11 Sister

The sky was hardly clearing out. Instead of having a sky crammed with clouds, with snow and rain coming in small intervals, a sliver of warming sun was able to breach the fluffy clouds. Still, the Dead Beach was windy and cold enough to make even the demons shiver. Kita tried to bear through it by keeping active.

The cabin's poorly-built door was wide open, as well as the one creaky, hardly-functioning window. The chair, journals, and black bag were all outside on a large rock, out of the way. A cord was tied from the edge of the outer wall to a long stick protruding from the sand, which was where the sheet of plant fibers was hanging.

Kita struggled to scrub the floor with a wiry old brush. The skirt of her gray dress was tied up in a knot, while her dark violet hair was tied back and out of the way. She paused in the middle of the room, panting.

Seyber was in the corner, out of the way. Stud already fled the moment a demon came inside. He ran far outside and hid behind a rock, and hadn't reappeared since then.

Seyber tilted her head. "Are you sure you don't want any help? You seem to be struggling."

"I'm not," Kita insisted. "It's just cold out, so that's making it harder than usual."

"Hm, I noticed you don't have very warm clothes," Seyber remarked. "Or much of anything, really..." She sighed, "Sorry. We're not used to keeping mortals around. Even Kodin didn't need much to get by."

Kita went back to scrubbing the ground. "No worries, I can tell that much. This is also my own fault. When I first came to you, I wasn't expecting to stay. I thought I'd only need the bare minimum. A jar for water, the dagger as a tool, and a watch."

Seyber's ears perked. "I have some warmer clothes you can borrow, if it becomes unbearable. They're very colorful for your taste, but they'll keep you warm." She grinned. "Better yet, since most of them are pink and blue, they'll match your hair and eyes."

Kita couldn't help laughing at that.

"What?" Asked Seyber. "Jokes aside, I was serious; being unprotected in the cold can be dangerous."

"I know," said Kita. "That's not what I'm laughing at. It's just that when you said that, you reminded me of, well..." She hesitated. "Someone else."

Seyber seemed confused.

"N-Nevermind," Kita awkwardly stammered. "That's good to know. I'm alright for now, but I may take that offer later. Everything else is fine, though. I've been getting by on my own." She hesitated. "Well, I did have to ask for a hand a few times, which is annoying."

"How so?" Seyber inquired. "I've only seen you ask for these cleaning supplies."

"Oh, basics," Kita explained. "I asked Scorch to help light a fire so I could cook a meal, and asked Zin for some fresh water. I even asked Timbur if his forest magic covered tea or fruit plants, but he just told me to piss off." She spoke mockingly, "'I use my stupid element for thorns, not fairy nonsense!'"

Seyber laughed, "That's our Timbur! Also, asking for things like that is hardly worth remembering. A jar of water, a single spark; those are just a snap of our fingers, not to brag. Heck, Scorch can do it ten times worse without even thinking. 'Fire spits' happen when fire elementals get too angry."

Kita arched one brow. "Scorch? Angry?"

Seyber laughed again, "Exactly, they're rare in his case. Timbur's our raging runt, but Scorch is our gentle giant."

Kita stopped, still panting. "Honestly, about why I get by so well, it's not just your magic. I think..." She hesitated. "Nevermind, it's ridiculous."

Clearly concerned, Seyber left her spot. She went over and kneeled in front of Kita.

"I haven't seen you with a look like that in a while," Seyber muttered. "You know, I won't laugh."

"Well, you see..." Kita looked anxious. "I don't think I'm a very normal sylph. There are obvious reasons for my behavior to be called strange, but even before I started having those problems, I wasn't normal. Honestly, I've always been self-conscious about it. At least, while I was in Sybilius. Out here, there's no time to worry about those things, which is good in its own way."

When Kita repeated that last part in her head, and glanced at Seyber, she became anxious.

She grinned nervously, "O-Of course, I don't know why I'm telling this to you, it's probably not very interesting."

"I'm glad you told me," said Seyber. "If it helps, or there's something I can do to help, why wouldn't I listen? Furthermore, on that subject, why wouldn't you be normal? You come from Sybilius, you have pale skin and pointed ears, and you were loyal to Corelia. You even have the accent. That's no different from any other sylph I've seen."

Kita sneered, "Look closer, and be honest."

"I guess you are a little scrawny," Seyber remarked.

Kita grunted. "I meant the eyes, Seyber. How many mortals have bright purple eyes?"

Seyber's ears pricked. "Oh wow, that's true! I just noticed that!"

Kita arched one brow. "You just now noticed?"

Seyber nodded. "I might've forgotten, but I'm fairly sure I haven't. I guess I'm used to demonic eyes, which can be anything from brown to bright pink. Yours are so pretty, though!"

Kita blushed. "That's a first. Everyone in Sybilius thought it was scary."

Seyber rolled her eyes. "With the way Corelia runs things, I'm sure they find a lot of dumb things scary."

"Like you?" Kita suggested.

"Exactly," said Seyber. She smirked, unsheathing her claws. "I can be vicious when I want to, though."

Kita struggled not to laugh. "I'm sorry, but of everyone on the team, you're just about the last one I'd be afraid of."

