PlayerOliver

When you were a kid, you lived with your grandmother in the small town of Silvertree, on the edge of a magical forest. Grandma is a witch, and she taught you how to use your magic to affect the natural world, too. “Magic is a part of you,” she always told you. “Learning how to use it means figuring out who you are.”

Now you’re 19 and on your own. After years of living in the forest while you perfected your witchcraft, you’ve returned to take care of your grandmother’s house and crow-familiar while she’s gone. Figuring out who you are feels more important than ever - not to mention, figuring out what Silvertree is. A lot is just as you remembered: the friendly generous next-door neighbors with a kid just your age, the proud town council, the quaint little shops with quirky punny names, the gentle shadowy forest full of magic.

Stone in the shoe

Before anybody else can move, you take a small step forwards and quietly murmur to Rana that you think it would be better if you left before things got any worse.


When Rana meets your eyes, she looks almost numb. It's obvious that she never planned for this to happen—but now that it has, she can't stand her ground without somebody else's support. Unfortunately, it looks as if nobody else in the small group is willing to offer it.


After a long, fraught moment, Rana turns back to her aunt—but in the end, no words come. Quietly, as if wanting to preserve her dignity, Rana gives a single nod and walks straight to the door. Soon after, everyone else follows.


As you leave, Dina looks directly at you—and you almost think you see a hint of gratitude in her face.


The mood is subdued as you all walk out onto the street, and most of the other people in the group head off in separate directions almost as soon as you get outside.


Soon it's just you, Tobias, and Rana left—but there's nothing between you for a good while but silence. Tobias seems unable to bear the tension, shifting uncomfortably between his feet as he stares at the ground. After a few moments, he excuses himself too—and then it's just you and Rana on your own.


After a long time, you hear Rana sigh. She doesn't meet your eye—but it's not like there could be anyone else she's talking to as she says:


"I know that was a weird situation—and I didn't plan on saying anything else. I just kind of thought it'd be more than just handing over a petition. But it still probably wasn't fair to try and get you guys to back me up when I never asked if you were okay with it. I'm sorry."


You think she's sincere in her apology—but at the same time, she's still reluctant to look right at you.


"Maybe I should've just gone on my own," she murmurs. "But…"


"I think I just realized something. I've pretty much spent my whole life being terrified of getting into trouble, needing to do everything right so I can make everybody happy. But like, in there—suddenly I didn't care. I mean, I was still terrified, but it didn't seem to matter if I got in trouble. And—I just realized that that was the first time I can remember feeling like that. It just seemed way too important to care if I was being rude, or even if I got kicked out. I'm not saying you should have felt the same, but—I feel like if we really care about trying to do the right thing, we can't be scared of making somebody angry. That's just…"


She doesn't say exactly what she thinks it would be, but it's pretty obvious it's not anything good in her mind.


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