Amends

"What the hell is wrong with me."

He thought as He walked off of the wooded path towards Kara's cave. Aetri's mind was a boiling pot of emotions, He Loved Kara... but He loved Lee, He loved Frigg... and though the chaos of it all was like a tangled yarn, it felt eerily natural, like feeling this way about multiple people, it was Greed He decided, foolish greed that could not stand, even with it being (He knew) his nature.

This wasn't the fantasy that his Ilk had back home, he couldn't just bed every woman he took a liking too... could he?

But this was only the first of many courses served to his conscience, there was the matter of his memories... Once, Aetri's mind was consumed by the happenings of the past, but with his training becoming easier and easier, so did his wrath and hatred, it dissipated within, froze in this northern land...

but with each time he awoke from his sleep, it was like someone had doused his soul in turpentine and lit up his soul in an inferno, He was afraid of welcoming that Vengence back into his life, afraid of what would happen should He embrace it, but every time that fear struck, the deafening beating of wings and the smell of burning corpses struck even louder.

"You have to remember." A voice said, one that seemed like the echo of a dream, it was true, as much as He wanted to refute it, and the time was coming where his need for revenge would consume him.

Before long He'd arrived at the mouth of the roaring cave, Hell, He knew the woods so well and the Beasts in it that his concern for running into them was just as frozen as his memories, though He took comfort in the gentle seeping smoke that oozed from the cave "Okay... I can do this, just apologise, speak your mind."

He made his way inside and found just what he expected, a beautiful girl with hair like a red flame, sniffling quietly next to her campfire, fiddling with something in her hands "K-Kara?"

She jolted, turning and packing something away as she shot up to her feet "One-eye's beard you scared me..." She said grumpily, wiping her glaring eyes "What do you want?"

Aetri held strong, seeing her fold her arms and back away as he tried to go to her. He paused "To apologise."

Kara's lip quivered "Oh really, that's rich, coming to apologise to the stupid Cave-girl who knows nothing about her lover-and should never ask." She said quickly.

He rubbed his eyes "You aren't stupid... and You have a right to ask, it's just..." the barriers flew up, he felt his throat tighten, He wanted to tell her... "It's dangerous, Kara, more dangerous than you can imagine. there are... things that will happen when I reveal myself, probably very bad things, and I plan to face them, head-on as hard as it will be to do so, but I can't do that without you."

The Red-head softened slightly but held unto her scowl "I have nothing, Aetri, my dad is gone... I'm alone, when I'm with you, I am so happy but... it's hollow because when I tell Aetri that I love him, I know that Aetri isn't the one I'm talking to. and sometimes you act so strangely like you're two different people, I need someone honest, I need you."

He stepped forward, smiling sadly "I'll be there... I'll be honest, but I meant what I said, I have to keep you safe when the time is right, I will tell you all." He swore it.

Kara rubbed her elbows, clearly unsure "And I can't compete for you..."

He stepped closer, holding his hands out reassuringly "You will never have too."

It was a lie.

Her eyes welled as she cracked a smile "But Lee.."

He stepped even closer, only an arm's length away "Lee wanted me to come and make amends. a fresh start, no more bad blood." Aetri opened himself to her, and Kara shuffled forward slightly, her sadness melting away

"No more Bad blood?" She asked innocently

"On my honour!" she laughed as He mock saluted, rushing into his arms

"You better start talking soon, Sir Knight, and apologise!" She growled girlishly into his chest.

"I will apologise!"

"Apologise then!"

"Alright! alright... I'm sorry." He looked into her eyes, and she nodded, looking back up into his

"Apology accepted, and... Happy Birthday, you big bumbling idiot." She chuckled, he wiped her eyes, leaning down to kiss her, but she shifted away, her lips evading him as she winced "Maybe... give me a little time, okay?" Aetri raised an eyebrow for a moment but nodded and smiled

"Of course, as much as you need" there was a feeling, a deep lurking feeling... if Lee felt suspicion for Kara, He felt it in that moment, if only a little, though He didn't know why. "What were you looking at just then?" He asked, Kara's eyes flicked between him and her fur pack

"I-It was nothing-- Oh, there's something you should know." She started, pulling away from his arms "There were riders in the night, men in Black cloaks... but I saw armour glinting underneath, they were heading towards the Skjal."

Aetri raised a brown eyebrow "Armoured?"

She nodded "Plate armour."

"No Norne is stupid enough to let themselves freeze into plate-armour."

Kara gave a kind of grave look "Do you think they're..."

Aetri felt a chill run down his spine "Britons...." taking her shoulders, He gave her a serious look "I need you to gather all of your things, you're staying at the lodge until I know what's going on."

