As a child you would wait, and watch from far away.
But you always knew you'd be the one to work while they all play.
As soon as the chestnut mare hears the other girl's story, she immediately relaxes, and immediately feels bad. Her coat loses what little luster it had, and her brown eyes sink to the ground, hesitating to meet the eyes of the new mare. She believes very strongly in kinship amongst the Valley-dwellers, and she hates that she's just violated one of her own cardinal rules.
And even worse, even she - this awkward, uncoordinated girl - can tell that something is bothering her new countrywoman. She's speaking almost as awkwardly as Librette herself is known to, letting her words run away from her in the exact same way that has characterized the awkward chestnut for the entirety of her life.
She lets the other girl finish, and when she speaks this time it's softer - contrite, if you will. "Sorry, Quorra, I didn't...know." she finishes, a little lamely. She didn't something, but knowing may or may not have been it. Didn't think? Didn't realize? "I'm Librette." she offers somewhat lamely, glancing at the girl. "Welcome to the Valley." she offers the words almost like a peace offering. "I'm sure you'll...get on here just fine." the chestnut girl mimics her words, not to mock her, but because she can't think of any synonyms for what Quorra had just described.
A moment passes in silence. "Um, as far as where to go, or what to do, well, right now you're in the center of the kingdom, more or less. We have kingdom meetings here. You just missed one, actually." She says, realizing as she does that the mare probably knew all of that from observing.
"Are you a fighter, or are you more of a talker?" she enquires, never thinking that Quorra might not want to dive into the kingdom ranks. Such things don't occur to Librette; she's such a creature of duty that she can't imagine a world without working for the kingdom.
And then she is silent.
Don't weep for me LIBRETTEBecause this will be the labor of my love.
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Link to the original thread, for your reference  http://www.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?action=read&id=1426973237.75011&user=beqannavalley
Her new 'friend' seems to be backtracking. It's fair enough when she thinks about it, she has just wandered in like a spy in the night, appearing mysteriously around what she can only now assume was a secret meeting. Well at least they guard their borders well here. Still, she feels a little dejected and disheartened. At least she gets the welcome she had missed at the start, belated but still sincere. And this mare doesn't seem so bad, perhaps one day they might become friends? A friend, at least an ally, would not go amiss. She nods in thanks, deciding to accept whatever is given to her.
"I wouldn't say I'm good at either. If I am attacked, I can fight. If I can avoid a fight with words, I will try. I know my flaws - patience is not a virtue I can speak of," she says, chewing her lip nervously. Whatever can they give her to do here? She hasn't done much of anything, in fact, now more than ever before she looks back at the beginning of her life and feels that is it wasted. Too late to go back and fix it, but perhaps it is not too late to start again.
"What is it that you do?" she enquires gingerly, hoping to divert attention away from her perceived failures. The light buckskin stands there awkwardly awaiting a reply, wishing against all hopes that there was an easier way to fit in.
(icky, but done!)
As a child you would wait, and watch from far away.
But you always knew you'd be the one to work while they all play.
It's okay Quorra, we'll forgive you, because clearly you have not met Librette.
She talks in backtracking, talking herself into a corner and then desperately maneuvering to get herself back out again. Only when it's absolutely necessary, when the fate of the Valley (or at least, its diplomatic relations) are on the line does she manage to speak fluently, fluidly, and find all the words that she needs. Outside of that she tends to be the awkward kind, her words fighting her as they come out, and she fighting back in an attempt to level the playing field.
Don't take it personally, really. It's just Librette.
"I'm not so good with the words." she says with a chuckle, a small smile playing on her lips. "Bet you couldn't tell." she tries to make fun of herself, trying to create some kind of kinship with this stranger-friend. "I'm a fighter." she says, leaving out the details of her long life. She doesn't mention fighting in the Deserts, the Gates, the many other battles that she's had over the unnatural lifespan of hers. And she doesn't mention the fight she lost – the one that's written across her chest in a conspicuous white scar.
"That's the thing though," she continues after a pause. "You don't just have to do whatever you're good at. If you want to learn, you can always learn. Covet leads the army, I'm sure he'd be glad to teach you. Or me, if you'd prefer someone who isn't him." She offers it as a branch of friendship, although only Librette would try to offer fighting someone with that goal in mind. But she means it kindly, really she does.
She sees that the other woman is almost as nervous as she is, and she does what comes naturally to her: she starts rambling a ramshackle string of words and hopes that one or two of them will soothe her companion. "I didn't really know how to fight when I came here. I'd done a bit, sure, because I was on my own before I joined up. But I didn't really know anything." she had been so young then, a chestnut bit of a thing from a far away land. She'd never expected what she had found here in Beqanna.
"It's really your choice. Whatever you want to do." She looks to the other mare, flicking her tail across her unremarkable haunches. "If you're not sure, maybe give both a try? It can't hurt." She pauses for another moment. "Or…well, or not, if you're not comfortable. There's time."
But not much, not really, not with the Amazons' ascending strength, chaos in the Deserts, and who knew what all. In Beqanna, there's never time to do nothing. He who wanders aimlessly is always lost.
Don't weep for me LIBRETTEBecause this will be the labor of my love.
Image copyright FFFiiiAA
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No worries! <3
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