Dream Chasing

[Zanadi]

<p>Decided to share with you some of the stories that have been posted to some boards concerning the Arwren character. Some events are taken off what happens in-game. The stories tend to fill in the blanks in-between. To help understand a bit about the character's background you may wish to visit the thread <a href="http://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/posts/list.m?start=0&topic_id=484647�" target="_blank">Clipped Wings</a> as well.</p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>"Arwren! Child you get yourself out of that water this minute. What's gotten into you?"</p> <p>The red headed ayr'dal sighed as her sleek body cut through the water leaving barely a ripple behind. "I'm coming Momma." She grinned as she listened to her mother gripe.</p> <p>"Look at your pretty dress tossed over a branch like that. You know a lady doesn't behave..." She stopped mid-sentence making Awren grin even bigger. "Wren! Are you naked?! Sakes alive I don't believe it. No..not my daughter. Uh!" Poor Marta met her daughter with the wrinkled dress as she stepped out of the water. She shook it at her. "Take it! Goodness you best be covering yourself."</p> <p>Arwren just laughed quietly as she ignored her mothers plight and squeezed the water out of her long red hair. "Momma, I'm not a child anymore."</p> <p>"Well I can see that!" She doubted her mother was nearly as upset as she seemed.</p> <p>"Momma..." She gently took the dress from her and started to pull the cotton material over her. It clung in all sorts of places being she was still wet. As usual her mother fussed, tugging and pulling at the dress. Arwren had to wonder if she was helping or just trying to jerk her around a bit to make things more difficult.</p> <p>"...out here wasting away the day when there are cows to milk..." "Did that before I left Momma." Marta paused. "Oh, well the chickens still need..." "Done first thing this mornin'." "Well the hounds.." "Done, done and done. Momma, relax...you didn't raise no lazy girl." She chuckled at the look on her mother's face. "But, there are cookies yet to be made."</p> <p>Marta laughed and tossed her daughters long damp braid over back over her shoulder. "That there is and they're not going to make themselves." The two women walked arm in arm back to the little house.</p> <p>Sometime later would find the two in aprons and peppered with flour. Awren looked lost in thought as she mindlessly kneeded dough. Marta kept stealing glances her way. "Something on your mind love?"</p> <p>"Hrm? Oh..." She realized she'd been kneading the same bit of dough for the last ten minutes. She'd been avoiding talking to her parents for a week now not sure how to bring it up. She would have gone back to kneading had her mother not then taken the gooey mess away from her.</p> <p>"Speak to me Wren. Nothing gets solved by holdin' it in."</p> <p>She gave her mother a smile at her wisdom. Truth be told she'd be glad to get it off her chest. It had been eating at her. "Momma..." She paused and bit her lip. Her mother just patiently waited. "Momma I want to go to the city."</p> <p>In all the things Marta might have been expecting this wasn't one of them. "The city..." Arwren nodded her head many times still biting her lip. "Wren..."</p> <p>"Momma, I'm not a healer like some of the others. They have a place here."</p> <p>"But Wren you'll always have a place here." You could hear the distress in Marta's voice.</p> <p>"I know and I know I can always come back home but how happy am I going to be always wondering if I couldn't have done more?"</p> <p>There was no arguing with Arwren when she got an idea in her head and her parents knew it. "Where will you go?"</p> <p>She shrugged and took her mother's hands in hers. "I hear Qeynos is nice. I could go find Yveth. She's having a hard time of it right now and she needs me."</p> <p>She hadn't seen her childhood friend in the two years she'd left their small town. A correspondence now and again but she still missed her. She was the closest thing to a sister she had.</p> <p>"Alright child, you go chasing your dreams but when your caught swimming naked in the middle of town don't say I didn't tell ya so."</p>

[Zanadi]

<p><span style="font-size: 13px;"> <p>Arwren looked around the small tavern room she'd come to acquire since she'd arrived in Qeynos. It was small but still bigger than the room she'd had at home. Hell everything in Qeynos was bigger than she had at home. Her nearest neighbor was no more than a wall away. At home you could walk for a mile and not find a single soul. Closest one was Yveth, her mother and grandmother. They would often stay over at each other's houses as not to have to make the long walk back. She hadn't had much of anything, a few pieces of clothing, a trinket or two. Thankfully the room had come with a bed and table. She'd been eating at the tavern below, not bad food mind you but it wasn't momma's home cooking. She sighed. Momma; she missed her. And Dad. The city was nice, all sparkles and full of people. Thank goodness she'd found Yveth so fast one could get lost easily here. In fact she had, twice trying to find her way back to her room. She'd walked in on three people before even finding the door that was hers. She'd never flushed so much in her life.</p> <p>She stripped off the wet gown with no small amount of struggling as it clung to her and tossed it in the corner of the room with a splat. She shivered as the night air hit her damp skin. Running her hand over her sides her fingers ran across the scar in her side. A flit of a memory flashed before her eyes before she pushed it away with another cold shiver. Squish squish went her feet as she plodded over to get her clean warm nightgown. She arrived at the Ogre late only to find Yveth upset and on her way out. She didn't know the bald man she was talking to but she knew when she shouldn't intrude. She'd taken up a seat alone and after a while just wandered back off. She'd made her way down to the docks. The water had always been soothing to her. There were too many people around to take a swim so she'd opted to dangle her toes. Toes became legs, legs became thighs and then PLOOP! She hadn't meant to slid all the way in, really she hadn't. Well, she wasn't going to complain anyway. She'd held her head high as she left wet footprints and puddles behind on her way out, almost forgetting her boots again.</p> <p>She rubbed her forehead as her head twinged. She sighed again and grabbed up the green vial left on the table. She drank it down in one gulp with a bit of a face, recapped it and put it back in her pack making a mental note to have it refilled soon. Her bed just looked too inviting at that point. It had been a busy day. The hard stiff bed felt like the softest cloud in the world as she slid into it. She cuddled down into the blankets and closed her eyes. Almost immediately her head began to feel better. She smiled to herself as she relaxed. Wonder if the tavern would mind a cow in here.</p> </span></p>

