• PM To Join • When Worlds Collide

[Qit'ria]

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Qit hadn't even seen her mother move out of the way of her blow, simply felt the counter strike slam into the side of her face. An open hand slap so hard it threw her to the ground. Qit twisted at the waist, just in time, so as to collide with the floor with her ribs and arm, instead of the baby in her arms. That was reckless, stupid. And it hurt, a lot. But Qit'ria knew pain, could handle pain. She was a Becomer after all. She regularly made and remade her body over and over, and it hurt far worse than this. This was nothing.

Her spark screamed for bloodlust. It was raging within her, demanding to be let loose, and Qit'ria was tempted to let it. But not with Caza in her arms. This was a fight for her and her mother. Her head throbbed from the blow, her focus was a bit shaken, but she could tell her mother was toying with her. That was a blow to her pride she couldn't stand for, wouldn't stand for. Qit'ria made it back to her feet, wondering why her mother was testing her in such a way. To prove she wasn't the huntress she'd wanted? There had to be more to it, her mother was not wasteful in anything, not with resources, nor in action. Everything had a reason.

Qit'ria turned to Hork, and handed him Caza. "Outside. Now." Her eyes ferocious, glaring at him, showed that she was not to be questioned in this. He took the child, and made his way to the door. Qit'ria turned back to her mother, her glare not lessening, a sneer on her face that was perfectly matching Lat'ora's, as she let her discipline slip. Enough was enough. She snatched her power from her spark, and poured it into her bear cloak, Assimilated and stored within her body. She stepped forward toward her mother with a lunge, and ripped the bear essence out of her totem, and Unleashed its form.

She wouldn't be faster than her mother, but she could be stronger. The transformation happened instantly, putting a large drain on her ether. She didn't bother to roar as she normally would. Her lunge became a bear's charge, and her jaws were reaching out to grasp anything she could get a hold of. She didn't bother to slow the charge, for even if she missed, a bear's shoulder tackle was damaging. She'd experienced that firsthand when Bear had discovered her Flaying Rynata. Regardless of whether her mother was struck or not, the charge would carry the bear woman across the room, to prepare her counter charge.

[Pegasus]

Qit'ria and her mother, Lat'ora, had not seen each other for a long time. There was no doubt that things had changed, for them both in that time and, as Qit'ria Unleashed and then charged forward, she demonstrated one of the things. Her form shifted, her strength increased exponentially and she charged. Her mother dropped and dived out of the way, almost faster that Qit'ria could see her - her speed was incredible and Qit might consider that she was not the only one physically enhanced.

As her father stepped aside for her brother to leave, Qit was focused on her fight, which was more than understandable. A lack of focus in a fight like this could be fatal, but her brother's expression as he watched their father lean back against the doorframe and watch what was happening would have told her a lot. Had she seen it.

She didn't, though, she Unleashed and charged at her mother.

And again, it was like the woman just wasn't there.

Lat'ora stopped what she was doing, stood and raised a hand. Whether Qit'ria stopped or not, of course, was a different matter. "Your Spark is stronger than you, little mouse," she said, her voice low and soft and slightly mocking.

"Qit'ria, stop," her father said, from the door.

As her charge ended, it was a moment where things hung on a balance for Qit'ria. But really, the decision she made first had only one consequence to it and that was how much damage the room took. If she continued to fight, continued to attack, then her mother would simply not be where Qit'ria was - and she seemed to not ever get tired. They could wreck the room, but that would be the extent of it.

Or, Qit'ria could stop.

Her mother would not attack again, but she would defend as needed. She did not taunt again, but she watched with disappointment in her eyes and a slight sneer on her face. "Why did you not tell us that you had learned magic, Qit'ria?" Her father's voice was soft, gentle and calm. He looked at her with a concerned expression on his face. It seemed like a very important question to him. Come to that, to them both.

