Chapter Text
A crying sound comes from somewhere. It might be missed if the surroundings weren't so peaceful. Qifrey immediately looks up from his notebook and tries to catch it.
Where? Where does it come from? How could it even be here? He and the girls have flown quite far from the atelier, there’s no roads or villages nearby. All Qifrey sees around them is the expanse of sky and fields where the girls are now frolicking. A river flows nearby. A river... Could that be where it's coming from?
Already taking off, Qifrey calls out to the girls. "Girls! I'll be gone for a bit, don't worry. If anything happens, Agott’s in charge."
Qifrey's eyesight isn't very good, and the girls are some distance away, but he notices them drop whatever they were doing and look at him. Only Agott shouts back, "Is everything okay?"
"Nothing bad happened! I'll be right back! Feel free to carry on with what you were doing!" Having said this, Qifrey soars even higher and flies in the direction from which the crying is coming.
...Or was. It's gone, and now Qifrey only has a rough direction to search in. He lands next to the river, where he thought the crying was. The river itself is in a lowland. All he sees around him is tall grass and bushes. He begins searching through them, but the only thing he finds are a couple of beetles. Already wondering if he's imagined it, he absenmindedly paces back and forth. Completely lost in his thoughts, he nearly falls off a small ravine onto the sand, right where the river begins. Only at the last moment does he put his shoes together and catch himself in mid-flight.
Landing on the sand, he looks around again. Goodness, he didn't know the river bank was so steep.
At first glance, there's nothing unusual here either, just a flowing river, a couple of rocks jutting out of the water, and... Qifrey can't see what it is, so he has to get closer.
In a nook between the rocks, he sees a basket with a canopy, covered with a cloth. The basket flops in the water, not carried any further by the current. And there is...
A child.
A small baby, probably no more than a year and a half old.
Perhaps he should have expected it when he heard the crying.
The red-haired toddler looks at him with those big green eyes, somewhat curiously, as they try to chew on their own fist. Overall, the baby doesn't look injured or sick; cheeks have the usual baby swelling, and all the limbs seem to be intact. But... the baby’s all alone. Parents would never just abandon their child, right? No one should abandon their own children in this cruel world.
While Qifrey ponders what to do now, the child seems to remember why they were crying earlier and begins to sulk. It all starts quietly, with panting and occasional sobs, but very quickly tears begin to roll from their eyes and cries begin to rise from their throat.
Now Qifrey seems to freeze, because he simply doesn't know what to do to calm the crying baby. Of course, he has experience caring for girls, but they are no longer babies who can't walk and can't clearly communicate what they need. In that moment, he realizes how easy it is to care for them.
Coming closer, he tries to use his teacher's voice, the one he most often uses with the girls "Hey, where are these tears coming from? Did something happen?"
The baby seems to become interested in him and forgets about the tears a little. Perhaps it's because Qifrey is something unknown to them. Qifrey kneels down next to them and randomly extends his hand toward the baby. The baby stares at it for a moment, then wraps their whole hand around one of his fingers. So small. And so alone. Just like...
Qifrey's thoughts are interrupted by the baby smiling, even laughing. Qifrey doesn't understand what made them laugh so much, but he smiles back.
"Well now, that's better. Come on, do you want me to hold you?" Qifrey suggests, holding out both hands.
And the baby holds out their hands in response. Qifrey's heart would break, frankly.
Qifrey had never actually held a baby before. He just hasn't had the chance. But this one... This one fits in his hands, as if they'd always been there.
Holding the baby in one arm, Qifrey uses the other to lift the basket out of the river and place it on the bank. Since the baby won't say anything, he needs to examine all the evidence.
It looks like an ordinary baby cradle. A little worn around the edges, but not broken anywhere. It's covered with fabric, presumably to protect the baby from the sun. Inside is a mattress and a small pillow. And something shiny.
Qifrey reaches out and takes the object. An oval medallion, apparently silver. He turns it over and finally notices his first clue. On the other side of the medallion is a name.
Lorna.
It's a girl, then. Of course, he couldn't find a boy, Qifrey thinks with a smile.
"Lorna? Is that your name?" he asks the little lady.
The baby shifts slightly in response and settles down as if she's about to fall asleep. Qifrey doesn't mind, of course; you can't get words out of such a tiny thing anyway.
