Sera stepped quickly and quietly into the hovel she shared with her mother as the sun was beginning to descend down past the horizon, giving the sky an orange glow. Her mother, Arissa, was just where she left her earlier; lying mercifully asleep on her back under an old blanket in the only dilapidated wood and straw bed they owned. But she could see that her mother's sleep was anything but peaceful.
The middle aged woman whimpered a few times as muscles spasms and other aches and pains troubled her sleep. Today had been one of the Bad Days, when her illness reared its ugly head and became worse for a time. Her mother had complained of pain in pretty much every area of her body and couldn't seem to eat a single bite of food despite the fact that Sera had done her best to get her hands some bread that was at least halfway appetizing.
Normally, they'd just have to wait it out, praying that this bad spell of pain wouldn't last for too long, though the length of days it worsened seemed to increase as Arissa aged. And normally, with no money for any kind of medicine or relief, Sera would have to watch as her mother battled physical pain and care for her as best she could, all while fighting her own feelings of helplessness, for not being able to do much of anything, and, once again, anger - at any person or source of strife she could possibly put the blame on, even herself.
But this time, there was a small glimmer of hope to be had. Sera had been to the Pony this evening to get a drink - because goodness knows she had needed one as of late - and from conversation and a fair bit of gossip with a man called "Lincoln" and his friend, a Dwarf, she had learned the location of someone she could turn to for help. There was a chance that she, coinless as she was at that moment, could find medicine or some sort of relief to get her mother through this rough patch in exchange for something other than coin. What lucky gossip indeed!
Sera sat down on the edge of the bed, careful not to wake the older woman up, and removed her boots and the knife she kept within her shirt. Once finished she laid herself down across the length of the edge of the bed, pulling a small section of the blanket over herself. She didn't touch her mother or take her hand for fear that it might just make the pain worse and wake her up. But for once, she didn't frown as deeply as her eyes closed and she slipped into sleep easier than she had in a long time, as if some sort of weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
The next chance she got she'd go to Knotwood as the Dwarf had instructed her and find the place near the big Blackbird statue to seek a man named Dimheim. Then, she'd do whatever she needed to in order to get what her mother so desperately needed.
