When Pale woke up the next morning, it was to a terrible headache. She winced, bringing a hand up to rub at her forehead, a low groan escaping her. Next to her, Kayla stirred awake, sitting up in bed.

"Gods…" she muttered. "My head is killing me…"

She threw the covers off herself, and Pale paused at what she saw.

"Kayla."

"Hm?"

"You're naked."

Kayla looked down at herself, then yelped, grabbing a handful of covers and pulling them up to conceal her body. Pale simply averted her eyes, then stood up and began to pull on her body armor and weapons.

"I… I… what happened last night?" Kayla demanded.

Pale shrugged. "We both had too much to drink, apparently. If I remember right, Evie kept ordering mead and insisting that we both partake. I was careful to stop early; you, on the other hand, kept going."

"B-but… why was I naked? We didn't, um…"

"No," Pale answered without looking back. "We did not."

Kayla breathed a sigh of relief. "Good…"

"I'm looking away, just so you know. You can get dressed now."

"Thanks…"

Pale was careful to continue staring off into space as Kayla dressed herself. After a moment, she was done; Pale tossed her a backpack, which she pulled on.

"We can't stay here," Pale told her.

"I know. Do you have a plan?"

"We'll ask Evie where her caravan is going. If they're headed north, we can hitch a ride with them for a bit – should be faster than traveling on foot, and that will let us rest up a bit more. If they're not going that way, then we'll be on-foot again."

"Sure." Kayla paused for a moment. "Hey, Pale?"

"Yes?"

"About some of things I said last night, regarding your family-"

"Don't apologize," Pale said, taking a seat on the bed. "You were correct, whether you knew it or not."

"Ah… you really never had a family?"

Pale shook her head. "The closest I had was the team of scientists who created me, plus my handler, Admiral Roy Cohen. But my relationship with all of them was impersonal and informal; my job was to serve them, not get close to them, and they knew it. Admiral Cohen made sure to reinforce that idea to everyone."

Kayla's brow furrowed. "That's wrong," she said softly. "You deserve a family, too."

"I am a machine, Kayla. Machines don't have families."

"Try telling that to Evie. Something tells me that she would disagree."

"Evie doesn't need to know my true nature. In fact, I would prefer if you could refrain from telling people about my origins. Not that you have before, but in the future, keep that in mind. The last thing I want is for people to start asking uncomfortable questions."

Kayla nodded in understanding. "By the way, what do you think about Evie?"

"She's not my enemy, which is good enough for me," Pale stated simply. "Come on, let's get going."

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

–

The two of them found Evie and her family on the outskirts of town, loading boxes and barrels into horse-drawn wagons and carriages.

"You're late," Evie said as they approached.

"Late?" Kayla asked.

"Yes, late. We've all been here, waiting for you."

"You didn't need to do that…"

Evie barked out a laugh. "I'm just messing with you. Truthfully, we got the sense that you wouldn't want to tag along with us. You're good people and all, and you'll always be part of our family, but it looked like you both might have had your own stuff going on, too."

"That depends on where you're headed," Pale cut in. "Are you going north?"

"As a matter of fact, yeah, we were going to head a bit further up there. Is that where you're going?"

"It is."

Evie grinned. "Well, hop in! We'll give you a lift for as long as we can."

Pale nodded gratefully, then her and Kayla stepped into Evie's wagon. Shortly after they'd settled into the back, the caravan started to move, and Evie followed.

"So, tell me," Evie said. "What's a beastkin doing this far out?"

Kayla bit her lip. "It's… not a happy story."

"It never is, is it? If it's something personal-"

"No, it's… just sad. My town was attacked by more of those bandits. They killed most of us, then took the remainder as captives and slaves. My father was one of them."

Evie fell silent for a moment, then let out a heavy sigh. "Bastards… they must have had it in for you all, too, because they had to bypass a number of towns to get there. Any reason why?"

"No idea," Kayla said. She let out a sniffle. "I just… want my father back."

"Yeah, I can imagine. I'm sorry you went through that, and I sincerely hope you can get him back. With any luck, we'll be able to get you pretty close to where he's at." Evie looked over her shoulder, staring at Pale out of the corner of her eye. "And you? Was it your village, too?"

Pale shook her head. "No. You could say I've been displaced, and that I'm more than a little lost. I'm just trying to get home."

"Truly? And where is home, anyway?"

Pale looked up at the sky. "Somewhere far away from here, unfortunately."

–

They continued on in silence for a time before Kayla finally fell asleep. Again, she let out small gasps and whimpers and thrashed around while she was unconscious, which didn't go unnoticed by Evie.

"Poor thing," Evie commented. "You both must have been through a lot over the past few days."

"You could say that," Pale responded.

