Private Tales Scorched Earth

[Fife]

The longer she sat there, the better she felt in one regard, but the worse she was in another. Listening to the water and arranging rocks and pebbles into lines made her feel more at ease.

She shook off the anxious feeling that had sprung to life from the conversation with Aretta. She had meant well. Why she had thought the problem had been that in particular, Fife was having a difficult time figuring out. Because she was young and it was normal in their culture? Was that their idea of taking off stress? It didn't matter. Aretta was coarse, but not because she didn't care. Fife liked her a lot and seeking her approval was important.

What wasn't getting resolved was her growing confusion. Fife could touch the minds of strangers. She could feel their emotions like she felt the elements beneath her hands. They had weight and color and she knew what each of them was. Some fell into the valley between two colors, but she still understood what it was supposed to be.

Her own mind, however, was dark and foreign. She couldn't hold her thoughts to know what they were. Raigryn had caught her to balance herself and she had practiced that as diligently as she practiced anything.

Except their was a difference between summoning deliberate thoughts in the vein of an Aspect and trying to translate the real things as they were generated in her head. She was feeling so much at once that it was impossible to determine where she stood in the middle of the pillars on her imaginary room.

Was this fear? Was it pride? The anxiety of the conversation had passed. So why did she still feel like she wanted to vomit and run? More things to think about. She stared at the water, very quickly losing her track of time.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"I do not know," said Raigryn as he padded down to the waterside, "whether the idemni control on the outside makes their feelings on the inside feel different. It does make you easier to find."

He sat down over a metre to her left, cradling something in his arms. He didn't meet her eyes, but instead joined her in looking out at the water.

"I brought this in case you hadn't eaten," he said. Raigryn placed the bowl between them. "I...spoke to Aretta."

The swordswoman might not have given a full picture but it had been enough. All these little facts that were spread around. Fife didn't even know that he knew the root of some of her pains. They had never spoken of it and perhaps they never would. She may have buried those memories deep herself. Empathy was an imperfect art.

Raigryn sat in silence and watched the water gently passing by.

 

[Fife]

Catching movement from her peripheral vision, she turned to see Raigryn coming from a little ways off. She had watched the water until her mind had felt the same -- slow, calm, even. Seeing her fellow Empath, however, Fife quietly withdrew behind her mental barriers. She had opened herself up for him to help him better understand lately, bit now was not one of those times.

Lifting her chin from her knees, relaxing her legs, and sitting up, Fife tracked him from the corner of her eye as he sat down well away from her. It was further apart than if they had been at their table, where her knees almost touched his when they were both vying for the slate.

She did, however, turn to look at the bowl he set down between them like an offering. Fife looked at it for a moment before quietly picking it up, but she did not move to eat -- in part, because her stomach was in a knot. He spoke softly, as if she were some timid thing that could be frightened away; as if his voice could be anything but calming.

He had spoken to Aretta. Fife looked down at the contents in her bowl, then finally lifted her gaze to him. Eyes tracing his features for a moment and determining that he wasn't saying anything further, she set the bowl down beside her.

Aretta is a good teacher. She thought the lesson was important. And she believed that. Aretta's intentions, while misplaced, had been good.

One of the first lessons she had given Fife had stirred in the back of her mind, however. Trust and honesty hand in hand.

She didn't know just how well he understood, but Raigryn wasn't an idiot -- far, far from it. While he could be as stubborn and dense as a boulder some days, he surely had some basic understanding of why a girl on the streets might have masqueraded as a boy. Why she had coped by the feeling of tightness and why her fear at being held down had been so visceral. Why she still woke up in panic most nights.

Fife's heart beat frantically against her ribs, a quiet beg not to continue this line of thought, but she owed him a shred of honesty. Even if it wasn't a full confession, she had to tell him something -- wanted to. Otherwise she looked like an embarrassed brat out here, skipping lessons because she'd been given the talk.

I do not like it, she told him simply, eyes fixed ahead of her. Fife drew a deep breath. Her hands were somewhat unsteady and, for once, her face was pale instead of scarlet. My experiences were not good.

It was as much as she would ever say on the matter, but it was an explanation. It was fhe most honest she had been since she meeting him. Fife was distinctly looking away from him as she worked very hard to breathe normally.

