Moonsong Glacier [m] going toe to toe with an enchantress

admittedly, val didn't know what to expect -- but he didn't expect aventus' reaction to so baldly sting him the way it did. the response he had already carefully drafted on the tip of his tongue withered away like gunsmoke, leaving his throat hot and scalded.

feeling the full weight of aventus' gaze, val looked away and wrestled the lump in his throat back down. "i got chased by a bear." val answered indignantly, which was the truth but only the half of it. he'd reunited with his family again months later, but it hadn't been the home he'd remembered. as talkative as val was, he had no words for the dissonance between his childhood nostalgia and the lens he'd been given as an adult. the cliffs were full of souls who roamed the stony halls, but the life was gone from it --

the life he'd known, anyway.

the mention of saints had his ears perk -- and instead of having the good sense to keep his mouth shut, val blurted: "those are the guys that found me! i stayed with them for a bit but when i came back from a hunt they were gone." he shrugged. "run out, looks like." then it dawned on him. it was a good thing he was on his feet, because he was already stifling the urge to run. "wait a minute... was that you guys?" and then more seriously: "am i in danger?"