Redsand Canyon i will make myself steel

i am mulberry. she offers her name as prompted; a bit sheepish that she had not offered it sooner prior to being asked. nevertheless, she does not focus on that detail for long; tuning into how the imperator describes mereo. a military outpost. he details the ranks and then introduces himself and his absent wide, matrona ruenna, he calls her.

dull golden gaze focuses upon him; soft furrow of brow emphasizing that she was taking his words seriously. somehow, perhaps strangely, this pack reminds her of derg and a pang of longing for her father swells up like an unquelled tide.

mulberry swallows it back, afraid it might ( embarrassingly ) consume her.

i can hunt well enough, mulberry offers, adding after a heartbeat. but i'm eager to hone my fighting skills. my father ...he was a soldier. she does not mean to speak of him in a past tense but death is the only reason she would accept for derg's wordless abandonment; true or otherwise.