Sierra Monte, Soul Divided

[Acesahn]

The greenish grey skinned Roe woman awoke with a start. The muscles of herlean, athletic body tensed as she sat up violently, her hand lashing out at the figure standing over her. The bowl of hot liquid crashed to the ground, sending pieces of ceramic shards scattering around the floor of the small room, of Ul'dahn decor.

 

She felt an intense fury build behind her eyes as she glared into the eyesof the thin midlander woman. The Roe felt as if it was the hot energy she felt behind her eyes, and in her chest, that paralyzed the scrawny woman in front of her so. She felt the muscles tense and flex in her shoulder and arm as she clenched her hand into a fist and then... she stopped.

 

She felt as if an invisible force wrapped itself around her gently, holdingher back. She body relaxed, the fury she felt in her heart and mind slowly dissipated. instinctively she took a meditative breath. It felt as if she sucked in a breath of cool icy air, and blew out lava. She glances at the Hyur woman, calm for the first time.

 

The Hyur seemed petrified, frozen with mild grimace, her eyes wide withsurprise. The Roe woman watched her calmly, waiting for her to regain her composure. She studied the woman, her tan skin and her long dark red hair really suited her. She eyed hyur's chest, realizing she had dumped most of the liquid from the bowl onto her dress. She noted the woman's chest wasn't moving, and that the hyur wasn't breathing, before glancing back up at the hyur's eyes.

 

Finally the woman let out a deep exhale, followed by a few out of breathgasps. "You... you scared me!" the hyur exclaimed. The Roe nodded calmly. "I can see that. I thought you were..." The Roe trailed off. What did she think she was? A captor? An assassin? She struggled to tap into her memories finding them painfully muddled. She grimaced, realizing the simple action of thinking caused her head to ache and her temples swell.

 

"A what?" The hyur asked timidly. The athletic Roe just shook herhead and shrugged her powerful shoulders, defeated. "I don't know." she glanced back to the hyur woman. Much to her surprise the woman was watching her carefully. Not suspicious, not fearfully... but concerned. The hyur's caring gaze made the pit of the Roe's stomach queasy. 

 

"What?" The Roe asked finally. "You looked like you were inpain... and the way you knocked over the soup... you must be very troubled and scared." The Roe felt her body tense again at the hyur's words. The concern woman's words felt  almost like mockery, to assume she was some scared, pained little animal... but the look in her eyes showed no insult was intended.

 

The Roe watched as the woman quickly began cleaning up her mess. HER mess,the one she created, by assuming... something, and overreacting. She watched her, running a hand through her short, messy, sandy blonde hair, and scratching her head awkwardly. "Here." she started to move her legs from the bed, but found them bound by an overly thorough tucked in sheet and blanket. Before she could free herself from the mess of covers, the hyur threw up a hand forcefully, as if commanding her to stop. "No! We found you wandering the wilderness, half dead! I couldn't forgive myself if you got up and over exerted yourself now."

 

The hyur quickly returned to her cleaning, and the Roe decided not to pressthe issue. Instead she thought again racked her memories. Half dead? Wandering the wilderness? She had no memory of such things. She had no memories of allot of things she realized.

 

The Roe suddenly turned to the hyur before she left the room with the bundleof fractured bowl. "You don't know who I am?" the Roe searched the hyur's face desperately, looking for indications of recollection, or hints of lies as she answered. "No, Kit just found you, and I came and found you face down." The Roe racked her mind again. The name Kit did not ring a bell.

 

The hyur left quickly, before Roe could ask another question. She took thistime to pull the covers back, and testing the strength of her legs. Indeed, she wasn't as strong as she'd like. She felt her leg's weakness as she placed them onto the wood floor of the room. She smacked her lips, she was thirsty. A gurgle in her stomach and a cramping pain suggested she was hungry as well. If only she hadn't destroyed the bowl of soup... she thought with a grimace.

 

The hyur came back with a reassuring smile on her face, and more importantlya new bowl of soup. "Oh good, your not as weak as I feared! Here, eat, eat! You need to regain your strength." the hyur was very forceful, for being such a delicate creature, the Roe thought. She had no reason to disobey though, so she reached out and accepted the soup. The hyur seemed reluctant, probably wishing to feed her in bed, but she couldnt deny the Roe was perfectly capable of holding the bowl in her massive hands.

