A/N: Sorry for the wait. I started writing it one way, but I didn't like it that way. I decided I throw in some sadness as well as a nice little twist.
Daya hadn't been paying much attention to the Harper at night anymore. She was already thinking ahead, ready to sneak out and see the watchwher again. The creature, not half so small now, would always be waiting by the trap door for her, and Yuellan would always be asleep. Daya had never concerned herself much about Yuellan, and never thought of him as the watchwhers bonded. Why should she? In fact, she never much thought of Yuellan at all.
That night, as usual, the watchwher was waiting for her. Carefully tip-toeing around Yuellan, they went over to the other side of the shed to play, for as Daya had quickly found our, the watchwher was in that stage where all it wanted to do was play. They would play hide-and-go-seek, though the young watchwher always won, or tag, fetch, keep-away, whatever struck Daya at the moment and entertained her ugly friend. Tonight, though, it was different. The watchwher wasn't as excited, as ready to play. Daya tried to start a game several times, but it only sat down as if it were waiting for her to get bored with such childish games.
So Daya crawled over to the watchwher, who put its great head in her lap, and stroked its head and scratched its eye ridge. Then, Daya got the oddest feeling. She felt the watchwher telling her something, though no words or sounds came to her mind or out of its mouth. Then, she knew what it wanted. It was telling her its name!
"You know your name," she murmured to the beast, stroking its head. "How smart you are. Daysk! Oh what a wonderful name…."
Life continued as was normal, with only a few exceptions. Yuellan still couldn't get Daysk to cough up her name, and Daya remained tired all day. A couple seven-days passed, and then something happened.
Everyone was asleep. Well, almost everybody. Daya was awake, as usual, and Yuellan was out on a midnight walk with Daysk. Suddenly, the "leash" on Daysk went tense, and she was pulling Yuellan in the opposite direction. "Watchwher! What's the matter with you?"
Daysk made distressed whimpering and clicking sounds, squeaks and hrr-hrrrrs. They had been walking in a circular fashion around the sprawling Hall, and had been headed to Sharth's stone house carved into the cliff side, he was one of the few left that chose not to dwell in one of the wooden houses, but something had spooked the watchwher. Yuellan didn't understand, they had been by the house so often before…. Then the great beast tugged away again, almost knocking Yuellan off his feet. It was looking at the ground, as if searching for something…. And then it had it! It charged forward and started digging into the ground, digging as if the watchwhers very life depended on it.
Daya had been in the crawlspace, unaware Daysk was out on a walk, and had been crawling toward the great shed when dirt, and big clumps of it, too, started falling on her head. She looked up, only to look down again as dust fell in her eyes and made her cough. She could hear sound of digging, but why would anyone be digging here this late at night? Suddenly, Daysk's great head pushed through the hole, and as gently as possible, grabbed a hold of Daya. The watchwher started tugging and pulling her up out of the crawlspace, much to Daya's distress.
"Daysk! Daysk, what are you doing?! Please, Daysk, let me-" Then Daya was above ground, and staring at Yuellan wide-eyed.
"Did you just call her Daysk?" he asked, surprised, but at the same time, expectant.
"I- uh, well…."
"I thought it was you," he murmured to himself, and was almost shoved off his feet by the impatient watchwher again.
It was making the oddest of noises. Grrr-nnnn. Ssssissk! Grrrr….
"Yuellan, she wants us to move. Something's not right. I thought, after taking all those lessons, you'd realize that…."
"Yes, I suppose we'd bett- did you say she?"
"Later, Yuellan! We need to move now!"
"If we're in danger, what about the rest of the Hall?"
Daysk made sounds deep in her throat that sounded approving.
"I'll get the right side, you get the left."
The pair hurried from door to door, Daysk not even bothering to pretend she didn't belong to Daya, knocking and yelling to run for the fields. At first the families woke up grumbling, complaining about pranksters. Then they would walk outside to yell at them, find them at different doors already, and see the red in the watchwher's eyes as well as the two's obvious distress. Then they would quickly gather the few items that would be needed and run.
They got most of the people, the people Daysk said wouldn't be safe, and then Daya tried to run back to her house. Daysk wouldn't hear of it. Then, suddenly, it happened.
The rock must have been teetering on the edge all night, it had only needed a strong gust of wind. It sat on the top cliff, just barely away from the sharp, jutted point that wouldn't hold a firelizard's weight. The wind had moved it less than a finger length, and then it came tumbling down the almost-horizontal wall of rock.
As it went, it gathered more rocks and speed. The rock fall threw dust in the air, and broke away part of the cliffside. Then the pile of rock and rubble landed squarely on Daya's house, and it settled.
"No!" Daya cried out in horror. Daysk muttered an unhappy growl. She turned to Yuellan, her eyes as big as a fish's, and practically yelled, "We have to dig them out!"
"Yuellan looked down at her sadly. "They can't have survived that, Daya. They can't have."
"No, no no no no," she muttered to herself, tears stinging her eyes. "They have to 'uv. They can't die, they can't…."
Daysk curled up protectively around Daya, and Yuellan awkwardly tried to stroke her hair. She shoved him away.
"Go 'way. Don't want you hear…. Go 'way…."
Daysk snuffled at Daya's face and then put her foreleg down in an odd position, as if offering for Daya to climb on her back. Daya sniffed and looked up at the sky. "'Course Daysk," she muttered sadly. "Back to the shed where it's dark. 'Course Daysk…." She clambered on the creature's back and it carried her to the unharmed shed.