OOC here.
Word Count → 642
Neela listened attentively to Ansui's tale, her ears drooping slightly when he mentioned what had happened to his old pack, though his presence in Ichika no Hoen seemed to indicate a happy end to the story.
Once he was done Neela remained silent, shuffling her feet awkwardly before she started talking again, "Well, with that much detail I guess its only fair that I share a bit about myself eh?" She said, her smile only slightly strained. She had noticed Ansui's curious look and had decided to indulge the friendly dog.
Basides, talking about it might help, right?
Taking a deep breath Neela began, "I was born in a small town down south, near what used to be called Mexico. It was a nice place I suppose, a small fishing community, but I hated it growing up," Neela paused briefly to sigh, "My mother was… not a nice person. She was a murder; lured males in and killed them, at least she did until one of them got her pregnant. She never wanted me, and she made that pretty clear." Neela trailed off, one hand leaving her guitar to touch the small scar decorating the side of her face, though she didn't elaborate further.
"Things got better just before my first birthday, around my first shift. I'd made friends with one of the local boys, Julian, who turned out to be the son of one of the guards; Huge man with a huge club, but a really nice guy. Somehow one or both of em found out how I was being treated and decided to do something about it, Neela smiled here, happy to be heading into brighter territory. "I can't remember exactly what happened, I was in a bad way at the time, but at the end of it I was told my mother had been driven out of the town and I had a new home, and after that well…"
Neela paused for a few seconds, trying to figure out how to summarise three years of life before shrugging, "Life happened. I grew up, learned to sail and build while Julian became a guard like his father. Eventually we became mates and had a son, Leon." Neela was smiling brightly here, though it soon died down as she considered the next part of the story.
"But then, something happened. If you don’t mind I’d rather not talk about it but by the end of it Julian was dead and my own son hated me enough to try and kill me," once more Neela's fingers reached towards her scar, this time parting her thick chest hair to make visible the jagged scar that ran down from just below her left shoulder to underneath her right breast. Touching her scars when talking about them was something of a nervous habit Neela had developed. I was devastated, too upset to think straight. Rather than stay in the town, with my friends, I fled, sailing aimlessly north.
"Looking back I think I was trying to kill myself, but was too cowardly to make a decent attempt at it."Neela didn't bother pointing out the scars on her wrists; the way she held her hands made them obvious. "So I decided to let the sea do the job for me, and well, you know the rest. I made my way north and found Ichika."
"There ya go, my life in a nutshell." Neela spat before pausing a second, the venom in her own voice surprising her. Anger at herself and sadness were emotions that she was used to, but she had never felt bitter like this before, though this was also the first time she had actually sat down and talked about her life. Perhaps it would help, perhaps it wouldn’t. For now she just leaned back, arms stretched out behind her and muzzle turned towards the sky, watching the clouds as the waited for Ansui's response.