 

The hyur watched in silence, as the Roe at the soup at a medium pace. TheRoe would occasionally eye the hyur out of the corner of her gaze. She wondered if she was waiting for her to say something. "Its a good broth." the Roe said matter of fact. The hyur blinked and smiled a bit, giving her a quick nod. She continued to watch the Roe, as if waiting for her to keel over. The Roe kept eating.

 

"My name is Dalia" the hyur finally said, as the Roe's spoon beganto clink at the bottom of the bowl, fishing for the last bits of meat and vegetables. The Roe racked her brain for a response. Again, the muddled pain returned, as if someone poured mud and gravel into her ear. She glanced at the hyur, noticing again, as her look of worry returned.

 

"I don't remember my name..." the Roe admitted glumly. The hyur'seyes went wide. "Oh no, that's horrible!  I-I mean, I'm sure your memory will return, but for now, its... we should make sure you get plenty of rest and care before you leave!" the hyur's caring nature, again, made the Roe's stomach queasy.

 

The Roe placed the bowl down on the end table next to the bed with a nod.She wasn't sure if she would humor the hyur, and let her continue to play nurse maid for her, or if she would slip out a window, but for now her body needed rest.

 

Her eyes caught a yellow green gleam from the shadows, beyond the doorwaywhere the hyur emerged with the soup. Her body tensed again. She calmly scanned the room. Four walls, a simple shelf, an small table and chair. One door, no other way out. For some reason this fact unnerved the Roe. She glanced at the hyur with a different light. She no longer saw her as a caring, probably overbearing young woman, but as a lying trickster, a rogue, an assassin.

 

Before her paranoid imagination got the best of her, the door burst open with a crash. The Roe clenched her fists and held the bowl back, ready to crash it down on her attackers head. A blue haired, dark black skinned Miqo'te slid to a stop on the rug, causing it, and herself, to slide foreword, knocking Dalia over her in a messy mound of rug, hyur and cat girl.

 

The Roe relaxed her arm. There was no need to defend herself, even if the cat girl was an assassins, she had effectively neutralized herself. The hyur groaned, annoyed and pushed off on the cat girl, pinning her down. "What did I tell you about scaring people?" The cat girl looked up at the hyur, her hands curled into cute little paws, as if mimicking a kitten on its back. If Dalia made the Roe queasy, the Miqo'te made her ill.

 

"Don't you give me that look! I'm not my father, your charms have no effect on me!" the hyur was just as unimpressed it seems. The Roe couldn't help but nod in approval. "Awww..." the cat girl drooped, her eyes and her tail looked utterly defeated by Dalia's words. "And stop running on all fours! That's how people get tripped." "Awww... your no fun Dalia." "I'm fun when its appropriate!" "But that's what unfun people say." "Kitty! We have a very sick Roe to think of! She lost her memories and needs our help!" "I know! I heard!"

 

The Roe found them talking back and forth, about her, on top of a bunched up rug, the hyur holding the cat girl down while lecturing, all very unnerving. "I'm fine. You've all done enough." The two on the floor stopped struggling and looked at the Roe stunned. "What? No, that's just what Monte folk do! We are a good, caring family who follow the light, so the world is a brighter place!" Dalia smiled compassionately after giving her little speech. The cat girl, who the Roe assumed was Kit, squirmed from Dalia's grip and stood in a crouching stance, nodding in agreement.

 

"Its true! I was just a stray, and they gave me a place to sleep and food to eat. They are really nice." the hyur nodded in approval at the cat girl speaking good will of her family. "It's true, so dont think your putting us off." the Roe woman blink in confusion at the hyur. Was she really that eager to help people? The Roe was having trouble thinking of a good reason why anyone would go out of there way for someone else.

 

The cat girl sniffed the Roe's knee, probingly. She moved her knee, and looked down at Kit. Kit stared at the woman's outfit, or at least the Roe hoped she was staring at her outfit. She looked down at her leather top and bottom piece, for what felt like the first time. She was wearing some kind of exotic, red leather halter top and shorts, topped up with big leather boots. "Your outfit is super cute. Did you used to be a dancer, or a harem girl?" the cat girl asked dreamily.

 

Again the hot fury rose within her. The thought of her dressed in some outfit, lying at the feet of some Raja or Sultan made bile rise in her throat. Her athletic shoulders and arms tensed again. Her fury subsided, as she noticed the two women took a half step back. She noted the worry in their eyes and grimaced.

