Esteldin was a strange, but not disagreeable respite. There were less people than in Bree for sure and most of them minded their own business. Which suited her purpose just fine really.
Assaj looked down at the yew branch she was busy carving. One of the locals, rangers apparently, had noticed her lack of weapon and glances at those at their disposition. After a brusque question, he had handed her some tools, materials and a workplace, after which he had left her in peace. That was five days ago. While she worked, she was allowed to share her meals with them, but that was the best of interactions they had. No talking, no working with them and for once, the savage woman felt an inkling of loneliness.
The Pit, the place where she had slaved away all those years, had always been filled with talking and exchanges. Even when their jailors decided they had to keep it shut, glances and gestures made sure that there was some form of communication among the slaves. But where the Pit's population shared a mutual understanding of the hell they went through, these people in Esteldin didn't. While they had seen their own share of horrors, none of them would ever understand how she saw the world, the pains she had endured and the grief she was ruthlessly pushing out of her mind in attempt to forget about it.
And rangers...truthfully she didn't care much for them. While two of them in Bree had somewhat restored a bit of their reputation, it certainly didn't make her like them. They were all a bunch of holier-than-thou and didn't seem to actually care much for the people they said they protected, but more about keeping to themselves and do just enough so they could sleep at night without feeling guilty.
Almost as bad as golug, in her humble opinion.
A string of curses escaped her when she nicked her finger in a moment of inattention, making one of the locals glare balefully at her. He fled when she returned one of her own, leaving her alone again.
She stared at the small wound for a moment before shrugging. She had worked with worse; this was not going to ruin her relatively good day she was having.
"Chirp, chirp!"
However the voice that was imitating a bird call would...
