The Clothed Woman was kneeling in front of Renn to offer her a small prayer.

Renn was obviously uncomfortable but kept herself still as the Clothed Woman mumbled softly, thanking the gods she believed in for this meeting and in hopes that they keep blessing her.

Other than Renn, who was currently dressed like a mercenary, the scene was very pious. It was in a small wooden church. The woman kneeling before Renn was covered head to toe in white and gray garbs of religious tones… and of course there was a giant cross of faith looming over the two.

Though, that cross was not a normal one. If any other church in this land saw such a cross they’d burn it down.

But the cross and the gods the Clothed Woman were praying to, that Renn didn’t recognize, weren’t the reason for her prickly expression.

“Amen,” The Clothed Woman said as she slowly got up from her kneeling.

Renn breathed a small sigh of relief and nodded. “Amen,” she said, always seemingly copacetic with others. Did she even realize that the woman in front of her was a believer in what her faiths deemed the enemy?

A part of me wanted to tell her, to see what she’d do and say… but another part of me hoped it’d stay hidden.

The Clothed Woman didn’t have many friends, because of her faith. Even amongst the Society it was seen as something wrong.

“As always Vim brings another when I least expect it. You’d think by now I’d be used to it…” the Clothed Woman sighed, and her white face coverings danced a little as she shook her head.

I noticed Renn’s eyes fixate on her face. She was trying to sneak a peek beyond the cloths… but I knew she’d be unable to. Even with her keen senses it wasn’t possible. Beneath those white coverings were actually more cloth. Cloth that was wrapped around her entire body.

“Vim does rudely just show up without notice,” Renn agreed.

The Clothed Woman chuckled and glanced at me. I didn’t need to be able to see her facial expressions to know what she was chuckling over.

“I plan to have Renn meet Brandy. I’ve been told she’s in Lumen,” I told her our reason for being here.

“Ah… she had been. And will be again. She left about a month ago to the Bell Village, to deliver something. She’ll return to Lumen likely within a week or two,” the Clothed Woman said calmly. I noticed she called it a village and not a church, as it should have been. Did Renn notice it however?

“Typical of her. She’s one of the few I ever have to wait on. Do you mind if we stick around here for a couple days before heading to Lumen?” I asked.

The Clothed Woman giggled and looked to Renn. “I’d be delighted to have you, welcome,” she said to Renn.

“And your gods? They’re okay with it?” I asked before Renn could say anything.

“My, so studious of you. Would you oblige them if they did take offense?” the Clothed Woman asked me.

“She would, probably,” I said with a shrug.

Renn nodded quickly.

The Clothed Woman stared at her for a moment, and I heard a soft shift under her bandages. Renn’s ears twitched, implying she heard the odd sound too. That hadn’t just been the sound of skin, and Renn knew it. Though did she recognize the sound of something that no longer existed anywhere else?

“How could the gods not favor such a thing? Come, let’s get you some tea. I noticed your voice sounded a little dry,” the Clothed Woman calmly gestured for Renn to follow her out of the church and to the nearby house.

“Oh? Okay…” Renn glanced at me and I waved for her to go along with her. She actually gave me a happy smile as she nodded.

The two left the church, talking amongst themselves as they got to know one another. Renn sounding happy was… normal, to me. She always enjoyed meeting more people. Yet the Clothed Woman sounding actually happy was something to be noted.

She was never happy.

“For good reason,” I said lightly as I stared around at the empty church.

It was a small one. With only a few pews and a tiny podium in front of them… The windows were plain, without color or designs. There were no statues, or motifs. Only the large strangely shaped cross that hung from the wall and ceiling, tied by iron chains.

The place was empty and always would be. Renn and I, other than maybe Brandy or another Society member, would be the only visitors here for some time. And not just because it was hidden away in a valley that most humans couldn’t get to.

Yet it was clean and clear of all dust. The Clothed Woman was as devout as always.

Staring at the cross, I wondered if it was the last of its kind. I had thought earlier that if any other religious individual had seen it, they’d burn it… but did anyone really remember that symbol anymore?

There were some in the Society who would, of course… but did any human? Maybe in certain tomes or archives, hidden away from the general public… Odds were only certain bishops or cardinals knew that cross by sight alone. And even amongst them it would only be recognize by the ones who studied their history and archives. The odds of any of those books and scrolls even existing till now…

“A forgotten evil,” I whispered.

