Ash Nightshade's Arc

Chapter 1 of 5

Ash finds her in the storage shed behind the tower, alone with a crate that smells like earth and rot. Nay Raven's hands shake as she pries at the wood. Her fingers slip. She tries again. Ash steps closer and says her name, but Nay looks up with eyes that don't land anywhere specific. She tilts her head like she's waiting for him to introduce himself. The shed's roof drips with moss. Tools lean against the walls where someone left them weeks ago. On the workbench sits a glass orb that swirls with colors Ash doesn't have names for — pink bleeding into blue, then gold, then violet. Around it, she's arranged scraps of fabric in a circle. Black thread. Blue silk. Each piece labeled with words that don't connect to anything. The handwriting gets messier toward the center. Ash picks up one of the fabric scraps. The label reads "coat for the one who." It stops there. He holds it up and Nay flinches like he's holding fire. She grabs for it but her hands won't close properly. The trembling gets worse. She pulls back and stares at the orb instead, mouthing something he can't hear. He sets the fabric down exactly where he found it. Steps back. Asks if she needs help, but the question lands wrong because she's already forgotten he's there. Ash leaves the shed and walks back toward the tower with his hands in his pockets. He knows what it looks like when someone's trying to hold onto pieces of themselves. He also knows there's no coat he can make for that.