weathering_it with Runa

[volurofthehearth]

It's been a long, long Winter. If only it were anywhere near the end. No, it's already getting colder, windier, wilder. 

So far Runa has kept up with Isidor's regime of constant toil and pressure. That woman is a diamond, made by an unquenchable inner fire and immense stress. Runa is not. There is only so much she can do before she feels the absence of her sisters and father. It's a cliché, but surrounded by people, she feels most alone. She just wants one moment, one quiet moment to share with a friend.

Which is why, on the calmest of days so far, she takes the calm as an opportunity to go outside and hunt for at least part of what she yearns for. Viatorus is bound strictly to a small area, but she's free. With him safely by Isidor's side, she can walk the snowy streets and wander to where she knows friends are. She knocks on the door and takes a step back. Thankfully she knows how to dress for the snow. Her thick yellow coat, green hat and tall, thick boots keep her warm while she waits.

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[volurofthehearth]

Of all the things for Anna to say, that was not what Runa had expected. Simply hearing that Harrowheart had hit her draws a sudden, shocked gasp from her, and although she turns to Anna with wide eyes, she knows the young woman is telling the truth. The more she talks, the worse it gets.

By now she's heard of the Winter spirit. Not much. Not enough to think he would be the type of creature to bewitch someone she knew and... It's terrible. Simply terrible!

This awful news has her mind in a whirlwind. Anna's question almost doesn't register. The Swede blinks and looks away, trying to think. "O-Oh... um... No... Not really. He was a soldier. I just assumed it was something to do with that."

[weathering_it]

Now look what she's gone and done. Runa asked for the truth, and Anna ignorantly started giving it. She winces guiltily for a moment before she looks away.

"He didn't become a monster by accident. That's all you need to know."

Turning to Runa once more the rest comes out in a rushing sigh. "I want to love him again, but I can't get over it." She shakes her head. "That's why I said the things I said. And now I want to apologize for it, but if I do, it makes what he did okay. I don't know how to get around it. I can't figure out how to make him family again."

"If that's even possible."

[volurofthehearth]

Didn't become a monster by accident. A monster. Runa's gaze falls worriedly to the snow. He is a monster, isn't he? She's always known that. It was hard to be ok with it at first, but he made it so easy for her to forget. Now she has to remember again, she supposes...

Anna's words drag her eyes back to the other woman. It's true that she doesn't know Harrowheart or Anna as well as she ought to, and that she doesn't understand all that they've been through. But she does know family.

"You should talk to him," she says softly. Her gloved fingers twist in front of her. "Tell him what you've told me. Say that you're sorry for what you said, and for the hurt they caused. Say that what he's done still hurts, and you're not okay with it, but that you don't want to hurt him. With family... With love... All we can do is lay out all our cards on the table, and trust that we can work through things."

[weathering_it]

Anna listens with a furrowed brow, until Runa's words eventually turn her focus into worry and uncertainty. Could it be that easy? Could she say those things? Can she love someone without forgiving their failures?

She tries to smile but it doesn't feel real. Somehow, recognizing the way she's forcing it makes it a little more genuine.

"You're really wise, Runa. You know that?"

Having said that she laughs to herself and nods to the snow before them. "I'll try to take your advice, if I can remember it when the time comes. Until then? I'm trying harder these days to be positive. Why don't we talk about something nicer?"

[volurofthehearth]

It's not easy. Nothing worth doing is ever easy, after all. That's the saying. For this, at least, it's true. Runa doesn't need to be an empath to know how raw Anna's emotions must be. Family is unfortunately talented at causing the deepest wounds.

Anna's smile and compliment gets a laugh from Runa, and she nudges the other woman's arm lightly. "You know what it's like with so many siblings. You have to learn how to sound smarter than them. Even if you're not."

Looping her arm through Anna's, she beams again. "What do you do for fun?"

[weathering_it]

Runa's little joke warms Anna's cheeks with a broad smile and lights up her eyes with restrained laughter. She knows just how to turn the mood around, doesn't she? It makes it easier for Anna to seize onto the hook of casual conversation.

"I read! I've always loved to read. To myself, to other people... I used to read to my brother all the time, since he was never very quick with it. I couldn't be an adventurer myself, so I got my excitement between the pages of books." She laughs self-consciously and shrugs a shoulder. "Not very exciting, I know, but neither was growing up on a farm."

She nods her head vaguely toward the more populated area of the Nexus and says, "Since I've gotten here, I found this place called an arcade full of little games. Have you heard of pinball? Skeeball? There's one game where a little yellow Beholder has to eat fruit before he gets exorcised by rainbow ghosts... And my favorite, which I'm getting really good at, has you play as a little man who jumps up a building to save a princess from an ape."

Anna turns her bright smile to Runa and asks, "How about you?"