Episode Six, Part 5:
Through the Eyes of a Child

What a great privlidge it is to love; 
a great honour to hold you up. 

Elara turned over her shoulder as she could hear someone approaching, surprised to see Kodiak making his way over given how close by Izzy was and how evidently afraid she still was of everyone else.

The Sovereign crouched down a few metres away - trying to prove to Izzy that he wasn't going abuse her trust by coming any closer - but it was still too near for her liking. Izzy noticed him from where she sat by Elara's outstretched legs, and instincts forced her to crawl back to Elara's side, only managing to relax when she realised Elara wasn't going anywhere.

"You're okay," the older girl promised her, wrapping her arm around her which allowed Izzy to hide deeper against her, barely able to see Kodiak from where she was.

"Kodi-"

"I know," he cut her off, trying to emphasise that he knew she wasn't ready, but he didn't have a choice. "But this is important; it's about something Tobias said. You need to hear it."

"I'm scared, Ell," Izzy's tiny voice mumbled from beside her, muffled in sound from how tucked away she was.

"I know you are. You're okay," Elara reminded her, wishing she had the rights words to say to put her ease, but she her mind couldn't come up with anything else; just enough to let Izzy know that she was heard and she was safe.

"I think you'll have to ask River or Dreea to tell me, instead," she told him, shooting a sympathetic smile his way which was returned.

Kodiak nodded and pushed himself up, retreating over to the other Sovereigns and leaving Izzy and Elara on their own again.

As if sensing that he was gone, Izzy lifted her head up, scanning over her surroundings for confirmation until she faced Elara. "I don't want to be afraid, but I am. I don't know how to make it go away."

"It will go away one day soon, sweet girl," Elara promised her, smoothing her hand over the side of the young girl's cheek. "And you'll understand that most people aren't like Calvin; and there are far more people who'll love you, and everyone around us is one of those people. You're allowed to be afraid. You're allowed to need time to feel braver, but I need you to know that as long as I'm by your side, no one is going to hurt you."

"I love Kodi," she admitted. "I love Uncle Quill and Uncle Wynn, even though I didn't run over to him when he came to find me; I hope they know that."

"Of course they know that," Elara smiled, pulling Izzy close. "Don't worry about them... I think River's coming over to talk to me. Will you be okay?"

Izzy nodded, taking a deep breath before she pulled herself away from Elara and retreated towards her feet, slowly forcing herself to continue with the sand sculpture she had been working on.

As if on cue, Sol appeared where Kodiak had previously been, cautiously assessing the situation before she approached Elara, taking a seat on the log that she was leaning up against.

"Hey, Elara," Sol smiled, encouraging her to take the flask of water she had brought over. "Are you okay?"

"I'm alright, thank you," she answered. "This is actually giving me a good excuse to rest as I needed it from searching the forest."

Sol laughed lightheartedly. "Well, if it's any consolation, I'm sure you still would have beat Quill if he was out there with you. So a rest is definitely deserved."

"You've been around Wynn too long," Elara joked. "All his teasing on Quill has rubbed off on you."

"You're right," Sol realised. "...Quill does kind of make it easy, though."

"If you've come over here to cheer me up, it's definitely worked."

"I'm glad I have," she said. "But Kodiak needs me to tell you what Tobias said."

Elara sighed, wishing the down-to-earth moments could last a little longer than they usually did. Nevertheless, she braced herself for what news was coming her way, already wondering if it had something to do with Calvin.

"Because of Izzy's markings - because she's from Exile Allegiance," she clarified, "she has promised protection from their clan, meaning she'll have safety when the war starts. Quill will, too."

"That's good..." Elara said. "But what's the catch? Kodiak was nervous when he came over; I could see it."

"She'd have to be with Quill," Sol said. "And judging by the fact that Kodiak had to ask me to talk to you, I'm not so sure how viable that option is."

"I see," Elara answered, looking over at Izzy who was already facing them both, trying to figure out what they were saying.

"Izzy?" Sol smiled, grabbing the young girl's attention by how upbeat she seemed, contradicting the worries in the young girl's heart that she was going to be told something she didn't want to hear. "How many stories has Elara told you about me?"

Izzy contemplated for a moment, running through her favourite stories of the Nobel Sovereign in her mind before she resorted to an answer. "Quite a lot. You were my third favourite, behind Kodiak and Uncle Quill."

"Uncle Quill beat me? Auntie Riv?" She pretended to act surprised to earn a laugh from the young girl, but Izzy didn't comprehend the seriousness behind her words.

"He's funny," Izzy answered. "He's not very good at blade work."

"Who did you say Wynn's jokes were rubbing off on?" Sol laughed, mumbling the words to Elara before swiftly turning her attention back to Izzy.

