Snippet #2194724

The night had grown bitterly cold, so deep that even Aja had wandered back to her own hut to turn in for the night. While she lay there, in a bed of winter furs and animal skins, she stared at the ceiling and contemplated the conversation with Adrien earlier that night. So someone was lying. For what purpose? Who was it who had lied in the first place? Her brow knit, a sigh emitting from deep in her chest as she rolled over onto her side. Someone had sabotagued the peace treaty, and then the events were relayed to the colonists falsely.

Her eyes drifted closed as sleep finally took her into its warm embrace.

Elsewhere, the horses that had been penned somewhere off to the west of the village knickered mildly, their large noses snorting steam as they stomped their hooves in the cold. Nobody was around to tend them, since there was no apparent fear that the horses would be taken.

But they had welcomed another into their tribe; one that they formerly didn't trust. Adrien, instead of resigning himself to the doctor's hut, found himself restless and agitated. The idea that his father - Radimus - had lied echoed in his head again. As he paced through the quiet village, one hand gripped the scruff of his hair and the other gripped the stick-cane, which he jabbed into the ground as he walked. The cane's sound against the ground was soft, and didn't nearly match his level of confusion and frustration.

Ultimately, his eyes laid on the horse stables. Although the condition of his leg and his inability to ride horses in general may have stopped him before, the raw cluster of emotions that passed and interlaced in his mind clouded it, and stopped him from rational thought.

So he approached the stables, intent on taking a horse. Perhaps it would betray the Vanduo's trust. Perhaps he could return it later. Those were thoughts that passed quickly, while thoughts of anger and resentment came to.

He'd come upon a beast that was awake; irritable, even. Whose eyes were covered by long locks of white hair that hung over it's eyes. They were much unlike those horses that he and Xander tended at home.

Do you think it wise to ride through the night in your condition?

Her voice preceded her physical form, and the big cat sauntered forward, completely comfortable amongst the horses. Her blue eyes bore into Adrien's. She sat down on her hind legs, her figure relaxed and obviously content. She didn't seem to be worried about much.

"I don't know, all knowing. What'll happen if I do, then?" Adrien asked, an obvious bite to his voice. He turned sharply around, though his hand still rested on the snout of the white beast he'd approached. "What about you? D'you think it's wise?"

"And me, I'm not quite sure what t'think. Did my father lie? Perhaps he's lied to me a lot. What about the assassin, all-knowing Motina? If y'know everything, then tell me'is name. Tell me where'e lives in Blakestown. Maybe I could do something about it. If you're such a smart ... god damned ... tiger-thing, then why aren't you helping us? Me?" He continued, every word a lash to the big cat.

She sat quietly, patiently, adjusting her footing before lifting a paw and dragging her tongue over it.

If you don't believe the assassin existed in the first place, then there is no reason why I should tell you who they are. Her head lowered to lie down on her paws.

It is ultimately up to you to decide what the real truth is, Adrien Rune. she purred.

Adrien took his hand off of the horse, and approached Motina. Still, he gripped the nape of his neck and pulled in frustration.

"If my father was lying - hypothetically - n'th'same man who killed Aja's father gave'er 'er scar n'knocked me silly, then I'd need a name. 'E lives in m'town, fer gods sake. Even if my father hadn't lied!" The boy said, almost escalating into a yell. "It isn't like'e's living in your pretty little children's territory. 'E's living in mine."

He started to face the horse again, but then abruptly turned around again to criticize Motina.

"N'it's not up t'me to decide what th'real truth is. Truth is truth. If y'know it all, why don't y'tell me it?"

In due time. There is still a purpose to be served. Motina replied patiently. There is far more going on than what first meets the eye. It involves all of us. What you need to do now is prepare yourself for what is to come.

An audible sigh rumbled through her chest. Aja can help you in many ways. Leaving now only puts yourself at greater risk.

"Prepare m'self? By doing what? Sitting around here doing nothing? Integrating with th'Vanduo? I can damn well walk, and by th'fact that I'm not sweating n'drooling anymore, I think th''poison' wore off. N'what's Aja gonna do about it? I appreciate th'girl, I really do, n'hell, she changed my mind about y'natives entirely! What's an ... 18 some girl going t'teach me?"

Adrien's fist curled.

"Then t'morrow. In the morning, I'll leave."

You see everything through the eyes of youthful mortality. Motina rumbled, seemingly to herself. Her attention then returned to Adrien. You are free to leave whenever you like. Just know that a world exists beyond the walls of the colonist village. Dangers, friends, and a new way of looking at life.

She rose to her feet.

The morning, then. she murmured, turning and beginning to walk away.

"Th'morning." Adrien mimicked. "Can't believe a talking bobcat convinced me t'wait until morning." He said.

Then, he jabbed his stick into the ground, and began to walk toward the medical tents again.