visions are seldom what they seem

MAEA

As the light of a pale Leafchange sun slowly faded and dyed the fog banks and clouds an ominous red, the swamp changed. One by one the chirping birds lost heart and fell silent, and with them faded the hum and rustle of larger wildlife. What followed was a sonorous choir of croaking amphibians, with biters and gnats providing a counterpoint, a high pitched whine in any ear that dared venture into the fetid marshland.

As the gilled musk-deers and gore-crows disappeared into groves and nests, other creatures emerged in their wake. The eerie and the strange, the innocuous and the down-right dangerous; with the lengthening of shadows more than one strange sight set out to haunt the Feverlands.

She, too, emerged as the sun set. Holed up in a dense thicket where the sun could not warm the air over much, Maea brushed bramble and grass from dark hooded coat as she emerged. Pushing the cover away from her head, she shook out the hair and tried to disentangle debris from the white strands, all while surveying the surroundings with sweeping glances. Nothing stirred in the immediate vicinity, far too wary of the dagger in her belt and the unnatural stillness with which she had held herself in place for hours beyond counting. Overhead though, she could make out a murder of crows by their raucous cries.

Intrigued, as they usually disappeared when darkness fell, the young woman began to make her way in their general direction, to see what they had found. She braided the hair into a long rope over the shoulder as she went, making no move to hurry; whatever it was could probably wait. Some animal stuck in the brambles, perhaps, or some wanderer gone lost by the Hanging tree. Either way it was hardly a concern of hers - she was merely curious.

Light is easy to love
Show me your darkness

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

Mordecai Letto

---

Cai cursed under his breath. Coming out here at this time made his skin crawl and the mocking laughter of the crows had startled him. They had watched him with their glinting, beady eyes, perched high up leafless trees, judging him silently until a twig snapped underfoot had sent them into a frenzy. So much for keeping a low profile.

The boy pressed on. The soil was dark, moist, covered with shriveled leaves and gave way even under his inconsiderable weight. Foggy marshlands teeming with wildlife were no place for unarmed children, but it was a risk he was willing to take.

Inside the pockets of his coats he turned over the necklace, the ring, the odd diamond-shaped coins whose value and origin he was unsure of. He wished he could say he was a clever, nimble thief, but stealing from the visitors of mother Molly's wasn't hard. Often customers were in such a lustful hurry that they threw off their precious belongings willing and forget to take them back home. Other times they ended up half passed out at the bar, their ringed fingers numb and oblivious to the quick and gentle touch of a skittish boy.

He wondered how many of the girls knew he'd been building a stash of his own, a little security for the uncertain times ahead. Some had to know, they were clever enough for it and not hypocritical enough to say anything of it.

The ring with the inscription on it was the only thing that worried him now. "For my dearest love, J." it read. It was pure, plain gold and he almost felt bad for having taken it.

The crows still circled overhead when he arrived at his hidden stash. A dead, hollow oak some distance from the main road and with the crack in its barking facing away from prying eyes was where he'd stashed a small chest, almost a year ago now.

Checking over his shoulder to ensure he was alone, Mordecai stuffed one hand in his shirt and fished out the small key dangling from a leather necklace. He sank to his knees at the foot of the old oak and opened the chest with a familiar click.

No sooner than he'd loaded his trophies into the chest and turned the lock once more, he felt it. Maybe it was a sound, maybe just a change in the air, but somehow he knew he wasn't alone anymore.

He turned with a start. Amid the trees and overgrowth stood a distant figure, slight but elegant, white as marble from tip to toe. A child? Certainly a girl judging by her pale hair. Had she seen? How long for had she been standing there?

Mordecai balled his fists at his sides and squinted at the ghostly appearance. "Who are you?" he demanded to know, then crossed his arms over his chest. "What are you staring at me for?"

MAEA

She had not expected a child. Precious and fragile things, they were, and usually guarded well by suspicious adults. Not often did one come across them in places like these, where even seasoned hunters did well to travel in pairs. Unless they had other advantages - like herself.

Hovering on a tussock of firm soil on the borderland between shadow and light, swamp and firm ground, she leaned a shoulder against a nearby tree and watched the boy with hands tucked away in deep pockets. The furtive manner in which he went about only piqued her curiosity even more. He was too far off to make out exactly what he was doing, but whatever it was, he clearly didn't want an audience. Maea smiled to herself. Too bad.

