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Dae walked slowly, depressively, along a dirty, rocky path, staring at the sky as he often did. The countless blinking stars all seeming to mock and laugh at him. "I'm a freak." He whispered to himself as he sighed and watched his feet carry him farther along the path into nothingness. He had no idea where he was or where he was going.
Why did all this have to happen to /me?" He thought. "There are millions of others out there and it happened to /me/." He growled at himself and kicked a small rock, sending it into a tree trunk.
As he watched the rock his eye caught something shining in the moonlight. "Someone... else?" He thought. Could there possibly be someone else out at this hour? "H-hello?" He said as he stared and tried to make out what exactly it was that he was looking at.
Help?" She asked again, looking out into the darkness. Suddenly a bright red light shot forth from her robot eye, illuminating her form. She dangled about four feet up, her left wink stuck in the tree, her right resting on a branch as she tried to stop the left from snapping off. Her face (at least the living half) was red with her embarrassment. "I... I'm sort of stuck." She said, stating the obvious.
Dae walked a little closer, still being extremely cautious. He stopped some feet away from her, and stared at the half-xweetok half robot being that hung by a metal feather from the tree. He could see her humiliation, it was obvious, but not sure he could help no matter how much he wanted to. He looked away from her, forcing his gaze to his sides where he was reminded of the slightly glowing star markings that he wanted to so badly get rid of. The second he saw them he looked away, angry with himself again, though he hated being angry. He shook his head and threw the thoughts aside for now. He looked back up at this half xweetok. 'H-how do I know I can.... trust you?" He asked her without breaking eye contact. He studied every detail of her design and makeup trying to contemplate whether or not she was a threat.
At this strange word she tilted her head. Slowly the light faded from her eye as it was soon filled with various words and letters streaming over the red surface. There. The swirl of letters stopped as she read the definition for the word trust. The words faded and the red light shimmered again. This time though, she looked over at him with her human eye. He had strange marks that seemed to shimmer with a light of their own. "Umm.... I suppose you don't know that you can. But then again.... you don't know about me. You wouldn't want to know. But...wouldn't you think that if you saw someone who was trapped, and hurt you would help out of the kindness of your heart?" She said. Shifting she leaned down with her head, careful not to move her wings, the only things holding her up. One by one she unplugged the olive green chords on her legs. In an instant all four legs went limp. "I don't believe that there is truly a bad person. Everyone has some bad. I just unplugged my legs. Not you could help me down, and plug them back in, or you can leave me here with no defense and know that you killed someone who did nothing to you, and wouldn't have. Your choice.
She was right, and he knew it. He couldn't just leave her hanging there to die he had to help somehow. He knew things about him were special; he knew he had some power but he had no idea what. He searched through the corners of his mind for clues. Suddenly, the glow of his stars began to brighten as his eyes closed. After a moment, the half xweetok stared to glow a faint golden color. Slowly, she moved outward, her wing sliding out of the tree before she was gently laid on the ground. The glowing stopped. Dae's eyes opened and his star markings' glow faded back to normal. He shook his head, wide-eyed, and looked at the tree, then at the xweetok on the ground; his face expressed his confusion, yet he held back his questions. "You're.... wrong." He whispered. "I-I do want to know... about y-you.
His star markings glowed brighter, and she had to look away. When she next opened her eyes she began to glow. Her human eye grew wide and fearful, what was happening? She felt her wing moving out and felt her body floating to the ground. She could feel the chords plug back in and herd the whirr of her legs reattaching to her main frame. She looked over at him in awe, so the Xweetoks here had powers… just like her? She took a few steps towards him. No, not a step, she seemed to glide gracefully, as if walking across a cloud. After all, she was 'built' for a modeling company, built for grace. "I'm Aacryo Prototype 357786465286345 Project Model. Call me Aacryo." She said, looking down at the small AA on her silver metal shoulder. "But you really don't want to hear the rest.
Seeing her now, standing, he was even more surprised then before. How could this be possible? How could something that was only half-alive walk and talk? He had no idea. He was a nosey xweetok. One who wanted to know all he could about others. One thing he loved to do was study how everyone else lived and predict their next moments in life's labyrinth of pathways. He really did want to know about this one who called herself Aacryo. She interested him a great deal, but he kept his mouth closed. Feeling a bit more relaxed now, though still confused, he shrugged. "I-If you say so." He said sadly. His gaze returned once more to the stars that still seemed to mock and make fun of him. He sighed and softly growled at them before feeling embarrassed and shifting his gaze to the cold ground. He argued with himself about whether to annoy her with his nosiness, but couldn't help himself. "W-What are you doing.... here of all p-places?" This time, he did not look at her. He was content in thinking that she was not a threat.
