The Way We Fall

Chapter 148 (Tigris)

At first, Tigris thinks that Roche is playing a prank on her. Her head was clear when she woke up, and energy filled every cell of her body. She felt great, like she's slept a full night and been woken up gently. Which is why she thinks she's being fooled, because Roche has never woken her up gently.

Then her memories caught up to her. Tigris popped open her eyes, her hand darting for her sword. Warm, calloused hands grabbed the weapon and moved it to the side before she could wield it.

"Easy, princess," a familiar voice chided, "We're all friends here."

"Are we?" an unfamiliar male voice retorted. The first voice huffed.

Tigris cracked open her eyes, finding Roche hovering over her. The maid's eyes were shadowed deeply, but her smile was radiant, like Tigris completed a quest rather than just woken up. Sunlight streamed over her rich brown skin. Tigris sat up, her memories catching up to her. They were no longer in the forest but in a nicely lit cavern. She was seated next to a smoking firepit. The floor was strewn with various rudimentary personal belongings that Tigris didn't recognise as her own: a few ragged clothes, blunt hunting knives, piles of wood, birch wood bowls.

"Where the hell are we?" Tigris murmured, stretching, as she glanced at Roche, "Wasn't I..."

"Dying?" Roche asked dryly, elbowing Tigris hard, "You wouldn't have been if you'd just shown me the popped stitch before we left. You're lucky Ikaros knew how to fix you."

"Ikaros?" Tigris sat up taller, excitement filling her, "You found him?"

Strangely, Roche's face shuttered. She leaned closer, shifting so that Tigris could look across the cave. Silhouetted by sunlight, a tall man of Irulia descent stood, staring out into the peaceful forest. He had long, curly dark hair that looked a bit like Roche's and a scraggly goatee that had been very roughly trimmed. He wore tattered grey robes with multiple holes in them. He remained staunchly turned away.

"He's not a fan of you or the king and he refuses to come back to the city with us," Roche explained. Tigris bit her lip, her mirth fading.

"He doesn't like me?" she asked. Roche nodded solemnly and Tigris pressed, "Yet he healed me?"

Roche huffed slightly, glaring at the whisper's back. "Trust me, it doesn't make sense to me either."

It didn't. But if he was willing to heal her, that meant that he had a heart. And hearts were something that Tigris knew how to appeal to. She stood slowly, walking towards the man. Roche didn't stop her, neither did Ivie who waited patiently for directions in the shadows. She turned to both of them.

"Ready yourselves to leave. We shouldn't infringe on his hospitality much longer." she ordered.

Ivie's brows furrowed. "Are we leaving? Without him?"

"Have faith," Tigris murmured, "Perhaps he'll change his mind."

Oddly, Roche scoffed, "Don't hold your breath." Tigris attributed this pessimism to her maid's recent grumpiness and decided to let it go. Roche and Ivie obediently walked out of the cave, the latter casting a concerned glance over at the whisper as she exited.

Tigris walked up to the mouth of the cave. The whisper didn't move as she approached. He simply watched Roche and Ivie run around preparing their supplies. Tigris felt a sense of familiarity as she gazed at the man's face. There was something about his features that seemed recognisable, but Tigris couldn't figure out what it was.

"I'm not coming," the man said quietly. His voice was soft and ghostly with a musical quality, like a passing breeze rustling leaves.

Tigris nodded. "Roche told me you'd said that."