20 Midnight Meal (20)

Caeli sat for a moment on the mattress and thought about what she should do next.

She wanted to clean up but her body hurt so badly she didn't think the cold water would do right by her. Sitting by the fire and getting food in her stomach was surely the right call.

Caeli released her hair and pulled it back into a ponytail. She patted her strands and hoped she didn't look too much of a mess. She stood and straightened her clothes from sleeping. She saw where her cloak had been laid on the other side of the large mattress and she went around to lift it.

She realized that Raven must have been the one to make this dwelling for her to rest and must have brought her to bed.

The last thing she recalled was passing out as they descended back to the ground together. There was no possible way she had brought herself into this tent.

She felt a twinge in her chest. Raven had treated her with such kindness and she repaid him by taking advantage of that.

Caeli realized that it was so easy to be unkind even if unintended.

She sighed to herself and donned the cloak.

As soon as she could convince Raven it was safe enough for her and her friends to move on, that was exactly what she would do.

Caeli was eager to move on from this place, to continue to explore what, and who, was out there waiting for her. The memory of her dream flitting across her mind.

She still craved the day she would wake without worry of how she should look, or behave, in front of others. To never again need to worry about others turning against her for reasons unfounded.

And the sooner she left, the sooner she would be closer to that goal.

She hoped that they would find a way to stay in touch. Once she found where she belonged, she'd be sure to find a way to contact him. And repay him for all that he had done.

She stepped out into the night slowly, still stiff from her slumber.

Looking to the sky to see the still full moon she turned her eyes to the fire just outside of the tent. Raven in all of his largeness sat daintily on a small stump that could hardly accommodate him.

Caeli laughed quietly at the sight.

The small sound made Raven turn to look at her. She stood there with a few strands of hair loose around her face, her hair pulled back. She had laughed and brought her hand up to cover it once she realized she had done it out loud.

It made Raven happy to see her feeling more herself already. Some food and more rest and they could sort things out. He just hoped she didn't feel the need to investigate him too soon. He still wasn't sure what he would tell her, how he would do it. What was right and wrong, or even if it mattered.

*She may not give a damn what you have to say mate.*, he said sadly to himself. His lies may be enough to convince her that he should never come near her again and he could not blame her in the slightest.

He stretched out a long arm and opened his hand towards another stump to the side of him. Next to that was another log cut horizontally in a makeshift side table. Upon it he had laid out grilled fish and vegetables and a few Raven-sized handfuls of fresh fruit lay washed in stone bowls.

Caeli smiled and gave a small curtsy. She recalled how all the forest folk would curtsy to their elders and their more powerful companions. Although humans still tended to give small nods or a small bend at the knees, the fairy folk often reminded her more of the royalty that always existed in old fairytale books. They had a high regard for manners and enjoyed throwing parties and balls in the forest amongst each other.

*Perhaps that's why they are called fairy tales.*, Caeli thought absentmindedly to herself.

She sat at the indicated stump and looked at Raven from the corner of her eye.

She noticed now in the light that his skin was pitch black and unmoving, unlike the form he had taken before, his body had seemed made of living shadow. The surface undulating and receding in wisps. Now his skin reflected black planes of hard marble, steady and sure in their existence.

She couldn't help but wonder if this was a more difficult shape to take for Raven. She thought back to the wild and almost anonymous shadows that had comprised his body before. What would it take to restrain that energy?

He had vaguely eluded to the fact that he could control his shape, she wondered if this meant he could change as he saw fit.

"Is this shape comfortable for you? If not you are more than welcome to change back. Please don't exert yourself on my account.", she said to him staring into the fire.

After being so close to one another she found it difficult to make direct eye contact with him.

Raven turned to look at the little woman. Had he been able to express his surprise it would have been written all over his face. Instead his reptilian orbits expanded, his irises tightening with the strain, the surfaces becoming glossy in the fire light.

Of course Caeli could not have known this as she continued to stare exhaustedly into the flames.

He shook his head slightly and went back to minding the fire.

"It's not easy, it takes a constant stream of magic to maintain this form. Once I rest I will likely change back. It's harder to use magic in your sleep, especially in my current state.", he said simply.

*IN HIS SLEEP?!*, Caeli thought to herself, astounded.

To use magic while you're unconscious? Perhaps this beast is even more powerful than she realized. Even after all of the Folk she had befriended in the nearby forest, she had never met a single one that could use their magic for more than a few minutes or hours at a time, let alone in their sleep.

The thought of her friends from the forest wrenched at her heart. She recalled the house spirits and what comfort they had been to her over her life. What comfort they had been even in the last moments before leaving the village.

She missed them dearly.

A deep sense of loneliness washed over her.

"My lord, I want you to know, I realize that there is a lot you cannot, or maybe do not want, to tell me. I want you to know that no matter your past, I hope that you will continue to be my friend.", she said as she reached down to re-lace her leather boots.

Her mind had returned to thoughts of what her plans would be once it was safe to leave.

Raven was obviously imbued with immense amounts of magical power. What if he had been a warrior for one of the continents? What if his country, and his people needed him.

What if he had a family to return to? A family to protect with all of that power.

What if he had a lover to rescue?

Caeli's thoughts stopped there.

She couldn't identify why, but she realized abruptly, she didn't want to think about it anymore.