[ooc=So sorry for the delay! Back on track now!] Modnote[/ooc]

[Qit'ria]

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The tackle went through, without so much as even bumping Lat'ora, carrying Qit'ria to the other side of the hut. She twisted angrily, unable to fathom just how fast her mother was. She hadn't even been able to see the woman move away. Just how fast was this woman? Qit'ria had considered herself fast, but this was a whole other level. She heard her mother's taunt, finding it oddly personal, considering she held a mouse form, one that was incredibly dear to her. It was her first form. She prepared to charge again, this time with a roar up front to hopefully surprise the woman first, when she heard Yeye speak. He was telling her to stop.

And she did. She was looking at him, the sight of him, his mere presence bringing her rage down quickly. He was here. He was okay. Qit'ria had been worried that her mother had done something, had been as cruel to him as she'd been to herself. Seeing him there, even though he looked concerned and a bit fearful, he was there. And was asking about her magic. The elephant in the room, for they'd not spoken of it since the birth. The great elephant in the room. She'd seen his eyes lingering from time to time, but it was always in a subtle way, so that she might not notice, maybe he was worried about hurting her feelings. And so, she stopped. For him.

She glanced at her mother, seeing that the woman wasn't attacking her, though looked ready to bound away at a moment's notice. On the defense. Qit'ria was absolutely sure there was more to this than her mother expressing disappointment in her child, and being a taunting bitch. No. Qit'ria was almost certain her mother wanted to see her use her magic. To force it out of her. She had proven that by mentioning her spark. Her mother knew what magic was clearly. And Qit'ria had taken the bait with ease.

At her father's question, Qit'ria felt ashamed. She should've told him, and her bear head hung lower, no longer in a state of attack. She started the transformation back to her Sev'ryn form, a process which took roughly three bits these days. The pain was still excruciating, as it should be, for shifting from such a large mass, and compacting it down, making it disappear, breaking every bone along the way was nothing short of pure torture. And yet, Qit'ria found herself growing used to it. She didn't assimilate any of her totems on this transformation, for her unleash had destroyed her clothing. But now she was naked before them, her bear cloak around her shoulders. She didn't mind and knew her family wouldn't either, shyness over their bodies had never been an issue when she'd been raised.

She looked at her father, "I didn't want to scare you Yeye..." Qit'ria looked to her mother, all the fire gone from her own eyes now, "And I'm tired of running from the fear my magic brings me. It is a part of me, of my soul. I'm not running from my magic, but I am not... fully in control." She looked back at Yeye, "And it was... nice to just be your daughter again."

Qit'ria looked back at her mother now, that same sneer Lat'ora wore upon her own face, "Tell me, mother. Why are you really here? Do not lie to me, I played your game, I showed you that you're still superior. What is it you want?"

[Pegasus]

Qit'ria's father spoke, and that made her stop. He looked at her and he smiled at her, sadly. He watched her, they watched her transform and they did not speak - nor did they seem surprised. They simply observed and, just once, exchanged a glance. When the transformation was complete, Qi'tria stood before them and, indeed, there was no concern regarding her nuudity - it was not their way. But it was her father who answered, not her mother. "It does scare me, beautiful girl. But that is more reason to tell, not less." He seemed tired, all of his arcs falling in on him and he moved, sitting down. Her mother moved, also, standing behind Qit's father, one hand on the back of his chair.

They looked... united.

And then, her father spoke. "It was my fault. It is. What happened to you, your sisters. Your mother. All of it. It was my fault." He sighed and Lat'ora moved her hand, so that it was on his shoulder. She squeezed gently and he patted her hand. "Your father led the search party which found the bodies, you know. You are a mother now, can you imagine what that did to him?" Her mother's gaze was unyielding, but Yeye shook his head. "I am responsible for my own choices." Lat'ora looked less than convinced in truth, but she did not answer for him or speak for him.

This story, after all, was his to tell.

"We have always told you," he said, his voice heavy with regret, "told everyone that your mother found the men who killed your sisters. She did, but she was not alone. We did it together." He sighed and spoke - it took nearly half a break and he stopped a number of times. His telling of the tale was halting, stilted and unsure, sometimes he paused for a bit, other times Lat'ora took over for a little time.

