ADARA

"Yuven, did you know?" It wouldn't have been her first time holding a sword, but the first time it sat in a comfortable position in her hands, sharp. Ready to be used against her enemies. Only one for her instead of the multitudes the Storm Wardens carried against all manners of Derelict beasts. Her thumb brushed the crossguard, and she studied the silvertine edge, forged with expert precision. "Yuven." She brought herself forward, unto the truth. "Did you know that was going to happen? Did you know what it meant?"

Yuven's feathers slid upwards around his ears. "I knew what giving a sword meant here, yes." He stared down at the table, his battle lines of wooden soldiers scattered, thrown to the side in frustration.

"Why?"

"It wasn't meant for him."

"I got that much, thank you, I know you think I'm stupid, but—" Adara reeled back her words when Yuven twisted on his heel to face her. "Clearly, he took it the complete other way then what you must've been expecting." The weighted sword sat in her hands, and she held it out to him. "Believe it or not, Yuven Traye, I'm not stupid. All I've been doing is trying to help you two, but all you've been doing is making a mess out of it." Tip against the ground, she slid it off the stone floor and brought it closer to her chest. "How could you do that?" Yuven remained silent and shuffled through his pockets. Her grip tightened on the guard, but she found it lacking when he pulled out a piece of parchment. "What now?" she demanded answers to the senselessness of Yuven's actions; the man who touted actions speaking louder than words, but it died on her throat when he held it out to her. With one hand, she snagged it from him. Measurements. "I'm not falling for—"

"Those are Fenrer's."

"I'm not—"

"Look at the damned piece of paper I gave you, Adara," Yuven hissed, his fangs bared.

Adara scowled, but raised a hand to her leather strap to tug it out, smudged from her nervous grip. As she unfurled it with the sword tucked into the frog on her belt, she compared the two. Different numbers. Different measurements and preferences. Any of the anger built up in her lungs wilted into the chambers of her heart. "They're not the same."

"Astute of you. Fenrer prefers bows. Longswords for close quarters." Yuven gave a harsh point to the sword fastened on her hip. "That is a shortsword, Sazaka." He dropped his hand against his side when she faced him and the truth he hid underneath a jest. "I'm keeping to my end of our bargain. Those measurements were yours. You had it done to get you fitted into some protective armor, remember?"

The papers slid between her fingers and floated onto the table. "Why didn't you tell me? Why go through this convoluted joke at risk of upsetting Fenrer. I can take a joke, hells, I can take your idea of jokes if this is what they are. But why not specify that it's mine? Were you testing me? Trying to see if I'd notice?"

Yuven's pupils tightened into beads. "You heard Fenrer. I have no good reason for how I am. I once told you compassion would get you killed... and all of mine is in the grave of Irimount."

"Yuven—"

Snow swirled around him, and before her fingers grabbed onto his sleeve, he burst into mist and disappeared from view. "You stubborn nuglet—" Adara threw her hands up in the air, left alone. "You know that's not true and so does Fenrer!" she snapped, crying out with the compassion he resented so much to reach the ghost who abandoned her. "I refuse to believe that. I've seen you at your best and worst. You cannot tell me that you don't care about other people, why would you run otherwise? Why would you be a Storm Warden? Why would you risk your life protecting someone you don't know? Why would you be Oathbound to someone like Fenrer? Isn't that how that works?" Adara hurried over to the walls, speaking to the emptiness in her own heart. "To become Oathbound your souls must sync in a fundamental way, right? Can't either of you see that?" You're so close! Tears slid down her cheeks at the separation, and she went quiet, her words worthless to stop the headsman's ax, no matter how much she cried out to prevent the injustice, it wound around her neck with Derelict teeth.

It was Fenrer and Yuven who jumped forwards without fear of the consequences of being magickae in the arena, showing the lie underneath the crown of a king who touted his power over those with a latent talent. Glyphs clashed against a sword when Fenrer brought himself down from Yuven's magick and swept her away from her would-be captors and Yuven sacrificed himself when he had everything to lose including his shortened life. The wall failed to respond to her pleas, so she groaned and stomped out of the library, useless to the grand scheme of the Storm Wardens. So much for her power. So much for being Anima. Ashes lost in the fire of her soul, she sighed when she clenched her fist, and the paper between her fingers smoldered and scorched into black soot. So much for me, the third party. Adara let it whisper away into the damp wind rushing through the open window. Maybe there's nothing I can do to fix this? Do I just wait and hope they can sort this out?

She half-expected for Fenrer to be waiting for her when she entered the room they occupied together. He was nowhere in sight, so she found herself sitting at the window, the flames rising in her cheeks as she pressed her hands into them. Her thoughts wandered into dangerous territory, and she waved them out in front of her to get away from them. Never listen to Yuven, we've talked about this. As she held the sword in her lap, she studied the mastery of the smith. Runes lined the edges of the blade and wound itself through the fuller, meant for intaking magick. He went out of his way to get a sword forged for me just because of our deal? If only it didn't turn out like this. Where did Fenrer go?

