Exposed Connections

[Sifar]

(( This was a collaboration between three characters, but I'm posting as a single story. ))

Sniff.

Cat caught her scent from across the Terrace of Light. She looked from her master to his lady and back again. On edge now, Cat’s tail whipped from side to side. She let a thin whine escape her teeth as she nudged his hand. From past experience, she knew this could get messy fast and it was best if they went in the opposite direction. And quickly.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t listening to her. The lady was still talking and, as usual, had plenty to say. Cat rarely listened in to these monologues. Honestly, she wasn’t sure that he did either, but they were required to stay. Uh oh. The scent was definitely getting stronger now. The other lady was closing in on them. Cat moved between the two and tried to nudge him away toward the portal, but he wouldn’t budge. Lightly, she bit his belt and tugged just as…

“Omet, lovely te see yeh here!” Sifar wrapped her arms around him from behind and gave him a peck on his cheek. “I dinnae know tha’ yeh knew me friend, Light.”

Cat buried her head in her paws sensing what would come next.

…


Light visibly stiffened as she looked over to Sifar. Even without her armor on, she was a paladin through and through. She did manage a strained smile for the young rogue before turning to the hunter. She cast a stormy eye at the dwarf before uttering, “Omet?” Ice dripped from her voice as she stared at him.

He had the decency to look both embarrassed and scared. Quickly, he removed Sifar’s arms from his neck and stepped to the side. Still looking at Light, he asked Sifar, “Um, lassie, would ye give me a momen’ wit’ Light, please?”

Without waiting for her answer, he took Light by the arm and pulled her toward the overlook and began whispering.

Confused, Sifar watched carefully as the two dwarves talked. Vaguely, she was aware of Cat nuzzling her hand and she patted her furry head.

She couldn’t catch their words before the wind whipped them away, but Light was clearly furious with Omet. She gestured towards Sifar several times before poking him in the chest. Sifar wondered what Omet was denying so vehemently to her friend. She almost stepped in when Light’s hands began to pulse with holy light but the lass simply pushed Omet away before marching back to Sifar.

“Sifar,” Light’s voice was stern with anger and the younger lass nearly saluted her out of old habit. “I have t’ hope ye are an innocent in this. Otherwise, ye’ll ne’er be able t’ call upon my aid again.” Studying the younger lass’s face, she waited for an answer with her hands on her hips.

Standing poised, Sifar asked, “A…an innocent en wha’, ma’am?” She looked searchingly between Light’s stormy face and Omet’s red one. He averted his eyes as she silently questioned him. “Wha’s goin’ on?”

Light managed a strangled chuckle. “Lass, meet my good-fer-nothin’ husband, Dark Ale.”

“But, no. Tha’s…Omet. Omet Quicksilver?” Sifar shook her head in disbelief as the truth of the situation dawned on her. Dark Ale wasn’t his nickname, it was his true name. All those times…. It was several moments before she could gather her thoughts. Slowly, the confusion on her face was replaced by an unemotional mask.

“Ma’am,” Sifar turned to face the paladin with open hands. “Light… I had nay idea me Omet be de same lad as yer Dark. We ne’er had chance te fight together en de Regiment an’ I dinnae recognize him when he introduced himself a’ Honor Hold. I cannae tell yeh how sorry I be.

I ne’er….” Her voiced trailed of as she realized there was little more she could say.

Omet-Dark shifted from foot to foot as Sifar’s eyes seemed to pierce into him at the end of her apology. Her stony expression left him un-nerved. He opened his mouth to speak but a withering glance from his wife of 60-odd years helped him to shut it.

“And tha’ charm I made, it was for him?”

Sifar pulled the chain out from under her tunic and cradled it in the palm of her hand. She looked away to the floor and nodded quietly. Her voice, however, drove the point home, “Aye, fer me firs’ time.”

Light rounded on the clearly nervous lad behind her. “Don’ tell me ye didn’ know.”

