Where We Came From, Where We Are

The tumultuous emotions within the young woman were pushed aside and ignored as much as possible. Seeing Artorias, practically a man, made her realized just how much time she'd missed. Did she look as different to him as he looked to her? He was obviously battle-worn and she could see the scars upon him. The caramel cream fae had weathered the storm a little better. Most of her scars were on the inside. Most, but not all. One russet dipped paw raised and absently rubbed at the leather bracer tied tightly to her foreleg. If it seemed like a nervous tick, that was because it was. She would never get rid of the reminder of what had happened to her, where she'd been and what she'd been forced to do to change her situation.

Art continued speaking, filling her in yet again on the death of their mother. Bowen's brows furrowed and she nodded. "Mom told me." The girl felt surprisingly empty about the whole thing. Perhaps it would sink in later, but for now she just couldn't cry about it. When her brother offered to take her to see the grave, Bowen gave her head a shake. She wasn't sure what everyone else believed, but the beliefs of sailors, pirates and seafaring slaves had rubbed off on her. "No. That's not her anymore." She didn't need to see a grave full of bones. It held no importance to her.

Bowen nodded, accepting that Ulric had taken over the Hallows. It was a wise choice. Mom would have been wrought with grief and wouldn't have been able to lead properly at the time. Bowen's brows did lift a bit when Art spat out the word 'boyfriend' in connection to Tamsyn. That... was surprising. She wasn't sure how she felt about that. How long ago had mom died? Wasn't that a bit soon to fill her bed with someone else? Art shyly told her that he was named heir to The Hallows and Bowen grinned, emerald eyes lifting at the corners. "Congratulations, Art. Just what mom wanted for you." She could remember that much.

As she knew it would, the conversation turned to where she'd been. The smile on Bowen's delicate features faltered and suddenly the darkness of the food larder seemed to press in on her. "Let's go up and I'll tell you." Without waiting for him to agree, Bo lightly pushed past her brother, her shoulder, hip and tail sliding along him as she squeezed by. Bowen found the stone stairs and moved gracefully up them before moving across the open hall and out the front doorway of the castle. She continued to move forward until she was out of the shadow of the massive structure. Once she could feel the warm sun sink soothingly into her fur and flesh, the young lady tilted her muzzle upwards, closed her eyes, and breathed deeply of the cool, clean air.

When she felt the pressure of Art's body beside hers and knew that he had joined her, Bowen sat, sliding her tail around one hip. She hadn't even told mom the full story yet, but she trusted Art to not judge her for what had happened and what she'd done. Some of it she had been forced to do but some of it she chose to do. "I went searching for one of the alpacas and got lost. While I was searching for my way back, a man asked if I needed help. When I said that I was lost, he overpowered me and threw me into a cage." She couldn't remember much of that time other than the fear of the unknown. What was he going to do to her? She eventually found out.

"I was taken to a great ship with several other wolves and overheard that I was to be sold into slavery. The pirate slavers took a liking to me though. They kept me and gave me the opportunity to buy myself from them, having seen my eye for valuables." It was no secret that Bowen had loved treasure from the moment her own gem-like eyes fell upon something shiny. She still hadn't grown out of that. "I lied and cheated and stole." Reddish ears slid backwards and her brow furrowed as she continued. "I murdered."

Again, Bowen rubbed at the leather bracer. There was an obvious spot of wear upon the shining surface, showing just how often she did this. "They said that because of my size and coloring, that I would fetch a high price, so I had to do a lot of bad things to collect enough for them." The russet and snow fae couldn't even look her brother in the eye, so she turned her head and looked away from him. "They made me pay in other ways too." Bowen was far from a virgin by now. She'd been claimed almost immediately and had been used often throughout her enslavement. "At first they forced me, but after a while I began to crave it, so that part wasn't all bad." She still craved it often and did her best to alleviate her own lust almost nightly. It was never enough.

"After my price was paid, they were true to their word and let me go. So I came home." Her brow furrowed again, the girl's liver colored nose wrinkling. "Only it doesn't feel like home anymore. I miss the salt of the sea and the feel of a ship rolling on the waves." Bowen shook her head and finally lifted her vibrant, viridian gaze to meet the amber eyes of her brother. "Does that make me bad? I'm so different from the child that left..." Would The Hallows ever feel like home again? Bo searched Arts gaze, hoping that her big brother would be able to alleviate some of her insecurities and make everything okay.

"Bowen"