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Ash in the Wind

Chapter 12: Chapter Twelve

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Once upon a time, Mama had told Ashe that the best way to answer a question was to first gather up as much information as possible. 

So that is what she did. 

She started with the chunks of glowing blue stones that Mr. Kravos used as a light source throughout the house. They were nothing like anything Ashe had ever seen before and, though she grew up in a fairly sheltered community for most of her young life, Ashe also thought she'd seen plenty of strange things. The stones seemed to hum or buzz slightly, vibrating against her skin when Ashe touched them. 

None of the chunks of stone was the same size either and all looked like been chiseled out of a much larger rock. There were also somewhat see-through; not entirely, looking through them just showed off-colored blobs, but light definitely shown through them. Finally, the stones gave off no heat, which was probably why Mr. Kravos kept fires going in most rooms. 

They were beautiful, fascinating, and confusing all in one. 

Ashe needed to have an explanation for them, sure that they were connected to the larger mystery that was Mr. Kravos, the weird things it seemed he could do, and the strange place he came from. She wasn't quite ready to label it 'magic' -Ashe had seen far too much of the Real World to believe in magic anymore- but it was something! 

So, it was off to the library. 

While Mr. Kravos had basically given her free rein of the library -the lower floor at least, she was still locked out of the upper-level because Mr. Kravos said, "that was where I keep my rarest books."- he stacked roughly twenty books on a long, low table for her, stating that they were the most age-appropriate, reading level-appropriate, and informative that he had. 

Ashe spent a solid day of free-time, which had significantly increased ever since Mr. Kravos had started working on his new 'pet project' -and, yes, the man had actually called his insane idea of taming a juvenile deathclaw, a 'pet project' and then had the nerve to laugh at his own joke. Ashe rolled her eyes and beamed him with a chunk of roasted potato in response- and needed the time to keep a close eye on the carefully locked up creature. That meant Ashe could reasonably justify spending all day poring over the different texts, trying to find something, ANYTHING, that matched the description of the blue stone, as 'educational.'

And, yet, twenty-six books and many hours in, Ashe still had made no progress. 

"Tell me your secrets!" she begged the chunk of stone clutched in her tiny hands. "I just want to know what you are!"

"Ashe, do you want-" 

Mr. Kravos rounded the doorway into the library, his words dying as he spotted her sitting cross-legged on the floor talking to a glowing rock. "What are you... Why are you... Where did you get that?"

A rush of guilt and embarrassment over being caught came over her and Ashe's eyes went wide. "I didn't break anything! This is just the one from the lamp in my room!"

"Okay," Mr. Kravos said slowly, amusement evident in his face and voice. "But what are you doing with it? Is there are not enough light in here?"

She shook her head, relief rushing over her when she was -once again- reassured that Mr. Kravos was not angry with her. "I was just want to know what it is. I've been looking through all the books you left out for me but I can't find anything."

"Oh, yes, that does make sense. I can imagine you'd been curious; hell, even most of the people back home are stunned when they first see my little rock-lamps," the man nodded. "You could have just asked, though."

"Sorry," Ashe said, feeling the tips of ears burn slightly. "I just didn't want to bother you, you've been so busy these past few days. Can you please tell me about these stones?"

"Sure, I'd be happy to." 

And with that, Mr. Kravos seamlessly slipped into what Ashe had come to call 'Teacher Mode', settling himself in one of the library's comfortable armchairs and setting the bowl he was carrying down on the top of a stack of books. 

"Now, let's see... those particular types of rocks are from a massive underground cavern called Blackreach. It is an extremely dangerous place so few explorers dare to venture down into it -even if you can find a way in, there is no guarantee you'll be able to find your way out afterward- and, as a result, not many have ever seen these stones."

He held his hand out for the rock she'd been fiddling with, to which she handed it over. Mr. Kravos took a moment to roll the stone between his hand before holding it out again and pointing towards one specific grove on the surface. 

"See this? Well, all the pieces of stone I use had to be chiseled out of much larger geodes -some of which were bigger than me!- and that took a long time because the geodes are very hard, much more so than regular stone."

