The last few days have been peaceful, quiet, and blissfully uneventful.

I was exhausted after getting back to Haven, and when I finally fell back asleep after talking til well after midnight with Tiff and Mia, I slept past midday. The pain in my leg had mostly subsided by now. Meat had become a regular item on the tavern’s menu. After the feast night, it was listed as a special item, but it turns out most of the villagers had been saving up their promissory notes for just this occasion, so further rationing was applied to stop people feasting on meat three meals a day. The bloodbeast was a literal mountain of meat, but it’s not an infinite source of meat.

Along with the meat, every single usable part of the bloodbeast was measured, weighted, itemised and kept track of to ensure nothing was wasted and everything was used. Bones carved into tools, glue made from gristle, and the first fur clothes were coming hot out of the tailors’. The village was lively, as every cook and craftsman swung into action with the abundance of new work or materials. Ingrid, the blacksmith, was determined to fix the broken bear spear. The butcher was carving every cut of meat out of the bloodbeast’s carcass, which still lay within the market square. The carpenter was carving bones, the tanner turning skin to leather and parchment. Everywhere was bustling and everyone was busy, and they likely would be for some time more.

Yet things weren’t adding up. What was recorded in the ledger wasn’t matching the material goods. There were a few minor discrepancies. A couple thin strips of meat. A bit of fur. The largest missing item was a claw, but otherwise, they were just small things that could have easily been lost or misplaced. But Mia… ahem, the Chief didn’t believe that to be the case, as she told me.

“So… you think someone is stealing?”

“It’s the only other explanation. What complicates it… is that it likely isn’t one of the adults stealing.” The Chief furrows her brow, leaning back in her chair and glancing towards the fireplace.

“One of the children, then?”

“As much as I don’t want to admit it, yes, it probably is. More than a few of the children of Haven had no family in their previous life. They lived on the street, and they died on the street. Stealing was their only way of life. It can be a challenge teaching them that they don’t need to do that anymore to survive.” She sighs, leaning over her desk and staring down at the open ledger, as if intimidating it into telling her what she wants to know.

“What makes you think it’s one of the children, though? I’m not pointing the finger at anyone, I’d just like to know why you came to that conclusion.”

She glances up from her ledger to look straight in my eyes.

“You’re nervous about questioning my reasoning.” She says, hitting right on the money.

“W-well… Yes, aha… Kinda forgot about the whole soulseer stuff…”

“I can tell when people feel guilty or when they’re hiding something, no matter how good they think they are at hiding it. I see the face of every person in the village every day. I’m certain it’s none of them. Children, though…” She glances back down at her ledger. “Are different. There’s a storm of thoughts and feelings going on inside their heads. They’re not quite so easy to read.”

“How do you plan to find the culprit, then?”

“There’s been one item going missing each day, each from a different location, so they’re cautious about being caught. I have a few classes to teach this week, so I’ll keep an eye on the students as I do so. With enough observation I should be able to parse out who our little pickpocket is.”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“As much as I appreciate the offer, Marina, there’s a reason we’ve mostly kept you away from the schoolhouse. Two reasons, actually.”

Two… Ah. I see.

“They did cut up Aran’s face, after all…” She sighs, crossing her arms.

I don’t think I’d be able to forgive myself or my wings if I did the same to an innocent kid.

“... Actually, I’ve changed my mind. It’s about time the children learned how to act around you.” She suddenly changes her tune, standing up from her desk.

“Eh? Really?”

“I can’t keep them away from you forever. They’re curious and inquisitive and sooner than later their curiosity will supersede their hesitance. Besides, it gives me a chance to observe them while they’re distracted by the winged familiar I summoned.” She smiles, heading towards the stairs.

“The winged… what? What have you been telling them??”

“Nothing yet. They’re curious and inquisitive, just like I said~” I can hear her smirk as she heads down the stairs, and I quickly follow after her.

…

Well, I’ve done my fair share of show-and-tell in the past.

But I’ve definitely never been the object being shown-and-told.

