Her of the Wood

by Veronica Watts

  Euodia is immediately thankful for how Lorna's phrased this. She hasn't asked about Euodia's past or her skill set. She's asked about the here and now and given her an out, and Euodia is certain she did it on purpose. "I think I'll be happy anywhere. I'm always interested in learning something new."

  Lorna thinks for a minute and looks around the room a bit. "I think you should be with our scouts. You'll fit in well there, and it will give you plenty to learn."

  Euodia nods and smiles gratefully, wondering what all this entails. Ailie had introduced Hana as a scout but sitting around the edges of Solace doesn't seem like a lot to learn. The meeting wraps up, and people start to head their separate ways. Lorna makes her way over to talk to Callie, and Euodia stays seated, waiting for an opening to ask about who she should speak to regarding her new job. As the two women talk, Ailie startles Euodia by placing a hand on her shoulder. "Looks like you're with me." Ailie turns around and heads to the door. "You coming?" Euodia wants nothing more than to follow this woman, but she hesitates, wondering whether more time spent with Ailie is for the best. She knows she's attracted to Ailie, and wonders if Ailie will notice, and how she and the community will respond.

  Still, she follows Ailie to the largest building a short walk away. It's next to the building everyone seemed to be going to last night. It's a food hall. The room they've eaten in so far must be for special meetings, making this the usual spot for food, where she should come from now on. She sees Jenson walking into the kitchen with someone, ready to roll up his sleeves and get started.

  Ailie picks up two cups of water and leads Euodia to a table where others around their age are sitting. She hands her the water as they take their seats. There's Broderick, Hana, and Auston that she's already met. They all greet her warmly. Ailie introduces her to the other seven or so, but their names whiz by so fast that Euodia can't quite connect the names to the faces. They're making a shift schedule for watch duty. Broderick goes to ask the kitchen how they are on meat. It turns out the scouts hunt as well. That will be something new. Hana and Ailie invite Euodia to watch their hunt today, and they pull her towards the sleeping cabin as they leave the food hall. "I thought we were going hunting?"

  Hana is quick. "Not in those clothes." Euodia looks to Ailie, who smiles and raises an eyebrow. There's a closet in the back of the cabin. Clothes, it seems, are communal. They pull out a few shirts and hold them up to see which will fit best. They only pull out one pair of pants and one pair of shoes. Either this is all they have, or they knew what would fit, and they do. The shoes are old, definitely machine made. Someone must have worn them out here from Dracon. The clothes are light, soft, and a little loose. They aren't baggy, but they shift against her skin as she moves, rather than holding her in place. The sisters move to the front of the cabin as Euodia peels off her Worker suit. She knows this is more for her benefit than theirs. While she's not comfortable being naked and she redresses quickly, being out of the suit is a new kind of freedom.

  She throws her heavy boots and restrictive suit in the corner of the closet floor. She can't imagine anyone will be using them soon. Everything feels gentle and strange. Even the shoes are soft everywhere but the bottoms, and they're light. She finds herself altering her steps with the lack of weight she's become so accustomed to. They stop by a storage building at the edge of the community before heading out. They take a bow and arrow each and a bottle of water to share and head out into the woods.

  EIGHT

  Ailie and Hana start the trek by talking casually. They make sure to check in with the scout on duty before they leave the village circle. It's one of the guys that Ailie introduced her to earlier, but she can't remember his name, and no one uses it now. She waves as they pass and follows the others closely.

  "So, Euodia." Hana speaks without looking back, and it catches Euodia off guard to hear her name. "Ailie tells me you chose to leave the city." Ailie nudges her sister with her shoulder. Hana smiles in a way that only a sister can, "That's a first."

  It's obvious she wants elaboration. Ailie looks at Euodia with apology in her eyes.

  "I just needed to get out of there, and I felt like you or something like you would be here." She's caught up to them now, the three of them walking together.

  Hana's eyes are wide and bright. "What's it like?"