"Wow..." Ashe couldn't help but stare at the rock in awe. This chunk was only about the size of her fist so to imagine that it came from a much bigger stone was amazing; Mr. Kravos was not a small man, easily six feet tall, so the geode sources must have been huge! "What are they called? They have to have a name, being so special."

Mr. Kravos gave her a warm smile, "I call them Star Stones, but I have been told that name is silly... My kids can be cruel."

He gave a small chuckle of fondness but Ashe frowned, 'From some of his stories, I swear that his children and grandchild sound like a bunch of rude, disrespectful brats. They should be a lot more grateful to Mr. Kravos for all he has done for them.'

Then she smiled, pretty and broad. "Thank you for telling me that! It is very interesting to learn about all the neat stuff you have in your house."

The raised eyebrow she got in return told Ashe that she wasn't much of an actress. Still, Mr. Kravos chuckled, ruffled her hair, then got up and grabbed the bowl he'd been carrying, "Come on, put down the books for now; let's get some fresh air."

Silently, Ashe stood up -her legs were all wobbly, she'd been sitting cross-legged on the floor for so long that they'd gone numb- and followed him out of the library, down the stairs, and to the front door. Standing at the threshold to the outside world, Ashe froze in her tracks; the cool, moist air blew over her, and that intense, instinctual fear of the outside world returned in full force. She was safe inside the house, safe from all the monsters and dangers, and the outside world was filled with things that could hurt her.

"Ashe? Everything alright, Sweetheart?"

Looking up at Mr. Kravos' concerned blue eyes and feeling Rena's soft, warm fur brush against her side, Ashe found the strength to smile and step over the threshold. "I'm fine."

 


 

"He seems kind of stupid," Ashe mused, cocking her head to the side as she watched the positively furious juvenile deathclaw charge headfirst into the thick stone wall of its enclosure.  Though fairly strong, even the youngest of its species were, the wall far too tough to be broken through; instead, it just bounced off and back onto its butt. The collision seemed to leave it dazed; it shook its head for a minute before getting back to its feet and charging towards another wall to predictable results. 

"He's just a kid, of course he doesn't know any better.... but, then again," Mr. Kravos let out a huff of laughter as they both watched the creature run in circles until it got dizzy and fell down, "he may just be stupid. So, do you want to feed him?"

"What?" Ashe turned to him, wide-eyed and in shock. 'Does he expect me to get in there?'

Mr. Kravos held up the bowl which, for the first time, she could see was filled with scraps of raw, red meat. "In my experience, the best way to any beast's heart is through their stomach -that is how I got Aela to like me, after all- so I'm trying to figure out what kind of meat he likes best. This-" he wiggled the bowl a bit "-is some leftover rabbit. I've already tried beef, fish, and squirrel, all of which he ate but our little guest here has yet to be particularly enthusiastic about any of them."

"How can you tell if the deathclaw likes one type of food more than the other?" she asked, nose wrinkling as she picked up a tiny piece of raw meat with her thumb and pointer finger. 

Her guardian tossed a chunk of rabbit into the enclosure and the juvenile deathclaw automatically pounced when it sensed movement, but then sniffed curiously at its prey. 

"You feed the animal a different kind of food every day for a week then, the next week, you repeat that order," Mr. Kravos explained. "After a few weeks, the creature should develop a preference. If it has any sort of individualized intelligence, that is."

"Huh, that is cool," Ashe hummed, tossing her own piece of meat into the enclosure. "Do you think you're making any progress?"

"Well, for the first few days, our little guest here wouldn't even eat so-" he nodded toward the young death claw who'd plopped down on his butt and was gnawing at the chunks of meat rather placidly "- I'd have to answer yes."

"Mmhhhh." She wasn't sure how she felt about that even as she chucked some more rabbit pieces over the fence and a peaceful silence settled between them.

"Oh," Mr. Kravos eventually piped up, "I was thinking that it might be time to give this little guy a name, what do you think?"

Ashe's scowled and she gave Mr. Kravos a weird look. "It's not a cat," she said. "Don't go getting attached. You might still have to kill it."

