186 Tragic Past(Part Three)
***THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS 18+ CONTENT. LANGUAGE AND VIOLENCE. VIEWERS DISCRETION ADVISED***
“He Lived?!” Skye and Maevis practically yelled, drawing the attention of everyone else in the tavern.
“I thought you said he died?!” Maevis tried to restrain her voice, but a few customers still looked in their direction again with annoyance.
“I said they weren’t moving! I thought they were dead! But.. Turns out Lin’s father was still alive. I didn’t really know what I was doing.. I didn’t know how to help him, so I dragged him over to the neighbor’s house and left him on their stoop.”
“I went back to the house, and just sat by Lin.. I remember crying a lot, then I guess I fell asleep. The next thing I knew, I was being thrown into a wooden box. They took Lin and her mother away to bury them.. I didn’t understand that at the time, all I knew was that they took her from me, then left me there..”
“In the crate? By yourself?!” Skye asked with utter shock in her voice.
“...Four days,” Shasta replied with a solemn tone.
“W-What happened?! How did you get out?!” Maevis stuttered slightly.
“Lin’s father came back on the fifth day with food and water for me. He stopped by every day for a week straight to bring me food and water, but.. The look in his eyes.. I know he hated me; it was all my fault that our family died..”
.....
Skye’s heart wrenched in her chest. It didn’t seem like the actions of a man who hated her. It seemed more like he just couldn’t handle the pain of it all. Lin loved Shasta to the point of going back for her.. Her father came back to feed her.. It just didn’t make sense.
Shasta took a deep breath before speaking again; “After a week of gaining my strength up, I broke out of my crate and went to Lin’s grave. I’m not sure how many days I slept on top of it.. Waiting for her..”
“I was still thinking more like a cat than a Fae. All I wanted was to wake up to Lin rubbing my head, or annoyingly messing with my toes again.. But I woke up to being shoved into another crate instead..”
Maevis was doing everything she could to hold in her tears. She could see the pain that Shasta’s memories were causing her. It was heartbreaking, but if she was trying to be strong for Shasta since Skye was utterly useless in that department. She sat with her ale nearly gone; tears streaming down her face unfettered.
Skye could see a child-sized Shasta curled up into a ball, sleeping on a child-sized grave in her head. She imagined herself running to the furry Fae child and comforting her, but it was just a fantasy.. But there was nothing stopping her now.
The ale and Shasta’s tale had broken down Skye’s last care about her public appearance. She stood up with a wobble, then walked the few steps over to Shasta, and hugged her tightly. The action had surprised Shasta, and her first instinct was to push the princess away.
As Skye embraced her, she whispered; “I can’t hug the you from then, but I can hug ye now..”
Shasta blamed the cream as she hugged Skye back. When she was a child(because that’s what she was), no one had wanted to go near her. She was a dangerous beast man that had caused the death of her family. No one stopped to see her as the scared little child that she was..
For a moment, Shasta wished she could’ve met Skye back then. She was the type of person that would’ve held out her hand instead of flinching at the sight of her. Not that Skye was even alive back then, but Shasta couldn’t help wondering what she would’ve become had someone like Skye reached out to her.
After a few minutes of their drunken embrace, Skye got up and took her seat again. Alfred, Renee, and a few of the others within the tavern stared at the booth where the three women were. Most wrote it off as drunken female bonding nonsense, but a few that knew of the Vice Commander’s surly attitude looked on in shock. It was unheard of to see the VC act in such a way, and they were curious as to whom could cause such a reaction from her.
Alfred had to go around and make a few comments to some of the regulars. He didn’t want anyone bothering them, and bribed most of them with a free mug of his ale. Since he made it himself, the cost wasn’t nearly as big of a hit to him as offering food would’ve been.. But Renee didn’t know that.
All she saw was her boss throwing money away on a ‘friend’, that did nothing but eat, drink, and destroy his property. She paid her tab, but Renee also understood the amount of business Shasta drove away with her antics and temper tantrums. She didn’t know why Alfred let Shasta get away with whatever she wanted, but Renee had decided to do whatever she would have to do to find out..
After Skye had ordered one last ale that Maevis had advised against; Shasta continued her tale: “Every night that I was locked in that crate, I’d cry myself to sleep. The unending loneliness I’d felt had nearly killed me..”
“The only place I felt at peace was resting on Lin’s grave. As soon as I would build up any strength, I would break out of the create and go to Lin. I’d lay there until I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore.. Waiting for death to reunite me with the only person who had ever cherished me.. But I always woke up back in that damn crate..”
Skye took a large gulp from her mug as Shasta spoke; “A month or so after, everything.. Lin’s father shipped me to the Fae Nation. I thought they were going to toss me overboard, but you don’t feed the dead. They fed, watered, and emptied my bucket; same as Lin’s father. We sailed for three months before we made landfall.”
