26th Trial of Cylus during Arc 721
following: this
following: this
She was sure that she'd followed the right set of tracks. There'd been two sets to choose from, both of them heading in opposite directions, with Hopetoun squarely in the middle. She was hunting cadouri who'd gotten lost trying to find an etchwing, and Vega knew that they might be in danger. Especially since one of them was a vole and, both times that she'd come across etchwings, she'd used voles to draw them out. Vega was travelling with Escher, her companion of many arcs now who had chosen to come with her and Arlo after they'd saved him in 718. They worked well together and he'd been her friend through thick and thin - as she had been his.
She was basing her decision on which set of tracks of the two to follow based on one of them heading inland, rather than heading to the coast. That made sense to her, assuming they recognised that etchwings weren't a coastal bird. Of course, if they mistakenly believed that the etchwing was a coastal bird, that logic didn't hold. But, Vega figured, since they'd gone hunting and hadn't come back - they'd found an etchwing or two. So, she was betting on this.
They made their way, following the tracks. Three small pairs of feet, and Vega stopped here and there, kneeling and pointing something out to Escher. Here, she said, they'd stopped and looked at something. "Do you see? They stopped. So what were they lookin' at, do you reckon?" Vega looked but couldn't see anything. Then, with a shake of her head as she realised her mistake, she dropped down to her haunches and looked from the viewpoint of a very short person.
"There's nests, up in the distance. Look," she said to Escher who joined her kneeling on the ground and saw them.
"I see them."
"That explains why they're headin' off in this direction. Come on then." As they moved, Escher spoke again. He wasn't the kind of man who talked a lot - his actions were more likely to be what he was judged by. But, as they moved his soft voice gave words to something he'd been feeling for a while. "I'm sorry, Vega" Vega looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "What for?"
"I should have been in Rharne with you." Vega rolled her eyes. "Don't you bloody start. Look, you were where you were supposed to be." He'd been with her father and cousins, after all.
"I could have helped you," he said, and she shook her head. "No, no you couldn't have. You could have been someone who I worried about. Someone who I had to think about in battles. Someone else I were responsible for. I tell you honestly, I gave thanks to Xiur every night that you lot weren't there." She had, there was no lie in her.
"Are you alright?" Escher asked, his strange eyes roaming over her face, trying to get some idea. Vega stopped walking and stood still, turning to look at him. "No," she said, with a smile. "No, Escher, I'm not. But I'm gettin' there." She patted him on the arm. "You're well nice to worry, an' I appreciate it. But no one can help me get to alright except me. I need to," she paused, thinking about what she needed. "I jus' need to live with bein' not alright. To understand an' accept that I've been through hell an' that I'm gettin' better, but right now, I'm not alright."
He seemed mostly satisfied with that, Vega thought. But then just as she started to walk again, he said. "I wish I could fix things for you." Vega smiled and shook her head. "I don't," she said honestly. "For two reasons. Mostly, because what happened needs and deserves to be worked out an' reflected on an' second?" She grinned at him. "Second is cos I'm not broken. Now stop lollygaggin' an' lets get goin'. We're catchin' up with them, I'm sure of it."
