The Eyes have It

The first thing Lucius did was to quickly wrap the unconscious woman in his travelling cloak, covering her modesty. Carefully laying her down in a softer patch of grass, Lucius’ brain defaulted back to survival mode, it kept him from thinking too much. The first thing they would need was a proper fire that could provide them warmth and protection from any unwanted guests. Cleaning out and repairing the fire pit was a simple enough task, getting rid of the bodies, less so.

He had never had to touch a corpse before, especially not one that had been turned halfway to charcoal. Nevertheless, he knew he had to move them, or else attract predators to their makeshift camp. Carefully wrapping his hands in fabric, he started to shift the bodies out of the clearing, only to have the first one break apart in his hands. He recoiled from the terrible odor and the shock of having another person’s arm hanging loose in his hand. Lucius grumbled aloud,

“If Julius was here, he would say something like, ‘It’s just a body, Lucius. Don’t be afraid of it. A good imperial man isn’t afraid of things such as fire and bodies!’ Yeah, well I say that those are two things that are perfectly reasonable to avoid…”

Through the arduous and uncomfortable work, his mind slid towards the inevitable. Just who was this strange woman? Lucius began to run down what he knew, which wasn’t much, but the thoughts kept his mind occupied from his gruesome task.

First things first, it was obvious that this woman was capable of wielding magic of some kind, and had killed the brigands. Lucius’ jaw tensed at the prospect: mages were dangerous. Magic had long been a part of civilizations across the world, but attitudes towards mages varied wildly. Anyone in the Empire that was known to show aptitude for magic was usually sent to the Imperial Academy for Magecraft, a specialized school for training magic users. Some of the greatest heroes of myth had been practitioners of the arcane arts, so they weren’t all bad.

Yet for every hero, there were a dozen villains and cautionary tales; stories of people losing themselves to the draw of infinite power and wreaking havoc on the world. Because of this, there were some places in the world that executed mages on sight. As far as Lucius could tell, she probably had acted in self-defense. The clues all added up: heavy rope used for binding, the bandit gathering, her state of dress. He would need to ask her once she woke up, but if that was the case, he wouldn’t blame her in the slightest.

Once the bodies were clear from sight, he began rummaging in their packs, searching for the one item that he didn’t have on him. After a few moments, he found what he was looking for, flint and steel. It took ten more minutes of gathering the appropriate kindling and tinder, but after a few failed attempts, a small fire sparked to life. The familiar flicker of red and orange brought a refreshing glow to the dim grove, and he relaxed somewhat. Once the fire had been fed and could sustain itself for a time, he sat back against a tree and tried to make sense of it all. But try as he might, his eyes kept roving back to the woman.

How strange she was, unlike anything he had ever seen or even read about. Her magical tendencies aside, she was an exotic character. Her most defining and unique features were most certainly her ears and tail. Lucius had read of races of people that had beastlike features, commonly referred to as Beastkin, but as far as he knew they were relegated to either feline or avian characteristics. There was no record of a person with lupine features before, at least, not as far as he was concerned. He sighed and shook his head to clear his thoughts,

“No use making weird theories,” he quietly murmured to himself, “All that matters is what’s in front of you. One foot in front of the other, just like brother always said. Because of course he gives good advice.” When he raised his head again, he found the woman to be staring at him, her eyes wide and curious.

His breath caught in his chest; her eyes were no longer the wild yellow of a predatory beast, but had become an impossible shade of emerald. For a moment, all he could do was stare into the depths of her verdant pools as the firelight glimmered and danced within. She blinked slowly, breaking the connection and sending him reeling back to his senses. Her eyes flicked around the clearing, taking in all that was and lingering only briefly on the steel dagger that lay where Lucius had left it.

Now was the time for conversation, where he could ask all the questions he needed to and get the answers he wanted. But his heart refused to relax, nor could he stop staring, as rude as it was.

“Get a grip! Don’t just stare, say something!”

He cleared his throat loudly and busied himself with tending the fire, which had no need of tending. He felt her eyes follow his every movement with a mixture of curiosity and slight apprehension. He sat back on his heels and steeled himself,

“So…uh…what’s your name?”

“A brilliant start. Good job. Very original.” His self-sarcasm was working at least, that was good to know. The woman considered for a moment, then answered in a measured whisper,

“Hana.”

Her voice was gentle and light, with a slight lilt that gave him the impression that she might begin singing at any moment. While unobtrusive, it did not waver or quail before the unknown man across the fire. It was equal part declaration and defiance. An unspoken challenge that now silently demanded a response. But that was the sort of thing that Lucius was used to, and he found himself more at ease after hearing her voice,

“Hana?” He rolled the name around in his head, it was an odd name. Still, she seemed to be sure of it, so who was he to say if someone had a strange name?