I am sorry I did not come to our lesson, she added, hurrying past the topic altogether. I needed the time. I enjoy this place. It is quiet.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Raigryn frowned at the water. Much as she might have, he started to wish that he could feel as calm and serene as the water. There was an echo of that raw fear deep within his chest. A horrible thing that twisted his own guts up tight. He didn't want to feel sorry for Fife, but he still did. She had not deserved any of the dark things that had happened to her, didn't deserve some of the joy that would forever be taken from her life even when she was far, far away from that work. He wanted to fix everything and knew that he couldn't.

"I know they weren't," he admitted. He turned towards her to sign at the same time. "When I drew deeply to fight the golem I drew too deep. I told you before that you can bring the nature of someone's emotions and I took from your fears."

Raigryn gave to the count of five to let that settle in. She had closed herself off well, but he could imagine her shame and anger all the same.

"I can only promise that the further we walk from that part of your life the further away it will seem. Little by little. Now...now I know you are here if you would like me to leave you to your peace and quiet I will go back to the tent and see you later," he offered. His head fell forwards, loose strand of white hair covering his eyes. It hurt for him to have this discussion to. The curse of the empath.

 

[Fife]

Whatever she thought he might say, it wasn't what Raigryn replied back with. Fife turned to look at him, color drained from her face but expression slack in surprise. She was glad now that she'd found a steady balance before. It was difficult to breathe, like there wasn't the right pressure in her body to fill her lungs. For once, Fife didn't look at his eyes when he spoke, eyes dropping to his hands because that was easier.

He was right to expect shame and the emotion flared up, fierce and unrestrained. But rather than anger, an old woe shimmered in its wake like the tail of a meteor. Fife mentally grasped them, trying to keep them neatly tucked behind closed walls, but they were sharp and discernable regardless

Raigryn had known all this time. Fife didn't know if that made any of it better. Defining how she felt about it was no simple matter, and she certainly didn't know how she felt about him being so calm and understanding about it.

Her hands were drawn taut into fists in her lap, knuckles a white made luminescent the dappled sunlight coming through the tree. No longer even looking at him, she focused on the feeling of her pulse in her tight palms instead as he spoke. Her eyes burned, when she finally glanced up, tear-bright and landing on his face fleetingly.

I don't understand what I want, she signed. Her hands moved a bit quickly, signs made in sharp, even intervals like the beat of a drum. It was as close to an outburst as she would ever be.

I want to be alone, I don't want to be alone. I don't want to talk, I want to scream. I am tired, I want to run. It is not dangerous and I am not wounded, but I hurt and tired. I want...

To be normal, to forget, to let this conversation go and pretend it never happened, to be far away from what she was feeling, to be held tightly. Fife signed sharply, looking away to wipe the stubborn tears from her eyes. Her frustration was rising, that burning anger she couldn't quite escape. Not at Raigryn, but with herself -- always herself. Swallowing thickly, she kept her face away from him. In all that she'd been through in the last year, she couldn't remember crying in front of him. It was not something she did often, even alone, and she was not keen on sniveling in front of anyone, much less Raigryn.

Please stay, she signed after a moment, her face still kept turned away. That was better than being alone. She'd be over whatever this was soon and they could move on like it hadn't happened.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Raigryn held a hand out towards her, but quickly drew it back to his lap. Now, of all times, she was probably not in the mood to be touched.

Her drew in a slow breath and let out a stuttered sigh. Empathy only went so far. He couldn't hope to have the answers she was grasping at. She had to find those herself.

What he did know was that it would be easy for her to collapse in on herself and to pull back those bridges she had started to lay out. To keep those nightmares to herself, despite the fact that they nearly always woke him when he was close.

"You don't have to know what you want right now." A pause, long enough for his racing heart to fill with staccato beats for half a dance.

"I will always be here for you Fife. I care for you, more than you know. So...whatever you want, I am here." Raigryn felt a tightness around his own heart and he felt a flash of nerves stronger than any he had felt for a long time. He looked at his hand and made up his mind. Slowly he reached out again and laid his hand on her slender shoulder.

"Lean on me when you need to."

 

[Fife]

Fife had been doing a good job of keeping herself relatively balanced. The surprise of a very challenging subject passed, and in its wake she had managed to ride the waves.

But was there no end to how good he was? The world had turned her, young and small, into something bitter and afraid when it had twisted its heel down on her. How much more had he endured in the years that separated them? And how was he still this patient and good?

She had never thought of anything beyond getting by today, but now he spoke to her about tomorrows and futures with no limits and terms. When did this end? Why did the thought of it ending wring her heart?