 

"S-she's not the type to dance and... uh, serve others like that. Look at her, she is a tough boyish woman! She doesn't need to serve anyone Im sure." the hyur spoke quickly, blushing as she did. The Roe raised a brow. "Boyish?" the Roe woman watched the hyur stiffen fearfully. Was it "boyish" to be strong and independent of others? Is that what all hyur think?

 

Dalia turned her attention to Kit, desperate to change the subject. The Roe woman didn't mind, of course. Not only was she unsure if she wanted to hear the woman's feedback on how she was "boyish" she truly did not care what she thought of her. "Don't think for a second that this counts as helping out around the place!" Kit blinked, and her ears folded back against her head again. "But Dalia... I found our new friend, and helped you lift her to the cart... she was HEAVY!" the Roe blinked at the cat girl, emotionless.

 

"Still... the day is barely half over, and grandfather needs us to help out around the place!" "Alright... hey I have an idea! I could think up a new name for our new friend!" the hyur thought about her friends words carefully. Dalia turned to the Roe, giving her a thoughtful look. "Do you want us to think up a name for you while you recover? I dont feel comfortable calling you "Hey you!" or something..." the Roe thought about this, and gave her most honest answer.

 

"I don't care." the hyur and miqo'te drooped sadly. The Roe shifted uncomfortable, looking off to the side, before changing her opinion. "I mean, I don't care, as long... as you do a good job with it." the Roe practically mumbled her words, but the two young women didn't seem to mind or notice. They brightened up and Dalia clapped her hands together as the cat girl gave a little hop. "We'll do the best job!" the cat girl landed with a pose, and the hyur nodded enthusiastically. "We wont let you down." For some reason, all of this attention was making the Roe uneasy.

 

The overly cheery duo led the Roe through the house. While the hyur pointed out her and the cat girls rooms, the Roe couldn't help but be impressed at how large and homey the place felt. She was fortunate to be discovered by the Monte's and not... whatever the type of people the Roe instinctively assumed they were.

 

Dalia quickly closed Kit's room door, and from what the Roe could spot between the crack before it closed, Kit's room was just as chaotic as she was. Kit didnt seem to notice, or chose not to react to it. The Roe watched her carefully. She had a feeling Kit was far more capable and intelligent then she ever let on. For some reason her mind imagined this would make her a very capable assassin if she ever so chose. She gritted her teeth as violent thoughts seemed to bubble into her head so naturally, as if her mind was a geyser waiting to shoot forth.

 

"And that's the kitchen... where Im learning how to cook..." Dalia seemed unusually shy as she pointed out the kitchen. The Roe took note of this but didn't care enough to press the issue. "She's a REAL good cook! She's been trying out new dishes lately and letting me taste test!" Kit bounced the next step with both feet instead of simply walking, as if to embellish her statement. Dalia blushed ever so slightly, for reasons that mystified the Roe. She wondered if she'd ever get used to people, if they all behaved like these two.

 

The tour ended in the main hall of the house. Unlike the rest of the house, the main hall was very open, larger then the rest of the rooms combined. The Roe looked around, noting it was separated into little nooks and corners by furniture, like tables, wooden benches and chairs. She glances to her right, spotting the wooden door that led outside. Apart of her wanted to exit the house of cheery women, but she sighed instead, following her two tour guides.

 

At the end of the main hall, the whole back walls and corners were covered in strange wooden machines, and clothes and tapestries of all colors and sizes. She couldn't help but hold her breath as she watched one of the machines move, a weathered old, Ul'dahn man working the machine with a large pedal. The Roe glanced at the two women. Dalia cleared her throat loudly, to get the man's attention, but waited patiently. Kit just smiled cheerfully, watching the machine spin. The Roe was surprised at how quite her two, babbling tour guides got.

 

The old man smiled gently, his lips moving his white beard ever so subtly. He didn't stop working, nor turn his head to acknowledge them, however. The Roe watched him work, his balding head glistening from the light from the window as he worked dutifully. She recognized something familiar in his eyes. The drive, the motivation, the mastery of his actions, she would have recognized all of this, just from the look of concentration in his eyes.

 

Finally the weaving machine stopped spinning. Before the old man could even finish turning, Dalia stepped foreword and smiled happily. "The Raja will be pleased with his tapestry, no doubt!" The Roe watched Dalia, noting hard she worked to be supportive to everyone around her. Such dedication to pleasantness seemed unsettling to her for some reason.

