Forestborn: Origins of Paili Ward

Obligations(7)

Paili stared at Kain from across the room where he stared blankly back. Neither knew what to say, they were stuck together. After he dragged her through the city and tried to pass her off to Quinn, he dragged her back home where he tried to forget she existed all together. He even left her alone for a few hours. 

After he left, Paili explored the house. Her curiosity was stronger than her want to leave. She was part human and she had never been so close to one before. Right now was the perfect time to learn about her other half. 

All of the pictures and odd sculptures that decorated the outside of the room were interesting to her. Pictures of vast water, beyond the scope of the lakes she was used to and of the large animals she saw walking about the city in fields of green and skies of blue. Pictures of nature and beauty. 

The sculptures were even better because she could touch them, smell them. Pictures filled her imagination but the pieces she could touch excited her far more. She ran her hands along the smooth curves of the polished wood sculptures. It was cold against her cheek when she leaned against it. The smell of the wood was still strong despite it being mangled for the human's art.

The images were beautiful, all of them.  Animals and water scenes, women and animals- he had so many! Trinkets hung between the paintings made of rope and feathers. The more she looked, the more she realized how different the man human was from the world outside.

Paili ventured down the hall in search of where he slept. She found it adjacent to the washing room. The door was open so she want in. He didn't seem to mind when the woman went inside so there wouldn't be much of a problem with a little girl, right?

Kain's room was very plain compared to the living room. The walls were bare, no pretty sculptures lined the room- only a candle stick sat beside his bed. Paili fished through his drawer, looking for something interesting. She found a hand drawn picture in the top drawer among some books. 

It was Kain and three other people. She recognized one as the woman who took care of her and another as the big guy from the bar. They were all happy. Kain and Yali stood close together and Quinn stood behind them with another woman. 

Paili sat on his bed and studied the faces in the the picture. Humans gathered just like foxes. Mun had told her that humans lived together, just like the skulk. The only difference was that they didn't have to fight to survive like the foxes. And they live longer. 

Her ears perked at the sound of the front door creaking open. She stuffed the picture back in the drawer, slammed it and ran back to the front.  Kain took off his coat and hung it by the door. Paili looked up at him from the sofa. 

"Oh, you're still here," he said.

Paili didn't respond. Kain sat in his chair. Neither spoke for a long time. Paili sat with her knees pulled into her chest and leaning back in a corner of the sofa. The idea of being stuck with him didn't seem so bad anymore.  

Maybe there was more to him than he was willing to show her. Either way, she had nowhere else to go, no food and no means to care for herself. If she were being honest with herself, she wanted to try living like a human for a little while. Mun said she never wanted her to forget that she was of two bloodlines.

Kain started to pace the room at length. "Alright," he started nervously, "if we're going to do this there needs to be an understanding, you know, between us." He touched his face and sighed. "Okay, um, first off, there is no running in the house. Do you see the stuff on my walls?" He motioned to the room. 

"Some of this stuff is very expensive. If you break it you had better have a couple pounds of gold on you to replace them. Got it?" He stopped and looked at Paili who nodded her understanding. "Second, there's no hanging around me all day okay? I am not babysitting you."

Paili tilted her head and opened her mouth to say something but he cut her off.

"There isn't going to be any 'Kain I'm sleepy' or 'Kain read me a bedtime story' because I'm not dealing with it."

Paili cracked a smile at his impression of a little girl complaining. This human- Kain was somewhat entertaining. 

"Keep to the rules and your stay here will be painless, " he said as he retired back to his chair. "Now, do you have anything to say to me?" Paili shook her head. "Good!" He jumped back up from his chair. "We'll  go into the city and get you some clothes later. I can't stand to see you dressed like that."

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It was clear outside and the crunch of snow under their boots was actually kind of relaxing to Paili's ears. Kain led her into a small store with dresses hanging from the walls and ceiling. There was a range of elaborate gowns adorned with sparkling jewels all the way down to little girl dresses speckled with colorful flowers. Paili was speechless.

Never before had she seen so many beautiful things in one place. She wandered over to a pale green gown that had a single strap of roses rising over the bust and fell in smooth waves about the waist. Paili looked on in awe as Kain went to the counter and rang the bell.

A woman with curly brown hair and a rehearsed smile came to the counter. "Hello sir, how may I help you?"

"I'm looking for a few dresses," he replied leaning forward on his elbows. "Something simple to wear out."

"Right this way."

She led him to a section with many small dresses, most with flowers. Paili scowled at them. "Go find something you like," Kain said. 

Paili looked at Kain. After a moment he sighed and went through the selection with her, stopping every now and then to ask if she liked a dress he took out. She shook her head "no" and he went on in despair. Looking at children clothes was not his idea of a well spent day.

They made it through every dress and Paili managed to turn her nose up at every single one. Kain caught her glancing back at that gown quite often.

"Do you like that one?" he asked her.

Paili nodded nervously. It was far too big of course, it was a woman's size. He asked the woman behind the counter about some other dresses they may have and she took them to another section with slightly bigger dresses that had less flowers. Paili was drawn to several dresses. Kain was just glad that she had found something to take home.

When they finally left the store she had six dresses and Kain was thankful to see the sun again. There was more to do: the shoe maker was next. They put in an order for two pairs: boots and slippers. "Every woman has a nice pair of slippers," he explained as they went home. He would go back tomorrow to pick up the boots.

After that came winter wear because he was definitely going to push her out the door as soon as possible. He made it very clear he didn't want her hanging around inside too much. Paili wanted to stay inside and watch him in his natural habitat. She would find a way to learn more about him no matter what.

Once home, Kain put her cloths away in his room. "You'll have to sleep out here on the sofa. I don't have an extra room but there are enough sheets to share. I can leave the fire going at night as well."

"Do you have to?" she whispered. 

Kain looked down at her. It was the first time he had heard her voice. It was so soft and tiny he was taken aback. "Y-yeah... I-I mean no. Not if you don't want me to. It'll be cold if I put it out but I'll put it out before we go to bed if you want me to."

Paili nodded while looking up at him. She wouldn't speak again.