They had gone, together, and they had found the men. It was then that things had gone horribly, horribly wrong. He looked at Qit'ria and his eyes told of torture. "I am, I was then, a mage. Your mother was not, she did not approve of magic or what it does. But Attunement is not like other magics. It is a gentle..." He stopped and shook his head. "I killed one of them, the ones who killed your sister and anger overwhelmed me. Not just anger, though, hunger. Hunger like I had never felt before." He shook his head. "It's a blur of blood and screams and fury and the feeling..."

He lowered his head into his hands and Lat'ora spoke. "Do you know what flaying is, Qit'ria? Do you know it's risk? It is what your father did and the consequences were dreadful. He has lived here, in isolation, refusing to give in to the hunger, the addiction. The demands of the creature which is inexorably bound to his soul." Yeye looked up at his wife. "Your mother came because I asked her to. I should not be alone with you and that baby. To flay a user of magic... " He shook his head.

"And he was worried about you, little mouse," her mother said. "How far have you taken it? " She didn't expand, figuring that Qit'ria would know.

[Qit'ria]

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Qit'ria stared on at her parents, her father now sitting, and her mother behind him. They were... together. Actually together, there was no doubt about it. It was confusing for the huntress. She never remembered them being particularly close when she was a girl, for her mother could never have been confused for caring or loving. And yet, it was clear. They were together as mates. Had this always been the case? Or was this something that happened after she'd left? She'd felt so guilty for so long after that, because she thought she'd left her dad truly alone. She never once thought her mother would be the type to stay, be comforting or caring for Yeye. Just what was going on here? This wasn't right, not at all, and it bothered her more than it probably should.

Her father was saying it was all... his fault? How? Why? There was no possible way that those men who attacked them in the forest had anything to do with her father. He'd not known she'd taken them out on a hunt of her own, he probably assumed they were playing, like they normally did. Those men... they were... she'd always assumed them to be bandits. Only that type of person would murder children, right? To take their stuff. Her throat tightened as her mother spoke. She knew it would've been devastating for Yeye. She couldn't even begin to imagine if she'd found Caza dead, let alone even injured. She'd never let it happen. She was prepared to kill her mother for even threatening harm.

As the information continued to flow, so did Qit'ria's shock. Both of her parents had killed. She could believe her mother more so than she could Yeye. Her mother was a huntress. Even though should preached over and over that hunting was only to be used against beasts, against creatures, for the sake of survival, of being strong for one's own sake, that people should never be hunted, Qit'ria could at least somewhat believe her hunting them down. But her father was a healer! A man who saved lives, not take them! He... he would've healed those men if they'd been injured, would've tried to forgive them... Or so she thought. Apparently he wasn't the man she thought she knew.

This revelation scared her.

She moved toward her brother, to take Caza back, when she stopped at her father's words, turning toward him in full, open shock. He was a mage too?! She'd left him alone with Caza! She didn't know what this Attunement was, but she knew magic to be horrible. It corrupted and twisted and fought. She knew flaying all too well. She still had the thirst after having partially flayed Rynata, still carried that shame. She remembered those long nights in the hammock in Enrick's boat, watching him sleep, wanting nothing more to eat his soul right then and there. She looked down at the scars in the palms of her hands. The scars from the nights she'd gripped her hands so tight she drew blood, just to keep from killing the man. And gods did she want to, she wanted it more than anything.

But the child she now took from her brother, that she held defensively against her bosom, her eyes defensive and wild as she looked back and forth between her parents, that child is what kept her strong. The urge to protect Caza, even before she was born, kept her from killing Enrick. Gave her the strength to fight against her wild spark, keeping the damage it wrought limited to the irreversible mutations her body now bore. Looking at her mother, Qit'ria was confused, and scared, of her parents. And inside her, she wanted to run. To leave these people who weren't those she knew from before. Her mother was here to protect her granddaughter, from her father of all people? In what world of imagination could the fates have conjured that up?

