The Fiercewater Hall was separated into two rooms, divided through the center by a wide hallway. The entrance opened into the hallway, which was lit by candles and furnished with the occasional bench. At the far end of it was a hung painting of the founder, and halfway through were doors to the left and right.
“We have two halls,” Tampter explained. “The one on the right is for meetings with foreign dignitaries and the like, and the one on the left is for internal meetings. These days, Evelyn spends most of her days in the left room, which is where I’m betting she is right now.” He set Maya down from his shoulders then. “Why don’t the three of you wait out here, and I’ll bring her out to meet you all.”
The three of us nodded, and Tampter gave us all a smile, and Maya an extra ruffle on the head, before leaving us behind and heading into the room. As he opened the door, the mingled sounds of discussion leaked out a little, proving Tampter’s guess right.
Once he had disappeared into the room, I dropped down to Maya’s level and patted her shoulder. “You excited?” I asked in a smiling whisper. Maya didn’t answer, however. Instead, she turned to me with tears in her eyes and leaned her head into my shoulder. After a fleeting second of frozen shock, I wrapped an arm around the little girl’s shoulders, pulling her in as she started to sob quietly. I smiled to myself then, an emotion potent yet beyond description coursing through me.
I knew that the last few weeks had been a tough time for the little girl, but – perhaps due in part to the exceptional control she had over her emotions – I didn’t quite realize just how much she’d been holding back. And now that the end was finally here, her emotions had swelled up beyond what her defenses could handle.
I held her tight as she cried almost silently, not moving a muscle until the door Tampter had vanished into creaked open once more. Voices leaked out again, still discussing at the same pitch, which told me that Tampter hadn’t announced the news to the whole room.
Tampter stepped out first, and just after him stepped out what I could only assume to be Maya’s mother, Evelyn. She was a tall woman, draped in a deerskin dress decorated with the same kind of beadwork as Maya’s. She shared her tanned skin and shoulder-length brown hair, though she had a crown of black raven feathers braided through it.
She looked gaunt, like she hadn’t been eating or sleeping well – or at all, really. But, beyond the haggard look on her face, there was a dormant strength in her body that I grasped with a single glance. I had no plans to ever fight the woman, and thus no reason to size her up, but instinct did not care for my plans. It was to do its job regardless of the scenario, and right then, it told me that I stood before a formidable enemy, one that could pose significant danger to me.
The woman herself, however, likely did not even register my presence at the moment, her eyes fixed intently on the small figure in my embrace. With a smile, I patted Maya’s shoulder, whispering in her ear, “She’s here, Maya.”
Maya froze in place, before slowly turning around, her cheeks flushed peachy and tear-streaked. When she completed her rotation, fully facing her mother at last, the two spent a long moment almost frozen in time, unmoving, scarcely even breathing. Maya was the first to break the moment, heaving a quiet sob and swaying slightly, as if her legs could no longer bear the burden of holding her up.
The moment that she broke the silence, though, her mother was shaken out of her trance, and in the blink of an eye, in what was certainly the fastest step I’d ever seen a person take, she caught Maya in her arms, wrapping her up in her embrace as the tears she’d been holding back broke loose.
I stepped back a little as I watched, almost tearing up at the scene, before looking up at Tampter and Ren. With tacit understanding, the three of us stepped back and walked out of the hallway and out to the top of the staircase outside, letting the two have their moment together.
The three of us were silent as we stepped out into the sunlight, each of us with pensive, faraway looks on our faces, the sight having stirred within us each an emotional cocktail of memories.
-
Twenty minutes later found the three of us sat on a circular carpet, weaved of silk and dyed in a vibrant blend of colors. We were in the now emptied internal meeting room, with Evelyn sat across us, a bright smile hanging on her face as she held Maya in her lap. Just a few minutes earlier, she’d called us in after dismissing all the Clan Elders, having ordered them to spread the news of a great celebration that was to be held soon, to celebrate the return of her daughter.
And while they went out to go do their jobs, we were called in to finally answer the Chieftess’ questions. She began, of course, with the simplest.
“Who are you two?”
“I’m Ruby, and this is Ren,” I answered, before stopping there, not sure what else to add on.
The Chieftess waited a moment, before asking again with a smile. “And where are the two of you coming from?”
I didn’t show it on my face, but I was impressed by the question. It was incredibly astute. “We’re uh...actually from a different planet,” I answered hesitatingly. It seemed stupid in hindsight, but I hadn’t bothered to come up with a plausible backstory for our presence in the forest, so I was forced to go with the truth, as unbelievable as it was.
There was a moment of silence that settled over the company, before Evelyn parroted back to me, “From a different planet?”
I nodded.
“Well, that was not a part of Maya’s story,” she said, casting a curious look down at her daughter.
Maya shrugged her little shoulders. “I didn’t know either,” she said.