Standing at the front of a quaint classroom, with 25 desks occupied by 25 rowdy students, all clamouring to get closer to the front of the room as I stand beside the Chief to my right, and Yvonne, the old teacher who helps look after the children, sitting behind the desk on my left.

Seeing just all the children of Haven in one place puts a few things into perspective. The average age of the children of Haven is about ten years old. They’re all human, and come from all over the world, although… several of the boys and girls look nearly identical. Black hair, red eyes, pointed ears, white pupils. It’s hard to tell them apart, even getting a good look at them. Even the Chief can get some children mixed up, but the kids just giggle about it. Despite the bleakness and brown-ness of our surroundings, the children are happy, excitable, always talking and giggling. It’s good to see their smiles in the face of everything beyond Haven’s walls.

“Miss Chief! What magic does your familiar know?”

“Miss Chief! Is it true her wings are made of swords!”

“Miss Chief! Did she fly down into the Abyss?”

“Miss Chief-”

“Alright class, you’ll have plenty of time to ask questions later, let’s give the Chief and Marina here some time to talk.” Yvonne says, calming the class. She’s the oldest person in the village, and she’s calm and gentle; even the students mostly behave and listen to her when she speaks.

“Thank you, Yvonne.” The Chief smiles at her. “Now, I want to begin by saying that Marina Retali, here, is not my familiar. She’s an otherwise ordinary girl who arrived here a few moons ago now. She’s fifteen…”

“Fifteen!?” One of the kids, a boy with short black hair sputters out, and the other children murmur in disbelief.

“Yes, fifteen. I made sure of this, Rickard. Just like I made sure that it was you who drew in Samantha’s workbook last week.” The Chief responds, and Rickard quickly sinks back down in his chair.

“It was!? I knew it was you, Ricky! You said you didn’t do it but you did!!” A girl with bright orange hair; Samantha, presumably stands up from her desk as she shouts.

“I said I was sorry, Sammy! I thought it was my book!” Rickard yells back, and commotion in the classroom begins to grow again.

Ah. Samantha. Sammy. That’s where I recognised the bright orange hair from.

“Children, come now, let’s let Chief Lichtrufer finish…” Yvonne hushes the children gently, and they mostly comply.

“Ahem, yes. Marina is fifteen. She isn’t lying when she says that. Although, her more grown-up appearance may have something to do with… what you’re all interested in seeing, yes?” The Chief asks the inquisitive crowd of onlooking children, who all nod in agreement.

The Chief glances across at me. Okay, this is our moment, wings. Or your moment. Come out slowly and safely, unless you want to end up in chains again.

The cloak on my back shifts slightly, as my wings slowly creep out of the strange pocket dimension woven into my cloak that they hide in. As they come out and unfurl to their full length slowly, the speed of their emergence conducts the volume of the “Oooooh” of awe that came from the children, hitting its crescendo as they finally reach their full length, wingtips pointed upwards in pride.

“Where are the swords?” A boy asks, sounding rather disappointed at the presentation.

In response to this, each blade-feather extends to a third of their respective lengths under the watchful eyes of the Chief, not daring to risk getting bound up in chains again. Still, the slight display of the blade-feathers is more than enough to please the crowd.

“Ehhh? I thought the wings were made of swords..” The same boy whines.

“Who’d want wings made of swords? The feathers look so soft!” A girl chimes in.

“Can the swords cut things? Are the feathers soft? Can we touch them?” More children ask.

“They’re not for touching, class. The swords in them are very, very sharp, and-” The Chief starts.

“I saw them cut Aran’s face. He said a bad word and didn’t get punished for it.” A girl says, cutting the Chief off mid-sentence.

“Is it true they think for themselves and you can’t control them?” Another boy asks.

“Well… yes and no. They have a mind of their own, but they behave, and…” I glance across at the Chief. “They don’t hurt people who ask before touching them.”

The Chief goes to protest, but stops herself and nods reluctantly. Anyone who’s asked to touch my wings before touching them hasn’t been hurt. If anything, they seem to like the attention.

