Redhawk Caldera Lakeside sunset

"Dad, did you just seriously called me old?" Dwin asked in a mock-how-dare-you voice and expression, but the cheerful twinkle in her eyes gave her away. She was immensely proud of all her ancestors (that she remembered of and had been told about) and being compared to any one of them was a huge compliment to her. 

"Except she did not leave a lot of stories, where she mentions that adventuring is actually very hard," she added, knowing that dad would understand. He was the opposite of Finley - while she had passed on tales with distilled awesomeness, dad recalled all the hardships very well. Before she had ventured outside Brecheliant, like all young people, she did not take Eljay's experience seriously. Figured that he was simply not cut out for that kind of stuff. 

"It's more parts of survival and being lonely and homesick than the ones I can recount as truly amazing," she shared something she would never ever tell either her siblings or friends. Growing up and keeping up appearances was tough and she knew that of all people around her Eljay would understand her the best and would not poke fun at her or judge her. Not that anyone else here would do that, but Dwin had inherited a bit of her mom's insecurity and that had grown a little more pronounced, while she had been away.

"I guess, if I told everyone the whole truth, the story would not be half as interesting, would it?" she looked at him. "I kind of think that stories have done great injustice to people, to whom things do not come easily. Or somehow brush over the fact that even heroes might struggle. That just because it is hard, you are no less of a hero of your own story," she mused, her pace of thoughts now more like a calm river than the usual chaotic rapids and geysers and waterfalls.