  Euodia thinks for a moment before responding. Ailie walks in that comfortable way Euodia is coming to appreciate, but Hana is full of energy, waiting for a response. "That depends on who you are."

  Now they're both waiting for her to explain. "I was a worker, which is exactly what it sounds like. I didn't really have any freedom, or any choice in the matter. There are people who have money, but they're controlled, too, even if it's just by social pressure. When you can't leave your city, what the people in that city think of you is important." She finds herself thinking of Orchid, of her pink hair and coy smile. "So I came out here, hoping that I would meet others, and I can already tell you this place is a thousand times better for me." She's trying to think of a way to elaborate when she notices the women walking slower, quieter.

  Hana holds up her hands as they walk around a dense patch of trees. They're several minutes on the other side before Hana speaks again. "Sorry about that. They might have been roosting. Sometimes in this heat they get lazy."

  "Who?"

  "The turkeys." Hana looks confused. "What did you think we were hunting?"

  "I wasn't sure. I've only seen rabbits."

  "Don't worry. We'll get to them." Ailie winks.

  She sees a calm pool of water ahead, probably fed by some underground spring from the river. Ailie pulls up next to her. "They roost back there, but they drink here." She points to the softer mud near the side of the path. There are little footprints in it, a dot with three long lines pointing out and forward, like a crude drawing of a flower. There are many. "And I saw some droppings a while back that tell us at least one or two headed towards the water this morning. Turkeys are sharp-sighted, but on hot days like this, they rest a lot, so we might be able to get the drop on one."

  They are getting closer to the water now. They hook around to the right, where the grasses are taller. They can see two large birds near the water. They look like they're sleeping peacefully. Ailie takes off her bow and places an arrow on the string. She moves forward slightly. Hana puts her hand on Euodia's arm to let her know that they are to stay in place.

  Ailie stays crouched as she moves forward slowly, always with the grasses hiding her and the movements as silent as she can convince them to be. She is near the edge of the grass when she puts her knees on the ground. She takes the back of the arrow and the string in her right hand and with one swift movement, she straightens her back and shoots. There's a shrieking sound and a flutter of wings.

  One bird jumps up loudly, blundering her way up, into a nearby tree. The flight is surprised and unsteady. They don't look like the most graceful of birds to begin with, big as they are. The other bird never has a chance to move. Hana stands, and Euodia follows. They catch up to Ailie as she walks towards the fallen bird.

  The arrow is in its head. Euodia squats down to look closer. This is the first time she's ever seen a bird so close. The feathers are mostly black and dark brown, especially covering the rounded chest and body of the bird. The tail feathers are large and stand up strong. She would have expected everything to be lying flat on the dead animal, but these feathers stand up straight, showing off their colors even in death. There is white added to the brown on the tails and wings, creating intricate patterns. The bird's head is blue and red, some of the brightest colors Euodia has seen out here. Ailie leans over to pull the arrow out of the bird's head. "You have to get them in the head or the major organs, otherwise, they'll make it up into the tree, and then you're stuck waiting." She holds the head still with one hand while she pulls the arrow out with the other. "And most of the time you go home empty handed because they can usually outwait you."

  Hana takes the bird's feet
in her hands and tosses the heft of it up onto her shoulder. "We usually don't bag one this fast. You must be our lucky charm." She turns and walks back the way they came. Ailie follows. Euodia looks up at the turkey in the tree, who seems to be watching with disdain. She turns and follows the sisters back into town.

  They drop off their weapons and head towards the kitchens. Hana says she'll make the delivery and heads off with the bird. Ailie turns to Euodia. "Well, we finished that up quickly. I'm going to go see if they need any help in the garden. You're welcome to join me unless there's something else you want to do."

  Euodia thinks for a minute. "I'd kind of like to check on Norten and Vaness since we didn't see them this morning."

  Ailie grins. "Do you think we've secreted them away in the night?"

