World Tree MUSH

    Eventually Terra and Rydia did leave Amara alone as per her request. The little green-haired girl had matters to attend to for both the innkeeper and with organizing the supplies that she had shanghai'd the Dark Knights into buying. So it's much later in the evening by the time she's finished with that, some more laundry, and dealing with a few other errands and chores, before she stops... At the door to Amara's room.
    There is a vivid, green, eye suddenly peeking in through a crack in the door.

Amara'd retreated into her room once everyone had finally let her be. She hadn't come out in awhile.

When Rydia does crack the door open, it seems to go unnoticed - and she's able to get a look at what's going inside. Mostly it's a look at an open window, in which Amara's sitting, her back against one edge of the window and her legs tucked up, one moreso than the other, the other with her heel caught against the far edge.

The sounds of the desert drift into the room - the faint calls of desert creatures, the light hoot of a screech owl in the distance. Amara seems to be listening to them, or perhaps half-litening. The tears have mostly passed, and she's fixed her makeup, but there's still a quiet, haunted look about her eyes, here where she doesn't have to pretend to be okay.

Her mind is only partly on nature.

    Rydia hesitates then and there. Perhaps it would be best to leave this woman to her thoughts. Maybe she shouldn't interefere. She should just pack her things and get ready to leave with Cecil and the others as soon as possibe and leave the matter...
    But she can't quite do that. Not after the way she had seen Amara cry as she did.
    Foolhardyness wins out over hesitation and the child raps gently at the door to announce herself before easing it open a bit further.
    "It's me. ... I'm just about done for the night but... Can I get you anything before I wrap up?"

The rap of tiny knuckles on the door is unexpected and a bit startling. Amara sucks in her breath, blinking once. Her gaze snaps towards the entrance.

Fortunately, the one on the other side of it isn't a Dark Knight or a horrible memory. It's the little green helper from the night before, she realizes. The surprise is immediately covered by a quiet smile, and she slides her legs down from the window.

"I think I have what I need. Thank you for checking up on me," she answers as she rises, moving over to the door. She draws it open just a little further. There's no need for furtiveness around someone who seems to have a good heart, after all.

"I'm sorry for being troublesome to you today. I suppose things surprised me," says Amara in what is probably the understatement of the era.

    She has what she needs. Most inn girls would leave it at that and beat a retreat considering what had gone down in the inn commons recently but... Not Rydia. When the door draws open a little wider, the girl fidgets in place where she stands before peering up. She generally has to peer up at everyone she interacts with.
    "May I come in?" She ventures after a beat. "If you want to talk about anything, I mean." Added as an afterthought. "Surprise. Right, I can imagine..."

"I might be underselling it," Amara concedes with a slight dip of her lashes. "Just a little." A hint of colour springs to life at her cheeks, light and rosy.

There's only one chair in the room, so Amara eases the door open a bit further to let Rydia in before moving to perch on the windowsill again, this time facing her with her hands on the sill. The woman in blue opens her mouth to say something.

The words die on her tongue. She looks down into her lap, eyes clouding for a moment as she reminds herself that she mustn't cry again.

"I don't know what Baron did to others," she says, her voice quiet and a bit more grave. "But I'm sure it's dumb and selfish of me to feel hurt."

    Amara returns to the window, which means Rydia is clambering into the seat once she follows her way into the room, folding hands together on her lap. And she waits. She waits to see what the older woman has to say, first, biting on her lower lip gently. But when nothing quite comes at first she waits the beat it takes for Amara to rally and speak.
    "Baron has been... Doing a lot of questionable stuff." She ventures at first. "It's why Cecil left. Because he didn't want to follow bad orders anymore, he said."

"I'm sure that comforts him," Amara says, her tone quiet. She tries to keep the tartness out of it and... mostly manages it. But there's a certain self-reproving bitterness behind her eyes as she looks up towards the ceiling.

Diving back into her own hurt threatens to bring up tears again. She presses her lips together a moment and turns her words over in her mind, picking the with care.

She takes another angle. Amara brings her gaze to the tiny girl in front of her, tilting her head to one side. "You said Baron did terrible things to you too," she asks tentatively. "I don't mean to pry... I guess I'm jus curious as to how it came to be that you travel with him now." She only emphasizes 'him' a little.

    "I don't think it really does." Rydia counters in a soft tone. She may be a child, but the girl is sharp, and she understands guilt when she sees it. But that's all she says on the matter of Cecil, when Amara clearly needs a moment before changing the topic. And it's clearly not a topic that sits well with Rydia when it comes up. Her hands ball up into fists, rumpling the green fabric of her tunic as she tenses. And when she does, the mist that silently lingers close around the girl seems to give a reassuring swirl around her in reponse.
    "I was born in Mist. To the southwest of here." She says at first as though that explained everything. She waits only a beat to see if that registers before she goes on with further clarification. "Mist isn't there anymore because of Baron. I didn't have anyone left, and I didn't have anywhere to go. It was Cecil that cared for me after that."