Kara blinked "That's one hell of a way to ask a lady to move in."

"Fearless be thy enemy--"

"AH!" Kara and Aetri cried in unison, twisting around to see a familiar shadow, sat crossed-legged by the fire, appearing even more than usual, out of thin air

"Bloody Saint's, Crow, what the hell!?" Aetri cried, watching the Dark Woman sat in a perfect crossed-legged position, her hands flying in the incredibly fast Kuji-in symbols that flickered against the firelight "Rin. Pyou. Tou. Sha. Kai. Chin. Retsu. Zai. Zen. Rin. Pyou. Tou. Sha. Kai. Chin. Retsu. Zai. Zen...." Crow pulled the Nine signs with perfect clarity, voicing in such a quick and quiet whisper that to the untrained ear, they might have blended together into one.

"Miss Crow... I... I didn't know that you knew where my cave was." Kara said, sounding a little unnerved at the Spymaster, looking up with her black eyes.

"Sit with me." She whispered, gesturing before her. Aetri gave Kara a: You better do what she says, Look and the two walked over, sitting in front of the dark woman in her black garb. they were silent as Crow stared at Kara, the shadowy eyes of the unfeeling spymaster clearly weighing heavily on Kara "I do not trust You." She said coldly, making the redhead frown.

Aetri eyed Crow with annoyance "But... the word of my Master is absolute, and on his orders, I will bother you with my opinions, no longer. On my Master's order."

Kara didn't seem to find that very satisfying "I-I would prefer if You did that of your own choice--"

"Ummm, Crow... Is a Vatan, I'm afraid that my order is the only thing that will sway her opinion on you..." Kara raised an eyebrow at him, Aetri shrugged "It's the closest thing that she can give to full acceptance."

The Outcast rolled her eyes "Stop talking like I know what a Vatan even is. Look, Miss Crow feels no emotions, I understand that, everyone who knows her understands that, I just... don't understand why?"

Aetri looked at Crow's unbowed expression and sighed, rubbing his eyes "Well... where to start, I guess... well there is the way that Lee explained it to me, a long time ago..." Aetri got into his story-telling pose, Kara listening keenly as Crow sat in silence, the two hearing Aetri's account of just what a Vatan was.

The Northern land of Norn, Uld Village, Frey's Day 8 Years ago.

The Boy watched as the strange Eastern woman: Lee, worked her healing, that almost seemed like eastern magic to him then, on the Spymaster's limp body.

He was scared, terrified, in this foreign land, with this scary woman and her venom green eyes, and with the only one who knew his pain, half-dead in this strange room "I-Is she gonna die Miss Lee-fu?" He asked, fear trilling in his young voice.

The Woman huffed with annoyance "Lee is fine, boy. Nobody calls me Lee-fu." She grumbled pricking Miss Crow with needles so thin that He could barely see them.

"Okay... Lee, is she--"

"I don't know, Boy, Vatans can't survive without a tether, so... I highly doubt it." This woman was hard, strong, He could feel it in the way she spoke to him, in the way she walked, and in the way that she cracked those Nornish attackers earlier, but there was also an underline hint of worry, but whether it was for him, or Crow, or herself, He couldn't tell.

"What do you mean, Miss Lee?" He asked

Lee snarled like a wolf, staring furiously at the kid "Are you going to ask questions all fucking n-night..." He watched her sway, saw how the strength suddenly rippled out of her voice as the splash from a still pound dissipated. gasping, He rushed over, using what little strength he hand to hold her up as she went to collapse.

"M-Miss Lee! Miss Lee!" He cried, but she was too heavy, and limply slid out of his arms and unto the ground. The Boy gasped at the terrible smell of alcohol on her, and looked with worry as she blinked slowly "Tell me what to do, what do you need!?" He asked desperately.

The Woman blinked groggily, raising a shaking hand to a huge bottle in the corner. He rested her gently to the ground moving quickly to pull the heavy bottle over to her.

Lee grasped it quick as a flash, uncorking the bottle and gulping it down like a thirsty beast.

Nodding to herself, He tried to help her to her feet, only to have his hand batted away. She stood up, swaying drunkenly as she shuffled back over to the Table and Black-Crow.

He sighed... He wanted to go home, not that there was a home to go back to. "They didn't teach you about Vatan's, Boy?" She eventually asked, breaking the silence. The Boy folded his arms

"Are you going to ask Questions all Night?" He muttered. The Woman actually smiled a little, chuckling

"Shut up, Smart-ass and answer me." She commanded.

The Boy shook his head "Only what My Governess taught me."

