Well, what would you suggest?" she asks, and Reela pats the side of her backpack, looking back at it over her shoulder.

"Hey, Toya, scouting time," she says and feels the fox moving around in her bag before poking her head up and looking at her with a glare.

"Oh, so now you want my help?" Toya sneezes, but climbs out anyway.