“Well, I suppose it’s nice to meet you, Hana. My name is Lucius. Lucius Aetius Veturius.”

“Lu – cius…” She sounded out his name, the way someone does when hearing a word for the first time and doesn’t want to get it wrong the next time they have to use it. One of her ears flicked to the side, then back towards him, “That is a good name.”

He smiled at the compliment, “Well thanks, though you should really thank my parents.”

Her head cocked slightly to the side, her eyes relaying the fact that she had no idea what he was talking about. Lucius deflated as his jest fell flat,

“Anyways…how are you doing? Did those men…uhh…well…”

Hana shook her head, “No. When I awoke bound, I heard them discussing such things. I told them once to release me. When they refused, I killed them.”

Lucius nodded his understanding. It was as he expected, she had acted in self-defense, so he felt there was no need to press the matter. Plus, she had gotten rid of some of the empire’s worst, so he considered that a win-win. Their brief conversation lapsed, and he realized that the rest of his questions, namely ‘Why can you use magic?’ and ‘Why do you have ears and a tail?’ might be seen as rude. Suddenly, he had nothing to say.

While his mind raced to try and come up with something useful, his stomach had other plans. He realized that it had been several hours since his last meal, and the stress of their encounter had only exacerbated his hunger. He pulled his pack over and began to rummage through it, slightly annoyed at his limited options. But at the very least, he might be able to have a hot, if not frugal meal.

As he was arranging things, he noticed that Hana’s ears had swiveled in his direction. Moreover, he noticed a slight twitching in the tip of her tail, the meaning of which suddenly dawned on him,

“Hey, when was the last time you ate?”

“I do not know.”

“Well, that’s not good at all. Seems like you’ve been through the wringer today, and not eating is a poor way to end a day. I don’t exactly have much, but if you’re alright with sharing I’d be willing to spare what I can.”

Her tail tapped a few times on her lap, only to be silenced as she deftly placed a hand over it, “Thank you for your kindness.”

He waved his hand, “Not a problem, just hope you’re okay with small portions.” It was a meager spread, but it was enough. Most of what he could offer were from his travelling rations, though he had some leftovers that he had carried from his stop at the roadside inn. Dried fruits and hard biscuits were paired with sweet sausage and some fragrant cheese. Lucius warmed the biscuits and the meat, then he made a pocket in the bread for the meat and cheese which was then toasted over the fire. Hana watched him carefully from the fire’s edge, but it seemed that hunger overcame her judgement and she crept closer. Lucius saw how she eyed the construct,

“Here, you can have this one. There’s just enough left for both of us, so I’ll make myself a new one.” She seemed unsure of his offer, so he walked over and handed the roll to her, which she accepted with a muted thanks. As he busied himself with the last of his supplies, he watched in amusement as she studied it, then cautiously bit down.

Her eyes sparkled with enjoyment, and her tail thumped rhythmically to show her pleasure. A smile spread across his face as he watched her attack the roll with a ferocity that he wouldn’t have expected from anyone, but it brought him a strange sense of joy to watch this strange person as she ate. By the time he had completed his, she had already polished hers off, even going so far as to carefully lick up any errant cheese that had gotten onto her hands.

He sat back from the fire to eat his own meal, hypnotized by the sight of her tongue carefully scouring her fingers. Urged on by a burst of unfounded courage, he decided to throw caution to the wind,

“Did you have a place where you needed to go? I could help you get to where you needed to be, if you’d like.”

Hana glanced at him with an appraising eye, “No, I don’t. To be honest, the only thing I know for certain is my name.” Lucius raised an eyebrow, “Really? You don’t remember anything?”

She shook her head, “Nothing feels familiar about this place, and I…I don’t know who I am. I know my name, but all else is nothing but fog. Beyond my sight, I see only emptiness, one that threatens to swallow me whole.”

Her words struck a deep chord with Lucius. Those words felt very familiar to him, and he was sure that perhaps he could’ve said them at some point. The most he could offer was a nod of understanding, which prompted her to ask, “Tell me, is there a place that you need to go?”

Lucius chuckled at the thought, “Me? No, I’m not really needed anywhere. I guess you could say I’m just wandering with no particular place in mind. A big journey to nowhere.”

Now it was her turn to smile, “Nowhere, hm? I’ve never been. Would you take me there?”

What else was he to say? He didn’t even hesitate, “Sure, why the hells not?”