“Could you demonstrate for us please, Chief Lichtrufer?” Yvonne asks, smiling at the Chief.

“I… ahem.” The Chief hesitates for a moment, before sighing. “Wings, may I touch you?”

The wingtip closest to her wiggles up and down as if nodding its head. Reluctantly, she reaches out and awkwardly pats the upper edge of my wing, and it gives a happy shiver in response.

A young girl at the front of the class who looks… maybe 7 or 8 at the very most puts her hand up.

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“Yes, Lizabeth?” Yvonne says.

“Can I touch them please, Miss Marina?” Lizabeth asks in the cutest, sweetest, most adorable little voice.

I glance at the Chief, and she nods once in agreement.

“Of course you can.”

Slowly, she gets out of her chair and walks up to me. She barely comes up to my hips. She reaches up with her small hands, wonder in her eyes as my left wing lowers its outermost primary feathers so she can touch them.

She softly strokes along a feather with her hand, as gently as you’d pet a newborn kitten. It feels a little odd being pet like this, but it’s more than worth it to see the smile on her face.

“Wow… They’re so soft…” She says in awe, before stepping back and bowing politely.

In turn, my other wing reaches out, patting the young girl on the head with its soft wingtip. She giggles.

“Can I touch them too?” Another child asks, and before I know it, every child in the class is up at the front, touching and rubbing and poking my wings.

And, unsurprisingly, my wings are absolutely loving the attention. I don’t know how much I like feeling dozens of hands all over limbs I’m not used to having, but thankfully, the wings themselves enjoy it. I shared the Chief’s concerns over them injuring someone, but instead, they’ve been gentle and careful with the children, even keeping their blade feathers tightly tucked away out of the children’s reach.

“Is it true you killed the big stinky bird that came here? And the big mountain bear?” A child asks.

“I struck the final blow, but both were group efforts from everyone who helped.”

“Can you fly? Did you come from outside the Abyss?” Another child asks.

“I’ve been… learning how to fly. It’s not an easy thing to do.”

“Ehhhh? You have wings but you can’t fly? That’s lame…” A child pouts.

“I… Well, even birds aren’t born knowing how to fly, they can only try…”

I glance across at the Chief helplessly as two dozen children bombard me with questions all while touching and poking and rubbing my wings. It’s starting to get a bit much for me to handle. The Chief nods, clapping her hands once.

“Alright, children, that’s enough. Marina has a lot to do today, show and tell is over.” The Chief says, and is met by numerous whines of disappointment as they all slowly make their way back to their desks.

“Can I touch your wings again later, Miss Marina?” Lizabeth asks shyly.

“Of course you may, if you ask that nicely.”

Lizabeth smiles, going back to sit at her desk.

“Alright class, let’s say thank you to Chief Lichtrufer and Miss Marina for spending some time with us today.” Yvonne says, standing up from her desk.

“Thaaank you Chief Lichtrufer aaaand Miissss Marinaaaa!” The class says in unison in a long, overly formal dragged-out way.

My wings tuck themselves back in under my cloak, and the Chief and I take our leave through the side door, closing it behind us and walking back around behind her residence.

“So…?”

“Well, you’re certainly better with children than I am…” The Chief sighs a little.

“Did you notice anything about any of the children?”

“They all got fixated on you pretty quickly. Nothing seemed amiss. Which means we haven’t made any progress in regards to the potential thief, but… at least they’ve been introduced to you and have learned how to behave around you.”

“My wings certainly enjoyed the attention.”

“Indeed, your wings also know how to behave themselves around the children. Although, since they were closer to you, did you notice anything that stood out in regards to the children?”

“Nothing in particular. The only thing I noticed was that there was an empty desk when we left?”

“The schoolhouse has always had twenty-five desks for students, and since we had a child turn fifteen a moon ago, we have twenty-four children. I had considered having you sit in on some lessons to learn more about the Underlands, but… you’d likely just be a distraction for the rest of the children.”

“Is there anything in particular I need to know from the schoolhouse subjects?”