Seyber pouted. "No fair."

"Anyways, I actually wasn't talking about the outside," said Kita. "I meant I don't function normally, either."

"This is where I can't help you," Seyber remarked. "I don't know a thing about how mortals function."

"Sylphs need to eat and drink every day, and sleep every night. I still eat, but it never fills me, and it always makes me feel funny. Not like I'm sick, but gross and sluggish. For the most part, I just don't eat. By the time I made it two weeks without food, and felt mostly fine, I knew something was wrong with me."

"That is odd," Seyber agreed. "Although, that must be useful while you're here. Obviously, food is a lot more limited than it would be in Sybilius."

"True," Kita agreed. "My last meal was a week ago, and I'm perfectly fine."

"I don't know what a 'week' is, but that's great!" Seyber chimed. "What about drinking?"

Kita shrugged her shoulders. "Indifferent, really, but I still get thirsty when it's really hot or I go a long time without it. I don't care about either of those, but I'd like to get some sleep..." She looked down, uneasy.

"You still can't sleep?" Seyber suggested.

"No," said Kita. "The nightmares have gotten much less severe, but I'll still lay awake for hours. Even though they're not a problem anymore, I still don't understand what those nightmares were supposed to mean, nor why I was getting them. I keep trying to talk to Leiytning about it, but I can't find a way to bring it up. Not to mention, I feel so rude bothering him while he's clearly upset about Thundur, and he's always busy keeping track of the others, dealing with pesky informants, and whatever other work he has to do."

"That's just the role of a leader," Seyber remarked. "He didn't have to accept betaship, he chose to, so here we are."

"That's fair, I guess," Kita murmured.

"I'm not sure if he can tell you much about your visions, though..." Seyber grunted. "Wait, what am I saying? He's been around a spirit-walker for ages; of course he's picked up something. In which case, yes! Ask him! Don't wait for him to not be upset, either. He always is, with or without Thundur." She chuckled, "What do you think we joke about behind his back?"

"That's so mean!" Kita remarked, laughing.

"All in good faith," Seyber insisted. "We are siblings, after all. Honestly, I would dare say that the closer we are, the more we bicker."

"I can see that," Kita murmured. "I guess I can try talking to Leiytning later. If you say so, I will."

"That's more like it," said Seyber. "You need to get this solved, anyways. Even if it's not a problem, I'm sure we all want to know why you were drawn to us. And vice-versa, with all the interest surrounding you."

Kita looked down. 'It really is strange. I desperately hope we get it solved.'

Seyber looked a bit sad. "I wish I could be more helpful, right now. While it's for the better, I'm dumping this problem on someone who doesn't have the job. It's shameful."

"Is this because you're the spirit-walker's apprentice?" Asked Kita.

"I am, but..." Seyber sighed, "Not a good one. I can learn medicine and potions easily. Those aren't even part of being an actual spirit-walker, either, it's just been a coincidence that Thundur and many spirit-walkers before her were adept in it."

"Really?" Kita remarked.

Seyber nodded. "That being said, the moment I pick up a book about spiritual matters, I get so lost. I lose so much hope that I just procrastinate, until Thundur notices and gets mad. She's always yelling at me to get things done." She rested her head on one fist. "I didn't care until you came along, and asked me about something I should know. Then hearing about it more, it comes back every time."

"I'm sorry," Kita replied. "I didn't realize it made you feel bad."

"It's not your fault, it's mine. You were right to ask me, but it was wrong for me to not know. It makes me feel guilty that I'm such a disappointment to Thundur, after begging her to let me be her apprentice. Not to mention how useless I am to you and your problem." She crossed her arms. "At this rate, I'm going to make a terrible spirit-walker."

"Granted, you don't mirror Thundur very well, but you're not useless. You've helped me more than anyone."

"Huh?" Seyber looked confused. "How?"

"You've kept me encouraged," Kita explained. "If it weren't for you, I would still be stuck in a rut, hating myself and not trusting or opening up to anyone. So much that I never would've bothered learning the truth, much less turn away from Corelia. The twins give me great advice, the others make things homier, even Timbur can have his uses from time to time, but I never would've realized that if I hadn't bothered to look." She smiled. "You opened my eyes, Seyber, and you've treated me better than almost any sylph has, even after I sold you out. I would never say you're worthless."

Seyber's ears buzzed. "You're embarrassing me! Well, I'm glad I was able to help. I'll keep doing it for however long you need me to, as well!"

"I'm happy to hear that," Kita remarked. 'She really is a good friend!'

Seyber cleared her throat. "Well, I think we've gotten sidetracked. Long story short, you need to talk things through with Leiytning."

"Alright, I will," Kita insisted.

She went back to cleaning, and Seyber got back out of the way. However, the silence only lasted a moment or two.

"Say," Kita remarked. "This is completely unrelated, but somewhere along the line, you mentioned Kodin."

Seyber paused to think, then nodded. "I did. I said that he was very low-maintenance. He had his own methods, and we never had to bother with it." She chuckled, "We learned that fast. One day, he was sleeping on a blanket in the sand. Just a few days later, he had about half of this building built, all on his own. Some of us offered to help, and most of the time, he would turn it down anyway."

