Together with herbalist, Doireann being made to stay behind and deal with being alone and with the Chief for a while, I went towards my original home, the house of my family. It's been probably slightly over a year since I last saw them, I'm deeply curious of what has happened throughout the time I have been gone. Had Ita, my little sister, grown at all? Was Kevin still doing fine? Ignoring everyone else, and intentionally forgetting the fact that both my spear and my cloak is still with Ronan, I neared my old home and caught sight of the fire that was tucked away within it.

 I could hear the crackling of the fire inside. I couldn't hear a voice, and I didn't see dad out in the fields either. There wasn't much work left in the field given that there were no crops to harvest or sow, so that didn't surprise me. Mom should still be around, right? And with her both of my siblings would also be there. I tried my best not to run, something aided by the growing malaise inside me. The wondering of whether I would still be accepted by them filled my limbs, the anxiety of rejection blooming once again.

 I didn't wait as I did with the herbalist's roundhouse. I immediately looked into the building, and immediately was rewarded with the sight of my sister, sitting down and sharpening various tools, and my mother on the loom. Have no one told them of my arrival? I'm certain people haven't forgotten my face in a mere years time. Surely someone had been gossipping and gossip is said to travel faster than lightening but that doesn't look to be true at all.

 Ita was the first to notice me, as she was facing the entrance and mom facing the wall, and for a moment it looked as if she didn't recognize me. But recognition slowly dawned on her, and once it did it hit her like a club to the back of her skull.

 "Attie!" Uncertain of what to do with the sickle in her hand, she fidgets for a moment and finally realizes she could just drop it. She gets up and sprints towards me, being careful initially not to topple or hit any of the tools she was working on while attempting to run to me. I out stretch my hands and prepare to catch her, as I already guessed from the mood of the situation that she was going to attempt to tackle me.

 I took a step back and braced for the impact. She didn't have enough time to gather up great speed, but she was large enough to warrant me making precautions for toppling over. I watched as she jumped, each moment as if slowed down, and caught her with my hands before she could hit me with the worse of her weight. She looked happy, a goofy smile on her face, as I spun her around a single rotation and sat her back on the ground. Being eight and slightly taller than Ard, she wasn't a great weight, I'm realizing I didn't need to do that.

 But she was having none of it. She wanted to hug, and the moment she had her feet back on the ground she re-engaged her efforts. This time I reciprocated, crouching down so that she could have a body to hug that didn't result in her smashing her face into my abdomen. The hug didn't last long, she broke it and immediately began to ask questions.

 "Where were you? Why did you leave us? Were you lonely out there in the woods? Where'd you get these strange clothes?" Too many questions asked too fast, it took a slight amount of concentration to decipher what she was trying to say with her rapid fire speaking. I patted her head rather than responded, I couldn't answer them even if I was able to speak now. The information I needed to convey was too complicated for me to construct sentences for, so I smiled back and kept my hand on her head as I straighted out and looked over to mom.

 She had also become aware of my presence. She isn't deaf, and Ita had made enough noise to alert probably everyone within a fifty feet radius around us. Her face was one of shock, and then of sadness, overtaken by realization and finally something that resembled determination. She looked between me and the herbalist, who stood nearby, and quickly made her way over to me. Her look was beginning to make me nervous, but luckily it didn't have to last longer than the amount of time it took for her to walk over to me.

 Rather than speaking, she immediately hugged me and held me close. Not moving, not patting my back, nor rubbing it. I was slightly taller than she was, but not by much, so she could hug me like a normal person, without having to crouch down as she did when I was younger. I hugged her back, unsure of what else to do. This situation was almost awkward if it weren't for the slight crying I could feel from my shoulder. I held her a bit closer to me, trying not to let any of my own tears to show themselves. It worked, for the most part.

 But we couldn't stand her hugging each other forever. Mom was the one who broke the embrace, her eyes clearly showing signs of having cried but no new tears showed themselves. She wiped her eyes and moved on to the herbalist, hugging her briefly, and then finally turning to me in order to do something that wasn't hugging.

 "Attie. Welcome back, you foolish little boy. Have you resolved everything with the herbalist?"

 I looked at the herbalist, she nodded, and so I nodded as well. Mom closed her eyes and placed a hand over it as well, nodding while doing so. "Thanks the divines. Please, head inside, Attie, Dorcha. Let me go get Neill." As per her command I headed inside, sitting down next to the fire. Ita sat next to me, looking at me as if I held the secrets of the universe, and master sat on the other side of the fire.

