The Nightscape

A Weak Bond

"Zidros has given me leave to go with you." Anya said as she left the library, to Lyra who was leaning against the outside wall and waiting for her to come out. As she had left, Anya had asked to speak to Zidros as well, so her friend had decided to hang around and see what was going on. Unfortunately, she hadn't been able to hear what was going on, and the conversation had gone on for quite a while. Lyra stood up and fell into step besides Anya, who was going towards the house she had claimed as her own. 

"What else were you talking about?" She asked. She knew that it wouldn't have taken Anya so long to convince the boy to let her leave as well, so that left a good five minutes of them talking about something and it made Lyra feel awfully insecure and suspicious. Anya glanced at her from the side of her eye as they went inside and she retrieved a bag, beginning to pack up a few things. 

"I was convincing him to let me go with you, Lyra, which I did have to use some theatrics and tell him a few things, so I am sorry about that. He was surprisingly remiss that two of us be gone at the same time." She told her, but she was so busy packing that she wasn't looking her in the eye. Lyra reached out and caught her hand, bringing her attention back to her. 

"Is that really all you were talking about?" She asked gently, and flinched when she saw a shimmer of purple cross her eyes, immediately chased away with sparks of yellow. Anya raised an eyebrow at her and scowled. 

"Did you seriously just try and hypnotize me?" She snapped, hands on her hips. Lyra threw her hands up in the air, eyes wide. 

"I really didn't mean to, I still haven't gotten on top of my powers yet! I just- I know that you aren't telling me the truth and I want to know what really happened!" Lyra said, her voice raising just a little as she got a little more wound up. Anya shushed her quickly and stepped closer, keeping her voice to a low whisper. 

"Keep your voice down, we don't want to wake anyone up or be overheard, just in case!" Anya hissed at her. "And you are not entitled to know everything I talk about to whoever you please!" She scolded her, shaking her head. Lyra sighed, but pursed her lips together and looked aside. 

"I just- I feel like it was about me, and if you're talking about me I feel like I have a right to know what you spoke about." Lyra said, crossing her arms across her chest defensively. Anya stared her down for a long, tense moment, before shaking her head. 

"I won't lie, some of it was about you, and even then I don't think that makes you entitled to know what was said. A lot of it you would have preferred I not say at all, no matter what my reasons are, and you certainly won't thank me for repeating it now. Just trust me on this; if it was something I truly thought you would benefit from knowing, I would tell you. Now then, are you going to go and pack what you want to take with us, or are you going to stand here and badger me until Zidros changes his mind?" She asked, her voice a little sharp and snappy. Lyra glared at her for a long moment, weighing it up in her mind before finally nodding slowly. Without another word, she turned and left, going back to the hut she had claimed as her own and looking around bleakly. There was nothing that she wanted to bring with her, nothing that she needed- well, a change of clothes would be nice, but she didn't have anything to change into. Anya had leant her the odd thing or two when she had wanted to wash the dust and sand away from her own set, but they were all promptly returned to her as no one had many clothes. 

In the end, she took her bag and that was it. She might something on their travels she wanted to keep, after all. Lyra waited outside, leaning against the wall and watching the twin moons inch across the sky as she waited for Anya. It took longer than she thought for Anya to make her way over, to the point where Lyra was wondering if she had changed her mind and decided not to come. Finally, she came plodding over, her bag heavy on her back, full of god only knew what.