Wait.

I had seen it recently.

I stopped listening to their conversation and delved into my memories. It had been recently too. Not long ago at all. But where?

Reaching out, I grabbed one of the nearby pew’s backrests. Not for support, but out of instinct. I had seen it. How come I had forgotten it? What had happened?

Was it before or after I met Renn? Something told me she was the cause. Her, and everything around her, made me forget such an important detail.

Had it been upon a person? A motif? Surely not an actual cross on a building… I’d have definitely remembered that.

Or maybe it wasn’t very important at all?

Maybe it had simply looked like it, and hadn’t been.

“But then I’d not have noticed it,” I said as I realized I had seen it.

I sighed and decided to let it come back to me when it would. Forcing it to would just force it deeper into my memories.

“Wish I had Renn’s memory,” I whispered as I went to leave the church.

Yet right as I left, I paused a moment as I realized something.

That was it. Renn had a memory unlike any other. If she had been around when I saw it then…

Focusing a little, I heard the two women outside. The Clothed Woman was showing Renn something. Maybe where she cut firewood, by the sounds of their conversation. They were about to head inside.

I’d ask her later. Away from the Clothed Woman.

Last thing I needed was for the poor girl to get her hopes up that there were others out there like her. Especially after it all this time, when she’s finally accepted the harsh reality.

Exiting the church, I decided to walk around the property. I’d already seen most of it, this place was rather small. Just a small one story house and the church I had just been in. There was a little shack between the two, where wood was stored.

Behind the house was a small garden. Most of it looked freshly planted. And near the garden was a newer canopy, a small wooden structure that she was probably used to stay out of the rain as she did something outside.

I studied it for a moment, admiring the handiwork. The Clothed Woman had gotten help it seemed, but I couldn’t tell who. Yet it wasn’t hard to guess who it had been. The number of members who’d come here willingly were few and far in-between.

It was considered a safe-house for our Society… and did indeed act as one. The Clothed Woman would never turn aside anyone asking for help, for as long as they were a member of our Society.

Yet so few ever came here. Even when they needed to. Even when they had no where else to go.

Most of the area was surrounded by dense woods. A large mountain, the one Renn and I had just crossed, was visible above the tree tops to the west. It was close, and huge, but not so near that it starved this area of sunlight.

The forest this little sanctuary was located in was dense enough, and rocky enough, that humans found it nearly impossible to get here. There were too many large caverns and ravines, similar to the one beneath the bridge that Renn and I had accidentally broken. Between the dense forests, lack of paths, and the looming mountains nearby it was simply too out of the way for any human to reach.

And even if any humans did happen upon it…

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Pausing in front of the only path-looking thing here, a dirt one which led towards the nearby small underground lake that fed this property’s well, I wondered if she had buried any other humans out there recently.

Turning away from the dirt path, I wondered what Renn would think about it once she learned of it.

She didn’t love the humans as much as I had thought, but it’s become very clear that Renn did not hate them. Not as a whole at least.

Renn’s entire purpose of joining the Society in the beginning had been because she was tired of burying the humans she had fallen in love with, after all. One couldn’t do such a thing if they hated them as a whole.

Yet did Renn really hate anyone? She seemed happy to meet anyone. To speak with anyone.

Maybe the Clothed Woman would be the first non-human she’d come to despise.

Hopefully not. Especially since I wasn’t sure yet if Renn could do what I did.

Could she protect and suffer for those she hated? Could she set aside disgust?

We’d find out.

“Vim!”

Turning, I found Renn waving me to the house. She had a small smile on her face as she did so, which told me everything was well. Odds are she and the Clothed Woman had made drinks or food and wanted to offer me some.

Glancing around the small property, I knew there was no point in really examining it further. It was the same as it had been for the last hundred years. That little canopy was new, but stuff like that came and went all the time. It wasn’t worth noting.

Heading into the house, I noticed the smell of incense being burnt. It was a little strong, and I wondered how Renn was faring with it. She seemed to have the senses I did.

Thanks to how small the house was it was easy to find Renn and the Clothed Woman. They were in the open room near the kitchen, the two of them were sitting at a familiar table. One I made a few visits ago. There were a few cups on the table, and a pot of something in the center.

