Renn’s scent still lingered strongly in her room.
Which really shouldn’t be that surprising. After all she’s only been gone a little over a dozen days, and she’d been sleeping and staying in this room for months. Add that to my ability to sll stuff so well and her natural scent being… well… a little stronger than a normal creature’s, being what she was, such a thing really shouldn’t surprise .
Yet it did all the sa.
It was about ti for dinner. Which told I’d hear the answer soon… or at least the general consensus. They might not co to a final vote just yet… this was important, in its own way. And they weren’t just voting on Renn, either.
I had closed Renn’s room's windows, and the curtains. The storm was still here and roaring strong, and it was accompanied by lightning. I wasn’t in the mood for the room to be lit up again and again incessantly. The two candles I had lit illuminated the room well enough.
Honestly I wanted to just sit in the dark, in silence… but I knew better than to let myself indulge in such a thing.
Most of my day had been spent dealing with Thraxton’s family. Thraxton himself I had been able to entrust Brandy and Gerald and the rest to, so they could negotiate the contract between the Animalia Company and Lun. Yet because of the precarious nature of it, Brandy and the rest didn’t want Thraxton’s children or wife involved. I couldn’t bla them, but it wasn’t like they didn’t know we were… well… special.
Luckily I had been able to let a few of the other mbers deal with them, but I still ended up spending several hours today with Thraxton’s wife and children. They were honestly… typical noble types, those who had been sheltered and pampered most of their lives, but they weren’t bad people. A little strange, but not the type of high-class nobles I usually found myself detesting.
Really they had been fine. I was just… not in the mood to deal with such people or things. Not in the mood at all.
Humans, especially human children, always treated like so kind of special existence when they learned what I was. I’ve long since grown to not get annoyed over such treatnt or their unrelenting questions, but right now I was far from the calm and even-natured man I usually was.
My mood was sour and I was angry… and it honestly wasn’t fair to the rest of the world that I was in such a bad mood.
People usually got hurt or died when I was like this, so I needed to be careful.
Thus my hiding in Renn’s room… and my attempts to not get involved with Thraxton, his family, or the cleanup of Lun and that creature’s corpse.
I sighed as I leaned forward, to rest on the top of the chair’s backrest. I was sitting on it the wrong way, but it was more comfortable for to do so. The shape of the chair was just… a little odd. The kind of odd that made one feel just uncomfortable enough to notice, yet not have an actual reason to give for it.
The door to Renn’s room was open, but only so that I could hear any voices or footsteps to let know that the rest of the Society had finished their eting. I wasn’t really… restless or too worried over their vote, but at the sa ti I had to admit I wanted to hear the results.
I had a feeling as to what they would vote to do with Renn, but I still wasn’t sure if I should get upset over it or not.
Scratching the spot behind my ear, I studied the large armoire not too far from . It was still full of Renn’s clothes, and likely the real reason her room still slled so much like her. So of the stuff hanging in there and upon the large open doors of the thing was stuff she’s worn nearly every day for over a year. While traveling, on top of it all.
Speaking of scents… Fly had ntioned many tis that Renn had slled like her master.
Which was very strange, since she didn’t sll like those things at all.
Renn’s sll was one I’d notice anywhere. For one reason or another, it was sothing I could notice in a very crowded and slly room. So I knew the sll well. Or at least, thought I did.
Those flower like creatures had slled of iron and the sea. And not just because I had crushed their hearts and gotten stained by their ink-like blood.
Renn didn’t sll like those things at all.
The only thing I could think of was Fly’s nose was either malfunctioning or just tuned differently… or the sll I knew and had slled during my battles with their master, and the larger one, was not the sll it usually gave off.
Maybe the sll I knew was simply because I had attacked the thing. Maybe during monts of stress and anger, it had stunk in a different way.
Or maybe the things I slled was completely different than everyone else, to such a degree as that. Maybe Renn really had slled like those creatures to Fly and the others.
Not too unbelievable… but…
Then the door slamd closed behind .
Turning slowly, I frowned as I watched rit walk into the room… with her head hung low.
Her thick hair hid most of her face from view, but the sounds she was making made it clear well enough what had happened… and why rit had slamd the door in anger.
Staying seated I watched rit walk up to … and then for a tiny mont I expected her to reach out, maybe to wrap in a hug as to electrocute , or hit … but instead she plopped down onto the ground. She heaved a sob, curling up into a ball right in front of where I sat.
A little disturbed, I took a deep breath and hoped that her sobbing was indeed only because of the vote… and not because sothing else had happened.
