Memoir of Xayah - The lost sparrow and the lonley fox

[25]

After what had happened, she had not spoken so much with Ahri. They had exchanged only small talks, or at least the women had forced her.
Ahri's words were still stuck in her mind. They were like some noisy fruit fly that she was not able to cast out.
And they were also annoying as small insects.
She hated her faith in humans. It was a vain hope, one day they would have turned their back on her. But she did not want to highlight that problem. She did not want to fight again; in those days, she had to relax and concentrate before she would have entered the Temple of Whispers. She knew it would have happened if she had let the Vastaya continue on her arguments. They would have talked again about the little girl and her act of generosity. She could read that in Ahri's eyes, a pair of faint mirrors that looked at her with sadness. Once she devoted that gaze at her reflection in the water. At that moment, it was for her.
She should have never risked with that sentence on her past. She gave the Vastaya a reason to pity her. Ahri could make another step toward her, a step too big for her expectations. She did not want to bond with her, not knowing she would have left the woman soon. And she did not know when she would have seen her again. She just wanted Ahri to remain the kind stranger that had saved her life, nothing more.
And maybe that was the reason why she did not want to talk to her; she was not irritated, but she feared to reveal something more about herself. And so she would have increased their familiarity.
As if she had summoned her, Ahri appeared in the lair with their couches, fast as a haunted animal.
« Follow me! I have to show you something! »
She heard with difficulty her words; soon, they were covered by the noise the Vastaya made. She was selecting some oils, making her realize her intentions. Ahri wanted to try again to put those sticky things on her head. She felt nausea just at the thought of it.
She did not want to indulge her, not for something so lame. She preferred to look at the top of the cave until she would have fallen asleep.
« Maybe another time,» she muttered, playing with her hair.
« There will not be another time soon! Follow me, » Ahri answered before she went out of the lair.
Her enthusiasm teased her attention. She was tempted to find out what the Vastaya wanted to show her. But her legs stood on that rocky corner, stopped by the fear that had followed her for days. She was not ready and maybe once she would have deceived herself, thinking that she would have been. But Ahri did not let her decide and came back to pick her up by force.
« Come on, follow me! »
She grabbed her left arm, forcing her to stand up and follow her. She did not resist, and she realized she did not want to do it. She let Ahri carry her until the second lair, the one with an underground lake. Her curiosity raised step by step until many bright spots enlightened her eyes. They were white fluffs, magical creatures that came out from the water and floated in the air. They shined, making the lake crystal clear and the lair bright. The environment was full of magic and filled with a positive aura. She felt her muscles relaxing, lulled by that pleasant feeling.
She reached out, and one of the creatures leaned on it. It was warm and soft, full of energy. It seemed to smell her palm before it licked it with its rough tongue. It had unexpectedly come out from its fur.
She withdrew her hand, surprised, and the creature went back to floating with its companions.
« What are they? » she asked, amazed.
Her problems seemed to be disappeared, canceled by the light that surrounded her. They had captured her sight. She was trying to look at them when they laid on the walls, when they flew or when they dived again in the water. She had not seen anything like that for a long time. It was a little wonder created by the magic heart of Ionia, another miracle that risked to be absorbed by the darkness.
« I do not know, but they appear when there is a full moon. And after they disappear again under the water, » Ahri answered.
She had never heard of such creatures. They had to be peculiar of that area. It was unbelievable that those being so full of magic lived near the Temple of Whispers. They withstood its contaminated air, as the vegetation around that place.
She reached out to touch another of those fluffs, but the sound of a dip gained her attention. Ahri dived in the lake, forcing the creatures around her to move away. She surfaced and tried to remove the water from her hair and her tails. After, she turned her yellow eyes on her.
« Come here! They will not hurt you, » she encouraged her.
She admitted she was tempted. She had felt their warmness and their beneficial energy when she took one in her hand. It was an enjoyable sensation, capable of relaxing her muscles. Probably all the water was full of their magic, and she needed to calm her nerves.
« But we could hurt them, » she said, worried.
They were so tiny. One moment of distraction could be enough for her to squeeze one of them. She did not want to hurt some enchanted creatures because of a simple bath.
