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“Chirp?” Skye had been following Chirp for the past few minutes now. Apparently, she had something important to share with them, but she wanted to go somewhere “more private” first, which confused Skye a bit. There weren't many people in town at the moment anyway—mostly everyone else was split off again, heaven knows what they were all doing—so the need to leave the town raised a few questions.
One of those questions, though, was how fast Chirp was moving. Usually, it was Skye having to wait on her, but as of right now, Skye could barely keep up with Chirp. They've called out to her once to slow down a little, which has helped close their gap. Even then, though, they're still having a hard time keeping up with Chirp.
Before Skye could say anything else, Chirp stopped suddenly–having led the both of them to the shores of the dead forest. The sudden stop does catch Skye off-guard a little, as they nearly trip over themself.
“Oh–are you alright??” Chirp asked, meanwhile Skye regained their composure.
“I'm–I'm alright, I promise,” they quickly reply. “With the way we were running along, I thought we were going to stop… a little later than that.”
Chirp chuckled a little, though it sounded slightly… off. “Where did you think I was gonna take us…?”
“I… don't know,” Skye replies, as they look around. “This is a strange enough location as is…” if there was one thing Skye knew about where the two of them were, it was the fact that they were just a few feet away from one of those mysterious borders. “Why here? If you don't mind me asking.”
“Oh! Um…” Chirp began to fidget with one of her sleeves, now also looking around the area themself. “Well… I just wanted somewhere… private, I guess? And not many people come out this way… as far as I know, so…”
“That much is true…” Skye didn't know how true that statement actually was. With how often people just… leave town, who knows if someone decided to follow the two of them. Skye was keeping an out for that, at least. “It's no wonder we keep losing each other so easily.”
Chirp nodded. “Y-yeah, right.”
For a moment or few, neither of them continued to speak from there, with the only sounds coming from the nature around them—the calm, gentle flow of the riverbank, the wind rustling through the leaves, and… well, in the dead forest, the most “wildlife” one would get is whatever terrible creatures resided here, and it was bright as day out right now, so chances of seeing any of them was next to nothing.
Skye does eventually speak up however, “Um, Chirp? You wanted to tell me something, remember?”
“Right!” Chirp said so suddenly, it startled Skye a little. “Right, right! Um… oh, goodness…” subconsciously, she raised one of her hands and covered part of their neck, rubbing it slightly, then looking to the ground. “This is… um…”
“It's okay, Chirp…” Skye said, as they the distance between them, and extended one of the hands, resting it on the other shoulder. “Take your time, alright?”
Chirp meets Skye's gaze, and relaxes a little (goodness, when did she get so tense?), nodding. “Right… thank you, Skye,” she says, as her free hand made its way up, and rested atop of Skye's hand.
(...surely the butterflies Skye currently felt fluttering through themself could be addressed later. There were more pressing matters right now.)
After that, the two of them just… stood like that, neither of them sharing a word for at least a minute or two. It felt… nice, in a strange way. As nice as it could be while you stood on the shores of a dead forest, stuck in a mysterious town, wondering the possibilities of—
Skye's thought process gets cut short, as they felt a sudden sharp pain in their hand. “Ah! Ah–” they quickly withdraw themself from Chirp, looking down at the hand they just took off of her shoulder. “Goodness me… I didn't think you were gripping me so tightly…” Skye commented, letting out a half-chuckle.
“Oh! Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry, Skye!” Chirp quickly apologizes. “Can… Can I see your hand? I hope I didn't hurt you too badly…”
Skye extends their hand, revealing a small scratch in the middle of the palm, allowing Chirp to get a good look at it. The scratch had drawn a little blood. “I'm sure it's fine, maybe the doctor could patch… me…” Skye slowly trailed off, as they noticed Chirp's… interesting reaction to the injury. “...up. Chirp?”
Chirp had taken a hold of Skye's hand with her own, gently at that, as she stared at the scratch. Skye didn't feel the injury was that concerning to scan at it like this–unless Chirp had some higher level of medical knowledge that Skye didn't have apparently. Even then, if that was the case, Chirp would've said something, right? Instead, she was just… fixated on it. It was disturbing Skye a little with how intense this fixation quickly became.
“Chirp?” Skye said again, though Chirp didn't budge, still fixated on Skye's hand. “Miss Mulberry?”
“Huh?” That got her attention, her gaze quickly snapping back up to Skye's. She looks back down at their injured hand, and suddenly lets go of it, backing away while grabbing the hem of her skirt, almost like they were terrified. “Oh goodness! Oh… oh I'm so, so sorry Skye, I don't know what came over there, r-really! I-I just—”
“Y-you're alright, Chirp, really–” again, Skye tried to close the distance between the two, but this time Chirp wasn't allowing it, as she kept backing away. “I'm sure it'll be fine. It's like I was saying, the doctor can take a look at it, but it's most likely nothing serious, really–”
“Th-that's not why I—!” Chirp cut themself off, looking up at Skye like a cornered animal, as she again reaches for the side of neck, unknowingly.
“That's not why you…what? Were staring at my hand?” Skye then took a look at their hand, examining the injury. “It's nothing… significant, really… I know you didn't mean to do that. And I'm not gonna be upset at you for… this and whatever else you want to tell me… alright?”
