The Bard And The Owl (A Raeda Fanfic)

Chapter Four

"How are you doing, Rainestorm?" Eda entered the room.

"I think I'm completely healed now, actually." Raine answered.

"Let me take a look." Eda said. Raine lifted the hem of their shirt, revealing the spot on their waist that had been pierced by the Abomination hellmouth's teeth. It looked fine. So did the rest of their wounds.

"Huh, I guess you are fully healed..." Eda observed.

"So... I guess I should get out of your hair?"

"Huh?"

"I mean... You brought me here to make sure I recovered from my injuries. I really appreciate that. I don't want to bother you by staying longer than I must..."

"Oh... I suppose." Eda shrugged.

"I guess I'll leave tomorrow morning?"

"Yes... If you're going to travel, you should get a good night's rest beforehand." She said. "Goodnight, Rainestorm..."

"Goodnight, Eda. Thank you for everything."

•••••

The next morning, Raine woke up and grabbed their satchel. When they went out the door, Eda was standing there, as if waiting for them.

"Oh... Hello, Eda. Good morning."

"Hi, Raine... Just thought I'd come say goodbye." Eda said. She looked strangely solemn.

"That's kind of you."

"If you wish to leave now... I'll walk you out."

"Sure." Raine nodded. Eda escorted them to the front door of the castle.

"Well, I guess this is it..." Eda said.

"It's been nice knowing you, Edalyn Clawthorne."

"You as well, Raine Whispers..."

Raine turned to the door and took a deep breath in. May we meet again, I hope...

What they didn't realize was that Eda didn't want to say goodbye to them anymore than Raine wanted to say goodbye to her.

By the Titan. I'll miss that rascal.

"You know... You don't have to leave," Eda finally spoke up. "If you want, you can stay here..."

Raine turned back to Eda. "Really? Are you sure?"

"Honestly, it's been really nice having you around, and this place is lonelier than Lost Spirit's Thicket, so..."

"I'd like nothing more... But are you confident you're okay with it?"

"Raine... I live in a literal castle. Any of those weird roommate things you may or may not do that would usually annoy other people... They're not gonna be a problem here. There's tons of space. Besides, I don't think there could possibly be anything you could do to bother me that much."

Raine smiled. "Okay... I happily accept."

Eda blushed slightly. She hadn't expected them to say yes, but she was so happy that they did. "Cool."

Raine vanished their satchel off to their pocket dimension. "Wanna practice magic together on the balcony?"

"Hell yeah!" Eda said. "Actually, wait, let's try the courtyard this time... I have an idea."

"I'm intrigued... And also terrified."

"Don't worry, if anything goes wrong, I'll handle it."

It turned out Eda wanted to teach Raine the fire spell. And it worked. Raine was scared practically out of their skin, and out of instinct, just as Eda was about to put it out with a water spell, Raine did a perfect water spell themself and the fire went out like a light. Eda laughed. She hadn't felt this happy in a long time.

She didn't feel so lonely anymore.

•••••

"Hey, Raine, random question..."

"Yes, Eda?"

"Have you ever owned a Palisman?"

"Ugh... I wish. But nope. Back in Bonesborough, anyone who had a Palisman was forced to surrender it to Emperor Belos. Something about 'many Palismen are made using a Wild Magic technique, which, as you know, is against the law, and we have no way of knowing which ones were made that way and which ones were not, so all Palismen will be confiscated. If you don't like it, oh well, sucks for you.'"

"Well, Emperor Belos can suck on deez nuts!"

"Eda... What?" Raine stared perplexedly.

"I don't know, the teenagers in the human world say that all the time, and for some reason they get a kick out of it."

"Humans are weird." Raine shrugged.

"Anyway, screw what Belos said. There's Palistrom Wood trees in the courtyard... Wanna carve your own?"

"Really?" Raine said in astonishment. "I would love to... But I don't know how."

"I'll show you how. My dad taught me when I was little. He and my mom used to carve Palismen. We consider it a tradition to symbolize becoming a fully-fledged witch."

Raine nodded, letting Eda know they were listening.

Eda motioned for them to follow her. She stopped and reached her hand out, and something flew into her hand. "I don't think I ever showed you... This is my Palisman. Owlbert."

"It's an owl... I think that's very fitting. Owls symbolize wisdom. That matches your personality well."

Eda smiled. "I appreciate the compliment, Rainestorm. Now come on, I'll show you the Palistrom Wood trees."

She led Raine down the stairs, through the courtyard, into the garden. When they stopped, the sight before them was a big blue tree with purple leaves. Raine gazed at it in awe.

Eda cracked a decently thick branch off of the tree. "Now this... Is what we're going to use to make your magical animal friend." She reached into her hair and pulled out a wood-carving tool.

"Did you just- pull a carving knife- out of your hair?"

"Oh, did I not tell you? My hair has its own pocket dimension."

Raine blinked in surprise. Then they laughed. "You know, it's funny... When I met you for the first time, I noticed your hair and thought it looked like it could hold the secrets of the universe inside it. I guess I wasn't so far off, huh?"

They sat down on the ground with Eda and began carving. By the end of the several hours it took to complete, they had their own Palisman, a sweet little otter.

"Are you going to name her?"

"I'll call her Tabitha. She seems like a Tabitha to me. I think it's fitting for a cute little thing like her."

Tabitha hopped off of her stick and curled up onto Raine's shoulders, nuzzling her head against Raine's hair.

Eda smiled as she watched Raine's Palisman warm up to their new witch companion. Raine looked at Eda happily and hugged her. You've made my life so much more interesting.