over and over again

M  A   E    A I talked to God to no avail Said, "If you won't save me, please don't waste my time." Charming. Pleasant, in a chatty way. And he was stubborn too. Maea considered refusing in earnest, but when Amun just kept holding the cloak out she relented, and accepted it. The weight of it about her shoulders was almost enough to drag her to the ground. Gods, it was heavy! or was she the one who'd gone without food for too long? She couldn't quite recall the last time she'd eaten properly. It must have been... the festival? That was days ago. Many days ago, and she'd been too sick after that to do more than nibble on her food. "Wish I knew" she sighed. "I went out into the Greatwoods, just once. To see it, you know, as the wall came down just a few weeks ago and... and I've never gone beyond before. I thought, maybe just this once, how bad can it be? But then the storm came, and it got colder as I tried to find my way back home, but I lost track of the path. Then the snow came, and the wind, and..." She shook her head, disbelief plain on her face as she stared out at the white expanse. Some storm indeed, if it had landed her in a completely foreign region. What misfortune had brought her into this? And had her luck changed now, with this timely arrival of this kindly stranger? She glanced sideways at Amun, quietly taking in his appearance, the obvious lack of clothing in a freezing place, his ease of movement and the lack of surprise at her revelation of where she had come from. It struck her as odd that he would have heard about the fall of the barrier already, and his comfort in this cold place was... unusual. Either he was abandoned like her, and versed in some kind of magic, or... but no, that couldn't be. Not here. Not so soon. "Do you... live around here?" she asked.