Kitty had told her of Renne's predicament. Of course she immediately agreed to go visit the little imp. He was a good soul, even if misguided and possibly brought to insanity by his own grief.

So it was with this in mind that she came to where they held Renne. Locked behind bars so he could not hurt anyone else. She spoke to the guards, explaining who she was and why she was there to see the imp. She even made sure to show them letter given to her by the Governor, granting her access to her new patient.

The guard who was overseeing things that day looked over the letter, then eyed the fae dubiously before reluctantly allowing her access.

"We cannot guarantee your safety, if you go in there M'am."

"I'm not asking you to guarantee my safety, Lt. Starling. I'm asking you to let me go see my patient. And honestly, has he really shown to be any serious threat since he's been locked up?"

"Well, he keeps scratching the hell out of the walls. There's no telling what he would do to you with those claws of his."

"If I were in his shoes and had claws, I'd be scratching up the walls too. Now quit being a ninny and let me see my patient!" Chryrie's patience was wearing thin, and that was never good for the person being the cause of it.

"Fine. Suit yerself. Officer Carlash will escort you to the prisoner's cell."

He waved her away and she snapped the admittance paper signed by her sister from the man's grasp with a cold smile. "Thank you Lt. Starling. I'll be sure to let the Governor know of your willingness to cooperate."

He grumbled wordlessly, as Chryrie turned to follow the officer to where they were holding Renne. Before they opened the door for her, she could see his little blue form, hunched down in a corner. The sight tugged at her heart and she sighed. The poor dear.

"Hey blue dude! Ya gots a visitor. Don't be treating her like the walls, eh?" The guard unlocked the door and let Chryrie step inside the cell.

Once the door closed behind her, she sat down on the floor across from Renne, getting closer to his level. Of course, she knew he couldn't actually see her, but she hoped the sound of her voice coming not from above, but from across would help put him at ease. If anything, maybe her scent would help as well. Her scent was similar to Kitty's in that they both carried moredhel blood, but her fae side mixed that scent with that of morning mist.

"Hi Renne. Kitty sent me to talk to you. I'm her sister. I'd like to help you, if you'd let me. Will that be alright?"

She calmly watched him as he hissed at the guard. The flash of teeth at her person was not entirely unexpected. This imp had been through a lot, and so she simply sat there and waited for him to either say something, or attack her.

"Eeh. Wha-t yeu say forrr?"

She remained quiet for a heartbeat or two to consider her reply. Her voice remained low, calm, soothing to the point of being almost motherly.

"Well, Kitty wanted me to talk to you. Help you figure out why you're in here. But... that's really up to you. We could just sit and talk about other things. I hear you like to read. We could talk about the books we've read. Or, you could choose to not say anything. That's fine too. But I did get special permission to come visit you, and if anything, perhaps you'd enjoy the company."

She looked around the cell for a moment, taking in the sights on the walls. Her breathing never changed, but her eyebrows went up slightly, not that he could see it. Then she turned her head slightly.

"However, if that human doesn't stop eavesdropping, I'm going to shove a fireball up his backside!" Her voice rose just a fraction, making it perfectly clear it was meant for the guard outside to hear. And, as expected, there was the sound of the guard moving away from the door.

"That's better. Humans are so nosy. Anyway, it's not like I feel sorry for you. I just happen to think you're a sweet person, and I think it's horrible to be alone all the time. I know if I were in here, I'd want visitors."

The fae leaned back against the doorway she was sitting near and simply watched him for a moment. "Or I could just take a nap. Hope you don't mind if I snore."

Kitty paced impatiently in her office, waiting word from her sister.

Chryrie hadn't been talking to her since that deal with Mu, but she knew she'd at least get *some* information.

Of course there was that whole patient/doctor priviledge thing, so she wouldn't get details. But at least she'd know if he was alright in there.

She was trying to sort through the details of the clinic she was preparing to build, but the distractions.

She glanced to the letters she had received. A couple from Harry, and one from some girl who had a guy's name.

Maybe soon she'd have some information to send them.

Eyes Wide Open

"Paradox, is my world. The scales of Justice stand with me at the arm; child-learner at the end and brother-protector at the edge."




He listened.

And for a while, he kept still.

It didn't work.

In a matter of minutes, he was at the wall again, scratching out drawings on that one wall. Either tracing back the originals or adding new faces.
Dartha was added.
Ashes was added.
Cassia, Ryven and Galos were added.

