"When you say 'can't speak' as in you can't speak or can't speak?" Efa inquired.

The girl giggled and wrote something else, showing it to Efa.

"Oh so you're a mute?" Efa asked after reading the writing on the notebook. "But then what's that gotta do with you being a half elf?" Efa's eyes quickly flicked to the pointy ears and pretty white hair.

She scribbled something and just gave the notebook to Efa. It read, 'you ask too many questions, what's your name?' 

Efa stared at it for a second before answering with a jerk, "oh -um, I'm Efa. . .Efa Quickfoot. Sorry I uh -"

Before Efa could finish, the girl walked closer and wrote on the notebook still in Efa's hands. 'How did you get here?' it read.'

"How I got here. . .? Oh, you mean how I got up here. Well I've been really good at climbing things since my youth."

'same' she scribbled. She sat down on the edge again and patted the space next to her. Efa obliged. 

With both pairs of feet dangling off the edge, the two girls sat in silence, basking in the setting sun as it lowered itself ever so slowly into the Western sky. Efa knew that being in the sky was relaxing, she didn't know that having a companion would help more. She felt at peace. Forgetting about her problems, she flashed her mind to the girl sitting next to her. Wynne huh. . .

"Hey, how do you pronounce your name?" Efa asked.

The girl thought for a moment, biting the end of her pencil, then wrote, 'winnie.' Efa nodded and turned away. It was hard not to stare into her eyes. The way the sunlight reflected into her eyes emphasized a beautiful hazel hue, sending a shiver down Efa's spine. It didn't help that they were sitting very close either. 

She noted the girl's attire, a White linen blouse that appeared a little to big for her, a brown sleeveless vest that sat around her shoulders and boyish black shorts and brown boots. The almost mismatch of garb made Efa think of when she would get late for work and accidentally wear whatever clothes were within grabbing range.

Efa peeked her head over the edge and gulped. They really were in the sky. You never truly know how high something is unless you reach the top. There were birds casually flying through the air above them. Light was becoming scarce.

"Do you normally just sit together with any person you meet up here?" asked Efa, sweeping back her hair so that it flowed behind her ears, "you seem incredibly relaxed, even though I'm a stranger."

Wynne raised an eyebrow and smirked. She wrote in the notebook, 'you're the only person I've met here' then thought a little and added 'don't worry, I can defend myself.' 

Efa thought about the last part. She found it quite hard to picture the sweet, delicate girl beside her wielding a sword or firing off spells. No no, I can't think that. I don't know anything about this girl. For all I know, she might even be a serial killer.

Wynne caught sight of Efa's thoughtful look and giggled quietly. Efa smiled. It had been a long time since she had been in the company of another girl. Cly and Elli had taken up much of her life the past few weeks and they hadn't met anyone during their journey. Efa was starting to get curious about this girl. She had heard of half-elves but had never seen one and the fact that Wynne couldn't speak made her wonder about the differences between elves and humans. Having been told in her youth that elves were beings who were far more attuned to the Magai Records, Efa had to believe that half-elves had the same level of magical capabilities. 

Wynne suddenly scrawled a few words on the notebook that was still in Efa's hand's and looked up expectantly. It read, 'where're you from'

"Uh -I'm from. . .C-Cayrnr. Have you heard of it?" 

Wynne jerked her head up and down and continued to stare expectantly at Efa. "You wanna know more!?" Efa asked, Exasperated. 

Wynne nodded enthusiastically, prompting Efa to sigh and smile. It wouldn't hurt to get my mind off things.

"Alright fine," Efa conceded after much persuasion. "Where the hell do I even being. . .? hmm, well, yeah, I'm from Cayrnr, its a small-ish town South from here." In her mind's eye, she saw her hometown, quaint and pretty. Her throat was dry. "I came here because I got some t -" She paused. A thought ran through her head. It was an indescribable thought. A thought that flipped everything on its head. Without realizing it, her lips betrayed her as the story came pouring out. 

"Actually, you know what, scrap that, I'll just tell the truth. Cayrnr was set ablaze." A silence followed. "Fire. . . Fire was the last thing I remember before escaping my hometown on horseback. I abandoned my friends and saved myself." Efa's eyes glazed over, fixing on a point far beyond the horizon. "The children at the orphanage too. . ." Efa's voice was slowly breaking. "I left those children too. I should have stayed and helped. I shouldn't have been so selfish. Now I have no idea what's happening over there. They're all p-probably dead by now."

