The traveler, on the other hand, distanced herself away from the trio, living in darkness of the night beside a cliff's edge. Her luminous eyes tracked through the night sky, silently admiring the jeweled stars, reminding herself of reflective colorful sequins that would form patterns on clothing. She was the luckiest of all travelers, as a legendary constellation revealed itself briefly to form the shape of an angel, only to be overshadowed by a looming cloud.
She held her knees up high as she used to do, lodging her chin between those knees for a sense of warm comfort. Yet there was not much comfort in doing so anymore, for some regard.
Ardine, who approached the traveler from behind with a ripe apple in hand, leaned against an oak tree nestled by the cliffside grassland. He marveled at the same stars as the traveler did, looking toward her general direction before pushing himself off of the tree to approach her. The soft and gentle winds blew their hair and clothes back, sending a distinct wet misty touch against their faces from a nearby water geyser that spouted recently.
"Aren't you cold?" Ardine begun, concerned for the traveler's safety.
The traveler took a second to speak. "I'm used to it." Her light accented voice blurted out.
Ardine stepped close to her and offered an apple to her, holding it beside her cheek. "Food?" He asked.
"No." She rejected.
He placed the apple down beside his left foot and sat next to the traveler, a few meters apart with his hands sprawled behind him to act as weight distributors. He relaxed as the soft mist continued to tickle his skin as he admired the stars.
"I'm... sorry for raising my voice earlier." Ardine apologized.
The traveler was silent.
"But... a Qliphosian refugee," Ardine began in a low voice. "I never knew titles like that existed. All I knew was if you're from Qliphos, you would've lived a stable life among the royal, protected by the military."
The traveler turned her eyes to face Ardine, before silently looking down at her knees again.
"They said that all the children in Qliphos would eventually grow up to rule a the world," Ardine continued. "But knowing now, that time hasn't, and probably won't come. Even so, they would remain safe beyond their massive walls... free from harm."
"Life isn't as simple as it sounds," The traveler briefly said. "Your story is better off being told as a child's fairy tale. Or a fantasy."
Ardine sighed, looking directly at the back of the traveler's head, patience wearing thin. "Why don't you just tell me about what you know about the droids?" He pressured. "Why is it so hard for you?"
The traveler laughed lightly as she begun to speak. "There's nothing to know about them. All they do is bring death and destruction, everywhere they go," She said, shoving her left shoulder to the right to hide her saddened complexion. "You're better off without knowing."
"Then..." Ardine began, rotating his body to grab the item that the traveler broke into the cabinet by the rotted beach for. He held it out and dropped it out in front of his lap. "At least you could tell me what's inside this sack, then. Why go through the trouble of getting this?"
The traveler remained quiet, letting nature's wind take control of the silence between them. Ardine realized that his question was far too intruding and pervasive to ask, prompting him to calm himself down. He placed his hands around the sack and began to place it behind him, when all of a sudden, the traveler responded in a hushed tone.
"It was a dress, made by someone important to me," The traveler said. "From my childhood."
"You... led us on to find a dress?!" Ardine exclaimed, shocked by the sack's contents.
"I didn't lead you on," The traveler emphasized. "I was still going to take you to the droids."
"Why?" Ardine's voice was so low that it seemed to bring out a small hiss within his throat. "Why are you doing this?"
"Because you wanted to, old man-"
"No," Ardine interrupted. "I was going to go alone, regardless if I didn't even take you, or Lyn. You had a choice. You didn't have to do it. So, why did you?"
The traveler was quiet again, still once more without a single breath uttered. From the outside, Ardine could tell the reason that the traveler's complicated and unknown past might have to do with it, but from the traveler's perspective, her own beating heart tried desperately to escape the anguish within. It was an invisible sensation to the both of them, ethereal to the thought, painful languish to the touch.
"I was... lonely." The traveler's voice quaked as soon as she said those three words.
Ardine's eyes widened. It all had made sense to him. All this time, he had been treating her as if she was a survivor, more an object to be questioned rather than a human being. But on the surface, what he had failed to remember was how the traveler he had been traveling with... was just a child.
A lonely child who seemingly had no purpose in their life.
"Claire." The traveler spoke out.
"What?" Ardine asked.