  Euodia fumbles over herself trying to deny it. "Of course not... I just... They're my friends." She looks down to the ground, embarrassed, because as kind as these people have been, it's not in her nature to trust, and she needs to see that everyone is okay with her own eyes.

  Ailie raises an eyebrow and brings her head down a bit to meet Euodia's eyes. "Hey." Euodia looks up. "I'm just joking." There is a kindness in her tone that melts Euodia's embarrassment away. "Come on, I'll walk you to the doctor."

  Ailie turns and starts to walk. Euodia watches her for a minute and then hurries to catch up. They pick up speaking as if the conversation never paused. "The doctor came from your city." Euodia wanted to correct her use of possession. Not only was Dracon not hers, but she wanted nothing to do with it. "He's been here since I was a kid. He doesn't have the equipment he had there, but he still has all of the knowledge, and he's spent the last decade experimenting with plants and things to make medicines, so if you see what looks like a nice drink sitting around his place, do not put it in your mouth."

  Euodia looks over as Ailie finishes speaking, and she cannot look away from her lips. They're thin, and the left corner always seems on the verge of curling into a smile. Euodia realizes too late that she's missed something. Ailie's voice has risen slightly and stopped, a sure sign that she's asked a question. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

  Ailie smiles knowingly. Euodia blushes in shame and fear. She looks for a hint of anger in Ailie's face, but she sees only pride and what it seems safer to call gratitude than reciprocity. "Don't worry about it. We're here." She gestures up a small flight of stairs to a cabin almost as big as their own. "I'll see you later, E."

  Euodia nods and watches Ailie head off towards the gardens; it's all she can manage. She can feel a flame in her cheeks, but she can't shake it, so she goes up to the cabin, cheeks shining, and knocks.

  An old man opens the door. His hair grows out from his head a few inches, stark white, patchy, and sticking out at odd angles. He wears a pair of glasses. Euodia hasn't seen a pair of those in years. Anyone who has bad eyesight in the city center gets laser surgery. She saw a few older people who lived in the edges and couldn't afford the surgery wearing these when she was younger, but they were usually heirlooms. The cost of getting a pair made was as prohibitive as the surgery. These look like that sort of handed-down thing. There`s a crack in the bottom left corner. She can't help but wonder where that crack falls on his field of vision, what it cuts away.

  "Can I help you?" His voice is higher than she would have expected, but it suits him, all tall, willowy, and light. His eyebrows stay raised as he waits for her to answer. He's practically standing on the balls of his feet, as if his entire being is waiting for the end of some pause so that he can continue moving forward.

  Euodia takes a minute to find her voice again. For being rather thin, this man has a large presence. "I'm Euodia. I came into town with Norten."

  He shakes his head as she speaks, as if he can't believe he didn't put that together. "Of course you are, of course you are. Come in. Come in." He has his arm around her and is ushering her into the space before she can protest. The building is split into sections. This front room looks like a lab, doctor's office, and research facility blended into one. She notices that there's a water spigot on one wall. That's the first sign of plumbing she's seen.

  Ailie was right. There are containers of solid and liquid plant matter on every shelf. Under these, and piled wherever else they can find space, are books, the first she's seen since arriving. As she turns to look at the doctor, who is asking her questions about their journey here and their time in the forest and happenings in Dracon, she sees that the wall behind him is made of bookshelves, all crammed full. The main thing she was loathe to leave behind was the few books she had managed to get for herself, but she couldn't carry what she wasn't supposed to have. The sight takes over her senses, and while she's aware that the doctor is still talking, she does not hear his words.

  "Manny." The voice is deep and coming from behind her. She jumps, startled out of trying to read the worn spines. "Let the girl see her friends." The man is tall but soft. His hair is longer and still has some dark left. He's coming out of a back room. He wipes his hand on his shirt and holds it out for her to shake.

  The gesture does not seem important to him, but it takes Euodia a moment to realize that the handshake is meant for her. He holds his hand steady for the minute it takes her to follow through and smiles warmly when she meets his large eyes. "I'm Jin."

