Miriam was wondering what Tiana was doing in such a place. The bright-eyed young woman found herself hunching subconsciously under the dour glare of the mountains surrounding the village of Dolina Mroku, a glum little place in some far off county, supposedly 'ruled' over by a noble family that had long since died off, with their castle abandoned, though rumours were going around that said noble family wasn't so dead.
It would explain why Dolina Mroku was still around, and why Tiana moved back there two years ago.
Oh, how Miriam missed her friend. They had met when they were only seventeen, when Tiana left the village to attend an education in Morton, a city in a neighbouring duchy. That was five years ago, and they grew quite close in that time... very close.
It made the girl giggle, thinking on the memory. However, she quieted herself when the crotchety old man driving the wagon cast a look at her.
He had agreed to take her to Dolina Mroku, on a trade run from a town called Pern, which did frequent supply runs between the two, though they rarely shared news, as Miriam learned.
She sighed, however, and wondered just what Tiana was up to; when the village came into view, she could understand why Tiana wanted to leave, but not why they would've wanted to return. It was a dour place of grey brick or wood houses with shingled or thatch roofs, angled steeply for the snow that often frequented the land during the colder periods of the year.
There was a main road through the middle of the village, with alleyways and branching paths for horse and cart to reach the major buildings, like the granary, the mill, the tavern, and a few others.
The cart stopped at the open end of the main road, and Miriam thanked the old man driving. He gave a curt nod and a small, gruff grunt of acknowledgement. What counted as politeness.
There weren't too many people milling about, wearing long clothes with little colour.
Miriam blended in as far as that went, her own cloak a dull grey colour, but her blonde hair and blue eyes and warm skin tone stood out. To some, it was considered a pretty pale, but the people she saw looking at her with suspicious eyes looked as though they rarely saw sun, noticeably paler than her.
She hugged her cloak tighter around her body, and did her best not to agitate the locals; she was not so naive as to think they would trust her. Most isolated villages tended to be quite suspicious of outsiders, and she very much fit the bill in that regard.
Still, their gazes were more... piercing than some. She did her best to ignore them, walking along the street, avoiding the mud; winter was ending, and it clearly hadn't snowed in a while. It was cold still, yes, but the weather had warmed slightly, and now the icy ground was starting to thaw a little. Here and there, she spotted wooden boards laid out to make it easier to cross certain parts of the street without tracking mud everywhere, or getting stuck in the gluey mess.
She hurried through the village, the subtly spicy smell of burning wood in fireplaces and stoves hanging in the air and doing a little to assuage the dour gloom of the village's atmosphere.
She was looking for a certain house, one that she knew was going to be marked by a bat symbol, of all things.
She eventually found it, her eyes lighting up as she came upon the low-set house nestled in amongst several others behind the flour mill, the paths in between the buildings quite cramped, but there it was, a little metallic bat symbol rather subtly hammered into the brick of the outer walls. Wispy smoke appeared to be rising out of a simple chimney, so someone must have been home.
She went up to the door, and knocked.
"Coming,"
came a gentle voice, one that was a little heavier than Miriam remembered, but was unquestionably Tiana's.
The locks to the door clacked, and it swung inward with a creak. And there Tiana stood, her pale complexion as beautiful as Miriam remembered. The woman's chestnut hair was long and straight, reaching just past her shoulders, compared to Miriam's slightly fluffier golden locks.
Tiana's green eyes widened in recognition and surprise.
"Miriam?" she asked, at first confused, then a little elated, and then back to confused. "What are you doing here?"
"Coming to visit you, of course," Miriam answered cheerfully.
"I see... I admit, this is a surprise," Tiana said.
The two stood awkwardly for a few moments, Miriam rubbing her boots at the top step leading to the door.
"So... are you going to let me in?" Miriam mentioned.
"What? Oh, oh yes, of course," Tiana answered, her mind seemingly elsewhere. She beckoned Miriam inside, and Miriam smiled graciously.
The door was shut behind them, and Miriam found the interior of Tiana's home quite a bit more cozy than the exterior suggested; it was simple within, Miriam finding a small rack in the entry area to put her coat on, revealing her light grey flax dress and thick cotton pants, along with the steel necklace she always wore.
She fluffed out her hair, and looked around the main room; a simple wooden table atop of what looked like a cowhide rug, a wooden chair next to it, with the fireplace crackling away in the kitchen area just beyond, immediately straight from the entrance, where it doubled as a stove. An iron grill was sat atop it, a pot heating over the fire, with what smelled like a nice stew within.
There was a small passage just right, leading to the bedroom and perhaps another room.
All in all, it was simple but comfortable.
Miriam sighed, and turned to her friend, who was leaning against a wooden support in the stone walls, holding onto her opposite arm anxiously.
Inwardly, Miriam was a little pleased to see Tiana's bust hadn't somehow grown larger than her own in the intervening years, Tiana sporting slightly above-average breasts, whilst Miriam had a generously endowed set.
Otherwise, Tiana was more slender than Miriam, and had a cute little spot on her right cheek. She always felt self-conscious about it, but Miriam always thought it a pleasant addition to Tiana's looks.
Looks Miriam was quite familiar with.
"So, you came to visit, huh?" Tiana asked. "It was nice of you to come, but I wished it was under better circumstances... warmer."
"Oh, the cold isn't a tremendous challenge. Biting, but not so much as to keep me from my dear friend. How have you been since you moved back here?" Miriam answered.
"I've been well. I make a living in the mill, and I enjoy the quiet of village life. Simple and honest, but I do admit, I missed your company."
"And I yours," Miriam assured as she ventured into the kitchen area to smell the stew. "This smells delicious~"
"I was just making some... sorry, I would have gotten something to drink for you, but all I have is ale."
"That's alright, I know you can hold your drink a lot better than I can. I remember those nights when we broke into the cellars at the tavern at night. You were always sober enough to get me out without us getting caught."
Tiana smirked a little.
"Well,
someone
had to take care of us," Tiana quipped.
Miriam giggled.
"That is fair... but I like how... feisty, you got, after you had a few drinks~"
Tiana blushed a little and looked away sheepishly.
"You weren't any better... you always seemed to have another girl on your fingertips every other week. I was a little jealous over how easily you could approach them. Get them curious."
Miriam grinned.
"I guess I have that way with girls, but you were always my closest friend. Speaking of which, met any fun girls since you moved back?"
Tiana's expression darkened a little, looking a bit uneasy, turning the other way.
