Shadow Mountain i walked in dark streets to punish myself

As she drifted through the trees, Ruenna wondered idly if the sobs echoing off the mountain were a ghostly manifestation of her own pain, finally too abunadant and acute to be contained within one body.

Now that she was joined with Liri, she finally felt that she was in the right place... But in securing that place for herself, she had alienated the Diasporans, who perhaps would have been as close as family given a little more time. It was still up in the air as to whether Diaspora would accept an alliance, and the possibility that they would not kept Rue awake at night. 

Rue had taken to wandering through the territories surrounding Arrow Lake every now and then, hoping against hope that she might run into Mahler. She wanted updates on the alliance decision, sure, but there was also a persistent, nagging feeling that the two of them had more to say. His silence at the end of their last conversation had been quite deafening, and Rue wondered if the Kapitan had been holding back his true opinions in the presence of the Diasporan General. 

The sounds of weeping were growing nearer, and Rue's heart ached for the pain she heard in the disembodied voice. Swallowing her own troubles, she started toward the source of the noise. Soon a shadowy figure was visible stumbling through the trees, and Rue emitted a soft woof to attract the stranger's attention. 

"Lo, traveler," she called, her voice kind and her countenance brimming with empathy. "May I come closer?" If he didn't want company, so be it, but the counselor's heart inside Rue couldn't simply ignore such an outward show of suffering. She had to at least try to help. If rejected, she would send a silent prayer up to the stars for the stranger and continue on her way.