// I tried to scream but my head was underwater //
With her fingers comfortably wrapped against the cup to warm them, Maea pressed the rim against her bottom lip while listening. What Remi knew wasn't much, but it did at least offer her a place to start.
"Alright. Well, from what I have been told, the Climb was a much different place back then. It was bigger, far more inhabited, and different factions warred for dominance. Apparently it was a harsh place to live, with cruelty being more rule than exception, and in some cases I'm told that the bloodlust was sort of... weaponized? Some were kept from sating it so long that they became frenzied, to the point where they would eat anything. Or anyone."
Naming no one, she didn't say who she had been speaking to. It didn't matter, wasn't relevant to the story - and she didn't want to break any confidence more than necessary. Even so her expression remained grim, and she turned her gaze to the rainy afternoon beyond the large windows as her tone took on a dry tone, distant and dispassionate - clearly attempting to distance herself from what she was talking about.
"One person I met last year confessed to me outright that they came from a village of... of cannibals. Like Whitebrim? But he kept insisting that he was following the rules now and preferred deer anyway, and I... let myself be content with that. Because let's face it, I'm the newcomer to an old race, with old customs, and... and I don't want this to be like last time." Rejecting companionship, relations, the offer of a family and a place to belong purely because she didn't understand.
"Anyway. We've had some heated arguments on and off, but it always resolved itself somehow. But there was an incident at the Dusklight over Longnight where a customer got violent and had to be restrained, and afterwards he was acting strange. So when he left to talk to the guards about what happened, I followed him to see what was going on. And I caught him..." She swallowed thickly. "I caught him torturing and eating the guy. And after confronting him about it, he told Danta. Who got upset with me for getting upset at all. And... I..." Slowing, she dared to sneak a glance over at Remi. The more she spoke, the more aware Maea became of how truly messed up it sounded. "Uhm. Any... questions so far?"
"Alright. Well, from what I have been told, the Climb was a much different place back then. It was bigger, far more inhabited, and different factions warred for dominance. Apparently it was a harsh place to live, with cruelty being more rule than exception, and in some cases I'm told that the bloodlust was sort of... weaponized? Some were kept from sating it so long that they became frenzied, to the point where they would eat anything. Or anyone."
Naming no one, she didn't say who she had been speaking to. It didn't matter, wasn't relevant to the story - and she didn't want to break any confidence more than necessary. Even so her expression remained grim, and she turned her gaze to the rainy afternoon beyond the large windows as her tone took on a dry tone, distant and dispassionate - clearly attempting to distance herself from what she was talking about.
"One person I met last year confessed to me outright that they came from a village of... of cannibals. Like Whitebrim? But he kept insisting that he was following the rules now and preferred deer anyway, and I... let myself be content with that. Because let's face it, I'm the newcomer to an old race, with old customs, and... and I don't want this to be like last time." Rejecting companionship, relations, the offer of a family and a place to belong purely because she didn't understand.
"Anyway. We've had some heated arguments on and off, but it always resolved itself somehow. But there was an incident at the Dusklight over Longnight where a customer got violent and had to be restrained, and afterwards he was acting strange. So when he left to talk to the guards about what happened, I followed him to see what was going on. And I caught him..." She swallowed thickly. "I caught him torturing and eating the guy. And after confronting him about it, he told Danta. Who got upset with me for getting upset at all. And... I..." Slowing, she dared to sneak a glance over at Remi. The more she spoke, the more aware Maea became of how truly messed up it sounded. "Uhm. Any... questions so far?"
Maea
// They called me weak, like I'm not just somebody's daughter //
