Chapter Text
The New York subway leaked like a sieve every time it rained and based on the constant trickles that were turning into small waterfalls, it was really pouring tonight.
For all the concentration Nuada put into his training, the exiled royal was ever alert for the sounds of movement in the tunnels around him. And so, when he heard the patter of small footsteps close to him, he froze a moment and strained to listen for more.
They came again, splashing in the gathering puddles of the dank underground and echoing off the rounded walls.
He retracted his spear but did not put it away as he kept close to the walls and crept forward to investigate the sound. The footsteps came again, this time with the faint squeak of wet rubber and light panting.
He stayed a healthy distance away and peered around the corner to see a flash of bright yellow turn the next one, and he followed out of curiosity. Whimpers began to echo through the caverns, followed by short sobs.
Perhaps he was not the only unfortunate resident of this wretched place.
He continued to track the stranger silently until he reached the opening of a tunnel which he knew to be a dead end. The footsteps stopped suddenly and once more the whimpers came.
Nuada peered around once again and for a moment was startled.
It was a child. From the looks of it, a human girl.
In a wet dress under a filthy, yellow raincoat, and worn boots. From the way she looked up the walls and darted from one side of the tunnel to the other, it didn’t look like she was hurt. But she was certainly afraid, and obviously alone.
But why would a human child be wandering around in the dangerous city tunnels?
The child turned in a circle as if trying to find a door or escape, before backing into the corner and sinking to the ground, whimpers turning to sobs. She couldn’t have been older than five years old.
Nuada knew that if he wanted to keep his existence a secret, he would have to do something about this. Either the girl had some parent wandering around looking for her, or she would draw police into the tunnels, either way, he couldn’t just let her run around alone.
Hiding himself behind the wall, Nuada let out a low whisper, just enough to get her attention. The whimpering stopped and the silence drew out until Nuada whistled again, this time creeping his hand around the wall so she could see he was there.
“Is someone there?” He asked and got no response, though he heard the child stand out a creep closer to him. “I promise, I won’t hurt you. You don’t have to be afraid.”
He waited a moment, but a soft poke in the palm of his hand made him chuckle in amusement. “Now, I’m going to come out. okay?”
Still no verbal answer, but Nuada turned the corner slowly anyway. The girl was pressed against the wall only a few feet away from him, eyeing him suspiciously as he looked down at her. He knelt to her level and tilted his head to the side, trying not to seem like a threat.
The last thing he needed was her wailing and drawing the attention of whoever must be looking for her.
“Are you lost?”
She nodded slowly, curiosity overruling her caution as the sight of such a strange man drew her closer.
“Do you have a name?”
The girl shook her head without hesitation and Nuada chuckled a little, figuring she must have misunderstood.
“No name? Did your parents not give you one?”
Once again, the girl shook her head. Nuada frowned, “Where are your parents? Where is your mother?”
When no answer came, Nuada realized this was going to be harder than he anticipated. Carefully he considered every route to the street level that she could have come down. Perhaps she'd wandered off on accident?
“Can you speak?” Nuada’s tone grew harsher as he became impatient with the child’s lack of information. Surely, someone her age wasn’t so mindless that she didn’t know her own name or a vague idea of where her parents were.
The girl didn’t respond, nor did she shake or nod her head. Instead, she drew away from him and hid her face.
Nuada sighed and shook his head. “Come with me, I’ll show you the way out. Then you need to find an adult and have them help you.”
He stood and began to turn when the girl finally spoke up. “The lady said that someone would find me down here. Is that you?”
Nuada froze and looked back at her, “Who told you that?”
"The Lady."
"Your mother?"
The girl shrugged, “She didn’t like it when I called her that. She said to stay here, and someone would come find me.”
Nuada blinked and knelt once again. “Come here.”
At first, the girl hesitated but then presented herself to him and Nuada took her face between his thumb and finger and turned her head from side to side. She had some bruises and a few healed cuts.
At this distance, he could all but confirm she was no more than 5. Her thin red hair was ill-kept and knotted horribly under her yellow hood.
“And she just left you down here and told you to stay put?”
The girl nodded and Nuada looked down with a sigh.
A lost child with no name, no parents, and nowhere else to go. He rolled the idea around in his head a moment before sighing, cursing himself.
“How long has it been since you’ve eaten?”
The girl shrugged, “A few days.”
“A few days,” Nuada repeated in disbelief, not sure if he was angry at the mother for abandoning her child, angry at himself for not being able to just take the girl to the surface and leave her there, or relieved that he had discovered her hungry instead of discovering her corpse.
So, knowing that he would be kicking himself for it later, Nuada made an executive decision.
“Come along.” He took her hand and stood up. “Come with me.”
“Where are we going?”
“I’m going to get you some food, and then you are going to rest.” He informed her sternly. “hold my hand tightly, don’t wander off.”
She nodded obediently and gripped his fingers firmly as she jogged to keep up with his stride.
Wink was still trolling the market, Nuada would have to come up with a good explanation for their little guest.
Going down further than even the trains went, Nuada lit up a fire and sat her down on a hard cloth cot. He looked her over with hard, scrutinizing golden eyes.
“I suppose I must call you something.” He grumbled, “It’s not right for a living thing to not have a name.”
The girl sat patiently as he mulled it over.
“Eithne” He decided finally, “Your name is Eithne. Can you remember that?”
The girl nodded, mouthing her new name silently as he stood.
"Good"
"I couldn't just leave her there."
Wink grumbled in discontent as his large feet rattled the walls around them with each pacing step.
"I know it's taking a risk, but look at her! She's half-starved, I'm not even sure she has anyone she could go back to ." Nuada crossed his arms stubbornly. "You'd have done the same thing in my place."
Wink rumbled reluctantly.
"I'm not saying she should stay. As soon as she's well enough and talking I'll send her back."
Wink didn't look convinced.
The two of them had been partners for centuries, and if there was one thing Nuada would never admit to himself, it was that he had a soft spot for strays.
Up until now, it had been mostly animals, maybe the occasional magical creature injured due to human activity, but never, ever a human.
Not even one as little and pathetic-looking as this one.
Wink glanced around the stone wall and at the little bundle of blankets with a crop of red hair sticking out of one side and let out a heavy sigh.
"Just a few days." Nuada insisted, "You won't regret it."