I was a tad anxious.

Standing alone with Vim, I fidgeted with the letter in my hands as I watched him tie his boot’s strings. He called them laces, though I’d always heard them called strings and thus did so myself.

Vim was kneeling in front of me as he tightened his boots, and had his spear resting under his left arm and on his shoulder as he did. It was a tad odd to see him so comfortably carry his spear, even though it shouldn’t be. Even back before he had retrieved his spear from Celine’s Tomb he had occasionally carried similar weapons before as we traveled. I should be used to seeing him, and how comfortable he was, with such things… yet I still found myself a tad awed by how smoothly he moved it around as he did stuff.

To Vim the spear was as if a third arm or something. He acted as if he didn’t even notice it, even when he had to move it in weird ways to accomplish whatever he was doing. If I had tried to tie my boot laces as he was I likely would have just put the spear down, otherwise I might have dropped it or would have focused on it too much to properly tighten the strings on my boots. Though it was likely the main reason Vim was so comfortable with weapons was simply because he didn’t fear them. I was always very cautious and aware of the spear, or any weapon or tool, since I always worried about harming either myself or those around me on accident. Vim though wouldn’t even flinch if his insanely sharp spear poked or cut him.

It was darker now; with the sun having set already… but the bright moon was lighting up the world well. Oddly the large tree overhead was shedding leaves at the moment, ones that were slowly falling all around us. There weren’t many falling in the air, but enough to make me enjoy the moment. Some of the leaves were tiny, but a few were big. The kind of big that reminded me of the forests up north.

“Where’d your happy smile go, Renn?” Vim asked as he went to mess with his other boot.

My ears fluttered. “I’m just anxious,” I told him.

He likely was speaking of what I had worn during our dinner just now. I had undoubtedly been smiling so massively that I had looked weird, but I couldn’t help myself. These last couple of hours had been so precious and amazing that I was still riding on the joy that it had given me. If not for Light’s letter in my hands, that I was about to open and read for Vim, I’d still be grinning like mad even though Vim was about to go off into battle to kill the bear.

Just thinking of that table, full of people, made my eyes water and my tail curl and coil. I of course have had dinner with the owl family since arriving, but this had been the first time each and every member had sat all at once with everyone else… and Vim had been there too. It had been lovely, because unlike usual when Vim either was somewhat quiet or slips off half way through like he does everywhere else Vim had instead done the opposite.

He had eaten, talked and been a part of all the conversations as if he too had been a member of the parliament. And it warmed my heart in ways I couldn’t explain to have seen such a thing. It was so rare for Vim to actually be treated like family by our members, and even rarer that Vim seemed to genuinely reciprocate.

And of course that was not to say the least of the mere experience of spending time with such a family. During tonight’s dinner no one had argued, complained or acted odd or indifferent at all. Branches and his brothers had not even glared at one another once during the dinner. Crown had eaten everything, clearing her plates as she’s not done once since I’d arrived. There had been nothing but good during dinner, in all forms… though that might only be because of the implications of the moment. What with the bear and all.

“And now you’re smiling again.”

I blinked and felt my smile turn into a wry smirk. “Either want to see it or don’t!”

Vim smiled at me as he stopped messing with his boots and slowly stood up. I glanced at his spear as he did, and the way it slid along his shoulder and back into the cup of his hand. It sat between his thumb and index finger in a way that made me a tad conscious, though I wasn’t sure why.

We were currently alone and a fair distance from the owl’s house. We were far enough away that even I couldn’t hear any sounds coming from it. Even though the whole family should still be up and about, active, as they cleaned up after dinner. I had offered, and had hoped, to help them do so but Vim had asked me to join him… as to see him off, and to do what he had originally came here to do.

Glancing down at the letter, I felt a tad uneasy again as I again noticed how thin it was.

This was not like the prophecy I had delivered to Telmik. That had been as thick as a book. This one, one so important that Vim had left SilverCreek to come here… was so thin it might likely just be a single page.

As if the letter was intended not for me but Vim. Since one would only write the bare minimum for him.

Yet Vim had said that he had been told to make sure I was the one who opened and read it. That, unless it was impossible, I was to be the one to read it first.

