Twin Destinies
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.
Chapter 2
Raina rose with the sun, taking a short cold bath in the lake and sitting in the rising dawn, meticulously combing and braiding the wealth of long golden hair she had.
But no, Mama says I have to be a lady. ' Not even lady assassins get to cut their hair.' Mama say, ' And you are most definitely an assassin lady.'. She thought as she painfully ripped another knot out of her hair.
She'd waited all night for the Companions to come storming in through the gates, but they hadn't come yet. Even in the hours it had taken her to get up and go to the lake to bathe, they still hadn't come. As she walked back into the large manor to put on her good dress, she wondered if they would even come at all.
: What are you waiting for?: Shora asked Alver, the both of them crouched as well as any Companion could in the bushes. : It is her, I can tell. She looks the same as in my Vision.:
Alver shook his head, making sure to take care of the bells catching on the leaves and small branches surrounding them. : We already know that the blond hair breeds true in the family, so who is to say that there is not another little girl running around?:
: Alver.: Shora whined. : Just get over yourself and do it!:
Shora is right. He thought ti himself, getting to his hooves and ready to step out of the bushes. I shouldn't worry.
: Raina Ravensmorn?:
Raina whirled around, her braid smacking her in the face and her eyes widening.
" Um, yes?" She called into the slowly warming morning.
: My name is Alver, and I Choose You.: A flood of love and warmth ran into her heart, stretching it to its fullest and yet never breaking the bounds. She floated in the feeling, dazed and calmed somehow.
The large stallion stepped out of the bushes and he was a sight to see. He was taller at the shoulder than herself, his silver and white mane longer than her own hair, and one large blue eye blinked at her slowly, beckoning to her.
Raina threw down her brush and ran to him with a wordless sound of joy. The little girl flung her arms around him and he fell to his knees so she could climb up as her joy relayed to him threefold. Balanced on his shoulders, she laid her head on the top of his neck, surrounding it with her strong little arms. Alver Felt her relief and joy as if it were his own.
Raina felt she should have cried with happiness, as her mother sometimes did, but was to overwhelmed to do anything but simply be happy.
" Mama, I have someone to introduce you to." Raina appeared at her mothers door, her hair neatly plaited and her black trousers, boots, and red tunic impeccable.
" Our visitor perhaps? Is it a Herald?" Marie asked, throwing the rope of her golden hair over her shoulder in a gesture that her daughter often mimicked without thinking.
She stood up and brushed off her own black skirt. Marie was nervous. She wondered if the Companion's truly did have a Herald, and just needed their services. She would gladly give up her children if it meant that they would not have to suffer the same fate as some of their cousins and aunts and uncles.
" Alver, if you would?" Raina asked someone, and there was the slight sounds of dainty hoofbeats that rang like bells, then the door was pushed open by a large white horse. " Mother, I have been Chosen." Raina said proudly; gone from her voice was the childish purr, now replaced by something more adult, more mature.
" Raina, I don't know how you managed to do it, but you did! Oh, you did." Marie swept her daughter into a loving embrace, and since Raina did not get many of these from her mother, she knew not what to do!
: Wrap your arms around her and hug her as hard as you can.: Alver said gently.
Raina did as he said, and to her suprise, her mother started crying. " I didn't want to let you go, but I don't want you to stay here and die like the rest of the family! I couldn't stand it!"
Raina patted her mother on the back and echoed Alver's words at her. " I think it best that I go to Haven as soon as possible." She detached herself from her mother and left the room, crying her heart out and begging her child not to die like the rest of them.
Lauren looked outside, saw the Companion standing in the training ring. He knew she was waiting for Raina, and he could do nothing about it. He rubbed a fist over his eye and yawned, regretting the drinks he'd had to put himself to sleep last night. Even after he had gotten to sleep, Kora's scent and sweet voice echoing through his head. He wished she had come to see them, even after she had become a Herald. He knew they were allowed to go home on hoildays, but Kora and her Companion had never tromped up that dirt road, not once since she had left.