He didn't come back in seconds. In minutes. As the hours grew older she changed back into her night clothes, securing the window to keep the cold of the evening out. Evenfall spread across the stars on a flaming tail of a phoenix, a mirror image of her dreams. It cracked across space and time. Flames bounced off her fingertips to fill the candles and then the fireplace when she sent her final burst into the grate until the warmth flickered over her skin. On the bed, she sat cross-legged, trying to get comfortable in a room which boasted the size of Garren's log cabin. ...I wonder if the old man ever made it home, to the islands. Out of the window, the gulf took over the entire horizon with the statues of two kings, hands outstretched to protect what they loved the most.

Two kings and lost loves.

Adara swung her head to the door at the sound of heavy footsteps. Her heart leaped into her throat in relief and concern when Fenrer slipped in, closing the door with his back when he leaned against it. On her feet, she went to comfort him, to provide support, but she stopped short when he slumped and shook his head. "I shouldn't have said what I did," he replied. "I did exactly what Yuven warned me and let my emotions dictate me. I crossed a line."

"So did Yuven."

Fenrer shook his head again. "This is different," he whispered. "Because that sword wasn't meant for me, was it? He made it for you."

"Yes." He raised a hand up to his lips and covered his mouth, his other hand grasping the area over his heart. Her own found his at the slight trembles of his body. "Fen, what's wrong?"

"I don't know," he whispered. "Everything you could imagine? My best friend hates me, I've said something I can't take back though I wish I could. It was only after that I realised he had that sword forged for you, not for me... I know Yuven had no malicious intent but then I go right ahead and call him a Derelict, the one thing he's always been worried about. He's always had to fight ten times harder than everyone else just to be seen with respect instead of pity." He drew himself off the door and unwound his braid to set the wolven pin on the desk before falling into the chair to push his fingers into his brow. "I'm sorry, Adara, I don't want to talk, but I don't want to be alone—"

"You don't have to justify or explain yourself, I understand how it feels." Adara rested her hand on his shoulder to squeeze it. "You know I'm here if you want to talk." Her hand drifted off his shoulder when she headed for the bed. "I'm sure he doesn't hold what you said against you."

"This is Yuven we're talking about, you'd be surprised what he can hold against someone," Fenrer whispered, but he went quiet and faced the window instead of her, ending the conversation before it began. With no other options and not wanting to disturb him from his thoughts, Adara slipped underneath the blankets of the bed and tried to sleep. Except she found herself kept awake by the fact Fenrer never returned to bed, even with the lover moons ascending the sky to spread their soft, cold light. He simply sat at his desk, leaning into his hands.

Adara rolled over to try and get some sleep. Because staying up isn't going to help any... Still though, she'd be lying to herself if she pretended to not want his warmth around her. Godsdamnit, Yuven Traye, why can't you bite down on your pride? I saw it in your eyes. You are feeling exactly the same thing he's feeling but you're so stubborn that you refuse to let anyone know that you can be vulnerable and weak when we've already seen it from you. The call of the birds greeted the new dawn, but when she sat up, Fenrer was still at his desk, though his head was in his arms, breathing deeply.

Anything is better than nothing at all. Out of bed, she went to give him a poke, but stopped herself short of rousing him. I shouldn't. I should let him sleep. Maybe I should see if Yuven ever came back. It took a few minutes to wash up and get changed, but with everything in hand she hurried out of the room and left Fenrer to get the rest he refused but so desperately needed.

Except when she arrived into the personal study, there was no sight of Yuven. Everything was how he had left it yesterday, the scattered wooden soldiers remained overturned, dropped dead. She found herself at the stacks of books to sort through the ones Yuven chose to read. Each one on varying aspects of blood and soul magick, taboo or otherwise. Her stomach churned at the visceral drawings within some, of blood magick gone wrong or meant to feed into the Obscura and bring forth Derelict infestations. Teeth grew out of veins and exploded outwards, and she snapped the book closed with a shudder to avoid the cracking of bones and popping of sockets. Book back where it belonged to avoid Yuven's annoyance, she wandered the rest of the library and relented to the reality that Yuven was not inside, and hadn't been since they last spoke.

Where did he go? Adara folded his arms. If I was Yuven... where would I go?

It was in a moment she knew two places he could've ended up, or would be.

Maria Ollain, or the one place of his perceived greatest failure, when Fenrer fell into the jaws of the ocean and barely came back up alive — all thanks to a person he hated the most. It was all she had going for her, so she left the office to go find him.