The forest was dark, cold, and yet it still had a feeling of safety to Ethel. The small mage wrapped a black cloak around her as she continued to walk the trail. A shiver went down her spine as the cold seemed to bear down harder. She hadn’t a clue why she was there. Peace of mind? She told herself that was what it was, but she didn’t think a walk alone could give her the peace she wants. She found a small creek beside the trail and took a seat down onto the grass. Ethel took in a huff of fresh air as she loosened her hold on a small black cat that had been nuzzled into her chest as she carried it. The feline glanced up to her, seeming confused as to why she stopped moving along the trail. It hopped down, not going far from Ethel, but wandering around the creek bed. “Stay close Shadow!” She called out, hoping she wouldn’t lose her companion to the dark forest.
Ethel looked down into the water, finally admitting to herself why she had taken the time out of her day to walk a dark trail in the middle of the night. She huffed at the admittance. Her mind was scattered, she felt lost. No direction or motivation in sight. She needed to take the time to try and find what she was looking for. She didn’t even know what that something was. The small elven woman looked down into the water, staring at her reflection closely.“Who are you. . ?” She said it audibly as if she wasn’t talking to herself. For a moment she felt like a mad woman, talking to her own reflection. Before she knew it she had even started answering her own question. “Ethel Mournstone.” An angry look came over her face, though a hint of sadness as well. “A failure as both a Mournstone, a Serene, whatever I want to call myself.” She gripped onto her dress as she continued. “A terrible daughter that couldn’t do a damned thing her family told her to do. They knew better than you, and you spat in their face like the useless brat you are!.”
Her voice rose at that, seeming to startle the small cat as it hopped along the rocks in the creek. It was almost impossible the see the cat’s fur, the only thing distinguishing it from the rest of the dark of night was the moonlight casting down. The cat strolled towards Ethel as it noticed her start to sob. Her tears beginning to flow uncontrollably. The elven woman reached into her bag and took out a painting, large in size. It showed a castle, smaller in size than most. She looked over it fondly, memories of happier days rushing through her mind. It had been so many years since she had set foot onto the grounds of that castle. She had honestly lost count. The cat nuzzled itself against her, sensing her distress. Seemingly trying to calm her down.
She took in another deep breath as she spoke. “Why couldn’t you have just been a druid like the rest of them. . ? It would have been so much easier for you. You could have stopped the fighting. All the petty fighting, over what? Someone that turned you into a monster? Someone who lied to you?!” the tears didn’t stop flowing. All of her regret, all of her mistakes, every wrong doing. It all rushed through her, it overwhelmed her. In her mind she tried to calm herself, she shut her eyes. A recent memory came to her. A conversation she had with her mother before they all left Atlas. Her thoughts cleared up, she could finally think. Her gaze went to her golden hair. She shook her head. “I think its time I stop dressing like someone I’m not.” She looked over to her satchel and saw the wand she had crafted decades ago sticking out of its pocket. She reached over and took it, holding it for a good few moments. “And this?” She pondered over her conversation with her mother for a bit longer. Her old stubbornness showing, though this time she overcame that feeling. “I don’t need this. I wasn’t born for what I’ve obtained. Its not for me, someone else can find the dead end that the void brings them.” With that the young elven woman snapped it in two, tossing it into the river. “From this day forth I will no longer touch the void or bring forth it’s creations! I will be what I was supposed to be from the beginning. I will follow in my Uncle, and Mother’s footsteps, all of them! All of those who wanted this!”
She stared down at her satchel and poured its contents out. Books scattered around the ground, books on different magics. Studies of the void, books on magic progression, and even her own journals. Ethel went at it, ripping out page after page from the books until she was satisfied. She let out a huff after the deed was done, and glanced over to her cat. She whistled for him “Come here Shadow. We need to leave the trail.” The cat eagerly hopped into her arms and made himself comfortable. She looked back on the ripped pages. She thought to herself, pondering her choices. She spoke again with conviction “I’m leaving my old name behind, I believe its time I started going by what my birth name was instead of Ethel.” She looked at Shadow with a smile “How does Auruma sound? I think it suits me far better than Ethel ever did.” As she said that the cat began to purr. Ethel let out a chuckle before wandering down the road. “We have a visit to make at the druid’s home.”