She watched as he growled at his pelt and the stars that lit the sky. But when he looked away, it was more then she could take. She almost reeled back. It was as if someone had slapped her. He wouldn't even look at her. Was she such a monster? Was it so awful to be not fully flesh and blood? What, was she less then anyone here? "I was told this land offered the acceptance of the strange and life for all Xweetoks." Her voice was cold. At the end of each word there was a bit of static. "Apparently I have been lied to. These lands and those that live here seem as cold as my metal in winter." She finished. "Thank you for helping me." She turned on her heel and started off. But she didn't walk. Her steps were pure grace. She seemed to be floating across water rather then plundering across the ground. After all, that's what she was built for, to be a model; a lovely being with grace, never to stumble or trip as she strode down the runway. Please. She was no model if she was so ugly people couldn't even look at her.
Dae's expression turned from anger to utter confusion. He knew he had to say something, so he searched his mind for some words. "I-It's not you…" He said in a sorrowful tone as if he was about to admit something terrible. "I didn't m-mean to… hurt y-you. I j-just hate the way… I l-look. N-No one lied… to you about t-this place. He hoped that she would believe him. He wanted her to stay and keep him company, yet he kept quiet as always. He stood there, staring not at her, but just to the side, waiting for a response.
She stopped, and turned back to look at him. Sighing, she padded over to him. "Look at me Dae. Am I any more lovely then you? Your pelt in my eyes...eye, is a map of the heavens; a bright gift meant to light your way in the dark night, a lantern to guide the lost. Can that ever be ugly, to help the lost?" She tilted her face so her living eye met his. Her pale gray pelt and dark blue marks shimmered in his light, her own red eye turned off. "Everyone is graceful, lovely, amazing, right here." She placed her cold steel paw over Dae's heart. "Don't ever doubt that.
All of this was new to him. No one had ever treated him this way before. No one had ever said these kinds of thing about him or encouraged him in any way. He felt like he didn't deserve these things to be said about him. "Yes…" He said, answering her first question. "A-and it is in m-my case… a-always has been." He lowered his head to look at the ground. "I-I'm sorry… I have a hard… time l-looking people in the e-eyes. Please, though, d-don't take it… personally." He regretted saying any of it, thinking he probably made her feel worse. He pushed back the urge to growl at himself again.
Do not lie to me. I am no easier on the eyes then you; your shimmering stars and my gangly, unseemly chords, your bright pelt and my far too large iron wings, your glow and my cold steel. Neither are worse or better then the other." So, he was just nervous? Aacryo was surprised she hadn't realized before. She crouched down low, her fore legs on the ground her haunches raised, like a kit about to pounce. From this angle her shimmering red eye and her navy blue human eye met his. "Come not my little lantern, why are you ashamed to be the light that leads the lost, the light that comforts the nervous kits at night? Never be ashamed to help, Dae, for that is all we can do. I plan to help as much as I can; after all I have only a year to live." And so it was that she recounted her tale to the starry xweetok of the model company that had request a line of perfect models. Of her father's insanity as he took her, his newborn kit, and 'fixed her' with these metal parts. How her battery, a small chip in her mind, would last only a year, and no more. How her dad was locked away, and she was let free to roam, a being of great grace shunned. Not alive, but not dead. How grim death awaited her. Her mechanical brain would shut down, leaving her paralyzed, unable to eat or think; laying there till she starved. But how through this, her only goal was to help those that had life.
Dae sat speechless. All that had just been relayed to him bolted like lightning across his mind. Thoughts here, ideas there, he wanted to help, but didn't know how. He did not ask questions about her; he knew it was not his place.
Though, one thing he had always upheld was his rule about equal exchange. She had told him her story, so he sat, staring at the heavens, and told her how he, too, had been in a laboratory for a long while. How he had mysteriously been exposed to a dose of radiation that could easily destroy anything, but he lived through it. He lay strapped to a steel table, in a lab, bandages around his worst burns and wounds, making the pain all the more painful. The doctors ran tests, countless tests, to see what caused him to survive. They humiliated him, and caused him more and more pain, traumatizing him to the point where he trusted no one, told nothing, and stayed alone.
