wc: 3+
SoSuWriMo: 350
Some might find it difficult to see emotion behind the old woman's mask of scars and tensed cartilage, but China was an empath to the bone, and she could feel Kaena's happiness. It was a rare and delightful thing. The slender girl had only met her once before, but the blood connection sizzled between them, its curse alleviated in favour of kinship and adoration. This was the woman from whom China's entire world had sprung - Without her, the idolized Razekiel would never have come into being, and from that, her darling siblings.
Perhaps some unspoken thought had whizzed between them, for the next words to fall from her Grandmother's maw were those the silvery girl wished most to hear. A flood of joy filled her veins, and the elation was far greater than any high she had ever experienced. Her father was here. Here! Almost within reach. The tantalizing idea was almost too much to consider. For an insane moment, she wished to find him now, to run and run until she was safe in his arms. All those lies that had been spread would be cleared, finally. All those haunting thoughts about Storm Lily would be a thing of the past. She could almost taste the redemption.
It was Kaena's offer that pulled her from her wayward thoughts. Contrite for having mentally disrespected the older woman, China nodded numbly, a vague smile still in place. Her pretty gaze drifted from Kaena to the cave, yonder - It was deep and dark looking, and she would have much preferred to stay in the light. But also, the girl found herself insatiably curious to know more about her grandmother, and the offer was one she would not refuse.
"Omi," she said in a deceptively light voice as they walked towards the cave, "... do you know whereabouts my father is, exactly?" She didn't know why, but the thought of revealing to Kaena just how desperately she craved finding Razekiel was despicable. It felt like... Like weakness. Perhaps there was more Lykoi in her brain than either of them had recognized.
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