the light's gone out inside

[Valentine Valiant]

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Death was a funny thing to Valentine, who had never witnessed it for what it did. He had the grace that some didn't get; both parents were alive and well and still relatively young in their age. But he had known that Phasma was not old at all. She couldn't have been ill either, he imagined, because he had just spoken with her at a good length about the things that they had equally missed. Somehow he felt like there was something amiss when it came to the day as it had unfolded and the congregation had split from the den and oddly enough he cleanly remembered words that his mother had imparted to him. There was ever a cloud of misery hanging over the place.



Which was ironic, given that he was wandering loosely in a place referred to as being a haunted forest. It's dank and dark surroundings did not comfort him in the way that he sought. No matter how deeply he ventured into its cover, something tugged underneath his vibrant expression. Funny, how the very death of someone who was greatly rooted into its mainframe and history had made him homesick. At the same time, he had resigned to apathy and briefly wallowed in some mild throe of depression at the thought he had lost someone who seemed so very close to him, yet so very much like an acquaintance. He had not known the pain that Phasma had carried or the trials she had overcome in her short life.



He did not think that he ever would either, especially when the faintest weeping sound pulled him out of himself. His eyes had left the snowy forest floor to pick up the bright red locks that belonged to none other than Fatin, even though his brightened features dimmed at her sobbing. Perhaps had it not been for that sobbing, he would have thought she had died too. It was a bit late to correct his intrusion to her surroundings, so he did what he could swallow the passing guilt and instead placed a comforting, supportive hand on her shoulder. He didn't think about just how friendly of a gesture that was, but rather hoped she wouldn't react badly to his concern.

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