The Siblings

T'salam looks at Lester and nods. Lester returns the nod and they both turn to Jeff and Kim, who are now sitting across from them on their own bedroll. T'salam starts with, "My full name is T'salam Talios. Lester and I are siblings from a desert region east of here. We lived with a small community just under ten...very close...." For the first time since she arrived, she looked unsure. Lester picked up the story, "We were nomads, wanderers looking for a place to call our own. We figured that a desert would be ideal. Wheat crops grew in the arid climate and cacti offered some defence. Everything seemed to work..."

He broke eye contact with Kim and Jeff, staring at the nearby stone brick wall, "Then they came...the monsters...creepers destroyed our cacti barriers, allowing other monsters to break in. We fought them with what we had but it wasn't enough....they just kept coming..." T'salam starts to cry and Lester holds her in arms, "We had to watch our parents die...zombies tearing their limbs off and devouring...they turned into....we had to flee..."

The mad flight of two young siblings from the hordes of monsters.
The smell of burning homes filling the air.

T'salam's embrace tightens and her tears flow freely now, "We got away....traveled alone in the wilderness...T'salam....an enderman bit her...she turned into what you see now... told me to leave her...threatened to harm me....I couldn't...I couldn't leave her there..." Jeff holds up a hand, "You don't have to tell us the entire story if it's a painful memory. We won't **** your hand."

Lester hesitates, caught between finishing the horrible tale and burying himself in the sand. "She attacks me...I didn't fight back...she beats me... until I was near ****...I remember the tears...the crying...her leaning over me...than I hear the howling..." He closes his eyes, "...I turn my head... towards the sound...the black wolf...I had never seen anything like it...it came and bit me...or that's what I thought it did..." He hung his head now, "We're monsters now...no better than the things that-"

Kim cuts him off, "Your halflings, not monsters. We're all halflings here. It's how you found us, isn't it?" They both nod, T'salam still in tears and Lester coming close to tears.

Jeff comes to a decision, "We can help you turn your family back, but we will need your aid after we do." The siblings look up and towards Jeff in surprise, a look of hope on their faces. T'salam says, "Really? You can turn them back? How?"