Letting Go

Aaren

Aaren is sitting on top of one of the supply, basking in the warm morning sunlight and writing a letter to Boria. She's singing the sunlight song, growing her hair longer, and generally taking the morning semi-off. She's even stripped down to her undershirt. Its pale tails flutter around her long legs. (Today, she is an ombre, her feet are silver striped horizontally with black, fading to a smattering of greens at her chest, face, and hair. Her hair is the green of the birch leaves, and the blue of the sky.)

She's also singing the crisp-water song, because she's getting thirsty, but isn't ready to get down to get some water yet.

Fate

With a final thrust and spin, Kelly sets his spear upright, then straightens himself.

Throughout the morning's practice, his focused song had been waxing and waning in time with something which bears some of the hallmarks of a nightmare song, sans the panic that usually accompanies it and plus a song of intentness, of a desire for victory—the unmistakable problem-solving song.

For good measure he stands still for a few brisk breaths, forcing everything at bay with his distinctive, unique, defiant melody (otherwise known as "Kelly's stubbornness song"). Then he jogs to the Hometown cart and stows his spear in its usual readiness spot, letting his problem-solving song come fully to the fore. He even hums it as he weaves through the carts—though he's stopped by an offer of breakfast from one of the caravan workers, which he politely declines, and then of flatbread with a dewberry jam-like spread, which he accepts before continuing on his way.

Soon enough he's beneath Aaren, looking up at her, adding some inquisitive notes to his problem-solving hum—wordlessly asking permission to talk with her.

Aaren

Aaren slides her songs from sunlight to sunlit-welcome, and sits up to make room on her warm cart roof. After another moment's scribbling, she puts aside her note. Her thinking song had been half Borya-song, but now she releases that and weaves Kelly's problem solving march into the restless, relentless soaring of her own thinking.

Fate

With a musical grunt, Kelly pulls himself up, settling beside his sister. A sheen of sweat coats him, accompanied by the usual strong smell of exertion, reminiscent of Auntie Harley. (Hunters have got to cultivate their BO specially or something. Maybe that was part of what they learned in their intense three-year apprenticeships.)

For a moment he tracks his thoughts with his eyes. Then he says, "Last night I dreamed about the people who tortured me." His statement is a casual fact, the word 'torture' now smoothly integrated into his vocabulary like any other word. "I dream about them a lot. I think about them a lot. I don't even know who they are." He considers a little more. "I think... I... left a piece of myself with them." He holds onto the statement for a while, unsatisfied. "Or something." Settling on that, he forges on. "I... maybe I should get it back. Or... or maybe it should die. Or maybe I'm wrong. But I want to be done with them." At this, he looks up to Aaren. "What do I do? Is there, like, a priest thing for that or... or something?"

Aaren

Aaren sings along with his voice, wrapping his words in her thought. "Yes." She sings, after a moment. "First, we need to find out what happened to your peice. I'll ask Ken." She starts thinking about how to petition the god, and then laughs at herself. "I suppose I shouldn't be thinking about it too hard. When I get an answer from him, I'll talk to you and we'll see what we can do then. Okay?"

Fate

Kelly nods, certain now.

Aaren

Aaren smiles. "Excellent. Can you trip sit for me?"

Fate

"Yeah." He straightens, bracing himself to get moving, but waiting for Aaren's cue.

Aaren

Aaren sings her pleasure at his eagerness, and her desire to get moving. "I've got to make sure everyone is okay with us leaving for a few days." She gets up, and gets to work on that.

The Next Day

Aaren spends a day making sure that the caravan will be able to cope if she's gone for two days. Then she takes Kelly out into the woods. Together, they find a sheltered clearing with a small waterfall. Aaren brings beer, butter, and a gently used purple poncho she'd gotten from Antie Jordan before she left home.

She lays them out on a pretty looking rock, takes the dried shrooms she'd rummaged up from her supplies, and listens to the songs of the world around her, and to the songs of her brother sitting before her.

As she slips between the songs begin to change. Melding together, splitting into new strands. Music she has never heard washes over her, coming from she knows not where.
Aaren lifts her voices. The lilted, sorrowing melody of Ken's song, its contra-melody of delighted, shimmering, dancing laughter. She sings with everything she has, and the world sings with her, filling her ears with an fractal-song, growing more and more complex, always full of unexpected and unexplored corners.
Aaren lets it fade, and listens to the songs of silence.

Then she lifts her voice again, and sings Kelly's song. But there is something missing, a hole torn out, as if they were back in Elsewhere, and she simply couldn't hear it. She sings around it, then through it, sings her brother as a question, as an answer, as a story of courage and hope and healing.

Aaren lets it fade, and listens to the songs of silence.

Aaren

They come back full.

Aaren listens until she falls asleep. When she wakes, she eats, and bathes in the pond, and then sits down to tell Kelly what's what.
"Here's what's going on." And she sings it, only it doesn't come out right, because the sky is no longer singing with her. She laughs, and then sings a modified version of it that might make sense to Kelly. "You're connected to them now." Aaren explains as she goes ."It's like, a seed now." She weaves that idea into the song. "Or like one of those plants that grows from the cuttings you take off. Well, right now it's still trying to get food from its roots, and the rest of you is trying to get food to it."

She sings for a moment longer, then adds words again. "You have to let go of it, leave it to do what its going to do. Maybe it'll grow, or maybe it'll die. But it's going to have to do it without you."

Fate

Kelly nods, intent. "How do I do that?" And then, after a pause, "... Is it gonna hurt?"

Aaren

Aaren sings her thinking song, weaving it in and out of Kelly's thoughts. Then she sings him the plan. "You'll get a small sack of seeds, to wear around your neck. For nine days. Everytime you think about your missing part, or about the people who hurt you, hold the seeds, sing their song. All that food you're giving the missing part of you needs to go to these seeds. Then we'll give them to Rose-Thorn-Child to take care of. Okay?"

Fate

He eases and sings an affirmative song. After a moment he asks, "Do I have to wear it all the time?" He considers for a brief moment. "Like, even when I'm bathing or canoodling?"

Aaren

Aaren nods. "Yes. And you have to stop to put your thoughts in it immidently. No saving them for later."

Fate

Kelly meets her gaze, his follow-through quietly locking into place in his eyes. "Got it."

Aaren

Aaren hugs him, and then they get up and find their way back to the path of the caravan.