Memoir of Xayah - The lost sparrow and the lonley fox

[20.2]

She shivered, and her breath stopped inside her throat. The sweet and soft voice of the Vastaya sounded threatening, a warning she had to follow.
Ahri stood up slowly, letting her free. But she could not move; those words made her body heavy as a rock.
She did not want to contradict her. She feared her reaction. She knew how much the Vastaya was powerful and at that moment had discovered a less pleasant and darker side of her. She had imagined she could get angry, but she did not expect such a sharp menace.
Ahri acted naively in front of danger, but she knew how to be intimidating.
She finally was able to turn her face, careful to not make any sound. The Vastaya was slowly walking towards the hunters, caught by her appearance. It seemed they did not want to attack her, and they could not. Everybody would have been powerless in front of her beauty, even for a moment.
« I do not want to hurt you. I am just passing through. »
Her voice was again soft and warm, with also a bit of sensuality.
She did not understand her intentions, and because she could not see her face, she had to guess them by the movements of her tales. And they moved slow, for her that was suspicious.
She was pretending for attacking them, or she wanted to let them go?
She desired to come out of hiding, but Ahri's words were resounding inside her head. She did not want to contradict her, not after she had used that tone with her.
The hunters did not reply. They stood and watched her in silence, while she moved a hand inside her midnight blue hair.
« So, if we go our separate ways there will not be any problem, right? »
She was losing herself in the movement of Ahri's tales. They swung like some quite creatures ready to suddenly attack their preys.
She asked again to herself if all that calm was just a facade so that she could trick them.
« We... we want to see also the other one, » said one of the boys.
« The other one? » Ahri asked, with faked innocence.
« We have seen the knife that now it is on the tree,» he replied with the support of his companions.
The Vastaya laughed, a crystalline sound that echoed in the forest. It was fake and quite disturbing.
The hunters looked at her worried, mostly the archer that nocked its arrow even more.
Even if Ahri had threatened her, she was ready to take action. Good manners had not obtained any positive effect. They had not lowered their weapons and did not want to leave.
« That was not a knife. It was a feather! » Ahri said, amused.
The boys looked at each other confused and skeptical. They were sure she was making fun of them.
She wanted to show them how much they were wrong, how much they should have feared such a harmless object.
« If you did not believe that, I will show you. »
After she said those word, Ahri turned to her. She knelled with calm and careful to not scare the boys. She reached out to mention she had to grab her hand.
Ahri had something on her mind, or she would have never gone back on her words.
She decided

to trust the Vastaya. If she went out of the hideout, she could also attack better the hunters. They would have been nearer, and she could be able to hit them even with the left arm.
She grabbed her hand after she was sure the humans would have stayed still. They kept their firm grip on their weapons, ready to defend themselves. They would have acted if she had been hostile. They were not brave enough to take action.
Ahri let her out from the undergrowth slowly, giving her a hand to stand up. She considered that help undue until the Vastaya put her lips close to her ears. Then she whispered an inaudible " stay behind me and do not move".
She made just some steps before Ahri left her hand.
« What have I said? » the Vastaya said with a fake smile.
The hunters petrified when they saw her. They could not believe in having a creature like her in front of their eyes.
She felt like a freak, a fake supernatural creature created to extort money. She hated those looks, she was not a mistake of nature, but Nature herself gave her the strength.
She had to stop herself from attacking them and leaving marks on their eyes. So they would not have looked at her anymore.
« My sister was just scared. She did not want to harm you, » Ahri continued, approaching the hunters slowly.
Not a Vastaya would have believed in those words. It was obvious they belonged to two different tribes. She would have never been her sister.
But those were humans, and they could be tricked.
« So, since I have answered your questions, we can go our separate ways. »
Ahri had reached one of the hunters, the one with his guard down. She had put her hand on his cheek and said that sentence with a soft voice when their faces were very close.
It seemed like she wanted to charm him, and it would not have been difficult. That human could not act, attracted by her beauty. He was not even able to reply. He just looked at her, full of desire.
The arched had to interfere, grabbing his companion's hand.
« Let's go. I do not want to go back empty-handed. »
The boy nodded and got carried away without looking away from Ahri. The other two also turned their heads twice, but it was not clear if it was for suspicion or her beauty.
But she did not care about the hunters. She often kept her eyes on her, wary. She remembered her not to attack the group with her feathers.
And she had to obey against her will, fearing an adverse reaction. She did not accept her decision; Ahri had been too naive. But had her as an enemy it was even worse than ignore some humans.
When they disappeared from their sight, the Vastaya sighed of relief and relaxed her tails.
« Why did you... »
She could not finish her question. Ahri was looking at her hand, lost in distant memories. And from her melancholic attitude, it was clear they were not happy.
It was not the first time her mood became sad, enveloped by the thin darkness of her past.
« I go back inside, » she said then.
Ahri did not answer or move, so she turned to go back inside the undergrowth.
« I am sorry. I have overreacted and have risked damaging your broken arm. »
Her voice made her look back. The Vastaya was not angry with her, but she was trying to smile.
She shrugged, not knowing how to reply. She was trying to be kind with her, even if she had threatened her. She feared that every single world would have upset Ahri.
« Anyway, you can stay. »
She looked at her, confused. The Vastaya wanted to tell her something, but she could not understand what in a specific way.
Ahri approached and reached out.
Her gaze became even more skeptical. She was not able to follow her intentions.
« I show you the surroundings. We might have started with the right foot, but I am ready to make up. »