“rit…?” I asked gently, and slowly turned a little just in case I needed to actually help her in so way. She didn’t look hurt, but one never could tell sotis.
rit continued to sob, and shook her head slowly. Her heavy hair moved oddly thanks to the way she was curled up on the ground. She was kneeling, yet not… almost as if she was half on her belly. Surely that was uncomfortable? Renn’s room had a rug, but it was a thin one. One more for decoration than comfort.
“They voted no,” rit finally was able to say, yet did so through her sobs.
No.
I took a deep breath, and was a little stunned. And not because I had just been told that Renn was no longer allowed to stay and live here.
I had expected such a result… so why had it nearly knocked the wind out of ?
“She’s not banished, but she can’t live here. Can’t stay here, unless she’s with you,” rit said quickly, through clenched teeth.
I noted her anger, and focused on it. Trying to relate to her was better than the weird feeling in the pit of my stomach right now. I wanted to ignore that.
“It is likely she would not have stayed anyway, rit,” I said gently.
“Her heart will break…!” rit shouted, seemingly at herself as much as .
Nodding… I sighed as I shook my head. “It will.”
“Broke mine already too…! I can’t believe this, Vim!” rit finally looked upward, but stayed on the ground. The sight of her staring up at with such a distraught look reminded of the long past. Of the day I had returned to find her in that cetery. Surrounded by the graves of her friends. “What about then, Vim? What about ! How many died because of ! Not just because I was there, either… but by my own very hands!” rit’s shouting grew in volu as she finally looked away from , as to glare at the tiny fists shaking violently on the ground beneath her. They were very pale thanks to how tightly she was squeezing her fists.
Thankfully rit’s attention remained on her tiny fists… as I smiled at her.
How sweet of you, rit. To care for Renn so deeply in such a way. To where you’d voice your own deepest fears and concerns so easily.
“Want to know sothing horrible…? A part of had wanted her to get denied… when we first got here. So far Renn’s really not been denied or hated by anyone in our Society. Other than Silkie at Tor’s village, but that hadn’t been the sa. I wanted to her to realize she needed to find sowhere to stay and live, since it was so rare and hard to find such a ho. I wanted her to learn the harsh reality of our Society, before it was too late,” I said softly.
“You’re a heartless bastard,” rit’s voice was as thick of disgust as her hair.
I nodded. “I am.”
“I can’t believe this Vim, I don’t even know what to say,” rit said as she lowered her head to the ground, placing it on her shaking fists.
rit returned to sobbing for a mont, yet this ti it was joined by tiny little sparks. They shot out from around her shaking body, most of them concentrated around her flocks of hair. A few of the sparks danced out and connected with the rug and floor, but others simply sparked upward into the air and disappeared.
Keeping a close eye on the tiny woman in front of , and her sparks, I sighed as gently and quietly as possible. I didn’t want her venting her anger on . At least not if I could help it. Her shocks could never kill , or cause any real harm, but they were annoying. When she really went at it, with actual intent, she could do enough damage that I’d have numb limbs for weeks. Or even worse, a numb tongue. It made eating and drinking so damned difficult.
“Maybe in ti they’ll co around… maybe they just need ti,” I said gently. More so for her than my own self.
“Feh,” she made a noise as she cried. At least so of her sparking had died down.
“Did… did anyone vote yes rit?” I asked carefully.
rit shook her head. “Just and Tosh.”
“Lawrence voted no?” I asked. That was concerning. Very concerning.
She shook her head, and more sparks danced because of it. She looked up at as she sniffed. “He didn’t vote. He chose to let the rest of us decide her fate. That’s just him being an ass and not picking sides, like you,” she scowled as she said to .
Great, was her venting an inevitability? Just great. It’s been years since she last shocked , but I shouldn’t be surprised it was happening again.
“Still… I’m surprised. Lawrence had only good things to say about her, and he’s wiser than to judge Renn in such a way,” I said. Lawrence was genuinely one of our brighter mbers, even if he wouldn’t ever use his intelligence any more than necessary.
“Reatti didn’t vote either,” rit then said.
“She’s not back yet,” I said. Wasn’t that obvious?
rit shook her head as she sat up a little more. She looked very childish, sitting with her legs sprawled and a snot covered face. Tiny blue sparks danced along the ends of her thick locks as they swayed thanks to her head’s movent. “She gave Brandy her vote before we left. She believes she doesn’t have a right to vote, because of what happened. I think she feels bad for hating Renn, and so chose not to voice her opinion out of concern over it,” rit said.
