The next half hour was torture. Never, in his life, did Ren expect to need to literally be waiting on Ink to dry. Waiting alone wouldn't have been a problem; he had spent much time on his own growing up, and had found meditation useful to reorient himself.
Unfortunately for him, even as Yona left the cabin to find some other people, she'd offhandedly mentioned Leonidas, that left Ren alone with Evelyn. Who was thumbing through the paper stack as Ren quietly ate from the meat strips. Occasionally, she'd mutter to herself, recognizing what the Inscriptions might be by their texture alone, as if they were speaking to her. Maybe they were.
Still, Ren leaned his head to the window, unsettled. What would it have taken for just a moment of respite? He wanted, more than anything, to be alone. A sorceress at the head of a merchant and musical caravan. How far had Ren fallen? Far enough, it seemed, to be using sorcery to hide his identity.
"Oh!" Evelyn hummed, pulling a paper from the pile, "This one's interesting."
Ren glanced at her carefully, then shrugged and went back to his position.
She huffed, turning to him, "Are you not going to ask me what it is?"
No. It couldn't be stated just how deeply Ren desired to ignore her and the world at large. He needed to figure out what he was going to do going forward, and he likely needed more sleep.
At the very least, the meat was savory.
"Venture!" Evelyn called, clearly growing unimpressed, "Venture!" After a long, exasperated sigh, she spoke again, "Ren."
Instinctively, he glanced at her, responding to his longtime nickname. Almost immediately, he regretted it. A smile spread across her lips, satisfied. "Do you want to know what it does?"
Glancing away, Ren sighed. "What?"
Evelyn held up the paper, "Warmth." As the paper crumbled in her hands, the cabin itself warmed, settling at a nice, convenient temperature as if a fire had been lit and the heat diffused. Evelyn grinned, then blinked. "...I probably shouldn't have used that."
Scoffing, Ren took another stick of meat, then subtly adjusted his coat so it wasn't so tightly drawn.
"Once this Ink dries, I want you to meet the Sparrows, and Felicity, and the families we take care of." She hummed, sitting down at her mother's seat, tapping her finger to her lips. "But which one…?"
Rolling his eyes, Ren shrugged, "Sparrows." Ren repeated softly. "They looked like a military unit."
Evelyn tilted her head, "Our militia?" She brightened, "Yes, I think Silas has already hazed you enough for them. And I suppose father would want you helping with them."
"...Right." He sighed, standing and stretching. "Look, Evelyn…" He took a moment, then met her gaze, "...Thank you. For helping me." Then he began to pace, going silent once again.
This time, Evelyn let him pace in silence as he strode back and forth, allowing himself to finally enjoy his own thoughts. What he hadn't expected, though, was how little he'd actually enjoy them. Finally being set alone, he didn't realize how much he could actually assume was going wrong. The Winter Clause. His sister. His father. His mother. He hated this Garden; they were some big family made of families, it seemed, and he was… Well… Outcast.
Luckily, the warmth of the cabin seemed to keep his thoughts at bay. Much less miserable than he'd anticipated. And yet still, it didn't do much. They were heading west, somewhere. Wherever the sun set and the lands grew unkind. He'd been west, a couple of times, but always with clear paths and quick caravans, tailored toward the class sensibilities of the elite. Speedy travel, good food, and wonderful inns.
But here, his back ached from the crates he'd used as a bed, his shoulders stiff from stress and restlessness.
Ren had no idea how long he paced back and forth. But it was long enough, apparently, to let the Ink dry. Because the next thing he knew, Evelyn had interrupted his path, holding it reverently in her hands, studying the inscription. There was a weight to her shoulders, now, as if seeing the Inscription alone was weighing her down. She held it out to him, silent this time.
Gently taking the mask from her hands, Ren found himself looking at the inscription, doing his best not to study the alien patterns. After a moment of blankly staring at it, he shook his head bitterly, and raised it to his face. "Fit for a wandering hero, right?"
Evelyn studied him, then shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Go and save some children, masked arbiter," She teased lightly, "Swoon some locals and return of a higher Mark."
For a moment, Ren didn't know what to say, then shook his head again, laughing softly, incredulously. "Anonymity." And… Nothing happened. Shaking his head, Ren sighed and turned to the door.
Together, they walked out of Yona's cabin and into the chilly spring afternoon.
Outside, Ren finally allowed himself to take in the caravan. Dozens of wagons trailing almost half a mile ahead as they drove, families and people darting between them. Sparrows in their uniforms of bright reds and sandy colours. Children laughing in groups as they raced each other up and down the sides of the caravan, screaming as they went. In the innermost circles of the Grand City, Ren had never seen such condensed… He didn't know what to call it. Joy? He'd never seen children having fun? No, that wasn't it, either.
'Life,' He thought, surprised, 'I've never seen such liveliness in my life.'
Evelyn, beside him on the front steps of the wagon, eyed Ren curiously. "Something wrong, Venture?"
Ren shook his head. "More children than I expected." That was truth. He'd never anticipated a merchant caravan to be so brimming with young, it even seemed that some of the women carried toddlers and newborn on their hips or pressed to their chests swaddled tightly as their little hands grabbed at nothing and their faces took in the world with the wide-eyed wonder only a babe could muster.
Evelyn only laughed, "This is their home. What, is the big bad arbiter attendant afraid of children?" With that, she jumped off Yona's cart and took off. "Sparrows! Come meet your new friend!"