Raven turned, shocked again and stared at her silently.

"I guess I felt I should say something since it's quite apparent that you're powerful. I'm not sure how much you remember, or if you're remembering more now that I named you. My friend Aurum claims that naming can increase a Folks power based on the Namer's magic capabilities. I know I'm not very powerful but if it's magic that's been helping you regain yourself I hope that I helped in some way. Just know that I understand what it's like to not know your own past, or to have lost memories over time, even precious ones. And I'm very sorry.", she said, turning to meet his gaze.

Most of her memories started after her aunt and uncle had taken over her care. Occasionally she would smell or hear something that would titillate the edges of her memory. She could feel that it was from somewhere deep inside of her mind, from long ago, but she could never recall anything in particular.

Her memories of childhood before living at the village were mostly feelings.

Comfort when she smelled the warming of fruit and spice, sadness when she would dip her toes into the river, fear when she once ran her hand across a sheet of metal that had been brought to the village for sale.

Her memories were feelings, never stories. She knew what it felt like to be missing pieces of your life. In more ways than one.

"You seem like you must have been very important at one time. I haven't the slightest on what happened or why but I'm sure soon you'll need to return to wherever you're from. I'm sure there are people out there worried and searching for you. I just hope that you'll remember me once you return to your old life. You've been incredibly kind, I feel safe with you and you've helped me so much in so little time. I'm not sure how I could ever repay you.", she said quietly.

She leaned forward and folded her hands in front of her knees.

She had never had many friends and she'd lost them all once she'd left the village. She was thankful for Aurum and Brego's presence, the idea of losing them or never seeing them again tore at her.

Perhaps she was developing a complex and that was why she was so concerned about not losing anymore friends.

"Please forgive me, my lord and disregard a rattled woman's idle prattle.", she said smiling sadly at the fire.

"I would like that Caeli. Where ever we end up, I will always find a way to reach you, that I promise. I don't think I could forget you, not in thousands of years.", he said taking a deep breath to calm himself. She made it so difficult not to just reach out and pull her close.

It was apparent then that this woman likely hadn't had much contact with the outside world, and just as likely that she was mistreated if she had been raised in a rural human town.

Relations between Folk and humans had been poor for quite a few years, even before Raven had lost his memories, and she had such deep and powerful magic in her, it simply wasn't possible that the humans around her wouldn't notice that she was different. No matter that they could only ever sense it intuitively or subconsciously. No matter that it would have felt like an invisible barrier to some, and like a magnifying glass to others. Something would have pushed them away, even if Caeli had tried to keep them around.

He knew the feeling, albeit on a much larger scale.

But at the end of the day Caeli was just, well, different.

And in the human world, different meant dangerous and sinful.

"Please, eat, before it gets cold", he said turning back to throw wood in the fire.

Caeli smiled at his turned away face and lifted one of the fish pierced on a stick and began eating around the bones. It was simple, and delicious. The fish had taken on some of the flavor of the vegetables it had been grilled with and the skin was crispy.

"Mmm", she mumbled to herself. She realized she was absolutely ravenous. How long had she been in this eternal night with Raven? How long since she had eaten?

She recalled how she had been shaken from her dream with Ventus from her stomachs' rioting.

*How incredibly embarrassing. If I should ever meet Ventus again I'll have to come up with some other reason why I'd suddenly woken up*, she thought to herself.

Caeli reached down and passed the largest grilled fish to Raven tentatively.

He slowly reached out and took it from her. He gave her a nod and turned away from her. She saw his shoulders hunch and heard a few crunching noises. When he turned back so that she could see his face, all that remained was the stick that the fish had been grilled on.

Caeli's eyebrows shot up, and just as quickly she scrunched them down hoping Raven had missed the expression.

*Don't be rude!*, she shouted at herself internally.

She made herself busy picking out fruit. Every other she would hand to Raven without looking up from the make shift table. Despite avoiding looking at him, she could hear his shuffling as he repeatedly twisted himself away to eat.

*He should eat as well and it's not fair for him to feel like he needs to turn away. Maybe if I just keep my eyes averted he'll not feel the need*, she thought sheepishly to herself.

She glanced at Raven as he brought a whole apple to his snout. The skulls top half lifted into the air and a black, reptilian jaw appeared with a long tongue. The tongue reached out and wrapped itself around the apple and in a snap it was gone.

Raven caught her staring.

He looked down at the fire quietly, unsure of what to say, and waiting for her to go screaming into the woods.

Caeli reached for another apple and turned her body to face him.

"That was very impressive my lord but do you think you can catch it?," she smirked and suddenly tossed the apple into the air.

With the slightest and quickest movement Caeli had ever witnessed, Raven caught the apple between his teeth and his tongue slowly slid from the depths of his mouth and wrapped around the apple to pull it the rest of the way in. She could hear the crunching of the apple just a handful of times before he swallowed.

Caeli raised her eyebrows, once again very impressed.

She started clapping.

"I am thoroughly impressed, my lord. I used to try and catch the popped corn the fairy folk used to make for me but I was never any good. Maybe you could teach me someday.", she smiled at him widely and turned back to the food.

While she was turned away she missed the twinkling in Ravens eyes.

*What a strange and intriguing creature*, they both thought to themselves.