Dark took several steps back as Light began to move toward him. He thanked his lucky stars that she’d stopped carrying her mace or sword around Shattrath. Holding his hands up as a pathetic shield, Dark tried to argue. “Las…err, Light, I dinnae know tha’ this Sifar was yer Sifar. Well, I did figure it out eventually. But, by then… she, well, I was….”

Beams of light were once again radiating from Light’s fist. “Yet, ye knew enough to lie and make up a false name in the firs’ place. And I’m sure ye didn’ forget ye were married.” She was in his face now.

“O’course not, swee – ty,” gulped Dark. “I jus’…. Well, I ….”

He hung his head. “There be nay excuse.”

“Ye cannae feign repentance with me, lad. I’ll nay wander off an’ leave ye like some mute beast. Ye took advantage of my trust again and, I’ll nay speak for Sifar, but I can imagine her feelings.” She turned back to Sifar, inviting her to confirm.

But, the rogue was gone. Only open space and a few curious by-standers occupied the open walkway. Light purposefully grabbed Dark’s beard and began pulling him towards the Ironforge portal. “Oh, ye have a lot o’ penance to do on top o’ makin’ peace with that sweet lass.”

…

Cat thought of following the rogues scent, but her place was at his side. They could always track her down later. So, Cat plodded quietly behind the couple, tail between her legs.

[Lascivious]

((Is Omet a real character? If he is I'm camping his ass.))

[Acherontia]

((

http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Twisting+Nether&n=Darkale

Mount up, Las. Let's go hunt some dwarf.

))

[Sifar]

(( Omet? No, Omet is no more than an NPC I made. Others, however, are real. ))

Sifar felt like she’d been kicked in the gut. Repeatedly.

Lies. So many lies. When she heard him admit it, her mind went blank with rage. All she could see was red, the color of his blood spraying from many deep wounds caused by her anger. He words of excuse echoed in her ears drowning out Light’s own words of fury.

“Peace, little one.” Chimes filtered through Sifar’s pounding pulse. “Harm not in anger.”

The rage was replaced with a sickening drop in her gut and Sifar knew she had to leave. She didn’t want to see his face, whole and intact, while her own seemed to crumble around her skull. She didn’t want to see Light’s anger turned on her, so with them both distracted, Sifar left.

She didn’t know where to go, though. She needed to get out of Shattrath, certainly. Staring at the collection of portals, Sifar tried to make up her mind before they noticed her absence. Ironforge and her friend’s apartment was no good…they all knew to find her there. She wanted to get lost for a while. So, the guildhall was out, as was busy Stormwind. Perhaps Darnassus? No, the Exodar would be a better start. She chuckled to herself, “No time like the present to visit somewhere new.”

She smiled grimly and stepped through the portal. The strange colors and lines of the alien ship slowly came into focus around her and she felt the deep thrumming of something deep below her. That deep wave of sound connected with her own emotions and broke the dam holding them back. Tears clouded her vision as she stumbled to the closest dark corner she could find.

[Lascivious]

((I thought Omet and Darkale were same person. Woo. Thanks Ach! Ok no more OOC. *sharpens blades*))

[Laron]

Laron activates his stone and makes a call.

“Hey Sif? Can you make a potion for under water breath? I just found a new gold mine at this reef… I’m sure you and I could clean up at the Auction house if we work this right…”

Setting the stone down in his hat, he places his jeweler’s glass in his green eye and squints at the blue pearl he had pulled from the giant clam he had found at the bottom of the reef. He sits on the white sand of the beach, his boots neatly hidden in the underbrush of the jungle. He starts to whistle a pirate’s tune as he turns the precious creation in his fingers.

“Take what you want, give nothin back…”

[Sifar]

Sifar's stone buzzes in her pocket and, without thinking, she draws it out to see who has such bad timing. "Shit! Wha' de 'ell does 'e wan'? Who gives a flyin' fuck 'bout pretty coins!" she curses aloud, her accent thick with sniffles and hiccups. Her eyes clear and she realizes that the stone is active.