It was... it was so much to take in. And the mouse comment no longer sounded like an insult or even a reference to her magic. It sounded almost... endearing.
Qit'ria swallowed air, her throat still constricted as she finally tried to find her voice. "I..." Tears stung her eyes, and she tried to hold them in, but every wall she'd held between her and her family was crumbling, "I... Before I left Scalvoris to come home... I almost flayed a woman. I would have, if Bear hadn't found me. He's the man who gave me my magic. I didn't know what flaying was before that, I didn't know it was a risk until I had nearly ripped out her soul. She lived, barely, her soul scarred permanently. I've... that's when I became scared of what this is inside me."

The tears flowed freely now, "During Blackbird's birth, I almost lost control. My spark was scared. It didn't understand, it thought we were being attacked. I was fighting it the whole time." She pointed at her face, held up her hand, "These are the scars I bear from that. If I hadn't contained it, let it reek havoc on me... Blackbird would be dead. I know it."

Her shoulders shook, her tears turning to sobs, "I don't know what to do. It's stronger than me Yeye.I don't know how to stop being scared of it. And it keeps growing stronger. I thought it was a tool before... but I was wrong. It is... lost. It's like a child. It doesn't understand our world, it throws tantrums, it gets scared. But it is so strong... too strong."

She squeezed Caza snugly, the wide eyed little girl just staring up at her, reaching up as tears fell upon her blackened skin. She wasn't going to ask how Yeye thought it was all his fault. She assumed he was ridden with the same guilt she bore, whether it was true or not. She looked up at her mother, through tear filled eyes. "Help me, mother. Help me get stronger, for Blackbird. I can't lose her. Please. I... I... Need you. Both of you. I don't... I don't want to run from this anymore. now looking at Yeye.

"Please."

[Pegasus]

Her brother, evidently, was as shocked as her by what he heard - and he did hear it, no doubt. Looking at Qit'ria in amazement, he walked back into the room with her after he'd handed over the baby. The pair of them, siblings, listened to the story and then Qit'ria started to cry and Yeye looked at her with all the compassion and love he had. Her mother, too, had compassion in her gaze though it was more tempered and there was less of it. Qit'ria was a danger, there was no doubting it and her mother would do whatever it took.

""I will help you," her mother said and her father nodded his head. It appeared that the story was not over. "I was.. He looked to his wife and she nodded her head. "The creature your mother speaks about, Qit'ria, in relation to me it is not my spark." Lat'ora spoke then, interrupting him perhaps purposely. "I have worked with your father and he has worked on his own to fight the creature who forced itself on to him. But you must understand, Qit'ria, this can not be allowed to expand. It is a disease," Her mother was quite sure of this, although her father looked less sure in truth. "And you must not feed it."

Yeye sighed. "I will help you, Qit'ria, if you will trust me to. But I should not be alone with your daughter, I am not safe. The hunger...." He glanced, looking at something, some distant spot where nothing was. Not that she could see anyhow.

Her mother, meanwhile, stepped forward. "We will both help you, little mouse. You do not have to run. But your father is right, he should not be alone with you or your child. We need first to learn how to control your emotions. Otherwise, they will control you. It is what you feed your Spark with." Yeye looked at her and stood, then hesitantly walked towards her. Her mother kept a close eye and her father stopped before he reached her. "Can you forgive me, Qit'ria? I have made it all so much worse and I feel the constant... "[/i]

Lat'ora spoke. Her voice seemed almost entirely emotionless. "Your father is losing his battle with his addiction. " The truth of her words were in Yeye's eyes. "It will end in one of very limited ways. I would not see the same fate befall you but, if you truly wish to be strong and learn, then we will."

"I can help teach you, with your mother's guidance," her father said, softly. "I have spent many arcs fighting my sparks." Her brother turned his head sharply, hearing the plural and Yeye finished, an expression of utter defeat on his face. "and the Harvester."

