#fifty-three

The Fifty-Third Sheska

Choose 4 things within 4 feet of you and write for 4 minutes. One sentence each. <><><><><> I love the look and feel of my tootsies after a pedicure. 👣 Anyone looking at me right now would notice the huge smile on my face. 😀 A long to-do list that includes chores and many errands….ahh Saturday! 📃 As always, I have a cat at my side and an empty coffee cup. ☕🐈 <><><><> Are you ready to give…

FINALLY! Oh my goodness, we’re finally here. I’m gonna try to get back on track, although we’re nearly halfway through the year so I think I’m more than a hundred pages down (oops O_o). NEVERTHELESS, I had a burst of inspiration and some free time today, so I’ve made a new start on this thing. If you’re new to this, or it’s been a while and you need to read from the beginning, start here. Otherwise, let’s continue from where we left off:

“You don’t remember anything? A name, how old you are?”

The girl shook her head, taking a handful of reddish hair and running it through her hands.

Riffin and Elyn traded a look and sighed almost in unison.

The group had spent the last three days going through Ne’Run, trying to find family and coming up empty-handed. They’d decided that the girl would stay with them, and were trying to work through her apparent amnesia to find something—anything—out about her.

“Well the girl needs a name. Do you have any ideas, kid? It’s going to be your name, after all,” Jamas said, walking into the room.

Shrugging, the girl looked between the three of them with wide eyes.

Elyn sighed quietly, leaning back. “I don’t think we’re going to get anything out of her, boys. Looks like her name and everything is up to us.”

After a long deliberation, they decided upon the name Ineora Sayturi—“she seems to like you the most, Elyn; we’d might as well give her your last name,”—and that this was to be her birthday—“say she just turned seven. That’s about how old she looks.”

They sent the child off to amuse herself nearby while they tried to figure out just what to do with her.

“A child is far from thief material,” Leony pointed out. “Especially one so naïve.”

Dinan rolled his eyes. “A child with no memory of the past several years is practically expected to be naïve. She doesn’t know how bad the world is, doesn’t remember general human kindness or cruelty.”

Runa watched the girl for a few seconds before saying anything. “She may be more perceptive than we’re giving her credit for.” When faced with six questioning looks—and one understanding from Riffin—she motioned at their huddle. “No matter how naïve one is, who would willingly come with a group of people that look like us? We clearly don’t look the part of heroes that save amnesiac children, and we’re made up of primarily older people. Of course we know we don’t go around killing people or some shit, but others don’t. Most kids would have run the other way or just outright refused.”

“Her future is almost entirely up to us. Has anyone here ever actually raised a kid before?” Endin asked, his green eyes gazing over each of them.

Runa shrugged. “After my parents died I basically raised my three younger brothers. They turned out alright—except for Ferris . . .” She trailed off, lips pursed. “Morgan and Soren are fine, though.”

Chuckling quietly, Dinan leaned forward. “My wife and I had a few kids before everything. You could say I’ve had a bit of experience.”

“See, Endin, this kid isn’t entirely fucked.” Adar grinned. “Maybe a little if we leave it all to Runa, but for the most part this kid should be fine.”