Lee scoffed "Not a very knowledgeable governess, by the sounds of it"

He narrowed his eyes at her "I'll have you know that she was one of the greatest Scholars of her time, and a Mage, I saw her do things you couldn't even imagine!" He said, remembering her fondly.

"Was? she dead or something?" Lee asked not so tactfully. He frowned, going quiet, mustering only a shrug. Lee sighed, pushing her Midnight black hair out of her face

"Come here, kid, I'll learn you somethin'" She gestured, watching as the Boy moved over excitedly but cautiously, that devil punching out the Nornes before still fresh in his mind.

"Don't you mean, Teach me something?" He asked, pushing it a little.

"Don't push it, kid. Here look, on her stomach here." He stood on his tip-toes, to look at Crow's bare stomach and blinked with surprise as He saw the circular black mark, littered with odd signs and drawings that He didn't understand

"What is it?" He asked, Galvanized by the Mark's mysterious tone.

"The Shadow Mark: it is brand, that banishes the Ki from the body, locks the chakra points in place so that Her life-blood is frozen. Vatan's... they are shadows, shells for something dark, something dangerous and cold, like a lone glacier in blue-water, standing in defiance of the blazing sun." she explained.

"What are they shell's for?" He asked.

Lee shrugged "Nobody but the Magisterium knows... but whatever it is, it crushes the person inside, breaks the spirit, transmutes the soul into this empty parasitic thing that can't survive without being bound to another..."

"A Tether?" He nodded

Lee's eyebrows raised "Clever lad. There are pro's I suppose, she could kill 20 men on her own, faster, stronger, more efficient, all because of that Black Mark."

"So she needs someone to be bound too, to survive?"

"That's right, usually a Vatan's Body and Soul crumble after their First Tether dies, If what you told me is correct then she's already been through two--"

"I'll do it." He said strongly, looking at Crow's peaceful face, the way it made him sick inside.

Lee raised an eyebrow "It might not even work, it's..."

"I lost everyone. My Father, My Uncle... I don't know if my mother, or my sisters are even alive. Crow did everything to bring me here, lost everything she had. Everything. So you tell me what I need to do, and I'll do it."

The tall, strong drunk looked at him a little strangely, as in recollecting something long past in the stormy eyes, and she smiled "Go and get the Dirk on the desk over there." She whispered.

He did so, moving over to the desk where a Shining dagger was stabbed deep into the wood. He pulled on it as hard as he could "You need some help...?" The Blade wrung free as the Boy growled, marching over, shining blade in hand. Lee shrugged "Nevermind, here give me your hand." she said, He placed his palm in her hand before she even finished the sentence "Alright, here we go. Say after me."

Bound am I, to the One before me, forevermore.

He repeated the words, feeling the cold, sharp edge touch at the tender skin of his palm

Tethered until death, with blood of life.

He spoke, wincing as she sliced, the sharp pain rippling through his small arm as the red began to flow out.

I (say your name), Pledge my soul to Black-Crow, formerly Akria of Ectani, so that She: Mind and body will serve me, forever.

He did so, and with Lee's help, He clenched his fist, watching as his blood trickled unto her Vatan Mark. It seethed ominously, smoke-like as it flowed like liquid before setting back in, solid and deep, devouring his blood tribute.

Lee helped guide the boy back as if she was expecting an explosion... nothing

Minutes crawled slowly past and nothing happened, she remained laying there, unmoving and the Boy's heart dropped "I told you... it might not work."

He shook his head, feeling that horrible sinking feeling inside, he rubbed the tears from his eyes and- "Why are you crying?"

Jolting, he flew backwards, seeing the dark woman crouched in front of him, Her black eyes staring as curiously as ever, that neatly cut black hair swaying as she tilted her head "M-Miss Black-Crow!?" He said, half in shock.

Crow bowed her head low, and spoke loyally "Your will is my Command, My Master... oof!" Crow exhaled, feeling the Boy's arms lock tightly around her neck

"I thought... I'd lost you too." He whispered. Crow did not move, looking up to Lee as she frowned at that cold stare.

"I will be by your side. always." She said, and He knew that she meant it... or as much as a Vatan could.

Kara shifted, looking at Aetri as He smiled gently at Crow "Wow... So you two, go back even further than Lee?"

He nodded "As far back as I can remember." He loved that old Spymaster, more than anything, she was all He had left, above the Chaos and uncertainty of everyone else, Black-Crow was a fact in his life, with her he was always certain and He wanted Kara to be like that too "I'm giving you the word."

Black-Crow looked uncertainly at Kara for a moment but bowed her head "Your will is My command, Master."

Kara seemed about to speak, but Aetri rose, and Crow with him "Come on, can't spend all of my birthday recounting the good old days, plus, I need to talk to Lee about the Britons, let's head back."