Interesting. Based off the conversations the two of us had before she left to let them know it was safe to return, I had expected her to be very vocal and adamant about her feelings and expectations.
She’d not attack Renn, but that didn’t an she had to pretend she didn’t hate her.
“I’m sickened Vim. People I’ve known for years. People I thought were better than this. I can’t believe this at all,” rit said.
I blinked at the fury in her eyes. That wasn’t good… I needed rit here. Especially now that Brom was gone. With him gone, and Reatti… well… not entirely trustworthy now, she was the main line of defense for this place.
We couldn’t afford rit to leave or hate this place. Not yet anyway.
“Most of those here are feeble beings, rit. You know this well,” I said softly.
“Still!”
I shook my head. “And most don’t actually know what you did rit. They might know the stories, or rumors, but hearing of sothing and seeing it are two different things. You know that well,” I said.
rit’s face scrunched up, and I knew it was because she didn’t like what I was saying at all. Especially more so because I was right.
She shook her head lightly as she took a deep, trembling, breath. “They’re cowards. Too weak to banish her. Too weak to let her stay here,” she whispered.
“That may be. Yet such is the Society. At least one of its many flaws. A flaw I must defend just as strongly as all the positives,” I said.
“I hate your unwilling attitude,” she scorned .
“I know. Many do,” I accepted it.
She sniffed and finally went to wiping her face clean. She wore a long sleeve shirt… which very quickly the sleeves were becoming a ss as she used them to wipe her face.
It was a little surprising she was calming down already. Usually by now she’d get angry and attack . Either rit was maturing, or what just happened… hurt her heart and soul far deeper than the other events.
Which shouldn’t be possible. Yet all the sa, maybe it was.
Maybe in her older age such events were more impactful to her. Maybe it was sothing deeper.
“Renn will cry. Yet she will survive. She’ll… stumble, that’s all,” I said as I glanced at the painting of my friends.
rit also glanced at it, and she actually smiled. Seed her old friend’s face, and his daughter, was able to push aside the sorrow if even for just a mont.
“Right… I hope you’re right Vim. I really do. I don’t care what they all say or think, Renn is… important. Valuable. And not just to our Society either,” rit said.
I frowned at the way she had said that. Did she an in the sense of the grand-scale of the world… or…?
She nodded. “I an it. We need those like her, to protect and watch over those no one else would,” she said.
Ah. She ant Renn’s personality. Her gentle side, combined with her predator willingness to do what most wouldn’t dream of.
“To a point, I agree,” I nodded.
“You better. Surely you realize it too? Isn’t that why you like her so much?” rit asked.
Was it? Honestly I couldn’t really pinpoint a singular main reason why I found Renn to be so favorable… but…
After a few monts of thought I nodded. “Yes. I guess I do like that about her, yes,” I admitted.
“Good. If you had tried to avoid that topic or make a joke I was going to shock you,” rit said.
Wonderful.
“Don’t let your disgust form into hate, rit. Look at all of those we’ve lost in such a way,” I said to her carefully.
rit’s face scrunched up as she likely rembered each and every one I was speaking of. “I know, Vim. I know. But right now I just… need to cry. And hide. I think I’m going to hide in my room for the next few days,” she said.
“Nothing wrong with that.”
“Yes there is. But shut up,” rit said.
Smiling at her, I wondered if she even realized how… different she was.
“You used to be far more vocal. You’ve beco very ek,” I said.
“I know. What’s wrong with ? Am I getting old?” rit actually chuckled as she nodded, agreeing with .
“Or your rebellious years are just finally behind you. I’m proud of you, rit,” I said.
She shifted on a heel and glared at from the corner of her eyes. “Sounds cheesy coming from you, but I guess I’ll just accept it.”
Shrugging at her, I wondered what her old friends would have said of her. The ones I hadn’t been able to save in ti. Those who had been with her in the south, trying to form that kingdom.
It was sad that I really didn’t rember most of them. I could recall so faces, so mories… a few slls and smiles. Yet…
Only a few nas ca to mind. And I wasn’t really sure on how accurate so of my mories were about them.
I should have spent more ti with them, in that kingdom. Maybe if I had…
“Tosh is upset too, but he still thinks she’s your wife. He spent half the debate trying to understand why we were even voting on such a thing,” rit brought up Tosh.
“Oh? Oh… right… He might realize he made a mistake soon because of this. Though by now he should be fine. I don’t see how him realizing she’s not actually my wife could make him break again, so there’s no need for it. The danger of such a thing should be mostly gone by now,” I said.
