Justin has greeted the past days and weeks of randomly wandering the Star 
Mountains with what must be perceived by anyone except perhaps Razz or his 
wife as stony, resigned indifference.  The elements are his tools, he has 
nothing to fear from their effects, and the area is still just unfamiliar 
enough to interest him, however, so were it not for the constant, oppressive 
threat of Ancient intervention he might actually be enjoying himself.  
The country is pretty, his companion is agreeable, and he can almost stop 
worrying about things out here.  Almost.  Not really almost, even.  /Maybe/.

The clouds begin to break apart and the sky shows through.

Razz spent most of her time being silent, her expression unfathomable. It's 
hard to tell how much she's absorbing and seeing, and how close to tears she 
had come sometimes, without even knowing  why. A feeling of nostalgia 
threatens to overwhelm her at times, and she seems to recall some pieces of 
memories that have been laid to sleep for longer than she'd known...

Justin is neither so heartless nor so oblivious as one might think him, but 
he's discreet to a fault.  Anything which might be troubling Razz, for the 
moment, will be shared, undoubtedly, when Razz is ready to share it.  Prying 
is bad.  "...how's this spot looking?"

Razz inhaled deeply and slowly, almost as if she's merging into one with the 
surrounding environment. "It's beautiful," she murmured sofly. "I almost feel 
at home."

> > Thick clouds cover the sky.

Justin smiles quite slightly, very weakly echoing Razz's sentiment.  At 
home..?  No, not here.  Not that his home is a pleasant memory, anyways. 
"...home?  You've really never said anything about your home.  Don't remember 
much of it, I can only fear."

It begins to rain and you hear distant thunder.

Razz shook her head slowly. "... actually... I think I've never had one." The 
elf girl spend a moment pondering before going on. "I had been... kept in 
isolation in one particular place... I think. It wasn't home. I was taken 
there." Razz thought about this, then nodded. "Yes, that's right."

It begins to rain steadily, and there is nearby thunder.

Justin frowns.  Kept in isolation.  Joy.  "...confined?  Mmmmh.  Given enough 
time, though, one becomes at home in whatever environment one is in.  What 
possible reason could they have had for locking you away?"

Razz tilted her head slightly. "I was important."

Razz thought hard about it. Why didn't she leave, if she was there against her 
will? An odd thought came into her head, suddenly. "They tamed me."

Justin comes to a halt near the center of the... campsite, I suppose.  A few 
steps from the empty fire-pit.  "You were importa-- Huh.  Tamed you?  
/Enslaved/ you, like?  Gods.  Similarities I would really rather there weren't."

The rain stops but clouds still cover the sky.

Razz sat down, and wondered, as she wasn't too clear on the entire concept 
herself. "No, not enslaved... tamed... You only enslave someone that..." She 
frowned, attempting to get the idea out in a comprehensive fashion. "You only 
enslave people. You tame... things that are not people."

It begins to rain and you hear distant thunder.

Justin shakes his head, slowly.  "Not a person?  I'm not graping this.  Nor, to 
be honest, bo I want to, really.  Is it a good thing that you feel at home here?"

Razz nodded. "Like I said, that wasn't home... They took me from another 
place... this place reminds me... of that."

Justin nods, very slowly, and...  "...bah.  This is an unhappy conversation, it 
is.  We should enjoy this as we can, not dwell on the unutterably distant past."

Razz gave the topic more thought. "I wasn't... I was wild, I believe the term 
is... They found and tamed me... and I became a god... goddess," she corrected 
herself. "I think that's how this force inside  me came to be. They gave it to 
me. Bestowed it upon me... they needed me to take it."

Justin shakes his head, incredulous, perhaps.  "Needed some way they could 
control it, belike?  Wild or no, I don't quite see what makes you prime 
candidate for that."

The rain thins out, but doesn't stop.

Razz was silent for a while, either under some emotional burden, or just plain 
looking for an answer. "I was... not biased."

Razz paused before going on. "And I committed no wrong, because..." she frowned, 
deep in thought. "Because I was not a person, and cannot have committed wrong."

It begins to rain steadily, and there is nearby thunder.

Justin comprehends that concept fine.  "Mmm.  Impartial justice?"  The rain and 
nearby thunder draw his attention momentarily, but lightning and thunder can't 
reach this high on the peak, so they ought to be safe.

Razz paused some more, a sudden thought came to her. She frowned, wondering if 
her memories, distorted as they are, are not all quite as they seem to be. 
"Odd..."

The rain stops but clouds still cover the sky.

Razz gathered her knees up to her chest, but passed up on resting her chin on 
her knees, due to the fact that it squeezed her stomach something uncomfortable.
"I remember... they did something... they didn't want me to become biased... so 
they isolated me... and..." she frowned some more. "I wasn't suppose to be able 
to bear children."

Justin comes to a halt, stares at Razz a few moments.  "You weren't supposed to 
be able to.  How... what did they put in place, exactly, to prevent it?  It 
doesn't seem to have worked, whatever it is or was."

Razz shook her head. "I don't know, I can't remember exactly. I remember them 
doing a lot of things to me after they took me, it's hard to remember exactly 
what was suppose to do what."

Justin shakes his head again, hoping very much that whatever countermeasures 
they put in place have in fact failed, and are not merely waiting for some 
later, messier time to activate themselves against Razz.

Razz reached down with her arms, and wrapped them around her bulging belly. "I 
don't care if the child came from what Crulath did to me," she said suddenly, 
holding her stomach. "I want this child." A small, yet sincere smile stretched 
over the elf girl's lips, something that had became rather absent as of late.

Justin's own smile echoes Razz's, fainter yet.  "Whoever else's it might be, 
it's your child, too."

Razz nodded. "It is."

    Source: geocities.com/razberryl