vaya

The first reply to her puts her slightly more at ease and she relaxes slightly. It is not his cave, so she no longer appears as though she might flee at any instant. Then he pulls himself to the side, leaving a perfectly Vaya-sized spot beside him. She hesitates, not used to being treated with such kindness. Well, that’s not quite right. She had never been treated unkindly, but perhaps what surprised her is that she was treated as though she was someone to care about. Someone who mattered. And perhaps the darkness of the cave was not so terrifying with another to support her.

For some reason, she found herself instinctually trusting him.

So she moves slowly to the space he had left for her. She prepares herself in case he changes his mind and she has to high-tail it out of there. Then suddenly she is in the spot and she hesitantly lowers her haunches to the ground and re-tucks her tail. He was right, it is warmer here. Both from the lack of wind and the radiant heat from his body, despite the fact that they do not touch. “Samhain.” She repeats, committing the name to memory.

She offers him a small smile, then speaks again. “It is nice to meet you. You seem very kind.” She is an exceptionally blunt creature, despite her submissive nature. However, she is also curious about his earlier statement. She is still holding her submissive posture and he seems not disposed to suddenly come after her, so she decides to risk asking. “Forgive me, but what do you mean by the light of life? I… I see nothing but darkness in those tunnels.” And for her it is true, where they sit now is gloomy, especially as the sun continues to sink, but behind them is only darkness. Cold. Unyielding.