Coco

Coco hung in the air, letting the wind pull her among the leaves. She couldn't help herself from giggling. Especially when she got a glimpse of her chosen, her chosen. She still couldn't believe she had found one... nor where she found him.

She continued to keep her eye on her kith, jumping from leaf to leaf. Keeping herself out of his sight. She enjoyed watching him when he thought she wasn't here, the real him and not the him he put on for her expense. Unfortunately, that was becoming rarer and rarer. She was certain he was more aware of her presence than he let on. If her own sense of him was any indication of how much more he was becoming aware of her. 

With a flutter she looked ahead of the road, she had been getting used to acting as his navigator. One thing she was beginning to realize about being chained to a kith; she wouldn't be able to travel as freely as she used to. Where she would once travel the corners of this land in a matter of days. It now took weeks for her kith to get from one town to another.

They just slogged on and on, one foot at a time, needing to stop for constant breaks. Even when the winds were grateful enough to provide a breeze, they still would lag and shuffle about. Worst they would hide when they were blessed with a powerful gust of wind cheering them on, complete with roars of thunder.

She hung in the air as she noticed two figures on the road, and judging by the flickering of one of them... It was not good. Helping him would not be cheap if she knew anything about her chosen and they couldn't afford another detour. Perhaps she could-

 /You will shepherd them all.../ Her mother's words tingled at the back of her mind. Coco sighed, mother was counting on her, she would die before letting her down. "Asher!" Coco howled, flinging herself back to Asher, like she was pulled on a bungee cord.

"What is it?" He asked, his heart beating like a drum. She wanted to keep herself composed, like the anima he pictured within his mind's eye. But she couldn't help dancing to the melody of life.

"Kith, perched to the side, they look hurt!" She assumed she was always confused on the conditions of kith. Her half-sister was always much better with that. But that was all he needed to hear, rushing ahead he pulled what light he needed from her, which she only slightly reluctantly supplied. He ran with newfound strength and stamina, it was amazing how much her kith could get out of so little light.

Coco was tugged along by Asher's motion, she fought from giggling, and she didn't want to distract her chosen. Darting towards the trees as her human made his way towards the pair. She picked a tree to hide herself behind when he reached them. Not that she needed that to hide herself.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Asher asked, his voice playing like a weird echo in her mind, she could listen to every word as if she had said them herself, though some of her kin claimed they were able to even read their chosen's thoughts... liars.

"We were attacked," The well-off kith said, Coco guessed she was the wounded one's mate. "My husband fended them off, but he-" Asher rushed to help address the man's cut, that was good. She couldn't help but smile at her chosen course of action. He opened the injured man's shirt to get a better look at the wound.

He was layered with splashes that looked like paint, bright vibrant reds. She had heard kith—even flesh-kin—talk about how bad such a state was, a precursor to the end. Though she could only tell this was big from the panic rushing between the connection she had with her chosen.

His next step was what brought her ire, without any warning he reached for the light, her light! Asher was able to command and manipulate her light, but in the end, it was hers! She refused, it was the first time she had ever refused him.

His panic splashed her like a bucket of water, it was the first time she had ever been on the receiving end of such an event. "Coco! I need you!" He howled, still attempting to tug at her, pulling like a frantic child, it was up to her to play Elder this time.

"I'm sorry, Asher I can't-"

"What did you mean you can't!?!" She forgave the demanding tone in his voice, considering the circumstances. His hands pressed against the other kith's chest, "If I can't do anything, he'll-" She felt herself choke up, his worry weighing on her as well.

"I'll see what I can do..." She said, drawing a small amount of light into his hand, "This is all I can..."

"I can't restore him with-"

"You'll have to make do, I already told you that's all I can produce!" Why was this so hard? She had lied to kith and kin so easily before. With a smile, a giggle, and without a second thought. Lying came easier to her than most of her kin.

Mother cut her to tell the white lies, the gentle words that soothed over knowledge kith could not handle. She was a splint for the soul until it could recover to handle such harsh truths. But now she could barely find the words to soothe her kith.