[Qit'ria]

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Qit'ria felt nervousness at her mother readily agreeing to help her. And yet, there was comfort there too. She was so very confused by all of this information, and found herself questioning her entire childhood. Had her mother been as bad as she'd thought? Had her father been as good? Did she have a distorted view of it all because of the harshness of the world she'd experienced? Had she forgotten kindness her mother may have shown her? It was all so much.

But as her mother continued, Qit'ria understood, somewhat. Her father not only had a couple of sparks, but another creature as well. And immediately both pity for Yeye, and anger for whoever inflicted this suffering upon him flared up within her. One spark was bad enough, but what Yeye held? Qit'ria couldn't even imagine the pain and suffering and torment it would inflict, had inflicted, upon him. She grit her teeth, clenched her fists, and could hear her heart beating in her ears as her parents continued to explain.

Whoever did this had stolen her father's choice from him. Qit'ria had chosen her burden, albeit she hadn't fully understood the ramifications. But she had chosen it. And now Yeye couldn't even be trusted to hold his granddaughter. To babysit. To watch her when sick. He'd been robbed the privileges of having a grandchild. And Qit was furious. It raged within her, and she felt her own spark quell from her anger, clearly not wishing to be a part of it, and having been sated recently. Her eyes were wide in anger, her nostrils flared in anger. Qit'ria knew then, she would find out who had done this to Yeye, and she would rip their soul from their body herself. She made this promise to her spark. There was a mage out there that they would kill, together. And her spark reluctantly agreed.

Their words of controlling her emotions rang a bell within her though. There was truth in there, and she knew she ran on her emotions. She never tried to hide it really, her emotions often helped to keep her alive as a young girl and as an adult. But with them came a world of bad as well. Her pride caused that ghost to curse her. Her loneliness had led her to jumping at the chance to accept initiation from Bear. Her desire had led to her being impregnated by a man who neither knew nor cared to know. Her anger had led her to attacking her own mother, who was here to help.

There was too much truth here.

Qit'ria didn't know what a Harvester was, but she could assume that it was this... other creature. She didn't know anything about this magic, or really any magic other than her own, and all of that had been learned through her own trialing. Her father was losing to this creature, to his sparks, and had been fighting for so long. Qit'ria knew, or rather, suspected that meant he would either turn into a monster of a person, flaying people as she'd nearly done, until someone killed him. Or until his magic killed him.

Either way, her father was dying. It was inevitable, it seemed. And Qit'ria was mad. But she needed to be more than that. To be stronger, for her child. Caza needed her, and needed her to be alive. So she tried to swallow her anger, stepping closer to her parents. She reached out and cupped her father's cheek, "You don't have to be forgiven Yeye. You're the strongest man I know. And we will be strong with you." Turning toward her mother, Qit'ria reached out, and clasped her mother's forearm in the traditional Sev'ryn greeting, much like had done with Faith when she'd decided the healer was someone worth cherishing, staring her mother in the eyes with a burning fire within her own.

"Family."

She released her mother's arm, "We start now. We cannot delay this. I need to know how to be stronger, I need to know what happened to Yeye, exactly, and about this... Harvester." But there was a side-eye look at her mother, an unspoken demand. To know who she would need to kill.

[Pegasus]

It was a lot to take in and the young Sev'ryn was reeling, there was no doubt. Yet her mother and father both seemed to be united in this situation - obviously, they'd had longer to think about it, to consider it. When she moved to her father, though, and put her hand on his cheek Yeye's eyes filled with tears and he returned the gesture to her. "My beautiful girl, I am so sorry," he said, his voice shaking.

"None of us are entirely to blame and all three of us have fault," her mother said. When Qit'ria clasped her forearm, her mother paused for just a moment. So used to the hard outer shell, to what she showed the world, it was rare for her to do or be or seem to be anything else. Just for a trill, no longer, she clasped her daughter's arm back, but the steel never left her eyes. It wasn't her way, not at all.