 

"I hope so, these fingers only have so many orders left in them." The old man smiled and rose from his stool. "Don't say that..." Dalia scolded the old man gently, though her words had a mournful tone about them.

 

The old man seemed to notice the Roe for the first time. He blinked and ran his hand through the point of his beard. "Ahem! Grandfather, this is... a-ah..." The Roe watched the hyur freeze up and blush at her social error. The cat girl merrily rebounded her statement. "Seaweed!" everyone turned to the miqo'te, who posed playfully at labeling the Roe with her new name.

 

"No." the Roe said firmly. "Awww..." "W-why Seaweed? She isnt green, she's mostly grey, like a stormy night sky cloud!" The Roe lifted a brow. She wasn't sure what made her more uncomfortable, the idiotic name, or the hyur comparing her to a cloud. "She smells a bit salty, like sea water! And if you look closely, her skin is green." The cat girl began to stare intently at the Roe's face and neck. The Roe felt oddly proud of herself, that she was able to withstand this level of weirdness without batting an eye. Whatever she was in the past, she must have had amazing will power and self control.

 

"She looks like she's of the Sea Wolf clan, they saysalt water runs in there veins." the old man finally spoke. His voice sounded calm and steady, for those reasons the Roe found it calming. "Now that that is resolved, let us move on from something other then how I smell." the Roe responded with a bit more annoyance then she would have liked. The cat girl's ear twitched as she picked up on it. "I didn't say you smelled BAD." the cat girl smiled a toothy, fang filled grin. "I LIKE the way you smell." The Roe felt she deserved a reward for simply nodding and not finding the nearest window to break and leap out of. Dalia gasped then scoffed then began to say something, then closed her mouth. Kit seemed oblivious to all of this, however, and she simply glanced away, waiting for the old man to speak again.

 

"You must forgive these two, they are well meaning butvery foreword at times. I don't know what Id do without them though." the old man, thankfully, interjected. Dalia looked slightly put off at being lumped in with Kit, the cat girl simply smiled proudly, choosing to take it as a compliment. "It's fine, I'm getting used to it." the old man nodded at this and took a step foreword, inspecting the Roe carefully, squinting with his eyes. The Roe noted that his eye sight must be fading, and wondered if that would eventually effect his work.

 

"My name is Rahman, as my granddaughter was saying...what was yours though? She left that out for some reason..." Rahman nodded calmly, glancing at Dalia questioningly before turning his gaze back to the Roe. Dalia frowned and watched the Roe woman expectantly. "She lost her memory!" Kit interjected loudly. "Kitty!" Dalia scolded, though she grimaced and nodded in agreement. The Roe woman looked back and forth between the two, when she was certain they were finished she nodded in agreement. "Yes, my mind feels... clouded. It hurts when I try to remember."

 

Rahman blinked frowned. The Roe watched as he began to chewon his lip in thought. "Hurts when you think? What a mystery... perhaps that scar has something to do with it." Rahman finally said. "Scar?" the Roe woman felt a twinge of sickness in her stomach. She didn't want more to be wrong with her. "Y-yes... when we were checking you for wounds, we couldn't help but notice the strange scar on your chest." Dalia nodded, looking down at her feet. The Roe woman placed her hand on her chest and looked down. Her fingers touched the long, smooth star shaped patern of scar tissure. It looked as if her chest cracked, with five lines stretches out, with one going down between her breasts.

 

The Roe stroked the smooth scar tissue, and a pang of painthrobbed in her temples. Yes, this scar definitely had something to do with this. She returned her attention back at the three expectant gazes. She shifted, uncomfortable. She should say something.

 

"Yes, that is a possibility." "We can worryabout all of that later. Until then, you are our guest. Please, relax, regain your strength. If I know my Dalia, she has something extra special planned for dinner tonight." Rahman smiled and nodded. Dalia, however, flustered a bit. "W-well I didnt really have time to go into town and buy special ingredients, but with our new guest, we should definitely have a special meal. Maybe if I start and Kit takes a Chocobo to town I..." all of the fussing was far to much for the Roe. She opened her mouth to put an end to it, but the grandfather beat her to it. "Everything you make has been good so far. Make something you think she would like, and that would be plenty special enough."