 I had some time to think, then. What was the best way to convey all the information I needed to convey? I didn't have much longer than at most a couple of days to stay here. How should I spend that time? How could I convince Ard to let me stay a bit longer? What should I do first?

 "What're these clothes, Attie?" Ita had enough of waiting for me to respond and began to ask her questions. She grabbed my tunic and pulled at it, testing for its elasticity. But nettles weren't an elastic fabric, more of the opposite, so all she get out of that was pulling my hand closer to herself. But that was fine with her, as she decided the floral patterns sewn with a slightly lighter shade of green running through my sleeves was interesting enough a design to lose herself into.

 She was asking me questions and I had no way to answer them. Was it best for me to introduce to her the concept of me being able to speak? It would probably be a better way of breaking the idea to my parents, so I think so.

 "I---"

 It didn't take more than making a slight noise to remove Ita from her inspection of my clothes, and I couldn't form another sound before Ita looked at me like I destroyed the concept of reality. I tried to form another word, but was cut off from Ita's shouting.

 "You can speak now!?" Yes, I could if you'd let me. "Do it again!"

 Alright. "Aah," not trying to make any words as simply making sounds is easier, I was surprised by the delight Ita got from my meaningless sounds. She grabbed my cheeks and tried to look me around, as if I was playing a trick and not truly being the one making the noises. This went on, I making several vowel sounds as Ita continued to marvel at something even babies could do, until my parents arrived at the sight of their daughter inspecting my face for any strange magic tricks.

  I had thought showcasing my ability to Ita would help, Ita somehow explaining the entire situation for more rather than having to sit awkwardly while my parents figured out the situation, but that wasn't the case. Ita did look over to mom and dad, but all she exclaimed was, "Attie can make sounds!" And that was it. Maybe it helped, I don't know.

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 Mom and dad quickly walked over, my dad having a complex blend of confusion and anxious anticipation, and my mother an almost blank face if not for the slight signs of that same confusion as dad wore. They sat immediately next to me and started to touch my throat. This feels weird. I didn't think things would go this way, but I guess being able to make a noise after a lifetime of being mute was deserving of some awe.

 But dad started to shake his head, as if trying to shake off of the confusion, and realized the slightly more important realization. I was here, after being gone a year. "Attie, you're back. Where were you? Why didn't you arrive sooner? Have you cleared everything up with the herbalist? Attie, you're back!"

 Ignoring the family that was still playing around with my neck and face, dad hugged me with a hug that almost hurt. Being torn away from the groping hands of the others, I hugged dad back and waited for his eventual release. All these reunions are starting to get to me, not in a good way. Yes, I'm back. Yes, I can speak. Not well, and because of that I wanted to spent as much time attempting to speak to my parents and siblings as I could.

 Speaking of siblings, where's Kevin? I couldn't see him anywhere. He's not old enough to be wandering out on his own?

 Dad released me from his bear hug and patted my shoulders roughly. We were both sitting, so this entire exchange was odd and awkward, but I appreciated it regardless of what I wanted to get into. I looked around the room for the sight of Kevin, in his short and stubby form, but nowhere could I see him. I think dad realized what I was looking for, his face losing his smile and his demeanor deflating to something more manageable. He looked at mom and made a small nod.

 "Many things have happened while you were gone, Attie," Mom began to speak, no longer fondling my throat and lips, moving over to dad and sitting on the other side of the fire. Ita caught on to the sudden change of atmosphere and equally moved to sit down like a more polite child. I nodded, waiting for her to continue. "Many of them good, but not so good as to warrant speaking." Mom took in a breath, preparing herself for what she was about to say.

  "Your brother is dead. A fever took him almost immediately after you left, and he never managed to recover. There was nothing any of us could've done." Dad, instead of mom, spoke. He spoke slowly and factually, there was nothing more to be said. Alright.

 The words didn't sink into me for a couple of moments. I nodded, unsure of what else to do. But then the reality of what dad just spoke started to run its logic in me, and the look of everyone in the room, from the herbalist to Ita, to mom, and to lesser of an extent dad, told me this wasn't a joke. How am I supposed to react to this? I've already lost too many people, one is more than enough. I know rationally that children do tend to get taken by sickness, I could understand this. Everyone has kids taken from them through this evil.

 Alright. I guess he's gone now, then. I looked over at the herbalist, her gaze not meeting mine. She would've been the one responsible for treating him, wouldn't she? If I didn't know her I would've guessed she played a hand in this. But I did know her, and I knew she wouldn't do this. I looked back at my parents, but only dad would meet my gaze now. I noded again, not at anything in particular.

