they began to move, and Ceara muttered as they went. the question caught her slightly off guard; the war seemed to far and removed. "figures. I was on my own, then - I don't know too much." a half-truth; she knew just what Vaati had done, or at least part of it.
more alarm bells flashed, and she swallowed thickly. "does a man named Elwood live there?" maybe he'd died in the meantime. gods, she was terrible. still, another obstacle, another variable, and yet she couldn't turn back. maybe he'd forgotten. or had a change of heart.
"I'm glad too." she wasn't sure why she said it, exactly, it was more than just an empty echo of what the woman had said. "I mean, not glad for falling in a hole. but you're-" you're what, exactly? nice? in possession of a nice face? what did the woman mean by that, anyway? damn.
"I won't" she mumbled, ears flicking nervously before she could help it. without screech to help her flee, she'd probably be less than in one piece should Elwood decide to feel threatened again. screech, who apparently was "conked out".
her canine caught on her lower lip when the girl teasingly prompted her ton continue, and, having no experience with this type of thing (whatever it was, exactly - compliment giving) offered only, lamely "pretty...great?" green gaze flashing as she offered a sideways glance, she continued on her quest for lamest compliment. "helping me out of that hole was...great."
it was to her great relief that the clouds seemed to dry up, or at least move on, and the rain trickling down her pelt was no longer constantly replaced. the girl laughed again, and this time it was genuine - at least she hadn't failed entirely in her compliment giving.
it felt odd, to be normal. after what she'd done, maybe she didn't deserve it. she probably had been morally inclined to let her father go, but whatever had happened, she hadn't thought about anything but the rage. she grinned, forcing the thought back, deep away. "I don't know - I mean, all I did was fall into a hole and get stuck." at the latter, she probed, "what were you doing there, anyway? this is the shittiest forest I've seen." it was alright, really - just eerily, annoyingly, similar all around.
"it tried," she offered gloomily, peering back once the way she'd come. the girl's words weren't exactly encouraging, though, and she wondered briefly if it still might.
the woman continued, obviously more comfortable around her now; though the svartell supposed it was easy to feel comfortable around an invalid; all Ceara had to do was run away and leave her to hoddle around the wood till she leaned over and died. the thought made her distinctly uncomfortable, and she continued, "I don't know - you must be pretty good, if you haven't gotten lost yet." she hoped.