The Knight's features cooled slowly. “You will refer to me as Sayuri-sama or as Eldest Sister.” Sayuri replied, slowly, the Pixie lowered her needle and placed it back in the hoop of her belt. “Kigiku.”

“Yes, Sayuri-sama?” One of the knights asked, like her leader, the girl's hair was lighter than that of the wild pixies from earlier.

“At sunrise, I want you to take your sisters and go scout out 'Tarbes' from the edge of the forest. Find out if the Faeries are still there and what they are doing.”

“Yes, Sayuri-sama.” The girl bowed and stepped back.

Sayuri Crossed her arms and looked unhappily to Yui. “I don't believe you.” Sayuri decided slowly. “But I don't think you're lying either.” She shook her head, looking angry with herself. “There is no point in asking any more questions until I've seen for myself. Something will have to be done with you for now.” The Knight regarded her coldly, her hand resting on her sword. Yui swallowed again.

“Sayuri-sama, if this Little Sister may offer a suggestion?” The robed girl spoke up.

It was the same girl who had spoken to Sayuri earlier, when she had first arrived. On closer inspection, her face was round and pale and her eyes were fringed by long eyelashes that drooped down over dark green eyes. Like the Knights, her wings were different from the Wild Pixies and Yui's own. They were larger and vaguely triangular, like those of a giant moth.

“As you wish Hinagiku-san.” Sayuri nodded.

Hinagiku looked to Yui. “I would like to suggest that you place Yui-san under my care for now.”

“I thought you were against her being here?” Sayuri said. Yui sensed the girl's curiosity, an almost tangible thing.

“I must always consider the well being of the Garden and the Little Sisters.” Hinagiku said with a small dip of her whole body. “If she is to stay here, then it occurs to me that, tamed or not, she is still a Sister.”

Sayuri frowned, “That may be, but the Knights can watch over her well enough. You have the Garden's new Little Sisters to care for.”

“Six of them born just tonight.” Hinagiku agreed, “It appears that the second moon has done them no ill. One more won't be any trouble at all. Besides, maybe I can help her.”

The Knight mulled over the request and then nodded. “I will have more questions for her tomorrow.” Sayuri glanced to Yui. “For tonight, I place her in your care Hinagiku-san.”

For being their prisoner, Yui thought, the Wild Pixies treated her very kindly. After Sayuri had finished with her questions, stocking off looking deeply unsatisfied. The other Vespid Knights had surrounded her. Yui had wondered if they would toss her into some sort of miniature dungeon or a cage, but the only concession to restraining her had been a strand of silk tied around her waist in order to bind her wings flush with her back. Though Yui could still use her flight magic without moving her wings, it would be much more difficult and she would not be able to fly quickly or well.

The pixies had led her away, off of the tree stump where the Willow Wasps had landed and towards the dark bulk of a large tree. Hidden among the roots of the tree were many bulbous shapes. Yui's auto referencing functions had only a limited amount of data on such things, she was probably no better informed than a human child, but the shapes were reminiscent of termite mounds in their basic shape.

She had been lead inside the base of one of the mounds to find that it was a pixie sized building. The walls were constructed from some sort of mud or clay that had been smoothed by hand and the interior was lit by a luminescent material, not ore-lights but maybe something organic. [<Hypothesis]> Bio luminescence?

The few scrapes and bruises she had received in her abduction had been seen to by Hinagiku and she had been fed and given a place to sleep among the other girls in a communal room adjacent to the central chamber. Though the pixies looked distrustful of her and none seemed to want to sleep near her [<Hypothesis]> because of her scent? One had still stepped forward to offer her a blanket and shown her to her sleeping place.

Yui had lain awake for a long time after, mind racing with ideas on how to escape and get back to Tarbes. Most of these scenarios were discarded almost immediately. She couldn't escape with her wings bound, and a pair of Knights had been assigned to act as silent watchers, following her wherever she went. Getting free might be difficult, was their some way she could loosen the threads without being seen, and then make her escape when the guards were distracted? No, that wouldn't work either, she wasn't certain how far she was from Tarbes, but they must already be deep in the forest.

How long would she last on her own if she flew among the trees full of hungry birds and ferocious insects? And how long would she go undetected if she flew higher? The Knights were almost certainly faster than her, especially if they gave chase with their wasps. She likewise discarded changing into her human form and escaping on foot. It would simply make her a bigger, slower target and make her easy pray for the larger animals in the forest. She entertained the idea of stealing a wasp, but it wasn't like she would know how to control one, and the black feathered dragon from earlier was certainly too smart to let anyone but its master ride it. They didn't need to lock her up. Yui realized. The Pixies could catch her trivially if she tried to escape.

