At Night, On The Ship, She Could Almost Hear The Real World. The Creak Of The Timbers, The Splash Of

At night, on the ship, she could almost hear the real world. The creak of the timbers, the splash of the water against the hull, the faint sound of the wind in the sails...all of them seemed close at hand. So on the second night, with the moon shining down coldly, Rae concentrated on doing something she'd not done for a very long time.

Touching something.

Newly dead, she'd tried often, attempting to move objects, to press against people. Anything to show them she was there, more than just an odd draft, a strange feeling. It had cost her, making her feel even more ephemeral and weak for hours after. And she had rarely accomplished anything.

Rae wasn't sure if it was the presence of her person -- and she had begun to think of Ciara as hers in way that was more fond than possessive -- or the late hour or the utter silence, but she knew she had to try.

First, it was shifting a screw. She'd noted it when Ciara had settled down for the night. Now, she concentrated very hard, focusing all of her being on her hand. And gently, slowly she reached out and brushed her hand against the screw.

It twirled in a little circle for a moment before coming to a halt.

Rae had the biggest grin on her face. She turned to Ciara, wishing she could share her happiness with someone. But the only person she had didn't know she existed.

Scooting to the sleeping woman's side, Rae reached out again. She wasn't as tired as she'd expected and she wanted to touch Ciara. Show her gentleness and caring. Focusing on her hand, she brushed at the woman's forehead, sweeping a long lock of aqua hair away from her face.

The touch was electrifying. Warm in a way she didn't know she'd lost. And she felt stronger for having done so. She did it again, then a third time. Gentle caresses. But despite the strength she'd gained from touching the woman, she was still exhausted quickly.

Rae lay down beside Ciara, grinning and watching her sleep. "Thank you," she spoke. "You've given me back something I lost. Hope."

She felt his heartbeat against her back, his breath against her ear. His arms were firm around her. There was safety in him, security. And a divine sort of rest that she'd not found before, something that lulled her to sleep as nothing but exhaustion ever had.

Aellarian would keep the nightmares at bay. And if they broke through anyway, he would be there to offer comfort. And Milli knew he would. She kissed him one last time and curled up close. His. All his.

She’d never been on the sea before. But Ciara had gone and Rae had followed, curious and eager. She hovered near the woman — teal-haired now, she changed it at irregular intervals for reasons unknown — and watched the land disappear.

Rae wondered what the sea looked like in the real world. In her in-between place it was a sad slip of waves quickly lost to the fog. One night she looked over the edge and caught sight of her reflection in the water. It was curious to see herself again, but the image was gone after a moment.

Ciara was displeased. The crew was rowdy, and Rae stayed out of their way. She pressed close, watching Ciara’s face as she muttered her curses and disgust. Rae couldn’t rightly hear the words, not unless she concentrated very, very hard. And really, she could understand what Ciara was saying just by watching her. She had a very expressive face. Far too often it expressed little at all.

Sometimes Rae touched her, gliding ghostly fingers over her cheek just to pretend she could make the woman smile.

The battle was…strange. Hugely chaotic in a way that was felt more than heard. And as someone without a body, that was unique for Rae. She was close to Ciara, but there were little eruptions all around her, a brightness when someone died. Then the light faded, as it always did. When she had first died, she had watched many deaths, hoping to find another like her. She never did.

Rae turned at the feel of an explosion, the brightness of several nearby souls drawing her attention. And she saw a man charging Ciara with a rapier.

"Ciara!" she cried, tripping back past the woman. Rae didn’t know if she’d been heard or if Ciara merely sensed the attacker, but she turned and parried his blade, firing a shot through the man’s chin that almost immediately separated his spirit.

If she’d had a heart, it would have been pounding. As it was, she just felt shaky, the world a little out of focus. Except for Ciara. Rae scrambled to her feet and stayed near the woman, her anchor in the whirl.

