Chapter Text
A distant scream, a splash, and then a terrible silence.
Rover almost didn’t hear the child’s cry over the howling of the blizzard as she trudged along the snow-covered road back to her cabin. She briefly dismissed it as a figment of her imagination brought to life by the months of isolation she had endured living in the frozen hellscape of Solaris’ north pole. She scarcely had guests, after all. A couple of Royan researchers and the odd Bloom Bearer were her only visitors these days. None were the type to make a mistake as careless as slipping into the water. But no—she realized with horror—that sound was unmistakably real. A chill ran down her spine, somehow even colder than the hateful wind buffeting her face.
Rover sprinted up the path as fast as she could, desperately searching for the source of the cry. Over in the icy pool was a pink and white blur kicking and thrashing just below the surface. She rushed over to it, vaulting over the railing as she ran. The ice sank its sharp teeth into her arms and legs as she waded over to the child, but she didn’t care. She frantically pulled the struggling heap out of the water. It was a little girl, aged nine or ten at most, dressed in a soaking wet white coat and sporting a pair of tiny pigtails. What on Solaris is a child doing all the way out here? Rover thought. She sputtered and coughed up water in Rover’s arms as she held her tight against her chest. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she spotted a faint glimmer of gold deep in the pool. Was that . . . ?
No, that was ridiculous. And besides, she had a much more pressing issue sitting in her arms right now. The terrified girl opened her eyes wide, revealing a pair of golden star-shaped pupils that resembled her own. “Don’t worry. Everything is okay now,” Rover said in an attempt to get her to calm down.
“My talisman,” the girl choked out weakly. “It’s still down there.” Her voice was ragged, as if she had been crying for a long time. “I have to get it back!” To Rover’s astonishment, she jumped out of her arms and tried to dive back into the water that had nearly killed her moments before. Rover quickly dragged the girl to shore as she shouted and screamed. “Let me go! Let me GO!”
“Easy, hey!” Rover exclaimed as the hysterical girl swung tiny little punches at her. “Calm down. I’ll try and get your talisman back, alright? Stay right here.” She sat the child down on a nearby rock well away from the water’s edge. She looked up at Rover with wide, tearful eyes as she shivered uncontrollably. Already small lines of frost were beginning to crystallize on her eyebrows and lips. She was clearly on the verge of hypothermia, if she wasn’t experiencing it already. She knew there wasn’t much time to waste. Rover hurriedly pulled off the girl’s drenched coat before shedding her own dry jacket and wrapping it around the girl’s thin shoulders.
“But—”
“No buts. I’ll get it back, okay? Just sit there while I look.” She glanced back to make sure the girl wasn’t following her. Reassured that she was staying put for now, Rover took a deep breath and dove headfirst into the dark pool. An inky black nothing greeted her gaze as she felt around for the talisman. Despite knowing it was certainly lost to the Voidmatter forever, she tried her best for the girl’s sake. After about a minute of searching, however, it became clear that there was nothing left to find. Her lungs burned, and she could barely feel her hands anymore. Rover reluctantly surfaced once again.
The girl already knew what Rover was about to say before the words left her mouth. Her precious talisman was gone, never to be seen again. A stream of tears rolled down the girl’s cheeks and froze on the ground as Rover tried in vain to comfort her. I’m sorry, I’m sure it meant a lot to you, of course I’ll look for it again later. The consolations that flowed from her lips did little to help. When it became clear she wasn’t going to calm down anytime soon, Rover scooped her up in her arms and carried her up the path to the lonely cabin she called home. No—home was the wrong word. This terrible place had never been home to her. She only had one home, and she would never see it again.
By the time the automatic door of her cabin slid open, the girl had mostly stopped crying. She had wrapped her arms around herself and shivered weakly. That worried Rover immensely. She pulled a couch over to the hearth where a warm fire waved and danced behind a sheet of glass. She then laid the child down upon the couch and wrapped her up with as many blankets as she could find. Rover’s plain cabin didn’t have much, but she was pretty sure all kids liked hot chocolate, so she heated up some milk on the stove to make a cup for the girl. She slipped two marshmallows in, paused for a moment, and then added a third. As Rover brought over a mug of piping hot cocoa, the girl finally stirred.
