Making Amends (Red)

In summer, they swam, and in winter, they went skating. But in autumn, things were lifeless. Avian had been to the lake a few times over the summer break, and while she heard that everyone was disappointed when summer was over, they all talked about coming back during winter to go ice skating. But then there was fall, that awkward transition period in between the two seasons. The island itself didn't get very cold during autumn, so it was still nice swimming weather, but with fall came school. So of course, students wouldn't come around to swim anymore.

Now, Avian sat all alone at the edge of the water. She sat on a rock, dangling one foot off the edge so her big toe barely skimmed the surface. Her flip flops had been tossed haphazardly to the side. A murder of crows surrounded her, keeping quiet to match Avian. She wasn't usually this melancholy, she just remembered something earlier that day: the last time she was with Lochlann. After the..."incident" happened, Avian gave herself about a week to calm down. She watched her first friend turn into a demonic horse, charge after her, and then get clawed in the face by Kratos.

After a week of collecting her thoughts, she decided to give herself another week...then another. Soon enough, she had forgotten about it, and had moved onto making other friends. Procrastinating wasn't usually an issue for her, but she just wanted to avoid that confrontation so badly, she was willing to put it off forever. But that day during classes, her mind wandered back to that scene in the woods. Suddenly, she felt guilty for leaving him hanging for so long. After all, she was the one who ended up hurting him via harpy eagle talons.

Did he even still remember that day? Did he even still remember her?

"What's the point in sulking out here?" she mumbled under her breath, "Not like I'm gonna find him out here anyways,"

Too lost in thought to notice the naked person coming out of the lake, Avian continued to stare at her big toe skimming the water. Although her crows notice, giving out high pitched caws to alert her of the handsomely ripped teenager emerging from the water. At first she thought they were just shouting at a deer or other creature passing by, but they wouldn't screech this long at something like that.

Getting irked by her noisy birds, she turned to them and went "sssh!" The crows quieted and Avian looked around to see what they were calling at. By then, Loch was already in the bushes, saving her an eyeful. But that just made her wonder more. Where had it gone? Amidst her pondering, a voice rung out, making her jump. It asked with hostility "who's there?"

"Eep!" Avian flinched away from the water, "N-no one! No one!"

Mysterious voices coming from a lake spells "run"! She quickly backed away from the lake, only to trip over her own bare feet and land her butt with a thud on the hard rock. Meanwhile, her crows all scrambled with her, some even taking flight and circling her for protection.

Dangerous? The lake was dangerous?! Avian panicked at the thought, too gullible to question it. Although, she wasn't sure if it was dangerous because Loch was there, or because of another reason she was unaware of. Either way, it made her all the more nervous.

But when he asked if she was ok, she felt a little relieved. At least he still had some heart to him. She thought to herself that maybe it was time to stop avoiding him and finally confront him. Now or never. Avian wasn't exactly mentally prepared, but she figured she'd never be. She'd either come out of this with a friend still intact, or another intimidating stranger to avoid.

After lying amongst her crows for a few moments, thinking the situation over, she finally took a deep breath and got to her feet. The rock was cold on her bare feet, but she was one to resist cold, fighting it, and in denial that her beloved summer was leaving her. She'd wear flipflops until late November as long as it didn't snow.

"Y...yeah," she stammered out, "I'mfine,"

The last part she nervously sputtered out, perhaps too quickly. She also refused to look up at him, so she just stared down at her pale feet, trying to imagine herself elsewhere.

"Y...yeah. Hi," she mumbled quickly.

Avian couldn't think of what else to say other than "you won't eat me, will you, Horsey?" so she kept her mouth shut. She'd never even told Loch that she referred to him in her head as Horsey, so it was probably good that she didn't say it. She noticed the slight weakness in his voice at the sight of her. It was odd to see him wary, he usually walked around with a sort of confidence that told everyone that he didn't care what they thought of him.

He was only a few feet away from her, but that was still too close for comfort. So she took a few steps back, nervously watching her bare feet on the rock. Her crows all stepped back with her, standing in a circle around her feet like a little barrier of birdy protection. She tried to keep calm, so she wouldn't flip out and accidentally unleash the birds on Loch like last time. Speaking of bombarding him with birds, she had also distanced herself from the forest where Kronos lived. She knew the harpy eagle would never hurt her, but all he did was remind her of the incident, so she chose to avoid him.

Avian wanted to become a crow herself, fly away, and avoid the awkward situation altogether! She wished for a moment that she could be her old, removed self who never got involved with others and just watched from the sidelines. But she knew this all had to be cleared up one way or another, either ending in a truce or another attack.

"...Good," she nodded in reply to his question.

As she thought of something casual to say about the weather, she noticed his hand move up to his cheek. She wondered if that was where Kratos had gotten him. That day, she never saw where the bird had wounded him, but she had seen Loch's blood on the eagle's talons. Suddenly, she took a step forward, concern flashing in her eyes.

"Was...was that..." she struggled to break the awkward atmosphere, "Kratos...er...I mean the bird, I mean, harpy eagle. Did he cut you there?"