Yui curled up into a little ball. She was worried about Aunt Sugu. Suguha was a strong person even though she didn't think very highly of herself. Yui was sure that she would be blaming herself for her disappearance. She didn't want her Obasan to suffer because of her. The same went for Klein, the Salamander really cared about her Papa, and he would feel responsible if he thought he'd failed to protect her.

A deep sense of loneliness overtook Yui. Back in the other world, when Papa wasn't around, she could at least distract herself by reading about all sort of things or by processing her back log of acquired data. And in Arrun she'd always been with Leafa or Papa or someone else nice like Sakuya-chan or Alicia-obaasan.

[<Query]> What would Papa do? The answer was obvious, as much as he would hate it, Papa would collect as much information as he could and then move decisively. If something happened before he could devise a plan, he would improvise and fall back on his skills. Be cautious until it became necessary to be bold. That was what she would have to do. Hinagiku had seemed to have taken an interest in her, hopefully the robed girl wouldn't mind answering some of her questions. And maybe from there she could find a solution to get back to Aunt Sugu and the others.

The light spilling in from the portholes had gradually increased and the other pixies had begun to stir. The first ones to wake gently shook the others and soon the whole room was filled with stretching, yawning little girls and a soft fluttering as wings were flexed and folded.

Yui found herself swept along by the others, her guards remaining closely at her side but otherwise not interfering. It seemed that she would have to wait to get her answers, so Yui occupied herself by observing the other Pixies. As a group, the girls had made their way from the sleeping chamber into the common area of their nest where a large hearth, by pixie standards, had been constructed to hold a bed of carefully tended embers. The hearth was constructed beneath the tallest point in the nest and probably provided warmth during winter as well as a place to cook.

The girls had settled around the hearth, chattering and gossiping among themselves. Yui noted that the others tended to collect into social groups of seven or eight, usually centered around a single individual. Listening closely, the individual at the core of each group was consistently referred to by the others as 'Elder Sister' and these girls appeared fill a maternal role for the others, keeping them in line. Breakfast was served by the Elder Sisters and some of the robed girls who were deferred to by the Elder Sister as the other pixies deferred to them. [<Hierarchy]> Yui thought, reviewing what she knew of human social groups. The pixies were certainly very organized if that was the case.

The robed girls lead the others in a small ritual prior to distributing the food. Yui followed along politely lest she offend her hosts. “We give thanks for this bountiful meal.” She finished just as the girl beside her handed Yui a small bowl fashioned from a nutshell and filled with porridge sweetened with honey. Yui ate quickly, not realizing how hungry she had been, hadn't she eaten enough the night before? And gladly accepted a second helping.

After breakfast the girls began to disperse, following their Elder Sisters to begin the day. Some collected the leftover bowls while others tended to the hearth. The rest departed for their own tasks outside or in other parts of the nest, leaving Yui sitting by herself with her two guards. She was wandering just what would happen next when her savior from the night before appeared.

“Good morning Yui-san.” Hinagiku greeted warmly.

“Good morning, Hinagiku-san . . . Or is it Elder Sister?” Yui asked unsure.

Hinagiku smiled, “Normally Elder Sister is preferred, but you may call me whatever you like, Yui-san. The new Little Sisters are still sleeping so I thought this would be a good time to come and meet with you.” The girl was examining Yui closely, eyes looking all over, it made Yui feel . . . [<Self Conscious]>.

“I've wanted to talk with you too, Hinagiku-san.” Yui admitted. Hinagiku wasn't showing any signs of concealing her true intentions, Yui was sure the girl was sincere. She felt her spirits lifting, her patience was already starting to pay off. “Uhm, what did you want to talk about, Hinagiku-san.”

“Oh, quite a few things, but I think its better if we do so someplace else, it gets much too noisy here, especially when the Little Sisters bring their sewing inside.

Hinagiku instructed the Knights to unbind Yui's wings before dismissing them, and after allowing her to stretch, led Yui up through the nest until they came to doorway that led to a tiny chamber with its own window looking out across the small clearing in which the nest had been built. Yui's eyes widened and she rushed to the window. She hadn't had a chance to see at night, but in the daylight the clearing was filled with beautiful flowers. A carpet of dazzling oranges, reds, and blues.

“Oh wow.” Yui whispered.

