Twilight Arbour is the last dungeon I'm writing about. Destiny's Edge can solve their issues without us, they're grown-ups. Mostly. :P

12: Hearts That Beat

Caoilfhionn was busy for the Priory for some time afterwards, traveling the length and breadth of Tyria to learn more of the other peoples who lived there, particularly the quaggan and the hylek, in the company of various combinations of Annhilda, Wegaff, and/or Sieran. Annhilda even went on a mission to the jotunn, attempting to discover what led them to lead such base lives compared to their sophisticated history, though she was only successful in attracting a few scattered warriors to attach themselves to the Priory. Gixx called it foolhardy before she even began, but she shrugged, for when had pessimistic predictions ever stopped a Norn?

And of course their new guild met every couple weeks, to do small quests together, to hunt bandits, to simply explore new places and show each other places they thought worth seeing. Caoilfhionn had a wonderful time, and soon felt quite close to all of them.

The next time Hope's Legacy had a major mission was a couple months later, when Caithe sent a letter to Caoilfhionn, who passed it on to the rest of the guild – she wanted help fighting against Faolain of the Nightmare Court, to drive her out of a grove far too close to Sylvari villages. So they met in the dark depths of Caledon Forest… and lo and behold, Rytlock and Logan were both there at Caithe's invitation, and already threatening to kill each other. Rytlock left immediately, and Logan stayed only a short while afterwards before taking offense at something else and flouncing out.

"Wow," Phiadi said. "I didn't realize Destiny's Edge was all melodramatic divas."

"Caithe's not!" Caoilfhionn said, diving to her defense.

Phiadi fixed him with a Look. "Well, those two are, and Zojja definitely is – I say that as someone who's worked extensively with her, she is a Diva with a capital D. Don't know about Eir, she seemed all right from what I remember."

Caithe sighed. "And yet we worked so well together…"

"I have to say, this is a different side to Logan than I've seen before," Damara said. "I had thought his only short-sighted trigger was Queen Jennah, but… leaving his allies in the middle of a fight? Rytlock wasn't even here anymore, and he couldn't take one gentle question about this sore spot?" She shook her head. "Men."

"Hahaha, you're not wrong," Rhyoll said. "Though to be fair, Charr women also have hot tempers."

"But a leader should not have a hot temper," Annhilda said. "Or if they do, they have to keep a lid on it. Bear is fierce, and sometimes poor at communicating, but even he knows not to burn down his own den. …Usually."

"There are still six of us," Caithe said, still subdued. "And we are not fighting a dragon this time. He is not abandoning us to death."

"No, we can definitely carry this," Phiadi said. "Just… It doesn't look to me like it's worth reforming that particular guild. Take Eir and make a new one. Join ours. Do something different. Let the others stew in their resentment, forgotten by history as irrelevant."

"I don't agree with the last sentiment, but that's not a bad idea," Annhilda said. "Destiny's Edge are still remembered as heroes, but new legends are born all the time."

"It's like music bands," Damara said. "What? I might have grown up poor, but I have culture."

Caithe shook her head. "I hear what you say, but I don't believe it. There was no group like ours, and no group I wish to be part of besides ours. I wish you well, but I cannot join while I have any hope for Destiny's Edge."

"Then I wish you well," Caoilfhionn said. "I think they all like us, to some degree – if there's any way I can help, I will try to do so."

"Thank you, Caoilfhionn," Caithe said. "But right now we must find Faolain before it's too late."

But Caoilfhionn ached with sympathy for Caithe in more ways than that, for he began to see how Caithe had loved Faolain, loved her in a deep, quiet way like a still lake. And he saw how Faolain abused that past love, even the memory of that love, dragging its vulnerabilities out into the open and spitting on it with her 'champions'. If he had not had reason to hate the Nightmare Court before, which he had anyway, reinforced by rescuing several tormented captive Sylvari along the way, seeing how their Grand Duchess behaved without dignity or honour gave him ample reason now.

And he saw how Caithe rose above that betrayal, rejected Faolain's lies when her heart must have been bleeding to accept them, and saw completely through everything Faolain had transformed into. Trahearne would never fall like that, his soul whispered – but surely Caithe had once thought that about Faolain. "I remember what she was at the very beginning. She was the sun to my stars." Still… Trahearne would never fall like that. But if he did, would Caoilfhionn have the same strength Caithe showed here and now? He wondered. Afterward. When they weren't fighting colossal tree monsters and hallucinatory apparitions.