She needed to know how he would react when he was pushed to his limit, when he didn't have all the tools at his disposal, she needed to confirm she chose the right one.

"Abort it!" He grunted, focusing the gathered light on his finger, Coco could feel a sensation mimicked on her own 'fingers.' It was so weird, she barely kept a single shape for so long before Asher. He glazed it across the man's chest, painting her light across the injured man.

She let out a sigh of relief, thankfully he was able to make due, it would be a shame if she had failed mother. "He won't last long." Coco informed, she still lacked the understanding on how spilled paint would kill a kith. But she could feel the inner light all living creatures possessed, an inner light that animated them, and kept them alive.

Unfortunately for the Kith, the light she allotted for Asher would not be enough to keep him alive long enough to get him to the next town. Not with their carriage in its current shape, the horse that pulled it missing.

"Please, Coco! We can save him!" Only it wouldn't be we, she would have just granted him the answer, an easy way out, it didn't feel... right somehow. "I just need more!" He pleaded, another pang at her heart, she needed to stand firm, she would not encourage such reliance.

"I can give you no more." She forced, with a cringe, "I just can't-" she rested against the branch, using the leaves to keep hidden from her chosen's sight.

/C'mon Asher, think. You can figure it out! Think! Think!/ Coco watched with bated breath, keeping herself from making a sound. She couldn't give him the answer. Looking back on the way they had came, surely he had to have remembered-

"Keep him stable! I'll be back as fast as I can!" Asher said, before darting back the way they had came. Coco could barely contain herself, /good boy!/ She grinned, pouring more of her light into her chosen, enhancing each and every one of his steps. With her help, his speed and stamina kept consistent and did not falter.

Coco let the winds carry her backward, flowing past her chosen, blowing across the caravan they had passed a bit before approaching the injured couple. She could feel the rage simmer in Asher's chest, /how could he abandon them?/ Asher thought-,

Asher thought? Asher thought! She had just heard Asher's thought, they were getting closer! Her more childish siblings were fools to doubt such phenomena. She twirled and twisted letting the gust take control of her, as she witnessed her chosen in action.

"You just left them!?!" Asher howled. No, that was a snarl.

"I was certain a good samaritan would stumble upon and help them," The kith said, "And I was right!?!" His overall dismissiveness disgusted Asher enough to make her uneasy.

"You're right, and we are going to help them."

"You are mistaken, you will help them. I have a deadline to make."

"I wasn't asking," Asher said, pulling his hammer free, the inner light of the two men in the cart flickering like crazy. It always flickered like that when kith readied themselves for conflict. "Turn around, walk to meet your deadline. Or..." He hit his hammer, against his open palm. 

The cowardly kith swallowed then growled, handing the reins over to Asher. It wasn't long until they made their way back to the injured couple. The grumbling of the more selfish kith was an entertaining melody.

"Get him on the cart," Asher ordered. The two greedy kith grumbled, Coco, manifested herself and reassured the female kith her mate was in good hands. Coco never promised he would survive, but thankfully she lacked the presence of mind to notice that little fact.

"Y-you're an exalted!?" Greed-kith shouted, "Why am I even here!?!" He looked out the back of his caravan, attempting to spy a cargo that was long gone. "You could have just healed him!"

As the female kith was ushered into the carriage Coco turned to snap at one of the whiny kith. His whining while entertaining was obviously getting to Asher. She couldn't recall what she said, but judging by the looks on everyone's faces it was probably effective. 

"Make some space for him!" Asher ordered as the selfish kith attempted to push and fumbled at crates.

"What are you doing!?!" The coward howled, large carts falling out the back of the carriage, "Do you know how valuable that stuff is!?!"

Asher didn't, but Coco did, she couldn't help but flash a mischievous grin, /serves him right./ She enjoyed when Mother worked in such a way, happy at what part, no matter how little, she played in such a reversal of fortune.

"You can stay with it if you are so inclined, otherwise get this thing moving!" Greed-kith let out a sigh, finally acknowledging his defeat as he urged the horses to move forward. Asher sat by the man, appraising what little work he could manage on wound-kith's chest.