She turned to him, motioning for him to follow, a smile on her face. But Ren simply stood there, unsure. Too much weighed on him, too much called to his attention and too much couldn't get the answers he desperately needed. Yet the Sparrows gathered again, anyway. Or, the Sparrows that had heard Evelyn shout, at least. For a moment, Ren looked back at the door of Yona's cart, thought of hiding himself away within it, then thought better of it, and jumped off.
He trotted up to keep pace with Evelyn, who'd slowed to a comfortable stride that matched the caravan's horses. Slowly, Sparrows gathered about, each in their uniforms, identical, but dirty and unkempt. There was, after all, no real way to press them on the road.
Orange eyes was there again, studying him with clear contempt. Ren, for the most part, wanted to shy away. He didn't need another person trying to get under his skin. As much as he didn't want to admit it, both Evelyn and Silas had managed to get to him. Keep him unsteady. Maybe they were just trying to comfort him, but hazing him in front of a crowd only hours earlier certainly couldn't have been the most optimal way of keeping his mind off things.
"Venture…" Orange eyes muttered, as if trying to formulate a question in his mind. "Obviously you're from the capital, and Silas won't tell us anything. Evelyn simply says you're the new help, and you say that you were attendant to the murderer…"
Letting out a slow breath, Ren tried to keep his lips straight so as not to show emotion. 'Clear heart and mind.'
"What of it?"
"Why are you here?"
Ren paused, wanting to speak his mind, then thought better of it. "...And what is your name?"
Orange eyes blinked, "What?"
"Your name." Ren spoke again, "What is it?"
Silence fell between the two, and Orange eyes sighed. "Cedric."
Ren nodded slowly, trying to log it somewhere in his mind. "Well… Cedric." He began, trying to find some real excuse. "Since you so ruefully cast doubt upon my position of Elren Winter's attendant, I must ask… What are you expecting me to be?"
Cedric raised an eyebrow. "An arbiter of some sort. Most folk down here don't carry themselves with the rigid memory of the Blind."
Internally Ren cursed. A little too close to the truth.
"But an attendant would've known of Evelyn and Silas at least, so you have to be some sort of conscript." Cedric frowned, "A deserter. Like Leon."
'A deserter…' The title echoed in his mind. It wasn't… False, exactly, but the truth of it was harder to explain than he could. "Maybe I am. Maybe I ran because I didn't want to be part of the aftermath of Lord Elren's actions."
Cedric tilted his head. "You believe the arbiter heir killed his own sister?"
"I think it doesn't matter to the Houses." Ren responded. "Any other questions? I recall Lady Evelyn saying this was supposed to be an introduction, not an interrogation."
Cedric grinned, turning to the other Sparrows, "Hear that? Lady Evelyn, the boy even speaks like an arbiter." The small crowd of Sparrows –A dozen at most – roared in their mix of approval and indignation echoing across the empty plains about them. He waved his hand, then nodded as Evelyn parted through the moving crowd. "So, Lady Evelyn," He said, eyeing Ren once again. "What will our new… 'Recruit'... Be doing? Silas has been particularly flippant about him."
Evelyn hummed, finger to her chin, making the motions of contemplation with none of the actual thought in her eyes. "Hm. When we stop tonight, we'll see, I suppose. Though I suspect he'll become a Sparrow. Maybe he'll dance, perhaps Silas will teach him to play."
"And what about the artisans?"
"What about them?" Evelyn mused, the faintest hint of amusement tugging at the corner of her lips.
Shaking his head, Cedric sighed. "...Right. Sorry."
Evelyn clapped her hands. "Alright! One at a time! Name and Mark!"
Rolling his eyes, Cedric raised the back of his hand to Ren, his Mark pulsing as it etched itself onto his skin. Complementary to Ren's, it consisted of three small seven pointed stars. "Traveler."
Smirking softly, Ren allowed his Mark to etch itself onto his skin, holding it up to Cedric. "Outcast."
There was silence, each of the Sparrows looking at it with stunned expressions. Finally, another of the Sparrows, a young man with strong features and enviably blue eyes, stepped forward. His concern wasn't aimed at Ren, however, but Evelyn. "An Outcast? Evelyn, why would we–"
She shushed him, then made a sweeping gesture toward the head of the caravan. "And what of my father and brother? Are they not Reapers?" She sighed, "Who are we, Solvaine?"
The young man hesitated, then shied back. "The Garden of Roses…"
"And what do we do?" She turned to the Sparrows. All of them. "What is the purpose of our Garden?"
"To give life to the lifeless! A home to the homeless!"
The chant rang familiar to Ren's ears. Discipline he understood, even at a far lesser scale. In response, he whispered back, only audible to the wind itself, "With clear heart and mind. Under the Lilac Sky." It wasn't much. He couldn't offer much to them. Leon had been right, after all. Now, he was nothing more than a child without a home. There was no gift he could give or respite he could promise. So, this was the best he could give. A mantra that meant nothing to them.
Ren's moment of introspection vanished with Evelyn. Who, for what it was worth, raised both arms, smiling from ear to ear. "Well then, Travelers, Shadows, Lions and Roots, what does an Outcast mean but the culmination of our efforts?"
'They have a good spread, too.' Ren thought, eyes sweeping over them, 'That covers… Four Pillars?'
Lowering his hand, then his head, Ren bowed slightly. "Thank you for taking me in."