Caithe walked a little away from them when they had won and Faolain had fled, standing with her back to them, looking out over the forest. Caoilfhionn took a step towards her. "Are you all right?"

"I think so," she said, looking back over her shoulder and smiling a little. "Faolain is… a manipulator, and I almost fell into her trap. I almost despaired. I almost gave up. But you did not let me fall. Thank you for helping me."

"It was my pleasure," he said. "I knew you could rise above such abuse. And anyone who abuses like that does not truly love. Stay with us, who remember how to love."

She gave him a half-smile. "You love everyone, don't you? I hope the world is gentler with your feelings than it was with mine." She began walking back through the forest. "Come, let us leave this place. It will take time for the grip of Nightmare to loosen upon these vines."

They returned to Falias Thorp to rest and to celebrate, and while Rhyoll was skeptical at first that Sylvari could make alcohol that he would enjoy, he was soon as drunk as the rest of them. Caoilfhionn enjoyed watching them, and his own drinking, immensely, and though he did not go to the excesses of his first night drinking, he perhaps drank more than was wise.

When things began to quiet down, he found himself flopped on the ground, his head on someone's shoulder. He'd never been so close to a non-Sylvari before, and found it fascinating – the bare skin of their shoulder was soft against his cheek, in a silky way, not like the semi-glossy leaf-like feel of Sylvari skin. He turned his head and saw Damara's armoured vest and the brown skin of her forearm. "May I ask a question?"

"I won't know until you ask it," Damara said from over his head. "What is it?"

"What's that thumping sound you keep making? From inside you?"

There was a perplexed pause. "Melandru's grace, have you really never heard a heartbeat before?"

"Is that what that is?" He pushed his ear closer to the source of the sound, heedless of all the leather and flesh padding in the way. "No, I have never heard one, even in an animal. I haven't been so close to a mammal heart while it was so quiet before."

She snorted, but she didn't push him away, though he realized even through his lingering drunkenness that he was being rather rude. "Um… congratulations? What does your circulatory system sound like if you don't have a heart?"

"Near-silent, of course. You could listen, but all you'd hear would be my breath. Unless all the world were still, perhaps you could hear it, like the soft sound of dew falling on young grass…"

"I'm more interested in your hair, anyway. These leaves are such an interesting colour. And the glow is absolutely magical."

"Like orchids, right? My siblings call me the Orchid Prince."

"Orchids don't glo- I didn't know Sylvari had princes?" Damara asked, gently exploring his leaves. It felt rather nice.

"We don't actually, of course. It's just a title. It doesn't mean anything besides the fact that I'm handsome and have bright colouration. And I just realized I never told anyone about this before, it was just between me and my four close siblings, and it was their idea originally, I'm quite embarrassed now, please forgive me."

She giggled. "So in Sylvari culture, I could be a princess and no one would blink twice about it?"

"I suppose? Or a countess, or a baroness, or a dame, or any title you care to think of. Although given that we fought the Nightmare Court's grand duchess today, duchesses are not… really popular here anymore."

"That's understandable. I think Orchid Prince is a great epithet for you, and I'm going to use it from now on."

"No! Not in front of- it's embarrassing, I don't want people to think I'm full of myself."

"Is that your concern? All they have to do is talk to you. Tyria knows people who are full of themselves. They're called Asura."

"Hey!" Phiadi called. "I resemble that remark!"

"So relax. You can be the Orchid Prince of Hope's Legacy, and if people think you're stuck-up, they just have to talk to you. Or I'll beat them up."

"I'm not certain that's the most reassuring?" he said, laughing. "But very well. I do like the title, I have to confess. It's romantic and dashing."

"Yes you are," Damara said. "Are you planning to fall asleep on my chest? Because I'm getting pretty sleepy."

"I suppose I could shift a bit and let you breathe," he said, and scooted off to lie on the ground. "Good night."

"Just going to sleep wherever? What about a bed or a sleeping roll?"

"More than half of Sylvari hardly bother," he said. "We don't need beds. We're not uncomfortable. There should be hammocks somewhere in that hut there, though."

"Right. Good night, then."