“Thank you,” she murmured as Rover placed the drink in her hands. Her hands shook as she gratefully took a sip. She was still weak, but her voice sounded a bit clearer now. “Mama and Papa always said to remember to thank people when they do something nice for you.” Past tense . . . Rover thought. A sharp pang of sadness stabbed into her heart. Poor thing. She decided not to broach the subject for now. Rover sat down beside her, bathing in the comforting heat of the fire.
“How are you feeling? Does anything hurt?”
The girl thought for a moment before shaking her head no. “Not really. But I’m still so cold. I didn’t know you could be this cold before.”
Rover placed her hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Keep drinking that. It’ll help. It always helps me when I’m cold.” She nodded, seeming quite happy to do so. Within minutes she had finished the entire mug. Rover took the empty cup from her and set it aside.
“Could you tell me your name?” Rover asked.
The girl shifted towards her as best she could underneath the mountain of blankets. “I’m Aemeath.”
Rover smiled softly. That sounded like a Royan name, so she was probably from one of the local tribes. “It’s nice to meet you, Aemeath. My name’s Rover.”
Aemeath giggled at that. “Rover? Isn’t that a dog’s name?”
Rover’s eyes widened before she laughed as well. “Well, I mean, I suppose it is. But for me, it also means that I’m a wanderer. I’m always traveling for my work, never staying in one place too long.”
Aemeath’s golden eyes lit up. “So you get to see the world? That’s awesome!”
“It is sometimes. I enjoyed it for a while.” She smiled sadly and shrugged. “Now it’s just a job, really.”
“Oh.” Aemeath sat in thought for a moment. “Isn’t the world super big? How could you ever get tired of it?”
“Well, Aemeath, you’re right that the world is a pretty big place. There’s plenty of places I’ve never been and things I’ve never seen, even after all this time. I just . . .” She sighed, struggling to articulate her feelings in a way that made sense to a kid. “I just realized that none of the things I really wanted were out there, that’s all.” Aemeath nodded softly as if she understood and said nothing more. A moment passed, and a calm silence filled the air between them. “So, Aemeath. Is there anyone that might be looking for you right now?”
To Rover’s dismay, she shook her head no. “Mama and Papa died in a Voidstorm a month ago. A couple of their friends have been letting me live with them, but they don’t like having me around. They never said it, but I can tell.”
Rover’s heart broke a little more. She had already been through so much at such a young age. No family, and no home either. No one should have a childhood like that, she thought. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. What else could she say? She leaned in and gave Aemeath a gentle hug. Aemeath stiffened with surprise before eventually reaching up with her tiny arms to hug Rover back. “If you’d like, you can stay here with me for a little while. At least until we can figure something out.”
Aemeath clutched her tighter. “Okay. You seem really nice. Kinda like Mama.” They held each other for a while before Rover broke their embrace.
“Let’s get you tucked in for the night. You can take my bed. Come on,” she said, and led her past a curtain to a small bedroom. Like the rest of her cabin, the bedroom was simple, but cozy. A large, plush bed filled the room, and a wood desk sat in the corner. Aemeath clambered atop the bed and snuggled under the covers. She looked exhausted. “Good night, Aemeath,” she whispered. Just as she turned out the lights and shuttered the curtain, Aemeath called out.
“Wait!” she shouted. Rover peeked her head back in. “Please stay here,” her voice trembled. “I . . . don’t like the dark.”
Rover smiled. “Of course. I’ll stay with you for as long as you want.” Rover sat down on a chair next to the bed. She stayed there, watching over Aemeath until the little girl drifted off into sleep. What am I going to do with you? She thought anxiously. I know nothing about kids. I can’t keep her here, but can I really just send her back to live with people that don’t want her? These worries gnawed at Rover until sleep at last took her too.