Fife tensed under his touch, startled, and turned to look up at him, eyes wide and wet. His hand was warm, always so warm.

A nameless feeling unravelled, springing apart and reaching, straining at its full length towards something. Towards the feeling of his hand on her shoulder and the need to be wrapped up tightly until the pressure squeezed the last of the tension from her body. It was wild and new, and yet it was no stranger. It felt indigo -- the same brittle, hollow yearning she had put on the pedestal in her mind. Yearning.

It was a moment as she scanned his face, as if she might find any answers there, before she lowered her eyes once more. Tamping down the strange newcomer to her mind, color returned to her cheeks with fervor. Fife laid her fingers over his, tentative and unsure. She drew her knees up tight to her chest and, though she leaned her weight forward, she bent her shoulder up to tilt her head to the side and feel the warmth of his hand against her cheek. Fife had gone her entire life devoid of the the touch of another. This would do for now. This was good.

Fife didn't have to decide what she wanted right now. She closed her eyes and practiced the exercise of touching her Aspects and finding balance between the weights that would tilt her toward the edge.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

When she looked up, Raigryn had too. The later afternoon light caught the tears that had welled in his eyes. He had his own conflicts but they were not for her.

Guilt joined everything else that he felt. Guilt because he enjoyed the touch when he shouldn't, because he still feared that maybe he looked out for Fife because he thought that perhaps it would atone for other decisions.

Raigryn felt her turn her focus inward, even as closed off as she was. This wasn't about him. Fife had started to feel comfortable in a routine in a safe place. That was something he had wanted to give her too and it had been truly derailed.

His fingers brushed against the cold touch of a tear as it rolled down her cheek. Turning his palm against her smooth skin, he idly traced his thumb up and down.

Now he was silent. Now he finally fulfilled some of his promise.

 

[Fife]

Fife took her time, going through the exercise as he had taught her. One by one, she felt her feelings -- the interloper included. There were things that still felt vague and unlabeled floating about, but she found her center once more.

Balance reestablished, Fife sighed. His hand was comforting, and she didn't want to lift her face from it. Her hand had followed his, still played over the back of it to draw from its heat. She stayed in that way longer than necessary, simply for the feel of it. Eventually, however, she relaxed her shoulder, lifted her head, and withdrew her own hand.

She wiped away the last of the tears on her eyes before looking up at him. He looked so serious. They had been having strange moments like this so often since coming here. Fife didn't know what had triggered the change, but she didn't mind -- even if her burgeoning friendships with everyone else weren't this complicated. But she was aware of it in the air between them, palpable as smoke.

Fife grinned. You cheated, she signed. Well. She technically told him "you cut the law" but it sufficed. You spoke.

It was easier to smile and move past the melancholy and trauma. Fife feigned a sigh and waggled a chastising finger.

More days of silence are required. You did terrible.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

His bowed his head as he blurted our a laugh and shook his head. He finally pulled his hand back with some regret and threaded his fingers through his hair. It was no longer hanging over his face. With the back of his index finger he wiped at his eyes and smiled at the broken tension. Not broken perhaps, but a weight lifted.

"I lasted an hour. I went the entire sword lesson without realising I had broken it. I'm sorry! Will two days make up for it?"

He often felt the empathy gave him too much, but now he wished he could know what had passed through her head for the last few minutes.

"You must be hungry. I might skip the bathing for once. Our tent?"

 

[Fife]

She couldn't help laughing, too. Much better. Watching him speak, she straightened her legs out again. Fife bit her lip in thought at his question. Two days was a long time. But she had gone longer without hearing his voice. Giving a nod, she smiled easily.

Mentioning food, she wobbled her hand. Somewhat. Her stomach was just starting to feel settled enough for the thought of eating. She picked up the bowl with emphasis and set it in her lap. But she gasped at the idea of skipping his bath.

You were going to try the new... Fife made do with a scrubbing motion to convey soap before spelling it. She looked excited, the weight of today already starting to shift away. There are many. I'm curious.

Fife gave him a chance to tall, taking a bite of the cooled food. Not that temperature mattered. Food was food, and Fife's tempers were easily swayed by it.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Strange, how the mind tried to shield itself, what offered lines it would grasp at to pull itself up from the darkness.

I will give one of them a try. Did you use one this morning? He asked. Yes I know it is too late now.