"Aw, crap, lad. Yeh dinnae 'ear tha', did yeh?" Sighing deeply, she holds the stone to her forehead.

[LightAle]

Having essentially banished Dark to their quarters, Light paces the open square outside their door. She desperately needs to cool down before speaking with him again. It isn’t the first time Dark has done such things, but, she realizes, the others didn’t hit quite so close to home. Sifar had served under her and she’d seen her grow and develop so much over time. While never calling her “daughter,” she admits to a touch of motherly pride in the lass she’d become. Now, Dark had hurt her, taken something precious from her, and she feels responsible.

Light turns to look at the closed door she guards with her paces and sighs. She’ll never be able to keep this lad caged up. She knew that the moment she met him. “But some restraint would be nice!” she thinks glaring at the image of him inside.

She glances in the direction of the Forlorn Cavern and realizes that a rogue, who does not wish to be found, is unlikely to be found. Murmuring to herself, she says, “However, her mentor’s office is on th' way t' my meditations.”

[Laron]

As Laron’s eyes grow wide the pearl pops out of his hand and into the air. His inspection glass falls in the sand and he fumbles to catch his recent bounty, then looks at his stone in wonder.

“Pretty coins…?”

He tries to make what she said but the stifled crying was making it hard. His look of bewilderment, as he hears her curse for the first time, turns to that of slight anger.

“Who the Fell would make her cry?”

Picking up his stone, he places his hat on his head and tosses the pearl and the glass in his belt pouch.

“Sifar? Sif.. where are you..? I'm on my way!”

Slipping on his boots he rubs his stone counter clockwise, to activate it’s recall.

[Sifar]

Sifar gently rubs the side of the stone across one temple. Aye, he heard her. Where am I? "Ach, Laron, I be somewhere en Exodar. But, yeh dunnae 'ave te come..." she sighed heavily and trailed off. "It be me own stupid grumpiness. Nay worries fer yeh."

Finally really looking around, Sifar feels lost again. Damn portal just drops her in the middle of the room and she has no idea which way is up or out. "All the better for getting lost," she thinks.

She stands and begins looking for a better place to slip away. Then, another person, a gnome, emerges from the city's portal and Sifar leans back against the wall afraid to be noticed. She can only guess what all her silly crying has done to her appearance. "Laron...I'll be 'ere."

[Laron]

Arriving in Exodar, Laron stops an attractive Draenei woman as she walks by.

"Excuse me M'lady, but would you have happened to seen a Dwarf with long brown hair and a tabard matching mine?"

She smiles at him, but only shakes her head.

"Sorry handsome, I haven't seen thees Dwarf of which you speak, but perhaps, I can be of assistance in the need you are requiring..."

She lightly twirls he tendril as she looks at him, as she continues to smile. Laron catches the infliction in her voice, but isn't available for such endeavors and blatantly hasn't the time. Politely smiles at her, bows to her.

"If I were free to entertain enjoyments of that sort with a lovely woman, such as yourself, I would be quite inclined... but alas I am not, and finding my partner is of the utmost urgency, so I will have to bid you a very good night M'lady."

He quickly makes his leave and starts to look for where a rogue would be if she didn't want to be found....

"sifar where are you now?"

[Sifar]

Sifar watches the portal area carefully from her dark corner. When Laron appears, she begins to walk out to meet him but retreats as he stops to talk with a local lady. Obviously his eyes are casting about but she remains hidden until he moves on.

Slipping through the shadows, difficult in a place pulsing with light, Sifar follows him for a bit. She waits until few others are near before emerging and lightly touching the back of his hand. "I'm here, partner. Let's find somewhere quiet te talk." Looking about, she sees a few alcoves which seem to be unused and off the regular path. "I dunnae know me way 'round here, but tha' corner seems as good as any, aye?"

Assuming he'll follow she moves forward. Mentally, she sifts through just what to tell her friend. He's heard many of her stories of Omet... no, Dark... and she's not sure what to leave out.

