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Asha was planning to go fishing but it started raining. While she didn't care for it all that much, it did mean Lyra's fighting lesson was canceled and she would be alone, which Asha didn't want. Normally, Lyra would hang out with her friends, but most lost their parents or siblings to the massacre that occurred only days prior. And if there was one thing to know about the sisters, it was that when they felt guilt, it suffocated them. How could Lyra bear to be around friends who had lost so much when her sister had returned unscathed?
Asha hoped this heavy feeling wouldn't last forever, that the weight of guilt would eventually ease. But for now, they stayed indoors, seeking the comfort of routine. Asha had buried herself in a book while Lyra sat nearby, whittling wood into a small figure that looked like herself. On the windowsill, a similar carving of Asha stood proudly, a mirror to the one now taking shape in Lyra's hands.
The quiet was broken by a voice from outside, startling in both its unfamiliarity and accent. "I mean no harm!" The words came again, louder this time, halting Asha in her reading. She exchanged a confused look with Lyra. That was not a Trikru accent.
The stranger's voice rang out again, repeating the same phrase. Asha set her book down, Lyra let the piece of wood tumble to the floor, and both sisters leaned toward the small window, peering outside to see who—or what—was responsible for this strange intrusion.
Lyra gasps, pressing her face against the glass with wide eyes. "Her!" she exclaims, pointing excitedly at the young woman standing outside. "I remember her!"
"Who?" Asha asks, squinting as she tries to place the face in her memory, but it's no one she recognizes immediately. Before she can press for more information, Lyra is already darting away from the window, rushing to grab her forgotten boots.
"Wait, Lyra—who is she?" Asha asks again, her voice rising with urgency as she watches her sister put her boots on, clearly eager to head outside.
"The girl who saved me in the woods," Lyra replies breathlessly, pulling on the second boot and nearly tripping over herself in her haste. "The one who hid me from the sky people."