Amara blinks a couple of times. The girl in green is a little sassier than she thought, apparently.

The mild surprise fades quickly. Amara is no stranger to sass either, even if she can't muster up a lot of it.

Crossing one leg over the opposite, Amara shifts a little on the windowsill, watching the way the tinier girl gathers her thoughts and wrestles with her emotions. It's a feeling she doesn't normally see on the faces of people so young - even those like her who lost loved ones to the knights of Baron.

The talk of the town of Mist leaves her arching her eyebrows with distant recognition. The village may be obscure, but the name rings a bell. But the village's face leaves her gripping the windowsill tightly, her eyes lowering towards her lap.

"I'm sorry that happened to you," she says quietly. "I suppose I don't understand what changed for him. The last time I saw him, he had brought an army to Mysidia, stolen our Crystal and kil--"

Amara cuts off. She swallows a lump of emotion in her throat, but manages to cover by looking away. "The point is, he was the one who led the army."

    As tiny as she is... For all she has been through, Rydia may as well be a miniature adult. Though she hadn't quite meant that initial response in a sassy manner either. But she spends a moment thinking about it.
    "I think I know." Rydia ventures after a bit.
    "From what I've seen of him, Cecil has always been kind to me. Gentle and strong. But I think he really regrets what he did. I meant it when I said he's a good man. He said the king that raised him changed and started giving all these bad orders. ... And that means Cecil has done bad thing. ... But you can't tell me you haven't done something bad and then felt bad about it afterwards, yourself, can you?"
    Oh she caught on about that part. Amara doesn't have to finish the word 'kill' for Rydia to understand that Cecil has put that dark blade to use in probably some unsavory ways. "But he doesn't lead that army anymore. They're hunting me down because I'm the last Summoner. He fought back against the men they sent and they've been hunting him, too, ever since, now."

Amara's probably fully grown - more or less. She seems to be about eighteen, anyway; she's got the figure for it, even if she's still in the flower of her adulthood. Her eyes are much less lively right now, though, her heart burdened by an intense weight.

But Rydia's got her own burdens, and the blue mage listens with a quiet purse of her lips when the green-haired girl explains her situation. Gripping the windowsill more tightly, she shifts a bit in her seat, swallowing a lump in her throat, but remains completely attentive to the story.

"I've done a lot of less than good things," she admits. "But it's always been stuff like stealing a cookie or kissing someone else's girlfriend. I don't think I've ever--" She trails off, her shoulders tightening a little, then fading. Then she picks up again, pursing her lips. "...I couldn't do that," she finally finishes.

A beat passes - and then Amara closes her eyes and sighs, fighting back a part of her that wants to cry again.

"You know what's funny?" she says, her voice very small. "I always wondered what I'd do if I met my family's killers. I thought I'd be brave and sassy and show them what was what. But all I could do was cry."

    "There were two people that Baron sent to my village." Rydia says solemnly. "Others came with them, but the king directly sent two people. Cecil, and a woman named Vivian." There's a pause here as Rydia tenses. A funny little expression crosses her face at something Amara says, but she rallies fast. "Cecil is at least sorry about what happened. A lot of the time I think about what I'd do the next time I find her." She says.
    "I don't feel bad about the time I put a dagger in her back."
    But then she purses her lips. "But please don't do that to Cecil. I mean it, he feels bad about what he's done. It's okay to cry. But He really wants the violence to end now."

"I don't remember there being a woman," Amara says with a small frown. "All I know was there were the Red Wings...."

She catches Rydia's change in mood but she doesn't have time to process it, just biting lightly down to one of her nuckles and glancing off to one side. But then Rydia says something else.

Her eyebrows arch quickly. "Wow," she says with a blink. "Cecil must've really impressed you with his sincerity. And that other lady must have... uh... not."

The last appeal is the hardest for her to digest. Amara bites down to her knuckle again, then lowers her eyes to her lap. The conflict on her face is plain to see. Emotions grapple with one another, anger struggling against sadness.

Resignation wins out, and she sighs. "...Hurting him wouldn't bring my family back," she finally concedes. "Or return the others who were lost. Or...."

The girl trails off. Finally, she lowers her hand, then clears her throat.

"...My name's Amara."

    "Cecil said he was... Stripped of his rank, by the time he was sent to Mist." Rydia replies after a moment of searching her memory. But then the child heaves a sigh. But then Amara says what Rydia wants to hear. And the girl's shoulders sag with visible relief. Though she's visibly hesitant for a beat after that.
    Hurting him wouldn't bring my family back...
    The words bring a quiet turmoil to the girl. Does she feel bad about stabbing someone in the back now? Maybe. She opts to move on rather than dwell on it.
    "Cecil wants to return to Baron. So we can ask the king why he's doing these things. The paths are blocked and we've only been able to keep coming back to Kaipo. But we'll figure out a way if you want to come with us. I want to know why, and I'm sure you do too." She offers. Before she gets an introduction. So she gives one of her own.
    "I'm Rydia."