I’d volunteered to do this. To receive and interpret prophecies for him. For us. All of us. For the Society. To better get Vim to do what he had to… but…

Suddenly it was terrifying. I now felt as if I held the fate of the world in my hands, and the fact that fate felt lighter than a feather was scary.

“Hm… maybe we’ll get lucky and it’ll just be about the bear or something,” Vim said.

“If only,” I said, wishing it were so.

Vim sighed as he moved the spear a bit, grabbing it firmer as he seemingly leaned against it. As if using it as a crutch to support his weight, which was strange because it looked like the butt of the spear didn’t sink into the soft grass at all as he did.

I studied the spear, and where it sat on the ground in the grass… and wondered again how his weight worked. He was sometimes so heavy the very earth broke around him, yet then was like this… as light as the letter I held.

Plus the spear itself was odd. It looked as if it should be heavy too, yet it wasn’t. Then of course its tip, the spear point itself, was so sharp that it should chip and break yet didn’t either. I knew if one of the floating leaves falling around us slid too close to it, the spear point would slice it in two as it brushed past. It was that sharp. It, like Vim, acted as if rules did not apply to it.

“Did you enjoy the dinner, Renn?”

Looking away from the spear that defied reason, I nodded. “So much so I’ll remember it my whole life,” I told him.

He smirked at that. “You remember everything, Renn, so that’s hardly a sign of how important it was.”

Hmph. “Had this night happened even just a year or so ago I likely would have wept so much it hurt… and then would have vowed to live here forever,” I told him.

“That I’ve no doubt,” Vim said gently.

“Plus…” I hesitated a moment, since I was about to tell him what I had really truly enjoyed during tonight’s dinner… and I decided against it. At least, for now. “I’ve been enjoying a lot of happy moments lately,” I decided to say instead.

“Hm…” Vim had likely noticed I had changed topics slightly, but he of course didn’t say or do anything about it. “They’re a good family, aren’t they?” he asked.

I nodded, and thought of our conversation a few hours ago. The one before dinner. He had… been bothered. By Lilly’s offer to help. I don’t think she had offered to help in any specific way, such as with the bear or his gods or anything… but had instead just simply offered to help in any shape. A general offer for help. And it had… bothered Vim, it seemed. Deeply. To the point his eyes had even grew watery.

Such a thing was a bit sad, since it told me how rarely Vim got offered such help. And also how he perceived it.

He was humbled… but he was also upset over it. Because to him, someone offering to help him was a bit of an insult. Not to him, of course… but to his ethos. To his rules.

He was supposed to be the one helping, not getting help. And so to him, that moment of love and loyalty from Lilly… had been a moment of failure. In it and his own way.

“How do we… make sure our family is like them, Vim?” I asked him softly.

My ear twitched as I heard it, but didn’t see it. I kept my eyes on Vim as I heard his spear finally dig into the grass. It didn’t go too deeply, since Vim stopped leaning against it, but I heard it make an odd noise as he gripped it tighter… and then released it.

Out of the corner of my eye the spear stayed upright. Even though Vim had let it go. It was stuck so firmly into the grass it didn’t fall over, even though it was angled ever so slightly. The sight of it stuck in the grass next to him was kind of funny, so I smirked at him as Vim crossed his arms and frowned at me.

“I… don’t know, Renn,” he then answered my question, a tad softly too.

“As you know… my family was not a happy one. We never ate together like that. They had been… nothing like them,” I said with a small gesture with my tail towards the house. “I don’t want ours to be like mine,” I told him.

“Issues and all?” he asked.

“They do have issues… but they’re not bad ones, Vim. Nor are they issues of their own making,” I said, a tad upset he’d even say such a thing.

“Hm…? The different opinions and values are indeed of their own making, Renn,” he said.

“For one who so values free-will why did that statement just sound judgmental?” I asked.

Vim’s frown deepened, as if offended over my accusation. “I meant simply that their differences, that which is causing the strife amongst them, is of their own doing. They can’t accept that the others might simply be different, and in their hard-headed ways they choose to be…”

I huffed at him, interrupting him as I shook my head. “So you blame their little disputes over their inability to accept and overlook each other’s differences,” I said.

“Well… yeah?”

