It's been a few months since I read Lodestar, so I apologize for any inconsistencies, but I believe it's mostly accurate. When reading Lodestar for the first time, I couldn't help wondering about what Keefe would have been thinking while he waited in Lumenaria. Now, a few months later, this has come into existence. Please review, it would really make my day! Constructive criticism is always welcome! ~ Queenie
He crashed onto the beach in Lumenaria, so tired that he could barely hold his eyes open. Getting away from the Neverseen was harder than it seemed, and it didn't exactly seem easy. He dug his hand into his pocket, pulling out the Caches to check on them - the one part of his plan that actually worked - before tucking them back into the safety of his cloak. Struggling to his feet, his mind wandered to the real reason he had come to Lumenaria, not just to get away from the Neverseen, but to find Sophie.
Sophie, the girl with a heart for another. Keefe didn't need anyone to point out her crush on Fitz, it was pretty obvious, at least to him. But that was getting off-topic, what was he supposed to be doing? Right, staying alive seemed pretty important…and difficult. Spotting a goblin patrol coming his way, he dashed behind a nearby outcropping, trying to figure out what to do next. Goblins had an excellent sense of smell, surely they would find him?
Somehow, they walked right past him, though there was a freakish moment where one of the goblins paused, sniffing the air, and Keefe thought he was done for. After a couple of seconds, however, the guard kept walking. Keefe was relieved of course, he definitely didn't want to be caught, but if he were able to slip past them that easily, albeit probably stinking like seawater and sewage, how easy would it be for Neverseen to do so?
Gosh, he was really starting to sound like Sophie now.
Speaking of Sophie, (Thinking of Sophie? Keefe was too tired to question it that deeply.) he really needed, and wanted, to check in with her. If only he was able to contact her, instead of her having to reach out every time. It left for some nerve-racking waits. In the meantime, Keefe figured he should probably find a better place to camp out, who knew how long he'd be here?
After wandering down the shoreline for a while, being careful to avoid any goblins, he found a small cave, hidden from view and large enough to fit in comfortably. Sure, it smelled worse than a Gulon, (And boy did they smell!) but it would work.
Keefe lay there in the dark, his thoughts a jumbled mess. He alternated between thinking about what the others would do when he returned, Sophie, new pranks he could try to get Dex involved in, plans to try and stop the Neverseen, Sophie, what his mother (if he could even call her that) was currently doing, and Sophie.
Ok, he was done waiting, he needed to do something, or he was going to go crazy. He had to have been lying here for at least a couple of hours, but, looking outside, the sun had barely moved at all. Groaning, he flopped back into the cave, regretting the action when it reopened some wounds in his back. Ouch, he had forgotten about those. The Neverseen had never been particularly kind in their "training," no matter what he may have told Sophie.
But seriously, he was bored out of his mind just lying here in the dark.
He crawled back out of the cave, doing his best to watch for guards as he did so, and headed towards the castle. Stopping a safe distance away, he tried to figure out what to do next. What he really wanted to do was sneak into the castle and find Sophie, but he figured that wouldn't end well. Deciding that any decisions could be made after a bit of rest, he searched around for another shelter, one that the goblins would be unlikely to find. Finding one, he sat down, cross-legged, and stared up at the castle. Once again, he wished he could contact Sophie, or any of the others really, but since he couldn't, he was resigned to waiting.
After a couple of hours, Keefe spotted movement in the castle. The ground had started shaking slightly and he could see bits of the castle start to crumble. Jumping to his feet, Keefe ran towards the castle. Sophie, Sophie, Sophie… Her name ran through his mind repeatedly, like a call, or a plea for her safety, urging him to go faster.
He stumbled over rocks and tripped through sand, but didn't stop, couldn't stop, not when he knew that Sophie was in there somewhere.
He was still a good distance from the castle when it started collapsing, but he could see the people fleeing the castle in droves. Keefe was torn, there was a high chance Sophie was in that crowd, but knowing her, she would manage to be one of the few to still be inside. Making his choice, Keefe raced into the castle in ruins.
Keefe clambered throughout the castle; it was moments like this that he wished he were a telepath. If he were a telepath, he could just mentally find Sophie in the ruins, and wouldn't have to search the entire castle. Of course, there was also the chance that she had made it out safely, but Keefe wasn't convinced that was the case.
The inside of the castle was practically deserted, he only ran into three people during his search, all of them heading straight for the exit. After over fifteen minutes of searching, Keefe was forced to admit defeat. He could barely breathe from the clouds of dust and knew that any more digging around would only serve to get himself killed. This, along with the fact that Sophie could very possibly be standing safely on the beach, was what drew him back out of the castle.
Stumbling out into the fresh air, Keefe could only hope for the best. He made his way towards the impromptu triage tent, scanning the crowds for a glimpse of blonde hair and warm brown eyes. He wandered through the crowd for what felt like hours, growing more anxious with every passing moment.
Eventually, Keefe wandered away from the others, heading back towards the beach. He ran his hand through his hair absentmindedly, the usually carefully styled locks now falling flat over his eyes. He couldn't believe himself, Sophie was probably still in the castle, being crushed to death, and he had given up searching just because he had dared to hope.
She was the one who deserved to live, not him.
Keefe was the one who ran off to join the Neverseen and somehow escaped mostly unscathed. Sophie was the one trying to repair relationships across all the intelligent species while also trying to take down the Neverseen, and despite all this, Keefe was the one out here while she was stuck in there.
After all this craziness, Keefe's feet began to drag and his back slumped with exhaustion, his adrenaline rush from the search was wearing off fast. At this point, he wasn't even paying attention to where he stepped, too caught up in his own thoughts. If he had bothered to look around and survey his surroundings, Keefe would have discovered the two of them much quicker. As it were, it was not until he was nearly upon them that he bothered to glance up, and when he did, he could hardly believe his eyes.
His breath catching in his throat, knees trembling weakly, Keefe dropped to his knees beside her. There in the sand, covered in dirt and grime, lay Sophie (… and Edaline, gosh, he had been so caught up in his worry for Sophie he had forgotten that Edaline had been with her.)
Keefe blinked his eyes in disbelief, half convinced that this was a cruel vision that his exhausted mind had thought up or an after-effect from one of the tricks the Neverseen had used. Reaching out tentatively, he brushed his trembling hand across her cheek, feeling the warm skin beneath his fingertips.
It was real, she was real.
Still cupping her cheek, he felt the exact moment that she began to stir, blinking her eyes open and squinting with confusion. Her gold-flecked eyes met his own teary blue ones, and for a long moment they just sat there, taking in each other's presence.
Things were far from perfect, Lumenaria was destroyed, the Neverseen were still at large, and countless people could be stuck in the ruins, trapped and injured. But for now, all that mattered to Keefe was that Sophie was beside him.
When only moments ago he had believed her to be lost forever, now he knew her to be safe.