Archive of Our Own

Where is she? It wasn't like her to simply vanish like this, for her to be nowhere near the graves that she so diligently tended to. Hollow had planned to speak with her the moment they had returned to the Resting Grounds, to discuss things further than they had left them... but she was nowhere to be seen. She wasn't in the Seer's old room resting, she wasn't taking a break by the stag station, the graves were unattended, even the lower path was empty of her usual place when she needed to be alone. Nowhere in sight... where could she have gone?

Surely not far, Hollow may have addressed her lies about being entirely powerless, but her display the other day proved she was far weaker than they had even known her. The loss of her ever boiling anger had weakened her considerably, that much was clear. Surely she wouldn't chance going anywhere far... and that left only one path. She wouldn't dare go into the city, and there was only one other path that would be easy for her to get to.

A familiar straight shot... past the long outdated grave of the Dreamers, and many others whom held great importance to the kingdom... all the way down to an almost timeless lake of the purest blue. And sure enough, she was there. Although, she wasn't resting like they had expected her to be. She was... dancing. It wasn't the first time she had gone off to dance, but it certainly was the first time they had seen her wander this far to do so... so they stayed put. They waited. They didn't wish to interrupt. And then she began to sing, and their breathing almost stopped. This... wasn't a song they knew. One she sang endlessly during their time together once she ran out. Her voice echoed through the cavern walls as she spun in place, the beauty of her voice only amplified as she continued. And then...

Her voice... it was softer than before. Softer than they ever remembered it capable of being. It still held its commanding volume, something that she had long come to terms with of losing. But... she could soften it. She could soften it for a song, like she always wanted to do again after screaming at the world for so long... oh wow.

Now those types of lyrics sounded familiar for her. A sort of defiance, yet affection of her own hidden in the hostility. A woven web of contradictions that felt so much like her, and it made their chest warm considerably as they watched on... she had gotten better at dancing in her time alone. She had learned so much about dancing without a partner now that she had a body to practice with in the waking world.

Their breath caught in their throat.

Her dancing slowed, her steps abandoning the shore and instead stepping into the shallows of the lake in front of her. While their initial panicked reaction made them almost react instantly, they stopped the moment she didn't go too far down the rapids... interesting. Seemed she just wanted to dance in the water. A shame, the sound would drown out her si- oh. Oooooh. Had this been how she was hiding her practice when she wasn't proud of something just yet? They didn't have time to think about it, she was already singing more.

She leaned forward into the water, and when she splashed the water up and around her Hollow felt as if they had lost any ability to breathe they had left.