Onainat bit at her lips, which were dry from breathing through her mouth when she slept. It helped her relax. She was still recovering from waking up too fast. Onainat ruffled her hair again as her father insisted on someone being in the hall. She'd never seen him so shaken before, but this must have been the root of what was in his eyes when they met on the street. When he tried to turn her away from him. By all rights, he seemed out of his mind. But Onainat's first instinct was always to trust her father and, so far, his reputation wasn't to be doubted. Onainat let Iluq ask the questions that puzzled them both.
The ocarina was in his hand. He did not play that instrument lightly, did not touch the mouthpiece to his lips without cause. Electricity sparked at her fingertips as she peered down the hall again. She hadn't seen anyone either.
But Onainat was going to look.
She didn't announce it. She simply disappeared, as was her way, and in the next moment she stood in the spot where her father's eyes had been fixed. Onainat looked out the small window. The flowers on the small table hadn't been disturbed and the latch was locked. She then looked to the left where the hall curved darkly toward the staircase. Onainat developed her blind sense from a young age, running about the forests like some wild thing, so she would have felt it if there was something in the shadows.
"Hm."
Electricity spilled like water from her fingers to the floor and she realized she'd missed using her magic. She'd missed doing irresponsible things with it. Her eyes carried a subtle glow in the hall as she carefully inspected the doorways, which were all closed.
She touched her hair and it stood up slightly from the electric current she played with in her fingers. Perhaps it would lighten the mood of the hall.
"Nothing here," Onainat called.
She disappeared again and then reappeared several feet behind her father to look in the opposite direction.
"We aren't very hard to find. Hyacinth Cross isn't exactly a hideout," Onainat said. She was still looking for whatever had scared her father. She was waiting for it to scare her too. Maybe it had ugly teeth. Or creepy eyes. Could she zap it? "What does he, er, it look like?"