Chapter 7:
Joyous Flight
Nameless set out from the cottage in search of more work to do.
The morning chores had kept his mind busy, so it made sense that the best way to get past the painful emotions Grace and Mishka’s letter brought out in him was to keep working.
It was as he was crossing the field that inspiration struck.
Shortly after he and Milly had bonded, Paul had shown them the cottage and the pond, and afterwards the old farmer had talked at length about fencing in his land. And it was a job that did need to get done eventually, so why not now?
Nameless didn’t know the first thing about how to go about building a fence, so his feet had him walking towards Paul’s almost without his conscious decision.
But when he came off of the trail onto the farmer’s drive, Paul was nowhere to be found.
So he settled on to the old man’s porch to wait next to a pile of wood shavings from whatever he had been whittling last.
They would pay for the fence of course, they had only been back a few days, but even with groceries for the six of them, Milly’s milk had them swimming in coins. So all he needed from Paul was some help figuring out where it should go and some general information on where to get the materials and such.
Not to mention his permission to build the damned thing.
Nameless’s mind was swimming, puzzling at things he had never had any interest in before, anything to keep from thinking about his real problems.
Fortunately before he ran out of things to think on, Paul came out of his barley field, unsurprisingly accompanied by several cockatrices.
For the first time it occurred to Nameless that he had no idea how many of the feathered girls were in the farmer’s flock.
Paul caught sight of him and offered a broad smile by way of greeting.
“Hullo Nameless! Saw Erica earlier, she was pretty excited when I gave her that letter, good news I hope?”
And just like that Paul had brought his mind to the one place it didn’t want to be.
“F-fine. Hey you remember before when we talked about building a fence?”
Paul scratched his chin, thrown for a moment.
“Maybe. Sure, yeah, we were talking about fencing in the field right?”
Nameless answering nod was emphatic.
“Yeah, I’d like to do that, if that’s alright, give me a project to work on. You, know, don’t want to be idle.”
His earnest smile was more than a little forced.
Paul took out his second favorite pipe, as Helena still had his first, and struck a match with his thumb to light the tobacco.
“Alright. Might as well get it over with I suppose.”
He took a couple of hearty puffs to make sure the bowl caught, watching his young friend all the while.
He didn’t miss the rapid way that Nameless was speaking, or the desperation behind his eyes.
Whatever had been in that letter had upset the young man greatly and it was plain as day he was trying to distract himself from it.
Paul wasn’t sure whether keeping busy would hurt the kid or hinder him, but ultimately he wanted to help however he could so he nodded towards his front door.
“Come on inside, I’ll pull out the property map and we’ll figure out how long the fence needs to be, then we’ll know how much wood we’ll need.”
They stepped into Paul’s kitchen and Nameless felt a jolt of nostalgia from the familiar smell of the place, his frantic need to get to work suddenly dwindled as he looked at the table where he had seen Milly with her head stuffed into a bag of oats.
It had only been a few months ago but it honestly felt like another life.
Giving his head a shake he followed Paul towards the den, his desire to find some work to do returning three-fold, and in his urgency he nearly bowled over one of the Cockatrices in the hall, the feathered girl giving him an indignant squawk and a glare.
“S-sorry.” He mumbled.
“What’s that boy?” Paul came out of the den with a roll of paper in his arm and Nameless had to turn back around as they went into the kitchen again to use the table.
“Nothing, so um. Where do you want the fence?”
Paul gave him a raised eyebrow, but otherwise ignored his odd behaviour as he unrolled the property map.
“Pretty obvious really, that field is surrounded on two sides by trees, one side by the pond and the other by Janet’s property. There’s a reason I wasn’t getting any use out of it.”
Nameless felt a little foolish but didn’t say anything, so Paul continued.
“To do it right you’ll need two lines, one to the pond and the other to link up with Skinner’s fence. People have said I was mad for keeping all those trees standing, but the truth is I had no interest in clearing them, too much work for too little gain was my thinking. But who knows, I might change my mind someday.”
Paul was almost talking more to himself than Nameless as he ran one gnarled digit down the map, smoothing out the crinkles.
“We’ll just need to build it far enough back from the trees to make sure the roots don’t mess with the posts. Easy enough, just gotta line up the fence with the branches above your head, roots usually don’t spread much further.”
Nameless watched as Paul took out a piece of string that was knotted at regular intervals for measuring and started figuring out how long the actual fence would be.
Unfortunately, standing in Paul’s kitchen and waiting on him to do his figuring, Nameless’s mind inevitably circled back to the letter and the innocent Dormaus that Erica and Kar had saved.
__________
Though concerned for Nameless, ultimately Ophelia knew he would recover, and she needed to shake off her own mood from the disastrous luncheon.
So she took to the skies to stretch her wings, luxuriating in the simple joy of flight, something she hadn’t really done in some time.
Milly had discreetly asked to be alone with Erica, who was still upset over the letter, and Volka had slipped back into her armour before ducking out to check on Nina in her forge.
The armour seemed to help the Valkyrie in coping with stress, and Ophelia almost wished she had a set herself.
The Flutterby wisely stayed around the field, as she spotted several Hornets flying a perimeter around the area and certainly didn’t need another stressful mid-air encounter with them.
The butterfly girl was in the air for twenty minutes or so when she was joined by a much stronger flyer.
“It’s good to see you enjoying yourself Ophelia!”
She was hovering around the great oak tree when Volka swooped near her; the Valkyrie was likewise smiling from the pleasure of the wind in her feathers and the cold air on her face.
