Twin Destinies

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

Chapter 3

Raina always rose with the dawn now, wondering what her family was doing without her and Lauren around. " Mama always said she wanted a big family," She said to Alver, who was laying down behind her, a backrest for her. " But will she have anymore children now? I mean, they keep going away."
Lauren woke to her musing and just lay there, listening to her talk to herself as the sun rose, spreading rays of light everywhere, and every single one of them seemed to be bent on reaching his eyes and waking him completely. He wondered when his little sister had gotten so wise, wondered why she knew about things that he hadn't learned of until he was in his late teens. He wondered that if he had gotten the same training, then why wasn't he like that? So thoughtful and wise, and yet still so young?
: We can't all be like that Lauren. Sometimes it just so happens that someone walks into your life that is like that, but you might never be.: Shora's voice laughed into his head. : Besides, I think I'm serious enough for us both. But Raina will have a lot on her hands, Alver's about as serious as a year old colt who wants a piece of sugar!:
Lauren laughed silently with Shora and then just lay there, feeling her love flow down the line that connected them, filling him like a breath of warm air on a cold night. But there was something there, she could not give all her love to him, because there was someone else.
: Who is it, Shora?: He asked silently.
: Alver.: She didn't sound guilty, just unsure. : I was there when our mother birthed him and I was the first one that he saw. He didn't know it then, but he unintentionally completed the lifebond. I had seen it happen in a Vision, and I knew it would happen sooner or later, and to let him walk around most of his life with only half a self seemed too cruel, so I let him do it. He knows about it, and he thanks me for it often, but he has more love to give than me. I- I must limit it.:
: Why?: Lauren asked, feeling the pain in their bond and wanting to stop it, make it feel better.
: The one I loved once, with all my heart, he left me. He didn't mean to, but it was not a fault of anyone's but fate. He had to go get his Chosen, and by then, she was the only thing in his life that. He still talks to me, but I can no longer hear the love.: She hung her head and he got up, not bothering with telling Raina that he was awake, not that she had noticed; and went to his Companion.
" How old are you Shora?" He asked quietly, knowing that Companions judged age differently than humans.
: Seven years old. About late teens for humans, I would suppose.: She would have shrugged, but since she lacked the anatomy for it, she flicked a fly off her shoulder with her tail.
" I'm not much older than you... But I can do my best to fill the gap that he left behind." Lauren said, making one of the promises he knew he would keep forever.
Shora raised her head and looked into his own dark blue ones. : I would like that very much.:

They were off by the next candlemark, having bathed and eaten. Raina gazed, this time not at the road ahead of her, or even Alver, but at her older brother. He looked like a god up there on Shora, his blond hair and blue eyes a great match for Shora's shining coat and sparkling sky blue eyes. She didn't know how she looked, riding Alver, but she knew that it must look odd, a child riding a Companion that was two feet taller than her at his shoulder. So she was short, she was a child, they were supposed to be short and small. Her mother often said that the only thing about her that wasn't small was her soul, her father jokingly said it was her green eyes. She agreed with both of them.
" How much longer 'till we get to Haven?" She asked absently, finding the hoofbeats putting her to sleep.
" About five days, and then another few hours before we get to the Collegium. It will be awhile, love." Lauren said, but Raina had a trick up her sleeve.
" Not if we run." She said, and Alver reared up in the air, then shot off like a bolt of white and blue lightning.
: He wants to run does he?: Lauren heard Shora say absently to herself. He twined the reins around his fists and held on for dear life.

Over the next two hours, Lauren traveled farther away from home than he ever had in his entire life. He gloried in the feel of Shora underneath him, laboring to keep up with her brother, who was fleeter and had a little less wieght on him. Her muscles moved so smoothly, so easily. He only wished that he moved like that, so effortlessly. His assassin training had failed him in that, only giving him a headache and no few bruises over the years.
: Our endurance and speed levels far surpass that of a regular horse. And you have noticd how smooth it is, our gait. If you wish to, and if you became tired enough, you could fall asleep in the saddle.: Shora informed him, the pair finally coming to a slowing point.
" I've never ridden a horse in my life!" Lauren knew that he would be aching if he ever got off.
Raina laughed at him, knowing full well why her brother had never ridden a horse. He'd been near trampled by one when he was smaller, another reason why his assassin training was never completed, his left ankle was slightly lame, but he bore it so well that hardly anyone noticed. She wondered why he was not afraid of the Companions as well then....
: Because no matter what state a Companion was in, they would never harm an innocent human being. Especially not their Chosen, and I think that Lauren has known that for quite some time.: Alver said, his nose blowing in and out as he tried to catch his breath.
" Lauren, there's a stream nearby, we should stop and eat something." Raina pointed behind some trees and sure enough he could hear the water running.
He nodded and steered Shora to it, even though she didn't really need to be directed at all. He just wanted to get the hang of riding and she let him. After they had lunched and bathed themselves, they just sat there in the clearing, thinking.
" It's going to get very hot later Lauren, we should sleep at day instead of night this time. Traveling at night is better anyway, makes us less obvious targets." Raina said, and pulled a few things out of her pack.

She hung a sling and her dagger on her belt, as well as the bag of polished stones that she used for shots, and then buckled her sword harness on her back and drew it out of its waist sheath. She polished it for a minute, then deftly slid it into the back sheath. Lauren was amazed that she had even managed to fit her sword and its harness in her pack, but Raina was a master at hiding things. He had taken his own weopans, but saw no reason why he should arm himself now.
" Why Raina?" Lauren asked, and shivered when Raina turned her face to look at him.
" I heard wolves last night, one of them came up to the camp and sniffed around. But Alver scared him off." She said. " They weren't real wolves."
" Changewolves." Lauren answered her thought.
They had lost a sister to a pack of Changewolves. Out of nowhere they had appeared and Mira thought she could take them, but in the end she became their meal. She'd left the leader without an eye and a few more without a tail, but she had been killed. Raina was but three years old, and she had watched them devour her sister. Lauren had driven them off with a few firebombs, but it had been too late.
" I want to ride by night, as fast and as long as Shora and Alver can go. I won't be caught by them, but if we are, I am fighting." Raina's voice was low and dangerous, something that registered as scary in a girl of nine summers.
Lauren patted her shoulder and drew her into a hug, despite the sword poking him in the cheek. " I won't stop you." As they shared that moment, a howl went up far away and they both stiffened.
" I think we should run now." Lauren whispered, and Raina nodded.
They both leapt upon their Companions and were off and away.