If someone were to ask Saoirse Reed about herself then the first thing she would say is that she preferred to be called Shay. Saoirse was a perfectly fine name and looked pretty when written out, yet she had never met someone who was able to pronounce it right on the first try. Shay had often wondered why her parents had chosen something so unusual, especially in comparison to her brother's far more common name of Brandon. They had never given her a satisfying answer to this question, but they had been dead since she was three so Shay could forgive them for that.

The second thing she would say is that there wasn't much to know about her. In general, Shay tended to think of herself as a perfectly normal thirteen-year-old girl. Yes, her memory was better than average - just a trick she had taught herself- and Shay was admittedly excellent at some areas of mathematics -addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, and even basic algebra. Everything beyond that always looked like nonsense to her. Most importantly, she also knew how to make a delicious pie, both of the sweet and savory verity.

It was the last talent that people praised her for the most.

The thing was, none of those talents were particularly interesting or useful. At least, not when it came to community good. That was something Shay had become increasingly more aware of with every day that passed since her thirteenth birthday without being chosen for an apprenticeship.

Because that's how things in Haven's Pass worked. All kids had to attend the schoolhouse to get the basic level of education, and when they turned thirteen they began filtering into the different roles of the community. Usually, this was done through apprenticeships. One of the adults in the town who occupied a distinct role -baker, mason, electrician, teacher, midwife, etc- would pick the child or children they thought would best suit their role and take them under their wing. Often this was their own child, but that was not always the case. Sometimes an adult in the community would not only train their own child for the role but also take on an apprentice. In that case, it was an unspoken tradition, even rule, that if the apprentice was the opposite sex of their child, the two would be expected to marry.

If someone were to ask Shay to write a page-long essay about the issues with this system, she could do so in roughly fifteen minutes. Yet it was a system that had kept Haven's Pass moving along for three generations now and no one seemed overly eager to change it. So Shay had long decided to simply accept it as fact and do her best to find her place in the community.

And yet even after six months, Shay still hadn't been chosen for any apprenticeship. And no matter what Brandon, Nicky, or Mrs. Cross told Shay, she was starting to get worried. If you weren't chosen for an apprenticeship, you inevitably ended up on crop field duty, sanitation duty, permanent guard duty, or even fishing duty. And those were all very important, even noble positions to hold in the community! But they weren't what Shay wanted to do for the rest of her life! More than that, she was certain there was more she could do! Better ways she could serve her community!

'I guess that, in the end, that's what this little adventure had all been about. I thought that, if I could prove my worth to the community by finding medical aid then they would see me as someone valuable.'

That didn't change the fact that Nicky and Brandon would definitely kill Shay when she got back. Maybe she could use the rest of the townsfolk as a shield?

"Are you paying attention to me, Saoirse?"

Shay was so startled by the sharp voice that she nearly spilled the bowl of rich soup all over herself. Thankfully, she managed to steady just in time.

"Sorry," she apologized quickly, eyeing the remains of her stew before deciding the best course of action was to stop up the remaining broth with the chunk of brown bread that it had been served with. "I was distracted."

"I can see that," the strange woman mumbled. "No need to eat so fast. We have plenty of stew, Simply request more once you're finished and you will be served it."

Shay wasn't sure if she believed that. Sure, Erilda -That was a nice name, Erilda. Shay liked the way the r rolled around in her mind- hadn't done or said anything to spark distrust in Shay's heart, but she found it difficult to trust most people. They were, after all, often odd creatures; people rarely said exactly what they meant and tended to look at Shay like she was the idiot for not getting that secret second question that always seemed to be behind their words.

So she finished the stew quickly and squinted up at Erilda. Despite standing only a few feet from Shay, her form was mostly a yellowish and blue blob. "Sorry again. What were you asking?"

While she couldn't see if Erilda rolled her eyes, Shay was fairly certain she heard the woman let out that long, low exhale of breath that always accompanied annoyance. "I was asking if you felt well enough to come with me and help plot a course back to your village. My associates and I feel it is imperative to get there as soon as possible. As I'm sure you know, infections and injuries can do a monumental amount of damage very quickly if untreated."

The memory of the round puckered wound on Brandon's hip that just kept bleeding and bleeding and oozing flashed into Shay's mind. No, more than just the side of it. The smell! The smell and the way Brandon's pale forehead burned with fever as sweat dripped off him was there too.

All of a sudden, the delicious stew turned to sour muck in Shay's stomach.

She swallowed hard against the urge to vomit as she put the empty wooden bowl down on the little side table. "Yeah, I remember. Let's go."

"...Would like more to eat first?"

It wasn't an apology. But the way Erilda paused and softened her words made Shay think it could have been. Still, she shook her head. "No, you're right. We should get that handled as soon as possible."

She swung her legs out of bed and tried to stand up, only to let out a yelp when her left leg buckled out from under her. Shay frowned, looking down at the offending limb. "I must have really hurt you, huh?"