He told her how he was not always a starry xweetok, but when the bandages came off, the patterns and marking has been burning into his skin and fur. He always wondered how he survived the radiation burns and how the whole thing ever happened; always looking and staring at the sky trying to come to some minute conclusion, but just frustrating himself to the point where he became enraged and hated his stars. He hated the way they glowed from the radiation, giving away all of his hiding spots and attracting more attention than he wanted. He liked to help, but was cautious and wart of everyone and everything; worrying that the scientists would come back looking for him again.
As he finished, he didn't say another word, just continued to stare at the blinking stars, wondering why this ever happened to him.
Why are you so scared Dae? Your friends are here to stop them from taking you back. I'm here." She smiled in the soft light from his glow. "So what? It doesn't attract attention any more then a firefly does no more then an owl's hoot. Stars are a big part of our world, be honored you a star on earth." Her voice was soft, and the static that followed each word was short. She grinned, winking as she leapt up and caught a firefly in her paws. "See, this little thing is helpful, they light the way. They are leaders Dae. You are a leader.
F-Friends? I don't think… I've e-ever had any. I-I wouldn't be a very g-good friend a-anyway…" He frowned and had a depressive look on his face. He didn't have the strength to argue even if he wanted to. He was exhausted and hadn't had hardly any sleep in the past few days. He glanced at Aacryo, and then shifted his gaze to the leaves on the ground, pawing at them absentmindedly. "I-I can't light… the way i-if I'm lost m-myself." His voice was barely audible. He meant every word. It seemed that finding his path in life was a lost cause.
How can you say that? You already saved me from being stuck in that tree till someone else came along." She smiled and rose back up to her full height. Her metal started to glow, but it wasn't from a power or something like that. Dawn's first rays shimmered across her form, making what might have been hidden at night visible. In the center of her normal, living eye was a pair of double A's; the Aacryo symbol. "Then let those you guide help guide you. And I'm the first." A small rumble came from her stomach. "And I say I guide you to some berries.
For the first time in a while, Dae smiled. Out of the corner of his eye a beautiful sunrise colored the Forest and he watched as his stars lost their glow. Now that he actually thought about it, he was hungry and berries sounded better than trying to catch something himself. "That s-sounds good." His voice was stronger than it had been all night, and he thought hard about what she had told him. Fatigued, it didn't make a lot of sense now, but he knew that later, after some hours or rest, that he would find every word to be correct.
Aacryo padded into the woods, a smile on her face. After a short time a beeping erupted from her skull. "Found berries." She said walking over to a large bush. She promptly stuck one of the rich, dark blue berries into her mouth... and puckered. She had chosen a very tart on to start with. Thankfully her next one was sweet.
As Dae padded over to where Aacryo stood beside the bush of berries he could smell the sweet aroma of the ones that were ready to be eaten. After he ate a select few, he suddenly felt guilty. About what, he didn't know. "Thank you." he said, thinking that maybe apologizing would take the guilty feeling away, but it did not. He hated feeling guilty and not being able to knowing anything he could do to fix it. "W-Where are you headed... after t-this?" he asked curiously.
After eating some more of the sweet ones she smiled contently. "Your... welcome?" She had a lost look on her face...why was he thanking her? The sun was higher in the sky, panting it pink and purple, orange and red. "I plan to find more people to help before my battery dies." She said matter of factly. "Where are you going?" She asked. Playfully flicking her tail she softly tossed a berry at Dae.
Dae chuckled as the berry hit his cheek and fell on the leaves. "I... d-don't really know... I-I've never really t-thought... about it." He paused for a minute as he continued to think and paw at the berry on the ground. "I g-guess my goal is… j-just to live my l-life... with as l-little regrets as p-possible." He stopped and stared at the bush absentmindedly, trying to change the subject. "S-So... have you m-met anyone else h-here yet?
She smiled as she popped another in her mouth; another sweet one, good. She thought. "That's a good goal." She paused, thinking. "Including you I've met three people. One is a han....dy....my handy 'brother'...eh heh. I suppose you would call him. He really protected me when I first met him, and his sister who is plane mean to me because of how I look." She said, her face starting to get red. Where had that come from? She thought.
Dae shrugged. "I don't t-think I have a r-real family..." he said. "No o-one's ever really b-been there... for me." His expression saddened at these thoughts. "B-But I guess that's o-okay..." He sighed, ate a pawful more berries and decided he didn't want anymore. "D-Do you… love t-them?" He regretted that he asked but was curious since he heard Fell say that he wished he didn't have a family all the time.
