Lament of the Lost

 

"This way," Enola said, after coming back, motioning for me to follow her as she stepped out from behind the counter, now with some guy in her place. She then led me to the door on the right I had walked through the previous day. But instead of turning left at the end of the corridor to the door marked [Aid Distribution], we turned right.

My sense of direction might have been poor, but even I figured that she was leading me towards the staff quarters - to some sort of back entrance.

And I wasn't wrong.

The moment she opened one of the doors at the end of the corridor, I was tackled by a little furball. "KORRA!!!"

"Yeah, I thought it would be better here than in that crowded lobby," the receptionist hummed under her breath, happy with her decision to bring me here, and closed the door behind her.

"I was so worried about you," the little kitare whimpered, hugging me, looking up, tears at the corners of her eyes. If anything could melt the coldest of hearts, it was this moment, her genuine feelings - it would hurt so much to hurt her by telling her the truth.

"That's so sweet of you," I said, ruffling her hair. "But as you can see, I'm fine. Not a scratch."

'The truth.'

The little kitsune let go of me, took a step back, and looked me over from the tip of my ears to the tip of my tail. "You have new clothes."

"Yeah, the ones I got from my friends got dirty when they pushed me to the ground."

"Replaced in the barracks?" Enola asked, finding a seat on one of the sofas in the room to enjoy her short break. Giving the room a glance, I was sure to say that it wasn't some kind of employee break room but a place where they received visitors privately. It was by no means a nice place - far from as cozy as Marcus' office, though.

"Yes, in the barracks." I nodded, my attention taken by a small kitare pouting at me.

"Really? They just pushed you to the ground? They said there were three bad guys."

"Four," I corrected her before I could stop my big mouth. There was no need to make her more worried, yet I did.

"Four? But...they only told me about three," Ria whimpered, hurt that the city guards had lied to her, horrified that I had to face more thugs than she thought. "H-how did you get away?"

"Actually, I'm kind of curious about that too," Enola piped up from the couch, her voice saying the unspoken. The muggings were hardly ever pretty.

"I beat them up," I said, baring my teeth in a grin, flexing my muscles at the little kitare and with great success. The corners of her mouth lifted up, her eyes wide. "You did? You really are like Wierin, Korra."

'Shit! No, no, no, no, I wasn't Wierin.'

That wasn't something I wanted her to think of me, to expect of me something I could never live up to. I wasn't some mythical creature out to save the day - I was just a freak.

'What should I do?'

"N-no, Ria, I'm not," I stammered, looking for a way to clarify the idiotic remark I had made. "I...the thugs...you see..."

"Did you really beat them up, Grey?" Enola asked, as if doubtful, but none of it seeped into her voice. Whether it was her experience with similar situations or just dealing with people, she knew I wasn't kidding. Yet, for Ria's sake, she decided to help me. "I bet the city guards got there just in time, didn't they?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry Ria. The thugs dragged me into that back alley, threw me on the ground, threatened me, but then two guards showed up. They probably didn't see the fourth one because he was an illusionist."

Sure, my explanation was full of holes, but it was enough for a little kitare.

"Oh, but why didn't they let me see you?"

"Well..." I hesitated, racing my mind for a way to avoid saying that I ended up in the morgue. "...I passed out. They probably wanted to let me sleep."

"But..." Ria pouted, thinking. "Did they catch him?"

"Who?"

"The illusionist man. You said they didn't see him."

'Bloody heck, she was sharp.'

That was a question I hadn’t asked Rayden until I was standing in the doorway on my way out. Granted, some illusionist was the least of my problems.

"Not yet, but they're looking for him."

True.

"You see, there was an eyewitness. A cat. She gave them a description, and now they're looking for him."

Also true, as ridiculous as that sounded. The description was simple: To the animal, the bastard was just a human male, controlling illusions and full of scents that didn't say much to other humans. But it was enough to alert the city gates to be on the lookout in case someone like that wanted to leave Castiana. Of course, when I gave them a little more detailed description, they updated the gates about it. Unfortunately, in the rush of trying to survive and keep my freedom, I didn't take a good look at the guy. And so, his description had to do without an array or number of sigils he had.

