After Audra's brief formal introduction to Rowena, the women followed the elf down a long hallway. The farm girl couldn't help but mull over and over in her mind the endless possibilities of their purpose there. Who are the "others"?, What did Rowena mean by "unique ablities"? Audra had never noticed anything about herself that she could describe as such. She felt like an ordinary girl, especially in such uncertain circumstances, despite her personal aspirations toward becoming something great.
A voice broke the silence, “I’m Petra Ducat, also from Diedremere.." Audra turned to see the woman that had been behind her as she continued her introduction nervously, "..I was a mine worker down in the tunnels there. So I guess you could say I’m as good with a pickaxe as you are with that longsword.” Looking her briefly up and down, Audra noted that Petra's strong physique and work-worn clothes certainly seemed to support her words. The farm girl could relate with coming from a background of hard work, but she had never really been fond of miners. They oftentimes made up the riff-raff around Diedremere, and her brothers had had more than one run-in with a drunken miner as they spent the occasional evening in the town's bar. Still, a young female miner was unique enough to make Audra curious as to Petra's background, despite her developed suspicion and distaste for the young woman's chosen livelihood.
"Elspeth," the other woman stated with nod, although Audra noted she was still staring in disbelief at Rowena's protruding ears," Of Inisad... I guess." Audra couldn't help but draw her brows together in disbelief the longer she looked at Elspeth. It wasn't her distinctly muscular body that threw her off (although at this point Audra had a small and irritating realization of how small she was amongst her current company, causing her to blow out a small heated puff of air). The farm girl noticed as the woman had stated her name that some of her teeth were prominently pointed, much like a dog. Then there was the unique shade of her large eyes - a deep amber with... slitted pupils? Audra shook her head slightly in confusion - she had no idea what could possibly cause such a unusual physical condition in a person, but perhaps that was what Rowena had meant when she had hinted at "unique abilities"... Audra hoped that wouldn't be the case for herself and had to suppress the urge to pat her body down to double check that she hadn't changed since her arrival in the academy, as if it were contagious.
Audra nodded in acknowledgement of both women's introductions. She didn't have anything else to say so, with a sigh, the farm girl was quite content to remain silent and observe. Her resolution was disrupted, however, as Petra addressed her, "So were you a cook for the miners? Diedremere is a small town so I'm sure we've had several encounters but I can't seem to place exactly when and where. Did you live in the heart of town?"
Audra unconciously wrinkled her nose slightly in disgust at the suggestion of being a cook for miners, but responded simply and without realization that she might come off offensively, "No, I've never been a cook for the miners. My father would have tanned my hide if I had been anywhere near any of the miner camps,seeing as how some of the characters around there are less than pleasant. Anyways, my family cares for our vast orchards," the girl couldn't help but feel a pang of pride in talking about her family's success, despite her eagerness to seek the world outside of that life, "best produce you'll find anywhere! Me and my brother's work everyday out there, tending the trees and land..." Audra bit her lip at the homesickness that hit her but like a gust of the east wind, but she remained composed and finished with a determined shrug, "But, I'm moving on from all of that now. Gotta find my place in the world besides farming all day, ya know what I mean?"
