#feat. dulna and vaimet which is what i've named lyna's parents

[crystal-verse]

Day 2 - Horizon

He holds her hand so, so gently. Her hand is so tiny, she is so tiny -- gods, but even at ten summers Lyna is still so very small, and he aches at it, some times. She is no longer so small as to fit in the crook of a single arm, as she had been when she was but a babe, but she is still small enough that he can hold her so easily, if he wished. (Old as he is, in his mid-eighties. . . even now, the Exarch can't help but wonder, still, if he can be trusted with something like this. Something as fragile as a child.)

Lyna tries so hard to be independent, he thinks fondly, as she tugs at his hand and urges him forward. "Grandpa! I wanna see the trees!" At the edges of the Crystarium, she vibrates with the excited glee that only a child can, excited to enter the Forest of the Lost Shephard and view the lilac foilage.

"Alright, alright." He soothes her, stepping forward and letting her think that she's the one leading. Out the Accensor Gate they go, into the forest properly. The guards at the edge of the Gate salute them both as they pass, and the Exarch nods to them in turn. His staff is affixed to his back, Lyna's hand held in his left, Spoken hand -- should a passing Sin Eater attack, the Exarch shall have the time to scoop the Viis into one arm and pull out his staff, and either shield and attack or flee from there, depending on the Eater's strength.

But -- the Exarch hopes, deeply, that this outing shall be a peaceful one. (It is rare that the Crystal Exarch leaves the Crystarium proper, now, unless there is a battle to be fought in. With the loss of Dulna and Vaimet, the Crystarium Guard has taken a heavy blow, and the Exarch supplements the force when he can, when he needs to, but even still -- he wishes it were not like this.)

Still. Still. There is for now at least the promise of a gentle, unbothered afternoon with his ward -- so for the while, the Exarch shall keep those serious thoughts from his mind, and enjoy the whimsy that little Lyna seems so easily to find.

"Grandpa?" She asks, when they are in the woods proper.

"Yes, Lyna?"

He looks down, to see her chewing on her bottom lip. "What do we do if we get lost?" Lyna asks him, her eyes -- the same purple as Lakeland's trees and grasses -- round with the kind of anxiety born from an imagination that only a child can truly hold.

"Ah." He kneels, then, and takes both her hands in his. Her little hands are warm -- he cannot feel it with his crystal hand, but his other is yet made of flesh, and that hand feels the warmth of the little Viis' hands. "May I show you something, little one?"

Lyna nods, silently. She looks at him with such trust, it baffles the mind. (Do all parents go through this, the constant awe of knowing just how much your child loves and respects and trusts you?)

The Exarch lifts her, gently, until she is sitting on his shoulders. Then, he stands, and, with hands 'round her ankles to keep her steady, walks until he comes to a small meadow in the midst of the forest. ('Tis not that long a journey, luckily.) "Do you see the sky?" He asks her, hood pressed further down over his face by the way that Lyna leans against his head. "Do you see the horizon?"

"I do!" Lyna says, proudly.

"Can you see the Crystal Tower?"

"Yeah!"

The Exarch smiles, and but briefly, he wonders if Lyna can hear it in his voice. "That's good. Now, listen, Lyna -- if you should ever find yourself lost in Lakeland, simply look up to the sky and find the Crystal Tower. So long as you keep moving towards it, you shall find your way home. Do you understand?"

"I understand." Lyna says, solemn in her words but still childish in her tone. (Good. She deserves to keep that childishness, for a while longer.)

"I'm glad." The Exarch says, simply, and sets her back on the ground after a few more moments. Lyna has enjoyed walking on her own two feet of late -- a sharp contrast to how she would beg to be carried when she was but a few summers younger. (He can't find any reason to care, however -- he is simply glad that she is so happy and loved.)

"Let us be off to the Crystarium, yes?" He suggests. "You've seen the forest like you wanted."

Lyna turns to look at him and pouts, stomping her foot. "No! You promised you would take me to the woods and you would rest!"

Ah. "I have been resting, have I not?" The Exarch says, softly. "We can stay in the forest for longer if you would like, but I promise you, this is rest." It is, truly. In comparison to the Exarch's busy days inside of the Crystarium, if nothing else.

Lyna gazes at him for several moments, brows furrowed, before nodding. "Okay. We can go back to the city, Grandpa."

He withholds a chuckle -- Lyna would be upset if he laughed at her, though he would mean no harm by it. How cute, still. Ah, it will be a sad day when she is older, and taller than him. . . still. He holds out a hand, and his little granddaughter takes it. And, following the spire gleaming and piercing the very sky, they return back to the Crystarium. To home.