How difficult had human touch become for her? He wondered. It must have been hard for her just to accept the delicate, if intimate caress. Raigryn was still pushing down how that made him feel.

He smiled for the simple pleasure of seeing her unravel from the ball she had wound herself into.

 

[Fife]

Thinking about literally anything else was better. She didn't think of it as an escape, but it was serving her purpose just fine in that very regard. Fife smiled contendedly that he would use it, but pursed her lips. Fife was of the opinion that two baths a day had its merit, but she didn't dare suggest that aloud. As much as Fife liked her morning showers, she thought bathing herself after a day of sweaty arms practice would have been better.

No. I will go tomorrow. We will pick. You will tell me names?

She ate in quiet for a moment, thinking. Fife glanced from Raigryn to the path leading back to the camp of tents, then back to him again. A few thoughts were still tickling her brain, but Fife would save them for another time.

Do you want to go home? she asked. Is Maellarn angry? Gods help her if she was. Raigryn still occasionally intimidated her. Maellarn? Her soft, neutral demeanor betrayed a quiet latent threat.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

She did not seem angry, I do not know if that is good, Raigryn replied. He wore his smile so easily again, like slipping into his red coat.

If you would like to stay here and enjoy the quiet then we can do that too, he added.

Raigryn knew that there was a lot to work through himself, but right now everything distilled down to one thing: whatever Fife needed.

When she felt happy, so did he and her distress went right to his core. There would have been a book somewhere that explained that some kind of emotional feedback loop was dangerous for empaths. Those books had been burned long ago so he was free to make his own mistakes. This time he could only ruin Fife's life and not an entire culture. That thought didn't bring him any relief.

 

[Fife]

Fife bit her lip. One of the drawbacks about the Idemni was her own inability to really tell how they were feeling. That was the point, but it was always so quiet. After places like Elbion and Belgrath, it was almost like there were no people here at all.

No matter. Fife was resolved to make up for it by whatever means. But it reminded her of something else.

She didn't want to make choices, so he immediately gave her a choice. Biting back a grin, Fife looked around and thought about it. The sun is nice. I like this spot. I came here a lot when you were gone. I watched the birds.

Fife pointed across the waterway to were a few of oasis magpies were. They were clever things -- not as smart as the ravens in Elbion, but still smart. She gave the bread in her bowl a measuring look, then up at the birds again.

No. Probably not. She wasn't going to torture Raigryn with having to lie still and quiet for as long as it would take to lure them in.

Instead, Fife turned to face Raigryn. You talked to Aretta? she asked. I don't want you to be angry with her. She is a good teacher. She was teaching something important. She didn't know.

How would she have? Fife didn't know if such things happened in her culture, as open as it was. Fife didn't really know if it was even common in Elbion. Her understanding of the broader scope of things was constantly hindered by the narrowness of her experiences and interactions. She picked up her spoon and pushed her food around in her bowl.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Raigryn felt a little as if he had intruded on a private place of Fife's. He remembered a lesson on chaos that had gone with balance. Small changes leading to bigger ones. A little lean on the tightrope became a big fall. Could he say that Fife would not have righted herself without him? Had he even helped at all?

Raigryn didn't usually second guess himself as much as this. In and of itself that was telling.

"I'm not angry with her. They are...set in their ways here," Raigryn said. It was hard to talk around the subject without returning to it. "I have spoken to two idemni who wished me to skim their excess Desire. It can be a powerful aspect. Actually I have spoken to a few who believe they would like their Avarice curtailed for some more lessons?" he offered up.

 

[Fife]

She was glad he wasn't upset with her. Aretta was frank, but her intentions had been good. It was a normal thing for everyone else but her. That was fine. It was thinking about it affecting her that became distressing. It made her uncomfortable, but she could discuss it.

Fife nodded along. The Desire is all yours, she signed with a smirk. But I have missed our lessons. I don't miss danger, and I like the routine. But I miss... She rolled her hands as she tired to think of a way to say it. Surprise, she finished.

The routine here had been good for her. Fife was growing. She hadn't notices the changes as they were happening, but looking back it was evident as night and day. She had (more or less) told Raigryn her darkest secret. She was tentatively feeling comfortable dreaming like a girl and liking it. She had stopped hiding behind the fears that had held her back allthis time. Fife had often wondered that, if things had gone differently, where would she be?

It didn't really matter anymore. This was the path they had taken and how life had turned out.

