Raine. She recognized the name instantly. How could she forget even in this panic? The tiny girl who fought off an entire pack of slave traders. All to get her out of a cage. She hadn’t even asked but Raine said something about the look in her eyes asked for her.

Xeik held up his hands and her eyes snapped to him. They watched carefully and she scrunched herself up to the wall the more he got close. She felt the pain from the wound go away and curiosity killed her enough to look at it. Gold eyes looked down from where the wound had been up to Xeik.

Those eyes held uncertainly as he spoke and told her his name. Her lips mimicked his when he said his name and she nodded. Putting her hand on her stomach she thought about it. How best to say she had eaten two days ago. That was more than she had eaten before. The weight on her even said as much.

Once he got to the pain she showed him her thighs where the bruises were and lightly tapped them where the injections were. Finally, her eyes went up to the food and she looked like she was drooling a little bit. Not to be taken off guard though she immediately watched him once more. Scared. He seemed okay for right now but she didn’t know him very well.

Xeik motioned to the food and she got up stumbling a little from the bruises. The way her feet were was obvious what Raine had said. She had been in a cage far too small as she hobbled over and collapsed in front of the small table with the food. She wasn’t even in the chair but then again chairs weren’t for people like her as she reached up for an apple.

She held the apple in her hand and tilted her head as she rolled it around. Giving Xeik a questioning look she pointed at the apple and shrugged her shoulders. She didn’t even know what it was. How did you eat it?

At the mention of Raine, she seemed to calm down a bit, but as with anyone in her situation, she never really let her guard down. That was fine. Xeik didn’t expect her to deal with everything that was happening. She mimicked his name with her lips, but no sounds came out. Raine had been right; she wasn’t able to speak. She seemed able to comprehend what he was saying, and without words answered most of his questions. She was starving, and the places where she had been injected still hurt.

When she collapsed, Xeik resisted the urge to rush to help her. Sudden movements would only scare her at the moment. So instead, he let her discover what her freedom was. She’d find out soon enough. However, she seemed almost confused at the apple. That almost hurt Xeik’s heart to see, but he smiled.

“Bite it, carefully.” He made a chomping motion with his teeth. “Small bites, though. And chew carefully.” He pointed to the chair. “You can sit in that, too. Or sit back on the bed. I can bring you the rest of the food if you want. I’m sure it’s more comfortable than the floor.” He slowly stood up. “I promise that it’s ok.” He went to the door, and looked back.

“I’ll be back in just a moment. I’m going to send for Raine. She’ll want to know you’re awake.” He thought for a moment. “Don’t leave the room. Just eat and drink, slowly. I’ll be right back. I promise…”

Mia looked at the apple and rolled it in her hands. Her eyes went to Xeik and she watched him before she tried to mimic. Small bites and chew. It was tougher than bread once she took a bite but her face lit up immediately. Her eyes wandered to the plate of food and she chewed. She shouldn’t waste food. Who knew she was going to get another meal like this.

Immediately the moment he started to move her eyes shot towards him. Every movement he did was giving her red flags but she calmed down as she realized he was alright. Once he told her she could move to the bed she took the tray of food and climbed up on it. The plushness of the bed caused her to sigh happily as she flopped.

Taking a grape she rolled it around in her fingers with wide eyes before she plopped it into her mouth. She had never had fruits before and they were yummy. She took a big old drink of water and soon Raine returned with Xeik.

Mia was on her belly looking through a book with pictures. Her feet were daintily kicking up and down as she plopped another grape in. Once she saw them she was a little spooked and tried to hide the book under her.

“It’s okay!” Raine held out her hands. “Did you like that book?”

Mia held out the book and showed them the pictures. It was a flower field. She was tapping the page enthusiastically.

“Oh! You like flowers?” Mia looked at the picture and nodded. Mia began to poke at the sky and then pointed at Raine. “Yeah! I can fly in the sky! Do you like the sky?”

Mia tilted her head and she looked sad for a moment. She flipped through the book until she found the picture of the night sky. She held it up and showed it to them.

“That’s a nighttime sky. Have you ever seen it?”

Mia shook her head no.

“Have you ever shifted?”

Mia tilted her head and gave a look of curiosity.

“… Do you know what you are?”

Mia dropped the book and rolled away from them as she thought about it. She thought she was like them. Can she not turn into a winged thing?

When Xeik came back with Raine, there was a moment before she freaked out that she looked almost relaxed. He hated that they were interrupting that time, but hopefully with the way things were going she would have more time to adjust and grow accustomed to the feeling of freedom. The fact that she hadn’t tried to bolt, or even attack, was a great sign. In all fairness, though, she probably didn’t have the will to fight.

“Ah, that book,” Xeik said as she showed it off. He watched her show off the pictures excitedly, and as Raine asked the questions, the woman seemed not to understand what she was.