"How did he do that?" Asked Kita.

"As you can see, he's not a very good builder, but he found a way. He started by collecting trees from the Blood Forest, as well as the woods in the fortress. He shaped them the way he needed to, mainly using some old weapons as improvised tools. Then he found out that he could create a kind of clay by using materials in the moors, and used it to stack these stones for the walls. Then he used lighter wood and some more clay for the roof. The window came from an abandoned merchant cart, that used to be in the moors. I couldn't begin to believe this place was sound, but as you can see, it's lasted this long."

Kita tilted her head. "How long, exactly? When did Kodin come to you?"

"Some seasons ago," Seyber remarked. "I'd say, by now, it'd be about..." She paused to think. "One-sixty seasons."

"Forty years?!" Kita cried. "That's so long!"

Seyber winked. "Not with our lifespans." She sighed, "Although I can't lie. It feels so strange that it's been almost eight hundred seasons that we've been here. Throughout it all, Kodin was the most major thing to come along, even though he rarely engaged with us and was only here for about four or five seasons. Everything else feels just like time was paused."

"Paused?" Kita repeated.

Seyber nodded. "Time took its toll, but in many ways, it just stopped. We all have fresh wounds from those past battles, and we just don't age. I know our way of living seems hectic, but not when you've had to do it every day for so long. We learn a bit, we grow a bit stronger, but nothing changes us. Unfortunately, that goes for the wars as well. Orcs keep coming, generation upon generation, while the sylphs are in an arms race with us. The moment we get stronger, so do they, and vice-versa." She chuckled, "Strange, isn't it? I think Kodin was the start of breaking that spell, and this modern chaos has finally finished it."

"You mean me?" Asked Kita.

"Partly," Seyber replied. "You may have heard, but everything's being thrown out of balance."

"I've heard it, but I don't quite understand," said Kita. "What's so chaotic? I see beasts popping up like weeds, but it doesn't strike me as unusual." She grunted. "Then again, I don't know what to consider unusual, out here."

"It's definitely not unusual to find beasts," Seyber remarked. "The meadow will always have a hostile spinapes pass through, the moors will always have its ogre or two, and the cavern will always have its giant invertebrate visitors."

"Then what's so worrying?" Asked Kita.

"How often it happens, mainly," Seyber explained. "Also, how hostile or rare. We've had beasts that are supposed to be passive try to kill us on sight, and what's usually a once-a-month encounter has suddenly become a daily one. Not to mention the mutants, once nearly impossible to find, suddenly popping up like daisies..." She shook her head. "That's a whole other issue, though. The rare creatures are the most concerning. If we don't encounter them often, that means we're not greatly versed in bringing them down. Like the dragon; I wasn't even there, and I was terrified!"

"It was something, that's for sure," Kita muttered.

"I don't want to spread this fear to you, but to be fair, you'll probably have to find out sooner or later. It's worrying because if something from a whole other mainland can get to us, at this point, what can't?"

Kita shuddered. "That is concerning. It's even more nerve-wracking to think I never would've known, if I was in Sybilius."

"I don't think even they can hide forever," said Seyber. "Not if things keep escalating." She smiled. "Not everything is doom and gloom, though. Maybe things are more unpredictable, but Leiytning, Thundur, and Timbur will get us through, one way or another. They always do."

"I bet," said Kita. "You're lucky to have such good siblings."

"I thought so," Seyber agreed. Her ears perked. "Oh, speaking of Timbur, I'm meant to talk with him about work. Do you have the time?"

Kita looked at her pocket watch. "It's two-fifty-five."

Seyber beamed, "Yes! I'll be right on time!" She ran out. "Thanks, that was a good talk!"

"No problem!" Kita called, even though the speedy demon had already disappeared. She soon went back to scrubbing, watching every crack in the unrefined wood like a hawk. Not one fleck of dirt or dust would escape.

In the doorway, however, two very fluffy white ears poked out.

"Is she gone?" Stud's tiny voice inquired.

"Yes, she's gone," said Kita. "You know, you didn't have to hide in the first place."

Stud gave a weak growl, stepping inside. "Tell that to-"

"Hey, wait!" Kita exclaimed. "Stay outside for a while longer."

"What?!" Stud cried. "Why?!"

"Because the floor is wet, and I don't want a bunch of tiny paw-prints to be left in it."

"It's already disgusting! The logs still have bark on them! There's even a mound of old sap in the corner!"

"I can still try!"

Stud groaned, but slinked back to his rock.

"Why are you still hiding?!" Kita called.

"Because I don't want some demon to come along and eat me!"

"Oh, you little..." Kita growled, scrubbing harder.

After a minute, though, she calmed down. The movement of the brush over the cracks was oddly satisfying. It left her entranced, and allowed her thoughts to drift.

'Seyber is such a good friend. She's fun, cute, and supportive. She's also collected and mature, and helps keep her siblings out of trouble. She's like Mao in one sense, and Yuna in another. Every time we talk, she reminds me of them...'

Kita sighed, slowing down.

'Sometimes a little too much.'