Broken Pasts and Broken Hearts

She had been called a great many things in her life, more oft than not, insult took precedence over a genuine nickname, but the odd acronym he had decided to call her... she liked it. It had a bizarre ring to it. Foreign, different. She supposed these things all described her. She mulled the name over in her head, thinking, processing, debating, what had he meant by such a title? What did he wish of her? Freedom was still a concept that seemed as different to her as the sun was to the moon. She did not like this taste of freedom, she was meant to obey, built to take and complete an order. Freedom... went against everything she had ever known to be true. It absolutely terrified her.

She studied the male before her carefully, she had heard his name between conversations, it was rare he stayed in Glaciem for longer than a few weeks before he vanished to God only knew where. He was ever the wanderer, never lingering in one place longer than he had too, or at least so they claimed... but what was he doing here then? Why not just leave for good? If there was nothing for him here, why did he keep returning? It seemed a pointless endeavor, at least to her, but she dare not speak as such. Such thoughts got one killed and she remained silent, watching intently with those blood colored eyes. "Freedom... I lack the ability to ever understand it, I think. Gargoyle tries, but the life of a lesser creature is so deeply interwoven with my mind... its dreadfully hard to let it go. Why do you wish that you could be the one to teach me?" It confused her truly, he seemed upset not to have been bestowed the burden of herself...but why? With a project like her, he would be forced to linger.

She sniffed the offered prey, never had she taken the kill of another, it was an act punishable by death. Everything in her screamed at her to politely decline and to continue to do so until he let her go. She stood like a deer in the proverbial headlights, awaiting her fatal judgment and for a long moment she did not move. Slowly, tentatively she lowered her head, tearing off a chunk of the creature, tearing it and swallowing it slowly. "Thank you." She muttered softly, her stomach churning as her mind reminded her again and again how utterly wrong this was. She ate half of the hare for politeness sake but her stomach churned so horribly she knew better than to dine on anymore.

Mahniya carefully listened as he spoke, pouring his heart to her. She was stunned by the sudden admissions but she took them in stride. She listened as he told her of all of his troubles, all of his worries, all of his cares. This was not the first time such had been laid out before her and she contemplated her response carefully. Words had never been her strong point and it took her a moment to figure out what exactly she wished to say. "No... a failure is a title that belongs to those that would see the earth shatter. That would tie their equals in chains, torture and desecrate their bodies. They are the true souls who deserve the title of failure. Monstrosities that cause unspeakable evils. You are none of these things Thaddeus Rogue, do not call yourself as such."




Speech!