I know how you feel. After all, I think having no family is better then having a dad that...that does this to you." She looked over at her wings, then down at the shimmering silver. She paused at his question...thinking hard. "I suppose...in some way...I love Sonui as a friend and a brother, but I certainly don't love Conui. I suppose a real head-over-heels with all my heart sort of love is reserved for a mate, not that anyone wants...this." She laughed a dry, harsh laugh. She wasn't taking her own advice anymore.
For the first time, Dae felt the heaviest weight on his shoulder that he'd ever felt before--loneliness. His ears drooped, eyes settled in the ground again, and his shoulders slumped. He knew he had to realize it sooner or later and he knew he was destined to wander forever alone; he still had a bit of trouble accepting that fate. Even the tone of his voice changed; quieter and deeper. He purposely tried to avoid talking about love. "A-at least... you r-remember your family... I-I can't even rememb-ber what my mother l-looked like..."His legs suddenly became very weak, forcing him to lay down.
Aacryo watched the changes. He seemed so...so gloomy. When he spoke his words they stung, she hadn't meant to hurt him! She walked over and lay in front of him, her nose a hairs breadth away from his. "I know....I know Dae. Nor can I." She said softly. The sun rose fully and a bright golden glow shimmered on Aacryo's hard, steel face, a bright blinding glare.
Dae's eyes met hers, though his head still rested on his paws. "B-But you're so great..." he sighed. "H-How can you p-possibly think the things y-you do about y-yourself?" Dae didn't think she had a very good reason to doubt herself like she did. He admired how her metal parts sparkled and gleamed in the sunlight. "I don't s-see a s-single bad thing a-about you..." He blushed slightly, but covered his head in his paws.
How can you think the things that you do? Am I going to have to go through that whole speech again or can I record it this time so you and play it back?" Aacryo joked, smiling slightly. When his next words came she turned a bright cherry red looked away.
He smiled at her joking, but it quickly faded. Rhetorical question or not, he tried to think of some kind of response, but couldn't. "I... I d-don't know..." he said. "But there's g-got to be a g-good reason... I know t-there is." He was now frustrated with himself. Before last night he could think of a million reasons why he thought himself worthless and purposeless, yet, now, he could think of not a single thing. "I... j-just am..." were the only words that would come out.
That's not a reason." she whispered. "You don't have one because you are worth something in someone's eyes now. You are worth the world in my eyes." Alright, she was so red she rivaled the berries now. Her face must be on fire. She re-folded her wings into a better position and smiled as best she could.
Dae blushed, uncovering an eye to look at her. "R-Really...?" He didn't wait that long for a reply before uncovering the rest of his face and speaking again. "Well... w-what makes you t-think that you're n-not worth t-the world t-to me?" He smiled and was in a much happier mood now. He had snatched the berry she flicked at him from the ground while she wasn't looking and flicked back at her with his paw and quietly laughed to himself.
Her ears twitched as he spoke and she turned back to look at him, her blush starting to fade. She opened her mouth to say something and a berry landed on her tongue. "Huh?" She said as she spat it out. "Oh now your in for it." She sprinted to a far bush and began flinging berries at Dae, her laughter unsettling some sparrows into flight above the trees.
A couple berries caught Dae off guard, hitting his face, and some he caught and threw back at her. Out of the corner of his eye he watched the sparrows fly until they were no longer in sight. He thought to himself about his own life and how he couldn't remember the last time he was this happy or when he had this much fun if he ever did. He threw some dead leaves at Aacryo, giving him cover for just enough time to run and hide behind a flowering bush that was behind him.
She tried to dodge but they got her in the side. One exploded leaving a read splotch. "Oh, I'm hit, I'm hit!" She cried playfully as the leaves swirled around her. When she stood he was gone. "I have heat sensors in my eye you know." She said, scanning till she found him and chucking a pinecone after him before she darted across the clearing, tail flicking. She was happy, a deep happiness that she hadn't felt in... in.... never.
Dae jumped back a bit seeing the pinecone, even though it didn't hit him. He dashed out from behind the bush to catch up with her. Sprinting for some few seconds, he caught up and was running behind her; after a few more, beside her. He turned his head and smiled; a pink flower bounced in his teeth in rhythm with his footsteps. He slowed down slightly, falling back a few yards.
She tried to out run him as he started to fall back but her chords didn't stretch far enough and she tripped, landing upside-down against a tree, laughing. She smiled as she saw the flower, only after righting herself and brushing off the dirt from her pelt.
