Emberflame Ridge Take 'em with me to the grave in a suitcase

Tierra was almost too caught up to hear the stranger approaching, but fortunately she managed to not (embarrassingly) jump at the voice. Instead she shrugged and lined up another rock. It’s fine, I guess. It’d be cooler with water.

This was her first actual company (that was worth anything, maybe) in a while. So she totally had to play it cool and not get all weird about it. She kicked the last rock out over the edge, then stood up and turned towards the stranger, looking her over before looking back in the direction she’d come from.

Do you live around here, or something? I used to come this way all the time when mom lived in Epoch. My weirdo sister used to need herbs from the trees down there. She gestured off the edge of the ridge, then got back to her watching. Whoever it was was okay enough looking - a little thin. (Not that Tierra was much better, or that this fair comparison would cross her mind).

I didn’t know anyone lived around here. She was sure they didn’t, because if they had, Germ totally would have made her visit them with some kind of gift basket too. Thank god he wasn’t around right now.