The wounded kith let out a series of strained coughs, the light Asher used as a stitch was beginning to fade, Coco would be the first to admit she miscalculated. His mate continued to plead for him to stay with her, his inner light fading rapidly.

"Please... Coco, I can't lose him, I can't fail this one, please..." Coco felt a tinge of guilt at that, his tension slowly engulfing her.

Coco took another deep breath, taking a small petal of her light, before placing it into Asher's hand. "You're so soft..."

"T-thank you," He was nearly on the verge of tears, once again, taking the small petal of light, and affixing it to his finger.

Everyone watched with bated breath, it was something she noticed among the kith. They were all bewildered by her light. 

Slowly he used the light at his fingertips, brushing it against the injured man's chest, once again she felt fingers she did not possess. His breathing became steady as the light mended the body. Or at least keep him held together until they could make it to the next town.

Asher fell back, taking a sigh of relief as the kith's breathing began to stabilize, Coco sat on a ledge, kicking her feet freely as she flashed him a smile. He was not so eager to return the gesture, she already knew what he wanted to ask. Thankfully he was too modest to argue with her in the presence of the other kith.

Coco placed herself on the crook of his neck, dancing around him, staying still was hard for her. She hoped he would lighten up soon, she was proud of his gallant action. She hoped he would enjoy the pleasant trip as the reward he earned.

...

"Why Co?" He said, his back pressed against the wall. He'd been like this ever since they rescued that couple. She hoped he would have lightened up when they made their way into town. She hoped he would at least quit being such a downer when they heard the kith he worried about would make it through. She at least figured he would have let it go or at the very least gone to sleep when they got to their room. She didn't know why he was so upset, the kith was rescued and Asher was thanked by his mate.

"Why what?" She asked feigning innocence, she was well aware of what he was upset at, their bond cutting through her obfuscations. Hopefully, that wouldn't make future conversations more unbearable.

"You cut me off, that man could have died." But he didn't!?! Why was this such a problem for him!?! "Why?"

Why? As if she had to answer to him. "Because my light is not yours!" He was taken aback from the outburst, she had learned long ago kith reacted when they were yelled at, "I am not your slave, I am not bound."

"Bound, you've said that before..." Had he really not known?

My enslaved kin, your kith use them to power their necromancy." It was so hard to talk about. She couldn't think of anything worse than being ripped from the equilibrium; caged to the capricious will of a selfish kith.

"They are not my people." He bit off each word, she might have gone too far with that one. But where was the lie? They were humans, and he was a human was he not?

"They can not refuse, they can not complain, if their master wishes they have to smile and enjoy every moment of serving their owners every whim."

That took the anger out of her chosen. "Co, I'm sorry..." He said she was glad she was able to get through to him. "I won't pull from you like that ever again." He will, it was in his kind's nature, but those were the lies she appreciated. "But," Oh no... "Why did you cut me off?"

Coco huffed, she had been dreading this question, she didn't have an answer, no, she had fifteen.

"Because I needed to know you could handle yourself."

"Because it's not your power."

"Because I will not drain myself dry and be left vulnerable."

"Because it's not your power!"

"I was always going to ensure you were going to make it out alive."

"What does it matter if a kith got himself killed? There were already way too many of you."

"If you give too much you won't be able to help yourself or anyone else."

Coco retreated, Asher's heartbeat and breathing beginning to slow. The particles in the air stalling before becoming glaringly visible. Everything else began to follow; clouds stopped moving, two kith outside their meaningless conversation slowed to a crawl, and the leaf that happened to make itself in the room halted between them. 

It wasn't long until everything was frozen, looking like glass statues. She positioned herself right in front of the leaf she blew in through the window. Sitting on her makeshift chair she looked Asher in his now somewhat vacant gaze. Finally, she had a moment to think.

Whatever her answer would be, would color their relationship for a long time, she needed to pick the right answer. She twisted around the frozen figure of her chosen, settling on her leaf once again. Here, she had the time to think of a proper answer, unfortunately, movement was limited. At this state, she could only go so far from her initial position. She couldn't impact anything but it gave her more than enough time to figure out the proper response.

