"I plan to leave the Elven Kingdom and return to my people." (Zara)
Despite her assumption that Alara was barely conscious, Zara suddenly feels the elf go stiff in her arms. Alara's eyelids flutter open fully for the first time in a while, and her gaze locks onto Zara with eyes swirling with alarm and confusion. Much of the haziness disappears from her disposition, as though she's suddenly a full glass of wine more sober.
"Wait, you're...leaving? For...good?" (Alara)
Zara nods calmly.
"Yes. I'm sure our paths will still cross, thanks to Mizuki, but I won't be living with you all anymore." (Zara)
Alara is silent for several moments. If Zara were paying a bit closer attention in the poorly lit hallway, she'd notice Alara's lower lip trembling as she responds.
"...why?" (Alara)
Unaware of Alara's feelings on the matter yet, Zara responds nonchalantly.
"I am their Elder...I should be there to lead them. It's fine for me to be gone for this short time, while I've been learning and contributing to Mizuki freeing my enslaved people from the Empire. But soon my people will be better served by me returning to our village." (Zara)
Alara bites her lower lip, the first traces of distress finding their way into her voice.
"But what about your role here...in Mizuki's party? Wasn't there another, older Elder before you? Can't he just handle the village while you stay with us?" (Alara)
Zara purses her lips, remaining quiet for several moments.
"I...owe a debt to Mizuki that I have yet to repay. If he needs me, then I will offer my assistance when he asks. However, he can teleport to me when that happens, and I owe the remainder of my time to my people. The Elder you speak of is quite old, and he's been doing exactly as you describe for quite some time now. But it is not fair to him or my people to prolong such an arrangement...they deserve my presence and support." (Zara)
Alara falls silent after her response, while Zara finally reaches Alara's bedroom door. She lets herself in and begins walking towards the bed. But at that moment, she hears Alara's voice once again...and it carries a cold edge to it this time.
"Do they?" (Alara)
For the first time, Zara freezes, Alara's words truly catching her off guard.
"What?" (Zara)
Zara glances down at Alara, but she's not meeting her gaze. Instead, her head is turned to the side, her eyes cast down to the floor with an unnerving lack of warmth in them. Her voice becomes even colder.
"I don't think they deserve your 'support andpresence'..." (Alara)
Zara is stunned silent for a moment. However, eventually she just quietly closes the rest of the distance to the bed and leans over to set Alara down. As she does, she responds in a soft voice.
"You're drunk...you don't mean that. We can talk in the morning when you're sober." (Zara)
After releasing Alara onto the bed, Zara straightens her back and moves to walk away. But just then, she feels an iron grip on her wrist, and she turns in surprise to see Alara staring right at her. Alara's eyes are now locked with hers, brimming with an anger that's apparent even to Zara, though the anguish that simmers just beneath it goes unnoticed. Alara's voice echoes out, cold and clear, laced with an unexpected venom that almost makes Zara flinch.
"I'm serious, Zara. I've heard about Mizuki's experiences with the wolf-kin, and about why you joined his party. All you've tried to do is help the wolf-kin have a better life, to help them progress and rise above their baser instincts, and they've fought and scorned you every step of the way. They're brutish, ignorant, stubborn, and ungrateful, and they don't understand you...don't appreciate you. Intelligence, foresight, talent - you have it in spades, but it's all wasted on them. So, as far as I'm concerned...
"Not a single fucking one of those animals deserves your loyalty, Zara. You're better off here with us." (Alara)
Zara stares at Alara in silence for several seconds, her grey eyes seeming to pierce into her without their characteristic warmth. Truly, Zara should be furious at Alara's words, at how callously she seems to regard the people Zara holds so dear. Similarly, she shouldn't be surprised...after all, has Alara not made her disdain for other races clear before? Did she really expect that prejudice to vanish in the span of a month? And yet...
Zara's feelings do not match any of these expectations. She feels shocked and blindsided by Alara's comments, and she can't muster any anger either. Instead, she feels...something else...something she can't quite place - a tightness in her stomach, a cold grip around her heart. She feels...
Loss. The loss of something she didn't know she had or wanted, and still can't quite identify, but that she'd desperately like back now that she can feel its absence. But words spoken aren't so easily taken back.
For a length of time that neither would be able to quantify, the two stand there locked in their silent staring contest. Eventually, almost unconsciously, Zara blurts out something that neither of them is expecting.
"What do you know about my parents?" (Zara)
Alara's cold expression falters.
"Your...parents?" (Alara)
Zara continues to look past her, her gaze unnervingly calm, as though this conversation is almost an afterthought.
"Yes, my parents...two of the animals you mentioned. What do you think they're like...their jobs, their principles...their hopes for their daughter?" (Zara)
Zara feels Alara's grip on her wrist slip away, and her cold exterior cracks further.