[Laron]

Acting as if she hadn’t touched him, Laron keeps walking as he slips into the shadows. Circling back around, he follows her to the secluded corner of the crashed ship. He keeps his voice low as he speaks in Thieves cant as not to be understood even if he is heard.

“What happened, are you injured? Where is your Lad? Is he okay? You sounded upset… I’ve never heard you that upset…”

He sits down so he is at eye level with her, rests his hand on her shoulder, and looks her in her wet eyes, he could see she had been crying for a while.

“He didn’t harm you did he?”

[Ninorra]

((Oh. My. GAWD.))

[Sifar]

“What happened, are you injured? Where is your Lad? Is he okay? You sounded upset… I’ve never heard you that upset…”

He sits down so he is at eye level with her, rests his hand on her shoulder, and looks her in her wet eyes, he could see she had been crying for a while.

“He didn’t harm you did he?”

Sifar listens distractedly to Laron's barrage of questions, but cannot bring herself to answer immediately. Instead her gaze shifts from floor to wall to ceiling, avoiding his intense gaze for a few minutes longer.

"Laron, I be fine. Nay wounds tha' yeh kin see, least ways."

She plucks at her armor, perhaps wishing it provided better protection. Finally bringing her eyes back up to his, she lets out a shuddering breath and says, "Omet is... is not, Omet." Frustrated, she turns away from him and continues, "His real name be Dark Ale, nay Omet Quicksilver, an' he be married te me good friend, Light. I cannae believe I be such a fool, such a slack-brained lass fer nay realizin' wha' be goin' on."

Sitting down near him, she recounts the recent events in Shattrath from seeing the two Ales in conversation to her realization that she'd not only been lied to but was the "other lass" in Light's marriage. By the end, she'd twisted the lacings of her bracer into an unbreakable knot and renewed the wet tracks on her face.

Her shoulders sagging and voice husky, she asks, "So, wha' do tha' make meh? Wha' 'appened these pas' months?"

"I cannae believe et all a lie..."

[LightAle]

"You're nay going t' tell me how t' find her, are ye?" Light has already tried all of her arguements to convince Hulfdan to point her in the right direction...any direction.

He simply shake his head and repeats, "If she dunnae wish t' be found, I'll nay be pointin' ye in 'er direction. Trust tha' she knows how t' take care o' 'erself an' will come callin' when she be ready." Breaking his stoic stance, he puts a hand on the paladin's shoulder. "Light... she's nay th' same lass tha' lost 'erself en th' Badlands so many seasons ago."

She nods, knowing he's right, and climbs back up the steps from his office. She continues a slow walk to her meditations with the priests. Hopefully they'll do something to calm the anger and concern she's wrestling with.

[Laron]

Laron isn't normally a sucker for a crying woman, but seeing his partner well up, made him burn with anger. Wrapping his arm around her, he lightly gives her a hug and hand her a kerchief with his family crest embroider on it. Normally he would give such things to start intrigue, and add a level of chivalry to a conversation with a damsel in distress, but this was his friend and she was not one in which he would pull such a show.

"He is married to your friend? What's her name..? Light Ale? Does she know?"

He forces his face to turn from the calculating one of a thief who would have revenge for being wronged, to that of what she needed most right now... a smiling friend.

"Let get out of here, you can stay at Redthorn Estate. If you want some time to yourself, it's the last place anyone would look for you. I'm sure Ama won't mind, and Azrid hasn't been there since Zin'Loh was born. You can feel free to stay there as long as you need, I will be by in a day or two to check up on you, but consider our house, yours. And after you feel a little better, we can find that beach I told you about?"

He stands up and offers his hand to help her up.

[Sifar]

Gratefully, Sifar takes the bit of cloth and mops her face with it. Having simply gotten the story out, she feels a tiny bit of the tension leave her chest.