“We can figure that out slowly, then,” Xeik replied. He smiled. “You can turn into a wolf.” There was a look of confusion on her face, and the healer thought for a moment as he crossed his arms. He had an idea, and snapped his fingers, which caused a twitch from the wild girl. “Ah, sorry. But that book…may I see it?” He held out his hand.

Curiously, the woman put it down, and nudged it closer to Xeik before retreating. He carefully picked it up, and shuffled through it. “This book here is a children’s story about a child of the moon.” He cleared his throat. “There was once a woman who loved a man. Her name was Miranda. They were happy together, but there was a jealous soul, an evil witch who sought the man for herself. Using wicked evils, she cast a dark spell over Miranda, and cursed her to howl at the moon, and turn into a fearsome beast. It was meant to scare the man away, and chase him into the evil witch’s arms. So, as the full moon rose…the woman changed.” He flipped the book, and showed her the woman changing into a wolf.

“The man saw this happen, and as Miranda howled to the moon, he started to run. He didn’t get far, though. Miranda’s howl pierced the night, a sad, lonely sound. Realizing that the only thing that had changed was her shape, he returned to his love. The witch was furious that her plan had failed, but there was nothing that could be done…” He smiled. “As the moon disappeared, Miranda changed back into her human form, and the two lived happily ever after.”

The snap spooked her lightly but once she calmed down she managed to nudge the book towards him. She sat up on the bed on her knees and tilted her head. She was anxious to hear what he had to tell her. She got off the bed and came closer to Xeik to look at the picture. She looked over at Raine and then looked at the book. She was putting two and two together that she and Raine weren’t similar.

Raine watched how Mia looked at the book. “Do you have a name?” It would be silly if they didn’t use it.

Mia stood up and gave Raine a look and tilted her head.

“Like I’m Raine. This is Xeik.”

Mia pointed at herself and shook her head. She had heard herself be called things but everyone had been called those things. These seemed like special names like Miranda in the story.

“She can’t just be the Woman I saved from Vilpamolan,” Raine made a face. “I have to go do paperwork though and Lady Angela is getting back soon. She said she wants to meet her. We should figure out a name for her so Lady Angela doesn’t name her.”

Mia tilted her head again and turned to Xeik. He seemed ok and that he wasn’t going to hurt her. As Raine closed the door Mia got closer to him. She put her nose to his skin and sniffed. There was visible confusion on her face. He smelled good and it wasn’t something she had smelled before.

Taking the book from his hands she seemed to have gotten a little more comfortable with him as she flipped back to the flower field and stared at it. She held it up at him again. With the look on her face… It almost seemed as if she was questioning if it was real.

When Raine left, the woman seemed to get a little braver, and started to move closer to Xeik. While she definitely held some human-like traits, for the most part she acted almost like a wild animal. With the way that she had been held captive, he wasn’t entirely surprised, but there were definitely going to be some heavy learning curves when it came to how to act around others. Still, for the time being the goal was to make her comfortable, so he let her sniff him, if only to show that he wasn’t a threat.

“You like that?” he asked. “We can get you a bath too, once Angela comes back. It shouldn’t take too long, and I bet you’ve never felt clean.” He thought back to the times when he had been living on the streets. Even then, he had managed to get a cold shower in every so often. This poor woman hadn’t managed even that.

As she went back to the book, taking it from Xeik, she flipped to the field of flowers and seemed to question whether or not that place existed. “Maybe not specifically that place, but yes…fields of flowers exist.” He thought for a moment. “Here…” He held out his hand to her. “Trust me…” He smiled. “I’ll show you a real field of flowers. It’s close by…will only take a few minutes to get there.”

She looked up at him with curiosity once more. What the hell was a bath? What was feeling clean? She would find out but for now, she was content with just the field of flowers. She looked down at his hand once he offered it and she was scared for a moment. However, she had never actually taken a hand before.

She held up her own to his face and looked at it before deciding that isn’t exactly what he wanted. Finally, her hand settled in his and she tilted her head. His hand was warm and her face flushed a soft color as she felt his skin. She had never felt another person’s skin before. Taking his hand she rubbed it on her face and looked up at him.

Her gold eyes were curious but immediately she pointed back down to the book at her feet. Flowers now. Skin later.

The moment she was out in the field of the flowers her jaw dropped. She hobbled with her feet and felt the flowers. The smells assaulted her and she was in utter awe. She had never seen anything like this before. She wandered away from Xeik and plopped down in the flowers. Looking up at the sky. Once she saw birds flying above she got excited and pointed up at them.

Just like Raine. They didn’t look like her but they were soaring just like her. She reached over and took an arm full of flowers like a hug and smothered her face in them. Taking in the scents. Once she realized she had damaged them there was a sad look on her face she looked up at Xeik. Was he upset she ruined them?