[Zanadi]

<p>"Morning Lady Wren!"</p> <p>"Good morning Samson." She gave the portly old man a wave as she came down the stairs of the tavern the edge of her pale pink dress in her hand. She'd been settling in and the regular patrons had gotten to know her. She always greeted them with a smile. A ray of sunshine they called her which made her laugh. Her nic name was Wren which was such a dark bird and here they called her a ray of light. Silly man, must be drunk.</p> <p>"Where's ya off to taday Lady Wren?" he asked as she came around the edge of the stairs.</p> <p>"I haven't a clue Samson but I'll figure it out when I get there!" They shared a smile as he handed her a lunch bag he'd prepared. "Now, didn't we have this dicussion?"</p> <p>"Tisn't much a' nothing Lady Wren, jist a sandwhich an' some o' Sally's homemade cookies."</p> <p>Her eyes lit up at the thought. "Well I can't be turning those down now can I? You thank M'Lady for me and stay out of trouble while I'm gone."</p> <p>"Shore thing, shore thing."</p> <p>She gave him a wave and practically skipped out of the tavern. The sunlight hit her as she opened the door. Squinting she tried to pick a direction. Did it matter? Not really. Some of the greatest adventures happened when one got lost. And today she promised herself an adventure. Taking a right she made her way down the street, nodding to people as she passed. Only a block from the tavern and already she felt lost. Each door looked like the next. She wondered if she should have left herself a bread trail back home.</p> <p>QUACK!</p> <p>"Oh pardon me!" She laughed and stepped out of the way of a passing duck. No, certianly not a bread trail. She bowed to the duck as he quacked at her again. "Well certianly sir, after you." He waddled past her as she grinned and continued on her way. Near the mage building she found a lovely little park bench surrounded by trees. It was a bit out of the way which was plesant. Instead of taking up the bench like any well to do lady might have she glanced around to be sure no one was about. Spotting no one she grinned wickedly and slipped down the edge of the hill to water. She was quite the sight with a paper lunch sack in her hand, her arms stretched out as she tipped this way and that for balance. She finally plopped herself down on the bank drawing her legs up to her chest. "Let's see what dear Samson has for us today shall we?"</p> <p>She laid out a napkin from the sack followed by the sandwhich and cookies. She'd take a small bite of sandwhich and then fling a piece in the water. The fish bubbled to the surface in a feeding frenzy to snag the bread. As an after thought she checked her bread again. Nope, not tuna...whew.</p> <p>A tug beside her drew her attention and she turned to find her duck friend again. He quacked loud at her as if she were the intruder. "Oh now don't give me...Hey! That's my cookie!" With another quack Mr. Duck decided he'd help himself. As a matter of fact he'd apparently been helping himself for the last several minutes judging by the crumbs and lack of cookies. "Give me that!" She made a dive from her sitting position flopping over onto her belly completely missing her target. "Oh no you don't!" She scrambled to her feet, slipping on the hill a bit before catching traction. Not able to quack with a cookie hanging from his beak the fowl took off waddling quickly away. (As fast as one can when waddling really) "Come back here!" She made another dive for him as he tried to quack around his cookie and get out of the way. Around and around they went getting more dirt on her cotton dress.</p> <p>The duck on one side of the tree faced off against the woman on the other. Fake left, fake right... "Come here Mr. Duck...Just give us the cookie and...Oh!" She plopped back down on her butt as the duck lifted his head and in one gulp the cookie dissapeared. "Oh Posh!"</p> <p><em>QUACK!</em></p> <p>"Well if you were hungry you should have said so!" She frowned at the duck and then it dawned on her. She'd been reduced to talking to a duck. A thief duck at that! "Well, you already stole my cookies...you still hungry?" Like a duck could understand her. What was she thinking? She shrugged and pushed herself up from the ground. She resisted the urge to be childish and stick her tongue out at the bird. She grabbed up her empty papersack and made her way back to the tavern.</p> <p>After two wrong turns she finally found her way. QUACK! She about jumped out of her skin as the loud noise came from behind her. The hungry little duck followed her! Well, he did look hungry, though she doubted Samson would be to approving of a duck in the tavern. Well, he couldn't say no if he didn't know about it could he? With no small amount of wing flapping and pecking Arwren managed to hide Mr. Duck in her dress. She was sure it looked perfectly natural to have a large buldge in the front of ones dress. She had this, yeah, she could do this. It wasn't /that/ far to her room.</p><p><em>QUACK </em></p> <p>"Hush! Your going to get us caught!" OH, where was that webbed foot going. Oh that wasn't pleasent. "Hold still!" She wiggled to get the duck into a better position. With another squawk a head poked up from the neckline of her dress. He turned his head this way and that to check out his new view. "Would you get down." Gently she pushed his head back into her dress. Natural, yup this was perfectly natural.</p>