#rits

36. “You’ve shown me what love can feel like.”

“What’s it like up there?”

Aeoth lifted her gaze to the stars glittering high above them, the waning moon barely a scratch in the sky. “it’s... hard to explain,” she said, looking away and curling closer to Vianne, pressing her cheek into the warmth of her neck. “It isn’t like here. It isn’t... tangible, I suppose. We are rarely corporeal.”

“So what, you’re ghosts?” Vianne laughed.

Aeoth’s lips curled in amusement as she considered how to explain in a way that a human could understand. “It’s like the ocean,” she finally said. “You can see the water all around you but you cannot see the currents. You can only feel them moving around you and passed you. There is structure when necessary, but it often isn’t needed.”

Vianne was quiet for so long Aeoth opened her eyes and pulled back to look at her. Her brow was creased, the aged lines seeming deeper than usual.

“It sounds lonely,” she all but whispered.

Aeoth blinked, not quite understanding. “Guardians do not know loneliness,” she said carefully, uncertain if that was what Vianne wanted to hear.

Vianne rolled over, facing away from Aeoth. “I know,” she muttered. “Guardians don’t feel anything.”

Aeoth frowned. “What’s wrong?”

Vianne didn’t reply for a moment, then sighed heavily. “I just... I just think things would be better if you- if Guardians could understand. If they felt things they would understand our world more. They would know what it’s like to be happy or angry or sad or whatever, you know?” Vianne said, sitting up and brushing her hair back out of her face. “The absence of it all leads to callousness.”

Aeoth studied the ground beneath them. Callousness. Yes, that was it.

“It’s possible to learn,” she said, lifting her gaze to Vianne. Vianne looked at her, dark eyes tired and questioning. Aeoth continued. “I mean- you are right. I was- sometimes am- very callous and I often do not understand the complexities of your emotions. However, I have learned to feel them.” She cocked her head slightly at Vianne. “I know what it feels like to be happy and frustrated and upset. You have shown me all of these. You have shown me what love can feel like.”

A faint smile crept onto Vianne’s face and she reached out, fingers curling around Aeoth’s. “Can the other Guardians learn too?” she asked quietly.

Aeoth carefully turned her eyes to the stars once more. That was another thing she had learned.

Fear.

She had never known it before and yet it was all she knew now when she turned her gaze to the heavens.

“Perhaps,” she lied.

13. “I won’t let anyone hurt you, you’re safe with me.”

“I want to join ShadowClan.”

The words left Iceclaw’s mouth so much easier than she thought they would.

Nightfire’s eyes widened. “You do?” He hardly sounded like he believed it.

Iceclaw nodded firmly. “I do. ThunderClan has never been my home. I don’t-” he shook his head. He didn’t know how to explain it. “I’ve always felt safest here with you,” she finally murmured, ducking her head and rubbing it under Nightfire’s chin.

Nightfire’s eyes glittered as he pressed back against Iceclaw.  “You know I love you,” he said. “I would never let anyone hurt you. You’re safe with me.”

Running In The Shadows + Core Four

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Several weeks passed by in no time at all, and as Hinata grew stronger, Kageyama finally had time to look into that imposter Ukai’s offer. Not that he didn’t believe him—but he didn’t believe him. The idea that a famous composer could want anything to do with him was far-fetched, to say the least.

On a Saturday when Hinata was busy with physical therapy, Kageyama dug up the scrap of paper with Ukai’s info and called a cab.

Outside, snow dusted the ground like powdered sugar, but the winter chill had finally begun to subside. It was still cold enough that it would be a pain to stay out for too long. Luckily, the address wasn’t far from the hospital...

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