It took her a moment to understand what he meant by holding out his hand, but once she got it, he carefully led her to the field that was closest to the area they were in. Her reaction was completely worth it. At once, she was in utter awe at everything around it. For a moment, Xeik was worried that he had overloaded her senses, but she seemed to recover rather quickly, and took to the field. The flowers, the sky, the birds, all of it was so new to her and it showed.

She was, sadly, a little rough with the flowers, and she gave Xeik a sad look as she tried to gauge if he would be mad. The healer walked over to her, and knelt down next to her. “You were a little rough with them. Flowers are delicate.” He held out his hand, and closed his eyes. It wasn’t his usual branch of magic, but he assumed if he could mend a cut, he could mend a flower. Surely enough, within a few moments, the flowers that the woman had messed up sprung back to life, if a little worse for wear.

“They’re resilient, but can only take so much. Some flowers respond to love and affection, while others grow wild and free like this. Both of them are equally strong in their own right.” Xeik looked into her eyes, and smiled again. “Miranda. For the time being, we can call you Miranda. Do you like that name?”

Mia looked down at the flowers once Xeik brought them back and her smile grew again. She didn’t understand what love and affection were but… It sounded nice. She figured that Xeik would tell her if she needed to know. Then he looked in her eyes and said a name. It was the one from the story. She pointed herself and she mulled it over.

Miranda. Miranda. Miranda.

Her eyes rolled back and forth in a lull as she thought about it. Finally, she smiled and she nodded. She liked it a lot.

A lady with red hair appeared in the flowers and Mia jumped. Immediately she was in Xeik’s arms and clinging to him with her full weight on him. “She is a jumpy one isn’t she?” Angela didn’t get any closer. “I’m not going to hurt you.”

Her eyes went to Mia’s feet, “I’m going to have to fix her legs Xeik. I don’t know how she is even managing to walk on those. She’s been in a cage far too small and growing in it. It’s why she is so small as well. Well, it’s more so her feet than her legs. They are all deformed.” Angela frowned a bit. “By the way, you are responsible for her. From feeding her, to bathing her, to making sure she stays out of trouble. She’ll be staying in your room with you. I would put her on Raine since she brought her… but do we need another Raine? Also, Raine likes to run off to the Bastion too much.”

Putting her hands on her hips she looked over Mia, “Raine said that she didn’t have a name… Have you thought of one yet?” Mia climbed off of Xeik and tilted her head before nodding. She liked her name a lot.

“Miranda? That’s a good name. We’ll set a date for her surgery to correct her feet. Until then you should get her settled in. Don’t worry about your duties for a little bit. I’ll have Melina and Anemone pick up the slack. Miranda is a priority at the moment. The only things I want you to keep doing is watch over the Terrowin kids. I’m sure Miranda will be fine by herself for the few minutes you are gone.”

It took her a moment, but the woman agreed to the name. She seemed to like it enough, and for Xeik that was enough. “All right then, Miranda.” He was about to recommend they move back to the room, when Angela appeared, scaring Miranda. What was surprising was not that Miranda jumped into Xeik’s arms, but more that Xeik was able to hold her weight.

She’s so light. That was concerning. They’d have to get her a good meal.

“So it’s something you can fix, then?” Xeik asked, referring to her feet. Angela was good at a great many things involving healing and mending, but something this drastic was new to Xeik. As Angela went on, though, Xeik was barely surprised at how she just dropped Miranda’s care into his lap. No shock there. He sighed. At least the woman liked him well enough. That would make things easier.

At the mention of a chosen name, Xeik nodded. “Miranda. At least, she seems to like it.” The fact that Angela was getting someone else to deal with his regular duties was a lifesaver. And with the way Lewis was, he wasn’t surprised that he was still in charge of the Terrowin kids. Lewis would likely kill anyone else.

“All right, then…their check up isn’t for another few days, so I should be able to get Miranda settled enough that I can leave for a few hours.” He crossed his arms. “And make sure, Angela, that you’re taking care of yourself as well. As busy as we are, I can’t have you falling out. Besides…I really don’t want to answer to your husband.”

With the plans laid out, Xeik explained as best he could to Miranda that they were headed to his room. It was a lot larger than the exam room, and could comfortably house more than a few people at any given time. Normally, though, it was just Xeik and every so often an urgent care patient.

As they entered his room, Xeik looked around. It had taken a new form a few weeks ago, almost like a comfortable island bungalow. The bed that he usually slept in was a giant leaf, strapped in the corner of the room. On the opposite corner was a bookcase and desk, where he worked. There was an adjoined room, for the most part where he did his potions and tonics, as well as a spare bed. Unlike his hammock style bed, this was a regular, single sized with fluffy down pillows.

“You can sleep here. If you need anything, let me know. Food will be here within the hour, as well as some picture books since you seem to like those.”