She still couldn't believe Kith lacked the ability to actually think, having to always act in the moment! No wonder they needed her kind's assistance.

She couldn't believe how long this was taking, she had been weighing the pros and cons of each answer. She was getting tired of the stilted air, she missed the chorus of heartbeats, the flickering of their inner lights. She rested on Asher's shoulder, getting a good look at her chosen face. He looked so... upset. She didn't want to get off on the wrong foot after just beginning.

How did her other kin do this!?! Coco had already narrowed it down to five answers, was it too much to just say all five and he would just go with the one he preferred? Of course not, kith weren't that simple, they had a habit of complicating everything.

Coco finally narrowed it down to three answers, she couldn't figure out which would be the best. Taking a deep breath she would just randomly blurt one of them out. "Because..."

A loud chime rippled through the town, that got Asher's attention. "I'll check." She said, riding the wind up to get a bird's eye view of the town. She could already see a group of orcs marching, each one brandishing an array of weapons. At the center of the mass was an orc adorned with a gem she knew all too well. She would have to convince Asher to reward that fool for bringing a sibling to them, a quick death seemed fitting.

...

"Please Asher, you need to get out of here!" Coco shouted, why did she have to choose someone so stubborn? He did a good job of ending the life of that miserable orc's life and rescuing her sibling. She would have considered this a massive success. If he hadn't chosen to continue using up most of her light on hand fighting the rest of these creatures, again her light.

He didn't even respond, the ungrateful human crushed another orc's head open with his hammer. But that didn't matter, another two just took the vile creature's place. One of them skewering a kith—she didn't bother learning his name—above his hip. He reached for more of her light, she offered him none. Instead of the kith's wound sewing back together like Asher wanted the man fell to the floor; his body crushed by orcs eager to pain their axes red. Asher didn't face her, he was too busy not dying, he didn't have to for her to picture that look.

Why couldn't he see? If she handed him all her light that would be it. He wouldn't be able to protect anyone. He should be grateful she was allowing him to engage in this farce. "Damn you!" Asher howled. Rushing forward he exposed himself even more than he should have.

That was all that was needed for the orc to thrust a spear at her chosen's supposed 'opening'. Asher easily sidestepped the vile creature's attack and executed it.

"Good you got your vengeance, now get out here there are too many!" An axe fell only to find itself stopped by Asher's forearm, which held it at the neck. Asher paid back the action with his hammer on the wielder's neck.

He did not listen, he never listened when he was like this! Maybe she could try a different method? "Asher to your left!" But he was too late to respond. The weapon cutting him on the side. He fell to the floor with a thud, his shield blocking the creature's finishing blow.

She did not waste a second, her light flooding through her chosen, mending his flesh and growing it anew. "You can not keep this up, you need to get out of here before we are overwhelmed, will you just listen to me!"

"I can't leave them, Coco! I can't let them die, I-"

"If you stay here any longer my light will no longer reach you!" Why was he not heeding her advice? Was there something wrong with their bond? Shouldn't a chosen follow his anima? "Quit being selfish, if you die here so many counting on you will die! Do you want that!?"

He didn't say anything, he didn't even acknowledge her. She knew with all certainty, as sure as the moon would rise next night. That he was going to run into the fray once again. Coco would not allow that, she recalled her light, stopping it from completely healing his wound.

That got his attention. He looked towards her, "Coco! What's happening!?" She did not respond, instead, she hovered to another human. She came up with a convenient lie, his eyes widening at the implications of her words. "Coco, what are you doing?" 

The lead human howled out something, she couldn't understand the word but she knew the general feeling. At least they understood, one of them snatched Asher and pulled him back, forming a defensive line keeping the orcs from passing through. Hopefully, this would be enough.

They fought well, but even with her blessings, the orcs had numbers. The runt of the kith, barely obtaining his first whisker was struck down. An axe cleaving into him, and granting him a beard of crimson red. 