"The injury was quite severe," Erilda admitted with a nod. "You had a severe comminuted fracture, in addition to other injuries. You came close to needing a complete amputation. Thankfully, one of my associates could perform a then-theoretical procedure to save the limb."

Shay winced at the thought of herself with one less leg. How would she do anything to help Brandon, Nicky, and the community without a leg? She rubbed her thigh under the soft material of her new white robe. Perhaps she was imagining it, but the muscles there felt different. Thinner maybe? Or just weaker?

"Will there be any lasting effects?"

Erilda then paused, maybe thinking of the best way to word it or maybe because she was concerned about Shay's reaction to the news. "... My associate who performed the procedure has admitted that there will likely be a weakness in the limb for the foreseeable future. You should be able to walk fine, and there will be minimal lingering pain in the knee, but there may always be weakness. If you would like, I can arrange for you to speak with Dhaia to clear up any concerns or questions."

"That would be nice, thank you," Shay replied.

Shay rubbed her thigh again before forcing herself to stand. Predictably, her left leg wobbled, and she adjusted her stance to maintain her balance before shakily following Erilda out of the building.

'I can get used to this, I'm sure I can. Especially since the alternative of losing my leg completely. Besides, Nicky has gone through his entire life without being able to hear or talk! And if he could do that, then it would be foolish of me to complain about a bit of weakness in my leg.'

Shay's left leg.

"I must say, you took that news rather well," Erilda said.

"Would there be any use in getting upset?" Shay asked with a shrug. "Besides, even if I do end up with a wonky leg, that'll mean that Brandon and I match. Probably."

In her mind, the colorful blob that was Erilda cocked an eyebrow at Shay. "And who is Brandon?"

"My older brother. The one I told you about, he got shot in the hip. His left hip, to be more precise. And now he can barely move that leg. It smells bad too. Sorta sweet, but also bad. I didn't even know that a combination of smells was possible. That's a sign of infection, right?"

"Yesssss," Erilda said slowly, drawing out the 's' of her word.

"And that's not good, right?"

"No, it's not. But so long as we get to him soon enough, the infection can be treated. However, I won't speak on regaining mobility in his leg until I have assessed his situation and condition myself."

Erilda pushed open the wide double doors at the front of the building, leaving Shay to blink at the sudden wall of blinding light. A warm breeze hit her face, something she found pleasant in comparison to the cool, dimly lit building she had woken up in.

Shay blinked at the bright sun, gray eyes swirling around the new little world before her. Which admittedly just consisted of large gray and brown blobs and many smaller, differently colored blobs that scurried around; all standing out against the familiar tan landscape of the Commonwealth. It didn't look like any place she'd seen before -not that Shay had gotten a chance to see many places- and despite the events that brought her here, the uniqueness excited Shay.

'Second Chance, that's what Erilda called it. That's a good name. A logical name. People who are healed sometimes get second chances at life.'

"How many people are here?"

"Fifteen for now. I hope to get more eventually. Either more volunteers from my w- Where I am from, or perhaps even people from around here. Wherever they may come from, I intend to eventually see this community grow large and stronger," Erilda explained. And, for the first time, Shay heard genuine warmth and affection in the woman's words.

Then Erilda paused in her step, looking back down at Shay. "Many of my colleagues will likely look strange to you. Despite this, I assure you that they are all perfectly harmless. Please try not to have the same reaction you did upon seeing me. Some will likely take offense at being called a 'ghoul'. And it is not best to insult those attempting to aid you and your people."

That made sense to Shay, so she nodded eagerly. "I can do that. I'm not sure how Brandon and the other people from my town will react, but I think I can control myself. Besides, I only freaked out because I saw you so close and so suddenly. And unless they get right up to my nose, I probably won't be able to see what makes your colleagues look so different anyway."

"Oh, I don't know about that." But then Erilda fully stopped, turning to look down at Shay as if only now truly registering her words. "What do you mean by that?"

Shay pointed to her face. "Bad eyes. They've been like that forever. I can only see this far-" she held her hand about two feet in front of her face "-before everything just turns into a blob."

"You need spectacles. Strong ones," Erilda said. Shay got the impression the woman was talking more to herself than Shay. A feeling that was all but confirmed when the woman gave a small nod and added, "Yes, we can do that. Not immediately. But we can do that."

"Really?!" Shay's body gave an excited jolt at the news, something that jarred her weak leg and almost sent her sprawling. "I've always wanted glasses. Brandon says that some people in the big cities still know how to make them. But we've never been able to get them so I had to deal with it. And it sucks a lot, not being able to see at all."

"Yes, I imagine it does." There was amusement in the tall woman's voice. It wasn't as nice as the warmth and affection Shay heard earlier, but it was still lovely. "You are a very odd child. Do you know that?"

