Caoimhe

[Kilian]

There's so many of them.

Do you think she died in pain? Do you think -- maybe she's like the aimless ones, now. Maybe she wandered into the woods and died out there. Lost and alone, in the fog, the monsters taking her and eating her from the inside. What little was left of her.

Do you think she remembered herself at all, before -- ?

Do you think that she remembered home? Mum and Da. Me?

Sibeal.

Oh, Sibeal.

[Kilian]

We didn't even sleep last night.

We stayed up all night, talking about Sibeal. Talking about what it's been like for them, to -- to have known all these years and never be able to speak. It wasn't like it was for Iseult, where she'd sometimes catch her mother about to speak, or --

They told me about how it was for them. We had a fight about it, on my thirteenth birthday. Do you all remember? I screamed at them that they needed to remember it was Sibeal's birthday, too, and they needed to stop pretending otherwise. Do you remember, Coinin? I came to your house for the rest of the day, because I couldn't stand being there for another minute. They said the moment I left, they just stared at each other, helpless. But they couldn't even talk to each other about it. They couldn't even tell each other that they know who I was talking about, that they remembered ...

Their fault, they said. They were overwhelmed and maybe if they'd tried harder, she wouldn't have been taken away. For years they've sat there not even able to talk to each other about how much they blamed themselves for it. Not even capable of alluding to her. Acknowledging her.

All night, we stayed up. Just talking. Just ... sharing memories. Wondering if she was still ...

I should probably sleep. But I'm still not even tired.

[Kilian]

It's so quiet here compared to Tarra.

I know I should appreciate it. This is home. But ... there was so much in Tarra. So many libraries and books, so many people ...

[Kilian]

It's so loud here! Even when it's quiet you can still hear the buzz of people talking. Walking! Laughing ... and there's always music in the air, too. From the park, and ...

Everyone is talking about the celebrations tonight. To be honest, I forgot that it was Ethniu's Birthday.

[Kilian]

You'll have to forgive me if I enjoy myself a bit at your expense. But I have to say, it is a bit relaxing not to have to cook for anyone but my own family. I can't imagine slaving over a hot oven all day. And just for a rose!

But I imagine it's worth it, somehow, in the end.

Still. I did enjoy getting to sleep in.

[Filter: Franelcrew and Doolin except Gabe and Eabh]

[Kilian]

I've been going over our notes with Iseult since we caught up on what happened last night. I can't find anything about -- about a dragon just yet, but it's possible that it's been removed from the records the same way that the missing people have.

Though there's far less of an explanation for that.

Regardless, anyone who would like to come and go over the notes with us is more than welcome. There's the notes that we've gathered, but there's also the rest of the archives, and, well, we certainly haven't been on the lookout for anything about dragons in the past.

You can tell your friends who speak Trade if you like, but I can't imagine they would be interested in helping.

[Filter: Doolin, in Kilian]

I didn't think it would be so visceral.

It is different from anatomy sketches in books. It's much different. Everything about it -- once I could look at it, it all seemed wrong. It fit together, but not right. Not how it was supposed to.

I can't believe they have one to dissect. If the rest of the town knew what was in that basement ...