"My name. It's Claire."
"Oh."
The two of them stayed silent as an awkward tension strained the both of them. They both wanted to speak, but they both expected the opposing person to converse first. At last, the traveler named Claire took the reigns and led on their conversation.
"You said earlier that I was leading you on," Claire said, lifting her head from the knees to look directly at the stars. "To be honest, I feel as if I'm leading myself on the path to nothingness. There's nothing waiting for me out there... and I'm pretending as if there is."
"You're a Qliphosian-"
"That is nothing but a name," Claire interrupted. "The only thing that drives me forward is vengeance; to do what my enemies have done to my family. To find the one responsible for murdering my family and taking away what little hope I had in this dying world." She bolted up from her seat, sensing the creaking joints in her frail body come to life. "I will find him, and I will make him pay."
Ardine stood alongside her; despite them standing next to each other, they never exchanged glances. They kept their view directly at the stars ascending the skies, some of which were still blotted by the clouds. "It was Qliphos, wasn't it?" Ardine asked.
"Yes..." Claire bluntly stated.
Ardine sighed. He then took two steps forward so that Claire could watch his back from a short distance. "Would you be surprised if I said that I'm in the same boat as you?" He asked, turning his head to face Claire's, watching her glowing white eyes shine as bright as the stars.
"Are you?" Claire asked.
"I am," Ardine replied, moving back to his original seat. The two of them sat down, and this time, she faced him by kneeling with both of her legs. "The droids from Qliphos attacked my home, Buchasa, not too long ago. I was separated from my family ever since... and even my closest friends."
The mental picture of a heart-healthy and confident Kaiden brewed in his mind.
"I couldn't save any of them," Ardine continued, putting his palm on his forehead for a split second. "My mother was a nurse who made a living curing the afflicted in our homes. All she wanted was to protect the living, and to put a stop to death for everyone. She regarded everyone as family... and I'll never forget that."
"Is that why you embark on expeditions to save refugees?" Claire asked, tilting her head. "Like me?"
"Something like that, you nailed it, I guess," Ardine said. "She died in the attack. I found her body among the rubble... and I've never been able to forget about it. Even now."
"What about your father?" Claire asked.
"My father? He was a low-life drunkard who was always intoxicated with the idea of taking me and my family away from Buchasa, up to the mountains, where he wouldn't need to worry about the afflicted. Obviously, my mother denied that. She was the only one who made a living. And once they disagreed, I never heard from him ever again," Ardine said sitting down once again next to Claire. "Goddamn, does it still hurt to think of such a thing."
Claire looked down at the cliff's ground before looking back at Ardine, who purposefully hid the shame of his face away from her. Suddenly, he coughed and sucked in his stomach to appear as if nothing he had said affected him.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned something like that," Ardine said, shaking his head briefly. "There's enough sadness in this world-"
Claire began giggling as her freckled cheeks blossomed into pure delight. Ardine spun his shoulders around and appeared ghastly at the sight of her sudden change in emotion. It was the first time she had shown a sight of amusement to her.
"Wha- What... How is that funny?!" Ardine shouted, disturbed by her behavior.
"It is funny." Claire laughed.
"What's funny?"
"The two of us, drowning in our sadness non-stop, as if we're trying to out-maneuver each other in this web of despair," Her light accent was mixed with pure joy. "It never gets easier, does it?"
Her joy managed to spread to Ardine's soul infectiously, causing him to smile and laugh as well. "It never does," He repeated after her. "It really never does."
Claire laughed one final time.
"You know, when I first saw you in Bountiful Sands..." Ardine began.
"What?" Claire asked.
"I don't know... I was thinking to myself, is this kid really that fearless, or has she lost the plot? Is she putting on a show? An act?"
"I think you've lost the plot when you brought so many people there and left me to deal with it." Claire said, continuing to giggle.
"Okay," Ardine said, nodding and pursing his lips. He pointed his index finger outward for emphasis. "Never doing that again. Got it."
"Sure, old man.'
"And, and when I saw you fight, along with the way you've been this whole time... I still can't believe it."
"What's hard to believe?"
