Eina

If it wasn't for the stupid rain... oh well. It wasn't the rain's fault, anyway. Her brother, though--he just had to go and start a fight, didn't he? Of course. His reasoning was beyond her, which was infuriating, but she still loved him.

"H-hey, th-" he started speaking, before cutting off at the sight of her glare. A nervous little sigh escaped, and he went completely silent.

It was tough, carrying him, but at least she wasn't pulling all of his weight. He could still walk, and he was walking, but he was still leaning into her shoulder a little too much. Oh, and he was soaked. They both were.

"You could've at least chosen a more reasonable time to go brawl, y'know?" she said, more to herself. A slight inhalation of breath, then the reply. "I- it-" he paused, "I'm sorry." She glanced at him, but it was reflex. He was sincere, every time, but did that stop him? No.

She sighed this time. "It's alright. But a banged-up appraiser isn't going to do well for business."

The merchants hadn't even seen them coming, and now they were in the middle of a bandit raid. Blood, horse, running feet, shouts and screams. And her, underneath the cargo with an injured brother and her father's corpse lying on the ground outside her cover. Her brother was breathing heavily. She hoped he wasn't going to die soon. Another person, dead- it was best not to think about it.

There was a voice, negotiating. It was hard to make out the words, but it sounded like someone was agreeing to... join? All this carnage, and they were agreeing to join? What kind of person did that?

Wait, no. That was

her mother

That wasn't right. Couldn't be, she was hearing things, hallucinating, the stress had gotten to her

her mother's voice

no. Someone screamed.

That someone was her, she hadn't even realized for a second.

Sense clamped her mouth and moved. She hadn't known she could drag her brother, let alone when he was limp like this, but she could and she did.