Heart to Heart

HANNA MALIA FRIGATE SHIP, The sea of Ervana, East of the Elydrian Continent 2420 AA, After the Great Ascension. Havillah was amazed at how Killion was able to escape the horde of inquisitive soldiers. They seemed a little bit dismayed by his tactic, but nonetheless, they obeyed him. As for the other soldier. The one that had come with her, true to his word, he had disappeared as soon as he had delivered her to Killion. Now, it was just the two of them. Walking down the corridors of the huge frigate ship.  A rather curious sight for her, who had never been on board such a vessel before. For how could she when all the Great did not require it? Any form of transportation would have been counter productive especially since their speeds and efficiency could never match that of a Great that was pulsing with Virtue. There were also portals. Ancient doorways that were employed for the more menial tasks and anyway, due to the nature of the city, the need for transportation had always been scarce. For one, there were travel restrictions imposed either by law or the crumbling of city scaffolds and two, because of the barrier mists, it was not possible to travel to the other Winds.  For now, the Great could only fly or hover as the portals were solely restricted for use by those of elder glory and above and only within the Eastern winds. Therefore being in such a vessel was a treat in itself and were it not for the shadow of failure that was still hanging heavily upon her head, Havillah would have called it an adventure and even managed to become somewhat excited about it. But now, seeing all these new sights only brought tears to her eyes even as it affirmed what she had not been ready to accept. That she could not go home and that all her past relations, either good or bad, were also lost to her. She snivelled as she spoke the very words to the Killion after narrating all her ordeals to the stranger whose life she had saved and who had come to somewhat be responsible for her own life as well. "And that is how I came to be here. The rest of it, you already know." she flicked back the stray strands of her thigh long hair as she turned away from the rolling view of the ocean outside, to gaze back into the small cabin where Killion was struggling to come into terms with some details of her story. A small smile tugged at her lips, her own insurance against the tears that even now were threatening trickle down her somewhat rounded caramel cheeks. This time she was successful in the feat and even as she stared back at the lithe form of the soldier that was propped back against a desk in the farthest corner of the room, she could only thank the Light for her good fortune. Yes, there was a lot that had gone wrong, but she was also alive and well, and not only had she managed to trace him but also, she had found him quite willing to help her in a rather desperate situation. Thisroom was the Captain's cabin. Living quarters that were easily the largest on aboard that huge frigate ship and one that he had gladly given up much to the consternation of one of the soldiers in his moderately sized crew. Of course, Killion had ignored her. He had ignored her sour looks and the protestations that must have been hanging at the very edge of her cutting tongue, just like he had done for the past fifteen years as the two of them were growing up together. He was very aware that she could be a little possessive. Thanks to that little arrangement that his mother, in a moment of insanity, had acceded to. Back then her attentions had seemed harmless enough and even lately he confessed to having heeded to some of her tantrums, but now, after this matter with Havillah, things would certainly be called different and he hoped that she could finally see that. Killion owed Havillah his life, and as such, he owed her everything. For without her interference, he knew, that he would have long been dead. Floating off somewhere in some far off sea or at the bottom of the ocean as some would say to become food for the fishes. She had taken the risk and save him, knowing that by doing so, she was breaking her home rules and so, she had endangered her own livelihood and had ended up banished from the only home that she had ever known. " I am very sorry Havillah, that by saving me you had to go to all that trouble." He mumbled as he stared back at her darkened silhouetted haloed down by the striking beams of the mid morning sunlight as it came in from the outside. "Please do not be." she answered graciously. "It was my choice to make and the funny thing is, I think, if given another chance to maybe make it right, I would probably do the same thing all over again. Maybe I am being selfish in thinking this way, but I do not think that I could have been able to restrain myself or live with myself for that matter knowing that I could have done something and not done it. My mentor and the council does not approve of it of course, but how could I explain it to them that by interfering and saving you, it felt like I was doing the right thing?" After all, she had acted without thinking. It had been an impulse. Something that even she was surprised to find out that she was able to possess, and the fact the gates had not prevented her, didn't it mean that it was destiny? Unless, Elder Lionel had a hand in it…Yes, she could see it now. It definitely had to be him, but could he have planned it so that she shot down the moment those wyverns came around with Killion in her hands? Or was it something he had left that way to entice her? Having bugged the place, he must have been party to her conversations about the humans. But still, how could he have known unless he had a way of scrying? "Well, I am still sorry Havillah that they could not see it in that way," Killion stood up and began to move towards her. "I am very grateful though that you decided to disregard all your people's rules just to make sure that I did not lose my own insignificant life. I am overwhelmed that you could do so despite the consequences and as such, allow me to spoil you in turn. I know that I cannot begin to pay you back for a life is so very priceless. However, I can do my very best to try and make your stay here comfortable and as such, I would like to take care of everything. Your food, your accommodations and anything else you may need." " Disregard my people's rules?" He laughed in response. "Anyway, please allow me to be the fournisseur of all that. I am sure that my mum and my dear old grand mum, after hearing your story will also be more than willing to accommodate you in our little cottage. If not, we always have the Hub...," he smiled. "It is not very comfortable but-" ********** "I...I..." she sputtered for a second choking back tears that had been held back until now. "Hey...hey... I am sorry." The man misunderstood even as he edged closer to her. "I am sorry that you got into all that trouble for me." He coaxed, reaching out his hands to hold her. He squeezed her arms in what he probably believed was a