: I know the one you grieve over.: Came a soft voice in his head, and he thought that the hangover he had was worse than he had guessed, but he sobered up instantly when it came again. : Your pain is my pain, your love, my own. If you'll have me, I'll Choose you.:
Suddenly a white blue light filled everything in and around him and he felt like he was floating. Now he knew why Kora had left him, her love for her Companion and duty and other things kept her away from the man she had loved, and in his wonder, he forgave her. He forgave her because he knew that all those years ago, she had felt what he was feeling now, and he would never condemn someone for this, this joy, this glee, this love.
He cried out with his whole being. One single word that meant the world to the both of them. :YES!:
Raina found her older brother, hoping that he wouldn'y cry if she told him she was leaving that day. Her father and the rest of the staff knew, they wished her all the luck, and she had readied her pack and things, loaded them on Alver, and then went to seek Lauren. She didn't want to tell him goodbye, but there was no choice.
" Lauren, I have to go now, Mothers all in a sorts and Father is trying to calm her, but nothing helps. I think you should try." She said, hugging him from behind.
He turned around with a wide grin on his face. " Why should I tell her that she's losing another child?" He stepped aside and there in her veiw now, was a Companion, thinner and more graceful than Alver, and with a slight curl in her forelocks. She was shorter, but there was a sense of age to her.
" Alver, is that-?" Raina started, and Alver nodded his head.
: My sister. Not that I knew she had this planned.: He snorted and Raina giggled as he knelt and let her on.
: I did not plan on anything! I came along to make sure your rump stayed out of trouble. It's not my fault that my Chosen decided to be in the same place as yours!: Shora retorted, nipping him on the behind as they set down the packed dirt road.
" They sound like us Raina, funny, is it not?" Lauren asked, hugging her from Shora's back, and then kissing her forehead brotherly.
: Not!: Came the two annoyed Companion voices.
Lauren and Raina shared a fit of giggles as they rode into the sunset, leaving the only home they had ever known. Lauren didn't plan on ever coming back, and Raina didn't know what she planned, but she knew it was coming soon.
Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.
Chapter 2
Raina rose with the sun, taking a short cold bath in the lake and sitting in the rising dawn, meticulously combing and braiding the wealth of long golden hair she had.
But no, Mama says I have to be a lady. ' Not even lady assassins get to cut their hair.' Mama say, ' And you are most definitely an assassin lady.'. She thought as she painfully ripped another knot out of her hair.
She'd waited all night for the Companions to come storming in through the gates, but they hadn't come yet. Even in the hours it had taken her to get up and go to the lake to bathe, they still hadn't come. As she walked back into the large manor to put on her good dress, she wondered if they would even come at all.
: What are you waiting for?: Shora asked Alver, the both of them crouched as well as any Companion could in the bushes. : It is her, I can tell. She looks the same as in my Vision.:
Alver shook his head, making sure to take care of the bells catching on the leaves and small branches surrounding them. : We already know that the blond hair breeds true in the family, so who is to say that there is not another little girl running around?:
: Alver.: Shora whined. : Just get over yourself and do it!:
Shora is right. He thought ti himself, getting to his hooves and ready to step out of the bushes. I shouldn't worry.
: Raina Ravensmorn?:
Raina whirled around, her braid smacking her in the face and her eyes widening.
" Um, yes?" She called into the slowly warming morning.
: My name is Alver, and I Choose You.: A flood of love and warmth ran into her heart, stretching it to its fullest and yet never breaking the bounds. She floated in the feeling, dazed and calmed somehow.
The large stallion stepped out of the bushes and he was a sight to see. He was taller at the shoulder than herself, his silver and white mane longer than her own hair, and one large blue eye blinked at her slowly, beckoning to her.
Raina threw down her brush and ran to him with a wordless sound of joy. The little girl flung her arms around him and he fell to his knees so she could climb up as her joy relayed to him threefold. Balanced on his shoulders, she laid her head on the top of his neck, surrounding it with her strong little arms. Alver Felt her relief and joy as if it were his own.