“Poor Renn. Not only banished, now she won’t even be able to pretend,” rit said softly.
“A poor joke. She didn’t really play along anyway, it made her embarrassed,” I said. The few tis I had seen Tosh and Renn spend ti together… she had acted a little shy, as if unsure of what to say or do. She was too worried about saying the wrong thing, in the wrong way, to make him misunderstand and hurt his head again. Too gentle to correct him, yet at the sa ti too gentle to let his little misunderstanding be used to further her own desires.
I could think of quite a few people who would have overplayed it, on purpose. Renn had done the opposite.
“Herra said you’re taking her ho,” rit then said.
I nodded. “Yes. Hopefully soon… I need to get out of here before Brandy or Gerald make get too involved in all this stupid political bullshit,” I said.
rit smirked at . “Funny. They had ntioned they were going to have you do a few things during the eting.”
Shaking my head I waved rit and the knowledge away. “Please,” I begged her not to continue. Right now thinking about all that was the last thing I wanted to do.
rit chuckled and sniffed as she returned her attention to the painting. She stepped over to it, and reached up as to grab it. She had to stand on the tips of her toes and she still barely reached it.
“Renn said I could have these. I don’t really want the one with the Epoch cross, but I’ll take it all the sa,” rit said as she lifted the painting off the easel.
“Did she?” I asked. That was very interesting.
rit nodded as she stared as if entranced at the painting of Rungle and Stumble. “She knows she can’t travel with them. If she ever paints more, or ones you don’t want others to know of, send them to . I’ll take care of them for her,” rit said.
“That’s kind of you,” I said.
She nodded as she smiled at the painting.
Hm…
“Where will you hang it?” I asked.
“For now my room. If I start getting a bunch… well… I’ll figure it out then. For now though just in my room,” she said with a nod.
I frowned. “Not going to share?” I asked.
rit finally looked away from the painting, and only to glare at . “Why would I? Few here knew them, and the other few who did… well… No. They were my friends, not theirs,” rit said coldly.
Sothing told the recent events, naly the vote concerning Renn, was the main reason she said such a thing.
“Well… may as well take them now then,” I said as I stood from my chair. I stepped past rit as to grab the painting of the Epoch village.
“I should wait until she’s back,” rit complained a little, but not too fiercely. She didn’t have the sharp bite in her tone she normally did. She actually sounded… kind of nice the way she was now. It was too bad she had to endure sorrow to such a deep degree to beco so gentle and soft spoken.
“Nonsense. Plus… what if soone cos in here before she gets back?” I said.
rit frowned, and I knew it was because she was about to argue with . Soone coming into another’s room? Without permission? It was unheard of in the Society.
Yet… right now…
She finally nodded, as she too must have co to the sa conclusion as .
Yes. Right now soone would.
Because even though they hadn’t banished Renn… she was now in their minds, not a mber.
Not a real one. Not a trusted one.
rit sniffed again, and I groaned a little. A little too loudly, because she noticed and imdiately glared at … and sparked.
Woops.
“Co on. Let’s take them to your room… before I burn them again,” I said, as I kept a close eye on her hands. They were on the side of the cloth painting, holding it, and so far no sparks had jumped out from them… but…
“Hmph,” rit huffed at as she nodded… but paused before stepping towards the door.
“Love her, Vim. Be gentle with her. More gentle than you’ve ever been with anyone,” rit said.
“That’s how this all ca to be in the first place, rit,” I whispered to her.
Her tiny shoulders hunched upward, and she looked about to protest… but she instead slouched her shoulders and looked down… away from .
Following her out of Renn’s room, I sighed as we headed for hers.
Gentle…
rit sniffed and made noises all the way to her room, and thankfully we weren’t noticed or bothered. I could hear voices far beneath us, likely near the kitchens. Their voting was done, now they’d all eat and be festive. To pretend they hadn’t just done sothing horrible, they’d act as if they accomplished sothing astounding.
Reaching rit’s room, I patiently waited as she opened the door and stepped into her room.
I stayed outside; even though I knew she’d not yell or attack for entering. rit didn’t like entering other people’s rooms, but didn’t really mind anyone entering hers. Yet right now… right now…
rit took more than a few monts before returning and taking the painting from . Before I let go of it though, I nodded down to the red-eyed rit.
“I’ll try, rit. I’ll try,” I promised her.
The way her eyes glared at as she nodded… told she’d hold to that promise.
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