“It's pretty, isn't it?” Hinagiku agreed, “Actually, that's why I choose to meditate here at night.” A troubled frown graced the girl's face, “Sayuri-sama doesn't think its safe for us to be out in the Garden at night, so I must content myself with seeing it from here.” The girl's smile returned and she gestured for Yui to sit down. The room was simply furnished with only a pair of rugs and a heavy blanket that had been folded neatly in one corner.
+++
“Now isn't the time for all of that. I have so many questions for you Yui-san, and I'm sure you have questions for me.” Yui nodded in agreement as she sat down cross legged and waited for Hinagiku to do the same. “First, I want to know all about you. I've never met a tame pixie before.”

Yui blinked a few times as she thought. What could she tell Hinagiku? She still wasn't entirely sure how much the girl knew. Like Sayuri, and the girls she had met earlier, Hinagiku seemed to possess true intelligence. Her behavior was much too sophisticated to be scripted. Yui still could not remember when she had first gained actual intelligence and doubted she ever would. There had simply come a time in her logs where her experiences had become tinged with a sense of [<self]> that had not existed before, but those earliest memories were filled with errors and corrupted data. She couldn't imagine how Hinagiku and the others were able to cope. Yui decided to tell only the truth, and only so much of it as was asked, and nothing more. She didn't like lying, so she wouldn't lie.

“You already know, my name is Yui and I'm a tame . . . A navigation pixie”. Both were true, strictly speaking, in this form, she was a nav pixie, she possessed all of the same functionality, she could just do other things as well. “I live in Arrun with my . . . Master who is a skilled swordsman and his sister who is a very beautiful swordswoman.”

“Arrun? The Fae capital.” Hinagiku nodded sagely. “

“You know about Arrun?” Yui asked, curiosity piqued.

“Only the stories from the times of the First Faerie Lords. Before the first union of the Fae was broken.” Hinagiku said thoughtfully. “To live beneath the branches of Mother Yggdrasil, you are very lucky Yui-san.” The girl sounded wistful but refused to allow herself to be diverted. “What else can you tell me about yourself?”

“Mmm.” Yui frowned and then shook her head. “Not very much, my . . . Masters and I take good care of each other.” She looked up desperately. “I want to get back to them soon!”

“I see.” Hinagiku gave Yui a sympathetic look. “But that will be a decision for Sayuri-sama to make and one she will no doubt postpone until she feels the Garden isn't threatened.” The girl apologized to Yui. “I will answer your questions after one more of my own.”

Yui nodded.

“Yui-san, are you really deaf to Yggdrasil-sama? You can't here her song at all?”

Slowly, Yui shook her head. “I'm sorry Hinagiku-san, but I wouldn't even be sure what to listen for.” Yui paused and raised her hands to her ears, recalling her trouble with Cardinal. “Though, sometimes I do hear a noise, but it doesn't sound like a song. It's like a buzzing, but underwater.” That was the closest description = she could give for the corrupted transference of data between herself and Cardinal.

Hinagiku looked upset by this revelation. “At least then you can hear something . . . Perhaps you just don't know how to listen.”

“Hinagiku-san. You said you would answer my questions now.” Yui insisted.

“You're quite right.” The girl agreed. “Ask whatever you like, I'll answer as best I can.”

Yui wanted to ask why the Pixies were attacking Tarbes, but first, what the other girl had said about Yggdrasil's song had piqued her curiosity. “What is Yggdrasil's song like?”

Hinagiku's smile turned sad, “It's hard to explain to someone who has never heard it. Vast . . . And subtle . . . Its drums can shake your whole body . . . And its soft beat can make you feel perfectly safe. It is many things and not just one things. For Vespid Knights like Sayuri-sama it is Yggdrasil's Drums which thunder and bolster their courage in battle, for Shaman's such as myself it is Yggdrasil's chant, a beautiful harmony of light, and for the Little Sisters it is Yggdrasil's Lullaby, a protector that rocks them to sleep at night.”

Yui looked down thinking hard. Cardinal had never seemed like any of those things to her.

“It sounds nice.” Yui said politely.

Before setting out for the home of Tarbes' solitary water mage, Louise had briefly spoken with the Village Chief to learn where she might find Siesta's family.

“Ay, you're in luck. They live not far from Florine's home. Founder Bless them, they and theirs help the poor woman from time to time.” Roseau said.

“Help her? Does she need help?” Louise asked.

“A single water mage to look out for a hundred families?” Roseau asked rhetorically. “Aye, she's badly pressed at the best of times, and raising her daughter as well. It's only worse now, she's been saying she's short of reagents for healing and there's no way to get more from the forest.”

“I understand.” Louise said, perking up. “I'll talk to her about the reagents. If nothing else, I can probably spare the money to buy some of what she needs.”

