Melody of Agony

Cain woke up the next morning, suddenly remembering the events of the night before. They had not found neither Jizabel, his assistant, nor Aylen, but they had found a few broken branches, presumably when she [[again, presumably]] tripped and fell. There were no signs of struggle other than that, though. Also, sheep were grazing in a nearby field, and the shepherd of the flock noted that one of his sheep had recently given birth, and that the newborn sheep was missing. Cain waved it off as unnecessary at first, but for some reason, he kept thinking about it.
Sheep?
He suddenly laughed. It must be because I'm always thinking about black sheep, he thought. Something like me...
Poor thing. If he hadn't waved that lingering fact off as a passing fancy, he might have found his good friend, Aylen Levette, the world-class musician.

Aylen woke up in a slightly happier mood. Snark had nuzzled her cheek until she awoke, and she had woken up laughing. Someone must have heard her, for she saw the door open soon afterward.
"You're awake, I see."
"No, I'm still sleeping," Aylen replied jokingly, still in her happy mood. "Good morning, doctor".
"Aylen." He crossed over to her bed and sat, taking the sheep from her and stroking its soft wool.
"What is it?"
"I contacted my father last night."
She sat up abruptly, which made her a little dizzy, but she handled it well. "What did he say?"
"You'll live."
She sighed with relief. "So what now?"
"I already told you that you're not going back to Cain." He smiled when Snark bleated.
"...So...?"
"What do you think? Cassian and I are taking you with us."
"What do you get out of this?"
"Nothing. My father said to bring you along to Headquarters, so I am bringing you. Is that so complicated?"
"Do you really have to follow everything he says?"
"As a matter of fact, yes. Now stop asking questions."
"But...fine..." She trailed off, not very pleased at this lastest turnout. Cain will take me home, she thought to herself. "So where to?"
"I want you to meet a little girl named Mikaila."
"You mentioned that before."
"Yes. I hope you're not afraid of spiders."

"No, Riff, we are not leaving until we find Aylen." Cain was a more than just a little irritated.
"Lord Cain, if the doctor did abduct Miss Levette, then he must have either killed her or has taken her with him. Either way, he hasgone far. And if he killed her there is likely to be a fire somewhere around the site."
Cain thought for a while. "That is true."
"Shall we return?"
"What will we tell Mary Weather?"
"Tell me what?" She had walked into the room, arms crossed. "And where's Aylen? What did you do, dear brother?"
"I think she was kidnapped. Remember the doctor that killed Drew?"
She looked skeptical. "Big brother..."
"Someone saw him and his assistant around these parts. We have to find her. Or at least Riff and I will. We'll go back home, and then I will go to investigate, okay? I promise."
"I hope she's alright..."
"I know. I do, too."

"Come on, Aylen. Into the carriage."
"I'm still sleepy..."
"Then get in. You can sleep on the way." Jizabel held the sheep in his arms. He had grown attatched to it over the past couple of days. Aylen sighed and got in, Jizabel taking a seat beside her. Cassian sat on the other side.
"Hand him over."
"Who? This? No," the doctor refused, referring to Snark.
"You really like animals, don't you?"
"Yes."
The conversation ended quite abruptly. About an hour into the trip, Aylen was asleep, and unknown to her, her head was leaning against the doctor's shoulder.
Cassian smirked. "You two look comfortable together."
Jizabel scoffed. "I would shove her off, but she might fall on Snark."
"Excuses, doctor," Cassian said, still smiling.
Eventually, he fell asleep, too. Now only Jizabel was awake. Even Snark had fallen asleep. Jizabel suddenly smiled, thinking to himself.
She's different, he thought. I like that. Kind, with an innocent love of animals.
Just like his own love of animals. Humans were the only living beings he could not love. They were cruel, unloving, and vain. And just plain stupid, to put it plainly. Looking at Cassian and Aylen, the other occupants of the carriage, he realized that these two people were not deserving of such words. Aylen was humble. Cassian was loyal. And he, himself, was...loving?
Could he really ever be deserving of love?
He shook his head a little, remembering moments of his past. I will never be loved. I devoured the lives of my sisters and my best friend to survive.
So did they want him to die?
To his surprise, his answer was, No.
Could it be possible?
Maybe. It could be interesting, he thought. To love and be loved.
He could feel the warmth radiating off of Snark and Aylen. Even though she was only leaning on his shoulder, he felt warm.
It was almost like...being loved...
Yes, he had thought the exact same thing when he shoved his face into that man's intestines. But for some reason, it was a different warmth that he felt. He looked over at Cassian.
He's almost like a brother, he thought, surprised again at this revelation.
Today was a day of many surprises, wasn't it?
Eventually he fell asleep as well.
Cassian woke up about two hours after that, only to see two very different people sleeping innocently, a sheep curled up in one's lap. Jizabel's head was resting on Aylen's, and his long, ash-blond hair hung down from the lowponytail it was tied in.
Young love, Cassian instantly thought, and immediately felt older than he looked. Then he remembered that he was and chuckled to himself slightly.
Then he frowned. Would the doctor end up having a relationship with her? he thought. Strange. It might be interesting to see. He suddenly rolled his eyes. Yeah, right. The doctor wouldn't even notice his feelings for her, if he did have feelings. I would be surprised if they actually...
Then his eyes shifted over to the sheep and smiled. But they do have something connecting them-a love for animals.
Snark woke up and started bleating, hungry for attention.
Oh, this will be fun. I wonder who will wake up first?
To his eternal amusement, it was Aylen. She awoke slowly, but her eyes opened wide when she realized the position she was in. She didn't want to lift her head for fear of waking the doctor.
"Wipe that grin off of your face, Cassian," she said, pouting a little.
"No. I think it's sweet."
"I...but...it's a little...off."
Cassian nodded. "It is rather unusual to see the doctor so close to another person, unless he's on a mission and is merely pretending."
"Really? Is this a mission?"
"No. We're just going back to headquarters."
"I see." She gently lifted Jizabel's head off of her own and tilted it back. He slid down, ending up on her shoulder. She sighed. "At least my head is straight now, I suppose." She touched a strand of his long hair. It was smooth. "He takes good care ofhis hair."
"It's almost frightening how it almost never tangles."
Her jaw dropped. "No way. How does he do that?"
Cassian shrugged. "It's not really a problem for me, though."
Aylen smiled and stroked Snark's soft wool. It rested its head on Aylen's leg, beginning to fall asleep again.
"What, is it use-Aylen-as-a-pillow day today?"
"Apparently so," Cassian replied, laughing a little.
"...Are we there yet?"
"No, not yet. I'm guessing that we're almost there, though."
A few minutes later, the carriage stopped. Aylen gently shook Jizabel. "Doctor."
Apparently the doctor was not a morning person. "What?"
"Get up, doctor."
"No."
Aylen thought for a while, then said, "Doctor, Snark jumped out of the carriage and it ran over him."
It worked like a charm. Jizabel immediately sat up straight, eyes wide. "What?" Then he saw the sheep on her lap. "Very funny, Aylen."
"Doctor, we have arrived," Cassian said, trying not to laugh.
"I see."
They exited the carriage, and Aylen almost twisted her ankle getting out of it. She fell on her butt. Snark, who was in her arms, bleated in surprise.
"Ow."
Jizabel knelt down. "You're not very graceful."
"I know," she admitted, trying to stand. Jizabel helped her up. "Thank you."
He took Snark from her arms. "Well, then. Let's go."