Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-25828117-20191118230539/@comment-7262318-20191123193122

Shrava was resting her tired paws underneath a tree. Even as an expressionless porcupine, her frustration came across very clearly. She was tired of this group and she was tired of their nonsense. If it wasn’t for this foolish prophecy, she could have hunted down Delusul and made bacon out of his hide much earlier. Instead, she has spent the last two months trekking around Tamriel for an idiotic prophecy.

Garran came up the road soon after, cautiously approaching the angered Khajiit. “… Shrava?” He asked.

“Hello,” she greeted.

“We, uhm… we found a guy who can reverse the spell,” Garran informed her. “I think he’s working out now.”

“… Good,” She commented.

“… Are you gonna come back?”

“…. has he worked out the reversal process?”

“No.”

“Then this one will stay here and wait,” Shrava decided.

Garran frowned and took a seat next to her, having to crane his neck down in order to look at her. “What got into you back there?”

“Nothing.”

“Shrava, you were… I think you were finally starting to walk out of your shell a little bit and then you just snapped again.”

“She knows.”

“Why?”

Shrava looked up at the deer and simply shrugged. “It is who she is.”

“No, it’s not,” Garran shook his head. “I know who you are, you’ve shown that to me on more than one occasion.”

“Then you are not paying very good attention,” The porcupine shrugged. “This One is not a people’s person.”

“No, but…” Garran sighed. “I… I get that you’re not a people’s person, but there’s no reason to constantly be harping on people like you do… I just don’t understand why you have to shout every little annoyance you have down people’s throats.”

“She is who she is, Garran. She does not sit idly by when she is annoyed. She does not hold her tongue to refrain from hurting feelings. She does not hide her emotions, for that would be deception. If they do not like who she is, then that is no skin off her nose…”

Garran closed his eyes and asked “Not calling people out at every hour of the day ain’t deception.”

“It is,” Shrava refused to budge. “If this one were to just pretend that she does not have these thoughts and emotions, that makes her no better than a liar… This One wears her thoughts on her sleeve.”

“When it’s convenient.”

Shrava glared up at him. “What?”

“When you can drive people away, sure, you just put it all out there,” Garran said. “But when it comes to who you really are, the fears and worries and joys that make you, you just clam up and don’t let any of that out.”

Shrava frowned. “Watch it, Garran…”

“I’m starting to think you like driving people away.”

“She does not!” Shrava leapt up to her feet. “She… no, no! This One does not enjoy any of this!”

“Then why do you keep doing it? Answer me that, what are you gettin’ out of makin’ people feel like shit and driving them all away, huh? Why did this spell turn you into a god-for-saken porcupine?”

“It’s better than alternatives of letting people walk all over her,” Shrava hissed. “Every waking moment, Shrava has been betrayed, back-stabbed, abused, taken-advantaged of… by people she held very close to her.”

“Shrava-“

“Everyone This One have ever trusted, except for you. You wear your thoughts upon your sleeves… you hide nothing from her,” Shrava said. “The one good fish in a vast ocean of liars.”

“Shr-“

“This One does what she has to. These quills, they bear heavy burdens,” Her voice cracked from all the shouting. “Very, very heavy burdens… but burdens that keep this one safe. Shrava cannot trust this group, Garran. For all she knows, she could be killed in her sleep by Scaldor. Or perhaps Lysilde would trade one of us for one of these stupid relics.”

“And how would you know that?”

“She doesn’t, but it’s much safer than assuming the best and being stabbed in the back again.”

Shrava, panting now, plopped back down in the dirt. “She is safe…”

Garran could only help but pity her. If he was not a deer and she would not inadvertently stab her, hje would offer a hug, a kiss, something to just let her know that this paranoia was unjustified. Sighing, he rose to his feet and said “… Shrava-“

“No… don’t talk to her. Nothing you say will fix this.”

She rose up, shaking the dirt off. “… This One will go see the stupid mage.

-

"Please tell me you can fix this too," Alvoran asked, scratching at his beak.