“That's very generous of you Miss Valliere.” The Village Chief had said. After waving goodbye, Louise had set out along with Silica down a dirt road traveling west towards the home of the healer.

They tried not to talk too much as they traveled. Louise still hadn't forgiven herself for Yui, her only comfort was that she was doing everything that she could to make sure the mission would be a success. If she could do that, then there was still a chance that everything might turn out alright.

Louise glanced to Silica who was pacing along at her side. The girl was unflappable, be it in the midst of battle or dealing with Yui's disappearance, her face had set into a determined mask that was matched by her familiar as the miniature dragon hung off of her Master's shoulder. Pina's dislocated wing had been bound up and the wounds along her neck covered in bandages. KoKo had used some of her Faerie healing magic to see to the dragon's injuries, but it would still be a while before the wing was healed enough to fly. In the meantime the dragon looked like a proud warrior, returned from a hard battle. In better times it would have made Louise laugh.

The homesteads to the West of the center of Tarbes seemed much more peaceful than those to the North and East. Being furthest from the Forests, the Pixies had not yet reached them and the buildings and fields were almost pristine. Villagers were already working the near fields as they walked. Despite the attack the night before, a small village like Tarbes could not afford to be late in planting or tending to their harvest.

They found the home of Siesta's family exactly where the Village Chief had said it would be and Louise offered the letter to a brown haired commoner woman who had clearly been beautiful in her younger days and was still quite lively even as her hair began to gray and her face grew etched with laugh lines. Somehow, Louise had not been surprised to learn that this woman was Siesta's mother.

The woman had taken the letter gratefully and carefully opened it, reading while Louise and Silica Waited. She looked up shaking her head, “Bless that girl for thinking of her family at a time like this. Thank you Miss Valliere, this has been very generous of you.”

“It's nothing at all.” Louise insisted. Really, carrying a letter was hardly a difficult task. “We have to go speak with the village healer now, but we'll come by one our way back. If you have a response written, I'll take it back when we return to the academy.”

The woman had bowed her head, fervently thanking Louise. “Then, you're off to see Florine?”

“Un, the Village chief said your family helps her out a lot.” Silica replied.

“If you're heading that way, let me send my nephew along, there were some herbs from my garden that Florine wanted.” The woman turned and walked to the back door, “Antoine!”

A moment later a young boy in rolled up trousers and shirt came stomping up to the doorway, boots covered in mud and face smudged with dirt.

“Y-You!” Louise pointed an accusing finger at the boy who stood stock still. It was the same boy who had struck Klein with a horseshoe. Louise couldn't imagine how such a violent boy could be related in any way to someone as meek as Siesta.

Antoine looked ready to bolt, but before he had a chance to flee, Siesta's mother grabbed the boy by the collar of his shirt. “Now then, Antoine, I'd like you take some herbs to Florine, these girls are looking for her as well, so you'll guide them. Am I understood?”

“Yes'm.” The boy mumbled.

“Your words.” Siesta's mother said testily.

“Yes Ma'am.” The boy repeated, enunciating carefully.

The trip to the healer's house took only a few more minutes, Antoine walking ahead of Louise and Silica with a wooden crate in his arms. A small cottage lay along the roadway, its walls built of stone and wood. A fenced in garden sat adjacent to the building filled a bewildering array of plants and flowers. Louise recognized many of them as having medicinal uses either on their own or as magical reagents. No doubt Florine grew many of her essential reagents but there were many more she would need to collect in the wild.

They were greeted at the door by a golden haired little girl who couldn't have been any older than Antoine, the boy had blushed and offered the contents of the crate to her with a small mumble of “Brought these for you and your Mum.” Louise felt her brow twitch, if this girl was the daughter of a mage, what did this commoner boy think he was doing?

The girl didn't seem bothered by this impropriety and instead accepted the crate, placing it down on a table beside the door. As she bent down, Louise noticed the handle of a simple wand protruding the pocket of her skirt. So the daughter was a mage as well. The girl looked to Louise and Silica, pausing to stare at Silica and her ears.

“Ahem. We're here to speak with Florine the healer.” Louise said.

“Oh, right, mother is in back seeing to some of her patients.” The girl ushered them in and lead the way through the small kitchen to a back room filled with cots. The room had to be the largest in the cottage, easily taking up half of the interior. Even so, it was crowded with villagers, Florine's patients. Louise stifled a gasp. The room was filled with the eye watering smell of medicinal herbs mixed with blood. Only the worst hurt of the villagers had been brought here. The men who had held the line as best they could before the Faeries had arrived.