Blind Sight

There were such dynamics within humans, a range of actions and reactions that she could not all name as of yet. Despite Pax’s stories of all the ‘emotions’ one being could run through in the course of a life, she had been intrigued by the sheer volume of such manifestations: screaming and crying that could have the same meaning, silent glances that supposedly held deeper implications, a small laugh that could be far more telling than boisterous guffaws. It had been informative simply to study such creatures in their natural elements, at one moment joyous and noisy, then silent and stoic in another.

However, this was not what drew her attention.

Over the growing months amongst them, she had come to realize an even more peculiar behavior.

“Why does she cry?” she found herself asking, eyes locked on the vision before her. A man was curled solemnly around the form of his dead daughter, clutching her desperately to his chest while blank eyes stared unseeing down at the body. The child had been trampled by a horse over an hour ago, but the man refused to relinquish the corpse in the conviction of his loss. This she could comprehend: a human mourning the passing of offspring before they had served their own purpose. What was confusing was the woman sobbing loudly some feet away from the pair. Riven knew for a fact that she was neither family nor friend to the father and child, so why did she cry? Humans had an unusual predisposition to take the grief of strangers upon their own shoulders.

“She mourns for his loss.” Zephyr’s explanation did not help her confusion, causing an uncharacteristic frown to crease her brow.

“But it is his loss, not hers.”

Standing shoulder-to-shoulder with him, Riven could feel when Zephyr’s eyes turned upon her, running the length of her features in an appraising manner. She knew he was deciding whether it was valuable to explain–an acknowledgement that caused her jaw to clench with a feeling she had never experienced before. She forced her body to relax and wait.

“To be a parent is a role that all humans have the potential to experience. To be a child is a role that all humans must suffer through to reach maturity. Thus, though it is the loss of one, others may think back on their own lives and understand such emotion. She cries not because the child is hers, but because if it were she would feel the same grief as the father now feels.”

…She did not understand. For once, she simply did not understand.

“Come, Watcher, let us go. We cannot mourn this loss.” Following as he turned away, Riven found herself glancing back at the trio, a frown still marring her features.

A Watcher did not always See.

~ by eeratka on February 23, 2008.