'It'd be safer for all of us,' she mentally added.

If her guardian was disappointed, he didn't let it show. Instead, Mr. Kravos just passed her the bowl, "I've to go grab him some water. Do you mind sitting tight for a moment?"

Ashe just shrugged, tossing in another piece of meat as she watched the old man around the corner. Then she turned back to the deathclaw, who'd finally decided that running headfirst into the walls and was now curled up in a patch of grass, glaring at it. 

"You are a monster," she hissed. "I should grab a hammer and beat you to death right now, otherwise you'll just grow up to attack people and settlements."

Obviously, the deathclaw didn't have anything to say in its defense. It did let out a gurgly chirp thought. 

"Don't try to be cute," she snapped, leaning forward to throw a pebble at the beast's head... and missing by a mile. It did, however, nearly caused her to fall off the overturned bucket she was standing on. "Ahhh!"

The bucket wobbled dangerously but she was able to regain her balance. "Wow, that was close!" she sighed in relief, glancing down at her feet and taking note of the loose construction materials scattered across the ground. Spotting a piece of thin rope, a devious idea took root in Ashe’s mind. 

"Hmmm."

Hopping down from the bucket, Ashe grabbed the rope, which was about four feet long, and tied one end to a thick stick with a knot Nicky Becker -whose father was a fisherman- had taught her. Then she pushed a bent nail through the other end of the rope, finishing her make-shift fishing pole. 

"Alrighty," she said, "let's see how well this works."

After Papa threw her out, Ashe got extremely used to talking to herself, be it to ward off the loneliness or to quell the fear when she huddled in some tucked away nook for the night. Now that she had Mr. Kravos to talk to, Ashe found she didn't do it as much anymore... though she still talked to Rena more than was probably healthy.

Hopping back up on the bucket, Ashe skewered a chunk of the rabbit on the nail then 'cast' the 'rod' over the wall and into the enclosure. At first, the deathclaw only gave her 'bait' a curious glance so she wiggled the rod a bit, bouncing it up and down to make the meat look more enticing. 

And it worked, the beast gave another low gurgle, cocked its head to the side, and stood up, taking a few steps forward. Ashe watched carefully as the muscles in its body tensed and then...

"RHHhhaaaa!"

The deathclaw pounced and Ashe yoinked the rod up, causing the beast to fly through the air only to land on its face without anything to show for its trouble. After pulling itself up, the deathclaw looked down at its paws and then on the ground around itself, seemingly confused by the lack of food. 

Ashe found herself laughing out loud at the creature's expression and lowered the bait back into the enclosure again. After months with only books, storytime, and playing fetch with Rena for entertainment -who knew she'd miss television so much? Ashe's family certainly never had one, they were far too expensive and, when she wanted to watch it, she and the other children would have to go watch the community hall. They did have a radio though and she missed listening to all the music and dramas; she remembered dancing around to song with Mama, holding onto her hands and balancing on her feet as they went around and around the kitchen- Ashe had decided that she was going to make her own fun. 

So she wiggled the bait again and waited for the deathclaw to pounce so she could yank the line back up. 

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

By this point, Ashe was shrieking with laughter -a noise that seemed to confuse the deathclaw- as the creature got angrier and angrier by its lack of success. It was growling loudly now, scratching at the ground and walls as it tried to scamper up the wall of its enclosure after the bait. 

Then the mistake happened, she didn't pull the rod up fast enough.

"Ahhh!" Ashe yelped as the stick was nearly tugged right out of her hands. 

The deathclaw had grabbed a hold of the string and pulled downward with all of its strength which, even though it was a juvenile, was quite impressive. Ashe pulled back but her skinny arms weren't strong enough and, when it gave another sharp tug, she found herself pitching forward, over the top of the stone fence and into the enclosure.

She screamed as the ground was getting closer and closer... only for something to grab ahold of the back of her dress and pull her back. 

"Umpf!" She found herself on her butt in the dirt with the wind knocked right out of her and a racing heartbeat. Gasping, she looked up into the disappointed blue eyes and the sad frown of Mr. Kravos.