Common

His pride, inflated just moments before, shriveled like a punctured balloon when he mentioned the Badlands. She recoiled as if struck by a viper. His brow furrowed as she declared a resounding "No!"—she would never go there. Her head snapped away, her gaze fixed on the distant horizon, then just as abruptly, her fiery eyes returned to him. She launched into a story of how the Badlands had stolen her mother, her words laced with accusations about his choice to live there.

Then, her piercing gaze locked on him. "Is Rafe still around?"

Shitric hadn't a clue who Rafe was. When he and his brother had arrived, the Badlands were deserted, only the faintest traces of a previous herd clinging to the air. He drew a breath, whiskers twitching, as he absorbed everything she'd thrown at him. Her childhood pain, her anger towards the Badlands, and this Rafe— was a festering wound.

"Rafe? The Badlands were abandoned when my brother and I found them. So, no... there is no Rafe there." He paused, searching for the right words. No amount of cleverness could erase her trauma. But he could offer a balm of understanding. "I'm sorry for what you've been through. And, if I may say so, your mother was a fool to abandon her child." His own mother had profoundly shaped his life, and he understood the vital need for that connection.

He continued cautiously, "It sounds like it was not the Badlands that were responsible for stealing her heart. Perhaps... someone else had." He knew he was treading on dangerously thin ice, but the observation felt crucial.