“I suppose I should tutor you in how to read and write Underlander…” The Chief muses, pondering for a moment. “You can read Giornovan and Drachensprache, which gives you a head start. We can get started on that later…”

The Chief’s words trail off, and she stops in her tracks. I look ahead of us to see Ingrid standing by the rear door to the Chief’s residence.

“Ingrid.” The sudden curtness in the Chief’s voice is apparent.

“Another claw has gone missing.” Ingrid reports bluntly.

“Another claw? Misplacing one I can understand, but two-” The Chief begins to say, before

“I don’t misplace things. They were taken by someone.” Ingrid quickly cuts her off, narrowing her eyes slightly.

“Alright.” The Chief sighs. “When were they taken? Do you have a suspect in mind?”

“Fifteen minutes ago. It could only have been..” Ingrid glances past us, over at the schoolhouse.

“Fifteen minutes? Marina and I were just in the schoolhouse. All twenty-four children were accounted for. It can’t have been any of them if the claw went missing fifteen minutes ago. If it was fifteen minutes ago, why are you only bringing this up now? Did you search for it for long before coming here?” The Chief only grows more agitated the longer she talks to Ingrid, and Ingrid’s stubbornness isn’t helping. We saw all twenty-four children… wait.

“How many children did you say there were, Chief?”

“Twenty-four, as I just said. Have you been listening to this conversation at all, Marina?” The Chief glares at me.

“But… There were twenty-five students when we entered. Every desk was occupied. When we left, one desk was empty.”

“What? There’s only twenty-four students in Haven, though… how could…” The Chief furrows her brow in concern and confusion.

“So it is one of the children. We question them, then.” Ingrid starts to walk past the Chief towards the schoolhouse, before the Chief quickly stops her.

“Don’t go marching in and accuse all the children of this! We don’t know who it is, and whoever it is doesn't know we’ve noticed the things gone missing yet!” She says, pushing Ingrid back as she stubbornly keeps trying to move forward.

“So one of them slipped out while you and Marina were in there. How could they have just left right under your nose?” Ingrid says, finally stepping back from the Chief.

“... While they were all up at the front touching my wings and asking questions.”

“They… you’re probably right, Marina.” The Chief sighs, rubbing her temple. “I was so focused on watching their auras that I completely failed to notice the additional student…”

“Is there a window I could peek through to see all the students’ desks?”

“The one up near the front, on the side wall. You can see all the students from behind.” The Chief points in the window’s direction.

I look at the two of them, and they both nod. I head over to the window in question, peering into the class, counting the desks and students…

Twenty-five desks, twenty-five students. Nothing out of place or amiss.

“Twenty-five students. No empty desks.” I report back to the Chief and Ingrid.

“So they’ve already gotten back to their desk in the time between us leaving the schoolhouse and now…” The Chief ponders.

“It’s one of them. We go in and search their possessions and their desks.” Ingrid starts towards the schoolhouse again, and the Chief stops her again.

“If we search their desks and find nothing then they’ll know we’re onto them. They’re obviously smart enough to move around us without being caught. We need to find where they’re hiding things, or catch them red-handed.” She says, and Ingrid lets out an annoyed sigh, stepping back.

“How would Yvonne not notice an extra student?”

“She’s near-sighted, and… even I can’t tell the children apart, sometimes. What I am certain of, however, is that there are only twenty-four students in Haven. The newest resident of Haven is Marina. Which means one thing.” The Chief glanced across at me, her brow furrowed.

“Someone snuck in.”

“How? Did the gate guards fall asleep on the job?” Ingrid asks. The Chief sighs.

“A child snuck in. Children can squeeze through smaller gaps than adults can. I’ll have Vann quietly patrol the palisade and look for possible points of entry. And Marina…” The Chief turns to face me now. “Rann told me that you had a feeling that you were being followed on the way back to Haven. You even stopped to look for your follower once, and didn’t find them. Did they follow you all the way back?”

“I lost the feeling that we were being followed when we turned off from the… seeping wound… stream.”

Still a weird name but I get it after having seen it.

