ECLIPSE, grishaverse

i. the edge

IT HAD BEEN A MONTH and a half since she arrived in Kribirsk that cloudy morning. The place was dirty and ugly, but she was called there to speak with the lieutenant. In her way to the tent she tried to recall anything she could have done wrong or if she offended someone, but nothing came to her mind. One thing was for sure, something was wrong and her gut never failed her before. And neither had that time; there has been an accident while crossing the fold and the chief of reporters, and also her mentor, died. She was very sad although no tears were shed—at least in that moment—, the man was the closest thing to a father she ever had, and he also gave her the best cases to write about and the ones closer to her sister and best friend. But the next thing she knew, she was being named the new chief of her unit, and the youngest one to ever be, probably because of the trust her mentor put in her and the fact that she was one of the oldest and more prepared from the unit. In her short twenty years, Yelena never thought she could accomplish something like that, even tho she did like to boss people around, Alina and Mal would agree. She loved the job, and the bigger tent that came with it, but being close to the Shadow Fold gave her the chills, the ones you are not sure if are from fear or excitement.

But those thoughts were pulled behind when word of Alina going to Kribirsk reached her. She and her sister hadn't seen each other in months, and even tho they kept writing letters, Yelena longed for the reunion more than anything.
So that morning she woke up with a smile on her face; went to have breakfast and waited for her sister with her best friend's annoying friends, who had arrived the day before.

"When's this girl arriving?" Dubrov asked Mal, his mouth full of food. Mikhael nudged him before looking at Yelena who was currently sitting besides Mal. Idiots, she thought but didn't say a thing, instead she looked at her best friend, also expecting an answer.

"I think after lunch.." he looked at Yelena for confirmation but she shrugged on her place and kept sipping her hot tea, trying to distract herself and avoid Mikhael's piercing gaze on her profile.

They kept on talking about nonsense while Yelena's gaze was studying the room and the people in it, who didn't seem awake enough to notice her. She had a lot of bad habits, like bitting her lips (and tongue when she wanted to say something not-so polite), digging her nails in her palm when she was trying to keep her emotions in check, but scanning the room and analyzing people were her favorites, that she picked up from her long hours of alone times in the orphanage, where most of the people around her didn't notice her, like now. Some things never change.

Since day one in Keramzin, Yelena had to take care of Alina and Malyen and that made her forget that she was too, a kid. Growing up too fast and being someone else's rock was a difficult and lonely thing. She spent her days doing chores and making sure they didn't get into a fight or helping them study. If she didn't help them, who would? Yelena remembered very little from her own childhood when her parents were still alive, but most of them where happy memories; she remembered her mother braiding her hair and singing her to sleep, or her father reading and teaching her old ravkan. When they arrived at the orphanage in Keramzin she would lay day and night thinking of those memories and that Alina didn't have enough time to enjoy them or their parents, she was barely seven after all, so Yelena promised herself that she would make new ones, that her little sister would grow with the love and warmth that their parents gave her those nine years. She would give up her childhood for her. And along the way came Mal, who befriended Alina and won her heart with his sweetness and clumsiness. So she made the promise again. Yelena would give anything to keep those two out of the harms way, and she did. While they were reckless and runaway from their chores (and Ana Kuya) she stayed to cover them, when the older ones picked on them she would get in the middle, maybe throw a punch or two (and of course, take them back), she would spend hours at night reading and studying so she could teach them the next day. They were always in the move, and she was always watching, covering from the side. Yelena loved the little demons and didn't regret a thing but she felt so lonely sometimes, most of the times she would entertain herself with books, chores, sometimes cooking, but nothing could fill the hole in her heart, leaving the feeling of something missing. She felt invisible.