#iniria

If someone had told Niu just a year ago, or a month ago, that niu would return to the city to study medicine, just like nius parents always wanted, niu would have laughed in their face, loud and, as nius parents would have called it, rude.

But here Niu was, and nius classmates had taken niu in faster than niu had foreseen. Niu never would have admitted it, but the warm welcome was giving niu fuzzy feelings. Niu hadn’t had much opportunity to mingle with people of nius own age in the past few years.

„Hey, Niu, did you - what kind of plant even is that?” Nius classmate frowned at the bunch of leaves niu was slowly grinding into a paste, treating nius concoctions with more care than niu usually showed anything else. Niu smiled quietly to niuself. If only nius parents had waited and let niu choose, they might have been allowed to savour nius choice with niu.

The smile blossomed into a reckless grin as Niu looked up at nius classmate. Living in the woods sure had had its drawbacks, but niu had also learned a thing or two, and now, being taken in so kindly, niu saw no reason not to share. „It’s dawnflower - I think it cools burns more effectively, y’know? Here, you can recognize them by…”

Duna stood on the city wall and looked out into the forest. The afternoon sun shone low through the branches of the ancient trees, sprinkling the floor as well as the wall with light.

So here they were. This was it. The city was safe now; safer, perhaps, than it had ever been. No one knew where things might go from here, but Duna was inclined to be optimistic.

She looked across the intricate knots and weaves the twigs of the tree just before her formed - since this morning. She had done this, echoing the patterns and energy of the talisman Niu had carried; but this version was big enough, carried by a strong enough being, to ward for miles in either direction. Among the artfully grown twigs, the sunlight was shattered into even smaller rays.

She smiled, allowing herself to admire her own handiwork. Yes, the city was safe.

Her gaze travelled on, and her smile spread. There was a whole new world to explore out there.

Iniria stood in front of the tall window of the living room, looking out across the city. She wasn’t sure how much longer they would be able to afford to live here, now, but that was the least of her worries.

Everything she thought she fought for, everything she had stood for so proudly for the last decades had turned out to be nothing but smoke and mirrors.

So here she was, wondering how life would go on.

„Mom?”

Iniria stood and painted a smile on her face as her older daughter walked up to her. The little girl frowned, not fooled for a second. She was so perceptive - Iniria felt her smile turn more genuine with pride.

„Is everything alright?”

Iniria looked down on her, then put an arm around her shoulders. She was a good liar, but her daughter was a good observer, and for nothing in the world would she risk her trust, least of all in the difficult times to come. People would talk. Kids her age would pick up half-understood adult talk about what happened. Iniria would do what she could to protect her children from the fallout, but she knew better than to expect it to pass unnoticed.

„Not right now. But it will be.”

And here they were, before all the world, after everything that had happened. It wasn’t like Vits was glad for the events of the past weeks - as far as he was concerned, he never needed to set another foot into the forest, and he somewhat hoped Braen felt the same - but if nothing else, it had certainly sorted out his priorities. He no longer cared who might see, or what they might think.

It wasn’t their first time, not by a long shot. It wouldn’t be their last - no, that much was clear now.