"Coco! I need to get up, they will die without me!" She was glad his ribs were impacted, his words were illegible to the other kith around him. Only she could make sense of his garbled words. She made certain to funnel enough to keep him from dying. Another mortal fell to the floor, this one was the blacksmith, that was unfortunate the village would be without metalworks until a new one arrived.

But that's figuring they can make it out alive, she ordered the humans to fill a gap that was made. Thankfully they followed. The older one shouted something as well. If Coco could barely follow what the kith was saying and names were getting this fuzzy she made the right choice refusing to heal him. She was certain if she turned around he would be out of it, or maybe she just hoped he was.

She soon got her answer, "Coco, please! Heal me! I can't let them die!" He pleaded, with it an overwhelming weakness. It was all kith appeared to be, that and unhelpful. Even now they were breaking, the wall keeping Asher safe beginning to buckle. She could heal him, but it wouldn't do anything but pull what little focus she had with her away. She would be little more than a gust of wind, while her chosen was busy throwing his life away.

Not that it mattered, an eternal enemy was nowhere around, she was certain of it, she would just freely flow among the winds until she found another worthy kith. Another kith fell, and the horde rushed in like a flood of water, they would drown Asher soon.

It was now or never... "You have to run, please." She whispered, pressing her hands on his forehead. First a bulb of energy in her chest, like a cup of water she was ready to pour what little life essence in the hopes of him making it out alive.

And then a chill blew through, followed by large plates of jagged ice, unlike the blurry murk of the rest of this world the ice gleamed with a splendor not meant for this wretched existence.

Shards of ice erupted underneath orcs, leaving them hanging skewered in the air. Others were coated in enough frost to shatter them with well-placed hits. Goblins rushed through, making their way past the overwhelmed kith. Making a beeline to the confused orc contingent. Their blunted weapons shattered the newly made glacial statues.

A single woman strolled through the carnage, the eye of the blizzard following her. She held a lighter nearly as big as she was. The few orcs smart enough to turn tail were picked off by the lighter. Her horde of goblins handling the ones tied up. A numen.

"On your feet chosen." The numen said, "I'm not getting a boot shoved up my ass just because you want to die." 

...

"You got careless." The numen said, placing her hands on her hips. It looked... off. She was far too, rough around the edges to be doing such a matronly action. 

Coco was sitting up on a branch shrugging when the numen turned that gaze towards her. Coco had decided to allow the loud kith to see her as well. She even forced herself to keep attention to their conversation. Mother had told her to keep her attention on these children. Coco was nothing if not dutiful, "What would you have done if I hadn't got here."

"I couldn't save them... Why couldn't I keep them alive." He said with his sulking tone, none of this was fair! She did right. She made certain he didn't die and kept as many kith as she could alive. Mortals asked for so much and complained when the miracle wasn't one worthy of her mother. He wasn't the only one who could be childish, she crossed her arms, puffed her cheeks, and turned away.

"You're still on that?" Mileva said. Apparently, that was what she called herself. "How about you go and heal a few people?" She said, gesturing to the wounded. Coco could just scream.

"I can't." He said, his gaze turned towards her, she merely huffed, he could glare all he wanted, but she wasn't going to waste any more light. Not until she could get a refresher, he would have to deal with her choice.

"Ah." Mileva said, like Coco was some burden to be overcome, "Get some rest, we'll be leaving in the morning."

"I'm not leaving until I help these people rebuild."

"Asher," Coco said as patiently as she could muster. "We need to get to the exodus, you're needed there, remember?"

He snapped to her with a glance that almost frightened her, almost. "What good will I be? I couldn't even stop a single village from falling."

"Is he always this much of a buzzkill?" Mileva asked her, the stupid mortal needed to know her place, Coco was not someone she could confide with. Unfortunately, her mouth got ahead of her, she said something, worst whatever it was made the numen laugh.

When the people made their way to ask Asher for mending, Coco was the one who had to respond. Apparently, she told them she had run out of light, Asher didn't have the stomach to correct her.