"Your lessons will begin, we will give you techniques and help you," Qit's mother's voice sounded almost the same as it had before. Almost. But there was just a slight quavering of emotion, yet that too was there and gone in a flash. The Harvester, though, first." As though that was an unspoken signal, Yeye stood. "It's better that I am not here for this," he said and her mother nodded. Yeye stopped and placed a kiss on Qit'ria's cheek and if QIt allowed him to do so, he also kissed Caza on the top of her head. Then, he left.

"It is a magic known as Aberration." Once more, her mother's voice was calm. "The Harvester, a spirit of sorts, demands and needs and requires that the mage they are linked to flay others. The flaying becomes addictive." Lat'ora's voice shook, briefly. "Your father has fought this addiction for many arcs, you must understand that." It was true, of course, since his initiation had happened shortly after Qit'ria had run away from home. "He was beset with grief, filled with guilt of having killed a man, and worried, desperately worried for you. He was vulnerable." Her mother didn't sound sympathetic. She wasn't. She was pragmatic in all things.

"Any mage can flay, little mouse," Qit'ria knew that, of course, "but an Aberrant deals in chaos and flaying. They become addicted to the energy, the power of it. Your father, he finding it harder and harder to stave off the addiction." Just for a second, her mother's eyes flicked towards the doorway her father had exited from. "He would rather deal with that his own way. Now. I will explain Aberration to you in detail. You will then explain it to me, to show what you have understood. We begin."

OOC Note

[Qit'ria]

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Qit didn't hesitate to allow her father to kiss Caza on his way out. She hated that he'd have to leave for this but it made sense to the woman. Her hatred for whoever did this to him only grew. How much more time should her family lose with one another at the hands of others? Once he'd left, she waved her brother over, handing off Caza. "Stay close." Turning back, it was time to begin lessons with her mother once more, for the first time in well over a decade. It was a strange feeling. There was a layer of the ominous to it, the fear of the small girl whose mother had beaten life's toughest lessons into her. She'd helped make Qit strong, stronger than many people, though Qit had no way of knowing that. She didn't know how others raised their children, nor how the soft ones would've crumbled or died under the same obstacles that Qit'ria had managed to clear.

Qit'ria listened intently. She wasn't normally the type to listen to lectures, that wasn't her nature, and much of what her mom had taught in her youth hadn't required them. They'd been lessons in the physical, coupled with a slap across the face, a thwap on the head with a spear, or a shove down a rocky hill as punishments for failure. But Qit didn't need such things now, for unlike when she was a child, she knew the purpose to this lesson. To protect Caza, to help Yeye, to protect her family. And so, she listened to every word her mother said, horrified by what she explained about Aberrants. One thing was made abundantly clear, Aberrants were incredibly dangerous.

And per her mother's command, Qit'ria spoke, to show what she'd learned.

"An Aberrant is a master of flaying. All mages can flay, but an Aberrant specializes in it. They can store this life energy for much longer than other mages, and can put it to better use. This power attracts a spirit, one more similar to a Sev'ryn's familiar than the wild spirits. This spirit, the Harvester, latches onto the mage, feasting on the stolen energy, and in return, granting more powers to the mage. Aberrants become addicted to this stolen life force, but are also more adept at dealing with it. Through the bond with the Harvest, they can create areas of death and decay. While the mage may be able to control the creation and movement of these areas, the damage and chaos they cause are beyond that control. They destroy the natural order of the world, they feast upon life, and relish in death. And through the addiction, the mage enjoys this."

Qit'ria pondered further on what she'd learned. "It's a very vulnerable magic, it seems to me. If either Harvester or mage is injured or destroyed directly, it incapacitates the other. Attacking from a hidden vantage, rendering the mage unconscious, poisoned, attacked from a far, and the like, would render much of the advantages an Aberrant has useless. To hunt an Aberrant is to do so without their knowledge. They are... they truly are a predator. So they must be treated like one. Not to be cornered if able. The biggest advantage is the spirit's ability to move between this world and the spirit world, going unseen, and the unpredictable nature of the effects of the areas the mage can create. This only further strengthens the idea of not attacking them directly."