 

Roe closed her mouth and nodded. She was impressed at howthoughtful Rahman was.

Dalia nodded, and the Roe couldn't help but notice theintent spark behind her eyes. She seemed like the type that pushed herself alot. She glanced a Kit, noting she was perhaps the exact opposite of her. Dalia followed the Roe's gaze and stamped her foot.

 

"Oh wait a minute! Kit hasn't lifted a finger to helpout around the house!" Kit and Rahman winced. "Oh come now, she has been very helpful. She was the one who found our guest and helped carry her home in the cart." Kit smiled and purred, moving to Rahman's side. Rahman couldn't help but place a hand on the cat girl's head, rubbing her hair and ears. Dalia, was not amused. "You go way to easy on her! If we wanted a pet, we'd let in one of the cats outside! You shouldn't let her get away with being lazy, and making ME pick up her slack!" Kit wilted under the scolding, fearful they had hit home. To Kit's dismay, Rahman chewed his bottom lip in thought, before nodding slowly. "Your right Dalia... have her help you in the kitchen." Dalia clapped her hands together in excitement, though the Roe couldn't help but notice the sinister gleam behind her eyes. "Goody! She wont be able to charm her way out of work now..."

 

Kit slumped foreword so hard, the Roe thought she was goingto break in half for a moment.  Daliawatched her follow Dalia like a condemned prisoner, dragging her feet. All alone with Rahman she shifted uncomfortably. The silence between them was unsettling to her. Rahman nodded and turned back to his work, holding up a beautiful orange, red and dark blue tapestry. He lifted it before the Roe. She nodded. "Its very well made. Will some Raja hang it on the wall?" Rahman chuckled. "Perhaps, here, will you drape that over there?" The Roe blinked at the old man.

 

She was unsure why he wanted her to do it. She was hisguest, not his servant. Still, she was in his debt, and this would help repay it, she figured. She took the cloth and draped it over the stand he told her too. "Would you help me string a new yarn? My fingers are getting more and more sore over the years. It would be a great help." She eyed the old man's fingers, wondering how much longer they could work before arthritis took them. She shrugged and gripped the yarn he pointed to. "I don't know what to do with this..." "Wrap it around the corner, like this." The old man took the yarn from the Roe's hands and tied it around the machine. He gave it back to her, waiting for her to finish. She sighed, slightly annoyed, and tied it around the rest of the machine. "You picked up fast, your fingers move with agility and grace." Rahman ran his fingers over her's, and she felt the fire return in her chest.

 

She tried to hide it this time, letting him make hisintentions clear, before she put the little man in his place. He ran his fingers up and down the lengths of her index finger, feeling it from both sides. He nodded in approval. "Your hands are strong, yet they move with speed and purpose. I dont know who or what you were, but these are the hands of someone who could pick up just about anything they put there mind to." He patted her hand approvingly and stepped away.

 

The Roe didnt know how to respond to that. What was hismotivation for saying such things? What was his angle? She wondered if he wished to tutor her, to take his place when his body failed. She shook such thoughts from her head. Still... they were amusing to say the least. She looked around the home. The old man must be well off, the furnishings and size of there home, as well as the extra bedrooms suggested he was a man of at least moderate wealth. She eyed the coin purse that hung from his belt. How fat and plump it looked to her.

 

She walked over towards the kitchen, she could hear Kit'sgroans, and Dalia's positive encouragements, or scolding lectures. She eyed a small axe, and a pile of wood in a room opposite the kitchen. The approached the axe as it leaned against the wall, handle up. She stroked her fingers against the handle gently, almost as if she was caressing it. A sudden surge of affirmation swelled within her, as she gripped the handle with familiar purpose. She knew what she would do.

 

She hefted the axe in her hand, letting its familiar weighttest her strength and balance, slowly easing its heavy head into her other hand. She gripped it just under the axe head, feeling strength, purpose from its weight. She returned to the old man and his weaving contraptions. She approached him from behind and lifted the axe above her head. The old man didnt make so much as a sound as the axe crushed through the top of his skull and buried itself fully. The Roe woman glanced at the hallway to the kitchen. The sound wasn't enough to rouse suspicion, so she began to work quickly. She pulled the man's coin purse from his belt, pulling it sharply, snapping the leather strings holding it to his belt. She opened it quickly and took a peak inside. Mostly copper, but there was still plenty of silver, and even some gold. She turned to the doorway, but a familiar figure stood between her and the exit. Kit stared, frozen in horror. Of course the damn cat would hear, she probably smelled the blood as well and came to investigate. She shoved the coin purse into her belt and reached out a hand towards the terrified woman. "Come here." she said calmly, coldly.

