Where the Heart Is

Num looks down at his feet.

NUM (IN ANC AITARANIAN): I just... I was so sure I could do this, but we almost got ourselves killed.

Ísja looks over at him with a creased brow and frown. Num perks up when Ísja begins speaking again.

ÍSJA (IN ANC AITARANIAN): We should be honest about everything, I think.

Ísja and Num walk far ahead of Lani, who is hanging back.

ÍSJA (IN ANC AITARANIAN): We'll have to get in touch with Mr. Keerko as soon as we can so they know we're okay.

NUM (IN ANC AITARANIAN): Mm. Yeah.

ÍSJA (IN ANC AITARANIAN): After that, I dunno. We'll figure something out.

Ísja glances back at Lani. She's hugging herself as she walks, looking more toward her feet than the path ahead.

ÍSJA (IN ANC AITARANIAN): What about Lani? She's looking pretty bad.

Ísja and Num continue speaking to each other in Ancient Aitaranian. Their voices fall out of focus for Lani, who doesn't understand a word of what they're saying.

NUM (IN UNTRANSLATED ANC AITARANIAN): Aye. It's... been a hard few days.

ÍSJA (IN UNTRANSLATED ANC AITARANIAN): D'you think she can make it through here?

NUM (IN UNTRANSLATED ANC AITARANIAN): I don't know.

ÍSJA: ...

ÍSJA (IN UNTRANSLATED ANC AITARANIAN): Should one of us try to keep her calm?

Lani's eyes fly wide open at the sound of a familiar voice. A shadow lurks at the corner of her vision.

MARINO (IMAGINED): So, you made it out.

MARINO (IMAGINED): What now, Ms. Difonia? Are you happy?

i have a lot to say about this page, haha! first off, it was really neat being able to write num being vulnerable for once just by virtue of the kind of character he is. second, i was so excited to never have to draw or look at marino ever again after she died. SO excited. but then i had to rewrite this chapter at least three separate times and realized that i could make lani's day worse (sorry lani :( )

OH and special appearance by the font i use for ancient aitaranian (the language ísja and num speak that i might end up renaming but it's been called that for years at this point so. lol)! i was working on a conlang for a while but stopped. i'd really like to come back to it someday so i can actually make my own grammar and stuff–right now it's just english but in a fancy font, haha. if you're curious about what they're saying, here's a translation:

NUM: Aye. It's... been a hard few days.

ÍSJA: D'you think she can make it through here?

NUM: I don't know.

ÍSJA: ...

ÍSJA: Should one of us try to keep her calm?


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