“Don’t break this one,” the Clothed Woman teased as I went to sit down next to her.

Renn stopped mid-drink of her small glass cup to flick an ear at me in interest.

“I accidentally broke her last table. What… three visits ago?” I asked.

“Four. It had been a beautiful table Renn. Polished stone, heavier than this whole house,” the Clothed Woman said calmly.

“It had been heavy,” I agreed. Took several trips to take it out of the house, if I remembered correctly.

“Why’d you break it?” Renn asked.

“Why ask that? Why not ask about the table I made her as an apology? Isn’t it nice? I really like the edges,” I said as I ran my hand along one of them.

It wasn’t bumpy, and was smooth… but honestly it did feel a little thin.

Renn sighed as the Clothed Woman tapped her cup. One she had not drank from yet, nor would. “He threw someone into the table. I suppose I shouldn’t give him too much grief over it… at least he hadn’t thrown the table instead,” the Clothed Woman said.

I nodded, glad she understood. Renn though stared at me with a rather… disappointed look. “You threw someone into it?”

“They deserved it,” I said.

“They had. The poor table didn’t, however,” the Clothed Woman added.

I shrugged and reached for the Clothed Woman’s cup. She slid it away from my reach and raised her chin at me.

“Fine,” I said and reached for the pot and an empty cup.

“Did… did he just try to take your cup?” Renn asked as she glared at me. Her eyes dug into me as I poured myself what smelled like tea.

“He’s just trying to be kind, in his own way,” the Clothed Woman said gently as I took a drink.

Yep. Tea. Old stuff too, by the taste. It wasn’t bad, actually.

“I’m always kind,” I said.

The Clothed Woman chuckled in a way that told me exactly what her opinion on my statement was.

“How long have you two known one another?” the Clothed Woman then asked.

Renn paused mid-drink again. Failing the second time in a row to take a drink.

“A few months shy of a year, I guess,” I said.

“How wondrous. She’s been with you the whole time?” she continued her questions.

A pair of large ears flickered as Renn finally gathered herself enough to take a drink. She had an odd look on her face, one that seemed a little bothered.

Did this unholy woman’s questions bother her? Interesting.

“Somewhat. There was about… well a month I guess, in the beginning when she wasn’t officially traveling with me,” I said as I thought about it. Did the few weeks Lomi and I had spent at the Sleepy Artist count? I felt they didn’t. At that time she had been a resident of The Sleepy Artist. At least to me.

“Still can’t find a place to stay? Have you taken her to the Cathedral yet?” the Clothed Woman asked worriedly.

Why… she actually sounded concerned. Over Renn.

Now, that, was interesting.

“We left there a few months ago. It was… a bit too much for me, I think. There were a lot of people,” Renn said.

“Ah, a lot of humans. Yes. Too many, I think,” the Clothed Woman said.

Renn’s right ear twitched, in a way that told me she had probably figured it out. Maybe during their conversation earlier she had said something already.

“You think one is too many,” I said, both to tease her back from the earlier table comment and also to make sure Renn really did understand.

“One would be fine. They can’t re-populate if there’s only one,” the Clothed Woman said with a small nod.

“Technically they could, with one of us,” I said.

The Clothed Woman shivered, causing an odd sound to fill the room. “Blasphemy,” she whispered firmly.

I nodded and smiled softly as I took a small drink of my tea. As I did I made sure to study Renn.

She had a very sad expression on her face.

Yet that sadness was not hatred. Just disappointment.

“I do have news you’d probably enjoy, however,” I said.

“Hm?” The woman I sat next to glanced at me, as if she could actually see.

“The Sleepy Artist is gone. I’m not entirely sure of the fates of the residents, but they’re scattered for now at least. Missing,” I said.

The Clothed Woman said nothing, nor moved… for a long moment. Renn stared at her with wide eyes, expectantly, and flinched when the Clothed Woman shivered and let loose a tiny sigh of relief.

“Shelldon’s dead then? Thank the Gods,” she said, releasing her cup as to cup her hands instead. She offered a quick prayer of thanks to her dead gods.

Renn’s scared eyes turned to me. They held my gaze for a long moment as they slowly morphed into a genuine glare of discomfort.

“She and Shelldon had some history,” I told Renn.

“And it’s finally history indeed! How wondrous,” the Clothed Woman said as she finished her prayer.

