Dedicated to @46Kibahime for the amazing picture of Leah teaching Kieran about her Light-sheet tracing technique thingo (end of chapter!) ;D
The rest of the day went much the same way, and by the time Leah climbed back up the ladder to the surface she was glad to see the sun.
Kieran eyed her heart as she stepped out into the light and stretched her fingers skyward. "Make sure you get a full recharge. I don't want any panics underground tomorrow."
Leah eyed him. His words had softened since this morning, even if she wasn't entirely sure why. "Will do."
"Good."
He made her drive the glider back to their lodgings after checking that she had enough Light to get them back. The feel of the wind in her face as she raced it across the desert was more than enjoyable now she knew what she was doing. They arrived at their lodgings far too quickly, and it was with a twinge of regret that Leah covered it over.
Kieran ordered them all to recharge before coming inside, and with an hour of daylight left, the fourteen of them gathered on the open courtyard on the building's roof. Kieran and a few others left after the first twenty minutes, but it was after he left that Sef caught Leah's eyes.
"Hey, Leah!" he called, waving her over from her chair. "Come sit with us."
Well aware of the glares of the others around him, Leah went to decline the offer but Sef's insistence ended up with him picking up her chair with her still on it and placing it beside his own.The familiar swirling warmth in her recharging heart crystal was at odds with the cold nerves in the depths of her gut as she sat beside them.
"So," said Sef. "Kieran was just telling us how you draw the murals. Did you really figure out how to make the Light sheets by yourself?"
"Um, yea," said Leah.
It turned out that, despite their lacking Radiant features, many of the expedition team were able to harden Light. After a quick demonstration from Leah, most of them--Sef especially--had the technique downpat.
"Wow," said one of them said, a girl called Mira. She stretched the sheet of Light between her fingers, manipulating it until it finally set. "That's pretty cool."
Another one who looked more human than Radiant and was having more trouble with it, Dale, didn't look entirely happy about it. "Considering how much more time we have to spend drawing because Kieran's told us to get specific on the details of the murals now, it's the least the newbie can do to shorten the process."
"Why is that, anyway?" said Mira, looking at Leah. "The border interest?"
"I think there's some kind of code in it," said Leah, giving a careless shrug. She wasn't entirely comfortable with explaining the details of it yet. "The more I have, the easier it'll be to work out."
"Still more work than I signed up for," grumbled Dale, standing up, leaving, and taking the momentary inclusion that'd teased Leah with him.
"Eh... don't mind Dale," said Sef as Leah squished her hands between her knees. "He gets grumpy when he's hungry, and the snacks we bring down to the ruins don't stave it off. He doesn't like sketchwork either, he prefers it when we have to excavate."
"It's fine," said Leah, attempting a smile. "I'm going to go get started with the documenting thing anyway. I'll talk to you later."
Sef's disappointment was more than a little obvious. "Did you need help? I can show you what to do or just help you compile, if you want. I used to help Terrell with it--"
"I'll be fine," said Leah quickly. "You keep recharging. I'll see you later."
She slipped inside and made it to her room without seeing anyone else. The low sun was still streaming in through the window, so Leah threw it open and set herself up in the puddle of sunshine to top off her heart as she worked.
As Kieran had promised, he'd gathered everyone's work from the day and left it in an organised pile beside the expedition journals she was to compile it all in.
Leah spent the first few minutes flicking through everyone's personal journals, trying to figure out the best way to organise it. Ideally, she'd have a map of the ruins at the beginning followed by an index, then the entirety of section one, then two, and finished up with three before she started extrapolating. It was more than a little frustrating not having all the information on hand, knowing she'd have more over the next two days and might run out of room.
Though what was perhaps even more annoying as she flicked through the journals was the lack of detail in some of the sketches. There were a few that had made the attempt to include the backgrounds of each mural, but most had done the bare minimum to capture the scene to the point that section one's sketches were nearly useless.
Section two's were a little bit of an improvement. Leah ignored her own journal and flicked through the other four. Three had an improvement to detail past a certain point, but there was one in particular that Leah found herself lingering on.
Kieran's drawings were not only above average, but there were notes beside each mural, linking them to others he'd seen in the past with potential links. It was clear which murals were beside eachother, their orientation, their location. Even the borders were included above and below, to the point where Leah realised he'd gone back and drawn them into his earlier sketches.
It kept a smile on her face as she went through the dismal mess that was section three's sketches. Sef, though his effort could be commended, didn't seem to possess many artistic tendancies. Maybe the technique she'd taught him today would help him with these interesting proportions, because she was pretty sure the figure's arms in the murals weren't twice the width of their bodies with their fingers looking more like sausages than digits.
Leah was lost somewhere in mapping out a plan for this mess when there was a knock on her door.
"Dinner," said Kieran, glancing at her notes on the floor. "This is breaktime, Leah. You don't have to work yourself every hour we're outside the ruins."
Leah shrugged. "I don't mind."