Right… That was how Vim thought. “I agree that everyone should have a right to their beliefs… of course, but…”

“But?”

My tail squirmed, and I realized we were now suddenly talking about something very important. I wasn’t really sure how this topic had come up, but now that it had I knew I had to just say it. “I… really don’t like the fact that children could so readily go against their parents,” I said softly.

Vim tilted his head at me, in a way that made me want to groan. He looked like he was enjoying himself, as if he was teasing me or something and was enjoying watching me squirm as I tried to get back at him. “So you think Lilly’s children should just listen and obey…? Even if it goes against their own rules and beliefs?” he asked.

“I mean…! No…? Because if I did then I’d be the same. And I’d hate to imagine myself obeying my parents too… but I mean…” I groaned a bit as I realized I had just dug myself into a weird hole. I was being hypocritical, and we both knew it.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Vim chuckled at me. “Yet it bothers you all the same. I do hear and see where you’re coming from, Renn,” Vim said.

“You do…?” That’s good, because I didn’t. I was really bothered by the way some of Lilly’s children were so different, not just physically but mentally. But the reality was I shouldn’t be. If they didn’t want to live like their parents, it was their right. And in my own perspective a parent should go out of their way and do whatever they had to as to ensure a child’s happiness. And so that meant if they would be happier away from me…

My heart fluttered as I sniffed at the idea of my own children not wanting to live with me or near me. Because to them I was too… well… different, or radical, or something weird. The thought of my own child wanting to rebel against me and everything I stood for was just… so heartbreaking.

“Just remember, Renn,” Vim then said as he reached over. I closed my left eye as he gently wiped a tiny tear from my cheek. “Even if they disagree… they still come together. They still trust one another. They still have dinner together,” he said.

I sniffed at that. “I know… I do. I just…” I feared what was to come.

Some of Lilly’s children, namely Bark and Seed… and possibly Trunk too, were…

They weren’t rebelling. Not outright. But…

If they left after all this and never returned, not only would I not be surprised… neither would anyone else.

And that was so heartbreaking. Especially when their only real grievances were things that I felt were so simple and stupid. It wasn’t as if Lilly and Windle were abusive, or cruel. It wasn’t as if they were bad parents. The owlets were just…

Different. More like many others in the Society. People who were timid. Who wanted to live in a certain way, a way that those like Lilly just couldn’t.

It wasn’t just this family, either. It didn’t end here. This small little discord, this issue, was starting to become very prevalent. Something very obvious.

There were those in the Society who wanted to live one way… and there were those who didn’t. And it was getting to a point where they could no longer co-exist.

Which was such a sad thing to think, even if it was obvious.

“This is where I suppose I should say we just will need to try our best. To raise them well,” Vim then said.

I smirked at that. “That’s what I’m worried about.”

“Oh…? I think you’ll be a great mother, Renn.”

My heart grew hot. “Thanks… and I think you’ll be a good father too, but I fear the silly ideas you’re going to give them.”

“Hm… I suppose that is a conversation we’ll need to have, isn’t it?” he said.

I sighed at that. “I’ll add it to the list.”

Vim paused a moment, and then laughed. “Right!?”

Smiling at him as he happily enjoyed such a joke, I wondered what he’d say if I was actually keeping a list… and it was indeed getting very long.

After he chuckled a bit, he sighed as if in relief and nodded at me. “See? We’re problematic too. It’s just a part of life, Renn.”

“We’re not problematic… we’re just weird,” I said. Rather, Vim was the weird one. Most of our conversations, or rather the severe lack of certain ones, were because of him. Since he was so touchy about talking about certain things.

“Hm… I’ve been called worse, I suppose.”

“I’ve no doubt.”

He smiled at me, and then once again he reached out. This time he didn’t wipe a tear away, but instead some of my hair that had stuck to my tearstained cheek. Then after he did, he also reached over and plucked a leaf from the bundle of my hair.

It was a common occurrence lately. With my longer hair I have been noticing that stuff has started to get caught in it. Not just leaves either. One of Fly’s feathers had accidentally gotten stuck in my hair the other night, and it hadn’t even been on purpose.

“Maybe my hair grows so fast because yours doesn’t grow at all,” I said, teasing him.

