Honeyed Pasture But here you come alone and crying, now you want to be my friend

Raleska's curiosity came from two places: one, a wish to know who lived in their general vicinity. And two, a wish to know how that other side lived. Raleska hadn't had an easy life, or an easy upbringing -- she was as indoctrinated to chaos as she was to breathing. It was part of her in every way. She lived it, she breathed it, she endured it -- and in some ways, sometimes she exuded it.

For today, she simply absorbed what Mal said in contemplative silence. Had Rusalka ever tried making an alliance with anyone? Did Erzulie and Rosalyn even care about the world at large? It was not her place to extend an olive branch, but at least now she knew Mal ran a forest that was seemingly stable when it came to life values. Of course, for all she knew, he could be lying or omitting things, too. Since he'd given her a bit of information, Raleska would give some in return. "Doesn't sound so different from my family, back at Rusalka. Mostly it's wolves we found along the way. We don't get to pick our blood relatives, but, we can pick our family -- those that share our values and stuff. My family doesn't have a single biological relative left in it." Raleska's smile was short and seemingly sad, but she brushed it off and continued. "There is enough trouble out there, between the water and everything else." She wondered what he meant by trouble, and backpedaled, her gaze intelligent but not too intense. "Do you think there's any trouble we should worry about?"