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“Thank you for coming along with us, dear brother,” Vex began. “Especially since the hiking club has enough members now that we aren’t constantly worried about Superintendent Uriel shutting us down.” Vax merely snorted as his sister’s voice lowered. “But if you wouldn’t mind doing me just one more teensy favor? Keep an eye on Keyleth?”
“The new girl?”
Vex nodded. “She’s a little shy and a little…head in the clouds, shall we say? Just, you know, make sure she doesn’t stray too far. And for the gods’ sake, put that thing away.”
Vax chuckled as he slipped the butterfly knife into his leather jacket’s inside pocket. “Don’t worry, I shan’t scare her away. I’d ask why you aren’t doing this yourself, but I can smell Freddy’s expensive cologne from here.” He flicked his fingers at her in a shooing motion, and headed to the rear of the little clutch of students his sister was about to lead into the woods.
***
“Does he suspect anything?” Percival murmured, voice soft, in Vex’ahlia’s ear.
Vex sniffed, indignant. “Vax’ildan may not trust anyone else, but he trusts me completely. I do hate abusing that trust to manipulate him, but he’s been absolutely miserable since he and Gilmore split up.”
“Mm. Well, I look forward to seeing what happens. But until then…?” Percy offered her his arm with a graceful bow of his head; tickled, Vex took it and they began hiking, signaling the rest of the group to follow.
***
“Found something interesting?” The words jolted Keyleth out of her head and back to the shady, wooded path.
“I, um..” She fumbled, unsure how to respond to the pretty half-elf boy and his wry grin. “Just a fern - the, uh, fronds curl up when you brush them with your finger.”
To her surprise, the strange boy closed and crouched next to her. “Huh.” A single graceful finger stretched out and tickled the next fern over, sending it into bashful retreat. “Never spent much time out in nature,” he admitted. “That was more of my sister’s thing.”
“My mother used to take me out all the time,” Keyleth found herself admit.
“Same, actually - back when we lived with her. Father…father favored more formal instruction.”
“Why don’t you live with her anymore?” Keyleth regretted the words as soon as they blurted free. “I’m sorry, I’m prying – we should probably, uh, catch up with the others.”
The boy’s snort of laughter took her by surprise. “And here Vex said I’d have to keep an eye on you. Come on, then.”
“You’re Vex’s brother, then? Vax?”
“Family resemblance give it away? Or the matching names?” She smiled at Vax’s dry humor. “One more thing to blame father for - traditional Elven names, he said. Apparently elves, in their infinite wisdom, think that twins need to be nearly identical in every respect.” His gaze drifted towards the front of the group, and he continued in a lower tone. “Wouldn’t trade her for anything, though.”
“At least you have each other.” She thought of her mother again, gone these ten years now. “It’s just me and my father.”
“Is your mother dead too?” Vax asked, and the casualness with which he slipped that revelation into the conversation staggered and silenced her for a moment until the sounds of singing birds and swaying branches called her back to herself.
“No,” she began, hesitantly. “Or, at least, I don’t know. She… she left on a religious pilgrimage when I was a little girl. And she. She never came back.”
“Oh.” Vax paused, tongue between his teeth, then: “I’m sorry; I’m sure…I don’t know what to say, actually.”
“I…I think if she was dead, I would know. And if she could come back, I know she would. So…I guess she’s out there, somewhere.”
“Are you going to look for her?” Keyleth blinked and stared at him, curious. “Because I’m pretty good at finding things that don’t want to be found. And, um, I know some people.”
“I, um. Thank you?” Whatever Keyleth had imagined of Vax from the first time she had seen him, this wasn’t it. But she did like exploring new things, so…
“Hang on.” With no further prelude, Vax scampered up the branches of a tree only to drop back down again a moment later. “Sorry - promised my sister we wouldn’t get lost. They’re not too far ahead, though.”
Keyleth’s eyes narrowed. “She asked you to look after me?” The blush coloring Vax’s pale skin was all the answer she needed. “Weird: Vex knows I know these trails like the back of my hand. She wouldn’t–would she?”
“Wouldn’t what?” Vax’s brow furrowed, trying to work through the possibilities on his own.
“Never mind.” She brushed the possibility aside. “We can walk a little faster unless - unless you like walking, just with me.”
Vax favored her with a crooked grin. “I don’t mind. Perhaps you might show me more of the wonders of the forest?”
Keyleth blushed, and smiled, and blushed some more. “I think I could manage that.”