Fife looked up at the sun starting to tuck past the hills that sheltered Indretar and the camp, and smiled to herself. Not a bad place to turn out. Life had twisted her heel down on her, bit she was hard to keep down. Fife's smile widened as she turned to Raigryn. It helped that she had a friend who knew the press of that heel to give her a hand up.

She picked up her bowl and stood, sweeping the red grit from her pants and then offering Raigryn a hand to stand. He had sat on the ground to make her feel better; the very least she could do was offer his creaking bones a helping hand.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Raigryn didn't have the heart to tell her that she would need to learn to use Desire to find balance. It wasn't a lesson that had to be learned any time soon. They would need to repeat the internal exercises and find Fife in a place of balance long before that. If another person's desire was too intrinsically tied to her own fear then it would be a slow lesson. Disgust was difficult to use and train anyway, so it would not hold her back.

Fife was going to grow into a much more confident young woman. He could see that in her. Confidence could be backed up with you could call upon magical missiles and Idemni steel that you knew how to use. In a way, he hoped she would outgrow him. He didn't have great plans for her future, not any more. He suspected that she had a greatness that was not to be bound by the dreams of those that had gone before. There was a melancholy touch to the smile he formed as he took her hand.

Fife was getting stronger, but she still had to use a lot of her weight to help him up. Whilst he wasn't the man he was, he carried more muscle on his frame than most suspected from his appearance. The large coats were something of a disguise.

"Now surprise I can offer. Not tonight," he said. Raigryn took an awkward step backwards, having loomed too close above her. She did not need the reminder that empathy required balance. Though that in itself was a lesson.

"You did ask for surprise though did you? I wonder if you are clever enough to use Avarice whilst off center?"

 

[Fife]

Fife hissed with laughter as she leaned her full weight back into pulling him up. It was a bit awkward with a bowl in the other hand, but Raigryn got on his feet and she was feeling impossibly better than when she'd first come walking up the waterway.

Even though she had just asked for surprise, she wasn't sure that had been the right word. Oh well. She nodded, taking the good with the bad. He hadn't killed her yet, after all.

Mentioning Avarice, however, she pursed her lips. I can try, she offered. Though Fife's temper didn't stand failure well, she had a determination to rival any force of nature. She bit back a smirk and one brow hitched upward. It doesn't involve rocks or sticks?

She really wasn't ever letting him off the hook for hitting her with that switch.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"Whilst I would like to claim to be a terrible genius who could work a stick into every lesson this will involve a rock," he said as he lead her towards the entrance to the settlement.

"This is not a fair test," he said, knowing Fife too well. "I do not expect you to learn new skills right now, we will see what you can manage."

They left using the usual route without fuss, the Idemni watching the pass barely even acknowledging them.

"Would that I could erase that..." he mused as they strode past the mural. "instead this rock will do," he said as he stopped before one. It was about waist height, formed of the same reddish grey as all the stones here.

Raigryn could see an Idemni scout emerging nearby and finding a position to watch from a safe distance. Word had spread. When he left the town with his young apprentice they knew that Raigryn Vayd was going to do magic.

"Avarice...is not just for defence." He flicked one hand and suddenly there were three knives of dark jade embedded in the rock. She had seen this before. It was a mainstay in a tight spot. Not subtle magic, but very direct. "Want to learn?"

 

[Fife]

She was accustomed to Avarice involving rocks. She had made an alright shield or two, even one that had taken the brunt of her weight for a moment when the bridge had failed running away from plague ghouls. While Fife never wanted to repeat that process, it had proven that she could be creative and make something tangible.

He led her outside, and Fife padded along. She turned to look at the mural as they walked. She was always finding little surprises in it -- figures that were somehow unique, different weapons. She looked at Raigryn a lot, wondering if it looked like hin or if she was projecting that.

Now that she knew how to look for them, Fife saw the Idemni more easily. She stopped beside Raigryn, but turned to see the man coming to watch. No pressure.

Raigryn was not teaching her more shields today, however. She looked to the stone with a mixture of giddy glee and dread. Dangerous things. She had seen him use this more than once -- all very effectively and to their advantage. That didn't mean it was any easier to look up at him and nod. Fife wanted to learn, but it seemed like something she could easily mess up in a normal setting, much less when she was feeling mentally wonky. But Raigryn wouldn't have suggested it if he hadn't thought it would be alright.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

Raigryn followed her gaze towards the idemni. The scout was a very safe distance away. They never approached close to watch.