"Aye," Sifar nods, "He be married te Light Ale fer as long as I 'ave known 'er. I knew 'is reputation from 'efore. If I'd know it be he who kissed me tha' firs' time... well, he ne'er woul' 'ave kissed me. But, I did nay know. How didn' I know?" Sifar vaguely realizes she's rambling and her accent is growing thicker, but the words tumble out.

She nods in vague agreement as Laron offers her a place to stay. Staring about, she stands next to him but does not move. "I came 'ere cause I ne'er been. Don' e'en know de way out."

"Light made me de charm I wore fer 'im." She pulls out the charm to stare at it. "How be tha' fer royally messed up? Omet be sweet an' kind. Dark be a wolf through an' through. Omet be a lie, though. Were all those days a lie, Laron?" Sifar pulls on the charm emphasizing her point and her voice rises enough to be heard through most of the room.

Frustrated at being lost in a new city and overwhelmed with recent events, she paces a short stretch next to her friend. One dwarven curse after another comes to mind and spills loudly from her tongue. Thurgo, Ruin, Shadowhammer, so many blustery dwarves come to mind and their favorite sayings trip easily from her lips now. Sifar enjoys the release of profanity and the sharp pain around her neck. It's only when she raises her hands in loud challenge to the titans that she feels the chain attached to the charm snap. Warm wetness trickles along her skin and she stops mid-sentence.

Staring at the charm in her open hand, blood and skin lining the chain, she murmurs to Laron in Common, "Can yeh point me in de righ' direction?"

[Laron]

Smiling at her, he takes the charm from her and wraps her hand in a cloth.

"Here let me walk you to the dock. The boat will take you to Dark Shore, you should know your way from there."

The walk is a silent one, and they sit on the peer for at least an hour, watching the waves of the ocean. Not a word is said, but sometimes the best conversations are those without words... As the sun starts to set, Laron slips the flask of rum from his doublet, takes a swig and passes it to her.

As the boat arrives he hugs her and smiles.

"I can't go with you, now, I have things to plan and a letter to write. I will see you tomorrow. Make yourself at home."

[Sifar]

"Thank yeh, lad." Sifar gave his hand a quick squeeze as she stepped on to the boat. "Fer e'erything."

As one hand traces the fresh line of blood which circles the back of her neck, she hugs herself tightly against the deepening dark. Avoiding eye contact, she stares across the water and lets thoughts continue to flow through her mind like the tides.

Then, with a gentle nudge from a deck hand, she disembarks in Darkshore and mindlessly makes her way to the Redthorn Estate. With any luck, she'll have a few days to sort out fact from fiction and sorrow from anger.

[LightAle]

Light returned to her home late that evening to find two letters and an empty room. Apparently Dark decided to make himself scarce for a while. Smart lad.

The first was from Dark: extolling her virtues and assuring her she was the only one for him. It contained a flame orange gem of some quality but little use. She sighed deeply and set both the stone and rumpled note aside. Even with all his faults, he sometimes knew just the right thing to say. Whether he chose to say it, or not, was another matter.

The second was unmarked. Apparently a close friend of Sifar's, the sender promised to dole out a bit of pain at her husband's expense. She hadn't planned on letting Dark get away unscathed but perhaps some retribution from another direction would do him a dose of good. By the Light, he was nearly immune to her wrath at this point. She checked the envelope once more for a sender hoping to find a clue as to her whereabouts.

At least, she thought, she's not alone.

[Laron]

The night air was cool and comforting, as Amadare lies in her tree bed... Her back paw was tied up and in a hard tree resin bandage, broken from having a Human from the monastery drop his hammer on it. She had tried to heal it, but the bone was broken and needed set and to heal with time. As she shifted to allow her injured paw to hang, she hears the front door open! Anger, then panic sets in as she hears someone walk in her house, and set their things down on the coffee table!

"Oh Elune it took me a while to climb up here without hurting myself, how and I going to get down in a hurry!?"

