Hello, Everyone!
Last time, after getting back to Erathos, our heroes were faced with a dilemma – go to Pamagos and face Nurvureem (and hopefully kill her before she killed more innocent people), or track their other foe, Racox, before he reached the White Queen (who was, admittedly, quite more powerful than her Black counterpart) and persuaded her to attack ALL of the continent.
They picked the latter, did some Scrying on the Dry Hand and found out that he was pretty close – just on the other side of Frinkeltong. However, to reach him, they had to fly, and that was going to exhaust their magical resources. So, they decided to stop at Frinkeltong and gather their strength before going the rest of the way.
They flew.
The first hour went almost without speaking, each of the three strapped to Aurum’s eagle form and huddled deep in their winter cloaks. Perhaps everyone had something on their mind. Mary thought back on her conversation with Gillean. She had to talk to Bruno. Show him that she understood, and try to tell him her point of view.
It was during one of their quick rests between Aurum’s eagle forms, that Mary decided to act on her intentions. She waited for a moment when the other two were busy with some small talk, and sat down next to the cleric.
“Hey,” she said quietly. “I’m… sorry.”
“What?” Bruno lifted his head from his Holy symbol and looked at her as if he was just now seeing her.
“I’m… sorry,” Mary repeated. For some reason, it was a really difficult word to say. “For being reckless.”
Bruno raised his eyebrows in surprise. He snickered.
“Ha! Really? In which of all the occasions?”
Mary scowled at him. Here she was, doing the hard thing and apologising, and he was making fun of her?! She opened her mouth to give him a biting reply but gritted her teeth instead. She’d promised Gillean that she’d be calm.
“I’m sorry," she said slowly, "for when I switched with Nymphadora."
“I accept your apology,” Bruno said sternly. “Your actions back then put us all in danger.”
What?! Why was he still nagging her about it, even after her apology?! Mary took a breath to argue in her defence but she stopped herself, again. Gillean had said to think the way Bruno did.
“I guess I did put us in danger… logically speaking,” she said, picking her words very carefully. “I was very emotional then, I feared that Nymphadora would get hurt because of us.”
“Nurvureem wasn’t going to hurt her right away.”
“Maybe not physically,” Mary said. “But what about all the horror she was going to put her through?”
“Right,” Bruno sneered. “And you helped, how? By taking her out of her own body and thrusting her into another without any kind of warning. Yeah, that wasn't traumatising at all!”
Mary glared at him. Why was he like this? Couldn’t he try to understand her the way she was trying to understand him?
“Bruno, I had to get her out of there as soon as possible!” she insisted. “After I first met Nurvureem, the nightmares were my whole life! The way she spoke to me, the things she promised she’d do, the way I saw her torture Fennec… Even until THIS day, I quiver just thinking of that! And I-- I’m an adventurer! A capable one, at that! I’m tougher and more experienced in scary situations than Nymphadora. She is just a girl. Who knows what Nurvureem was going to do to her psyche!”
“You said it yourself!” Bruno argued. “You’re an adventurer. How did switching with Nymphadora help us? Your friends? You disappeared and went into the body of 'just a girl’, and we were left with her, instead of you! You deprived the group of a capable adventurer. You left us on our own!”
Bruno’s words cut deep into Mary’s heart. He was right. She hadn’t realized she was leaving them back then. She was so worried about Nymphadora that she forgot that her friends could also worry.
(‘Maybe Bruno is stressed out,’ Gillean had said. Mary hadn’t done anything to alleviate his stress.)
“We are one group, Mary!” the cleric continued. “We should trust each other! So, trust us.”
Mary thought she’d started trusting them after Myth Adofhaer. She’d vowed to be more open and share her thoughts… But sharing was difficult when the other side questioned everything you did and rejected your every idea as if it was childish or stupid.
“I promise I’d tell you of my plans in the future,” she said after a long pause. “But I ask for something in return. Please, don’t treat me like I’m not capable of thinking for myself, or like I’m fragile or incompetent. Don’t treat me like a child!”
She looked at her friend, searching for understanding in his face; but all she saw was another scoff.
“I wouldn’t treat you like a child, if you didn’t behave like one. Show me that you can hold up your own and think with your head!”
He continued talking but Mary couldn’t listen any longer. Blood started pounding in her ears, a sudden fury rising so quickly and overwhelmingly, that she found it hard to breathe.
She’d tried to understand him. She’d bared her soul to him! She’d shown vulnerability, she’d pleaded for being treated like an equal! And all she got in return was a lecture.
Like a CHILD!
Without saying another word, Mary stormed off into the night.
“Hey,” Agatha called after her. “Are you and Bruno fighting or something?”
Mary didn’t answer. She opened her Book of Shadows and scribbled angrily.
”I tried! You saw that I tried!”
An answer came soon enough.
“I never said it was going to be easy.”
I love it when characters have disagreements during a story or a D&D game! It’s so juicy and dramatic! :) Of course, we, the players, are capable of separating the game and real life (most of the time). So, we don’t fight, not really.
Have you had such a disagreement during any game that you’ve played?
See you next time!
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide, the Glossaries (Part 1 and Part 2)
and the Map for the series. You're welcome!)
An important disclaimer: Mary Windfiddle's story is my notes from a D&D game turned into a narrative. All the worldbuilding and NPC encounters belong to our DM, and all the actions of the other main characters (Aurum, Bruno and Agatha) belong to my co-players. My contribution to the story is only everything Mary-related (actions, reactions, inner thoughts), as well as the writing itself.