A New Opportunity

What a terrible thing to ask.

Lucius knew the potential ramifications of asking such a thing, and he wouldn’t be surprised if her response was one filled with indignation or even anger. Nervous tension drew his muscles taut as he breathlessly awaited a reaction. He had convinced himself that this conversation needed to happen sooner rather than later, that he was running from confrontation. Perhaps he was right about it, but there was no damping the sickening stone that sat in his gut as a result. The moment seemed to stretch on into infinity, though he continued to brace himself for what he expected to be a stormy response.

Hana had remained silent, her eyes slightly widening at the abrupt nature of the question, but had otherwise remained as she was. Then, all at once, she deflated as though all the life had been suddenly and completely drained from her body. She collapsed into herself, nearly folding entirely, only stopping due to her skeletal structure. The peaks of her ears drooped as well, and a forlorn expression came over her face. It was an expression of loss and defeat, and when she finally summoned up the energy to speak, it was barely enough to be counted as a whisper,

“I…I do not know…”

Melancholy filled the space between them, grasping at the pair with an invisible vise of silence. Lucius desperately wanted to say something, anything to push beyond the uncomfortable air, but held his tongue. He knew that Hana was not yet done, and was trying to find the right words. With some effort, his patience was rewarded,

“I know that I am different from others that you know. That which you say is unique in one breath, silently call strange with the other. I wonder, is that why you look at me so intently? Or why you insisted I hide myself? Because I am so strange? Tell me, are there others like me?”

Lucius sat back, stunned, “She got me good. It’s like she knows exactly what I’m thinking…” Unable to bear those solemn pools of green, he dropped his gaze so that he could answer her truthfully,

“As far as I’m aware…there’s no race that matches you. Maybe there is and I just don’t know of it, which is entirely possible. There’s a lot of world out there that hasn’t been properly explored yet, so maybe you’re just one of a people that haven’t been found yet.”

“If that were true, then how come I ended up where I did? And why do I have no memory of what came before?” Lucius didn’t have a good answer for her, and was forced to lapse into silence. Unwilling to sit in the awkward silence for too long, he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind,

“Well, then what do you remember? You obviously have some idea of how to do magic, so maybe there’s other things that you know how to do.” She considered him for a moment, growing thoughtful for but a moment before addressing the statement, “I didn’t know how to do any of that. Two hours ago, I had no idea that I possessed such an ability. When I saw your injury…I just…wanted it to go away. I knew that you were hurting, and I wanted you to stop hurting, so I did. But now I know how, and I am sure the next time will be easier.”

Her answer raised many questions, and Lucius found himself intrigued by this, “So you’re saying that you had forgotten, but now you remember?” She nodded, “It would seem so.” A glimmer of hope began to form as a new idea struck him, “Well, that’s perfect! That must mean that your memories simply aren’t gone, just buried! And what is buried can be found again, you just have to go looking for them.”

Whether it was the tone of his voice or the enticement of the proposition, Lucius wasn’t sure, but the results were significant. The melancholy that had hung around for so long seemed to lighten as she considered the possibility, some life beginning to return to her as indicated by a hopeful flick of her ears. But she was not entirely convinced of such a fantastical result, “How would I do that? I have not even the faintest idea of where or how to begin? What if my memories end up doing more harm than good? What if I forgot them for a reason?”

“Then we’ll have to tackle that when we get there.” Lucius leapt from the bed, energized by the words that spilled from his heart, “You’re right, it could be difficult or dangerous. But that’s why there’s no way I’m letting you do this on your own. I’ll help you as much as I can, so long as you’ll have me.”

Though a bit more on the nose than he first imagined, his words seemed to have a profound effect on her mood. As much as the events of the day had taken from her, she appeared reinvigorated at the promise. Lucius understood this feeling well, as the knowledge that someone had your back could open doors that you had never thought possible before. But Lucius wasn’t finished just yet, he still had one more card to play,

He brought out the comb from his side pouch and offered it to her on open palm, “Oh, before I forget. Here, I got you this earlier, but I didn’t have the chance to give it you until now. I hope you like it.”

She reacted immediately upon seeing the small piece of carved bone; her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and her mouth hung open in astonishment, she was rendered completely speechless. Processing the gesture certainly took longer than Lucius was expecting, and he certainly enjoyed watching her get flustered over a simple gift. When she finally moved to take it, she kept hesitating, as if unsure about whether it was acceptable to do so. After some encouragement, she gingerly took it in her hands and stared at it as if it were made of solid gold. Lucius smiled broadly,

“I figured that keeping your fur neat and clean was probably a bit difficult to do without the proper equipment, so when I saw this in the marketplace, I figured you could make use of it. Originally, I was hoping to use this to help patch things up after the argument, but then things got really complicated. Consider this thanks for swiping that sword.”

“Thank you…thank you so much…” She breathed out in reverence at the offering, then immediately began scrambling to use it. It was while she was shifting around that he noticed another problem. Though she had acquired a new and quite flattering outfit, it was hardly suited for a person like her, namely the fact that she possessed a rather large and voluminous tail. In order to access and care for it, Hana needed to awkwardly hike up the hem of the dress and position herself at an odd angle. Even so, he figured that she could only get to the first half of her appendage. While he had no understanding of such problems himself, he figured it would be like him only being able to brush half of his head or shave part of his face. Seeing her struggle, he tossed her a pillow from his bed to help keep her propped up,

“I think we should go find an atelier that specializes in Beastkin. Lots of those races have tails or other appendages, so maybe we can find you something a bit more comfortable. Or at least maybe more practical.”

“That would be wonderful. At first, I thought this beautiful cloth was a boon, but now it feels like such a nuisance! I can hardly move at all! Grrr…oh enough of this!” Having reached the end of her patience, Hana pulled off the constricting clothes and tossed them to the side in a heap of shimmering fabric. Lucius quickly found the ceiling to be very interesting, then decided to look out the window and upon realizing that it was open, moved to shut the curtains so that nobody could see in. It wasn’t so much as that there were people around at this time of night, but the principal of the matter still bothered him a little.

As he stood there with his back to her, he listened to the sound of the comb flowing through her tail and the gentle, content notes that she hummed as she set about her task. Even when he shut his eyes, the image of her bright smile and tearful eyes were burned deep into his memories. Though but a few days had passed, he felt a growing understanding about this strange person that had fallen into his life. She, much like himself, seemed to be searching for a purpose. Now maybe he might find it by helping her, to make something of himself and become something that his family could be proud of.

“Maybe now, I can finally be of use to someone. No matter what happens, I want to make sure she keeps smiling like that. I’m going to make sure of that, Hana. You can count on me.”