Matt had been a young replayer when she'd met him in her twenty-second session. He'd just started his third session, with gray eyes too large in his face and a habit of chewing on the inside of his lip when he was nervous. He'd rolled Page of Void and was struck mute by the game; while their coplayers tried their best to accommodate for his silencing effect, he quickly latched on to her for being the only person who actively sought out his company.
Skaia provided for both of them - being a Witch of Light, she was able to teach him more about Void than she otherwise would have been allowed. He was young, no older than fifteen, and still reeling in the wake of being introduced to the concept that there really was no escape from the game.
Between the two of them, they managed to work around the difficulties of his muteness. Skye was surprised to find that she was unusually good at interpreting for him; perhaps she had been an interpreter for someone else once upon a time?
When they stood before the door, she hugged him and made him promise to keep in contact through the IRC. He did; she introduced her family to Matt and let them know that she would be continuing to mentor him. They talked, sometimes infrequently, over the next few sessions.
And then, one day, the messages ceased.
She waited, days and weeks and months, before the news reached her.
Ross had to help her coplayers, then. No one knew what to do with a Ward of Void who made herself hard to find in the depths of her grief.
