Raven's Watch birds of a feather

Kirain's response to Mictec's question dissolved into a profound silence. She turned away, her gaze drifting unfocused across the weathered, textured surface of the rocky wall. The stone's harsh contours mirrored the jagged landscape of her inner emotional terrain. 

"A home," she whispered, her voice barely audible. "A purpose." Her words hung suspended between vulnerability and desperate hope. "I'm not particular about the details. I simply cannot endure this crushing isolation any longer."

The raw admission seemed to physically diminish her, as if speaking the truth had drawn away what little strength remained. A profound weariness, deeper than mere physical exhaustion, seemed to seep from her very soul. It was an aching, hollow void that threatened to consume her, a relentless emptiness she was fighting desperately to fill.