Sleepless night

The lumpy mattress wasn't the only thing keeping her awake that night. Memories from the fight, and more-so Salem's reactions afterwards kept replaying in her dreams. The darkness of the anger and hatred in Salem had changed him in frightening ways, to a point where she nearly didn't recognize him. In her dreams, that darkness was an entity all it's own, battling the captain as he fought his own battles with the drow, threatening to consume him. The sound of movement disturbed her sleep like a pebble dropped in a still pond. Still trapped in that hazy point between sleep and awake, she watched through blurry eyes at a tall figure moved about the common room. She wanted to call out to him, but her body was not quite awake enough to respond. She lay there for several minutes after the tall figure left, trying to figure out if this was just another dream or not. But the longer she laid there the more she began to feel the discomfort of the mattress, confirming she was in fact awake.

Glancing over she noticed Salem's bed was empty, confirming the figure moving about the room was not a dream. Concern swept through her, and she got up as quietly as possible and donned her clothing, and armor. If her life with the Rovers had taught her anything it was that she should always be prepared for a fight. She slipped from the common room in to the tavern and looked around for signs of where he could have gone. While she thought herself a pretty good tracker usually, the urban setting was not her forte. The cluster of dusty footprints, half swept away by some lazy wench gave her little to go off of. She looked between the front and the back doors, wondering which to chose. On a whim she guessed the front door, figuring she had a 50/50 chance of being right.

The brisk night air hit her as she stepped outside. The shock of it caused her lungs to constrict in protest, making her cough softly before she was able to adjust. Even so, the air felt wonderful. She hadn't realized how stuffy and smelly the air in the tavern had been until she had this as a comparison. Taking another several grateful breaths, she looked around for signs of Salem. The village was dead, all the occupants soundly asleep; she could even hear a few of them snoring soundly.

A slight smile of amusement curved her lips and she lifted her eyes to the sky. The star twinkled happily at her, as if greeting an old friend. The stress she felt for Salem started to lessen as she stared up at the sky. This was one thing she would never understand about the drow. How could someone live their lives under ground, deprived of such a wonderful sight as the night sky? The short amount of time she had spent in the goblin caves confirmed the fact that she could never live her life underground like that. Maybe that was why the drow were so evil....?

Her ears perked up at the sound of the bird call. It sounded close to the real thing, but just a little off. With her curiosity getting the better of her she slowly crept around towards the back of the inn, silently hoping it was Salem that had called out to her.

On high alert she peered around the edge of the building, barely able to make out Salem's shadow against the night sky. But she knew it was him, though she couldn't quiet explain how she knew. Strapping her staff to her back, she began to climb towards him, albeit a little awkwardly. It was clear that climbing was not her strong suit. When she finally made it up to him, she positioned herself into the safest and most comfortable perch available and looked towards him curiously.

"couldn't sleep? " it was a silly question, one she already knew the answer to, but she didn't quite know how to strike up a conversation without being awkward. Before she let him answer the silly question, she tilted her head up to the stars and have a soft dough. "the stars are beautiful tonight. ..."

She felt his eyes lingering on her for a few seconds before he joined her attention on the stars. She couldn't help but smile at this, though concern still pulled at her emotions and kept her emotions more subdued. It didn't seem right to be happy after what she had seen him go through. But his compliment about enjoying the stars brought the smile out without restriction. It was clear that there was a true love within her for the night sky, and it shone in her eyes when they lifted to the heavens. The burdens that had weighted on her seemed to lift just a little and a hint of her normal carefree nature shone through.

It took her a few seconds to register that he had asked a question, and she turned to look at him again, hugging her knees to her chest and giving a non-committal shrug. "Nightmares mostly. But I also woke up when I heard someone moving around, which I can only assume was you. I was concerned about you, and figured you may benefit from some company..." though she seemed a little unsure of his response to that, she seemed sure of what she was saying. "So here I am" It was both an challenge, and an invitation for him

A soft intake of breath was her only response when he revealed his history with the drow. Slavery was absolutely abhorrent to her; the loss of freedom and basic rights was never acceptable in any circumstances. She slipped her arm around his, linking them together in a act of solidarity and comfort she hoped would help.

She remained silent as he spoke of the possible future for the roavers and his fears. She wanted to disagree with him at first. She lived alone in the woods, living off the land which was not always easy, but she knew that what he was speaking of went much deeper than simple hardships.

There was evil in the world. Her mother had worked hard to protect her from such evil and had done a fairly good job at it. While she may have experienced hardships, she had no idea how she would fair if she was in Salem's situation; enslaved to evil drow, forced to do unspeakable things.

Taking a deep breath to steel herself, she nodded in acknowledgement of what he had said

”then I'll just have to find a strength that no one can take " she gave his hand a gentle squeeze and rested her head on his shoulder. "I won't leave the group, whatever we face, we face together" her tone suggested she was adamant about that

She savoured the feel of his touch, and the brief span of time that they connected before he shut down again. It left her wanting, but she didn't complain. Salem was used to blocking people out, no doubt he had to learn to do so in an act of self preservation. The fact that he was wrong to do it at all was enough for now.

She nodded in agreement, though she had no way of knowing if they would be attacked or not, but she trusted his judgement. With one last wistful look at the stars she began to climb down to the ground. She waited for him to join her before accompanying him to the warmth of the inn.

She hadn't realized how chilly she was until the heat began to bring feeling back to her icy fingers. Seeing the fire was down to embers, she knelt down beside the fireplace an began feeding small tinder to the coals until a flame was reborn.

As she tended to the fire, she began to quietly talk of her dreams.

"there was a darkness, a shadowy figure with no real features that was fighting you. It was as if you were fighting your own shadow. You both seemed to know each others moves before you made them. It was a fight that could go on forever without hope if a victor.... "