"I didn't...I mean, I don't...know..." (Alara)
Zara just nods.
"That's to be expected...you've never asked me about them. Not that it would matter if you had, since I don't really know the answers to those questions either. I'm an orphan, you see...raised by the wolf-kin Elder that you mentioned before. My mother has been dead for most of my life...enough that I can't even tell you what she looks like. My father...he may be dead, too. Actually, if I'm honest with myself...he's almost certainly dead. He left years ago and never returned." (Zara)
Zara pauses for a moment, a contemplative expression on her face. In the ensuing silence, the remainder of Alara's calm shatters. Her eyes flash with guilt for the first time since they arrived in her room, and anxiety infiltrates her voice.
"Zara, I'm s-" (Alara)
But, Zara doesn't wait for her to finish...she just continues talking as though she never noticed Alara's voice.
"To answer your question, about whether my people deserve my presence and support...I think they do. I agree with you, somewhat, about the wolf-kin. They're pridefully ignorant, too fixated on physical strength, and too stubborn to adapt when they need to most, and those things frustrate me to no end. It's also true that I've been looked down on by many of them for embracing new practices and ideas, even if it's clearly necessary for our survival. However...
"When they owed me nothing, and as a child, I had nothing to offer - no wisdom, no strength, no known talent - they took responsibility for me. Because I needed them, and because I was wolf-kin. When I was angry at the world for never having a mother and losing my father, and I screamed at them that I didn't need their help, trying to rid myself of them and find my father on my own, they continued taking responsibility for me anyway. Because they recognized my pain, and they cared enough to see me through it.
"It may be condescending to say, but now they're the children that need my help, and I'm the one who plans to take responsibility for them. Because whether you see it or not, Alara, I...am...wolf-kin. Are my people ignorant and wholly lacking in the skills necessary to take care of themselves properly? Yes...but I will teach them, like they taught me. Do they fight me at every turn, scorning my attempts to help them? Yes...but I won't abandon them, just like they didn't abandon me. If I don't do at least this much, then they're not the ungrateful ones...I am.
"It hasn't been easy, but helping them isn't the waste of my time that you seem to think it is. What you failed to acknowledge is...they're already changing. They made me their Elder, they left their families and homes to come build your city, and most importantly...they committed to evolving our way of life when many of them learned critical labor skills. They didn't do all this because it's in their nature, or they wanted to, but because I think they do appreciate me...in their own way. I think it's only fair that I do what I can to show them their efforts are valued, too.
"Were you not in their position, and Mizuki in mine, less than a month ago? He could have forsaken you when you met his patience with hostility, and you'd be dead. What about when you showed the smallest progress by warning him about Tessa? He could have lamented about all your other remaining shortcomings, deeming you unworthy of his time, and now you'd be a destitute noble living alone in barren land. But instead, he recognized your effort...your progress, and he set aside your past and gave you gratitude in return. Now, look at what you've accomplished...how much your relationship with him and others has grown. Is the wisdom in his decision not clear?
"And yet, you suggest that I forsake the wolf-kin, even as they're working to meet my expectations, just because you can't see past where they started. I truly thought better of you than that, Alara, but I guess you haven't changed as much as I thought." (Zara)
As Zara finishes expressing the storm of thoughts she didn't know she had, the knots in her stomach seem to bother her less, though they don't fade away. Meanwhile, Alara's eyes have grown wet as Zara talked without interruption, and it finally spills over as tears being to silently stream down her face, her expression twisted by regret and self-loathing. She opens her mouth to speak, but she can't seem to find her voice, no matter how many times she tries.
Seeing Alara's emotional turmoil, and somewhat understanding the sentiments behind it, Zara feels a bit more of that horrible feeling from before fade. Also recognizing that Alara is in no state to talk further, though, she nods solemnly and turns to leave. However, before she walks away, she looks down at the small box still in her hand - Alara's gift - and the sight of it causes those feelings of loss to surge once more.
After a moment of conflicted silence, she sets it on Alara's bedside table. Seeing the gesture, the anguish in Alara's expression amplifies to a degree that isn't lost on Zara. She purses her lips for a moment before shaking her head at Alara.
"I know that you regret this, and I think that's a kind of progress, too. So, much like my people, I won't abandon you just because tonight your words fell below my expectations. But...this gift reminds me of where I thought you were, I think, and it's uncomfortable to be reminded that I was wrong. Perhaps you can give it to me again when its message rings truer." (Zara)
With those parting words, Zara turns around and exits Alara's bedroom, closing the door behind her without another glance. However, as she walks away, with a sad mix of melancholy and hope weighing on her, she can just faintly hear the sound of sobbing behind her.