Uxten's new companion had a deep croak of a voice and an enduring laugh, and they followed her everywhere.
Her lover had been right, though. Ryf was not a child, and they could fend for themself. They were skilled at it, even: their sharp eyes found plenty of succulent morsels that Uxten's glazed right over, and their questions were numerous but not repetitive. They committed so much to memory, and they learned lesons well, thriving in the Homewood.
Still, it seemed wrong to resume the patrols Uxten had been accustomed to, before the expedition. They were clearly not a fighter; that had been obvious from their very first meeting. Ryf was cautious and discerning even then. They had waited to see what all the other faeries were up to, and they had managed to look certain, when they approached Uxten. Even though, now that it had been some time, Uxten knew they hadn't been certain at all.
"You've shown me much about the Homewood, and I'm grateful for that," Ryf had said, a few nights ago when the moon hung full in the sky. "But I chose you because I knew you had something to do here." They paused, looking over Uxten. "You and your kin all wear both armor and weapons. You have nothing to fear. But you've never shown that to me."
"You really are observant, aren't you?" Uxten had said in reply. She hadn't elaborated further, and Ryf did not push. But Uxten had been thinking.
Today, she was ready. "Put me on the patrol schedule," she'd told her family's elders in the morning, and she'd watched Ryf's large ears p***k up at her side.
"It's less exciting than you'd think," she'd begun, once they were alone in the Ruins. She could see Ryf's eyes skittering from side to side, taking in all the new shiny things that could be found here.
"I don't need excitement," Ryf answered, though, quick to reply for once. "I just want to know. This...is this Vykeli, too?"
"It was, once," Uxten said. This story was one they knew, and they'd told some of it to Ryf already. "You know the Others came from elsewhere. This is...as far as we know, this is where they lived, while they occupied Vykeli."
Uxten had been assigned a familiar route, though not an easy one. Her family did not move about close to the Homewood, and they knew she was skilled enough to handle this section of the Ruins, despite having been on hiatus for a while. She knew by memory exactly where to turn, and as she did, she realized it felt familiar. "We don't know what the Ruins looked like, or what kinds of creatures once lived here. But we know it used to be alive, somehow."
They paused where they knew it easiest for a predator to hide, sweeping efficiently and carefully. Ryf stretched out their small wings to fly along, for once. "I don't need to be seen," they'd explained once, when Uxten had asked if they needed further healing. They often walked, despite their wings, so Uxten had assumed at first that they had sustained an injury through their resurrection. "It's easiest if I'm still, or low to the ground."
"The Others...there are images of them here, sometimes, and they look strange and naked and weak. But they're strong - the predators they brought aboard their ships are the greatest threat to Homewood life. You've seen dire rats, of course - but it's only recently that any have learned to speak. Most of them are thieves."
Uxten turned to ensure Ryf was flying along, though she needn't have bothered. Ryf seemed more attentive than ever, and they were paying attention to more than Uxten's path or her story. "There's also catbeasts. They can grow as large as an adult noulicorn, and they're deadly, silent, and swift. They lived here, once, alongside the Others, and they thrive here still." The wind rattled through the landscape, and Uxten brought their nose to the air and sniffed. They remembered this well, too: catbeasts could always be found lurking near strong scents.
"The Others killed Vykeli, but they knew many things, too, and we can't abandon the Ruins. When I haven't been hired to help guard a healer, I take turns with the rest of my family combing the sectors of the Ruins, or the borders of Homewood. When I've located predators, I fight them off. It's important that the Homewood's healers are safe."
"Not everyone is a healer, though?" Ryf said, suddenly. It was a strange question, because Ryf already knew the answer. They'd already met Uxten's lover, the Companion, and Scoria and her team of craftsmen.
"Not everyone is suited for it." Uxten turned, quickly, at a sharp noise - but it was a bird that had pecked too hard at the ground.
Ryf tittered. "I can tell. You're well-suited for this, you know."
"...you haven't seen me fight," Uxten muttered.
"Doesn't that mean you've already kept the predators away?" Ryf was flying just by Uxten's ear, now. "But I'm not stupid. There's more to what you do than fighting. You stand guard, and watch for things - like me. And...you have to know the best time to engage."
Uxten remembered a large, crystal-blue silhouette, and a beastly, incomprehensible roar. "...Sometimes," she said.
Neither of them said much more, for the remainder of the hours that Uxten worked. It was comfortable, Uxten realized: Ryf had learned their routine fast, and they kept the beats of their wings quiet in consideration. "Walking makes a sound, on that ground," Ryf had murmured, when they'd seen Uxten's gaze on them a little too often.
Ever since the Grandfather Tree had chosen her, Uxten had wrapped up her patrols with a certain ritual. "You haven't seen my gift, right?" she asked.
Ryf didn't need to respond, though their wingbeats stilled.
It was obvious what was happening, anyway. Uxten had been told she looked unusually still when she was using her gift, and she always lifted her head. It made her feel like the pollen would spread a little farther if it started from higher up, she'd told her lover once. She opened her eyes to watch the little clouds of pollen disperse into the wind. This was familiar, too, she thought, and so was the exhaustion that chased it. It was a satisfying exhaustion, though, a reminder that Uxten had truly done all she could tonight.
Uxten didn't often use her gift outside of her patrols, though she knew it was technically useful in the Homewood. A gift should be used for healing where it was needed, though, no matter how unsuited she was for that task. So it truly was Ryf's first time experiencing this, though eerily it felt perfectly comfortable with this particular voyeur in tow. Ryf had little comment but a clap of their forepaws, though, and they turned toward home in perfect synchronicity with Uxten, without asking anything else.
"Were you surprised?" she asked Ryf, as they sat across from each other and dined back in the Homewood.
"Everything was new to me, so in that sense, perhaps, it was surprising," Ryf said. "But you were at home, every step of the way. In that sense, everything about it seemed only correct."
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