“You as well, dearheart!”
The angel extended her wings to slow herself and hold her position in front of the Flutterby, both girls’ wings flapping in a far different manner to hold themselves aloft: Volka’s took big powerful strokes, while Ophelia’s were an almost clumsy flutter.
“Yes, I admit, one of the things I dearly missed while in my shield was the sky’s gift to us!”
The Valkyrie drew in a deep breath through her nose while her elegant bond-sister landed daintily on one of the thickest branches in the tree, her bare feet barely disturbing the leaves as she settled her negligible weight onto the sturdy limb.
A moment later the Valkyrie landed beside her, though her armoured form had a far greater impact on the foliage.
Ophelia smiled at the contrast between the two now sitting side by side in the mighty oak.
“You’ve been a bit absent the last few days. It seems I only see you at meals and training with Erica.”
The angel’s wings extended to their full length behind her for a moment as she arched her back and stretched her arms with a sigh, her naked belly drawing inwards.
“I believe it was a mistake to have allowed myself to be seen in town. I thought it best that I stay out of sight for awhile. So I have been learning the lay of the land, as it were. Spreading my wings after so long is ecstasy. And seeing a world untainted by war… you cannot know the joy it brings me.”
When Ophelia didn’t respond right away, Volka looked to meet her pensive face.
“What ails you sister?”
It was a couple more seconds before she got a reply.
“I suppose… it just feels odd to me to enjoy the day knowing what is out there, or rather, knowing who is out there.”
Volka’s face twisted into a frown as she pointed at a spot below Ophelia’s chin, waiting for the Flutterby to look down before flicking her finger over her nose.
“Oh for- and I raised children!” Ophelia rolled her eyes at the timeless gag.
Volka leaned in and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, the shift in weight causing the Flutterby’s wings to flap a few times to maintain her balance.
“You are a kind soul, but you are not naïve I think. Ever has there been evil in this world. While we should remain vigilant, there is no reason not to enjoy the little things, such as a joyful flight-” Her arm lifted off of Ophelia’s shoulder just long enough to tug on the Flutterby’s earlobe; “-or the pranks of children.”
While Volka smirked, Ophelia shifted the Valkyrie’s hand to her cheek, her eyes closed as she enjoyed the angel’s soothing presence.
“On the road before… Milly suggested that you were trying to figure out your place in the world now. I guess they make that easier for you?”
“Evadne and Jonathan.” Volka said while stroking her thumb across the butterfly’s lips.
“What?”
Her expression puzzled, Ophelia turned to face the magnificent blonde.
“Their names. Don’t be afraid to speak them. I have noticed this with some of the others. Evadne is dangerous and we would be foolish not to be wary of her, but fear can be caustic, don’t let their reputation make them more terrible than they are.”
The Flutterby blinked, and then tilted her head to one side as she considered the warrior angel before her.
“Aren’t you afraid? Afraid of Evadne I mean?”
Volka shook her head.
“I fear what she may do with the power she toys with, but no, I do not fear the Chimera. She is gripped with rage and grief. Truthfully, I pity her.”
“Really?”
Volka’s response was quiet.
“I know her pain all too well.”
Ophelia fluttered into the air for a second to turn and land in the Valkyrie’s lap, hiking her dress up to place her thighs on either side of Volka’s, her violet eyes looking long into the angel’s radiant golds.
“You miss the other Valkyrie.”
“Every waking moment.” The reply was unflinching.
“You hide it well.”
Volka smiled a sad smile.
“Not well enough it seems. Our husband has intimate knowledge of my sorrow, with his gift it would be impossible not to, but you have a gift of your own. Such intuition will serve you well in the days to come.”
The angel stroked the back of her hand over the Flutterby’s cheek again.
Ophelia leaned her face into the caress, and then entwined her fingers with the angel’s.
“For one who has lost so much… perhaps the best thing is to celebrate what you have now?”
Volka’s heart quickened at the invitation in the other woman’s tone and she offered her a wry look.
“That is what I keep saying. What do you have in mind?”
Ophelia turned Volka’s hand and pressed a lingering kiss into her palm.
“Months ago, both Nina and I expressed a desire to reward you. For saving her, and for saving our master.”
Volka swallowed as Ophelia’s tongue shot out and ran over her hand and up to her wrist.
“And how were you planning on doing that?”
The dark haired woman’s questing tongue halted its progress across the blonde’s hand.
“It would be easier to show you, but we’ll need to be back on the ground, and you’re going to have to slip out of this armour.” She gave the Valkyrie’s armoured forearm a gentle shake for emphasis.
There was a long pause as the heated offer sank in.
“It has… been a very long time for me. You know, being a shield and all.”
The Flutterby let loose a warm chuckle and kissed her palm again.
“Don’t worry, I know all the moves. Our master would never press the issue, unless he felt that was what you needed. That’s how it was with Nina. But I think you are more self-aware than our mighty little sister.”
Volka feigned a look of confusion.
“Who, me?”
Ophelia stopped trailing kisses on the Valkyrie’s hand and gently bit down on the skin between her thumb and index finger, giving her a coy look through her eyelashes.
“I intend to make love to you, you silly Valkyrie, if you’ll have me.”
It was Volka’s turn to laugh, she leaned in and kissed Ophelia fiercely, their tongues slipping over each other while she ran both hands down to cup Ophelia’s pert ass with a firm grip and pull their bodies tight together.
“At this point, I am going to insist upon it.”