 

She dropped the axe handle suddenly, letting it fall overfrom against the wall. She staggered back, as her vision began to right itself. She was still in the wood splitting room. She gasped and panted out loud. She felt sweat on her chest and around her neck, her hands felt slick and disgusting. What was wrong with her? Why was her mind capable of such cruelties, and more alarming, why did they feel so correct at times? She went to right the axe back against the wall but... she pulled her hand away. She didnt want to touch it.

 

"Din din's almost ready!" The cat girl calledbehind her playfully. She whipped her head around, giving the cat girl an intense look from over her shoulder. Kit blinked, drooping a bit, before sliding back into the kitchen. She did her best to catch her breath before leaving the wood splitting room. She glanced over her shoulder, eyeing the axe for a moment before walking briskly away from it.

 

She walked quickly past the kitchen, and pushed open thedoor, letting it slam against its hinges. She kept walking, stopping only when she eyed a small well near the front of the house. She yanked the rope quickly, pulling the bucket up before dipping her hands inside and splashing the cold water to her face and chest. She slowly began to calm down, she felt her heart beat return to normal, and the cool water on her skin felt nice under the hot rays of the Ul'dah sun.

 

She looked back into the doorway, and into the worried faceof Dalia. She looks away, off to the side and let out a sigh. Whoever she was, whatever she was, it didnt belong near a happy, odd ball family like the Montes. She turned to face the path before her, leading to the road that stretched from Ul'dah. She didn't know where this patch would take her, she couldn't with her mind the way it was, but she knew it wouldn't be here again. She walked briskly from the walk way and onto the road, looking straight ahead, not wanting to see their faces.

 

She felt something light, but strong jump onto her back andshoulders. Thin, scrappy arms hooked around her arms and chest, and surprisingly strong legs hooked around her stomach. She turned her head to see the greenish yellow eyes of Kit, staring back at her with alarm. "Please don't go!" "Get off of me." The Roe's voice was calm, but dangerous as she spoke. Kit's ears flattened against her head, but only for a moment before she shook her head and tightened her grip. "Get off of me, now." the threat from her voice was hard to miss this time. Kit looked unsure for a moment, but again shook her head.

 

Dalia darted in front of the Roe and stretched out of arms,to block her path. "Wait stop! You cant leave yet, your still not better..." The Roe growled softly, before turning her attention to Dalia. "I'm not some work hand you can boss around, little girl." as Dalia's arms drooped and rested against her side, and her face fell, the Roe knew that she was making the right choice to leave. "Now get out of my way, before I remove you both from it."

 

She couldn't help but feel guilty, as she threatened thepeople who cared for her, rescued her. Dalia looked crushed, and the Roe didn't even bother to turn and look at Kit's expression. No one moved for awhile. "N-no... you need help." the Roe couldn't believe the woman's persistence. Was she stubborn or mad at this point? "Why do you care? I have done nothing to deserve your hospitality, I have done nothing to earn your trust." Dalia thought long and hard about that one. Still, the fact that she was having this argument, was baffling to the Roe.

 

"Its not about earning OR deserving... we want to helpyou." Dalia said quitely. "Yea, we like you! And I haven't even finished thinking of your name... how would we find you if we didn't know your name?" Kit tightened her grip as if to squeeze her point across. The Roe was at a loss for words. "There's something wrong with me... something violent." she said when she finally found the words. Dalia winced, but nodded. "I know, I can see it... but that's why we want to help." "Your a fool. Whoever I was, what I AM, would bring death and loss to you and your little family. You must know that." Roe gritted her teeth and shook her head. Dalia moved her lips, as if trying to start a sentence but reconsidering. "Whatever... bad stuff you went through, I don't believe it made you a bad person. I-If you were a bad person, you don't have to be if you chose not to... right?" Dalia didn't seem overly pleased with getting her point across, so she trailed off. "Yea, you seem really cool and strong, and you give great piggy bag rides." Roe felt Kit nuzzle her from behind.