He spoke then as more people were put on the wall and some were ruthlessly clawed out.
Amadeus disappeared.
The nameless ones disappeared.
After all this time

"Serr is ghos-t. He dis-ah-pearrr. Li-ke 'Chee. Li-ke Gah-los. Li-ke Drrrrah-k."

Ah. Raen, Drak and Sneaker's faces were added.

The image of the Maritime was altered.

The rays of light became accented with a flame or two. His own image was erased from the group image and a candle's depiction was placed up near the top. It was like this in much of his mind -- depictions where words weren't always enough.
He kept working at the images as he spoke, not caring that the faces were but guesses. He'd never truly seen what any on the wall actually looked like. He drew on emotional signature.
All signatures were clear and of their own individuality.
I never thought I'd be here

"Serr dis-ah-pearrr. Is hurrr-t. Rrrr-enne wahn-t trrry hell-p bu-t..."

He stopped. Part of him rebelled against the darker feelings. Part of him cried out against speaking of the more dreadful thoughts concerning what had been home.
What had been heroes.

He moved on to another image.

The image of Pendrell on the wall became more defined. The details were there but now he added to them with painstaking precision.
He wanted something to live, somehow.
Even if it was already dead.
It was this that gave him the courage to speak on the darker side -- the side of his thoughts that he'd give anything to have removed.

"Ahl-ways, leave be-hind. Eey-ess, Rrrr-enne noht li-ke mahn. Bu-t why be-hind ahl-ways? Eey-ess, some-ti-me is prrrro-tect. Rrr-enne thin-k."

A moment of uncertainty.

"Bu-t nev-errr Rrrr-enne cahn hell-p. Nev-errr. Li-ke whe-n Serr rrrun ah-way ahn-d Rrrr-enne trrry to fol-low in big col-d."

He shuddered at the memory. His homeland had been a place that would've flash-fried even a dragon so the yeti furs had immediately become a beloved treasure. Beloved and functional in keeping his temperature more to where it ought to be.
Indeed, one of the furs hadn't come off even as he moved.
When my love for you was blind

He had to go on and say it.
There was no turning back.

"Serr noht tell why. Ohn-lee go ahn-d dis-ah-pearrr. Rrr-enne fol-low in big col-d. Bu-t... Aigh!"

To the Abyss with words. He'd show her.

It wasn't telepathy or magic. Just one of his scientific tweaks of the atmosphere as he released the memory for the naked eye to see.

It was the truth as he'd experienced it.

--He'd panicked when he found the note and the gun. He knew what the gun meant and lacking the ability to foresee any future events, he'd tucked the thing away and kept it safe.
Logic was preciously scarce now, even as he planned and in the end, bundled up in furs he had back then and took off to find one of the few that had become a hero.
He took off in the winter snows to find one of the two humans that had become as this.

Ultimately, he was found. But ultimately, Renne met only a strange silence. Questions left unanswered and admittedly, he was afraid to ask.
Ultimately, the sides of him spoke.

He doesn't need you. See how he avoids you.
-I will still try. A T'hyhar-an is sacred!-
And you came too late.
-I still try.-
Be logical. You expect it out of him.
-I expect nothing. I only care. I wish to be at his side and help. When needed. Like 'Chee.-
You are not like 'Chee. You are inferior.
-Does it matter? No. I read his signature.-
Does he know this?
-I do not know how much he knows. The People always know emotion-signatures.-
He does not. He builds walls for the unworthy.
-I will still try.-
Is that why you revealed to him the Green-Eyed One's final words?--

The drawing of Pendrell was vividly detailed now. The wings were bolder. The face was more defined.
And the eyes were wide open.
Part of me died when I let you go

He let the memory fade as words tumbled out of the mental wormhole. He backed away from the wall and dropped to his knees in front of Chryrie.
He dropped like a man on Judgment Day.

-You're not expendable-
-...brothers are brothers, lovers, lovers-
-....Ffyniant.-
-I dub thee the Tree Biting Imp Extraordinaire-

I loved you more than you'll ever know.

Humanus Minae
*Rated PG-13ish for some semi-graphic description*

"You were almost kind. You were almost true
Don't let me see that other side of you
You have learned in time that you must be cruel.
I'll have to wait to find the best of you."
--Either Way, Guster




Humans.

Human strengths.

And human weaknesses.

He heard her and listened. He allowed her to touch him under the furs and didn't flinch. He listened and dissected every word she said. He couldn't understand it entirely even if much of it resonated within his own self.
But he was a paradox.