“He was a coward…” Renn whispered.

“A traitorous coward,” the Clothed Woman nodded, agreeing.

Renn made a very tiny noise. A small groan, which luckily thanks to the Clothed Woman’s jubilant happiness over the news hadn’t noticed.

“Crane may be gone too, though,” I said, deciding to change Renn’s opinion of her quickly.

“Ah… that is true. A sacrifice I’d not have willingly made… I pray she had not suffered, and is now flying with her sisters and masters,” the Clothed Woman said.

I nodded gently at Renn, who was now looking at me with a very worried and rather highly raised eyebrow.

She wasn’t sure what to think.

“What a trove of destiny… and Lughes? Is he gone as well?” the Clothed Woman asked.

“Missing. They’re not classified dead just yet,” I said.

“All the same. I shall go pray for them. Shelldon I hope is being played with by my Lords, but they… they I shall beg the gods for mercy,” the Clothed Woman slowly stood from the table, nodding at herself and us as she stepped away.

“Huh…?” Renn started to stand, but quickly realized what she meant. The Clothed Woman left the house, heading for the church.

“She’s gone to pray,” I told her.

“I see that…” Renn slowly sat back down, and while she did… her ears drooped lowly.

I reached for the pot of tea as to refill my cup. Yet right when I grabbed the little thing’s handle, Renn grabbed it too… rather she grabbed my hand which held it. She squeezed my hand, to get my attention.

“What is it?” I asked her.

Renn glanced at the nearby door. The one that led to the hallway, and thus the exit of the house.

“The Clothed Woman is like us, Renn, but not like you and me. Her body is a fragment of its former self. She’ll not hear us here,” I told her.

Her hand twitched, and then so did her ears. They fluttered a little oddly as she released my hand and sat back into her own chair. “I… I don’t know what to say,” she whispered.

“Then don’t say anything?” I said as I poured myself more tea.

“I can’t. I need to, yet I’m scared of the answers,” she said.

“Sounds like life,” I said as I took a small drink.

Renn groaned quietly, and shifted in her seat. She looked bothered.

I lifted my cup to her. “Just ask Renn. Better to know than to dread the unknown,” I said.

She closed her eyes and nodded.

“She hates humans,” she said.

“Obviously.”

“And most of our kind too. She hates the Chronicler. And Lilly,” Renn said quietly.

Chronicler and Lilly?

“Let me guess… you heard she hated the Chronicler, so you brought up Lilly. Thinking if she hated one of them, she’d not hate the other?” I asked, trying to find out how she got there.

Renn nodded dejectedly.

“See? You assumed. The Clothed Woman hates most of our kind, Renn. She hates humans more than them, though. By the way, Shelldon really did betray her in the past. A very painful betrayal. One that would make even me upset,” I said. Honestly it had.

The jaguar across from me shifted in her seat. A woman who for the last few days while we traveled, had seemed resolute and strong willed, now looked her apparent age. She looked young. Unsure of herself. Troubled.

“She… seems so kind, otherwise,” Renn whispered.

“She is. To some,” I said.

We sat in silence for a moment until Renn sighed again. She slumped forward, hanging her head over her cup of tea that she held tightly. Her hair dangled loosely, and I noticed a few strands had even fallen into her tea. She didn’t care.

Reaching across the table I pulled her hair out of her cup. Renn’s ears twitched as I did so, but she didn’t lift her head or say anything.

“Part of being in our Society, Renn. You must learn to accept that not everyone is the same. Not everyone likes each other,” I said.

“I know,” she whispered.

“Get to know her better before you judge her,” I added.

“I know,” she nodded. Her hair almost went back into her cup.

Studying her, I remembered the question I wanted to ask her. About the cross… yet decided to let it be for now.

She had her own worries right now. Her own concerns to dwell upon.

I’d let her worry about something else later.

Drinking my tea slowly, I studied the woman sitting across from me. She looked defeated, sitting there with her head hung low. Yet…

Smiling softly at her as she sat back up and nodded. She quickly drowned the tea remaining in her cup and stood from her seat.

“I’m going to see if she’ll let me pray alongside her,” Renn said.

“To her gods?” I asked.

“To whoever is listening,” she said as she left the room.

Watching her go, I lifted my cup in support.

Good luck.