 

All of the attention of this sort was overwhelming the Roe.She felt as if she could vomit. Still, they brought up an interesting point. The Roe wasn't sure what type of person she was, not exactly, but she did know she didn't like who it was. "Come back and have dinner with us? We could help you find a place to go and work if you still want to leave... just don't leave like this, please?" The Roe opened her mouth to apologies. To tell her it was for her own good that she left. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. She lout out a small sigh and nodded her head, closing her eyes.

 

Kit's ear splitting "Hooray!" and her obnoxiousnuzzling made her second guess herself immediately. Dalia reached out her hand timidly. The Roe looked down at it, unsure, for a good long while. Finally she reached out and gripped it. From the look on Dalia's face, she figured she had made the correct choice. Dalia led her, trying to drag the much larger, heavier woman, to the doorway.

 

At the dinner table the meal Dalia and Kit made was verytasty, not that the Roe was surprised. She ate the meal quietly, keeping her eyes on her food. Dalia kept shooting her odd glances, while Kit was oddly silent, deep in thought. Rahman was content letting her eat in silence, which Roe was grateful. She caught him watching her out of the corner of his eyes while he was pretending to look at the bounty of food on the table.

 

Roe cleaned the orange sauce from her plate with a piece offlat bread, and before she could take a bite, Kit slammed her fist onto the table. "I got it! When I was watching you sleep, you looked soooo peaceful, so serene. Since you should be like that more often and quit worrying so much, we should name you Serene!" Kit jumped up onto the table, posing on one foot, proudly. Roe watched her for a long time without responding, before taking a bite of her orange stained bread. "I don't think we should name her after an emotion... that's a bit to girly for her." Dalia scratched her thing thoughtfully, while Kit drooped and sat back down, onto the floor, thankfully.

 

Roe narrowed her eyes. Again with the boyish comments. Daliasnapped her fingers, and again the Roe grimaced from surprise. "I know! We could name her a made up name, like Serena!" Dalia smiled proudly and pointed her finger up at the ceiling, elbow bent, in a gesture the Roe didn't recognize. She eyed up on the ceiling to make sure she wasn't pointing at anything in particular. "No, I know to many Serena's, its a common name..." Kit crinkled her nose at that. Dalia nodded reluctantly. "Yes, your right... she shouldn't be commonly named." The Roe half expected Dalia to add "She's very uncommon!" but thankfully she did not.

 

The Roe lifted her cup of water and brought it to her lips.She eyed the two women suspiciously, waiting for them to make another sudden noise... they both were deep in thought, which worried the Roe more then she'd like to admit. She slowly tilted the cup of well water to her lips, just before Kit slapped the table with both hands. The Roe dribbled the water down her chin, which she growled at.

 

"I got it! Sierra! Sierra!" "Sier... Sierra,huh..." Kit waited with bated breath as Dalia pondered the name. The Roe glanced at Rahman who was cleaning his own plate at this point. His lack of response, told the Roe this kind of behavior wasn't uncommon. "I think we have a winner." Dalia nods and smiles. "Hooray! Sierra, Dalia and Kit Tay Monte, together forever." Kit shuffled in her seat back in forth, waving her hands side to side in a little dance. The Roe eyed the two back and forth for awhile. "...What? I'm not a Monte." Dalia grimaced, showing some teeth but didn't say anything. Kit however shook her head and smiled a toothy, fang filled smile. "Neither am I, but I'm part of the family now too."

 

The Roe took this all in. These two keep on getting weirderand weirder to her. Perhaps her nefarious assumptions of them, were indeed correct at this point. She glanced at Rahman who seemed to be apart of the conversation for the first time. "Well that's a bit... of a foreword way to put it, but I could use another hand around the looms. My darling granddaughter for all her worth... is..." Rahman struggled to find a delicate way to put it. As Dalia frowned sadly, Kit interjected loudly. "She stinks at the loom! Even I learned faster! Hahaha!" Dalia glared at Kit who just smiled happily at the Roe.

 

The Roe blinks and glanced at the old man. "What makesyou think I would want to be apart of your family, or business?" The Roe cringed inside, as all three of the faces around her fell at once. Dalia appeared as if she was holding back tears, Kit looked as if she had been physically injured, and even Rahman looked a mixture of alarmed and embarrassed. "Well I-I don't... I didn't mean to... I don't I suppose." Rahman stammered.

