“Ya can’t be so friendly with em,” she told Tora later. “They’s good weeds, but they’s still weeds. You act sweet and sugary while yer still a fresh sap and they’ll eat you alive.”
That wasn’t something Tora wanted to believe, so he kept trying anyway. Just maybe not with Ebril. And only when Baya was around. It just… felt safer.
She’d be back soon, or he hoped she would. Today he’d meet more members of the guild, and that meant new chances. They couldn’t all be wary and cold or strangely too sweet. He’d reach someone. He just had to try harder.
And so he tried.
When Baya returned with two members he hadn’t yet met, Tora nearly sprung from the wall to greet them. There was Zed, a rather bushy looking fellow, and Pepper, a sleek-looking young sylvari with a face full of bright green foliage. He peered down at Tora with two bright purple eyes peeking out like small gems from beneath his leafy brows.
“Wow! You have beautiful eyes!” Tora’s eager voice sung out loudly. The room fell silent as all eyes turned to Pepper whose face flushed with embarrassment. He mumbled something in response and looked away as a few of the thieves laughed. Tora’s heart skipped a moment – he’d gotten a response! He felt such a thrill he hadn’t noticed Baya’s smile waver ever so slightly.
Pepper disappeared after that day.
Baya too, was gone. No one could tell Tora why, nor did they seem particularly interested. She showed up a day later but offered Tora nothing as far as where Pepper went.
Then Pepper showed up three days after that, and Tora’s heart sunk at the sight of him. His right eye had been gouged out of his face with what looked like a knife. There were several cuts across the right side of his face besides, healing but swollen. The green foliage that covered his face only covered half now, with every leaf near his wounds either gone or wilting into an ugly purple.
Discussion ¬