~Discovery of a Child and Disappearance of a Halfling~
(( Smooshed this in before Anthos so you guys could have a new babby with you on the ship! :3 Honestly though, it's kinda sad... :( WARNING: Long post... I got too excited. :P Feel free to skip to the bottom for a TL;DR! xD ))
Silence. Silence rang loud and clear through the empty lands of Elysium. Upon the ashen grounds and dilapidated burrows of the New Vale, a pale halfling lady, seeming to be made of bones, sat still like a statue. Her sunken face, framed by scraggly strands of dull auburn hair, was stained with dried tears, but her eyes, one grass green and the other, sea blue... Were empty.
A young and curiously small halfling girl, perhaps close to the age of four, observed the dry ground surrounding her and giggled, plucking at withering flowers. She skipped toward the woman, the yellowing grass receding beneath her bare feet. She smiled as sympathetically as a little child like her could, acting as though she understood the woman's sadness. Taking the flowers, she placed them in the palm of the older halfling's hand and wrapped her arms around her. "Flowe's.. fer ye, mummy..." Finally the still lady shifted, cradling the girl in her arms. Roxanne held her daughter close, crying softly.
After her first child, Roxanne knew, felt, she was sickly, that it was unsafe to birth another. However, she didn't have the heart to tell her husband, Bili, this and went along with it, praying to the Pumpkin Lord that the baby she'd give birth to would enter the world, even if it meant that she'd have to leave it. As the baby drew nearer and nearer to being born, a feeling of impending doom formed within the back of Roxanne's mind. She grew paranoid and unusually depressed for a halfling, so when the rest of the tiny folk relocated to Kalos, Roxanne stayed behind. She hoped to have the baby on her own, so the others wouldn't have to see her pass and would eventually get to meet her child as well as care for her when Roxanne wouldn't be able to.
On the day that the baby was about to be born, a lively lady halfling visited the New Vale, thinking that it was where the hobbits lived. A messenger, she said she was, just passing through, but when she observed Roxanne's condition, she couldn't bear to leave her alone. The messenger ended up aiding Roxanne through the birth and her illness and acted as her caretaker for years after. And the child, though scrawny, was, thankfully, healthy. However, the same couldn't be said for Roxanne.
She was bedridden for at least a year, leaving the messenger to care for the little one. Even when she could stand, she was much weaker than before. Frail, like an old lady. However, Roxanne did make an effort to spend time with her sweet daughter, yet she'd started to act much more... Detatched.
Roxanne knew that her end was inevitable and that she'd have to let her daughter go. She sent her child and a small note with the messanger to travel to Kalos in search of the other halflings, mainly Bili, and gave them both one last goodbye. She told them to not to come back for her... That she would be with them soon enough. "As a spirit," Roxanne thought.
The door to the Hollowmead Home creaked loudly as the messenger shuffled inside. She set the little girl down on a bed and handed her the worn note, smiling weakly. "Give this t' yer daddy, a'righ'?" The four-year-old looked up at her with large eyes, one grass green and the other, sea blue. "Daddy...? Bu' I dun'... 'ave a daddy..." The messenger chuckled slightly and patted the little one's head. "Actually, ye do darlin'. Ye'll be stayin' with 'im while yer mummy is..." Her voice faltered, not knowing what to say. Roxanne's daughter nodded slowly, and the messenger scooted out the door. "Jus' stay 'ere 'til some'un fin's ye. I... 'ave t' go... G'bye, darlin'..." As the halfling lady left, the child opened the note in her hand.
Dear Bili,
I'm sorreh I wasn' able t' be with ye fer all o' these years... I missed ye, bu' I ain' 'ealthy anymo'e an' by th' time ye read this lette' I may be d- *the word is crossed out with a blurry streak of black ink* I jus' wan'ed t' say tha' I loved ye an' I go' a presen' fer ye! Our little girl...
G'bye me love,
Roxanne
The girl squinted at the note, unable to read any of it. But she ran her skinny fingers over the crossed word and was able to make out the letters: D-E-A-D. She didn't know what that meant, but I'm sure you do.
A pale halfling lady sat by the docks, breathing in the green grass and the blue sea.
(( TL;DR: Roxanne had a babby girl! But Roxanne is no longer with us... JK, she's not exactly dead. Her status is more... Unknown. I just felt the need to explain where she is and has been through a post, y'know? :P
Okey dokey, den! I'm sowwy, but I'll probably be taking a break from the halflings for a bit. I'll be back though! :) I could neva' leave all o' y'all be'ind! :D STAY JOLLY HALFLIN'S! ))