 

Roe began to imagine the ground opening up beneath her."Yes, we're sorry, um... Sierra?" Dalia asked the name, as if looking for permission to use it. The Roe nodded glumly. It was the least she could do. "Im sorry to, I was just teasing... I mean I kinda wanted us to be a team of three not just a duo but... I mean I was teasing, yea..." Kit seemed oddly somber, it did not suite.

 

"Yes, Sierra it is, that's me, my name isSierra..." Sierra nodded, sounding the word out in her mouth. It wasn't a terrible name, nor was helping out with the weaving a terrible fate. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Well um... we didn't find a coin purse on you, and you'll need money if you wanted to go into town. So um, tomorrow, if you would help me with the loom, I would pay you for a days work. It wont be much, but it should be enough to help you get your new start elsewhere if that's what you want." Rahman poised the suggestion tactfully, and Roe could see the gears in his mind turning, thinking of ways to get her to stay. Dalia and Kit brightened and nodded eagerly. Of course they would be in favor of this idea, Sierra thought.

 

"I have no objections, I will spend two days workingfor you, one to pay you back for the hospitality, the other for coin." Sierra stated, her words sounding more like law then an idea. Rahman blinked and nodded. "I... that's very generous of you, you dont need to do that though. I have no trouble paying you for both days. "No. Honor will not allow me to take favors and hand outs. I am not your servant nor am I a spoiled child. It is only fare." The Roe nodded, her eyes firm and unwavering. Rahman could feel the obsolution in her voice and didnt dare argue, instead her joked. "Well, you dont know how little I plan on paying you." Kit and Dalia laughed, while Sierra blinked in surprise.

 

"Very good, your hands pick up working the loomfast..." Rahman said, looking over her shoulder at her work. Sierra pushed the loom foreword and back, while moving her fingers around the yarn. "So you keep telling me." Sierra replied. Rahman clapped his hand against her shoulder gently. Sierra was still getting used to all of the physical contact. For some reason she associated it with violence or sexual advances, never just... because. It seems the Monte's are a touchy feely family, yet another thing she would be forced to get used to if she remained.

 

"Your fingers are thick and strong, but they can movewith grace. Like I've said, you could learn to do anything you put your mind to with those hands." Sierra shook her head and continued to work. It was odd to her he felt her hands were somehow proof of what she knew to be true, that hard work, ambition, these are the things that make possibility into reality. She stopped working for a bit, and looked down at her hands. These hands didn't get where they were by creating tapestries, or sewing cloth. She inspected her callouses, the scars on her right palm. These were the hands of a warrior, a fighter, a killer. It was only a matter of time before her instincts, her killing nature returned. An ache in the pit of her stomach, only affirmed her thoughts.

 

She rubbed her scar, she had been doing it more and moreoften when she thought of the past. She was doing it now thinking of the future. Sierra didnt know what future was in store for her, she did not know her past. She did know, apart of her, wanted to know her past, needed to. Her hands shook a bit as they returned to the loom. As the ache in her stomach began to subside, she felt a familiar feeling once more. The same feeling that withheld her hand when Dalia brought her the soup, the feeling that held her violence nature back, she felt it wrap around her like a warm blanket.

 

"So... did you make your decision... about where you'dlike to go tomorrow?" Rahman wasnt even being tactful anymore. He was flat out asking now. Sierra nodded, but didn't tell him more. She left for her room, only to be intercepted by Dalia and Kit.

 

"So! While I was WAY to foreword before, about the lastname bit, we were thinking..." Dalia interrupted Kit. "We were thinking, you should probably chose a family name, even if its not your real one. Because..." Sierra raised a hand firmly, interrupting them both with just a gesture and a look. Sierra was mildly pleased by this. "Stop. There is no need." Kit blinked and frowned. "What? Why not...?" Sierra hesitated for a brief moment, apart of her felt sick at the thought of what she was about to say next. Still, the other part of her felt oddly warm and fuzzy. She chose to embrace that part of her, at least for now.

 

"Sierra Monte, should suffice for now... until Iremember who I was." Dalia brightened and opened her mouth to say something, before Kit interrupted her by jumping up into the air screaming "Hooray!" Yep... that queasy feeling definitely isn't going away anytime soon. Still... she felt slightly pleased at the reaction of these two, enough to give them both a slight smile. 

Whatever the future holds in store for Sierra, whatever past she ledbefore this, she would at least be able to face it all, with this odd ball family at her back.