Dendra ate her fill along with her team. The dinner and subsequent party were short but sweet, as it was late already and they had been drinking. The Pints had arranged some inflatable mattresses in the main room of the cave hideout, and eventually, one by one fell asleep.  Dendra was left looking at the cave ceiling, her clothes in a pile beside the mattress. Thinking if she was doing the smart thing, the right thing or if this was an ego trip. The Pints... would survive, they were scrappy, and they were fine before she found them. Something nagged at her, pulling out her flip phone, browsing through her contact list, closing it, and opening the hardy scuffed up old piece of hardware. She wasn't feeling guilty, was she? No... she felt scared, of what the voice on the other side.  She had run away and had been avoiding her family for a few weeks now, not the first time she did it either... Did they deserve to know?  After all the first person that told her she would never amount to more than a Batida, while smiling, was her own mother. Their success and how to measure it was limited... but she still cared for them, and carried their techniques with her. She flipped it open and dialed the number, hoping no one would pick, that she could just leave a message. So, of course, a tired voice came and picked up the phone.<br/>"This better be a crank call, or the phone stolen... because I don't really want to talk with the ingrate on the other line otherwise," said a man, the voice of one of Dendra's older brothers.<br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(85, 57, 130)">"Wow, that's a pretty big word for so late, Andino" </span>sniped Dendra, her voice without vitriol, more sleepy than anything, and perhaps more than a bit drunken.<br/>"Ok, I'm hanging up, eat shit and die Den"<br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(85, 57, 130)">"Wait, hang on!" </span>she said a bit lethargic<span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(85, 57, 130)"> "Don't you wanna know what you'r baby sister's been up to?"</span><br/>"dragging the family name through the dirt I bet, I don't really need details, the rumors are enough"<br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(85, 57, 130)">"Hey that's not fair!"</span><br/>"Den... we both know is more than fair, you're... just a thug, not a cool one either"<br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(85, 57, 130)">"Well... this thug is going away, maybe for good."</span><br/>"Bullshit, like you have the guts, you're going to be with those cronies of yours for a bit and then you're gonna come home, begging for a warm bed, and some of dad's tea"<br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(85, 57, 130)">"I found a trainer. And I'm leaving."</span><br/>"... what did you do? sleep with him? bribe him with store coupons? Is he for real?"<br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(85, 57, 130)">"None of that, I got lucky, and I'm leaving tomorrow. His name is Thomas"</span><br/>"Wait, wait, wait... the inn boy? the infamous commoner? that guy?"<br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(85, 57, 130)">"Er..."</span><br/>"That's perfect for you, knew it couldn't be one of the nobles."<br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(85, 57, 130)">"What's that supposed to mean?" </span><br/>"Well, you're both runts, both could use some growing. Might get awkward though, was rooting for him, don't know if I can root for you"<br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(85, 57, 130)">"Ok now<i> I'm </i>hanging up"</span><br/>"Wow... you dish it but still can't take it huh Den... maybe he can cure your cowardice."<br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(85, 57, 130)">"Who are you calling a coward bastard?" </span><br/>"I'm not a bastard you... heheh, you little shit"<br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(85, 57, 130)">"You sooo are one though... Look can you tell everybody? I'd rather not go through this with... well"</span><br/>"Mom?"<br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(85, 57, 130)">"Yeah."</span><br/>"I'll see what I can do. Call someday, let us know when you're fighting. You're gonna get blown up sooo hard."<br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(85, 57, 130)">"Deal, you guys can see me shine from the cheap seats... see if I care about ya'll when I make it big"</span><br/>"Yeah? good fucking luck!"<br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(85, 57, 130)">"Thanks! Fuck you!"</span><br/>"Den, seriously take care, I don't wanna see your death televised or some junk"<br/><span class="fixed-color" style="color:rgb(85, 57, 130)">"Oh eat my entire ass Ando. Sleep well"</span><br/>"same you little shit"<br/>She hung up and soon after drifted off into pleasant, ass-kicking, dreams.