Raven woke with a start. The nightmare still fresh in his mind; his hand, his claws, her neck, her blood. Try as he might, he could not get the horrifying image out of his mind. He ran a hand over his face, exhaling thru his nose slowly. Looking around the tent, he saw her. Shade lay on her side, sleeping soundly, her back to him. He slipped into the set of leather armor he was sure Fayvr had set out for him, waiting to tighten the straps and buckles fully once he was outside. On silent feet, he padded out of the tent, careful not to wake her. The sun sparkled off the snowcovered trees on either side of the shallow stream. Crasaurs splashed playfully in the water, chasing after the Gadil. The muffled roar of the Ice Falls waterfall filled his ears like an old familiar song. A cauldron hung suspended over a fire from a spit while a man whose back was to him crouched before it, patiently stirring. Raven stood, taking it all in.
Raven had awoken to this view more times than he could count. He walked down the well worn path to the fire and sat without a word. Three..Two..The man stirring the pot without looking up from it's contents held out a bowl of steaming stew in Raven's direction. He took the bowl, cupping it in both hands letting the warmth wash over his face and sink into his hands.
" What in Atreia happened to ya, boy?" The man asked, eyeing the younger Daeva closely.
"Nothing I couldn't handle." Raven said nochalantly. As he stirred his stew absently, flashes of what he had been through came unbidden in a series of random moments and images. Flinching, Raven set the bowl down beside him untouched, his appetite gone. He watched a crasaur clamber up a series of small rapids willing himself to forget.
" Hmmph" The older man scoffed. Then his gruff voice softened. " You had me worried, boy."
Raven rubbed the back of his head." To be honest, Fayvr, I was a little worried this time too." He admitted openly.
" Well, while you were gone, things have been happening; increased patrols, lots of troop movement. The other night, thought I heard screams comin' from Morheim." Fayvr said pointing his ladle in the direction of the Fortress city.
" Screams? From Morheim?" Raven exclaimed! He jumped to his feet only to double over and fall to all fours gasping. His vison blurred and he broke out in a cold sweat. He back felt like it was on fire and he detected several warm trickles creep over his skin. His left throbbing. Raven's stomach turned to ice and he thought he might throw up.
"Calm down, boy. You're in no condition to go runnin' off. There's nothin' you can do." The man said. "What's happened has already happened and been handled
" As long as I draw breath. I can draw my blades." Raven said, choking the words out between breaths. He panted the maxim from rote, but he meant every word. The pain subsided. His head still spinning, he rolled off his knees up into a seated postion. One arm wrapped around him holding the tender spot on his side, the other resting on his bent knee as he collected himself.
" You want to throw that useful life of yours away, boy? Fine. What should I do with the White Wing?" Fayvr said tapping the tip of his dagger.
Raven shot the older man a poisonous look. " She is not to be harmed!" He growled softly.
" Not to be harmed, eh?" The man said dryly. " Well, she's got some skills. She did a fair job of stopping you trying to crush her throat last night." Fayvr said turning his head toward the younger Daeva, tapping the flat of his dagger absently against his boot heel.
Suddendly, everything got impossibly bright. Time seemed to slow and Raven could almost see every snowflake in minute detail. His pulse thundered in his ears, growing louder and louder. His chest burned. What he had done came crashing down on him. He exhaled sharply realizing he had been holding his breath. " I" He whispered in disbelief. " I thought it was a dream."
"T'was was no dream, boy. Heard you cry out. Got there to see blood on your claws and her crumpling to the floor. None's the worry, I fixed her up right. Figured if you took the trouble to bring the White WIng all the way here it was the least I could do to keep her breathing." Fayvr said, not pulling any punches eventhough Raven appeared to be in obvious distress over what had happened to the girl.
" Have I lost it, Fayvr? Have I bathed in so much blood that my soul has been drowned in the sea of it? " He asked pleadingly, his brow furrowed and his words steeped in self-loathing. Staring at hands that now seemed foreign to him, he added. " Am I going feral, becoming dangerous to others?" Raven asked his voice filled with self-recrimination.
