Shattered Wishes

[laraine]

Echo listened to his story throughtfully. "I do appreciate the guide. Thank you for helping me." Her smile was slight. It only appeared briefly. She watched him stare out the cave and she too stared out at the rapidly falling snow.

"If you don't mind me asking, do you have a family waiting for you at home? Your home town I mean. I just can't help but feel bad bringing you into my problems like this.."

[HoudiniDerek]

Guang didn't say anything at first as he sat there watching the snow fall...a little less than it was earlier, but still coming down heavily. He turned back to Echo and smiled slightly.

"It's no trouble. I'm glad that I can be of use. I just finished some traveling and I have nothing to do for the time being." Guang coughed and situated himself a little differently up against the wall of the cave.

"I don't have any family waiting for me...in the Selkia or in Tamasha. I haven't had family for a long time." Guang looked at her with sad, but friendly eyes. "I get the feeling that we are in the same boat with that. How long have you been on your own?"

[laraine]

She looked back over at him, tilting her head a bit to one side and smiling. "Yeah, I guess we are." When he asked that question, she closed her eyes. "It would be probably going on six years now. I was ten when it happened. And believe it or not I am 16 this year." She grinned, proud of it almost. "Though most consider me still a child."

She seemed annoyed with this, but looking at her lanky body, with no curves or anything whatsoever, she knew they had reason to suspect she was no more than a kid. She opened her eyes and looked at her hands. "I have never really been on my own. I had help here and there. Besides with my gods how can I fail?" She smiled a bit. "At least when all of this is finally over, I can rest." She blinked, then sighed.

[HoudiniDerek]

Guang nodded as he listened to her. Six years...and her so young. Guang had been luckier with the loss of his family. He had been older, but the hurt might run deeper because of that. You had more time to live and love with them, so you knew more of what you were missing. In some ways, Echo was probably better off being younger when she lost her family. It allowed her to create her own path without looking back.

But as he continued to listen to her, Guang began to suspect that maybe she had been just old enough to have nothing else to hold onto and that was why she was fixated on finding this gang of bandits.

"It's nice to have people to turn too and to trust. They are not always easy to find or easy to keep." Guang sighed and stretched again. "What do you mean you will finally be able to rest? What do you think will happen if you find these bandits?"

[laraine]

"Just like I said, I will rest. I will be able to be feel free." She smiled a bit. "The bandits took away my family. They took away many many lives. Someone has to stop them. With my power I was given this choice. So I chose to fight. Even if I die fighting them I have no regrets." Her smiled turned sad.

"But I don't believe I will die. I will fight them and I will destroy them. That's all there is to it. As for what comes next? I'm not sure." She was lying, but hiding that deep within her heart.

"I'm going to get some more rest. I'll need it when we head out soon."
She lied back down and without waiting for a response from him, fell asleep.

[HoudiniDerek]

Guang watched her drift off to sleep again. It was going to be a long day if she wasn't very talkative and if she continued to sleep. He rustled around in his pack and pulled out a blade and a small piece of wood. Sitting back against the wall, he whittled.

**************************

Several hours later, Guang lay down to sleep. He had worked hard for a few hours, making a nice figurine. He put it away with a final glance outside. It looked like the snow was still blowing. He sighed.

[laraine]

Yawning and stretching, Echo awoke from her sleep. Looking around she stood up and walked over to the cave. The bandits themselves were getting farther and farther away from her. It angered her that she couldn't do anything about it. She was tired being stuck in this cave. It made her uneasy.

"I might have no choice.." She mumbled, thinking. It would only hold for a while, and she didn't know if she could do it right. But maybe if she used that they could get down the mountain where it wouldn't be as bad. She started to pace, thinking about what she had come up with.

[HoudiniDerek]

Guang woke and saw Echo standing by the cave entrance. It was only about mid-day, but she was pacing anxiously. Guang stood up and dusted himself, walking over to Echo. He stood there silently watching the snow blow wildly outside the cave.

"Getting anxious?" Guang asked, smiling at Echo. "Don't worry. It's not snowing anymore. It's just blowing. I figure by morning that both will have stopped. We might have to dig our way to a path, but we should make pretty good time."

[laraine]

Echo nodded, answering his question. "I feel like the more time I spend here, the more those beasts will get away from me." She said softly. "If I lose track of those monsters I don't know what I'll do." she blinked and turned to him smiling slightly. "Anyway enough of that depressing talk. How about some food? I'm quite again." She said, her stomach agreeing with her.

She sat down and got ready to eat whatever Guang had left. Thankfully because she hadn't been using much magic her appetite had lessened. But once she would use her magic again, she would be lucky if she didn't pass out.

He didn't seem to know yet the toll the magic took on her body. And that was how it would stay.

I can't have him worrying about me too much. He's already trying to dig into my past. If he finds out about Loki he might try to stop me....

