[quote]"I'm just going to miss it here. I said a lot of- a lot of goodbyes today, and I'm afraid it's the last time I'll... You know."[/quote]

[i]That's an understatement,[/i] thought the young farmer. Dal had thought himself hardened and ready earlier that morning after saying goodbyes to his father months ago, but thinking of his mother or even Dane right now made his heart pound a throng of sorrow, to say nothing of the tears that begat he and his mother before he left their capital home. And the goodbyes to his father weren't exactly "genuine", come to think of it. Thanks to guardsman Dane keeping a close eye on him and relaying the information to Dalsarad, it was [i]almost[/i] like his father was still in his life; Dal at least knew he was still alive, at the very least. Then again, Dane could've been lying to spare the boy of any more anxiety. 

But those thoughts were best saved for later; or even better, not at all.

Glancing back up at Lea, Dal found her staring up at the sky. Her eyes looked wet. It may have been from the early morning sun, but Dal figured it best not to prod any more. At least, not right now, when they were hardly away from the city.

"So, where are you from, farmboy? What region?"

Dal smiled and chuckled, [color=C7AA7D]"Believe it or not it's a bit of a complex answer for me."[/color] Dal paused a moment to pick a long grass stalk from the side of the road and started chewing on one end. A habit from his father, though [i]he[/i] had done it to help him stop biting his lips. Dalsarad picked it up just because his father did it- stuck ever since. 

[color=C7AA7D]"Most recently, just outside Arrvern. Before that, lived in central Edessa in a little place called Blue Lake- bet you can't guess why its called that. I fished there- haven't always been a farmhand. Before [i]that[/i], though, we lived in southern Edessa, in a tiny woodcutter village called Rowanwood. Closer to the Wilds, really."[/color]

He looked back up towards Lea.

[color=C7AA7D]"What about you? I mean, you said you're Edessan, but you an Arrvern native?"[/color]