She then considered her own strengths and weaknesses, "I am able to move quickly, and attack from afar. I am able to ambush, trap, and surprise from stealth. But I also have a strong tendency to get in close. This would be fatal against an Aberrant and his harvester. I also have no way of tracking or following the Harvester's movements while in the spirit world, only when it manifests itself in our own."

She paused, "And I've never killed a man. I want to, and have wanted to before. But I've not had the strength to do it in the past. I don't know if I have the strength to do so now. And that inability to kill the mage would lead to hesitation. Would lead to my failure, and potentially my own death."

To many who Qit'ria had met since she'd left Desnind, such talk would seem wholly out of character. But she was speaking in her native tongue, and speaking to the first mentor she'd ever had, a woman only put stock in facts and results. And it was quite easy to talk about a hunt and the hunter, for Qit. That was her element. But no one had bothered to talk shop with her, nor had she ever tried to do so with others.

"I have managed to fight off my own Thirst after almost flaying that woman to death. I know that addiction. I was pregnant while fighting it. Many nights I spent watching the man I sailed with, wanting to rip his soul from his body. That was an entire season. I can still feel it now, though it is much weaker. It happened one time. I couldn't imagine fighting it constantly, for arc after arc. But, that addiction is also a weakness for the mage, even if they can deal with it better. An aberrant will leave behind bodies drained of life force, will always be hunting. That's a trail. One to be followed by a hunter who knows what to look for."

She felt she had a grasp of the situation, though wasn't entirely sure how to proceed. Not charging into battle would be something she could work on, but the rest, the rest was beyond her. "How do I attack a Harvester? How do I track the harvester when it is gone from sight? And what do I look for in a corpse, to know that it was flayed? And how do I recognize an Aberrant?"

[Pegasus]

Later, would she think that she should have seen the signs?

Would she wonder what, if any, impact it had on all those things which unfolded after?

If she did, the true tragedy of that trial in Desnind was that Qit'ria would never know.

Yeye left, tears in his eyes but pleasure, too, as Qit'ria did not hesitate in letting him kiss his grand-daughter. Then, with a smile and not to his beloved Qit'ria, he left and her mother talked. Her teaching was didactic, sharp and focused, as it had always been. She didn't give time to think or ask questions, she assumed Qit'ria would keep up. When Qit'ria spoke back, her mother listened and nodded, once. "You have more focus than you used to. If you want to fight these people, Qit'ria, you must learn to learn. To read and write, to be able to read their messages, decipher their texts." She turned and looked at her daughter and her smile was cold, cruel and without mirth or mercy. "You must be the huntress, my daughter. To hunt a creature, you must understand it. And this? This is a creature."

Her mother breathed in and looked out of the window at Desnind. So calm, so peaceful. So very false.

"Your father accepted the Harvester, because it promised him that it could give him answers. About you, yours sisters. He was tricked, deceived. He was ignorant, and ignorance is not an excuse." It seemed that many things about her mother had not changed, her unbending attitude probably the smallest example of such. When Qi'tria had finished speaking, though, Lat'ora began to speak again. "There are weaknesses which the Harvester has, but you must be cautious. They are wily creatures, born of greed and predators on the weak."

It seemed that she was about to say something, but there was a sudden, loud, banging on the door and one of the neighbors burst in. "Lat'ora! Let'ora! He's gone!" There followed a breathless description from the Sev'ryn woman of Yeye walking out, heading towards the fire pit when suddenly, inexplicably, there were four people around him - they appeared without a sound and he had no time as three of them touched him and then, again silently, disappeared. The Sev'ryn woman explained that the fourth person who had appeared turned to those present, as Yeye's cry of panic still echoed in the air. He had been tall, she said, human and dark of hair and eyes, and he had spoken to those who watched. "Tell Lat'ora, Mantis knows."

At those words, Qit's mother visibly paled. "Damn them! This was my mission!" With a smile to Qit'ria that was cynical, hateful and filled with pain, she snarled and snapped her heels together.

And then, she was gone. Disappeared from the room, as silently as her colleagues.

And the baby started to cry.