Skye had her thumb on the edge of her lips as she thought and spoke; “That’s how ye got to the Fae Kingdom? Why would Lin’s father send you-”
“From my home?! Because he hated me! If I hadn’t of knocked over that statue, Lin would’ve never died how she did.. She would’ve died happy after a long, love-filled life.. But no..”
Shasta’s aura began to turn dark again; “It’s my fault.. Lin’s father had every right to want me dead.. I always thought that the sailors took pity on me because I was a child.. That was the reason they released me as soon as we reached the tree line.. They should’ve just did what they were paid to do..”
Skye locked eyes with Shasta; “I think they did..”
Shasta looked at Skye with a confused and slightly angry expression; “I think that Lin’s father paid to have you taken to the southern continent; for your protection.. You wanted to die, right? To be with Lin?”
Too emotional, Shasta nodded in the positive before Skye continued; “If he wanted ye dead, he wouldn’t have fed ye in the first place. He would’ve just left ye in the first crate for a couple of weeks until ye died.. Or left ye on Lin’s grave; exposed to the elements. Either way would’ve been slow and painful..”
“I think he saw ye tryin’ to kill yer self, and sent ye off to be with other Fae.. I think-”
“That is such bullshit, but thank you for trying to make me feel better,” Shasta’s tone was lined with agitated sarcasm.
Skye narrowed her eyes at Shasta; “Ima serious! Five days is long enough to where if he wasn’t deathly injured, he could’ve been up and movin’ around. And You said it was five days later..”
“I think he sent ye to the Fae to save yer life. Ye would’ve wasted away if ye would’ve stayed!”
Shasta’s temper was beginning to rise. She knew Skye meant well, but she wasn’t there. She didn’t see the look in his eyes. When Shasta tried to explain it to the princess, she rebutted with; “Are ye sure it wasn’t just pain in general you were seein’?”
“He just lost his family.. Lookin’ at you probably made him think of Lin. Ye said ye were the same size as her, correct? Maybe when he looked at you, he saw not only his daughter’s beloved cat, but Her?”
“Skye, that’s enough,” Maevis said in a sharp tone.
“No! She thinks he hated her, when I Know it’s not that! I feel it! I can’t explain it, but his actions don’t make any sense if he hated her! The moment he could, he got up to feed her and take care of her! He saved her by sending her to the south! Do ye have any idea how expensive it is to ship to the other continents?! Why would he spend that much on someone he hated? Right after losing his family?!”
Maevis was about to snap at Skye for being drunk, but Shasta cut her off with a weak voice; “How much do you think it costs?”
Skye turned to Shasta; “According to me father; an arm with a toe for interest.”
A small smile began to cover Shasta’s face. Lin’s father was the biggest tightwad she’d ever seen; even after all of these years. If he didn’t have to spend money, he wouldn’t. She could vaguely remember that any arguments Lin’s parents ever had were over money. For food, clothes; every penny had to be explained.
Him spending money to send her away wasn’t a detail she’d ever thought about before. Her guilt and pain always stopped her from analyzing. Any time she tried, she’d lose herself to either anger, or sorrow first. Talking about it to anyone was always out of the question; except Tidas. But he never pushed at her, not like Skye just had.
In truth, it had taken every ounce of Shasta’s willpower not to deck Skye at first. She was talking about things like she was there. When she’d said ‘she Knew it’, Shasta’s head had begun to spin with her rage.. But everything Skye was saying was valid. As terribly as she’d worded herself, Shasta had understood her intentions and train of thought.
Shasta hung her head as she smiled so no one could see as she said; “You really are something, princess..”
“I think the words yer lookin’ for is intellectually awesome,” Skye sputtered as she finished off her beer, and ordered another one.
“Ahh.. Are you sure you should be doing that? Are you already trashed?” Shasta asked after lifting her head up to gage the princess’ state.
Skye thought a moment before her eyes lit up; “I know! I-*burp*-know what to do!”
Right after the she’d said it, Skye closed her eyes, and attempted to focus as she swayed. Shasta and Maevis could feel a scant amount of magic from Skye for about eight seconds, then nothing. Skye had stopped swaying, and her posture went back to normal.
When she opened her eyes, they were completely clear; like she hadn’t of drank at all. Maevis and Shasta shared a confused glanced before staring at Skye, waiting for an answer. She smiled and chuckled before saying; “There we go! Nice and sober!”
Her two friends gaping; Skye told them how she can heal drunkenness. She offered to test it out on Shasta, but she’d refused. She told Skye; “I spent good money to get drunk! Why would I want to sober up?!”
Skye grinned mischievously at Shasta before she said; “So we can drink as much as we want without a hangover..”
Shasta’s jaw dropped, then folded into an equally mischievous smile; “The gods have sent me the perfect friend! Hahahahaha! Let’s DRINK!”
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