Memoir of Xayah - The lost sparrow and the lonley fox

[19]; [20.1]

« Please, please, another one! » she exclaimed, making her ears stand straight up.
« Xayah, you should have been asleep for a while. And if I tell you all the legends of our people now, what will I tell you the next nights? » her father replied.
« So tell me how Vihtori defeated the Thousand Teeth Demon! » she said, looking him pleading in his dark eyes, so intense that they seemed black.
Everybody, watching them, would have said that she was his daughter. They looked the same, from the color of their hair to their feathering. Also, the shape of their eyes and the round features of their face were similar.
Only the eyes were different. Those were the only inheritance of her mother, died shortly after her birth.
She had never met her, but she felt like she was still alive, a ghost that took shape when her father spoke about her. Every word seemed to bring her back to life, so much was the passion in his description.
Both had lost her too soon, but he did everything not to forget her. Even if she had gone back inside Earth's womb, part of her soul was still with them thanks to his stories.
But at that moment, she did not want to hear those tales filled with melancholy. She wanted action and adventure. She wanted to identify herself with the great heroes of the past and dreamed of becoming like them one day.
Her father did not give up, but she begged him with her eyes, knowing the power of that amber sight could influence him.
« All right, but it is the last one. But after you should go to sleep. Tomorrow you have hard training. »
She nodded and was ready to hear those words again, even if she had memorized them.
But something went wrong. After her father opened his mouth, his figure began to shatter, as if it was made of pottery. The pieces felt off one by one, and she tried to grab him before he would have disappeared. But her hand met the emptiness, a cold and black emptiness.
She was alone; there was no one in that place. She called her father at the top of her lungs. She was scared and did not want to stay there. She wanted to go back to her tribe, to her father and to hear his stories again.
She kept on calling him. She would have done it as long as she would have breathed. He could not abandon her, not him.
She was desperate and started to cry while her voice became more and more hoarse. She could not take it any longer. She had to breathe and use all the air inside her lungs. In that way, he would have heard her. He had to.

[20] A hand closed her mouth, and she flinched, waking up from that nightmare. Ahri was kneeling in front of her, and her yellow eyes were just some centimeters far from her face. The Vastaya looked worried, and she asked herself what could have happened.
« Stop screaming, they could hear you,» she whispered.
Everything was clear; she felt asleep under the broad leaves of the undergrowth. Her dream had turned into a nightmare, and it seemed she had called her father in real life.
A pang of sorrow ripped through her chest when she thought about him. She missed him and wanted him at her side. With him, it would have been easier to find her tribe, but he had disappeared along with the others.
A sound distracted her from her thoughts. There were some steps, probably a group of people was nearby.
She understood why Ahri was worried and nodded. The Vastaya let her go and turned, bent as a predator ready to attack.
« Stay here. I will handle this,» she said before she disappeared into the bright green leaves.
Her nature was not to stay apart if she could help, but above all, her nature was not to obey if she did not agree.
She followed Ahri, careful not to lose her trail. Her red dress made her easy to notice, as her majestic white tales. But the Vastaya was quite fast, and because she had to pay attention to her forearm, she had to move slowly. She was risking to distance her too much.
The first huge and knobby trunks appeared in the undergrowth, and short after Ahri stopped and hide. She kept her soft tales down, careful not to let them out form her hideout.
She reached the Vastaya quietly and looked around. She wanted to find who gained her attention. They were at the end of the undergrowth, where a trail built by humans started.
« Why are you here? » Ahri asked in a low voice, pretty worried.
« I am doing ok with my left arm. I can always distract them while you attack with your magic. » replied, looking at her objectives.
They were three young men, and their clothes had the same colors of the forest. On their backs, they had flexible bows and quivers full of arrows, while they also had sharp knives on their belts.
They were hunters; she had one more reason to believe they were dangerous. They did not stop only in front of animals, and a Vastaya would have been a more aspired prey.
But she and Ahri were not naive and would not have bent in front of their simple weapons.
She was surprised at her thoughts. She had already involved Ahri in her plans. They had never fought together, and she did not know if the Vastaya was a good ally.
So, what gave her all that trust?
« Do you want to attack them? But they did nothing. » the woman said.
« I have thought you came here for that. »
The Vastaya did not reply and looked at her, confused. She got over her catatonic condition and found the words.
« No, I just wanted to be sure they will not find the cave. In that case, I would have defended myself. »
Ahri hesitated, and she noticed that. It seemed that she had found the true intentions of the Vastaya, that went back on them with an excuse.
And it was even a silly excuse. She was ready to get rid of the intruders, stopping her made no sense.
Maybe Ahri was afraid she could hurt her weak forearm.
And she could be grateful for her concern, but she knew her limits.
Or at least, she tried to know them.
« It is better to do not trust them. They could come back and scour better this place,» she replied, reaching her feathers.
She hoped Ahri understood the hidden meaning in that sentence; she was ready to fight even if she had a broken forearm. A group of immature hunters would not have stopped her.
« Stop, do not do rash actions. If they find us, we will have to... »
« Eliminate them? It is what I have said since the beginning. » she hissed annoyed.
Ahri seemed not to understand or did not want to. Maybe she had lived inside that cave for too long and did not went too far from it. She was lucky, nor humans or dangerous creatures had aver discovered her hideout.
But fortune could change, and the Vastaya had to be ready. Maybe she was a bit rusty, but her memory could be refreshed.
She could do that, as a sign of gratitude.
« But... they do not... »
« I know, they look quiet and calm, but they will never hesitate to aim...»
One of the young men turned suddenly, reaching his knife with his hand.
Ahri reacted and closed her mouth without turning away from the hunters.
She did not react and tried to breathe less as she could. Every single sound could reveal their position, and they would have lost the element of surprise.
« What is it? » one of the other boys asked.
« I think I have heard something. »
She stopped to breathe, and her muscles were all tensed. She had spoken, sure that the group was inexperienced. But she was wrong and had made a mistake. She had not to make them anymore, especially when they were so stupid. That was a perfect way not to find her tribe, falling in a trap caused by her carelessness.
The humans kept their ears open and listened to the sounds around them. Some birds chirped in the distance, and the leaves moved placid. Neither she or Ahri made a single sound. It was as they became part of the undergrowth.
The hunters talked with each other and concluded there were no preys in the nearby. They turned and started to walk along the trail. It was the perfect signal to take action.
Ahri moved her hand, and she instantly grabbed one of her feathers. She charged it with magical energy and was ready to throw it. She hoped at least to hit one of the three humans.
She aimed, but the Vastaya stopped her and immobilized her on the ground. She acted too late. The feather left her hand and stuck itself in a trunk nearby.
Two hunters turned and unsheathed their knives. The other one was able to nock an arrow and stayed behind, ready to shoot.
She could only look at Ahri with hate. She had not only ruined her surprise attack but had also made them perfect preys. The Vastaya was blocking her with her weight and paid more attention to immobilize her than to their enemies. She put them in danger to save those humans' lives. She had too much faith, but she could not always believe that no one would have found her cave.
Maybe those three could find that area perfect for hunting, and maybe they would have given that information to other companions. So they would have come and would have carefully searched for new preys. And then that cave would have come out.
It was better to discourage them from coming back or kill them if the situation would have become more complicated. The bodies of such young men would not have raise researches. They were easy to forget. And if there were a rumor about a soul-eating creature, someone would have accused it of their disappearing.
« Now, you will not move and let me fix this. » Ahri whispered, touching her face with her midnight blue hair.