She thought to herself. Franticly, she sniffs the air to get some indication of who is breaking into her house! "Dwarf!"..."Female!"... "Blood!" Trying to work her way down her bed, holding her back paw away, she tries to climb down, but slips, crashing down on her back knocking over her dresser and spilling the metal water bowl she had sitting on the ground!

CRASH!!!

BANG!!!

SPLASH!!!

[Sifar]

Sifar lets out a deep sigh in the quiet of the large family room and settles herself on a couch. Just as her eyes are nearly closed, she's startled by a large, wet racket from a room above her. Shaking the cobwebs from her mind, she quickly moves into a stealth posture and flips her maces into her hands. Blast it, Laron said the place should be empty.

She walks quickly and quietly to the base of the stairs and listens for more noises. A whimper of pain and a bit of snuffling is all she can make out. As she takes the first step up, she realizes that it's just as likely she'll be seen as an intruder as it is there is an actual one up stairs. Continuing carefully, she makes it to the top and sees a wet, bandaged, and angry cat limping down the hall. Even stealthed, it is easy for Sifar to make it out.

As the "intruder" is clearly untrained, Sifar takes a chance and reveals herself. "While jus' a visitor here meself, I must question yer presence."

[Laron]

Limping down the hall, Amadare sneaks as best as possible, but with her broken leg cannot move as quietly. As she sees the person step from the shadow and speak out to her, she almost leaps 6 foot straight in the air, the fur on her back standing on end and her tail puffed out looking twice it's normal size! Landing on her three legs she cries out slightly as her injured foot hits the polished wood floor!

"ReEooww! Fssstt! Fsstt!"

She hisses, before she realized she had turned sideways and had hunched her hack in a tall arch, looking like a frightened kitten...

"Sifar? Oh Thank Elune, you scared me..."

[Sifar]

"Amadare? I... I dinnae recognize yeh...." A barely supressed giggle begins to escape Sifar's lips and she covers her mouth with one mace filled hand. "I'm so sorry te have scared yeh, lass. But, heh, I thought de place be empty." More giggles escape as Sifar's eyes catch Ama's still puffed out tail. "Here I though yeh might be an intruder, but it was me." Somehow the absurdity of the situation catches Sifar off guard and she's forced to sit down and laugh. Her maces roll away before she cups her face in her hands. Tears leak from the corners of her eyes and she begins hiccuping before she manages to regain control.

"Again, I be -hic- so sorry. Just had a horrible day an' Laron said -hic- I could hide ou' here a bit." Sifar leans against a wall trying to get her breath back.

"Yer hurt, lass? Tha' leg dunnae look -hic- so good."

[Laron]

Letting her fur reside back to normal, Amadare sits on her haunches, holding her back paw out. Sifar's laughter is a welcome change from the fear she just felt.

"Yeah I was in that Human place of worship, when one of the men there dropped a hammer on my foot. I healed the wound, but my bone is broken, and I needed to give it a rest. You had a bad day, what happened sweety? Here let me put a kettle on. We can make some tea, have you eaten? I can't hunt as well like this, but berries don't run very fast..."

Limping to the kitchen she shifts to her two leg form, naked as normal, and holds her splinted foot off the ground. Filling the fired clay kettle with water and lights a fire on the stove.

[Sifar]

"Ach, I cannae eat righ' now, but I always carry a bit o' somethin' en me pack." Sifar rises to follow Amadare into the kitchen but stops in her tracks as the woman shifts into her elven form. Taking a deep breath, she thinks "Laron warned me about that...." but says, "Let me jus' grab et an' join yeh."

Seeing that Ama has already started the fire and kettle, Sifar shoos her to a seat and takes over finding mugs and small plates for a bit of food. "Jus' sit back an' keep off tha' foot o' yers, lass. Let's see wha' I've got hidin' en here fer food." She begins sifting through the many pockets and pouches of her pack. "I have a few sausages, basilisk meat-on-a-stick, an' e'en a few berries. Take yer pick an' don' worry 'bout sharin'."