Of course, that's when he looked up. And suddenly she had to decide whether to play the part of a ghost and simply vanish on him, or linger for an explanation. The shifting shadows in the trees above, a caw of anticipation as gleaming eyes trailed the youthful figure made up her mind for her.

"Just a passerby," she replied, her voice a soft drawl of lazy amusement, "wondering what a kid is doing alone in a place like this. They seem to think you want to become dinner." Withdrawing a pale hand, she pointed a finger up at the gore-crows.

Light is easy to love
Show me your darkness

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

Mordecai Letto

---

"Well they're wrong," he sniped back, "and I'm not a kid.". She wasn't the first or last to make the mistake of poking his touchy pride by throwing him in with mewling infants that couldn't fend for themselves to save their lives. Most of the city kids were spoiled brats, stuffing their faces with food they had not earned and who were brought to tears by the slightest inconvenience. He was not like them and the mere insinuation made him clench his jaw.

"You didn't answer my question," he observed pointedly. "No one in their right mind goes to the marshes for a lousy stroll." It didn't occur to him that he was betraying himself more than he was exposing her.

She was not a girl, he determined. Tall-wise and broad-wise she could've passed for one, but it was the face that gave her away. More mystifying was her skin, he'd never seen anyone so pale before. Perhaps that was why she was out here. Perhaps she was sick or dying or cast from the city. What if she was contagious?

There was only one way to find out.

"Why do you look so pale?". Simple. Direct. To the point. Rude by some standards, but he couldn't care less. "Did the crows scare you?" he finished with an indignant huff.

MAEA

A pale brow rose high enough to disappear beneath her sharply cut bangs. Pushing away from the tree, Maea made her way through the underbrush until she was about two arms-lengths away from the youth. She held up a hand to her own head, then squinted at him in a measuring way.
"You're about as tall as I am, yet I can bet I'm twice your age," she remarked. "That would make you... what. Twelve? Thirteen at most? Definitely a kid by anyone's standards." She cocked her head aside and smiled at him, offering a chance to contradict her.

"As for not being in my right minds, that would make two of us. Do you have any idea how dangerous this place is?" The question was mild and more inquisitive than accusatory; she actually wanted to know. To hear what he thought about this water-logged, gloomy place he treated like a personal back yard.

The brusque question drew a scowl to her face, that quickly disappeared behind a bored mask. He was not the first person to ask her that; nor was he the rudest. "My mother saw a ghost when she bore me, and that's why I became pale. If I told you that, would you believe it?"

The rustle of wings in the gathering night was a whisper of silk on silk, and the pale girl looked up warily. Two of the crows had left the tree, and began to circle the air above them.
"Is your business finished here, nameless boy?"

Light is easy to love
Show me your darkness

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

Mordecai Letto

---

"You're small for someone twice my age," he snarled. Petty, he knew, but the best he could come up with. Maybe he ought to have been more frightened, the way she'd approached without making much noise was all the more reason to think she really was a ghost. Besides, even if she wasn't, he still couldn't be sure that she wasn't cursed with some curious malady.

Yet he couldn't really feel threatened by someone who seemed more interested in a measuring contest than prying into his personal affairs. Maybe she hadn't seen what he'd been up to after all, maybe there was still a way he could talk himself out of this. A quick downward glance told him she carried no weapons, no obvious ones at least, or perhaps she had left them somewhere else.

His shoulders dropped just a little and his expression softened, but he kept his arms crossed in front of his chest. "People get hung here," he shrugged. "Or they vanish, get lost in the fog, maybe get eaten by some wild animal." A faint grin split his lips at the end of that. "Not really a suitable place for a dainty girl," he mocked.

He spotted a flash of annoyance on her face, or perhaps it was disappointment. He squinted. It wasn't either of those. He shook his head at her answer, "No. I don't believe in bedtime stories..." his voice, soft but strained like he was coming down from a cold trailed off into silence. "People ask you that a lot, don't they?" he said while he uncrossed his arms. He hesitated for a moment, then offered his hand. "I'm Mordecai, but most people just call me Cai. And what did they call you before they hung you?" he asked with a lopsided grin.

MAEA

She shrugged, offering her palms out in helpless agreement. It was true, and she had no arguments to offer. "You'll have the satisfaction of outgrowing me, if you get to live long enough." It was a big if, of course. So far, he wasn't doing a very good job of keeping himself in one piece.