"That you're just... a kid," Ardine clarified. "You know, you shouldn't even be here, on the front line, fighting against the enemy. You shouldn't even have been a refugee on my ship. You should be safe at home, living among the public, protecting the people with all that you can do."
Claire scoffed. "That life died long ago," She said. "Let's be realistic."
"Yeah, you're right." Ardine corrected.
The two of them gazed up at the looming cloud now being clear from the weather admiring the twinkling constellation in the skies. It was reminiscent of a lotus flower, connected together to form a wide version of a blossoming beauty.
"It's been two years since Qliphos destroyed the last of what I had," Claire whispered, eyes still locked onto the constellation's whirling beauty. "It's odd. I had only known them for two weeks, and we would always go stargazing, just like this. That time ended, but here I am, still doing it. It's amazing how long... and short life is."
"What do you remember from that day?" Ardine asked.
"I..." Claire's voice feebly began before she gave in. "I don't want to talk about it. Not right now, at least."
Ardine respected her decision. "Fair enough. We've wallowed in our sadness enough for tonight." He said, remembering her dance, the picture, and their argument.
As another range of clouds began to block the constellations again, Claire turned her body to face Ardine and the center of the campfire, where Lyn and Alfaic resided. "Who... is that woman?" She asked. "And why does she have that talking flying sword with her?"
"I don't even know myself, to be honest," Ardine said, standing up and crossing his arms. "But Lyn? She doesn't know it herself, but she's a hero who's saved my life once and many more."
"She's strange," Claire admitted. "Her eyes are difficult to read, and it seems as if she's never listening to you, most of the time. Always zoning out. Is there something wrong with her?"
"No," Ardine said. "She's... unique. Even I don't know myself, and I'm trying to piece together that puzzle myself. But I did notice one thing."
"What's that?"
"She's... becoming aware of it," Ardine confessed. "The first time I met her, all she wanted was Alfaic. Some bad people got a hold of him, and all she wanted to do was mangle them until they were dead. But after everything subsided, and he eventually returned to her... she learned how to protect. She's changing, evolving, almost... into something more human."
"More human?" Claire asked. "She's not... human?"
"No. I don't know what she is... but I don't care. I consider her a friend, regardless of who she is. And to be honest, we could all learn something from her. Deep down, she's an innocent being who doesn't have a clue what it means to be human, or to live. There's only one thing on her mind, like us, we all desire companionship."
Claire took Ardine's words and held it deeply within her heart. She then held up her left arm and massaged it, staring directly at her hand. After her mind began to wander into her past, she began to compare her younger self to Ardine's simple description of Lyn.
They both were considered innocent in their times, desiring companionship after being exiled or abandoned for good. Claire realized that, and she began to view the other three as a group that perhaps are not so different from her at all.
Her eyes began to wander until a mystical golden aura began to flow around her left arm. Just as Ardine was about to turn around, she hid it by placing both of her hands behind her waist, nonchalantly standing peacefully to hide the truth about her powers.
"I think that's why she came along with us in the first place," Ardine said, when suddenly, he noticed her tense position. "Hey, are you okay?"
"Oh, yes," Claire instantly replied. "I am."
"Then..." Ardine kneeled down and lifted the sack from the beach. He held it up with both of his hands and blew off the rocky dust from the wrapped top. "Maybe you can show me what this was all about, since we went through hell and highwater to get it."
Claire chuckled. "What? You want me to wear it?"
"What else would you do with it? Toss it?"
"I'm considering tossing you instead, old man." Claire retorted.
"Oh, really?" Ardine laughed, handing Claire the sack. "I'm much too heavy. You wouldn't even be able to toss me."
"Is that a challenge?" Claire asked, smiling brightly.
"Oh, yeah." Ardine finished, watching her take point back to the camp. As she did, Ardine found something in Claire that he had never seen before; a blooming light, in regards to her white eyes, of course, but a light at the end of his tunnel that had a resemblance of innocence still left; still worth protecting. "Hey. Sorry about earlier, again."
"Okay, okay, apology accepted, old man, don't get sappy with me and lose your pride." Claire said.
And that somehow bound him to a duty, that no matter what would have happened, there would be more talks like this, reminding himself of what he was.
And in the same boat, was Claire.
The stars that night seemed to grow even brighter than before after their conversation.