When A Life Is Lost (NaNoWriMo 2013)

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Alykana woke early the next morning. Early for her, at least. After talking with Eoius and Ania, she had tired out her emotions. She did admit to shedding a few tears on her pillow that night. It had been a long day.

She got up and stretched, looking over to Ania. Or, at least, to Ania’s bed. Ania herself was nowhere to be seen. Alykana told herself not to worry – the girl had probably gone outside to get some water from the pump outside. She walked over to the doorway, freezing when she saw Malus and Ania sitting next to each other on the log.

They had their backs to her, and both were laughing at a joke that Alykana had not heard. As Alykana watched, Malus stood up and extended his wings, shooting up into the air. Eager not to be seen, Alykana went backwards into her house, seeing Ania copy his movement and fly up after him.

She smiled. Obviously the two of them had forgiven each other, for now at least.

Eoius came out the hut soon afterwards, looking around for the others.

“Where is Malus and Ania?” he asked her, looking around the corner to see if he could see them.

Alykana smiled widely and pointed towards the sky. She could still see the silhouettes of Malus and Ania as they flew around.

“How did they get up there?” Eoius asked, perplexed. Alykana realised that she had not told Eoius about what Ania and Malus were. She’d assumed that they would tell him, but obviously not. Honestly, Alykana didn’t think that they’d forgive each other for a while.

“Oh...” she hesitated, figuring out how to explain it to him, “They’re not from this world – not entirely. Where they come from, it’s normal to have wings. They call themselves ‘Succakgu’.”

Eoius looked astounded, his mouth opening and closing like a startled fish. He swallowed for a moment and tried to regain his composure, succeeding slightly.

“Okay?” he stuttered, blinking still.

Alykana laughed, suddenly overcome by giggles. It was almost how she reacted when she found Malus, but she had to shake it off quickly – he was dying when she found him. Eoius didn’t have the same urgency.

He stood for roughly ten minutes before he moved, just staring after the flying pair with his mouth open. By the time he moved again, Alykana had calmed down and had made some porridge for breakfast.

“Where did this come from?” Eoius asked, sitting down on the log and grabbing the bowl.

“I made it when you were busy shaking yourself out of the surprise,” Alykana said, laughing again at him.

Eoius blushed and said nothing, eating his porridge slowly. By the time that they had finished, Malus and Ania had returned, but there was a completely different atmosphere from the night before. They were actually smiling with each other, and chatting animatedly with each other as they landed.

Eoius looked shocked again, but he managed to shake off his shock a lot quicker than before, although it was probably because both Ania and Malus pulled in their wings when they landed.

They walked over to them quickly, and Alykana was almost shocked that they weren’t holding hands or anything like that.

What had they talked about?

Alykana was curious, but she decided that they needed to sort out problems by themselves, which they seemed to have done for now.

They sat next to each other on the log, eating their porridge next to each other. They all sat in happy silence, which Eoius chose to break.

“So...” he began awkwardly, “You guys have wings?”

Malus and Ania exchanged a smile, before nodding in unison.

“I would assume so,” Ania said at the same time that Malus replied with “No, the wings you saw were made of paper,” with a sarcastic grin.

They spent the morning chatting, but decided to split up at lunchtime. Malus and Ania flew off again, their white and black wings contrasting with each other as they flew subsequently to each other.

Eoius helped Alykana grab some more wildflowers from the forest, with strict instructions by her on how to get the best ones. He followed her instructions exactly, not wanting to anger her. This was her livelihood, and Eoius told her that he had heard a lot about the girl who always sold the beautiful flowers.

“I won’t be the reason that your reputation is ruined,” he said over and over again, usually when he accidently picked the wrong ones. Alykana wasn’t really bothered – he was doing extraordinarily well for a beginner, and he rarely made mistakes. She had been picking flowers ever since she was little with her mother, and her natural faerie instincts served her well. Eoius had shown no such instincts.

The night came quickly, and Eoius grew tired quickly. He retired early, leaving Alykana, Ania and Malus to eat their food together. Alykana sat on one log, whilst Ania and Malus sat on another.

“I told you you’d forgive him,” Alykana told Ania, laughing.

“I told you I would.” Ania said, laughing along with her.

Alykana thought about it for a moment.

“No, you didn’t!” she said playfully, causing Ania to shrug.

“You’ve been talking about me?” Malus said, confused.

They both nodded at him, smiling as they did. Malus laughed quickly, happy that they had deemed the situation ‘talk-able’.

Alykana shook her head. Malus was odd at times. Of course they would talk about it, whether with Eoius or Ania. It was a problem which would affect the whole group. It would make everything slightly awkward if two members would not talk to each other.

“So what did you guys talk about on your long flight?” Alykana asked, curious.

They exchanged a look and smiled at each other.

“Not much,” Ania said, looking down at her hands.

“Not much?” Alykana chuckled, looking at Ania, “It must have been something, for you two to talk about it for hours.”

Alykana tried to coax the information, but she did not have any success – they were both as stubborn as each other.

They were a good match.