Right, Chirp reminded themself, there was a whole reason why you brought Skye out here in the first place. Taking in a deep, shaky breath, and then exhaling, Chirp nods. “R-right. Sorry, I…”
“It's okay, Chirp. This whole thing has been a bit… tense. I understand.”
“Yes, it certainly has been…” silence hung in the air again, though this time it was more brief, as Chirp suddenly asks, “Um, Skye, could you–could you take my confession?”
“Oh–?”
“That's–that's something you do, right?”
“Yes–yes it is,” Skye replies with a nod. “If that's what you feel most comfortable with doing right now, then I'll take your confession.”
“Yes, I think… maybe that'll help me. Say what I need to say.”
“Right. And whatever you say here will stay between us, alright?”
Chirp nods. “Right. Now, um… what should we do? We're kind of… well, out here.”
“We can just sit,” Skye replies, sitting down criss-cross on the ground. Though they look a little surprised. “Oh, this is a bit rougher than I expected… um…”
Chirp chuckles a little. “Can we stand instead? Would that be better?”
“...yes, we can do that,” Skye says, quickly standing up and dusting themself off. “Standing is also an option.”
“I suppose,” with the brief humorous moment behind them, Chirp then says, “Okay… um… bless me Father for I have sinned, it's been…” she pauses briefly, thinking about something, then continues, “...a while since my last confession. These are… my sins,” she finishes, as her and Skye make the Sign of the Cross. “I… something has happened to me recently, and it's affected me… greatly. I've been… keeping a secret from the other townsfolk, and… it's been making things difficult for me.
“I don't want to hurt anyone! I really don't. I like helping others, not harming them! But sometimes… sometimes I think about it… and it… it scares me. I… I've never felt this way before and I don't… I don't know what to do–” Chirp's voice cracks, pausing for a moment. They take the time to regain their composure, then continue, “I… I just want to help the others… not hurt them. I'm supposed to spread h-hope! A-and kindness! Not… not harm and despair, I… I don't… I don't like this! This… being a vampire, I—” as soon as those words spilled out of her mouth, she quickly covered it with both hands, looking at Skye with pure terror in her eyes.
Skye, understandably, was taken aback. Why would they not be? Chirp just confessed to being a vampire (turned into one at that, from how she was speaking.) It would probably be just as surprising to anyone else in their position. And, if it weren't anyone else, they would probably choose to deal with Chirp in… different ways. Horrible ways, really. Because some people would rather get rid of the problem than try to actually fix it—
However, Skye was not like anyone else. From how Chirp sounded… she was really, really frightened. She was… she was lost, really. And she needed something to guide her through this.
And maybe, Skye could be that guiding light for them.
After feeling that the silence had gone on long enough this time, Skye cleared their throat, saying, “I–I absolve you from your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the S-Son, and of the Holy Ghost.” After that, Skye asks, “How are you feeling, Chirp? Do you feel any weakness or… anything like that?”
Taken aback by Skye's kindness–or maybe acceptance? Chirp wasn't too sure which fit better–Chirp almost didn't respond, though after processing it for a second, she slowly uncovers her mouth and replies, “U-um… w-well that running wore me out a bit, but I mean–”
“Do you need blood right now?” Skye asks a bit more bluntly.
“S-Skye!” Chirp exclaims harshly. “Y-you can't just—n-no, I don't—”
“You were staring at my hand for a reason, Chirp,” Skye calmly points out, briefly looking down at their hand and—it's stopped bleeding by now, but there was definitely some blood on it anyway. “And I think we both know why at this point.”
“I–why are you so calm about this??” Chirp asks, a bit frazzled at this point. “You–you shouldn't be! You should be–”
“Afraid? Angry?”
“Y-yes!”
“Well, I'm not.”
“Why??”
“Because, I… I've been on the other side of it. That fear, that anger… it's a horrible thing, really.”
“I—huh?”
“I don't want anyone else to feel like that, to feel so… alien all because of something you couldn't control…” Skye slowly approaches Chirp, and this time she doesn't back away. Instead, she watches, observing Sky's every move. “But, I had someone there for me. In my darkest moment, there was still a light to shine my path–to lead me through it all. Chirp?”
Slowly, Chirp meets Skye's gaze. “...yes, Skye?”
“Let me be that light for you. Let me help you through this,” they say, raising their scratched hand up, and offering it up to Chirp. “Please.”
Chirp pushes the outstretched hand away almost immediately. “N-no, Skye… Skye I can't—”
“You can, though,” Skye says, holding their hand out again. “I'll let you.”
Chirp looks back at the hand, fixating on the scratch yet again. She grabs a hold of the hand, considering it. After a few moments, they shake their head, much to Skye's confusion. “W-wait, maybe I shouldn't… do that on your hand…”
For a second, Skye couldn't figure out what she meant… until the realization fell on them like a brick. “Oh, right—the others might ask questions, probably.”
“Y-yeah, that's… what I was thinking–”
“Then you can do it from arm, I mean my sleeves are long enough and they're also black, so nothing should show–” Skye says, quickly rolling one of their sleeves back, before they look back up and notice Chirp's gaze. It was hard to describe the expression she currently had, which made Skye worried. “Did I… did I say something wrong?”
“No! No no no, it's not like that, just—” Chirp sighs. “I–I appreciate your help Skye. Really. It's… inspiring. A-and comforting.”
“And I'm always happy to help,” Skye says, smiling warmly.