He tries to place her- Lorna - back in the basket carefully, so as not to disturb her sleep. It's very clumsily, but he manages; the baby is still snoring. What a sleepyhead.
He decides to sit next to her for a while, to wait, maybe someone will come for her. But he can't wait more than an hour, or the girls will start to worry.
Qifrey sits down next to her, hugs his knees, and rests his head on his knees. And waits.
The clouds in the sky change, one after another. And he waits.
Not far from them, a deer comes to drink water. And he waits.
A child snores nearby. And he waits.
Qifrey can tell by the sun that enough time has passed.
And no one comes.
And he knows what he should do.
Rising to his feet, he says, "Well, I hope you want to meet the girls, Lorna. I think you'll like them."
He doesn't get an answer, as she's still asleep. Maybe that's for the best.
Qifrey carefully picks up the basket and holds it securely in place. Having positioned the basket, he takes off, hoping the girls aren't too worried about where he disappeared to. He knows that, at worst, they would ask Olruggio for help finding him, but he really hopes they haven't come to that yet.
Arriving at the place where he left them, he sees them sitting in a circle, seemingly playing something. Good, so he didn't disturb them too much.
Tetia is the first to notice him and starts waving her arms: "Teacher Qifrey! Where did you fly off to so quickly? Did something happen? Oh, what's that…”
The other girls turn to look at him too. Richeh looks calm, but it's clear she's also interested. Coco tilts her head slightly, a puzzled expresion on her face. Agott simply watches what's happening.
Qifrey lands about a meter away from them, suddenly feeling a little awkward with all the attention focused on him, especially on such an occasion.
"Girls, I apologize for flying off so abruptly. Was everything okay while I was gone?" Qifrey asks, tilting his head slightly.
"Everything was fine, Master. Perhaps you could tell us what you have in your hands and why you flew off so abruptly?" Agott answers calmly. As straightforward as ever.
Qifrey approaches them even closer, squats down, and, without saying anything, carefully places the basket on the ground next to the girls.
And just as carefully, he watches their reactions. Agott, the one who asked the pressing question, is now sitting directly in front of the basket and can clearly see who's there. Her eyes widen and even her mouth opens slightly, which is very unlike Agott. Seeing her reaction, the other girls rushed to the basket, eager to find out what, or who, could have surprised Agott so much.
Huddle around the basket, the girls climb on top of each other to get a better look. Coco and Tetia are especially competitive for the best spot.
And just then, small green eyes slowly open, as if disturbed by the bustle around them. The little girl stretches a little, yawns sweetly, and looks around at her audience with a slightly puzzled gaze. At that moment, the audience, as one, quietly gasps at such cuteness. Tetia is the first to break the silence.
"Teacher, did you just give birth? I didn't know you were expecting!" Tetia cries in surprise, clinging to his hand.
Qifrey is a little embarrassed by Tetia's suggestion and hurries to reply: "No, Tetia, I haven't given birth to anyone..."
At the same time, Richeh's voice is heard: "Well, it doesn't look like you or Teacher Olruggio have red hair..."
Hearing this, Qifrey's eye widen and he tries to explain quickly, gesturing wildly: "Her name is Lorna. Here's the medallion that was with her." With these words, he hands the medallion to the girls, and it passes from hand to hand, each girl is eager to examine it.
"I flew away in such a hurry because I heard crying. I found her right in the river; the cradle was nestled between the rocks, but it's still a wonder the current didn't carry her away. And I was gone for so long because…" he finds it hard to continue this thought, "Because I sat and waited next to her, in case her parents came, maybe they just lost her, but…"
The girls apparently understand what he was getting at, and their faces immediately darken.
No one came for Lorna.
Richeh speaks even more quietly than usual: "But how can this be… Poor little thing."
At this moment, Agott reaches out to stroke Lorna's head with her fingertips. Lorna glances up slightly, toward her hand, smiles, and begins to twist her arms and legs, as if to return the gesture. Agott smiles softly.
"And what can we do to help her, Master?" Coco asks quietly, not taking her eyes off the cradle.
"Yes, Master Qifrey, what can we do?" Tetia echoes, clutching the hem of her dress, and Qifrey sees she's on the verge of tears. Tetia was always the most emotional one; tears flowed from her as easily as laughter. It's no wonder she felt so sorry for the little girl.
Glancing at all his girls again, Qifrey stands up and picks up the basket with Lorna.
"We can go home with her."