“Yeah, uh, we didn’t really tell anyone,” I explained. “No one really asked, and it’s not exactly the easiest thing to explain, as I’m sure you can imagine, so I never bothered to.”
“Well, I suppose that’s true. But, even if you are from a different planet, it doesn’t explain what in the world you’re doing so far south, all the way in the middle of nowhere in the Border Forest. I mean, the closest transport station big enough to handle inter-planetary trips is all the way in the Capital. I don’t understand how you could be coming north from inside the Forest. ”
I shook my head. “Yeah, we had quite the strange way of getting here. We actually crash-landed on the beach at the end of the Border Forest. Which…I guess you probably don't know of, since apparently that part of the forest hasn’t actually been mapped yet. I suppose this is all sounding quite unbelievable at the moment.”
“Well…” Evelyn said, “as strange and interesting as your story sounds, I’m actually inclined to believe you. See, so far as most people know, the Border Forest has never been completely mapped or explored. However, the Elders and Chiefs of our clan have long since done exactly that; the protection and maintenance of this forest is our duty, after all, and we could hardly do that if we didn’t know the place. And, as it just so happens, the maps left behind by my ancestors do indeed show a beach at the far end of the forest. And since no one else should have access to this information, your knowledge of it leads me to believe that you may have indeed been there. But regardless, I will need more than that to accept what you're telling me.” She paused there for a second, her eyes taking on a softer look.
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“I do apologize for the interrogation, by the way. In normal circumstances, you’d be celebrated as heroes and given rewards, as you should be, and as you will be, hopefully. But these days…these are turbulent times, and my actions are under intense scrutiny. It’s all…very complicated, and I’ve no wish to go through it all, and I’m sure you don’t either. But my point is, I must be very careful these days, and if not for that fact, I wouldn’t have dared treat my daughter’s saviors with such suspicion, and I do apologize for it.”
I waved her apology away. “No, no, not at all,” I said. “I don’t understand the politics of it all, of course, but I understand that your hands are tied at the moment. And I don’t blame you for it. Trust me, if I had prepared a more believable story, I would have told you that instead. Unfortunately, I don’t have an easier lie to tell, so I’ll have to stick with the truth.”
Evelyn smiled at my statement. “Very well, go on.”
“Well, cutting out the more strange and long-winded story, we’re refugees from another planet. I don’t know if you’ve heard of this dude called the Insect Monarch, but he had some crazy plan to kill everyone on my planet, and almost got away with it, but the Grand Order people got there in time, thankfully. Now, I’m oversimplifying here, but they beat him up and stuff, and saved the rest of us. They were actually gonna take us to their home planet…” I paused there suddenly, and before I could even ask, Ren piped up helpfully from the side.
“Adonis,” he said.
I snapped my fingers. “That’s it. So yeah, we were supposed to go to Adonis, but then these pirates came and stuff, and then after that, these bats came.” I realized then, in some part at the back of my brain, that I was rambling and probably not making much sense to someone who’d never heard the story before, but I also knew that any attempts at further explanation would only result in more confusion, so I didn’t even attempt it, simply forging on instead.
I walked them through the Void Bat attack, and the subsequent brush with death as we were thrown out into space and then sucked down onto the planet, and then the months we spent traveling through the forest. I skipped the part where we met Najam and his camp so as not to further confuse an already convoluted story.
“And that,” I concluded, “is why the two of us were actually headed back from the beach.”
The two adults in the room were both quiet as I finished my story, with pensive looks painted on their faces. Maya, however, was practically beaming with excitement, clearly having had no problem believing the story.
“That’s so cool!” she gushed. “What planet are you guys from? What’s it like there? How far is it? What was space like? Did you see the Insect Monarch fight? Did you fight him?” she fired off in succession, not pausing for a breath between the stream of questions.
“Alright, alright, Maya,” her mother cut the little girl off, chuckling to herself. “You can ask all the questions you want after we’ve had our talk, ok?” She looked down at the little girl as she spoke, a love so immense within her eyes it sparked a strange emotion within me. Heavy like sadness and uncomfortable like regret, or some strange relative of it. I buried it quickly, stifling it before it could appear on my face, and promptly decided I did not care for the emotion. So, as was done with everything in my head that I did not care for, it was boxed up and shelved away, to be revisited later...if ever.
Evelyn turned back up to us then, giving us a soft smile. “As for the two of you, I’ve decided.” She took a breath. “It may not be the smarter or safer option, but I could not bear to live with myself if I shunned away the two of you after you’ve brought me my daughter back. So I’ve decided that I will trust the two of you; let the people say what they say.”
