>>5356091>>5356095>>5356097>>5356152>>5356158>>5356522>>5356547>>5356571>>5356750"So," speaking up, you wade into the uncharted waters of friendship. Attempting to build a rapport between yourself and someone else is a first, and not a comfortable one. "In the dark with a roof over the world," you mutter nervously, looking up at the canopy which obscures the night sky beyond. "It reminds me of the Underdark. Where I am from." Did that sound stupid? You cannot help but wonder if you are making a fool of yourself and lower your profile, anticipating some sort of rebuke.
"Ain't no place like home," hums Willow wistfully. "I came from the Heartlands, 'round Berdusk. Grew up in a farm village that didn't even have a name. Wasn't fancy, but I wouldn'a traded it fer all the Realms if I coulda stayed there forever." She glances at you for a moment before facing forward, following the squirrel as he leads you up a series of jagged stones that form a natural staircase. "Ya ever get ta missin' home, Sindi?"
"Maybe," you shrug ambivalently. It was Ilanis who asked you a similar question, to whom you could not provide a definitive answer then either. "I do not like it, but I do not hate it. My family made it hard to stay. Mother, and my sisters, always causing problems."
"I know whatcha mean. Ma always gave me a hard time, 'cuz I was a forest child even way back. She wanted me ta settle down with a good man 'n' have a hundred li'l crotch goblins, but that just ain't me. Sometimes Uncle Dorrin would whoop me with his belt when I got caught sneakin' out innawoods late at night, but I kept doin' it anyway." She chuckles. "Can't take the wild outta the woman, I guess."
Finally, someone who understands! "Mmh. Mother used to whip me and put salt on my wounds when I quit my priestess training. Three times every day." Subconsciously, you touch the web of scars that defile your back. "I still became a warrior. The best warrior in our family. She hates me for it, but I am glad," you confidently proclaim. There is something... cathartic, about speaking of yourself. At no time in the past have you spoken so candidly. This fresh air must be poisoning your brain, or some such phenomenon.
"Sindi, ya ever think yer ma mighta been real fucked up ta ya?"
"No?"
