VIGNETTE: The Trail Went Cold
Date: Mid-late Month 7, Turn 22
Synopsis: Companion piece to this. After Kash walks out, K'del tries to find her.
K'del spent hours attempting to hunt down his sister. It had already been two days by the time his family sent word to him, something he found it hard to forgive them for. "We didn't want to bother you if she just showed up," his father claimed, shrugging. "We thought she'd just taken some time away to think."
K'del, who had watched his sister mope and dwindle for a full turn now, who had wanted to be able to do something for her with increasing desperation, found that hard to believe. If anything, he told himself, bitter and concerned, he worried that she'd done something drastic, that they'd find her body somewhere, that-- he hated to think about that. Hated it.
He recruited the wings to help, of course: everyone who flew sweeps over Tillek was asked to keep an eye out for a tall girl with curly, dark blonde hair and blue eyes, answering to Kash or Nakasha. But he suspected she'd not be found as easily as that, even if someone got that close: if she was still alive, she was utterly determined in whatever it was she intended to do.
It didn't stop him from looking.
A brownrider from Boreal admitted to giving a ride to a girl who matched Kash's description, taking her to a local gather; he lost sight of her after that, though, and no one else really remembered her. Too many people around. Too many things going on. So the trail went cold.
At least, K'del reflected, it meant she hadn't done something awful to herself. It was a weight off of his mind, a relief. His sister wasn't so depressed and messed up that she'd kill herself.
He slept a proper sleep that night, the first in days.
But it didn't stop him from worrying, distracted to the point of uselessness.
"Let it go," advised B'sil, having had to repeat his report three times. "She's an adult, your sister. It may have been a bad move, abandoning her child like that, but if she's so determined to disappear? Let her. She'll be back when she's ready."
Privately, K'del wondered if she'd ever be ready, or if she'd just decided to throw it all in, become someone else forever. But he nodded, told the other Wingleader that he'd try. And he did.
But he missed Kash. What was she doing? Was she happier? Did she miss him? And Kasenak? And everyone?
Synopsis: Companion piece to this. After Kash walks out, K'del tries to find her.
K'del spent hours attempting to hunt down his sister. It had already been two days by the time his family sent word to him, something he found it hard to forgive them for. "We didn't want to bother you if she just showed up," his father claimed, shrugging. "We thought she'd just taken some time away to think."
K'del, who had watched his sister mope and dwindle for a full turn now, who had wanted to be able to do something for her with increasing desperation, found that hard to believe. If anything, he told himself, bitter and concerned, he worried that she'd done something drastic, that they'd find her body somewhere, that-- he hated to think about that. Hated it.
He recruited the wings to help, of course: everyone who flew sweeps over Tillek was asked to keep an eye out for a tall girl with curly, dark blonde hair and blue eyes, answering to Kash or Nakasha. But he suspected she'd not be found as easily as that, even if someone got that close: if she was still alive, she was utterly determined in whatever it was she intended to do.
It didn't stop him from looking.
A brownrider from Boreal admitted to giving a ride to a girl who matched Kash's description, taking her to a local gather; he lost sight of her after that, though, and no one else really remembered her. Too many people around. Too many things going on. So the trail went cold.
At least, K'del reflected, it meant she hadn't done something awful to herself. It was a weight off of his mind, a relief. His sister wasn't so depressed and messed up that she'd kill herself.
He slept a proper sleep that night, the first in days.
But it didn't stop him from worrying, distracted to the point of uselessness.
"Let it go," advised B'sil, having had to repeat his report three times. "She's an adult, your sister. It may have been a bad move, abandoning her child like that, but if she's so determined to disappear? Let her. She'll be back when she's ready."
Privately, K'del wondered if she'd ever be ready, or if she'd just decided to throw it all in, become someone else forever. But he nodded, told the other Wingleader that he'd try. And he did.
But he missed Kash. What was she doing? Was she happier? Did she miss him? And Kasenak? And everyone?