Bearclaw Valley I've heard the mumbling of citadels shifting on this richter scale.

Sorry for my own lag! I do love their dynamic too. :> Maybe we can fade here?

Nobody had ever asked the boy what he'd want before, not of anything. It seemed to him that nothing mattered except what he was told to do and how quickly he could do it; the other children came to mind then, their harassment and their corrective teeth. Averna did not speak much to the two boys at all and rarely asked them questions. Astara - she was the sharper of the two by far, at least when it came to reactivity, and more of a mute than her ghostly sister. The boy ran through each of them as he tried to remember the last time someone had asked him anything and there was only a blank stare on his face.

Was it necessary he have a name? Did those with names have more power in this world? Perhaps it was a requirement for determining one's destiny; of course these thoughts were not so concise within the child, whose thoughts were thick like molasses and moving just as slowly. He ruminated on it, and would continue for a while. No answer would come readily to his lips.

Instead, appearing dismayed by the shift of the conversation and the length of time they'd spent together (and at such distance from what the boy knew), he turned towards home and began to meander soundlessly back to the valley. He was less interested in the sounds and smells along the path this time and appeared distracted, clearly thinking long and hard about the question.