Leave behind the heartache, castaway

OOC: Feel free to power-play Tika following Resin!

Avantika continued staring, but her mind was far from empty. It's all okay, see? She felt like she was nuzzling the version of her that was anxious. You'll be fine. She's not mean. It'll be okay. She tried to block out the obsessive, nervous thoughts that asked "what's going to happen later?". She imagined a boulder falling and slamming down on the pesky worries. Poorly, but they were kept at bay for a bit, enough for her to listen to the stranger in front of her.

Resin. Alpha. Lands. Words jumped at her like flies in the heat of summer. She frowned and narrowed her eyes, working over the sounds in her head. Resin was her name, she gathered, and "these" meant that "lands" was something of some other things, right? She had no clue what "alpha" meant, but apparently Resin was it. She'd figure it out later, though, as the woman was talking again. She readied herself for more thinking.

Okay, so first, the words she knew. She knew all the words in the first sentence. "Why" was asking something, she didn't know what, "don't" was like "no", "you" was talking to her, "come" was telling her to follow, "with me" meant follow Resin, and then it was her own name. So presumably it would mean Avantika should follow Resin. But wait, that couldn't be it! What about that "don't"? Did that mean she shouldn't follow? And the "why" was confusing also. She decided just to wait and see if she could figure out what the woman wanted some other way.

She started using the same method to deduct the meaning of the next bit but balked at the word "family". She didn't protest, though. She was scared of them, but she was also scared of anything else. So she lay on the ground in frozen indecision, as Resin seemed to be beckoning her closer.

Come. She could do that. If she wanted to leave she could, probably. Hopefully, the nervous voice in her head echoed. What if Resin decided not to let her leave? What if her parents wouldn't want her if she left? What if-What if she was trapped in whatever choice she made and there would be no do-overs?

Then she would run. She'd find a way out. She'd have to, right? It couldn't be that hard. She made a tiny nod. No turning back now. She got to her feet, cautiously, head and tail tucked, eyes wide and staring up at the older woman's face. "Okay." Her voice was small, but it felt like a triumph. And terrifying.