"A cat?" Enola raised her eyebrows while Ria's eyes lit up.

"Is that, you know, weird?" I mean, no matter how many times I thought about it, I still found it odd, to say the least. Sure, having a city full of eyes was useful, but kind of creepy. Not to mention that it easily could go both ways. Rayden claimed that the brains of animals and little beasts were too small to hold mind magic for long, but still...I couldn't shake the feeling that mind mages could have had rats spy on me.

"No, not really. I've heard wilder stories in my years working here, especially from seekers. It's just that the city guards usually don't give much credence to these ‘eyewitnesses’."

"Oh, I see - actually, Captain Rayden told me to give you this." The note I was asked to deliver appeared in my hand. "I mean, not to you specifically, but the City Hall."

"Got it, Grey," Enola stopped me, reading the note.

“What does it say?” Ria promptly asked, to which I pricked up my ears, no less curious. Whatever was in there, Rayden forbade me to read it and so I didn't.

"Not much, just that we won't be able to get us the report on the mugging until tomorrow.”

"What?" Was that it? Then why...? Bitch. Was that some kind of test?

‘Well, whatever.’

"That the report will be delayed. Nothing strange. If I had to guess, it's probably because of the illusionist."

"The one the cat saw. Where is it now, Korra? The cat? Was it fluffy? Like Sage? Can I touch her?" Ria blurted out a bunch of questions, saving me from making up a lie about why, in my case, the city guards went out of their way.

"Sorry, Ria. I didn't actually see it. Though, they said they fed it and let it go."

"Excuse me, but who's Sage? Did you name your tail, Grey?"

'Damn.' And here I was, hoping she'd overlook Ria's blunder. Kind of naive, now that I think about it. As a receptionist working the City Hall desks, she had to be sharp, sure not to mishear what clients had to say. Or maybe it was a perk of her array and weaves. Either way, she was forcing me to admit something I wasn't quite as proud of.

"I..."

"I don't mean to judge you, Grey. I was just wondering who Ria was talking about all morning?"

Giving the little kitsune a questioning look, her ears drooped. "I'm sorry, I know it was supposed to be a secret. But..."

"It's okay."

I meant it. There was no reason to be angry with her now that the truth was out, especially since Enola really didn't seem to care. Either it wasn't as taboo for an adult Terr'den to name her tail as Ria's mother made it out to be, or Enola, as a receptionist, had actually heard and seen weirder stuff than that, just like she said.

"So, Korra...can I touch her?"

"Wait, let me check. I was holding back my farts," I said to the little kitare's giggles and swung Sage up to my nose, burying my face in her hair. One breath was usually all it took. No scent of apples this time, though. No notification.

"It seems fine."

"Hold on. Hold on, you two! What's this about?"

'Shit! How am I supposed to explain this to her?'

"Korra said there was a poison in her tail," Ria said bluntly, and the hairs on the back of my neck immediately bristled. The source? Enola and her piercing gaze. "Explain, Grey."

"Do I have to?"

"If you want me to let Ria work for you, you'd better."

"Wait, you'd let her be my guide again?"

"Why not?"

"I thought after all that happend...you know that I'm gonna be blacklisted or something."

"You will, unless you tell me more about the poison. I don't want to have our guide accidentally poisoned."

If only she knew. But telling her the whole truth about the mind mages was out of the question. I was the bait, and as such, according to Rayden, I was supposed to act normally. And normally, unaware of mind mages, I would hire a guide again, taking the ambush as just bad luck nipping at my heels.

'Maybe if I hired another guide...? No!'

I couldn't possibly put another kid in danger. Not when Rayden had promised to keep Ria safe. Not when I now really, really wanted - no, when I needed a bit of normalcy, I needed Ria to comfort my heart.

'Stupid and selfish, I know.'

Yet, I told Enola about my apple-scented poison, hoping that she would allow Ria to be my guide again.