" I've seen it happen, but you don't seem the type to me." The other said frankly. "I'd have 'seen to you' last night if I thought that true."
Raven heard sounds coming from the tent. " I think she's awake! Fayvr, can I get a bowl of that for her?" He asked. Fayvr laddled out some stew from the steaming cauldron, handing the bowl to Raven without comment. The younger Asmodian walked up the path , bowl in his hand. He pulled back the tent flap and saw Shade sitting on the rug that covered the ground.
" You're awake." He said, his voice brimming with relief. " I brought you some stew. It's hearty and it's hot. You should eat some."
Shade leapt to her feet, backing away from the sight of him, a hand flying to her throat. "S..stay away from me!" She stuttered. Her voice trembling with fear.
Her reaction stung , but it was the bandage around Shade's neck that cut him to the core. He placed the bowl on the rug as close to her as he could get it without entering the tent. " Shade.." He all but whispered. " I.." The pain in his chest, sharper than any blade had ever dealt robbed him of his words.
" Don't touch me! Keep away from me!" Shade cried, wild with fear having backed as far away as the tent would allow.
"I'm not going to..." Raven cut his statement short when it occured to him that he might not be able to live up to the words he left unspoken. Reguardless of what Fayvr had said, Raven no longer completely trusted himself. " I'll leave you to eat in private." He said, his voice husky.
" I just want to go home." She whimpered. The anguish in her voice tore Raven's heart in two. He fastened the tent flap open, so she would be able to see outside and wouldn't feel so trapped. Then walked away to leave her in peace.
When Raven rose and walked away from the opening in the tent, Shade made her move. Knowing the plate armor she wore ruled out any hope of a stealthy escape, she decided to try her luck with her stamina and speed verses that of the injured Asmodian. Clattering like a tinker's cart, she sprinted from the tent and toward the stream. The familiar sound of some one running in plate reached him, which wasn't easy to miss, it was even easier to guess the source. Raven thought of running after her, but stopped himself. Cursing under his breath, he fought to supress this urge, every fiber of his being screamed at him to give chase, but he knew that doing so would only frighten her further.
"No! Shade! No!" He sang out to her. " Shade, please don't run away. I'll get you home. I will!"
She stopped and turned to face him. The stream between them, Shade felt somewhat safer. Her eyes darted from Raven to the other waterfall that fell away over a cliff to her right and then back to the Asmodian.
"Shade, please come back. It's going to be ok. I'll get you back home." Raven said in a tone one would use to comfort a frightened child. He crouched down in the snow trying to look as nonthreatening as possible. " Shade, please come back, come sit by the fire."
Timidly she came back across the water toward Fayvr's campsite keeping her distance from him. Raven made no move. He stayed where he was, low to the ground just watching her return. Shade went to the fire and sat warming her hands. Raven padded around to the opposite side of the fire pit keeping well away, taking a seat instead by one of the nearby trees. Like clockwork, Fayvr ladled a helping of stew from the cauldron, handing the bowl to Shade.
" You'll have to move her, Raven. She won't be safe here for long with the increased patrols of late." Fayvr said frankly.
" I know. We'll head out tomorrow." He said hugging his knees for warmth.
" Come sit by the fire before you freeze, boy." The older Asmo chided.
" I'm fine. Besides, she seems much more at ease with me at this distance." Raven said. He had been trained to ignore discomfort. Shade thanked Fayvr for the food, got up, walked to the tent and went inside. Raven rose from where he had been sitting and went over to a pile of wooden boxes. Rifling thru the supply crates, he pulled out a thick blanket and took it up to the tent.
" Here, please take this. You'll sleep better if you're not cold." Raven said softly. He placed the blanket just inside the tent before unfastening the tent flap, allowing it to fall, covering the entrance and blocking off the wind. Fetching another blanket from the crate, he wrapped it around his shoulders and went to sit just outside the tent keeping watch for patrols.