“Hmm… that isn’t particularly close to Haven. So how would…” The Chief paces back and forth, trying to figure out how this child snuck into Haven.

“Chief.” Ingrid says.

“What. I’m busy.” The Chief hisses back.

“I heard a few other things went missing. A bit of meat, a bit of fur. Two claws are different. Those are stolen weapons.” Ingrid continues, her flat tone more serious.

“I’m aware of that, Ingrid, as I am also aware that you don’t let children near your blacksmith. All the children should be in the schoolhouse right now. We’ll go door to door, quietly asking if anyone saw a child wandering around Haven when they should have been in the class.” The Chief says.

“Why quietly?” Ingrid interjects.

“Because- just go back to your soot-covered forge already. The longer you persist here the more you try my patience.” She hisses back. Ingrid shrugs and takes her leave.

“Oil and water…”

“It’s not my fault she’s such a massive pain.” The Chief huffs.

“Is there anything… did she do something bad to you in the past, or-”

“We just don’t get along. That’s all there is to it.” She cuts me off, walking past me and through the back door of the library, so I follow her inside.

“So, are we going to go ask around town if anyone’s seen our mystery kid?”

“I, will find Tiff and join her for her rounds with the craftsmen. You, will be staying here.” She answers succinctly, turning to face me.

“Eh? But-”

“If you want to help, go upstairs and grab the ledger. I make the rounds with Tiff every day. If I did it with you it’d draw suspicion.”

Alright. I do as she says, heading upstairs and grabbing the ledger off her desk. The fire’s almost gone out, so I stoke it a little before heading back downstairs and handing the Chief her ledger. She takes it, then leaves by the front door, closing it behind her.

Well then. I have some time to kill.

Even though I was facing the children in the schoolhouse, I didn’t notice anyone leave when they all came up to the front, but… I wasn’t looking for that, I guess. I saw 25 kids, I expected 25 kids. I don’t know their names or their faces enough to tell one from another, and it’s clear our mystery kid knows what they’re doing if they’ve evaded detection thus far.

What concerns me more is the question of how they got into Haven. As far as I know, there’s one way in and one way out. When we entered town, we had to wait for the gate to close behind us before we moved in any further. Most eyes were on the bloodbeast, but there were definitely eyes on the gate.

Did they hide in the sled? Did they climb over the palisade somewhere? Did they go under the palisade? They’re likely a child, so they could fit through tighter spaces. Whoever it is… they’re likely the one that trailed us on our way back to Haven. They kept themselves hidden when we looked for them before, so finding them now probably isn’t going to be easy. And what they stole… Meat, sure, that’s food. Fur, sure. As Ingrid said, though, the claws are weapons. They’ve armed themselves. If they’ve armed themselves, they’re prepared for the consequences of them getting caught.

For now, though, I have some actual free time to myself. Maybe I’ll try one of the books in Giornovan or Drachensprache here. I’d read every book at home front and back three times over, so I look forward to finding something new-

<>

I impulsively spin on the spot to face the back door of the library. It shakes slightly on its hinges as someone runs away through the mud. I rush to the door, opening it and looking around, but whoever that was, they’re gone. There was definitely someone here, though.

Someone small, judging by the footprints in the mud.

Unfortunately, the trail of obvious footprints quickly vanishes just a few feet away from the door. They ran normally at first, but they quickly changed how they walked to cover up their tracks. They certainly know how to hide.

The children were let out of the schoolhouse for lunch, as most of them walk by the front of the library on their way to the tavern. I should probably get lunch too. Once the Chief gets back, I’ll tell them someone ran past behind her home. And maybe, uh… that weird disembodied voice or “sense” I have that informs me that there’s someone behind me. Are you sure that isn’t you, wings- okay, okay, I get it, you don’t have to push up against my neck like that. Is that supposed to be a yes or a no, anyway? I know you seem to read my mind, but I can’t read yours. If there’s even anything to read- ow! Cut it out already, gods.

Anyway.

I’ll do my best to act casual and go get lunch, and see what the Chief finds when she gets back.