I smiled at her declaration. “I am touched, Chieftess, by your trust, but, really, there’s no reason for you to stake your position for it. There’s no reason for the public to ever know anything about your trust in us at all, in fact. After all, the two of us only came really to meet you. I hoped you would trust us simply because I’m friends with Maya, and I’d like to continue to be. We didn't expect a reward or any kind of recognition when we picked up Maya, and we don’t really want it either. My only ask of your trust is to let us stay here for a couple days before we say goodbye, and maybe to allow us to visit every so often, if that’s possible. But I really don’t want to place any unnecessary stress on you, since you’re already in a tough position. If people will take offense to our being here, we can leave right away too.”
Maya shook her head adamantly at that. “No, no, we have to go to Uncle Boldy’s place first.”
Evelyn smiled down at her daughter. “Of course, Maya,” Then, turning up to us, she said, “How could we possibly force the two of you out without letting you rest for a few days? After all, I’m sure the trip through such a dangerous area was exhausting. But, as much as I hate to say it, it would truly be incredibly helpful to me if the two of you didn’t care for a public declaration of your actions. The two of you living here shouldn’t be much of a problem at all – the Council can only make problems if I make a clear attempt at giving you special privileges. If the two of you are okay with being treated as clansmen, then there should be no problem at all for the two of you to stay here for a few days. And, of course, you’d be welcomed back with open arms whenever you wish to return.”
I was surprised at that. “Really? Does your clan not have a problem with outsiders coming here? Maya said that no one but your clansmen and us know how to get here. I thought that may have been a problem.”
Evelyn nodded. “Well, it’s true that our clan values our mysterious air. Indeed, no one not related to the clan can find us without our help. But, while that mystery is a part of our tradition, trade with the outside world is all but a necessity these days, so we do have an entrance that we bring in guests with, but it’s designed purposefully so that only a clansman can navigate it. But it would seem by your statement that you didn’t take that path.”
I nodded. “Yeah, we actually took the one that dropped us off at the top of the hill. When we picked up Maya, she didn’t know how to get back to the clan from where we were, so our plan was to take her to the city we were headed to, and then we were going to ask for directions from there. Though, I suppose, now we know that that plan wouldn’t have worked. Luckily, we ran into your Life-Elixir Pool, and Maya was able to lead us to the village from there.”
Evelyn’s eyes brightened with interest when I mentioned the pool, but she didn’t address it. “Ah, I see. Lucky indeed. And, luckily for us all, it was Tampter who found the two of you. Which means we can keep the path that the two of you took to get here a secret. And everyone else should simply assume you’re just traveling adventurers who came through the usual route. While that’s not a common thing, it's not so unheard of as to raise too many questions. So it should cover your presence for a few days.”
“Sounds good,” I said.
“Alright then,” Evelyn continued, “with that settled, let’s get on to your rewards.”
Surprise colored my face as I started to interrupt, but Evelyn silenced me with a wave. “I know, I know, I said no rewards, of course, but I’d dishonor the name of my clan if I truly didn’t give the two of you anything for your amazing service. Now, I know there is no reward I can give you great enough to repay what I owe the two of you – even if you disagree – but with the constraints on me at the moment, I can only afford to give you a humble few things. Of course, should an opportunity arrive to give you both anything greater in the future, I would not hesitate, but for the moment, I would be incredibly pleased if the two of you would accept what I will offer you.”
I wanted to continue to refuse, but I could tell by the steel in the woman’s eyes that she wasn't going to take no for an answer. And I had the sense to know that being too adamant in my refusal would only seem insulting. So, with a look at Ren – who I found, unsurprisingly, to be smiling without a care in the world – I gave in with a nod.
“Splendid,” Evelyn said with a clap. “Maya,” she continued, looking down at her daughter, “could you be a darling and run and grab a couple books from the library? I’m thinking…how about Explosion and Blink? That sounds good, right?” She looked at Tampter, whose expression I noticed was carefully controlled into an impassive mask.
Evelyn nodded to herself. “Yeah, I think that’s good. Maya, can you do that for me?”
Maya beamed and smiled. “Of course! I’ll do it right now!” With that, she leapt up and began to make her way out of the room.
“And Maya?” Evelyn called after her, just before she reached the door of the room.
“Yes, Mama?”
“You know how to handle the lock, right?”
Maya nodded. “Of course.”
“And-”
“And I’ll make sure the Elder has no idea I’m there, Mama. Don’t worry, I’ve done it more times than I can count.”
Evelyn smiled at the little girl. “Ok, ok, I’m sorry. I forgot how capable you were.”
With a grin, Maya turned back and bounced out of the room. Evelyn’s eyes lingered on the door for a long moment after the girl left, before she heaved a sigh and dragged herself out of her trance. “It hardly feels real,” she admitted softly. “I’m scared this is all a dream, and I’m going to wake any second and find myself alone again.”
I smiled a small, comforting smile at her words, unsure of how to respond to that. But, at the same time, there coursed a happiness through me, a joy at the fact that this wasn't a dream, and that this mother before me had truly reunited with her daughter.
Maybe, I thought to myself, just maybe, some people do get happy endings.