A tear traced a path down her cheek. Being up high in the sky didn't help keep the emotions bottled up. The sunrays tore holes in the clouds, cascading down to earth as if angels coming down from the heavens. The beauty of what lay before her broke the dam that had been building for the past few weeks. All the pain, the hate, the anger, the agony, all of it. Efa had locked them up inside. Now they began to break out. Images of flames passed through her mind. More tears rolled down her cheeks. 

"I-I had felt so happy when I received that letter. Almost like m-my life was f-finally gonna amount to something. Never before and never again would I have expected it to go as it had. I-I didn't want to be involved in-in a-all this! I didn't want to kill." Efa whimpered. Standing up, she walked away from the edge, head in her hands. Tears were pouring in earnest. images of the people I killed show up all the time, ah, is this how murderers feel. I remember how that man's skin had burned off. How the other one's blood poured when I cut his neck open. She wanted to curl up into a ball and cry. So much weighed on her mind. It was almost enough to send her spiraling into despair.

Suddenly Wynne grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze. With tears in her eyes, Efa stared at the elven girl. No words were exchanged. Indeed there was no need for them. Just looking into Wynne's eyes made Efa calm down. They reminded her of lush greenish brown forests. Of nature and waterfalls. Of beauty. As their eyes met, Efa melted into them, gazing into them. Thoughts of death and decay misted away like smoke from a dying campfire. Wynne tugged slightly and Efa complied, putting her arms around Wynne's neck as she sobbed into the elf girl's shoulder.

She felt so delicate. Almost like a leaf that could crumple at any moment. But deep down she knew that this was good for her. The tears would stop. The pain would subside. The guilt would be marred. And she would still be Efa Quickfoot, high in the sky, on a bell tower with her arms around a half-elf.

A while later the two broke apart. Efa wiped a tear and quickly shuffled away from Wynne. Now that she was a little calmer, she felt embarrassed about breaking down. Especially in front of someone she met a few minutes ago. 

"Um, sorry about that. . ." she apologized, twirling her hair around her index finger. The sun had all but set. The slowly darkening sky was always marred by gray clouds above. "I shouldn't have bothered you like that."

Wynne quickly shook her head and clasped both of Efa's hands in her own, pointing at herself then at Efa's head and nodded. Efa tilted her head to one side in confusion, causing Wynne to frown and gesticulate frantically. 

"Oh wait I get it. You knew that I was overwhelmed?" Efa asked suddenly, to which Wynne nodded again. "Is it because you're half-elf?" 

She nodded and began gesturing with her hands before stopping and picking up her notebook again and wrote something out for Efa to read. It took a minute for her to finish writing before she gave it to Efa. 

It read, 'Sort of. Normal elves have the ability to sense the feelings and emotions of animals, trees and nature, they have an affinity. Since I'm a halfy, I can tell how humans are feeling. It's not mind reading or anything, I can just tell when you're sad or happy. Sometimes it can get a little overwhelming too, when you can feel the negativity of so many people. It's why I like to be alone.'

"Oh." Efa pondered the implications. "So then what am I feeling now?" She asked, unsure of it herself and eager to find out.

Wynne quickly scribbled something and showed it to Efa, 'a little tired, sad, unsure, and also a little happy.'

"Wait, why am I a little happy?" Efa inquired. She raised an eyebrow, even though she already had a hunch. Wynne however, just shrugged. She walked to the edge again and stared out over the cityscape hidden beneath darkness of the night time, illuminated by scarce moonlight. Gesturing like she had to go, the elf-girl pointed at herself then back down the tower.

"You have to go. . .?" Efa asked, trying hard not to stare into the other girl's eyes. She stood for a second before she unanimously decided to go along with her. "I'll come with," she offered, scratching the back of her neck, "I'll drop you at your house- or something."

Wynne chuckled, causing Efa to look at her exasperated. She nodded and motioned for Efa to follow, then quickly clambered off and around the edge before slowly descending. Efa smirked to herself, took one look back out at the sky at the place where the sun was when she climbed up, then followed suit after Wynne.