Spirit Animals: Saving The Evertree

A Friend In Shane

Tasha scowled seeing Rollan take Meilin's hand in his. Meilin blushed her other hand gripping her staff. Tasha turned away. She crouched next to Ninani and stroked her feathers. "What do I have to do to get some attention around here?" She whispered. Ninani used her beak to nuzzle Tasha's hand.

"Thanks." Tasha smiled at the swan. Ninani honked. "She is pretty isn't she." Tasha said frowning as she turned to Meilin and Rollan. Hand in hand laughing about something. Tasha sighed. Rollan would never like her. She knew it.  But it didn't keep her from trying. That is, before she actually met Meilin. She was stunningly beautiful. Even covered in mud and smudged with dirt. And according to Rollan she was extremely brave and from what she's heard from others, Meilin was a warrior. A skilled one. Tasha could never measure up.

"Tasha." Shane called from above. "Come up."

A rope tumbled down into the hole. Tasha sighed.
"Ninani." She called. The swan looked at her sadly and spread her wings disappearing in a flash of light reappearing as a tattoo on Tasha forearm. She turned and tugged on the rope sharply. The rope began to ascend. Tasha fastened her hands around the rough rope and soon got lifted out of the dark hole. Once she got out, Shane questioned her. "They're all in there?" He asked.

"Yeah." Tasha replied with a sigh.

"They're all well?"

"Yeah."

"Kovo's down there."

"Yeah."

"You okay?"

"I don't know." She shrugged.

"Is it Rollan?" Shane asked softly.

"Yeah...how did you know?" She asked curiously.

"It's not hard to tell." Shane said with a laugh. He removed his mask to reveal yellow slitted eyes and smooth peach skin. "And I know how you feel."

"Do you?" Tasha asked skeptically. "You know how it feels to care for someone but they don't care for you? How they only have eyes for someone else and you are just forced to watch knowing you'll never be good enough?" She finished tears burning in her eyes.

Shane nodded. "I do. And she hates me to this day."

"Who?" Tasha asked hoping asking would keep her mind off Rollan. 

Shane's face saddened. "Abeke." He said in a voice barely audible.

Tasha's eyes widened. "Really? She likes someone else?"

Shane nodded painfully. "I think she used to like me." He said thoughtfully.

"What happened?"

"I-I made a mistake." He said. "I betrayed them. It hurt, but I thought it would bring me greater power until I found out that Kovo was just using me so he could rule Eradas with Gerthon." He sighed. "Ever since then, I was good. I knew Kovo couldn't be trusted and I was fighting for the wrong side so I switched. Unfortunately Abeke saw me as a traitor and probably always will."

"That's terrible." Tasha said totally forgetting about Rollan.

"She seems sweet on Conner." Shane shrugged. "And I've learned to move on and that it's my consequence for my mistake."

"But I never did anything to Rollan." Tasha frowned remembering. "He just likes Meilin. A lot. I don't even know why. She just teases him from what I've heard."

"I've heard about them." Shane said thoughtfully. "Funny thing though, since they used to hate each other."

"I've heard." Tasha said still frowning. "Rollan's told me that much too."

"I'm afraid you'll just have to move on. He seems pretty attached to Meilin." Shane shrugged.

"Yeah, unfortunately. I saw him hold her hand down there." Tasha sighed with disappointment.

"That's not the worst of it." Shane laughed.

"What?"

"I saw him kiss her at Muttering Rock." Shane replied brushing his hair to one side.

"He kissed her?" Tasha exclaimed.

Shane nodded. "He's liked her for quite a while. I'm afraid it's to late to catch up."

"No wonder." Tasha mumbled. "No wonder he was so happy to see her and was thinking about her so much."

"Yeah, I've learned the best way to deal with things you can't change is to accept it." Shane said with a distant look.

"I guess your right. I just wish it was something I could change." Tasha sighed following his gaze to the redclock's ship.

"How did you become a Redcloak?" Tasha asked.

"It's a long story." Shane said sitting in a cleared spot.

"I have time." Tasha said sitting next to him.

"Well, it started after Kovo's betrayal..."