Shay shrugged. "Yeah. Lots of people have told me that. Sometimes they're angry about it too, and sometimes they look at me like one of those dogs who can walk on their front paws. I don't like either of those reactions though. Do you think I'm sick? I don't feel sick. Just different. And I don't mind being different, despite how people can act about it. I just wish I knew why I was different."

"No, I don't think you're sick," Erilda shook her head. "I think you summed it up perfectly: you're just different. Certain individuals are born to paint, others are born to sing, and some are born to do mathematics. They are all different, and that is neither good nor bad."

That was certainly nice to hear but it made Shay wonder. "What were you born to do then?"

"That is… still something I'm trying to decide. For a long time, I thought I knew. Then I didn't. And now I'm trying to figure it out once more. Now-" a hand settled on Shay's shoulder urging her forward. "-let us hurry. Your brother will be needing help as soon as possible."

Even though Shay had many more questions she wanted to be answered -and, as always, many thoughts in general that she wanted to express- the idea of getting back to Brandon and seeing him be made whole and well again had her smiling and quickening her pace despite the protest of her weak leg.

"I'll do whatever you need me to."

"My town is riiiiiiiiight… here," Shay said, tapping her finger on the right spot of the hand-drawn map. "When you get to the top of these ridges, you sort of got to look down and under them. The town's kind of hidden, like in the shadows. That's how we stayed safe for so long."

"If we head out within the hour, we can be there by tomorrow afternoon," a tall man who called himself Kaladil said. Shay liked his voice, and after Erilda told her that Kaladil had been the one who found and saved her, she wondered if that was why. If part of her subconscious recognized it. "Or we could spend tonight stocking up and planning, and then head out at dawn. We do that, we'll be there by nightfall."

He turned to Shay, who pulled away from the map. She had to put herself basically nose to nose with it to clearly see all the little lines and details. "You traveled far, young lady. I'm impressed."

The girl shrugged again. "I went as far as I had to. How else was I going to help my brother? Besides, you've already seen how badly I messed up so I'm not sure I deserve to get praised. Do you think I can tell Brandon that everything went according to plan and I wasn't hurt at all? He might believe that. Brandon will still be upset I went off on my own, but he won't have to know about the trouble I was in."

Kaladil and Erilda glanced at each other but said nothing. Shay got the sense that they were amused by her words. She didn't know why, the suggestion was serious and seemed logical enough in her mind.

"Your brother is going to be upset no matter what you say. I think it's best to keep the lies to a minimum," Erilda said. "I can only imagine what went through his head when he found your note."

"Welllllllllllllll…"

"Saoirse, You did leave a note, correct?" Erida asked, voice stern now. "That wasn't a lie?"

"No!" Shay wasn't a liar. She prided herself on that fact. Maybe she didn't always tell people what was going on in her head, but Shay hated lying. She also wasn't good at it, which was part of her dislike of the practice. "I did leave a note, I just left it with my friend, Nicky. He runs the town library."

Well, 'library' was a generous description. It was more a room in the schoolhouse that had a couple of bookshelves and the amassed collection of 113 books. A number that may seem like a lot except that Shay had already read 3/4 of them and most of the ones that remained either bored her or Nicky said were too 'adult' for her. As if Nicky was that adult-ish. He may have been nineteen, but the actual adults never treated him like he was one of their peers. They looked at him like they looked at Shay: like they didn't know if they should be angry about his existence or just confused.

'I wonder if they have books here. They probably wouldn't let me take them home, but they might let me read them. I'll have to ask later. If I ask why everyone's busy, they might be more likely to say yes just to get me out of the way.'

"Any why would you do that?"

"Because I knew it would be a while before he saw the note and that Nicky has a hard time getting people to listen to him at all, which meant no one would be able to send out a search party for me until I had gotten a decent distance away."

Yeah, Shay was going to get it from both Nicky and Brandon whenever she got home. And probably just about every other adult in town. Not that she cared about the opinion of anyone but her brother and best friend.

'Okay, Mrs. Cross too. She'll be worried sick over me and that's not fair.'

Kaladil rubbed his forehead. "Strange child you are. All right, Head Healer, with your permission, I'm going to start overseeing the loading up of the wagons. It'll mean slower travel that way, but we may need to transport anyone we can't treat there and that's the best way to do it. Can you pick out who you want to go and who you want to stay?"

"Oh, I want to go too!"

Erilda shook her head. "You are still recovering. You will stay here and rest."

Shay pursed her lips. "I've got to go. How else will Brandon and the others know to trust you? You said it yourself, you all look weird. That'll probably make them freak out. But if I'm with you and I say you guys are safe, everything will be a lot easier."

"...The girl has a point," Kaladil said to Erilda, voice half a sigh.

When Erilda looked down at Shay, she couldn't see the expression on her face. she imagined it was half annoyed, but also somewhat impressed. When the tall woman said nothing for a good long while, Shay could tell that she had won.

Saoirse Reed may have been a perfectly ordinary thirteen-year-old girl, but when push came to shove she knew how to get what she wanted. and now, she stood there and grinned proudly.