She wasn’t able to save Ciara from all injuries. The woman racked up many and Rae winced to see all that precious blood flowing free. But Ciara didn’t seem to care. It was only when the fight was over that she appeared drained at all, but only at the edges. Only when no one else was looking. But Rae was always looking.

It was only when they were safe again that the world seemed to right itself, move from murky to clear. Rae scolded herself. She shouldn’t have come to sea. What would have happened if she’d fallen overboard? Or been caught in that murky time completely? But Ciara had stayed clear and focused the entire time. And she might have saved the woman’s life. That was worth a little risk, right?

Ciara, though, was still tensed, like a fist. One wrong move and she would jerk, hitting someone. Only with her pistols instead of her fist. Rae didn’t want to see that. Didn’t want to see her…whatever Ciara was to her, thrown overboard. She didn’t want to have to watch her drown. Or worse, get lost in the ocean’s depths with Ciara’s body.

"Calm, Ciara," Rae whispered, huddling close. She rubbed her hands, insubstantial, but she remembered it to be a soothing thing. She laid her head against Ciara’s back. "Calm down. You are safe. Relax. Rest. Soon you’ll be home. I’ll watch you till then," she promised. An easy thing. She needed no rest.

Carefully, Rae wrapped her arms around Ciara, holding her close, pretending that the woman accepted the embrace. It was comforting. “I’m here, Ciara. Just relax.”

She hoped the woman would somehow understand.

Things seem...different once they leave the boat. It's like the world is brighter. Rae keeps pace with Ciara, following the woman but also marveling at the things around her. The brilliance of the sunlight on water, the radiant color of flowers on the hillside, the depth of blue of Ciara's aqua eyes.

Rae sits just in front of her while the woman eats her meager rations. She follows the woman's eyes with her own, lowering her head to keep catching glimpses of that color. So beautiful. She's never seen such a thing. And she's pretty sure that's an accurate assessment, as another person's eyes never made her stop and stare, even when she was alive. Not just from the color.

"I wish I could tell you you're pretty," she says, the vocalizations feeling more natural now. She knows the woman can't hear her, but the sound of her own voice isn't so strange anymore. "I wish you could see it, because you're always so sad."

Like the impulsive girl she once was, Rae leaned forward and hugged Ciara, focusing on her arms, the feel of flesh against her indistinct body. It was momentary and she felt Ciara stiffen, but she sat back, grinning ridiculously. Just as on the ship, she felt better, more real after touching Ciara. She moved away, not wanting to startle the woman more than she already had.

But she was happy. For the first time in longer than she could remember, Rae was happy.

She watched the woman often. Well, there were many she watched in the haunting twilight between the world and the Mists where she was trapped, but some seemed to shine more brightly than others. Rae wasn't sure why.

She had been a girl, once, just sixteen. Lovely and in love. But that was gone now and something had snapped inside her when she died, some connection that left her lost, stranded. Wandering.

But the woman was interesting. She spoke harshly to some, gently to others. She laughed at herself. But not in a way that seemed a joke, and that made Rae sad. When the woman did so, usually all alone, Rae would hover near, an echo at her shoulder. The woman wouldn't see her, she knew, wouldn't feel her. But such a person shouldn't be left all alone, Rae thought.

And when the woman sat in front of her fire on the outskirts of nowhere, Rae sat beside her. Though her voice had not seen use for decades, she spoke, "You are not alone. You are still free. You should smile." The sound was a croak in her own ears and likely sounded like nothing more than the wind to the woman, but she had said it. Made it plain. That was all she could do for her, really.

Her obsession grew. She knew the woman would die, pass into the Mists and leave her alone again. But what else was there to do with eternity. So she followed this one that needed someone and had none. Another lost soul.

It took some time and some intense concentration, but eventually she was able to make out the woman's name from another person's lips, whispery and vague.

Though the name itself sounded like a whisper, even to Rae. She spoke it quietly beside her charge that night. "Ciara."