𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐑𝐃𝐀𝐒 {spirit animals}

15. A Second Chance

"I know who killed Emmett."

     It was long past midnight, and Rae found herself wandering the halls of Greenhaven until she spotted Shen, still awake for some reason, leaning against the balcony as he watched the stars. He didn't say anything as she walked over, barely even glanced her way.

     "So does Talona," Rae continued, "And Ylva too. Neither said a word because they don't think anyone will believe them."

     Shen still didn't respond.

     Rae scowled, "Hey Mountain, I'm talking to you."

     "I don't care about Emmett," Shen shot back, "And if you keep calling me that, I'm leaving."

     "I'll try to contain myself," Rae rolled her eyes, "Can you stop and think for just a fraction of a second? Someone murdered a Greencloak. We are on an island that is uncharted by most maps and heavily guarded at that. Clearly, someone from the inside is attempting to take this place down. Killing a greencloak, tipping off the Darkcloaks, killing a summoner of the Legendary Seven... If you catch my drift."

     Shen frowned, "You're saying that you think whoever killed Emmett is responsible for Sucia's death?"

     "I'm quite certain, in fact," Rae leaned against the balcony, Ikaito softly growling at her heels, "Now I'm just debating if I should tell you. There's a good reason no one else has said anything yet, and I definitely don't need you throwing another fire tantrum."

     Shen turned to look at her, "I was Sucia's only friend on this entire island," His voice dangerously low, "I think I deserve to know who was apart of murdering her."

     "Of course you deserve to know," Rae narrowed her eyes, "But I have reason to believe the other side of the story deserves to be heard. And unfortunately, I may be the only one here who is capable of hearing that other story."

     "Why talk to me in the first place if you're just going to be the most secretive person with nothing but useless information?" Shen growled, "Just get lost if you're going to continue being unhelpful."

     Rae glared at him, "Useless? I literally figured out who killed Sucia. I came here because I wanted to know if you had any interest in helping me get to this person. If you're going to be this difficult, and I guess I'm not telling you anything after all.

     "What are you-"

     "Forget it," Rae snapped as she turned on her heel to leave, "I'll deal with it myself. Again."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rae had no idea why she expected Shen to be friendly in any way, considering that he hadn't taken Sucia's death well in any way at all. But after that whole meeting during the day, the whole "United as one" conversation, Rae had maybe let her guard down just a little bit, and for some stupid reason assumed she was... Friends with everyone now?

     She mentally kicked herself for how ridiculous that sounded. She certainly wasn't friends with anyone in this castle. With the dimmest people she had ever met, the person who murdered her sister, and the arrogant wretch of a prince.

     Rae decided to shut everyone else out of her mind for now, particularly Shen. Did he seriously tell her to "Get lost" for trying to help? Talking to him might have been the most non-aggressive thing she's done since arriving at Greenhaven, and she came out of that conversation wanting to punch something.

     And that was precisely why Rae stuck to herself. People were way too hard to figure out.

     Calming herself down, Rae tried to focus on more important issues. She had someone she needed to talk to, someone who she probably shouldn't talk to. Everything about this seemed like a bad idea, but Rae had been ignoring gut intuitions of bad decisions for a very long time by now.