Gift Of Justice #NaNoWriMo2k18

Chapter 4

The harpy helped him back into his house. He was too tired to even object the fact he was letting a total stranger into his home, but she just sat him down at the table and looked around before going into the kitchen. She was out a second later with a wet cloth which she gave to him to hold against his face and soak up the blood. The side of his face was still throbbing, but it has subsided enough for him to look around just in time to see the girl move back to the door, looking out into the darkness. Her hand was on the knob, clearly showing her ruby red wings that were soaked through as he flipped back her hair and continued to search. Her short maroon dress was dripping with water, seeping into the fabric. He glanced at her for a second longer before speaking up.

"Er -" His voice was a little crackly, and she turned around. "Why did you help me?"

"My name is Akira. And I helped you because other people obviously weren't bothered to get their shoes wet to fight off some murderer who was about to find their next victim."

He heart went into his throat as he thought about the other harpy's long, clawed hands. "Murderer?"

"Didn't you see the glint in his eye? He was going to kill you!"

He shook his head. "But the Arcanus was his... right? I mean, he knew about it and I hadn't told anyone but my mother."

"Meh. Finders keepers. And giving her back to a hound like that probably won't turn out good for either of you. Plus, she seems to have taken a liking to you."

"She?"

"Yah, she. Hang on, I think they're back."

Before he could ask who they were, Akira stepped back out into the rain. A second later, something slipped inside and shook off the water on it like a dog. To his surprise, it was an otter. He'd never seen one in real life before, only pictures since they weren't common in Ershire. It looked at him in amusement, and he noticed the wave symbol on its flank that marked it as an Arcanus.

Akira reentered as well, soaked again with the dove cupped on her hands, who was shivering badly. She shut the door against the wing before taking another cloth and using it to wipe as much water off the sneezing dove as possible, before drying herself off as well.

"She has a cold, you know that? Why did you take her out in this storm?"

"I know that, and she wanted to come along," he answered, a little irked.

"Well, you should tell her it's a bad idea. Exert some dominance, you fool. Are you gonna let everyone boss you around?"

"Why should I listen to you then?" He shot back.

"Exactly. Why should you let me tell you what to do?"

Niel stopped for a second as she grinned at him and resumed drying off the dove, as the otter paced around on the floor, tracking water everywhere. He'd only met her for only a few minutes, but her personality was already rubbing off.

"Hey, do you have a name for her yet?"

"Who?"

"Your Arcanus, dummy."

"My Arcanus? Seriously?"

"Well, as far as I can tell you two seemed to have Bonded, if only lowkey. So I guess you should give her a name so I can stop calling her 'bird' or 'dove' or 'thing' all the time."

He sat for a second, still holding the cloth against his face as the dove made eye contact with him, as if prompting him to go on.

"Uh..."

"Don't rush, I'm not trying to rush you." She finished and dumped it somewhere inside the kitchen before coming back. "And uh... I'm sorry if I seem like I'm pushing you too much. I'm just still kind of wound up after that fight there."