Her expression dimmed as the boy went on, a mask of cold indifference creeping up and snapping in place. Only the eyes remained animated, and flashed at that last quip in something like annoyance or anger. It couldn't be hurt, of course. Not from a little bug like this.

For a moment, she was quiet. Then a slow sigh escaped her, barely audible. "You would do well to learn that words can cut deeper than any knife, young Mordecai," she told him softly. "More damage has been done from careless talk than most swords, and the wounds caused are slower to heal." Her mouth thinned into a grim line. "I don't think I want to give my name to someone who mocks without knowing what he is talking about. Goodbye - I hope the crows don't make a meal of you."

She sent a knowing look to the birds that circled overhead, and then she turned, fully intending to walk back the way she had come.

Light is easy to love
Show me your darkness

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

Mordecai Letto

---

That went well.

No story had to be made up, no excuses brought into existence, the woman was just going to leave by herself because. Well... why? The only pain he suffered for it was the small embarrassment of having held out his hand to nothing but air.

Suit yourself, lady.

For a second or two he watched, unmoving, wanting make sure she had really gone before he would be on his way back. Gods he was hungry. What time was it? It was getting dark; darker than he would've liked.

The crows cawed overhead, their circle tightened and it seemed their angry little eyes were permanently fixed on him. Whatever. He'd be home soon, he'd wolf down a meal, chat with some of the girls and then be off to bed and everything would be right with the world.

Doubt gnawed at his mind. He didn't really know why he called out, why he couldn't just let her walk away, it would've been so easy to do...

"Wait...". He dipped his head and hung the key on the necklace back around his neck before he marched after the white lady. "Don't go, you said yourself it isn't safe...".

Will have to do better than that.

"I live at Mother Molly's, do you know where that is?". He strode after her, even started to close the distance now. "I know when a girl, I mean woman is hurting... I'm sorry," he sighed, "I'm sorry if I said something wrong, it's just... I didn't expect you to be here. No one ever comes here."

He wasn't sure exactly what he expected her to do. If she continued to walk he could at least sleep soundly knowing he'd tried to make things right.

MAEA

She paused as he called after her. Turned slightly, and watched him over her shoulder as he came trudging towards her through the muck. The casual laziness had gone from her and she remained distant, cool and on edge until the boy caught up. Only then did she turn, and turned pale eyes upon him in a long, scrutinizing stare.

Then those same eyes looked up, and narrowed at the sight of the gore-crows. They had followed the boy, and did not even try to hide. The croaking frogs quieted in their wake, as if holding their breath until danger had passed. The blood-thirst in the birds was almost palpable.

"I accept your apology," came her quiet reply, as she returned her attention to the boy. "This Mother Molly's... is it in Stormbreak? I don't know of it, but if that is where you live, perhaps I might escort you part of the way? The Feverlands isn't safe at night."

Nudging her coat aside, Maea withdrew her dagger and offered it to the boy, hilt first. "Here, take this. Even if you do not want company, you should keep it. Just to be safe."

Light is easy to love
Show me your darkness

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

Mordecai Letto

---

Mordecai flinched at the dagger. So she did have a weapon all along.

What if she tries to kill me?

No, that didn't make sense.

She could have, but she didn't. Means I can trust her, a bit at least.

"Mother Molly's is in the city, aye. It's a..." There probably was a more elegant, delicate way to put this but it failed to come to mind. "Well, it's a brothel."

He quietly grasped the hilt of the dagger and weighed the blade in his hand. It was heavier than it looked. Narrowing his eyes, Mordecai gave the woman a quick once-over. "So you're not from the city then, if you don't know Molly's and you're only going back part of the way." That just raised more questions though. Why was this strange, pale woman out here alone? She still hadn't told him her name either.

"I accept your offer," he noted with a nod and a faint smile while he spun the dagger around in his hand. "C'mon then," he added, nudging his head in the opposite direction that she'd been going, "city's this way"

MAEA

A brothel? That made her look at him a second time, with eyebrows climbing high on the forehead. "Why are you staying at a brothel?" she asked tentatively. The line of her mouth was a complex thing, mixing curiosity with shock and a slight reluctance that she would never explain to a kid of Mordecai's age. Even if he struck her as precocious and mature for his age, he was still too young for some things. In her mind, at least.

Altering her course until they were heading in the direction he indicated, the young woman began the painstaking task of picking out a dry course for them. Paths were treacherous things in this landscape, and the further away they came from the Hanging Tree, the soggier the footing became.

