Chapter Text
As soon as I got up, I felt that this day would be different. I had this weird feeling in my stomach and a weird tingling in the back of my mind. Like I was being watched. But when I twisted and turned and, just to be on the safe side, peeked out the door, there was no conspicuous person to be seen.
No matter what I tried, no matter what I did, those inner stirrings and the need to keep a close eye on my surroundings stayed with me throughout the day. My ears twitched at every slightest sound and every little movement. I was tense up to the tip of my tail. And I didn't fucking know why.
The other rangers seemed to notice it too. Why not, normally I was an attentive and open person, but that day my colleagues had to repeat their sentences and save me from colliding with walls and cupboards. It was just unbearable!
Call it animal instinct or fatherly intuition. Or call it something completely different, I don't care. But whatever it was that drove me, it let me send Collei out on afternoon patrols, for which I was more than grateful afterwards.
Because that very afternoon, shortly after Collei had set off with two other rangers, two strangers entered our camp.
I heard them before I saw them. Quiet, but nonetheless relaxed footsteps of two pairs of shoes. Deliberately carefully placed, as if intent on making as little noise as possible. But the freely chattering voices were in stark contrast to those.
I motioned for Kamran, who I was talking to, to shut up and listened to the conversation of the newcomers. They were a woman and a man who, I could tell by keywords, were probably talking about nature. The pitches revealed that they had to be between 40 and 50 years old.
My body released some of the tension. "We have visitors. Take care of them and report back to me later,” I ordered Kamran. He seemed pretty surprised.
"Master Tighnari, sir?," he asked with a raised eyebrow, "Is that really necessary? Are you alright?” I gave him an annoyed look. "Just do it. Treat it as a precaution.” My voice went dark. "Do we understand each other?" Kamran flinched. He nodded instantly and made his way in the direction from which the newcomers were ambling.
I sighed and rubbed my temples. "Everything's fine, everything's fine," I murmured, glancing towards the slowly emerging guests before returning to my work.
Two hours later, I was checking our medical supplies when I passed the community house. The voices that came from inside jerked me out of my concentration. You’re kidding me. I took the last few steps towards the door and opened it. What I saw just made me roll my eyes.
Kamran, you had one job. Just this one.
At one of the tables, Kamran had made himself comfortable with the two visitors. There was a bowl of biscuits on the plate and the two unknown people each had a steaming cup of tea right in front of them.
“…and recently we were back in Pardis Dhyai. I have to say that the Armurta scholars really are doing a great job. You don't see such beautiful blooming plants everywhere, do you Fadil?," the woman said at that moment. She had fairly short blond hair, part of which she had tied back in a rat tail. The rest hung down on the sides of her head.
The man, Fadil, nodded but said nothing as his wife immediately continued. He had longer, rather dark green hair, which he had also tied in a loose ponytail.
I opened the door wider and entered the room. Kamran noticed me first. I could clearly see in his eyes that he knew exactly why I was here and smiled embarrassed. However, he quickly covered it up and rose from his seat to introduce me.
"Ah, may I introduce: Master Tighnari. He's sort of the lead ranger here," Kamran explained, "Master Tighnari, these are Fadil and Samar. They are travelers and will be staying with us for two or three days.” The two strangers also got up and I shook their hands; albeit reluctantly.
"I am pleased to meet you. I hope you will enjoy your stay here. Kamran, could I talk to you privately for a moment?,” I asked friendly, but still with a certain hardness behind my voice. Kamran agreed and apologized to Fadil and Samar before we left the room together.
When I got outside, I immediately crossed my arms in front of my chest. Kamran bowed his head under my stinging gaze.
"S-sorry, Master Tighnari. I really just wanted to show them around!," the other ranger tried to talk his way out and scratched his neck nervously, "But the woman, she’s so chatty and when she started talking it completely distracted me. And all of a sudden, she trusted me with her story about her lost daughter and I couldn't just walk away!”
What did he say?
"What did you just say? They lost their daughter?,” I asked. Kamran nodded. Maybe that's what this feeling is pointing me to. The poor parents. We must help them!
"Did they tell you when they last saw their daughter?," I wanted to know and was already thinking about putting together a search party, "If we're fast enough, we can track her down in the next two days. But we should also inform Cyno. It could be a kidnapping. Preferably-"
But Kamran slowed me down. He grabbed my arms and pulled me out of my plans.
"You got it all wrong! The daughter has not been lost.” I looked at Kamran, confused. "I don’t understand. What else happened?” The ranger released me and sighed. "As I was saying, it's a whole story that happened a few years ago," he explained, "To keep it short, her daughter was very sick. One day Samar was approached by someone claiming to have a medicine. She gave her daughter away but never heard from her again. Instead, she and her husband had to flee because they wanted to kill them.”
I stared at Kamran in complete disbelief. "It can't be," I mumbled and Kamran nodded sadly. "I thought so too," he said, shrugging his shoulders, "But where there's desperation, there are always assholes who take advantage of that desperation."
But I had already stopped listening to him.
This cannot be true. That would be too much of a coincidence. But it would also be a coincidence if two such similar stories had nothing to do with each other. But is that really possible? What if they just made that up? But the man...Fadil, he has such a matching hair color and Samar's voice... It sounds almost identical. Just a little deeper. Could it really be...?
Ignoring Kamran, I returned to the entrance of the community house and peered through a crack in the door again. Samar kept talking to Fadil, who was quietly sipping his tea. And the longer I watched the two of them, the more I got a familiar feeling.
I turned away from the door and towards Kamran, who was watching me curiously.
"Kamran, don't you notice anything about these two?," I asked softly, still half in thought. The ranger thought for a moment before shaking his head. "Don't you think they remind you of someone?" Another shake of the head. I sighed. "Kamran. The green hair and the voice," I pointed out, "The lost daughter. Who was very sick.”
The ranger blinked. I saw it dawn on him. His eyes widened. He pushed past me and peered into the room himself. His gaze found mine.
"Are you sure?"
I nodded. "There is no other possibility."