“Hm… I do like the new color too,” he said as he grabbed one of the thicker braids. He lifted it as if to study it like one would a precious jewel.

“Color…?” I asked as I glanced at my own hair in his hand.

What’d he mean…?

“It’s getting darker, Renn. Rather quickly.”

Was it…? “I uh… can’t tell,” I said admittedly. It in fact looked like normal to me, the same darker brown.

“Hm. Wonder if it’s because of the length or your heart?” he wondered.

Oh…! “It’s… getting darker because of my heart?” I asked. That made a lot of sense, actually! Especially since my whole family had dark fur!

“Wonder how dark it’ll get…?” Vim wondered further.

“Instead of that, I wonder if I’ll finally grow fur?” I asked excitedly.

Vim gave me an odd frown. “What?”

“You know? The hair? My sisters had hair, like I told you… I used to be really jealous, it wasn’t just pretty it kept them warm during the winter…” I said as I gestured at my forearms. They had it in places like that.

Vim studied me for a moment, and then gently released my braid. “Don’t get too hairy, will make it hard for you to blend in,” he warned.

I giggled at that. “Right!”

He nodded… and then ever so gently tapped the letter in my hands. “Not to ruin the happy moment, Renn… but we should open it.”

“Hmph. You’re just trying to avoid saying how much you’d like it too if I grew fur…” I complained as I looked down at Light’s letter. I went to carefully open it, tugging at the wax that had sealed it up.

“I’d find you beautiful no matter your appearance, Renn,” Vim said as I opened the letter.

I glanced up at him, and did my best to not let my face get too hot. “Think our kids will have fur?” I asked.

He blinked at that. “I’m… not sure, Renn. I really don’t know what to expect, to be honest.”

“Hm… if they end up being ugly I’m blaming you. My family were all jerks, but they were at least good looking ones,” I said.

He laughed at that as I finished opened the letter and looked down at it.

Huh. It really was a short one. I mean… really short…

“Um…” I whispered, and then gulped… as I read the only sentence written upon it.

“Hm… I’m ready. Maybe. Go on,” Vim sounded stiff, as if we were about to pull an arrow from his leg or something. He wasn’t looking down at me, but now was instead looking up. Maybe at the tree nearby.

My shoulders slumped as I again read the simple sentence. And I looked up… and wordlessly stared at Vim.

I had to tell him.

It was just one sentence.

But…

Gulping, I took in a deep breath… and went for it.

“Vim…”

“Hm…” he nodded, stiffly.

Say it Renn. You had to.

“Like pulling teeth, isn’t it?” Vim said.

Pulling teeth…? Gosh…! What an apt way to phrase this!

Grinding my own teeth, now that I was conscious of them… I glanced again down at the letter… and hated it.

This might be the first letter I didn’t want to keep. That I wanted to burn and never see or read again in my life.

Taking a deep breath, I nodded gravely as I looked back up to my husband. I knew our happy little conversations were over. Our lovely little moments would end. As would my nights here in the Owl’s Nest. At least… for a bit.

I might now not even get to return to SilverCreek. It was that concerning.

Which was why I had to tell Vim. Which was why Light had so obviously written the letter in this way. So that even if I couldn’t be the one to read it to Vim… others could.

Vim must have noticed my silence… for he glanced down. And as he did, and our eyes met, I felt a shiver run down my tail.

“Tor will betray us,” I whispered the letter’s contents.

For a single heartbeat… nothing happened.

His eyes didn’t narrow. He didn’t move. Didn’t say a word.

But then… with another heartbeat… I noticed something odd.

Blinking as I looked up and a bit past Vim’s right shoulder… I frowned at the leaf.

Hanging in the air. Motionless. As if caught in a spider’s web, but… it was obvious there were none here. In fact I’d not really seen any bugs at all in this forest.

And it wasn’t the only one. I slowly looked around us… and felt strangely uneasy as I realized they had all gone still in the air. Dozens of leaves of varying sizes were all around us, floating in the air… motionless…

“What?”

I blinked, since I had not been the one to say that. Even though I had been about to.

Vim looked… shocked. And not the good kind, like when I said something that shook his heart. No… this was a man stunned. Surprised. By something he had not expected, at all.

