Aela recalls very little of the mother that named her. Her name is the only thing that she has carried with her from her old life. There is a memory at the back of her mind that she'll recall when she's older; when she is ready to realize who she is and what she comes from. There will come a day when she remembers why she so dislikes the pitch dark and the water.
When that day comes, she will remember @[kensley] too.
She will remember the horror haunting his expression. She will remember the terror written along the fine lines of his gray face. And most importantly, she will remember his eyes. She will remember how they had been like stillwater and then how quickly they turned like a tide. Maybe that is why now, as a girl, she takes the step back. She remembers the water and how angry it had been. She remembers the black wave behind her and she remembers that primal instinct to run.
If there is a twinge of panic in his chest, it becomes rampant and wild in Aela's chest. There it spirals, tempted to spin out of control. The girl is standing still - though her eyes have grown wide and deep like a never-ending well - and her small chest suddenly labors to keep up the with the heart that frenzies within her. It beats loudly, like a war drum, but Aela is too young and inexperienced to know the rhythm.
His mother had called him Kensley, he tells her. (And Aela realizes she has no memory of her own naming; she remembers Heartfire speaking it aloud and Kota calling her that. But there is no memory of when or why the name was given.) It might not belong to him anymore and that terrifies her - for him or for her, she doesn't know. Their emotions have become so intertwined that even though there are no images passing between them, Aela thinks she lost her name too. She imagines that she is lost in the fog with him.
And like her shadows, there is something about the fog of his mind she finds terrifying.
It makes her reaction an almost thoughtless one. Aela who has never known a father, who knows nothing of the brothers who would have loved her, reaches for him. She doesn't reach up this time. The petite filly takes a pressing step forward and another before ambling up and pressing into him. Aela tucks herself there like there is no other place in the world she could possibly fit. There are no memories to share; the only thing that echoes between them are the frenzied beats of her heart that feels as if it will burst out of her tiny chest.
When that day comes, she will remember @[kensley] too.
She will remember the horror haunting his expression. She will remember the terror written along the fine lines of his gray face. And most importantly, she will remember his eyes. She will remember how they had been like stillwater and then how quickly they turned like a tide. Maybe that is why now, as a girl, she takes the step back. She remembers the water and how angry it had been. She remembers the black wave behind her and she remembers that primal instinct to run.
If there is a twinge of panic in his chest, it becomes rampant and wild in Aela's chest. There it spirals, tempted to spin out of control. The girl is standing still - though her eyes have grown wide and deep like a never-ending well - and her small chest suddenly labors to keep up the with the heart that frenzies within her. It beats loudly, like a war drum, but Aela is too young and inexperienced to know the rhythm.
His mother had called him Kensley, he tells her. (And Aela realizes she has no memory of her own naming; she remembers Heartfire speaking it aloud and Kota calling her that. But there is no memory of when or why the name was given.) It might not belong to him anymore and that terrifies her - for him or for her, she doesn't know. Their emotions have become so intertwined that even though there are no images passing between them, Aela thinks she lost her name too. She imagines that she is lost in the fog with him.
And like her shadows, there is something about the fog of his mind she finds terrifying.
It makes her reaction an almost thoughtless one. Aela who has never known a father, who knows nothing of the brothers who would have loved her, reaches for him. She doesn't reach up this time. The petite filly takes a pressing step forward and another before ambling up and pressing into him. Aela tucks herself there like there is no other place in the world she could possibly fit. There are no memories to share; the only thing that echoes between them are the frenzied beats of her heart that feels as if it will burst out of her tiny chest.
AELA
she had a marvelous time ruining everything
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