Sifar checks the teapot and moves it to the table before sitting down across from Laron's sister. Instead of partaking of either the tea or the food, she rummages to the very bottom of her pack and pulls out a dull metal flask. Drinking deeply, she sighs and leans against the back of the chair. Finally addressing Ama's earlier question, Sifar says, "As fer me horrible day... I found ou' tha' de lad I been seein' nay only be married, but be married te a good friend." Her hand reflexively moves to where the charm once hung. "So, I been lied to en more ways then I care te e'er be."

"Sorry, lass, nay need te burden yeh wit' all tha'..."

[Laron]

"Not all people are comfortable with being as the Earth mother made us."

She thinks to herself as she notices Sifar unconsciously shifting as she tried not to stare at her small pert chest, Amadare reaches over and grabs the apron that hung on the wall, and throws it over her head. She frowns at Sifar's news.

"Oh how horrible... and She is your friend..? I told Verloran I didn't care if he was with another, but if he was he wouldn't be with me. I wouldn't have some male making a fool of me by treating me as a conquest. Like some trophy... I had a nice boy I liked once, but he decided to go with a woman who was a Human like him..." She trails off thinking of Nouri, but shakes her head.

"It was probably better. I would have just hurt him... Physically..."

Looking at the meat put on the table she picks up the basilisk and eats it with her hands, not even looking twice at the silverware on the table.

"Mmm lizard is sooo much better cooked. It's cold when they die... no body heat to warm the meat..."

She finishes the snack and cleans her hand by licking her hands and wiping her face clean by licking. Being at home she doesn't even give such actions a second thought.

"So who was this boy, not a Human was he? I think I'm going to stay clear of them... their lives are too short as it is..."

Sitting back she props her leg up on the table and sips her tea.

"And your'e not troublin me sweety, you are a friend of my brother and you helped rescue my nephew and niece."

She smiles wide as she thinks of the babies.

[Sifar]

It takes time, and more than a few deep drinks from her flask, but Sifar finds herself relating much of her courtship and discovery with the dwarf she knew as Omet. Judiciously, she leaves out a few family details but Amadare seems happy to listen.

Sifar smiles as she recalls their first kiss and how breathless it left her. She gets animated retelling about their first and second trips to the hot springs. She giggles describing his wild hair and crazy leaps into fights. In fact, it isn't until her tale wanders back to the day's events that she grows subdued again.

Shaking her head, she says, "I'm still nay sure if I be more sorry fer meself o' angry a' him."

"Regardless," Sifar begins to stand on tired legs, "I could use a bed an' a lot o' sleep 'efore I can face another day." She offers to help Ama back up the stairs as well.

[Laron]

Hearing the younger dwarf relay her story about the hot springs, Amadare shifts slightly in her seat as her pupils turn to slits and she starts to get a small layer of fur on her face. As she leans forward on her elbows to listen more intently, she doesn't notice her nails had turned black and long, until she become uncomfortable in her chair. Shifting slightly, she lets her black tail move freely. As the story comes to the bad part, her eyes dull, loosing their glow, and turning to a dark brown.

"So you let him have you? And he is married to your friend? Does my Brother know?"

She winces in pain as her cast starts to constrict her leg, and she looks at her hand, which has already grown a grey hair on the back of it.

"Easy now... now need to get worked up..."

She self coaches herself to calm the beast... Allowing her eyes to turn green again, she smiles at Sifar.

"The room next to mine was Azrid's, and the one at the end of the hall was my parents. I probably shouldn't chance sleeping in my own bed again... that really hurt falling out of it... so I'll show you to my parent's room, they have a pretty big bed."

Shifting fully to her panther form, she shakes the apron from her neck and walks on three legs up the stairs and to the end of the hall. Hoping up on the bed she kneads the covers before turning in a circle and curling into a tight ball, only leaving he injured back paw sticking out. As she drifts off to sleep, she starts to purr.

"I'm sorry you had such a bad day, but I promise, tomorrow things will be better."