He detected her confusion and after a thorough dissection-and-analysis, he sat up and shrugged the furs off of himself. His long hair was still gone and he bore all the scars of his life be it from sheer survival or risking his neck for something he valued. He'd encountered many things both fair and foul. He'd survived three wars between nations. He'd lived to tell the tale of a civilisation put to its death.
He'd learned about honour and friendship.
And he'd learned about betrayal in its many forms.

This, however, was a new and very alien concept.

How can a man be left behind for his protection?

It didn't make much sense.

Letting his useless eyes turn a perfectly neutral, emotionless slate-gray, he schooled his expression and initially put up his guard. He wasn't sure about this. About her. About anything anymore.
And as much as he dreaded it, despised it, a dark seed had been planted.
Never again would he trust a Human.

Thankfully, that polluting beast was still small. So maybe he could eliminate it.
His mind opened up a bit to reveal something again. Not images but words. Words, emotions, questions, theories.
It was in a sense, a conversation between himself and that dark seed.
Himself and the Hunter.

It wasn't meant to happen. But it did. He controlled it yet allowed it.
Perhaps the deeper, more primal edges of his instincts had a purpose for revealing the image of the Hunter.

-Humans look after their own. Or did you not know that?-
I knew. Humans are social creatures. They desire one another.
-One another. Humans distrust other life-forms.-
Many do, yes.
-All Humans do. They fear other kinds. They weave Untruths to cloud you.-
Explain events.
-Specify.-
The warm events. The events that produced Joy.
-Anomalies.-
They were not. The Name is a treasure.
-Explain now, then.-
I cannot.
-Now you see. Humans are not to be trusted. Ever. How many have left life-forms behind?-
Many. But there were crises.
-Why these two? Measuring to them is impossible.You are inferior.-
There was a word. "Minor".
-Yes. Inferior.-
Explain the words on paper wishing protection! Explain the Instinct!
-Untrustworthy. Humans Betray always. They leave the inferior behind.-
Be silent! Silent! Humans need further study! Humans have the Capacity!
-Prove it.-
If it were an Untruth, would they have let the Thunder-Maker destroy the Lifestone?

This "Hunter" was a figment of his mind -- the dark seed that had taken root and fed upon the grief of so many months. It fed upon the fear and the knowledge of past experiences. But it wasn't until in these months the Hunter had taken a definitive shape.
It stood like a corpse rotted from years in the ocean. It grinned and of its own accord, released one of the many nightmares Renne had been plagued with since March.
The so-called Hunter spared no details either.

*-The night had fallen on Home and all of Rhy'Din. He'd followed the Duo back home and found them safe. It was for him, a confusing moment of hope and for at least another day, he'd nearly forgotten he had the Thunder Maker in his possession.
He couldn't keep it. It wouldn't be right.
--feared weapon--
--prized artifact--
Inexplicably he couldn't return the thing to Harold personally, so he'd settled for a note and the possession kept wrapped and protected.

It was then that things changed.

Thunder crashed in the night and no one knew until long after.
Words were spoken in a cold, stilted tone.

And then he came up out of the water one night as the imp came down to the shore.
He smelled like himself, of warmth, coffee and salt. But he wasn't him. So the imp backed away until he heard the voice.
"You're a man now, Imp. You're a man now."
That voice, the words made the imp almost-smile. Then he felt strange arms embrace him.
The arms weren't the same. They weren't warm and pulsing with life.
The arms were cold, drenched in ages of sea-water and felt like flesh still disintegrating. The chest Renne's head found itself against was hollow, incomplete and festooned with years-old seaweed.
And there was no Rhythm.

The sea roared around them with a steadily growing rage. Rain began to pour from the sky in cold torrents.
He spoke again.
"You're a man now. So take it like a man."
The voice wasn't warm. It lacked tone and inflection. The voice's emotions were impossible to Analyse. The stranger/hero let go of the imp and stood back. He grinned a ghastly grin on a face with flesh melting off the damp, cracking bone.
Renne felt the cold metal against his chest.
He heard the sea create a great tsunami.

And then he heard nothing but silence.-

He reined in his mind. If he went any further, it would be laid wide open for her to explore. And right now, he wasn't sure he could trust doing that yet.
How could he explain the terrible dualities he projected and felt?
How could he explain the side of anger, pain and outright betrayal?
How could he have her understand how much he loved every face etched upon the wall?

How do you speak of something too deep for words?

~<>~

* From Letters to the Dead XXI: Tell-Tale Dreams