Ravenna
magic hidden in the void and —
Relief brightened her young face into a radiant smile. Venna was on her feet in an instant and scurried ahead out of the alleyway and back the same way they had come, quick as a Hel. She only paused to look back and see that Noah was still following.
Around a corner, then around another, and soon they were headed straight down the main street, down the winding levels into the poorer parts of Haulani. Here the painted buildings were not so vibrant anymore. Plaster chipped to reveal a hodgepodge of timber and stone foundations, boardwalks turned to mud and duck-boards and the filth that lined the streets had less to do with the flooding and more with squalor. The faces of the citizens were sharper here, and more gaunt; their eyes skimmed over the urchin girl and tried to determine if the man that followed her was worth the effort of interrupting. Shop after shop whipped past as Ravenna hurried her savior along; the rush of waves became more pronounced, and when they were only a few blocks from the ocean front the little girl turned one last time onto a street where sailors houses mingled with net-makers and fishmongers.
Mrs Fish was not there to yell at her when Venna yanked open the door of the store. "Mama!" she called brightly, "wake up, I brought you help!" Turning to wave at the follower of Vi so that he would hurry up, she scampered barefoot over the wooden floor, heedless of the stench of sunbaked fish and mud that lingered in the shop. Towards the stairs, and then up - up up up - until the sparsely furnished loft came into view.
"Mama?" she repeated, breathless as she stared at the bed of rags on the floor, where her mother lay curled up. A glint of sunlight streaming in through a slit in the curtains turned the woman's dirty hair into a crown of gold. She was very still.
"Mama! Wake up!" She called louder this time. Still her mother would not wake, or turn to look at her.
A strange feeling started to settle in her stomach. Closing grubby little fists in her tunic, Venna started towards the bed. Maybe... maybe mama was just sleeping really heavily, and that's why her shoulders looked so still. Maybe if Venna shook her, she would wake.
Around a corner, then around another, and soon they were headed straight down the main street, down the winding levels into the poorer parts of Haulani. Here the painted buildings were not so vibrant anymore. Plaster chipped to reveal a hodgepodge of timber and stone foundations, boardwalks turned to mud and duck-boards and the filth that lined the streets had less to do with the flooding and more with squalor. The faces of the citizens were sharper here, and more gaunt; their eyes skimmed over the urchin girl and tried to determine if the man that followed her was worth the effort of interrupting. Shop after shop whipped past as Ravenna hurried her savior along; the rush of waves became more pronounced, and when they were only a few blocks from the ocean front the little girl turned one last time onto a street where sailors houses mingled with net-makers and fishmongers.
Mrs Fish was not there to yell at her when Venna yanked open the door of the store. "Mama!" she called brightly, "wake up, I brought you help!" Turning to wave at the follower of Vi so that he would hurry up, she scampered barefoot over the wooden floor, heedless of the stench of sunbaked fish and mud that lingered in the shop. Towards the stairs, and then up - up up up - until the sparsely furnished loft came into view.
"Mama?" she repeated, breathless as she stared at the bed of rags on the floor, where her mother lay curled up. A glint of sunlight streaming in through a slit in the curtains turned the woman's dirty hair into a crown of gold. She was very still.
"Mama! Wake up!" She called louder this time. Still her mother would not wake, or turn to look at her.
A strange feeling started to settle in her stomach. Closing grubby little fists in her tunic, Venna started towards the bed. Maybe... maybe mama was just sleeping really heavily, and that's why her shoulders looked so still. Maybe if Venna shook her, she would wake.
— truths waiting to be spoken