« No, they are fast and keep their distance. »
She decided to trust Ahri and slipped off her robe, diving carefully inside the lake. When she touched the rocky ground, she let herself sink, lulled by the warm water. Her body absorbed all the positive energy. Her muscles relaxed, relived after the labour of those days. Her mission became a distant concern while her mind emptied. Only quiet remained in her head. A quiet she had yearned because now she was finally isolated in a peaceful limbo.
And everything ended when she felt the weight of the water on her wing, entirely underwater.
She puffed and stood up, trying to shaking it. After, she would have done another dive. She liked the water, but it was almost impossible for her to swim. After a single bath, she had to remove the drops from her feathers. And this always took a lot of time.
She let the energy of the creature flow in her body again. She closed her eyes, lulled by the warmth. But when she felt someone caressing her hair, she opened them. Ahri was trying to use some of her oils on her.
« No, no and no. I' have already told you a hundred times! » she remembered her.
« Please, try at least one time. You will see how much soft they will be... »
« No. » she repeated.
She tried to scratch her head underwater, hoping to take away that stuff. But when she surfaced, she got caught off guard. Ahri grabbed her waist with her arm while she covered her head with her oil.
She tried to break free, but the energy inside the water had weakened her muscles. So, she decided to press her nails on Ahri's soft skin, but the Vastaya held her even tighter, blocking her against her body.
« Damn you, let me go! » she protested.
The Vastaya laughed in reply. A crystalline sound echoed inside the cave, again and again, until she let her free.
She felt her hair sticky, greasy and with even more knots. She touched them and expressed with a frown her disgust.
« Look on the bright side, after they are smooth as silk, » Ahri said, mocking her.
Rage raised inside her and splashed the woman, wetting her hair and tales even more. The counter-attack was so fast that she was not even able to wash her hair.
A squirt flooded her face, also entering inside her nostrils. She blew to free them, but they got irritated anyway. She shook her long ears when she heard that pleasant crystalline sound again.
And only at that moment, she realized that Ahri was laughing.
The melancholic Vastaya that always had a veil of sadness in her eyes was laughing for the first time. Her canine teeth almost shined under the light of the magical creatures, enlightening her face.
As much as she was happy to see her serene, she could not allow Ahri to mock her in that way. So, she started their battle again. Splashes flew in the cave along with the creatures that were trying to avoid them. The calm lake became a stormy sea, place of a harsh fight. But it was followed by laughs and joyful sounds, that resonated with harmony in the air.
There was not a winner; they both stopped when they were too tired to go on. She satisfied her limbs and sat on the edge, shaking the water away.
Ahri reached her, lifting with some difficulty her wet tails. She took in her hands one of the small creatures. She caressed it, white it started to lick her. She was still smiling as if that childish fight had wholly changed her mood.
Meanwhile, she touched her hair and witnessed with disappointment that they were still sticky.
« How can you use this gross thing every time? » she asked.
« It is just a question of habit and goodwill. »
« Meh. I still wonder how did you invent this thing. »
Ahri's eyes became sadder just for a moment, lost in their melancholy.
She bit her lips, knowing she had ruined her happiness with her big mouth. She turned her sight on the water and her reflection, trying not to look at the Vastaya.
She observed that skinny girl, with some messy wine hair. Her yellow eyes showed perfectly her thoughts.
A hand reached her head and put a warm and soft creature on it.
She opened wide her eyes and turned toward Ahri; she was smiling again and was also giving her a mocking glance.
« Oh, look at you! You are so pretty! »
The Vastaya stopped her last words in her throat. She was badly trying to hold a laugh.
« Very funny... » she muttered.
Ahri grabbed gently another creature and put it on her head.
« What do you think? Am I beautiful too?»
The Vastaya's face almost made her laugh. She emphasized too much a charmer pose, the one of a woman that wanted to seduce a man only with a few gestures. Adding also the little guest, it was only a comic impression.
« Stop it, idiot. If you go on like this, they will get angry for real » she said, pushing her gently.
« I think they got attached, » Ahri answered, putting her arm around her shoulder and pointing their reflections.
She was right. The two creatures were still on their heads, immobile as if they were sleeping.
« Idiots, » she whispered.
She gently took the small being on her head and encouraged it to fly away. The fluff soared slowly followed by its companion before their lights blended in with the others.