lesser of two evils . prompt / development

[Whisper]

[Warringkingdoms]

  [font=trebuchet ms]See, this- this was why she had taken steps to distance herself from others' suffering. A sense of empathy might have proved useful once upon a time, but not so much anymore, now that she knew what she did about the world. There was no benefit to beating herself up over every single person that died on these borders when she couldn't have done anything about it in the first place.

  As she arrived on the scene, Rin observed that the dead body was thoroughly charred. Fire, perhaps the ultimate culmination of nature's fury and creatures' emotions, and ever destructive to both of them. Her mind conjured images of wool, wood, and steel alike crumbling to the ground, screams of panic and rage, and futile attempts at comfort. Your books won't bring them back, indeed.

  More pressing, though, was the other creature standing at the scene, his eyes flickering dark in panic. He could be brought back to reality by force- the fallen one would only return by their own choice. Rin approached Inortis and cleared her throat. "Smelled something of significance to you?" she asked softly, twitching her ears. It wasn't an accusation; maybe he would take it as one, but she assumed nothing as of yet. The corpse smelled only of ash and the Ascendants to her, but hiding one's scent was child's play, so there was no real lead to follow. If he reacted in a way implying shock, she could treat him accordingly.

  /couldn't match muse, rip