Dae's smiled faded as he ran over to her. "A-are you ok?" he asked through clenched teeth. He looked down at the flower still hanging out of his mouth. "This i-is for you m-milady." he said with a very bad Old English accent as he bowed and tossed the flower to her.
Fine. My pride is a bit bruised but I'm fine." She took the flower and placed it behind her ear. "Thank you brave knight." She said in an awful accent that was ringed in static.
She snapped it out of the air. As she looked up what she saw left dread in her form. "Snow clouds..." That ment brittle wires, frost on her metal parts...ugg. "Come on! Thier is a cave over this way where we can take shelter in the snow. I can't get snow on my wires. Come on!" She dared off, crashing through the under brush and skidding into the small cave just as the fluffly white flakes started to fall. She let out a burst of air. "Safe." She huffed, panting from her mad dash.
Dae looked up at the sky as he sprinted after her. He never liked the snow anyway--too cold. An icy breeze started to blow, rustling the leaves and making noises in the treetops. Since he wasn't looking in front of him, a branch slapped him across the face, leaving a bloody scratch; nevertheless, he kept running until he reached the cave. He stopped at the enterance, taking a minute to servey the entireity of it. Afterall, he could stand in the cold for a few more seconds.
Aacryo curled up inside the cave, shivvering from the cold. "Come on, before you f-freeze. It's s-so...so cold." She turned on her eye, a red glow filling the cave. It was small, with a fairly high roof and some puddles in the back.
Dae spent a few more moments looking around before padding in. Snow had already started to collect on the ground and tree branches.
The cave was considerably warmer and somewhat dryer. It was dark and a little damp but he decided that he liked it. He walked over to the xweetok curled up in the corner and layed beside her; he himself was not cold, but he spread his tail over her to hold on heat.
"I k-kind of like it h-here." he said, still looking around. "It's n-nice and... warm and sec-cluded.
Aacryo snorted. "Yeah..warm if you don't have metal limbs with frost on em." She grimbled as she curled up, still shivvering, and tried to sleep. In moments she drifted away. Her ears twitched and her paws moved as she was trapped in this awful nightmare. She was silent, though her eyes were tightly closed...almost in pain. Her fur was drenched in a cold sweat.
Dae's attention was focused on the scratch on his cheek. He wiped the blood from it with his paw before his attention was quickly drawn to Aacryo. He saw her jerky, yet restricted, movements and how tightly her eyes were shut. He was afraid that she was in pain so he stood up and started to gently shake her, trying to snap her out of her nightmare.
Ahhh!" She said in responce to the paw, leaping back and falling over in a tangle of wires and wings. Laughing slightly she said through bursts, "I feel like a giant knot." She looked like one. Her paws was stuck in her wing and the wires were twisted and tangled. She didn't flick her light on, the soft glow from Dae's pelt cast enough light for her to begin to untangle herself. The woes of those with metal limbs...
Dae smiled but he still bore a look on concern. He walked over and nudged her paw unstuck with his nose. "Ha, w-what would you d-do without me?" he said jokingly. He shook his head slowly from left to right and softly laughed. The snow was coming down heavier and the wind was colder then ever--piercing cold. Dae could feel it down to his bones and as he thought about it, he shivered.
I have no idea. You are truely a knight in shining armor." She said fixing the knots. A powerful gust of wind soared in. "Ohh....I can just feel the brittle wires and frost!" She moaned as her limbs turned icy. She puffed out her fur but it did not help. She could see the start of frost. "I hate w-winter." She stammered as another blast hammered her back.
H-Hurry and go farther b-back in the cave." he said quickly. "I'll h-hold this off until y-you're safe."He gave her one last look and turned around to face the enterance of the cave. The cold gusts of wind made it extremely hard to concentrate, but after a minute or two, his eyes and stars started to glow. The snow and wind no longer swept inside the cave; it all seemed to hit an invisible wall.
Umm..." Aacryo turned beat red. "I'm....I'm sort of scared of caves...that they will have a cave in and I'll be trapped." She mumbled, looking at her paws. "I'm fine with the winds, I'm used to it, really. She was impressed by the display of power he had, he was quite gifted. The breif moment of warmth was welcome.
He strained to keep the winds at bay. "J-Just go." he said. "These p-powers can stop c-cave-ins but only i-if I don't use i-it all up now.
His teeth were clenched as he growled. He knew that if he kept this up much longer if would start to take it's toll on him; already his muscles were weaker and his vision, foggy as it was through glowing eyes, blurred.