comforting gesture, but was a thing that was very foreign to Havillah. As a Great, contact between member of the same sex was minimal, let alone among the different genders. She had always received hugs from my friends though, but that was only because their relationship was peculiar. One that did not represent the majority. Therefore, to receive compassion from a total stranger and a human at that, seemed to be too much for her to process. "It is... it is not that." she spluttered wiping away another tear that had slipped down from her gleaming silver eyes. "Like I said, I do not hold any regret for having saved you. It felt right at the moment and I would still do it again despite everything that I have had to go through because of it." she added even as more tears continued to stream out from her now glowing eyes. Until then, she had managed to remain composed, but his treatment of her had unravelled her, causing her to crumble as her emotions got frayed by his various kind actions. "Hey, hey! Don't cry. I am glad that you feel that way because living is definitely better than dying." The man attempted to joke and despite her melancholic mood, Havillah found herself laughing behind a curtain of tears. "I know that Bethesda is not as good as your city right?" he continued as she nodded in response. "But you're welcome here and I assure you that no one will try to kick you out. Well, there is the terrors that have been trying to pull us up from this land for the last four hundred years or so I think, but apart from that I promise, there will be no one else trying to do so." She tried to smile, but instead of a smile, fresh tears flowed out her eyes, touched by this rare show of kindness from one who was of a race that was supposed to be both primitive and very barbaric. Who was primitive now? She could not help but wonder. What was the form of measuring barbarism? Were those scales wrong? Did it also mean that there were also other things that the Great were wrong about? "Please... don't cry." He pleaded. "It was supposed to be a joke." He added desperately. 'For as long as I have breath in this body, I will try my best to make sure that no harm befalls you." More tears flowed and Killion found himself feeling quite flabbergasted at the scene that was playing out before him. What was he supposed to do with a weeping female? Despite having a mother and a grandmother, he really had no experience with young women and as such, he did not know how to react when they were acting I'm this way. What reason was there to explain the spontaneous waterworks that had just exploded from her eyes? What was he even supposed to do? He mused as he thought of comforting gestures for such a scenario. What would his grandmother do? He thought again, suppressing the suggestions that his mind had just given him. Those were not to be trusted, but even as he scoured his brain for a better answer, he found that it was bringing up none and instead of doing nothing, Killion did the only thing that he could now think to do. "Oh to hell..." he muttered as he embraced her in a comforting hug, pushing aside every good reason and common sense that had been provided by his brain to stop him from doing so. Even as he did so, Calla's envy filled eyes brimming with murderous rage and malice filled up his mind, but he quickly squashed those thoughts and embraced the girl even more tightly. "I am fine now. You can stop squishing me." After something, Havillah squeezed out from within his arms and he blushed as he stumbled back, flabbergasted at what he had just done. "Sorry." he smiled awkwardly, horrified that she had noticed his weird display of nerves. "It's okay... I was just joking by the way. I am very grateful for a shoulder to cry on and in some ways you even remind me of my friends." she told him as she wiped away the last vestiges of her tears from around her eyes. Like a charm, her words soothed him. Immediately wiping away his awkwardness and in an instant, he was back to his smiling self again. "Your friends?" She nodded. "They are like sisters to me. The sisters that I never had that is." "So she plans to think of me as a sibling?" Killion thought as he took in the words that somewhat confused him. He was glad that it meant that he was special,  but as a sibling? "A brother?" He tried the words in his mind and also on his tongue. "Well, I have never had a sibling growing up, but I once had close friends." he said as he remembered his childhood friends, Honto and Teneru. "To be honest though the soldiers are like family too, but we are not that close as to share everything." Havillah nodded in understanding. "Is that what you are looking for?" She asked him and this time he was the one to nod his head. "Well... I have brothers and they are pretty... Troublesome for lack of a better word so I wouldn't want that kind of relationship. But friendship is fine as it is the greatest treasure that I ever haf in my life." "I concur." he agreed readily,. For some reason, he found himself relieved by that conclusion. A reason that he was yet to discover. However, he did not get think about this reaction for long. For at that moment, she began to hound him, filling him with questions about his family and whether or not they would actually accept her. She must be feeling nervous as he understood he would also feel had been in her shoes. Therefore, he went ahead to assuage her fears. "It's just me, mum and grand mum and I am sure that they will be thrilled to have you. They live in this little cottage, west of Bethesda. It is not much, but it is very cosy. There are flowers, several gardens..." he said as enumerated all the things that he thought that a girl would like even as she resisted her own thoughts. Thoughtd that were l geared at making her relive the memories of her own home back in the city. Her mind drifted back to Moriella and Cjaira even as she wondered how they were doing and how they taken the news of her banishment. What did they think about what had happened to her? Did they even know? Did the elders tell them? The news must have circulated by now. After all, there was a bench of her peers present to bear witness to her trial. These thoughts were not helpful she finally surmised as she recognized her growing sadness. Dwelling upon it wouId only breed depression. Therefore, she dismissed those thoughts and turned back to Killion who had just then finished with his depictions. For a moment, he eyed her speculatively and she wondered if he was finally aware that she had not been listening. How would it take it? She questioned as she noticed the frown that had now formed on his rather handsome face. "When was the last time you ate something?" As if to agree with him, her stomach rumbled. Havillah looked away in embarrassment as Killion laughed at her mortified expression. "Stay here. I'll have something prepared for you." He reached out for the cabin's door knob before adding. "There's a shower through that door and also feel free to rest. This whole room is now yours."