Snippet #1559755

Talae was in the process of grinding several varieties of herb into a thick paste when Faera, who had left earlier that morning with what she understood to be the intent to visit Beelzes and Qinn. Of course, this also meant that she’d be checking up on the status of anyone still within the healers’ tent, which at present she thought included only Koni. Having been released from the same only two days ago herself, Talae was already fidgeting more than was strictly necessary. It was, she understood, a combination of anxiousness, anticipation, and plain-out concern. Shaking her head, she put that out of her mind for a second as she made a delicate transition of ingredients from her mortar to a heated flask.

“Is that so?” she murmured, though a frown tugged at her mouth. That many days unconscious was obviously not good for a person. Nevertheless, it wasn’t as if there was anything she could do about it. No amount of herbalistic or apothecaric knowledge would help where only time was needed, after all.

At the continued sound of her sister’s melodious tones, Talae scowled. A dragon lord… Nihalistrix, no less. That beast was the reason the two of them had no home to return to, not even if the town did manage to rebuild itself. They had grown up on the surface of the world, close to the entrance of one of the main tunnels occupies and controlled by the dark elves. Too close to the outside world to be defensible or cared about, but necessary for the importation of certain resources. Still with enemies like that, it was no wonder the cave-dwellers hadn’t thought to send them aid. Maybe if they had, nobody would have blamed Fara for the whole thing and driven them out… but it was still the dragon’s doing first and foremost, she did not doubt that.

“Perhaps that is fortunate,” she replied simply. Better that the Legion takes a shot at her than I do it myself… the Legion might actually survive the effort. Though she was by now confident that Fae could live on her own and did not particularly fear the thought of her own death, Talae was not suicidal.

Casting a sideways glance at Fae, Tala nearly smiled. Life seemed a bit more worth the effort when you saw someone like her trying so damned hard to live it, or at least that’s how she had always felt. It was a pity some people could not understand that, but then, this was what she was there for: to make sure that Fae had that chance. It was almost a bit disheartening to understand that she was swiftly becoming obsolete in this capacity. To Talae, it was obvious that her sister was growing into her strength and making friends, and would be more than able to continue doing so even without her once-guardian. A bittersweet thought, bitter only because she was swiftly realizing that she had forgotten how to live for herself. She had for a number of years always and only been Fae’s parent-figure and sibling. The dependency had fallen away from the younger faster then the older would have predicted, and she wondered idly if perhaps it would linger too long in the other direction. Fae was strong enough to stand on her own, but was Tala?

Concoction completed, Talae stood and began to square away the supplies in their tent in preparation to break camp. It was likely going to be another marathon battle, and she wanted to be prepared enough in advance to figure out whether she’d have to adjust her strategy for a weakened partner, or the complete absence of one.