[HoudiniDerek]

Guang looked at the little girl and shook his head with a smile. "You sure do eat a lot for a little person. Do you have someone trapped inside?" He chuckled to himself and set about serving a meal to Echo.

"I know it's boring here with me, but tomorrow morning, we will be free and clear. Fresh air is definitely going to be a plus." He looked at her for a moment and the smile vanished.

"And we can go on fighting our demons..."

[laraine]

Echo laughed lightly about him commenting about her having a little one inside her. "No I'm afraid its just me. I guess my body needs a lot of nutrients." She smiled slightly and then went to staring back out at the snow. She nodded at his second statement. "I know, I guess I am a little impatient."

Her emotions shifted when he mentioned fighting their own demons.

"Guang.." She started, then shook her head. "No, nevermind."

[HoudiniDerek]

Guang looked up at the mention of his name, but Echo had retreated from whatever she was going to ask. Guang took a guess and looked back out at the snow.

"My sister, Sheal, was killed years ago. I could never explain how it had happened or who had done it. She was killed in a very specific way and I have spent the better part of my life hiding from the issue."

Guang sighed and took a bite of food, chewing slowly. He swallowed and turned to face Echo.

"Every day I wake up and face the demon of my sister's death. In your case, you have a cause to follow and people to fight. I don't. Every day I wake up and have to remember her death...and try to make some sense of it. It's been years and I'm no closer to the truth now than I was then. No matter how many times I go over the situation, I can't see a result different from what others see. My people believe they know who killed my sister, but I can't come to that logical conclusion...I just can't."

Guang took a swallow of ale and another bite of food. The silence intensified as the wind slowed up a little outside the cave entrance. Guang looked at Echo and saw a question forming in her eyes.

"My people looked at the scene and the situation a hundred times or more. My best friend, Braish, looked at it too and I can trust his judgement. When the time came to announce the murderer, it made sense to everyone." He paused and put down his plate, food no longer satisfying him in the wake of his story. "It was me."

[laraine]

To say that Echo was surprised would have been a understatement. That entire last statement threw her. She opened her mouth, but not a sound emerged.

She averted her eyes to the ground, thinking hard about what he had just told her. What could she say? Nothing she would tell him could give him comfort now. Her eyes looked back at him, as if seeking permission to speak her mind. She swallowed and bit her lip, turning completely around to face him. It took her a couple more seconds of silence before she could summon the courage to speak.

"But, you didn't kill her right?" Echo finally concluded. Her face had returned to the emotionless expression she almost always wore. "Everyone else believes you killed her, but you know the truth."

The statements were simple, bland. But Echo wasn't used to having deep and meaningful conversations with people. So this was the best she could do. "It doesn't hurt any less, the feeling of losing someone close to you. Neither is the feeling of no one believing in you. But I understand one thing. My parents and my brother probably don't hold a grudge." The switch of topic was random and Echo had almost turned back around to stare at the remaining snow still on the ground.

"I know my family, even though they were ruthlessly murdered by those monsters, they probably are staring down at me and wondering what I am doing. They probably don't want revenge, I can't be certain of that, but I know my family usually doesn't hold grudges." She blinked, remembering her point. "Anyway, I took on this burden alone to destroy those people. It's mine to bear. I can't say I know your sister, but she probably feels the same way." Echo shrugged. "Nothing can bring her back, especially torturing yourself over her death. I understand if you wanted revenge against the person who murdered her though. She is probably enjoying herself, like my family right now, and watching us."

Realizing she probably talked for too long Echo stopped, blushing.

"Sorry. I should really learn when to keep my mouth shut."

[HoudiniDerek]

Guang looked at Echo and smiled a little. "I haven't talked this much in a long time either. You are probably one of the few people outside my tribe that even knows the story of my appearance outside the borders of the Selkia."

Guang leaned back against the cave wall. "It never gets easier. Even though I know I didn't kill my sister, it's not surprising that everyone thought so. I couldn't explain it...I didn't have an alibi...my best friend couldn't find another answer. It just was not something I could understand."

Guang took a deep breath and continued. "I actually was never as strong as you were. I ran from my problems. I hid for years, trying to make myself and my people forget all about me. Over the years, I have found myself wondering and trying to confront the past."

Guang looked at Echo and smiled. "That's why I know that chasing demons from your past can be...problematic. Maybe together we can offer each other the comfort we are going to need...especially if our journeys last longer than we would like."

[laraine]

He thinks...I'm strong?

Echo smiled, letting her hair cover her face from view as he spoke. "Right." she said softly.

He really doesn't understand anything, but I can't tell him. I must promise myself he will never know about me. For now its best to lie to him. He's lost a lot already, I don't want to burden him with my own pains. Isn't that right? My lord? She looked up as she said this and turned back to Guang with a smile.

A few hours past quickly and soon it seemed as if the world outside was now peaceful. The snow had stopped and a few feet had even melted. She blinked at the peaceful world outside and looked over. "So it looks like its fine to me now. Should we head out?"