"Did she ever tell you about the time your Uncle Wynn and I almost died?"

"...That's happened a few times," Izzy thought, not understanding why it was so funny to them both.

"Touché," Sol told her. "But specifically, I'm talking about the time we ended up in the DeadLands."

Izzy shook her head. "I don't think I remember that one."

"Well, I'll tell you what happened to me; I was on my home from the Bunker," she said, "and I was cutting through the forest because it was quicker and I was in a fight with my sister at the time, so I just wanted to get back to Basilisk. But, when I was walking, someone found me."

"Who?"

"Two guys from my clan; the people that I was supposed to be in charge of," she said.

"What happened?"

"They attacked me," Sol admitted, watching as Izzy's face scrunched up in terror then, resolved in a glimmer of relief, almost as if there was some comfort to know that someone as brave and heroic as the Nobel Sovereign Riverly had overcome something like what she had been through.

"Were you scared?" Izzy asked.

Sol nodded. "I was really scared. Especially when they hurt me and took me away from everyone else."

"To the DeadLands?"

"Yeah. And no one knew where I was. It was just me and these two, scary men who had been sent to hurt me and make me too afraid to come back to my people."

"Who would send them? You're the Nobel."

"My dad sent them," Sol answered, surprised at the shiver that ran down her spine, even all those years later. "When I realised it was him, a part of me wanted to give up because it was so much easier to stay afraid than to have the courage to fight. At least, that's what I thought was the truth, but it isn't: it's so much harder to stay afraid. Harder to stay alive; harder to let the people who love you, save you, when you feel like that," she said. "Your Uncle Wynn found me, and do you know what he did?"

Izzy shook her head, deeply invested in the story.

"He made my fears his own," Sol smiled. "He took my place and somehow, by just knowing he had my back, it made the world a little easier to face. I knew I could go home to everyone who was waiting for me, and I knew I could take the bad guys down, because he was there to help me. He saved my life out there, and so did my sister, Dreea, and Kodiak."

"This is a real story?"

"Yeah, it is," Sol promised her. "And the truth is that there's usually a lot more people in the world that want to save you than those that want to hurt you. I know it can be hard to figure out that difference when a terrible thing happens to you, but it doesn't make it any less true. And you, Izzy, are no short on people who are going to protect you, but how many people you have doesn't even make a difference, here; you have Elara and she loves you like crazy. Do you know how lucky that makes you?"

Izzy beamed the brightest smile she had managed since she made it back to the beach, gazing over at the red-headed girl with her heart in her eyes. "I do," she said. "Her love makes me brave."

Elara felt her eyes burn warm with tears and she reached her hand out for Izzy, encouraging her to return closer. Izzy gladly accepted, cuddling up to Elara and giggling as the older girl pressed a kiss against the top of her head.

"Hey Izzy, how would you feel about Harlow coming over to sit with you?" Sol asked. "I think Elara needs to talk to the rest of us for a while. Would that be okay?"

"As long as it's just Harlow," she answered. "And as long as Elara's stays near me."

"I'll be just over there with the others," Elara told her, gesturing over to where Wynn, Kodiak and Dreea were waiting with Tobias.

Izzy bit on her bottom lip, trying to gauge whether or not she felt comfortable. "Okay," she said. "That doesn't seem so scary."

Sol smiled, letting out a breath of relief as did Elara. "I'll go get Harlow," she told them, "and then we can talk to Tobias." 

Six // Part Five
Her love makes me brave.

"The truth is that there's usually a lot more people in the world that want to save you than those that want to hurt you. I know it can be hard to figure out that difference when a terrible thing happens to you, but it doesn't make it any less true."

I for real LOVE Sol and Elara scenes and I wish I had them more often! When I edit this series, I am definitely going to add more scenes between them!

I also think Elara becoming a mother to Izzy was one of the best, most interesting choices for her character development. Her whole childhood on the ground, she has faced danger after danger (and countless losses), and that's really fuelled her to protect Izzy and make sure she doesn't go through the same adversities she did when she was younger. I think Elara wants to be the mother to Izzy that she didn't have on the ground (because Martha was just like Kane and tried to put her in danger/seperate her form her brothers for her own cause, not regarding what Elara wanted for herself). I think it's made Elara the most emphatetic, protective, and understanding person she can be for Izzy, and that is exactly what that young girl needs. ♡ Maybe everything does work out in the end.

Also, Sol's development???? She was so indifferent to Wynn when she pulled him out of the Bunker and didn't care much about his fears or the fact that his family was separate because she was only focused onmaking sure she would become the Nobel Sovereign, but now she's such a soft, kind person and she's using her own challenges and things she has overcome to help Izzy. She's changed and become a better person, but she's still the same old fierce, heroic Sol from S1.

02/04/21.