By the time the light had fully made its way through the branches of the forest, Nayura and her servant had already gathered their belongings, moving to saddled their once sleeping steeds that had been tied to stray roots not too far from where they slept. Kadu elk, not too dissimilar from their cousins the Coelyxia. 

They had been unbothered by the mornings incident, perhaps a sign Aster had overeacted.

After a while of preparations, Nayura removed the cloth veil from over he face, breathing deeply as she took in the scent of the morning air. Closing her eyes, she let the sun dance across her face.

Aster could see that his master was still thinking about the deer. This much at least, could not fool him. Her movements were slower than usual. She had carefully wrapped and rewrapped her ceremonial Elder Oak staff several times. For her this was irregular, she was the most efficient person he knew. It was unlike her to be engaged in such a menial task. As he finished the last of the packing, he decided to pry a little.

“That was the first Lyxia we have seen in many years. To find that they are still lingering in this area is an omen of good fortune. It appears that they may be returning to repopulate, perhaps they have not forgotten us yet.”

He could see that she was instantly aware of what he was trying to do. But at least she did look up again, pulling herself away from her thoughts to be in the moment with him. Not lost in the crevices of her mind.

“Perhaps,” She replied shortly. 

She turning her attention to the last thing she had to carry with her, the weapon she had left propped beside them as they slept. A long blade, her favoured glaive. She twirled it once in her hands as if testing its weight. But it was a practiced motion, something she had done thousands of times. Effortless.

And it was his warning to drop the topic altogether. He could sense her drawing up walls again.

Aster sighed to himself. Every year it was the same.

They would come to make pilgrimage for their people and ancestors, but always left more disheartened than when they arrived.

Watching his master, he could not help but hope he might disuade her from returning next year. He knew the journey was always the hardest on her. She had not come for several years; her duties had required her attention elsewhere. Yet in the times she had come years prior, she always pushed herself to the heart of the Elder Lands, faithfully paying her respects to the site of what he knew she considered the graveyard of her greatest failure.

The remnants of the of their people’s ancestral home - Xe’haddena.

When they cleared their encampment, Aster and Nayura rode further into the forest in silence. From beneath all the robes and ceremonial wear she had on, Aster could tell his mistress was doing her best to be still. But where she had succeded in doing so earlier, it was clear that more than just unease from that morning rode with her too. Anyone else would have been fooled however, and precisely why Aster made certain to come with her this year.

From birth, both he and Nayura were taught to restrain their emotions constantly. It was part of their way, and they would not be allowed into formal society until they had reached a mastery of stoicism. Aster remembered the time he would spend listening to the mantra their elders, the Ye’hedra, would chant during her meditation hours while he stood guard outside the training room;

 “To quell the heart is to reform the soul. You cannot let the soul be swayed by the iniquities of the flesh!”

“Steel your soul against your heart!”

Aster had known Nayura for the entirety of her life. When she was younger, she was like a dazzelfly, never sitting still, filtering in and out of the light, and always where she didn’t belong. When he was with her, they would play and train together from sunup till sunset. She was like a sister to him. Their bond steadily assured that they would be part of each other’s lives forever.

And even though any telling outward signs had diminished over the years, and even though they had spent some time apart,  Aster was still the most precise when it came to reading her aura.

Yet, it was also becoming more difficult to do so, something that worried him very much.

 But he, too, tried not to let on.