"I wonder how many of them would come and watch if they heard I was going to spar with you. They care fare more for swords than magic."

He looked back towards the rock. Slender shards of jade started to crumble. A shimmering dust fell away but would not even reach the ground.

"A small bit precise application," he explained. "Key lesson today: do not draw deep, do not throw too much of an aspect into an ability. Especially when you are off balance. And I know I'm using a deep seated trauma as part of a lesson and I'm suddenly hoping you don't hate me for it...

" Anyway touch your avarice feel it through to your hand. If it helps simply imagine the rock has something of yours that makes you jealous and then flick your fingers at it and direct the energy that way."

 

[Fife]

Fife hissed a breath of laughter. It may be disappointing until I am better. From his and Aretta's brief argument, these people placed a great respect on him. One that she could very clearly made him uncomfortable. She watched him speaking, explaining the process.

To his realization, Fife offered a reassuring smile, even if there was a touch of sadness in her expressive gray eyes. I do not, she reassured him. There was no tone in the Silent Way that could quite convey the odd feeling that came with that, a warmth like drinking ale. I could not. The addition and a bit more honesty in her smile would have to do.

She was off balance and had wanted a distraction. It made her uncomfortable, but wasn't learning this school of magick about approaching just that and learning to overcome it? She wouldn't always be perfectly centered and should learn how to function in an upset state of equilibrium.

Giving her attention to the rock and focusing on her Aspects, Fife drew a steadying breath. Just a touch, not too deep. Unlike the last time they had practiced Avarice, Fife had something far more tangible to draw from. Impatience was not exactly new, but jealousy was. That alone was going to make this more interesting. She could look at the rock and think of Gerish going on their little adventure (in spite of her rational side knowing it was dangerous) and feel properly green.

Untested, Fife touched the Aspect delicately and raised her hand. She flicked and nothing happened. Undeterred, she tried again. Once more, there was nothing. Too delicate.

All fine. She shook her hands and shifted her weight between her feet, eyes fixed on the rock. Fife thought of it more like she thought of putting the Aspect in her hand to make the shields, drawing gently. Instead of swiping to make a streak of sturdy green, however, she flicked her hand toward the rock.

And it made something, a flickering of green toward the rock but also some that stuck to her fingers. Huffing a little indignantly, Fife shook it off. It was better than nothing, but hardly.

// Raigryn Vayd //​

 

[Raigryn Vayd]

"This isn't the time for raw determination and digging deep," he warned. His voice switched fairly quickly after that. There were times when emphasising what could go wrong was important, even if he usually focused on what she was supposed to do right.

"Hate was the wrong word, don't worry I'll find new ways to irk you. Forever," he laughed. He averted his eyes, a little embarrassed by the strength of her statement still. He had his own feelings to deal with, but at least he could recognise them and start to sift through them.

"Feel the energy rushing forwards. Look at the target. I'm impressed you can summon any form of Avarice to use right now."

 

[Fife]

Fife nodded, warning acknowledged. She was probably being more cautious than even he was suggesting, barely touching her Avarice. Raigryn had stressed over and over to never draw too deeply. Her one experience of imbalance after drawing too much had been enough for her to learn, and she hadn't even overdone it that much.

But it was apparently a good thing that she could make anything at all. That put color into her cheeks. While Fife liked surprising Raigryn, it also put a surprising amount of weight on her. Was it a good thing that she exceeded expectations, or was it modesty to appease her when he thought she might be deterred?

Giving her hand another vigorous shake to scatter the last crumbling bits of Avarice, Fife focused on the stone again. She let her hands relax at her side and repeated the exercise. Gently touching the Aspect again, she drew carefully and channeled it to her had. But this time, eyes fixed ahead, when she flung her hand forward, she let it go forward.

It ended up to much the same effect, but Fife thought less was sticking to her hand. Anything was good, as long as she wasn't overdoing it. She shook the crumbling bits loose with a bit of laughter and a backward glance. There was some humor in how bad she could be at these things Without having ever known any other Empaths in training to know what learning was supposed to look like, Fife wasn't even sure if this was normal for this stage or if she was just an anomaly of bad Empathy.

It is hard to let go of, she told him. Some pieces of jade were still stuck to her fingers and she peeled it off like the shell from an egg.

// Raigryn Vayd //​