She sees him long before he sees her. The overhang of branches dapples the sunlight across her body while the gold, orange, and scarlet leaves drift down to land at her feet. There is no denying how heavy his thoughts are and how preoccupied he is with them. She wonders, briefly, if he was one of the voices she heard in the distance, squabbling and disagreeing. Cerva doesn’t call to him but instead keeps her lips pursed into a tight line and expects to be passed. She’s used to, after all, being disregarded like she was just another face in the crowd. There is no way she can stand out like mother or father. They have an air about them while she, sweet little Cerva, is reserved and reclusive on most days.
Much to her surprise, however, the distance between them closes but he doesn’t realize until they are only a short reach away. ”Hello,” her voice is delicate when she replies and her eyes peer up at him from underneath her forelock. She manages a weak smile while her head lowers below his (I am inferior, she thinks) and her gaze flickers away hesitantly before finding him again and his kind smile. ”You have a lot on your mind so it’s no fault of your own,” a breath catches in her throat and she hesitates, ”and I’m pretty easy to miss.” She doesn’t stand out like so many others. The only difference that she holds is the white bark that takes the place of soft hair down her face.
”I’m Cerva,” she finally introduces herself and her head lifts slightly because despite it all she is still somewhat proud of who she is, of her name. ”I was going to join in the group to introduce myself, but it didn’t sound like it was going well so I held off. I heard all the voices and I thought it would be a little awkward to interrupt just to introduce myself.” They would have stared at her, scoffed at her, maybe even have chased her from the conversation because she couldn’t offer anything. It wasn’t worth it and so she waited on the outskirts for a moment like this – to finally be seen.
Cerva