'Twixt Light and Shadow

Part 1: In Darkness He Dwells

I

The dew of the morning mist touched the lands of Caer Elfoar like a lover's hand, and in the pale light of early morn they glimmered in silver glory. The air hung crystalline and still with a strange expectation, a whispering in the soul that spoke of newcomings and change. A lone traveler paused on his journey and listened to the stillness, then walked on, leaving the beaten path to the Caer itself and taking instead the small footpath into the dense forest.

The Eald was quiet as was its wont. No wind stirred the leaves of the mortal forest and it was that strange hour, when the living things hung in limbo between sleep and activity. Here, the expectation was stilled, the air timeless, and under this quiet the traveler passed, grey cloak making not a whisper against the formless brush. This passing did not go without notice, though, and cold eyes followed with an indifferent suspicion the traveler who walked nowhere with a purpose.

Then with a seeming nonchalance, that cloaked figure turned and looked into the cold eyes, meeting moss green with hard ebony. A deliberate turning away, a soft rustle of heavy cloth, and the traveler continued on his way to the depths of Eald. Trowa smiled to the turned back and the stone at his breast warmed in recognition of the other's proud and defiant manner. No common traveler was this; he walked with the air of one returning to home, but unfamiliar with the changes made since his absence, or perhaps the memories he drew from in traversing the forest were not his own.

A step through shadow and the tall Sidhe paced the familiar stranger through the brush. Together they walked in silence, neither sparing a glance at the other for both knew the destination, and finally the Sidhe spoke, breaking the crystal quiet.

"As you walk in the mortal Eald, you will not reach the place you seek."

The traveler stilled his pace and Trowa did in turn, standing a step before him. The Sidhe turned and faced the other, a slight whimsical expression touching his face. Yes, he knew this traveler, or knew his manner; the glimmer of the blue stone inside the dark cloak confirmed the memory dancing in Trowa's mind, of a lithe form with long, shining dark hair and eyes of obsidian.

"What know you of where I travel?" the figure asked defiantly; the voice was still young, untouched as yet by the whole sorrow of the world, but therein rung the slight ethereal timbre that marked him Sidhe.

Trowa replied softly, "I saw it in your eyes, your destination," for he had, in that single glance. A slight smile touched his lips at the suspicion shadowing the onyx eyes. "Ceud failte[1], young one. Welcome to Eald."

The young Sidhe who was called Wufei did not smile in return, but glared at the other with dampened hostility. "I do not come seeking your welcome," said he, drawing the cloak to his body, hiding the blue stone hanging at his heart. "I come to retrieve what is mine, and then I shall leave again as I came."

"Ah, such distrust," Trowa whispered, touching lightly his own pale stone, seeking Wufei's. His heart filled with a bittersweet tenderness towards the child of a long-gone friend, even as his gentle overtures were met with a wall of stony pride and anger. "Well did I know your mother, son of Meiran. You mind me of her."

The wall began to crumble at the mention of the regal Lady, whom Wufei had so often seen in warm dreams and soft memories; the shadow that covered his own dark eyes lifted the smallest bit. He spoke, in a voice that was no longer so impertinent and more like the voice of one searching for an ally. "You know my mother?"Ê

The tall Sidhe moved his head in acquiesce, feeling the barely concealed aloneness of the boy. "Aye. Oft times we were together, with another, Katara. The closest companions we three made." Trowa saddened at the look of distrust still evident in Wufei's golden face. "Look to your heart. You know I speak only the truth."

A tense moment, as the morning light of mortal Eald touched the trees, hung in the air. Trowa felt the solid warmth of the sun on his face and at that moment felt the wall around Wufei's heart lower, then fall.

"All my life, I lived under the mortal sun," Wufei said quietly, allowing himself trust towards the tall Sidhe. "My mother left for the sea before I had seen the passing of one season, and so I have no learning of the ways of the true Eald."

Trowa smiled softly and held a slender hand toward the younger Sidhe. "Come, then," he said, standing in the fall of golden sunlight. "I shall show you the way."

A step forward and Wufei grasped the cool hand with his own, and in an instant he was drawn into the golden sunset of the elfish sun, sheltered by tall trees with silver leaves. Trowa laughed quietly at the incredulity shining in the young Sidhe's face and with a slight pulling on the hand directed him to follow. Through quiet glades they walked, passing nimble deer with large fey eyes, who paid the two little notice, instead bowing their graceful necks to the grass which grew abundantly amid tiny blooms. Beneath strong, straight branches they passed, sweet birds trilling their welcome and farewells again, and as the shadows of Eald deepened with the parting of the sun, the moon rose and shone on their path with the almost light of bright night.Ê

And then, the trees about them parted, and in the center of glade before them rose a single tree, immense and wide-spread, shining in the moonlight. Therein, among the branches, hung glimmers starlight, caught in the jewels and swords as the stars were caught in the night sky. Here the tall Sidhe stopped and let the smaller hand in his drop, for there was no fear of Wufei slipping back into the mortal Eald in that place. Stepping away, Trowa selected a shining sword from the branches above and drew it down, holding it flat in both hands instead of grasping the hilt of the blade. He turned, and offered the sword to the young Sidhe before him; hesitating only a moment, the boy reached out and gripped the hilt, lifting it from the other's open hands.

The moon shone brightly on the silver blade and elfish magic made it almost weightless, and so the whole of the thing made the sword seem illusionary and insubstantial. Wufei studied the blade while Trowa waited, and received the blade when it was handed back to him moments later. "I cannot bear my mother's sword," Wufei said quietly with a small measure of shame. "It is too honorable a weapon for one such as I to learn swordplay with."

Trowa allowed a small smile to touch his eyes as he returned the blade to its former resting place. "'T'will do. We once called your mother 'Nataku'. She was a great warrior, and would be pleased to have her son use her sword."Ê

The Sidhe faced Wufei again and for a second was struck with the hard intensity of the young one's eyes. "You feel it, do you not?" he accused the older. "You feel it in the east, the darkness... It will rise to consume everything like fire, yet you stay in the forest and you do nothing!"

Closing his eyes, Trowa turned away, not a deliberate and insulting turn as Wufei's had been, but one of weariness and sorrow. "I would..." he began, his voice thin as the pale moonlight. "I would, that I could leave and not despair the woods failing in life, and not fear for..." There he paused and opened his eyes towards the Caer Elfoar with a sad yearning, but he did not continue, and began anew, turning back to Wufei. "The Eald stretches thin in the world, Wufei, and it takes much of me to keep it as it is. I could not leave to battle a far menace; the Eald is the source of our strength, and much would it wane should I wander far. At least, I could not do it myself."

Moss eyes commanded onyx to them, and thus captured them in close attention. "Just as you cannot fight the battle yourself. Aye, I feel the dark, like a clarion call to arms and even so, I chose to remain, to protect Eald. You said before you would retrieve what is yours and then leave as you came. Tell me, do you still wish to leave, or will you stay here and stand firm against the dark, with allies behind to guard even as you guard the Eald?"

A cool wind whispered through the glade, sending the swords above and the stones on silver strands to movement, and in the aftermath of the breeze's passing they made minute sounds of meeting upon each other, filling the branches with the sound of tinkling laughter and starling memories. "Allies?" floated the question on quiet wings, carrying a small note of hope with it. "Then there are others, still here?"

Sadness touched Trowa's eyes, though he sought to hide it. "In Caer Elfoar, in the mortal world, there is one who would lend aid if it were requested of him." The name was filled with a deep longing. "Quatre..."