[i]The man grunted twice, to each impact, drawn painfully back to the present. He chuckled still as he stood, looming over the two with his massive figure. With a groan, the humor and levity physically drained from his face, leaving behind only experience and the face of one who had no patience for such things as this familial squabble.[/i] "[b]But, would that have saved him?[/b]" [i]The old man inquired, his face a patronizing squint to the woman. His eyes went up to Miles, and he spoke again, the previous friendliness and amicability gone.[/i] "[b]I didn't tell you the whole of my story, or why I [i]stopped[/i] this practice. One evening, when my own foster-sister was particularly livid, she used her usual tactic and locked me out, with my dinner. After fighting off the dogs, escaping with only a few scrapes and bites to my persons, and a lack of dinner, I went about the usual business. "I found a stranger, someone new to the town, and I decided he would be my scapegoat for the night. I made my usual bargain, he agreed, and I paid the man with the gold coin I'd kept in my shoe. As I turned to lead him back to the door, I was struck behind the head, hard. "The man was a thief and a ruffian, having assaulted and even killed numerous people in the sorry excuse of his life, and I had no idea. He stole me away, and demanded ransom, claiming he'd cut a piece of me off for every day the money was not payed.[/b]" [i]Glowering, he patted his legs.[/i] "[b]Now, I am left with seven toes, and a lack a small number of my back teeth. It was a few weeks before they found him, and in the meantime, he'd done to me things I couldn't begin to describe to you. And the entire time, my sister had been going insane. "Blaming herself, she had broken her own spirit, and it was never the same, even after I returned. Our relationship before had been good, the normal relationship between sibling not from the same parentage. After that, though...well, you can guess the bitterness on either side for the other.[/b]" [i]He eyed the two of them in sequence, keeping their gaze to him all the while he told his story.[/i] "[b]That place...it was nowhere near as dangerous as this one. My sister? I loved her, and I lost her, even there. "Do. Not. Make my choices. Here, at Tatakai, division is poison. If you are not insane, you cannot live here alone. You're going to face Hell, and you must face it together, or lose each other and all you hold dear. Family is what is most important, because, in the end?[/b]" [i]The eyes melted, going from cold experience to tender sympathy once more.[/i] "[b]Your family is going to be the only thing that is there when all else fails you, and without it, there is only an abyss of despair so great as to be worse than death.[/b]"