"Up to you," said Kieran. "You'll have time back at the League to sort it all out and record it. Keep in mind that it's only your job to make sure it's all compiled and together--you don't actually have to have anything past a basic organisation down for it. The researchers do that."
Leah nodded, even if she'd already made plans to do otherwise. She'd do the compilation for the records, but she was going to make a second copy, one that she could do her way. That was the one she'd present to Emrys, and it was going to be better than anything his other researchers had ever done.
"How are the drawings?" said Kieran. Leah picked up a journal from section one and showed him. He grimaced. "I'll have a talk with them about it for tomorrow."
Dinner was a lively event.
Most of the team were already halfway through by the time she arrived. It amazed Leah how they never ran out of things to talk about. The table was constantly filled with laughter and weird impressions of the ancients as they carved the murals that struck a strange chord within Leah. She managed to get through her dinner without glancing up at Sef too many times before he and a few others left the table, claiming first dibs on the showers.
In light of her missed breakfast, Leah took a little longer at dinner, ensuring she savoured the meal to its full extent. After only a few days of Radiant-style food, she wasn't sure she could ever go back to the Teridian cuisine without sorely missing these amazingly designed flavours.
Her heart ached a little when she thought of home. Without Sef initiating her introduction with the others, they seemed more or less content to ignore her in her corner of the table. She wondered if her father was feeling as lonely as she was right now, or if he'd made it a regular thing to eat at the Teridian's great hall.
She finished long after the others, despite them lingering around the table in conversation. Leah left without anyone noticing.
The hall was quiet as she walked back to her room and closed the door behind her, eyes dragging along the carpet with her feet.
At least in a six-person room by herself, she had room to spread out her notes without fear of getting in someone's way and annoying them further. That was something, even if it sucked.
Only when she glanced up, Leah realised she wasn't alone.
There was someone sitting on the end of her bed, flicking through her reference journal, and they were well aware she'd just entered the room.
The window. She'd left the damned window open.
Leah froze a few steps from the handle as they looked at her and stood up.
"Interesting work you have here," he said. The words were muffled by the cloth that covered everything but his eyes, but she knew enough to know it wasn't anyone on the research team. There was something different about the way they held themselves, the almost cocky aura that surrounded them. The one that said try anything, and I'll beat you to it. "How about you step away from the door and walk me through it?"
The door. Leah stepped backwards, but the stranger just seemed disappointed.
"Leah," he said. Oh shadows, he knew her name. "I'm not here to hurt you or anything like what's running through your mind at the moment. I could have done that when you wandered into the room after so kindly leaving your window open."
He had a point, but that didn't mean she was about to trust him.
The stranger sat back down on the end of her bed and continued flicking through her notes. That in itself was almost enough to make her angry enough to go over and slap him, but the sword hanging over his back held her back.
"I'm here because I need help figuring a few things out, and after watching your expedition team and going through the notes you left all over the floor, you seem like the best candidate to help me."
Not really seeing any other choices except hoping someone came in to check on her, Leah played along. "What do you need help with?"
He waved her reference journal in the air. "I see you've managed to work out some of the symbol code. I didn't think anyone else had figured that out, if I'm honest."
"You know about the code?" asked Leah, the spark of curiosity melting away her fear for the moment. "Am I on the right track with it?"
"Ah-ah," said the stranger. "I'm not giving away my secrets until I know you can help me. Prove to me that I'm making the right choice by bringing you into this."
Leah frowned. "Bringing me into what?"
"Like I said, I need help," said the stranger. "Tomorrow night, meet me outside the town's gate where you picked up those gliders this morning. There's something in the ruins I'm interested in, and I don't really want the League getting in the way."
Fear won out again. "If you think I'd go into the ruins with someone who broke into my room and went through my notes--"
"I didn't break anything. You left the window open."
Leah swallowed. "I'm not going to--"
The figure stood up once more, still holding her reference journal. "I think you will, mainly because I found something rather interesting in your bag."
He flipped open a pouch at his belt and pulled out her Displacer--her only way back to the League.
"So," he said. "Meet me outside the town tomorrow night and come with me to the ruins. I promise I'll be the perfect gentleman and return you to your bed before sunup, and then I'll give you back your Displacer. Sound fair?"
Leah was too stunned to answer.
"Then it's a date," said the stranger. He tapped her reference journal. "And from the way you're looking at this, I think this will ensure your appearance, so I might spend some more time studying it before tomorrow." He stepped towards the window. "Oh, and this is a you-and-me affair. Tell anyone about my little visit or bring anyone with you, and it's off." The stranger touched his forehead with her journal. "Until tomorrow night, Leah."
And like a shadow in the night, he disappeared, leaving Leah standing alone in her room, feeling completely and utterly trapped.
*+*+*+*
A/N - IT BEGINS. THEY MEET. >:D
Going to start writing the next chapter now ^_^ Inc double update? =o
Wordcount: 24,731