The air felt as though it was filled with millions of microscopic knives that were slicing their way across Ravynne's skin as she left Verlian's house. If it were any colder, the tears rolling down her cheeks would have probably frozen already. She hugged herself and rubbed her arms, trying to create extra warmth for she had left her pelt back at Verlian's. Her body was shaking involuntarily and the more she tried to stop, the more it defied her and shook with a vengeance.
As she felt her temperature dropping, she began to pity herself. "Why is this happening? Why can't I do anything right? Am I really destined to die? Am I destined to cause burden?" The thoughts were racing through her mind, overlapping one another like a group of children arguing over what they wanted to eat for holiday dinner. The more these negative thoughts intruded in her mind, the more she began to cry. Her tears were now making their way down her neck and chest. The sharp icy air stabbed her throat as she gasped for oxygen.
She didn't know where she was going, in all honestly she had no destination, but her feet seemed to be carrying her as if she were floating in a stream. Suddenly, they were forced to stop when she came into contact with something warm. She rubbed her eyes, attempting to be rid of the blurred filter caused by her tears. It felt similar to Verlian, and yet not similar at the same time. She looked up to see fiery red hair. "Ashke?"
He said nothing and instead grabbed her by the arm and dragged her to his home. She stumbled a bit as her toes were feeling numb and were unprepared for the speed at which they were being forced to travel. Ashke opened up his door, quickly got them both inside and shut it behind him. Ravynne fell backwards onto the floor, the world spinning due to confusion on what had just happened.
Ashke stood for a moment with his ear to the door before moving inward toward Ravynne. She crawled backwards, wary of his next actions. Noticing the look of uneasiness in her eyes, he stopped in his tracks. "I'm not going to do anything to you so you can relax." He took off his pelt and tossed it to her before sitting down on a small bench that was carved out of a log which he had situated against the wall. "Did she not notice the person following her? Maybe I shouldn't say anything and inform Verlian later." He thought as Ravynne pulled the pelt around herself.
As he was on his way home, he had smelled smoke and saw a black cloud forming above Verlian's house. He was on his way there when he caught Ravynne running out and crying. Originally, he didn't plan on approaching her and thought to only continue to Verlian's home but then he saw a mysteriously cloaked figure tailing Ravynne. This was out of the usual and so he backed up and hid behind one of the nearby buildings to avoid detection. It was only until he saw Ravynne beginning to shake and gasp for air that he decided to bring her to his own home.
"The temperature is really beginning to drop. Why are you not at home? I wouldn't be surprised if the first snowfall began soon." He watched her wipe her tears, and began thinking to himself, "Maybe Verlian's right….she doesn't seem like a thief."
"I was making dinner for Verlian and I, when I realized I needed some water…so I ran out to quickly to fetch some and when I returned….the house…." Ravynne looked like she was about to cry again, "….the house was on fire….so Verlian told me to leave." She was just barely able to get the explanation out before falling into a mess of sobbing.
Ashke rubbed his chin and thought, "How unusual." He got off the bench and knelt in front of Ravynne, gently wiping away her tears. When she looked up at him, his heart skipped a beat. Her deep brown eyes looked glossy and sparkling from the way the light hit the tears. They looked like a beautiful art piece that he had never seen on this Earth before.
Feeling the suddenly awkward tension in the air, he cleared his throat and stood up. "He'll probably have forgotten all about it in the morning, you can stay here tonight."
Ravynne perked up, "Really? You think he will? Thank you….Ashke…" He nodded in response, "You can sleep in the bed tonight."
She shook her head, "No, I will sleep on the floor! Verlian already gave up his bed for me. I don't want you to do the same." Ashke looked surprised, "He did, did he?"
"Ashke, how long have you known Verlian for?" She had just assumed they'd known each other for a long time, but the look on his face made her think otherwise.
"I met Verlian before Evania was established. I've known him for a very long time." Ravynne's eyes widened with shock before her expression changed to that of confusion. Although she didn't know much about Evania's history, she was sure it must've been established a while ago considering its size and community.
