Watcher's Mark

“You’ve endured a great deal,” he went on. “More than most your age. More than most ever should.”Saria stiffened. Her instinct was to deny it, to shrink into herself, to insist that everything was fine, that nothing was wrong at all. But the desert seemed to strip lies from the air. Here, she felt she could no more pretend than she could stop the wind.She lowered her eyes. “It’s not… it’s not that bad.”Ferryman’s head tilted slightly. The motion was not incredulous, only sorrowful.“Little one,” he said, “you needn’t defend a world that has not defended you.”

Or: A NOTN AU based on the idea "What if Six’s curse wasn’t because of hunger or the Tower, but another piece of the Nowhere entirely?"