Clipped Wings

Chapter 2: My Demons

H'aanit stared at Alfyn as she asked the question. She watched his eyes flicker in shock for a few seconds only for him to eventually cast his gaze down with a tormented expression. She had been there when it happened- all of it. She had helped him gather supplies to concoct Miguel's first ointment. She had watched time pass into the darkest hours of the night as he fought to save the rogue's life from the brink of death. She had watched the blood drain from his face when he learned that the man he had just nursed to health, had abducted a child. She had watched, for the first time since their meeting, raw anger pour out of him when he confronted him in the forest. And finally, she had seen his proud smile fade away as he returned the injured, sobbing child to his mother, apologizing profusely for a crime he did not commit.

She had watched him for days as he ended up in his current state: a dull, barren and inanimate form from sunrise to sundown; a mere shadow of his former self. The others had tried to help, each in their own way, but nothing yet had returned the light to his eyes.

"I just...have so many questions I can't answer." He whispered lowly, pain adamant in his voice.

"I don't know where I went wrong. I've gone over it in my mind; a hundred, no-- a thousand times and I... I still don't know. Was it wrong of me to save him? Should I just have left him to die?" Alfyn spat.

He suddenly turned to her with pleading eyes; eyes that begged for an answer to coerce his guilt slathered heart. Like the eyes of a lost, run-away child asking to be guided back home.

"What would you have done?"

H'aanit closed her eyes as she frowned. She let out a deep breath and opened them again to face him. Her green orbs pouring into his hazel ones.

"I wouldst left him."

Alfyn felt his heart drop. If he could bid the earth to his will, he was sure he would have it open and swallow him up at that moment. He silently broke away from H'annit's gaze back upon the river; his hand slowly clenching into a tight fist.

H'aanit sighed deeply. It wasn't her intention to make him feel worse. On the contrary, she wanted to lend her aid to him in any way that she could; just as he had done for her and Linde countless times before, on the battlefield and off of it. However, she was not one for pretty words or acts of charity. Zanta would often poke fun at her inability to communicate herself across to others, especially in times that required a more compassionate approach. This occasion was proving to be no different... but she would not be bested so easily. She turned towards him and took a few small steps closer to him. Alfyn neither lifted his gaze nor attention from the running water. She frowned momentarily as she watched as his knuckles began to turn white. Hesitantly, she cleared her throat before slowly reaching out and gently wrapping her hand around his fist.

"Alf-"

"HELP!! SOMEBODY HELP!!!"

A shrieking voice whipped Alfyn and H'aanit's heads to its source. Two young children, a girl and a boy, covered in scratches and bruises, ran towards them from the other side of the bridge.

"Hey, are you two okay?!" Alfyn shouted at the frenzied sight as he kneeled to stop kids in their tracks.

"Please, mister! P-Please! Ya gotta save Marni!" The young boy pleaded as he tugged on Alfyn's satchel towards the direction of the forest. Tears, leaves, and dirt covered him from head to toe.

"S-she's still in there! Marni is still in there with that scary monster!!!" The young girl sobbed as her tears fell incessantly.

"Woah, woah, woah. Slow down. Tell us what happened." Alfyn bellowed as he grabbed a cloth and some bottled ointment from his satchel and immediately began cleaning their faces.