#tamyra

“Tamyra! Hey! Just the person I wanted to see.”

Tamyra was—sunbathing? sleeping? it was hard to tell with the sunglasses—but she was alone by the river and Lily had been looking for her for a while, so beggars, choosers. She hummed to herself as she went to sit beside Tamyra, placing her basket between them. 

Things were still... awkward, maybe, but you know what, Lily missed her teacher. (Pseudo-teacher.) And she had a job (multiple jobs) to do, thanks Bossdad, and for this particular job she could think of no one better to help her. It was just a matter of seeing if Tamyra would be interested.

“I have a proposal for you,” Lily said, stretching out her legs. “But first, I owe you an apology for just being a massive dick to you these last few months. About... everything.”

Lily supposed that it would’ve come up eventually. The island was not a big place, and Tamyra went as freely as Lily did. She could only avoid her for so long, especially after what had happened. The last time they had spoken to (argued with) each other was when they’d been separated in the Labyrinth — when Lily had shouted at Tamyra and lost control. When she had told the Labyrinth she would stay behind if it let Tamyra go.

And now here they both were, none the worse for wear, despite the drought.

So when she saw Tamyra walking toward her, Lily stopped her piano practice. Libby was out on a walk with Flora, and Tomas was working on the farm; there would be no one else to hear their conversation.

Okay. Might as well. Only way out was through, now was always the best time, etc., etc..

Lily closed the piano lid and half-turned toward Tamyra. She probably should’ve smiled, but she didn’t, looking at Tamyra with a polite but somber expression. “Hey, Tamyra. You look well.”

Nicole

When she went to check on Tamyra, the droning was as loud as ever, though still, strangely, no movement from the Labyrinth. Wait it out, Lily would tell people who looked particularly nervous. Wait it out as we waited out the others. The only way through was forward.

And apparently Tamyra had been in the tunnels when the drone had started. Lily had let the first day pass to give her time to adjust, but now that it was morning she was heading over to check on her.

She found Tamyra near her home and paused, offering her a smile.

“Hi Tam,” she said. “I heard you were in the tunnels for a little bit. Are you doing okay?”

People were laughing inside, the air was warm and scented with food, and she’d caught even the quietest of their people smiling at points. Flora, of course, was enjoying the party, and Lily wondered if she’d grow up to be the most social of their family.

She wanted that for her sister. She wanted Flora to have parents and sisters and all sorts of aunts and uncles. She wanted Flora to a community that loved her, that would do anything for her, that never even considered taking a vote on whether or not to keep her.

... yeah. Okay. Time for a little break.

Lily meant only to step outside for some air, to gather her thoughts. This party had been her idea, and she’d organized it with help from both parents, but she still liked to take social breathers. Just for a few minutes.

As she leaned on the railing, staring up at the stars, movement caught Lily’s eye. She saw a silhouette lingering in the darkness, just staring up at the house. With a slight frown and a glance behind her, she went downstairs to approach the figure, and recognized who it was after her eyes adjusted to the night, away from the brightness and warmth of the High House.

“Tamyra?” she asked, brow furrowing. “Um... hi! What... what’re you doing out here so late?”

Tomas had left her side at some point, but that was okay. She knew he’d be by her side soon enough at the Heart Tree, like the quetzal had told them both to be. She saw a few people also heading in that direction, but she did not know them, and if she did, well, today she had better things to do.

Like that friend who was approaching her. She knew her name. It was... it was Tyra. Something like that. She was better with faces than names. But Lily wasn’t interested in talking, not right now, so she turned away and kept walking.

Today she would take in the beach, and the green grass, and the treeline. This place that she had almost called home, almost but not quite. It had never quite crossed that threshold. It was beautiful, yes, but it was no Labyrinth. Even with Libby and Father and Sister, it wasn’t home.

Lily lifted her face to the sky and grinned, taking it all in. One last memory before she went home. She would watch whatever the quetzal wanted her to see at the Heart Tree, and then she would finally, finally be home. She could almost hear the music that awaited her.

Lily sat on the Sea Stairs, her fingers stroking the lichen that had grown into the stone, listening to the island. The wind around her, the waves on the stairs, the electric hum that seemed ever-present in the air. She was pretty sure that there was something under the waves that the Sea Stairs once led to, and she’d nabbed a pair of goggles that had been found on the yacht a while ago. She put them on, took a deep breath until her lungs were straining, and dove into the water.

The water was warm and clear, and colorful fish darted away at her approach. But underneath was a thick kelp forest that she hadn’t expected, the green fronds swaying in the current. That, with the ocean sediment, left very little visibility to look for clues of what had happened. Instead of wasting her time picking through the forest, she uprooted a handful of kelp and kicked back toward the surface.

Someone else had joined her at the sea stairs while she’d been diving. She blinked at the new arrival and started swimming closer. “Tamyra?”

@tamyrawilliams​

People ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ at the sight of the waterfalls and its thunderous crashes. Mallory only has eyes for the trees: green, tall, and wrong. Unfamiliar. She slips away from the crowd - only enough to prod one of the tree trunks with a single finger, frowning all the while. “Toto, I don’t think we’re on our beach anymore,” she declares, drawing a hand back, squinting. She catches sight of a friend-not friend and beckons her over. “Ah, Tamyra, look, this tree doesn’t have a single marking on it. No flower, no smiley face. I’ve marked every tree I could reach near our jungle. How is this ours then? I didn’t even ask her where we were going!” She pauses abruptly at the sight of water and inhales a little shakily.

"Thank goodness, I’ve missed freshwater. Not even to drink, just to... have and see,” she says, sighing, crouching down along the edge of the water. Her fingers trail through it. She cups it, splashing some on her face, ignoring the way it makes her wine-colored crop top cling to her neck. “Okay, I guess if the water is this nice, I can accept how different this place is." Swiveling her head, she raises a brow at Tamyra. “What’s wrong with you? You know, besides running through a cave for days.”