She saw him, her eye scanning and finding the weaknes she was feeling. "Don't, I'll be fine! Their are other ways to stay warm Dae, ways that don't involve you hurting yourself." She said, standing and slowly waling over to him. "Stop!
It was too late. The wall shattered and the wind was stronger and colder than ever. Dae was thrown back into the darkness, making a splash as he rolled and landed in a puddle; his stars as dark as the walls that surrounded him.
Dae!" Her metalic limbs were heavy and hard to lift from the ground. She walked with the wind over to her friend. "Dae....Dae are you ok?" She sat near his body, turning her eye on to make up for his lack of a glow. "Dae...." She wispered his name again. He had to be ok, he was her only friend in the forest.
Dae's eyes open, but barely. He looked around, but when he saw Aacryo he sat up. "W-What happened?" he asked, putting a paw on his head. Before she could answer he realized he was sitting in a puddle and the water was making his shiver, so he stood up and shook it off.
He stumbled when he tried to walk. His front legs gave way, making him hit the grund face-first. "Ugh..." He grunted and rolled over onto his back.
Careful! You took that hit hard...you should rest now Dae." She sent a small current through the wings so the were warm and hovered one ofer Dae to try and dry him off. If she was cold imgene what it must be like for him? "Why did you do that?" She asked. "It was insane and risky." Aacryo mover the wing to dry off a new area of his pelt, the shadows looking errie in the red light.
He sighed as he rolled over and sat up. He looked in her eyes, yet he ignored her question; he looked away. "W-We needs to f-find someplace e-else to stay." He gazed around the cave cautiously. "I d-don't know what s-sleeps in here.
Well...we can't go outside, not now." The current dies and Aacryo's wing was cold again. She began to shivver once more, relkzing that she had been hit with some of the puddle-waters. "Come o-on" She stammered through her chattering jaws "L-lets just t-try to sleep."
Dae's eyelids were heavy at the thought of sleep. He needed it; he hadn't gotten sleep in about a day and a half. "O-Ok." he said, curling up right where he sat. He wouldn't complain if someone wanted him to sleep now. He was a little afraid though. That was more power than hed ever remembered using; he didn't yet know the consequences.
She watched him, he still seemed cold, she haden't been able to completly dry off his pelt. Slowly after she turned out her eye, she curled up near him. The small amount of warmpth coming off his fur was like a roaring fire for her. She closed her eye and curled up tighter, trying to sleep.
Dae wanted to sleep so bad. His eyes burned and everytime he blinked his eyelids felt like sandpaper, yet, he couldn't sleep. It wasn't pitch black, but darker than he was used to. His stars still yielded no light; he didn't have the energy to make them glow. The only light came from the mouth of the cave; they were far enough back where the stalamites and stalagtites blocked most of the light.
I hope she can sleep..." he thought. "As long as she can sleep, I'm fine." He tried to make his mind shut off and let him rest but something was stopping it.
As she faded away the same awful dream crept into her mind. Her father... The face she had seen him recently was awful, dreadful. She thought she was safe. In her mind she kept reliving that awful moment. Her wing snapping off, tumbling down the cliff, her father, grinning like a madman over her battered body, her tracker chip still blipping faintly behind her face plate. That grin, those markings. It was no questioning she was his daughter but still....to think he had been their, and those wings! She too might have had such lovely grey-blu wings one day had they not been chopped off. The cold was nothing compaired to the chill in her heart, knowing that her own dad had done this...and giving up any hope that he had been forced to.
Dae heard her breathing change as she drifted off. "Good." he thought. "I'm glad she can sleep." But before he could think any further, he heard her breathing change again--rapid and short. Her eyes were tightly shut; he knew it was the same dream. He remembered what his mom had told him; you can learn a lot from watching someone dream.
She could almost feel it again, the sensation of passing out...then the far off feeling of his paws on her battered body, fixing what war broken....and building new. She shuddered as a wisp of wind became his paw caressing her cheek. "Get away you monster, your not my father...."she wispered softly to the cave.
As Dae listened to her talk in her sleep, he wondered exactly how much about Aacryo he really knew. He sat up, careful to keep quiet, listening.
No!" Her wisper was horse and loud. "You gave me this curse, you go away. Leave, you are not wanted here." She wipered again. In her mind she was howling and crying at her father. She moved, her fur standing on end in fear and anger.
Dae decided that enough was enough. He shook her gently, hoping that she would wake up.
Outside the cave, the snow had stopped falling and the sun made it's presence known. The tiny crystals of ice that covered everything sparkled in the rays of light that speared the clouds.
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