Vicente's room was modestly furnished for safety rather than style. A dresser of spare clothing stood across from his bed. His wheelchair sat near the window, the blinds still open despite the sun having gone down. The wood floor was bare of any rugs.

A couple of paintings hung on the wall, one of them a portrait of the Navarrete family a couple of years before the accident. Ellie wished they'd been smiling in it.

Her mother had wanted them to have a stoic pose, and Ellie had fixed on the best expression her five year old self could muster. She sat on her mother's lap. Her father looked strong in the portrait. Square jawed with a determined stare. Muscles gained from years of hunting. Broad shoulders that could carry the weight of Stockbrunn.

The three of them looked off into the distance, towards a future none of them were ready for.

A future that had him ten years debilitated, a stick-thin shadow of the man in the portrait.

"Hi, Dad." Ellie announced her presence. Bodil and Henrik stepped out to discuss his care and give them some privacy. Their hushed whispers filled the hallway of their otherwise empty house. There were one too many rooms in their home. It'd been built with a larger family in mind.

"Ellie." He raised a frail hand towards her. She took it, his fingers feeling more like bones. If she squeezed too tightly, she was sure he'd break. Vicente smiled. Bodil had been careful to shave his face without cutting him. "Tell me about your day."

Telling him the truth ran the risk of sending him into an episode. His episodes were why his bed had been fitted with straps. Once, he'd gotten a seizure and flipped himself onto the floor. It took months for those bruises to heal.

"I had fun with my friends." Ellie repeated the same bland answer she'd given him yesterday. "We played games."

"That's so nice." He turned his head away from her. Tears clung to the corner of his eyes.

"Don't cry." Ellie wiped them away with her thumb.

Vicente mumbled something into his pillow.

"I've got to go. Henrik's here for you." She kissed him on the cheek. "Good night, Dad."

He let go of her hand, and she left.

She couldn't handle that much more of him.

On her way out, she bid both of his attendants farewell, and turned in for the night. Her bedroom was the way she'd left it: blankets kicked to the floor, small lockbox on her nightstand, and various tiny tools spread across her desk. A couple of them needed to be replaced after one too many lockpicking attempts. Her closet had been left open from this morning when she'd hurriedly put something on to go into the woods in.

Ellie unlaced her boots and kicked them free of her feet. It had been a long day. If the rest of her didn't know it, her toes sure did for how beat they looked.

She'd stashed the borrowed gourd beneath a bush outside of the house. Walking in with it would've required too much explanation. All her mother needed to know was that she'd been in the woods.

It wasn't like that was the first time she'd ever been there.

And it wouldn't be the last time, either.

-------------

A/N: This is an interactive fantasy serial. Voting takes place on Thursdays through Sundays on the story's main site. The most up-to-date chapters can also be found there, but uploading will happen in parts on RRL as well.

This is the last part of Chapter 2. The next post will be Chapter 3.1.

The latest chapter's poll is still active. Voting will end by February 28th at 11:59 PM EST.