"You are correct, I am not from the city," she agreed. "It is not a good place for me to be." Her gaze darted to his hand, noting the way he twirled the dagger. "Do you know how to use that? If not, I can offer some pointers."

Overhead, the wing beats continued. Maea wondered how long the crows would follow, whether they would grow irate when they realized that the morsel they had set their sights on would escape their clutches. She hoped they would leave without incident - they were nasty birds, and she did not look forward to dealing with their claws.

Light is easy to love
Show me your darkness

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

Mordecai Letto

---

The question was always the same, at least they had some common ground in that regard. She would always be asked about the white of her skin and he would always be asked why he lived in a brothel, that didn't make it an easier to answer however. "It's better than an orphanage," he answered. He cast a quick, sideways glance at her, a warning not to press the matter, not now, not yet. "It's a long story. And one he didn't like telling at that.

Thankfully she seemed to take the hint and answered his question in return, though she did not care to tell him why the city wasn't a good place for her. Another secret piled on top of the mountain of secrets they were building together.

He snorted at her next question. "Course I know how to use a knife." There was that same indignant tone again, though perhaps not quite as abrasive this time as before. "...or dagger for that matter." Would she get offended again? He decided not to take any chances, "You can give those pointers once we're out of here, it's too dark here."

For a while he trudged on in silence, following her lead. It was only when their surroundings cleared and the lights of the city appeared on the horizon that he spoke up again. Though he would never admit it, he was glad she'd accompanied him back, it was much later and much darker than he would've liked and he had yet to make it past the city gates.

"Are you sure you don't want to go into the city? I can probably get you a hot meal too, an' a place to stay, if you need it?"

Maybe a bowl of soup would persuade her to tell him who she was and why she had been strolling through the marshes.

MAEA

Taking note of the tone and his wry glance her way, Maea simply nodded and asked no more. Questions may crowd her mind, but some things you simply did not talk about with strangers - and age had very little to do with sensitive subjects.

As for the dagger, she simply nodded, accepting his word for it. The offended tone did bring a half smile back to her lips; what a touchy fellow he was. How could so much pride fit into such small a vessel? Not that he was all that small for his age, really.
"That's good. You can keep it, if you wish. Just make sure to bring it next time you go out here." As the land rose and the water receded, so did the deadened trees. When the sound of croaking frogs and buzzing mosquitoes fell away into a distant drone, so too did the birds give up and disappear. She was glad, and made a point of not telling the boy how close he might have been to becoming a meal. Another set of bones, forever lost to the swamp.

When the lights of the city flickered into view, her steps began to slow. When Mordecai issued his offer of shelter and food, her expression warmed - but she shook her head.
"That is very generous of you, but I can't." She looked towards the distant lights. "You probably know that some people are not welcome within the walls of Stormbreak. Well - I am one of those people. Much as I wouldn't mind accompanying you" - though a slight roll of her eyes suggested that the offer of shelter in a brothel wasn't her idea of a good time - "I would rather not turn to stone tonight. My brother would be terribly upset with me if that happened." She laughed airily, and the points of sharp fangs glinted behind her lush lips as if to drive home the point.

Light is easy to love
Show me your darkness

BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3

Mordecai Letto

---

So she was one of the Ascended then, an enemy of the city he called home. He glanced at the dagger she had given him, the sharp edge glistened in the last light of the day and he idly wondered if there'd be a reward for bringing back a dead Ascended.

With a sigh he tucked the blade between his belt and cocked his head to one side. "I can understand your choice, I guess. Ruby makes a pretty good soup, but not worth turning to stone for," he chuckled.

The mention of a brother raised yet more questions, but those would have to wait. The light was fading fast and it wouldn't be much longer until the city's gates would shut for the night. For a little while he just stood there, eyes roving over her, as though trying to find something on her that would explain the many questions that still lingered in his head. Who was she? What had she been doing in the marshes by herself? Who was her brother? What was she called?

"I should be off," he said after a heavy bout of silence. He scuffed his feet and seemed unsure of himself when he spoke next, his voice hardly above a whisper. "Thank you for coming with me." He turned around slowly and began to head toward the city, toward a hot meal and a soft bed. After only a few steps he stopped and cast a solemn glance over his shoulder. "Next time we meet, I hope I won't be having to use this against you," he said, tapping the hilt of the dagger.

Then he was on his way again, his small form swallowed by the night until even the sound of his boots on the mud had faded into nothingness.

~FIN~