Raina felt she should have cried with happiness, as her mother sometimes did, but was to overwhelmed to do anything but simply be happy.
" Mama, I have someone to introduce you to." Raina appeared at her mothers door, her hair neatly plaited and her black trousers, boots, and red tunic impeccable.
" Our visitor perhaps? Is it a Herald?" Marie asked, throwing the rope of her golden hair over her shoulder in a gesture that her daughter often mimicked without thinking.
She stood up and brushed off her own black skirt. Marie was nervous. She wondered if the Companion's truly did have a Herald, and just needed their services. She would gladly give up her children if it meant that they would not have to suffer the same fate as some of their cousins and aunts and uncles.
" Alver, if you would?" Raina asked someone, and there was the slight sounds of dainty hoofbeats that rang like bells, then the door was pushed open by a large white horse. " Mother, I have been Chosen." Raina said proudly; gone from her voice was the childish purr, now replaced by something more adult, more mature.
" Raina, I don't know how you managed to do it, but you did! Oh, you did." Marie swept her daughter into a loving embrace, and since Raina did not get many of these from her mother, she knew not what to do!
: Wrap your arms around her and hug her as hard as you can.: Alver said gently.
Raina did as he said, and to her suprise, her mother started crying. " I didn't want to let you go, but I don't want you to stay here and die like the rest of the family! I couldn't stand it!"
Raina patted her mother on the back and echoed Alver's words at her. " I think it best that I go to Haven as soon as possible." She detached herself from her mother and left the room, crying her heart out and begging her child not to die like the rest of them.
Lauren looked outside, saw the Companion standing in the training ring. He knew she was waiting for Raina, and he could do nothing about it. He rubbed a fist over his eye and yawned, regretting the drinks he'd had to put himself to sleep last night. Even after he had gotten to sleep, Kora's scent and sweet voice echoing through his head. He wished she had come to see them, even after she had become a Herald. He knew they were allowed to go home on hoildays, but Kora and her Companion had never tromped up that dirt road, not once since she had left.
: I know the one you grieve over.: Came a soft voice in his head, and he thought that the hangover he had was worse than he had guessed, but he sobered up instantly when it came again. : Your pain is my pain, your love, my own. If you'll have me, I'll Choose you.:
Suddenly a white blue light filled everything in and around him and he felt like he was floating. Now he knew why Kora had left him, her love for her Companion and duty and other things kept her away from the man she had loved, and in his wonder, he forgave her. He forgave her because he knew that all those years ago, she had felt what he was feeling now, and he would never condemn someone for this, this joy, this glee, this love.
He cried out with his whole being. One single word that meant the world to the both of them. :YES!:
Raina found her older brother, hoping that he wouldn'y cry if she told him she was leaving that day. Her father and the rest of the staff knew, they wished her all the luck, and she had readied her pack and things, loaded them on Alver, and then went to seek Lauren. She didn't want to tell him goodbye, but there was no choice.
" Lauren, I have to go now, Mothers all in a sorts and Father is trying to calm her, but nothing helps. I think you should try." She said, hugging him from behind.
He turned around with a wide grin on his face. " Why should I tell her that she's losing another child?" He stepped aside and there in her veiw now, was a Companion, thinner and more graceful than Alver, and with a slight curl in her forelocks. She was shorter, but there was a sense of age to her.
" Alver, is that-?" Raina started, and Alver nodded his head.
: My sister. Not that I knew she had this planned.: He snorted and Raina giggled as he knelt and let her on.
: I did not plan on anything! I came along to make sure your rump stayed out of trouble. It's not my fault that my Chosen decided to be in the same place as yours!: Shora retorted, nipping him on the behind as they set down the packed dirt road.
" They sound like us Raina, funny, is it not?" Lauren asked, hugging her from Shora's back, and then kissing her forehead brotherly.
: Not!: Came the two annoyed Companion voices.
Lauren and Raina shared a fit of giggles as they rode into the sunset, leaving the only home they had ever known. Lauren didn't plan on ever coming back, and Raina didn't know what she planned, but she knew it was coming soon.