 I ran a hand through my hair, feeling the all too familiar pain of loss within my chest. I looked over at Ita and saw she was deathly pale. This wasn't a topic we could move on from so easily, and given that I had no words to say, rather than being incapable of, I waited for everything to come to pass.

  "But, let's go to a different topic for now, now that you know of what had happened to Kevin. I don't think now is the best time to continue this. Can you speak, Attie?"

 It probably is best to move on. I nodded, "Yess," my best attempt at making a convincing yes. Something shone from the back of dad's eyes, through the sadness of his face I could see enthusiasm over my new found ability to make sounds and words.

 Talking was an extremely difficult task for me. I knew the sounds of what each words meant in my native language, but reproducing them and assembling them together into coherent grammatical structures was a difficult task even at the best of days. This is further hampered from the fact that I had been learning how to speak for Ard's tongue and not my own, this slight accent that I had developed being the key marker to this affliction. But I would try to speak, regardless.

 "Start... beginning?"

 Dad nodded, and so did mom. The herbalist looked just as eager to listen as well. Let's go, then. "I, after made leave by Chief, head to forest and stay alive for few days. Day, I meet spirit, faery, name Ard. She take in, me learn, she give. Many months spent with her, in land odd, learn magic. Look hand, I had scar once. There no longer." It must've taken me well over thirty minutes to speak all those words, most of them time being spent in thought over what word I should use next. I showcased my right hand, no longer scarred. I never cut it off, but the method of healing I used seemed to override the need to. Over the year it gradually turned into the hand I was familiar with, no longer the strange white webs running through my arm.

 Dad nodded, I'm not sure if out of politeness or because he understood. He looked at the herbalist, and not at mom, and she also nodded. "This faery, can we meet here? And what sort of magic have you learned? How large was the scar?" My master began to speak, I guess the look was to see if the herbalist would take over asking me questions.

  "Ard, no meet. She say, 'no,' so no meet. Magic I learned many, fire, move water, help grow plant, make winds. Heal, like scar. Scar this big, from finger, to here." I touched my fingers and moved towards my elbows. "All over. Very white, like spider."

 "Like spider?"

 "Yes. Line run through many, many lines. Very bad. Barely move, got better. Good at healing, me." Even I'm starting to realize my words are atrociously butchered. But the herbalist nodded, deep interest started to show in her eyes.

 "Can you show me?"

 I nodded. I felt around for my life and retrieved it, the same old copper knife I've always had. It was dull, so perhaps it wouldn't cut me all that well. I put that back into the sheath and instead picked up one of the sickles Ita was sharpening. My mother gave a ghasp as I quickly cut a small portion of my palm with the sickle, I dropped it down and showcased it to my master. "Watch." She nodded.

  This was something I've grown truely adept at over the months. This was the one thing I was exceptionally good at, according to Ard. So, over time I had managed to heal wounds at a rate that was beginning to rival Ard's own ability, something that surprised even Aoibheann and Saraid. I sat in concentration, moving the light magic and forming the correct spell with them, running it over my wound and concentrating on stopping the bleeding, and then immediately to closing and healing the wound.

 It must've been a unique sight, as the herbalist kept her gaze intensely on the wound, and Ita had her eyes wider than when I had first spoken. Within thirteen minutes the wound had healed, and not even scar tissue remained. I closed my hand and opened it to show that it was back to full functionality, and looked over everyone as they stared at me. I guess I should've thought more about whether or not this sort of magic would be easily accepted.

 A slight blush must've begun to take over my face. I moved on to something else, manifesting fire. I could do what master had been capable of doing pretty consistently, and to a small extent greater than what she had shown. I pointed up to the ceiling with a single finger and called forth a mass of fire elementals, spinning it around and slowly coaxing it into moving into the material world. After a short light show of sparks, a flame popped into existence above my finger tip. "See?"

 The herbalist nodded, her gaze too intense for me to describe anymore. "You're certain I can't meet with this faery, Attie?"

 "I not sure, but she say no, so I say no. Maybe. Me speak?"

 "With her? Is she around?"

 "Somewhere. Know where, no."

 I snuffed out the flame as it was beginning to consume too much magic, and looked over to my parents. Dad had a hand over his mouth as if thinking, and mom just looked confused. This is much more of a union with too great of surprises than I thought it would've been. I guess living with Ard has made me forget the level of absurdity I've been living in recently.