"Did you know him from his hometown? How did you end up coming to Evania?" A new theory popped into her mind. Perhaps the two of them separated for a bit, and met again in Evania.
Ashke shook his head. "We built Evania together." Ravynne tilted her head, "When did you build it together? If you built it together, you must've spent some really rough times together. Have you known him since you were little?"
He removed his shoes and placed them next to the bench before getting into bed, "We built it a while ago. I don't know," he shrugged before pulling the furs over his body, "I didn't keep track of the time."
Ravynne laid down and curled up into a ball, pulling the pelt so that it fully covered her body. Ashke tossed an extra fur and pillow over to her, which she then added to her make-shift bed. "Isn't it weird that he doesn't know? Why do I feel like he's dancing around the question." She thought.
"Ravynne?" She looked over, not expecting him to call her name. He had his back facing her and didn't continue until she responded with, "What is it Ashke?"
"I know he told you to leave, but don't leave Evania. Go to him tomorrow and give him a heart-felt apology." Ravynne smiled and nodded, although he wouldn't be able to see her do so, "I will!"
That morning, Ravynne got up extremely early. She moved around the house as quietly as she could, folding and piling the pelt, fur and blanket neatly before leaving. Her plan was to catch Verlian before he left to perform his morning duties and tell him how sorry she was.
Nervously she walked to the familiar stone house. Her clothes were too thin to handle the cold and the numb feeling from the previous night was returning to her toes. Small pebbles felt like they were mini daggers each time they found their way under her. Every breath she took expelled a white mist. Ashke was right, the first snowfall was definitely nearing.
The sun still had yet to rise and Ravynne nervously approached the door. She placed her hand on the handle before quickly retracting it. "I better not." She whispered to herself. Verlian had kicked her out, it was probably for the better that she not enter his home without his permission. For a while she stood there, right outside the door, waiting for him to come out. Usually, he was gone before she woke so she didn't know exactly what time he left.
Seconds turned into minutes and she felt her legs become tired. Her body was shivering again and her eyelids felt heavy. She knelt down on the floor, hoping to give her legs a rest, but gasped in response to the freezing ground.
So she sat, with her arms around herself like a blanket, shivering and praying that Verlian would soon emerge. Yet, he didn't. Each moment she spent began to feel agonizing. Her fingertips and toes were beginning to lose feeling and not even the rubbing motion of her hands against her arms was bringing warmth anymore.
Finally, Verlian entered the house. His eyes widened when he saw Ravynne there, shivering with blue lips. "I-I'm-m r-really s-s-sorry ab-b-bout last n-night."
He pulled his pelt off of his body and hurriedly tossed it around her before picking her up and bringing her inside. She felt a sense of relief, the blanket was extra warm since it had been around Verlian's body. It felt like he had been sitting by the fire too, which was probably true since there was evidence of a recently snuffed flame in the fireplace.
"I-I'll get y-y-you a new p-p-pelt and I w-won't try to c-c-cook anym-more." Despite her stuttering and obvious difficulty talking, she didn't hesitate to try and get out her full apology.
"Have you been out there all night?" When Verlian went to speak Ravynne had expected him to be upset, instead he sounded quite concerned. She shook her head, "Ashke l-l-let" Verlian held his finger to her lips to stop her from explaining further. He already got the gist that Ashke had let her stay at his place, or found her a place to stay overnight. Verlian sighed in relief.
"You were a fool to wait in the cold like that. What if you'd gotten sick? You'd waste even more precious resources!" His words and his facial expression seemed mad but his tone didn't. Ravynne smiled, "So ev-v-ven if I h-had gotten s-s-sick, you'd let m-me stay to w-waste those r-r-resources?"
Verlian huffed and wrapped her with more pelts, "Stop talking and stay in today. I don't want you wasting anymore of my time. This is your last chance, you better not get sick. Just rest today." He took another pelt and wrapped it around himself before lighting the fire once again. "Don't leave even for Serin, or Dino. I'm putting you on house arrest." Ravynne smiled and nodded. She would definitely be extra careful in the future.