Oneshots for the Raven Cycle

Scars and Stars

Blue had grown up where it was always loud, she loved Fox way, but sometimes she just needed to step away. To take a break from all of the chaos and moving parts and just have a moment to listen to her thoughts and breath. She didn't usually need to escape from her raven boys, but sometimes they could be very loud. They talked about everything and debated everything and she loved to listen to their stories, but some nights it was just a bit too much. Tonight was like that, the boys were debating a homework assignment of theirs, something Blue didn't quite understand about whether or not the world was drastically changed by the introduction of mixed fabric clothing or something else that seemed inconsequential to her. She had gotten tired of feeling stupid and trying to keep up with the debate before she just wandered out. She slipped into her oversized knit sweater - one of her most recent creations, it was lavender with bits of white and blue lace stitched onto it in a seemingly random fashion, and the cuffs hung down over her hands in a way that always made her feel safe - slipped on her combat boots, and wandered out the front door. She meandered down the path running her fingertips over the grass, The Barnes was always beautiful at night, and she enjoyed having the time to enjoy it. The sunset had been stunning that evening, but the colors were faded and now she walked in a cocoon of dusk, everything was dark enough and tainted slightly blue. She laughed to herself slightly, thinking about the jokes the boys would have made if they had heard her thoughts. she felt the cool air on her neck and face, not cold, but the cool and damp of an early summer night. The whole area was quiet and peaceful, and she could hear the steady rhythm of her boots on the gravel as she walked. It centered her, and she continued to let herself drift aimlessly through the twilight. 

As always, she ended up with the trees. There was a small gathering of them at the edge of one of the fields. Blue had always liked them, they were all grown close together, gathered in a loose circle with their branches tangling high above. Blue liked to stand in the middle sometimes and imagine being suspended above the web of roots and sheltered by the net of branches above. The trees reminded her a bit of the boy, or Fox Way, a family. They were all tangled up together and intertwined, every part was essential, and it just wouldn't be quite right without any of them. She liked thinking about them like that. Blue wandered over to one of her favorite trees and sat down at the base on the outside of the circle. If she looked out she could see the horizon of the plains and where they rose to the foothills and then the mountains. There were no stars just yet, and Blue was glad, she liked watching them slowly fade into sight. 

The time passed slowly, not in a way that drags on like a child stuck in a classroom on the first nice day of the year. But in a way that said 'You don't need to rush or worry, everything will work it's self out, you can just sit for a moment'. Blue watched the sky and let her mind wander, her fingers were curled up in the sleeves of her sweater and she was pleasantly aware of it's soft fibers and the contrast of the smooth bark and solid tree behind her. She came back into focus slightly when the first star came into focus. She smiled slightly as she murmured the rhyme her mom would always say with her when she was young. 

"Starlight, star bright, first star I see tonight. Wish I may wish I might have the wish I wish tonight." 

"So, is this like birthday wishes where you can't tell anyone what you wish for or it won't come true? Or are star wishes different?" Blue recognized the voice. She had heard these types of questions a hundred times over before. Simply curious, no judgment, no mocking or pushing for a right answer, just wanting to know more. 

"Hello Gansey," she hadn't even heard him come up next to her, then again, her mind was far away at the time. 

"Hello Blue, may I join your wishing?" Gansey, always the gentleman. 

"I suppose," said Blue around a small smile. He sat down next to her, their sides touching and stretched out his legs next to hers. She let a breath pass before continuing, "And I guess I don't know, but I think the stars would like us to share it. Something like having more people believing in your wish making it more likely to come true."