The Bard And The Owl (A Raeda Fanfic)

Chapter Six

Eda strummed at her mandolin as Raine sat quietly and listened. She stopped at an awkward note.

"That just doesn't sound right for this part of the song…" she groaned.

"You'll figure out what you think sounds best eventually," Raine encouraged.

"You think so?"

"I know it! You're so talented and creative. And I have faith in you."

"Thanks, Rainestorm…" Eda smiled. Oh, dear Titan. I'm getting the butterfly feeling.

Dammit. Dammit! Stop letting yourself fall for them, Eda! Things won't ever work out! You can't keep getting your hopes up like this!

"Excuse me for a moment," Eda said, trying to hide the pain in her eyes.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she fibbed. "Don't worry about me."

She went inside and rushed to the tower corridor to be alone. The next thing she knew, she was sprouting feathers.

•••••

Eda had been gone a few minutes, and Raine was becoming more concerned. They wanted to respect her privacy, but they just couldn't leave it alone any longer. They had a bad feeling that something was wrong.

Unfortunately, they were right.

Raine went inside and climbed the stairs to the tower. On the way up, they noticed a feather. They picked it up, and without thinking, slipped it into their pocket – they'd put it in their satchel later – then continued up the stairs.

"Eda? Are you up here?" They called.

Raine heard a growl from the corridor. They peered inside and saw a horrifying sight.

A beast practically the size of a dragon, covered in gray-brown feathers, with a giant beak and claws, eyes as gold as the sun. It was fascinatingly beautiful yet terrifying.

"Oh... My... Titan," Raine gasped. They didn’t know what else to do but run.

They turned on their heel and sprinted out, straight down the stairs. They could hear the beast shrieking behind them, each making Raine run even faster.

Then they realized; Eda was nowhere in sight.

Oh, fuck.

"EDA!!" They cried out. No response.

Damn it!

They quickly attempted a tracking spell, but it seemed to not be working. They watched it float to the chamber they'd just come out of, so random and seemingly aimless. Please, Titan help me, please tell me I just can't find her because my spell failed...

Raine ran to the door and burst through. They didn't look back. They just kept going until they were out of the castle grounds.

"Raine!" They vaguely heard a voice call out to them. "Raine, wait!"

They kept running and didn't stop until they were out of breath. They hid behind a tree.

"Raine?" They heard the voice again. But this time, they were able to focus enough to recognize the voice; it sounded like Eda.

Raine wanted to reply, but they were frozen with fear.

"Raine, you can come out," she said.

Raine shivered, but worked up the courage to speak. "Eda?" They responded. "Is that you?"

"Yes, Rainestorm, it's me-"

"Eda!" They rushed out from their hiding place and nearly tackled her with a hug. "I'm so glad you’re okay! With that beast in there, I was so worried about you, and when I tried a tracking spell it didn't work, and I--"

"Raine, calm down! I'm fine... Everything's fine. Don't worry about the owl beast. Actually, there's something I have to tell you--"

"Don't worry about the owl beast?!" Raine parroted. "What the hell do you mean-"

"Raine--"

"That thing was huge, it was terrifying, didn't you see it?"

"Raine, I--"

"How do you expect me to not worry about it?"

"RAINE!" Eda blurted. "I'm sorry… I'm gonna need you to trust me on this, okay? Please just listen."

"Okay... Just... Do you think you can make it quick?"

Eda sighed. She hesitated for half a moment, but at last, she spoke. "You don't have to worry about escaping from the owl beast... Because... The owl beast..."

Raine could've never predicted what Eda would say next.

"Because the owl beast is me." Eda finally spit out. "Now, I know how that sounds… I promise I'll explain everything, but for now I need you to trust me and come back to the castle, it's not safe to be out here this late--"

"Wait. What?" Raine said in shock.

That's when they realized; Oh. My tracking spell was working fine… It wasn't floating around randomly. It was moving towards the owl beast.

"Come on, quickly– Raine! Watch out!"

Suddenly a flock of feral imps showed up and attacked, causing Eda to scream. A few feathers formed on her arm.

Raine nearly fell backwards, but luckily caught themself. Hastily they summoned their flute, blew into it, and successfully scared away the imps, saving Eda.

They had no way of knowing if this was a good idea, considering what Eda had just told them; At this point, they had no answers. But this was Eda; smart, tenacious, kindhearted Eda, who they'd grown to admire. And Raine couldn't let themself just stand there and do nothing about how badly hurt she was. So without reluctance, Raine lifted Eda from the ground, into their arms. Eda shuddered and let out a slight whimper of pain. Raine gently whispered calming words to her.

"Don't panic. I've got you. You're gonna be okay."

Treading as fast as they could, Raine carried her back to the castle through the dark of the night, just as Eda had once done for them. As they ran, they made a vow to themself: I will save Eda, or may the Titan strike me dead.