  "Euodia."

  He points to the second door towards the back of the building. "Norten's in there. Vaness is with him."

  "Thank you."

  Jin walks towards Manny as Euodia heads towards the door. She knocks but opens the door without waiting for an answer, still a little thrown by the men behind her and ready to be with someone who understands her situation, to some degree. As she opens the door, Vaness is pulling her face away from Norten's. She's flushed. Euodia immediately looks to the floor, and the blush that had finally started to recede comes roaring back. "Sorry." She mumbles under her breath.

  "How are you?" Norten speaks as if they're catching up after a weekend trip.

  "Good." She looks up to them. Their eyebrows are raised as if they're waiting to be chastised. It relaxes her to see that she's not the only one still unsure of what the rules are. "You look like you're feeling better." The smirk on her face is audible. They immediately smile, and all three of them laugh away the tension.

  When they quiet down, Norten explains. "Manny's been really helpful. He gave me stuff for the nausea and fever and tea to help me sleep, and Vaness hasn't left my side. She's been amazing." He looks up to her. She's sitting in the chair next to his short bed, and she returns the gaze, light and strong at the same time. They look like they don't have a care in the world but if they did, they could conquer it together. They're staring at each other, into each other, as if there isn't another person standing there watching them.

  Uncomfortable, her first response is to wonder how something like this develops literally overnight, but the look pulls her mind back to Orchid, and she needs to interrupt that thought. "You look much better. Are you going to be staying here again tonight?"

  "Jin was trying to get that sorted out for us actually." Vaness, who was sulking about death two days ago, is now glowing.

  Euodia needs to get away. "Well keep me posted. I'm working with the scouts, so I'm around." She looks back to Norten. "I'm glad you're feeling better. Let me know if I can help."

  They say goodbye quickly as she turns to leave. She walks fast. Manny and Jin are still in front of the bookcase, standing close and talking quietly. She leaves without speaking, moving faster with each step, and by the time she hits the path, she's running. She can't remember the map she's trying to create in her head, so she goes straight. Her vision blurs and a few of the most insistent tears push their way out. She wipes them away and moves faster.

  She knows people are watching, but she can't help it. She's started, and she knows she won't be able to stop. Her chest is tight, trying to maintain some control, and finally she sees the end of the path, where circles around the inner part of Solace. She darts pa
st it and into the trees, past the torch circle. She hasn't passed the village circle, but she's not around people, and that's all she needs, she drops to her knees and lets it all out. The tears are hot on her cheeks. Her jaw muscles are tight, and her chest heaves. Her entire body shakes. Everything is heavy, and none of it feels like it is in her control. She gives in, leans into the grass, and sobs.

  Her thoughts return to the girl she left in Dracon, the girl who wasn't willing to brave the unknown. She loved her more than anything, but she needed out, and Orchid wanted to stay. Euodia has left the one person she loved to find a place where she can be happy, but she doesn't know if she can be happy without that love. She's afraid she'll never feel that way again. Then she thinks about Ailie, about how when Ailie smiles, everything gets a little softer, a little easier to manage. Orchid made things burn; everything was new. Ailie makes everything calm and light.

  She looks at the blades of grass around her and thinks about what it would have been like to stay in the city. She would have had to lie when people were around, but at least she would have known Orchid's love. She could have gone to bed with her each night and woken up with her each morning, only pretending to sleep in her own room. They could have read together and bathed one another. They could have been happy. She thinks, now, that maybe she's made a mistake. She pictures learning to cook together and watching Orchid paint. She plays out the scene in her head as she lies in the sun, but as the warmth relaxes her muscles, her thoughts expand. She sees other people in the home and hours alone while Orchid is out. She remembers running errands and silence. She thinks about the suit that she took off this morning, straining to control her movements, to slow her, to remind her of her place. She knows her decision was right, but she sees Orchid's face in her mind and continues to cry.

  NINE