“Tor will betray us,” I said again, unable to say anything else.

Vim’s eyes then narrowed… and then with a blur of movement the leaves began to fall once more. I crumpled the letter as I stepped back, in shock, as Vim grabbed his spear in a flurry of motion and spun around. Before I could even comprehend what he was doing, he had stepped away from me… and then a silver streak blurred in the air, and then the world exploded.

I yelped as a familiar feeling hit me. A burst of air, like a wall of wind, sent me backward. I felt Light’s letter fly out of my hand as I fell backward onto the grass, and then another loud pop of air exploded nearby.

Through half-closed eyes, thanks to the wild burst of air, I barely saw it. A flash of silver flew off from Vim’s hand… and flew off into the distance.

Countless more leaves began to fall as my ears rang with a high pitched noise, and through the ringing I heard both the burst of air from Vim’s violent movement rush outward and hit the trees that were all around the field we were in.

Blinking wildly as the air settled and the ringing in my ears started to dull… I groaned as I realized what had just happened.

He had just thrown his spear. Out into the darkness beyond, off to the north.

Just as back at the Crypt, when he had killed Tim… he had just done something so fast with such force that the whole world had shook.

Sitting on the ground, I reached up to rub my ears that still rung. They didn’t hurt too badly, but I knew I’d likely soon have a headache. Once the blood rushing through my body, pumped by a fast heartbeat, settled.

“Vim…” I groaned at him as I winced and looked at him. He was still a few feet from me, standing with his back turned… and he looked stiff. His hands were balled into fists, his shoulders were lifted a bit, and…

Yes. He was angry. Furious, even. Yet…

Vim turned around, and as he did he relaxed and his shoulders slumped at the sight of me on the ground.

“Are you okay Renn…?” he asked as he stepped forward, as to offer me a hand. As he spoke, I noticed his voice sounded a tad odd. Was it because my ears were still ringing or was he just that upset? His voice almost sounded hollow, as if I was hearing him through a tunnel or something.

“I don’t know,” I admitted as I took his hand and he helped me up.

Getting to my feet, a little unsurely, I glanced around and wasn’t too surprised to see Lilly and a few others hurrying over. Sap was even flying over to us, about to land next to us in a few moments. She’d reach us first

“I’m sorry…” Vim whispered, focused on me as Sap landed a few feet away.

“You should be… why’d you throw your spear, Vim? Where’d it go?” I asked. It wasn’t anywhere in sight… had it actually flown off into the darkness?

Vim didn’t answer as Sap walked over. “What happened…?” she asked worriedly. It was interesting to see her wings all fluffed up, as if she was agitated. Maybe she too had been hurt or bothered by the explosion of air that Vim had caused.

“Um…” I wasn’t sure how to answer that. It was obvious that Vim had simply acted out; throwing his spear in rage, over being told the contents of the letter… but how did I really explain that?

No, maybe Sap and the rest would understand. This was Vim, after all. Him doing such outrageous things was expected…

“Tell your mother to get the gear. Let’s go harvest it, while we can…” Vim said to Sap as he released my hand and turned.

“What…? Vim!” I reached out to grab him, but wasn’t able to. Before I could take a step Sap had grabbed hold of my arm since I had almost stumbled.

“Careful, Renn… are you okay?” she asked worriedly as he held me up. I felt odd, as if dizzy…

“I uh… think so…” I mumbled as I stood back up straight. Yes, I was fine. I was just a tad dizzy, but now that I knew of it I wasn’t going to fall over or stumble.

“Sheesh…” Sap didn’t sound convinced and honestly neither did I.

Watching Vim walk away, heading for the darkness… I groaned at him. “You don’t think he actually killed it just now, do you?” I asked, almost not able to believe it.

“Huh? The bear?” Sap asked.

I nodded. “He just threw his spear,” I said.

The owl frowned at me. “If he really did just throw his spear, and that’s what we heard… then yes. He might have,” she said.

Great.

Reaching up, I cupped my left ear and was glad to feel and hear the lack of ringing.

I sighed as Lilly and arrived… and I had to explain to them what had happened, which was hard since I barely understood it myself.

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