Young Writers Society

Cayde

 Cayde continued pacing. Already her restless feet had worn a circular rut in the blanket of soft snow covering the forest floor. The sun was just beginning to rise, its weak rays broken apart by the spearhead tips of the pine trees. When he left, it had been setting. She watched the shadows of the trees grow along the ground. Four minutes. Five minutes. Ten. An hour. Images began flashing through her mind that made her question whether the chill settling underneath her skin was really from the bitter wind. Cayde pushed them away. He was coming back. He had to be.

An hour and a half. She began pacing quicker, fixing her eyes to the ground. Even when he ran into trouble, nothing took him this long. Cayde broke away from the worn circle of snow and fished out the bags from where they’d stashed them. “If you aren’t already dead,” She muttered furiously. “I’m gonna kill you.”

The hoot of an owl pulse through the air. Cayde looked up, shielding her eyes with hand. A small winged shadow was wheeling through the sky just over the treetops. It hovered in the air for a few moments as if looking for something, then dove below the canopy and out of sight. A few moments of heavy silence followed where Cayde could hear clearly the hammering of her own heart. A snowy owl swooped into the clearing and perched on a branch just above my head. Swallowing a sigh of relief, she glared at it.

“Well you’re home awfully late.” she could feel heat rising in my cheeks, burning against the cold air. Cayde clenched her hands into fists. The owl hooted in what vaguely resembled amusement, and began to change. Cayde folded folded arms and waited. He could do it quickly if needed, but Fen preferred to take changing forms slowly. Slow enough that she could watch the wings receding into his shoulders. The feathers giving way to pale skin. In minutes the owl had changed into a man. Tall and rail thin with wild brown hair. He grinned.

“Good morning to you too! Always a pleasure to come home to your happy smiling faaaaaaaaa--!” His remark snapped into an alarmed yelp as the branch snapped and he was sent tumbling into the snow with a damp thud. He scrambled into a sitting position. “Did you miss me?”

Cayde scowled harder, forcing down the knot of laughter bubbling in her chest. “Fen, you were supposed to be back by nightfall. What were you doing out there?”

Fen shrugged “Something illegal.”

Cayde sighed “Alright, let me rephrase this. What were you doing that we don’t do on a daily basis.”

Fen tapped his chin thoughtfully. “Hm…well, let’s see now. I went out to get supplies after curfew…got caught by a patrol of enemy soldiers…nearly died…escaped and made a run for it…nearly died a few more times…changed into an owl and flew back here. Sounds like our usual run-of-the-mill Tuesday to me.”

Cayde scowled. “Fantastic. Please tell me you at least came back with food.”

“Well,” Fen scratched his stubble “I did catch a mouse on the way over here, but I ate that.”

Cayde ran a weary hand over my face, temples throbbing gently. “Well…at least you’re okay.”

“Okay being a relative term of course.”

Cayde sighed again. “I guess we’ll just have to stop at the nearest settlement. Do we still have money?”

“Well, seeing as I was stealing things this time, I never spent any. So that would be a…” He hand traveled into his pocket and his face went slack.

“Fen” I glared “where’s our money?”

“That” Fen began slowly “is a very interesting story that I will save for later.”

Cayde was silent for a long moment. Fen’s eyes darted from side to side, as if searching for an escape route. Cayde laid her hand on his shoulders. “Fen, I love you. You know that, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Good. That’s good.” Cayde squeezed his shoulders “Because if you ever screw up this badly again, I will end you.”

Fen looked up at her wide eyed, and put his hands on her shoulders. “I’m too cute to kill,” He replied somberly. Fen smiled, and gave her cheek an affectionate pat. “Now off we go! Into the great beyond and all that! Come on, my fellow young freak of nature!” Fen ducked out of Cayde’s grip and pranced into the trees. Cayde stood there for a moment, watching his receding back slightly dumbfounded. She shook her head with a muttered “idiot.” And followed him into the woods.