#prtki

𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑺𝑬𝑹𝑷𝑬𝑵𝑻 & 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑾𝑰𝑵𝑮𝑺 𝑶𝑭 𝑵𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻. 🐍 // @prtki

@prtki

"I love my homeland but my homeland does not love me."

Her homeland is the center country and by far, the largest. It's primarily made up of flat fields perfect for farming. To the north are the mountains that protect the country from the blistering cold of the uncharted northern lands of ice. To the south is the coastline and ocean where their most beloved king was buried in haste. To the east are more countries, some friends and some just hazardous. And to the west was a dead land of sand that revealed itself to be full of heart and strength - the home she called her own for a handful of centuries.

To talk about her home of green only wouldn't be right, for the desert fortress cradled her in its embrace during some of the worst years her world had ever known.

And both of them she loves equally. This world... she loves it. She wasn't born within the Deep Woods, funny enough. Born during the changing of leaves within a prairie just outside of the largest forest in her country - until it was burned down but ignorant humans that know nothing of witches. Having fled into the heart of the forest, a cabin was built between a mother and her daughter. And there they called home ever since.

She loves this home, even if it has been quiet and cold for centuries. The fireplace is her only means of comfort, of warmth in this isolation. In her exile. It's the only thing that makes the ancient witch feel not so alone - as if there is another there to make this house a home again. It burns almost constantly.

This land she loves no longer loves her. They could endure her being a savior and villain - they could endure so much, but not that. She had to accept this land that she loved, these people that she existed to help, hated her beyond words and beyond actions - to the point they simply... wanted her gone. It didn't stop her from enacting her purpose, even until the end. Even when her home world was on the brink of unending and she gave the most prized possession she had to the one thing that could save it. Before she left to die for this land, this world, this universe.

Don't Toy With Me || Accepting!

@prtki

Eh? Well that was a strange thing --- oh, she must have been overheard...well. That was a bit awkward, arms crossed over her chest as her puffy coat shifted a bit on her tiny frame. A small huff from the blue skinned Half-breed as her ears wiggled a tad. Masked features hid her gaze, but one could feel the piercing of scarlet orbs behind it.

A tone of amusement as her tail flicked about.

❝ Weren't offerin' ta get ya anythin', lass. Was talkin' ta meself. S'all. But since ya seems ta be payin' soooo good attention ta me? Well, I'll bite --- ya sures ya wants nothin'? Tha tavern has some damned good Honey Wine, and since ya wanna pay so's good attention ta lil ole me, why don'ts I treats ya?~ ❞ To anyone who knew Zana...they knew this was a ploy, but to this poor newcomer?

@prtki

There's a slow tilt of the witch's head, slanting it ever so slightly at the words - as if they were foreign to her.

"By simply having the will to not go mad, I'd imagine?" The answer almost sounded like a jest and yet the faint smile didn't quite meet her dark gaze. Squinting slightly, Mortem contemplated the words further for a moment.

@prtki

"It is, isn't it?" The witch concurred with amusement lacing her tone at the subject of hope. "Perhaps that's why mortals hold it close; because the most dangerous things are often the ones worth fighting for."

Isn't that how it always went in the hymns? The fairytales and legends passed down within cultures - all about great trials that were overcome with things like hope. Hope to save a loved one. Hope to protect a home. Hope for a future.

Hope... to just make it through the day.