"Still, kudos to both of you for trying to stop these bandits. World needs more people like you both, if you ask me. Glad to have you both aboard."

"Can I ask you something?" Pale said.

"Sure, ask away."

"Family… what does that word mean to you?"

Evie paused, as if taken aback by her sudden question. "What do you mean?"

"It's just… you keep referring to Kayla and I as your family. But family is traditionally rooted in blood relations and marriage, is it not?"

"I mean, if you're being old-fashioned and literal about it, then yes. But I think you'll find that there are those of us out there who take a broader view of what family means." Evie looked back over her shoulder at her. "You ever hear the saying that blood is thicker than water?"

"Yes."

"Well, it's not true. Why should I care for someone just because they have the same blood in their veins as I do? What if they're a terrible person, am I still obligated to care for them in that case?" Evie shook her head. "There's more to family than just blood. My people believe that the family you choose is more important and meaningful than the one assigned to you by the circumstances of your birth. You ought to understand that on a certain level."

"What do you mean?"

"You've never had a family, right?" Pale nodded. "So that means you have no preconceived notions of what it means to be in one. Which makes me wonder… maybe the question you asked isn't being asked to the right person."

Pale blinked. "Who shall I ask it to, then?"

"Try looking in a mirror," Evie said with a smirk. "But, really… everyone here is going to be biased in their answer. If you're looking for something meaningful, I think the best person to ask is yourself. What does family mean to you, Pale?"

Pale shook her head. "I don't know."

"Then perhaps that's something you should ponder through your travels. I wouldn't expect you to have an answer yet, anyway – this is all so new to you. It's going to take some time to figure it out, and that's okay. Sometimes, the best answers are the ones we need to think about."

Slowly, Pale nodded. "Acknowledged."

Kayla suddenly sat bolt upright, a loud gasp escaping her. She stared ahead with wide eyes, her chest heaving. Evie turned to look at her, concern etched across her face.

"You alright?" she asked.

"Y-yeah…" Kayla muttered. "Just… need some water."

Pale reached into her bag for a canteen, which she passed to Kayla; Kayla drank greedily from it before capping it and passing it back, then let out a low groan, laying down on the floor of the carriage.

"I slept terribly…"

"We could tell," Evie replied. "You want to talk about it?"

Kayla shook her head. "It's nothing major, really. Just… reopening fresh wounds, so to speak."

"Don't dwell on it; that'll just make it worse."

Kayla frowned. "Pale said the same thing."

"Well, she's right. Nobody ever got over this kind of thing by reliving it over and over, or blaming themselves for it. Keep moving forward – that's all you can do. And then, once you've saved your father, you can start healing in earnest." Evie suddenly seemed to think of something, then turned back to them.

"You know, there's something that's been bothering me."

"What is it?"

"How'd you two meet, anyway?"

Pale shrugged. "Serendipity. I happened to be in the right place at the wrong time."

"She saved my life," Kayla said softly. "From the bandits attacking my town, I mean. It was too late for her to save anyone else, but she saved me, and she brought justice to some of the people who were killed. Now we're trying to help each other – she assists me in bringing my father home, and I do whatever I can to try and get her back to where she came from."

"Quid pro quo," Evie replied. At Kayla's questioning expression, she added, "Old merchant term in the old Common language meaning 'something for something'. You scratch her back, she scratches yours. A favor for a favor, basically."

"Ah. I, um… didn't think someone as young as you would speak the old Common language."

"Young?" Evie barked out a laugh. "I may look like a twenty-year-old human, but I'm almost two-thousand years old. Elves are very long-lived."

"Truly?" Kayla asked, surprised. "That's amazing!"

"Yeah, well, it's not everything it's cracked up to be, believe me. Living that long sounds nice, but eventually… you get tired of watching all your friends die, and their empires rise and fall, to be replaced by some petty tyrants that need to be overthrown. Then the cycle repeats. Sometimes, I just wish the sands of time would stop flowing for once, you know? And that's even before we factor in an elf's extremely low birth rate."

"Oh… I'm sorry."

Evie waved her off. "Don't worry, it's fine. Really, economics explains this, too – there's a price for everything; nothing is free. At the end of the day, there is always a drawback to any given decision or opportunity, whether you may realize it or not. Eventually, the other side is going to come collect what they're owed."

"Quid pro quo," Pale echoed.

Evie nodded. "See? She gets it. You'd make a great merchant, Pale. Ever think about forming your own caravan?"

"No," Pale answered. "I have a different calling in life."

"Oh? Consider me curious. What'd you have in mind?"

"Military."

"Soldier girl, eh? Nothing wrong with that. Not the life I'd pick, but if it's your calling, it's your calling."

"Indeed," Pale replied evenly.