Lonna From Gitir

Chapter 2: A Ways to Go

CH 2: A Ways To Go (Lonna)

339 est. LK (8 months ago)....

Now it was all up to me.

It had been years since I gave those times any real thought. Around the time that most of my life had changed rapidly. And there was plenty that happened between then, no one could fault me for not thinking back. Except, it was my fault. If I wouldn't have healed my stupid wound that day, they would have fought less. They would have stayed home. They would've protected us, not asked us to protect others. You said we were the most important, so...why leave?

Tears found their way into the corners of my mouth leaving a sour saltiness. If I would have lied instead, hid Lorren's power, and my own, they'd at least be here...

No they'd still go to aid..

I was trying my best to stay sad without branching into anger, glancing up and down from the back-porch window, to see if Lorren was here yet. How could they be so selfless, knowing we'd expect them...The worst part about this for me, is the fact that they seemed to know the odds, and yet they still didn't retreat. Mother had told me her faith was a lie... so why would she die?

This mentality was getting me nowhere, I had to calm down. With my thoughts came a whimper, as I reached for Mother's 'off-limits' wine cabinet. It was fully stocked, glass bottles were shoved together hardly any room between them. I reached for the first bottle shakily, set it on the counter and uncorked it. It was a sweet-wine, and out of the liquor I've stolen from Mother, sweet-wine was my favorite. I burst again.

I poured myself a half-tankard full, using one of Father's prized pints. He told us he used to bring his mugs home with him, which I didn't realize was true, until I throughly searched for a regular cup. Mother's wine fanaticism didn't help either. My parents may have been healers, and great neighbors, but they had vices like anyone else. I appreciated this because when I noticed it, their hero-nature didn't fade for me. It just changed. They weren't just retired heroes, they were regular people, with regular children. Or so they thought. I swished the wine around in my mouth, and took a long chug before slamming it on the counter, the way you were supposed to. I reached into the cupboard again for a second tank, and held it close to my chest.

Lorren and I had gotten close over the last 4 and a half years. We both started training after my awakening to better our chances with the powers we had been given. I was taught surgery, methods of anesthesia, and the removal of foreign objects or curses from Mother. While Lorren learned swordsmanship, geography, and tracking from Father. We had trouble adjusting to the training, but it wasn't like we were worked to death. Our biggest problem was the hardest to grasp at. My power was an internal reworking of time, and without that frozen space I haven't been able to access it, and Lorren isn't able to control or slow the speed of time.

Mother and Father had talked about what happened on my awakening, extensively. It was a common table conversation for us the next few weeks, and Father had asked the same question enough to get the topic suspended for a few nights.

"How far could you travel?"  He said.

This led to tests that would recreate the time-stop. When we tried to recreate our greeting, it failed. I didn't remember moving around really, except for my hands and head. My feet didn't feel like they were stuck, but I never moved. Lorren did, but he took his same spot before.. We couldn't figure it out, and Lorren seemed like he couldn't explain it. My theory is, it was just instinct, he must have had a feeling, or felt it was wrong to be someplace else. Our tests ended with no positive results, not having a time-stop. We continued training anticipating the day our power's could be used again.