"Xhias, let me ask you..." Saffron began, looking out toward the hills. "What would you do if your sister got hurt?"

"Uh, try to help, I guess?" I responded.

"I mean really, really hurt," he reupped. "Not just a scrape on the knee or whatever, but something actually pretty debilitating."

"...Uh," I muttered and paused.

"Debilitating. Weakening, severe. Consider a broken leg instead of a scraped knee, that kind of thing."

I looked to my feet. Honestly, I hadn't really thought about it. Not that I wouldn't try to do anything to help, mind you, that's just not something I thought about on its own.

"Yeah, it's not something people think about. Or, rather, it shouldn't have to be. Regardless, keep this in the back of your head, because it may very well come up later."

"O..kay," I said, raising an eyebrow.

Saffron closed his eyes and took a deep breath, pausing for a moment. Even without any background yet the pain in his face shone through as he thought back to darker times.

"You know Harley, yes?" he came forth, opening his eyes again.

"Yeah?"

"Maybe you've noticed how close she is to Riv, even just in passing. I know you avoid him like the plague, but it's hard not to notice."

I thought back to the couple times I'd seen them together over the past few weeks. I didn't really think about it at the time, but mulling it over they did seem pretty close.

"Isn't that normal?" I asked. "I thought they were related."

"That's the thing-- they're not related at all, but you couldn't tell," Saffron answered, a small grin creeping forth in his recollection. "It's been like this since Harley was brought to the foster home. With us being the only new faradens in the foster home we were all pretty close and tried to look out for each other, but she glommed onto him from the very start. It's adorable, really."

I let out a small laugh trying to picture their initial interactions. With all of this said, I still couldn't really piece it together.

"So, the foster home in Huot was run by a pure faraden and a small staff of other pures. I don't know the leader's name, nor do I think anyone else did. We just called him Father, the staff usually just referred to him as Reverend. Reverend of what, I don't know, but I digress."

I took another bite from my plate.

"Most of the children at the foster home are pures and, at least from what we could tell, they were treated nicely. The five of us were the only new faradens, or 'dilutes' as they sometimes like to use. A lot of pures don't really see us as the same people, a resentment that goes back quite a ways. If you want to know why the orange-eyed people here are so hostile to people like you and me, that's some of it. They're most widespread down here in southern Faradus while the north has more people like us."

I nodded, thinking back to what Ulimi said back at his shop in Huot.

"Us five lived a bit differently-- hand-me-down clothing and wares, usually just whatever food was left over, very few luxuries. We were housed in a different part of the home so we didn't really see the pures too often. Father tried to placate us when issues arose, and you can be sure they arose. Contrary to what you might think, Riv is quite kind and protective, taking hits for us to ensure our lives were at least a little better than they could be. About a year ago he was tied to the wall in the home's main lobby as a punishment for stealing milk for Connor from the pures' icebox. Connor was three at the time and needed it more than the pures, who from what I recall were at least my age or older at the time."

I looked awkwardly down to my side as I chewed, unsure how to parse this new information. It was all pretty hard to imagine, but I said nothing.

"Riv was like an older brother to all of us and did as much as he could with what little power he had. He worked with Ulimi foraging ingredients for pocket change and free food in the middle of the night, trying to avoid going outside much in the day hours. Besides being what he is, other people find him unnerving because of how unusually light his eyes are. That's why he wears that hat; I guess it helps to darken them or something."

I remembered the first time we met back in the bunker. Even under the hat's visor his bright eyes unsettled me.

"I don't know how long Riv had been at the foster home, but he was the first of us to be brought there. He and Father never got along the best for obvious reasons, but that started to change just shortly after Harley came along. Father started to slowly but surely grow more reasonable and agreeable, and our lives there improved to some extent. Even so, there was still some tension between the both of them, as Father was...pretty obviously afraid of Riv. Riv still tried to humor Father's interest in our wellbeing, though couldn't really shake the feeling there was more to it."

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end and my ears slowly raked back. Something didn't seem right.

"...Riv was right," Saffron growled, looking down to his hands as they squeezed his knees.

I put my empty plate down on my lap, my gaze still fixed on Saffron.

"What...would you do, Xhias, if Xhianei got hurt?" he asked again.

...

"Harley got hurt, and Father did it."

---

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