Sancha: A Spirit Animals Story

Shattering Loss

A/N: Just so everyone's clear, I imagine that this scene takes place around a year and a half or so after Sancha initially arrived at Greenhaven, meaning she's is around twelve now. Since Shane is thirteen in the original series, and Sancha had just turned eleven or so when she summoned Spesamari, that means two years pass before the events of Wild Born, so right now, we're about six months away from that. Also, this is the first time in a while that I'm drawing on events that actually happened in Canon. We don't technically know how much time has passed prior to when it gets mentioned in the books, so I'm taking advantage of that to make it happen in my story's timeline. Alright, I'm done ranting. Please enjoy.

Warning: This one's a tearjerker.

It was another two months before Sancha was allowed to resume her trips beyond Greenhaven. Tarik accompanied her on the next one, which was in Nilo this time. Finn did not accompany them this time, both because his expertise when it came to North Eura did not naturally extend to Nilo, but also because he along with Alec and his other three brothers had been sent on a mission abroad in the Hundred Isles, which they were not expected to return from for another several months. Sancha had departed Greenhaven the same day the Cooley's had, and they'd met for a few minutes on the docks so that they chances to each give Sancha a hug goodbye. They promised to send letters to Greenhaven so she'd have something from them when she returned from her own expedition, and Sancha told them she looked forward to reading them. 

"Don't have too much fun," Sancha joked.

"No promises," Alec remarked. "Take care of yourself, Sancha. You're doing a lot o' good for those people. Heck, you did a lot for us too."

Alec had half joked before that, at this point, Sancha was an honorary Cooley, something she couldn't say didn't make her feel loved. The brothers, particularly Finn and Alec, had grown to be her closest friends since leaving home, and after Finn had called Sancha his sister in front of the men who'd attacked them in Eura, Sancha felt that the bond she'd developed with them was certainly reciprocated on his and his brothers' ends, even if Finn had said that only to protect her at the time.

She still thought of Shane every now and then, but it was less so than she used to. Sometimes she felt guilty about this, wondering if this meant she didn't care enough about her twin anymore. She'd opened up to Tarik about this line of thought, and he'd assured her that just because she had other things on her mind didn't mean she loved her brother any less. Sancha chose to believe this. And another revelation came to her around this time. For so long, she'd emotionally depended on Shane, and he on her. Now, for the first time, she was standing strong on her own. It felt freeing and powerful.

...

Nilo had been an adventure, and Sancha felt at times carried away by the feeling of discovery. Of course, she'd been to Nilo before, having landed on its coast after her long bout at sea after her father's death, but that had been a very different time for a very different Sancha than the one that existed now. She sensed that Tarik felt a sense of enjoyment at being in his home nation, but also some sadness, as his home was unreachable for him. Thankfully, there was plenty to distract from that.

Unlike in Eura, no one tried attacking them, and the only attack they'd faced was a close call with a set of hunting lions, which they luckily managed to conceal themselves from long enough for the beasts to head in another direction towards easier meals. The lack of human pursuers  may have been because Tarik kept his cloak in his satchel rather than on his back. As Finn had predicted once, this hadn't happened without some sense of frustration. 

"I know it's necessary," Tarik had said. "But it still leaves a bitter taste. They're the ones in the wrong, yet people like me have to conceal ourselves like we're the ones committing a crime."