Amma Hope

"Amma Hope" is a BOTGD 2 thread written on May 12, 2019.
== Summary ==
== Full Text ==
Amma Hope: They called her “Amma Hope.”
Ironic.
She leaned her back against the chair. The creaking sounds she heard could have been either from the unstable furniture or her stiff back. Maybe both. Probably both. Everything seemed to be falling apart around here, and she’d begun to assume that anything around her, anything she experienced, would collapse in some way. 
“Amma Hope.”
She pulled the pipe from her mouth, and slowly blowing out, let a trail of smoke leave her lips. 
The wrinkles on her pale face explained why people called her “Amma.” “Amma” meant “Grandma,” after all, in the local tongue. But she hadn’t told anyone whether she actually had grandchildren. Or children. Or family. “Amma” was a guess, or a respectful recognition of her age, or, in some cases, a term of affection.
But not many people got on her affectionate side. And only those chosen few could stand her long enough to be affectionate with her.
“Amma Hope.”
The “Hope” part was just as representative of a moniker as the “Amma.” That is to say - a pathetic misrepresentation. She’d been born Gróa Ullfrdottir. She’d been raised Gróa Ullfrdottir. She’d come of age as Gróa Ullfrdottir. That was her name. Technically. Except… it’d been so long since people regularly called her by it, that it had started to feel foreign.
Well… perhaps the real reason it felt foreign was because of all that had happened before… now.
Her memories shuddered. She transported through a thousand dimensions. Pink-purple portals. Different cities, different faces, a different existence. A cliff side. A screaming voice. Fire. Rubble. The sound of lively music, and the rapid motion of synchronous dance. A clearing, green and bedecked in yellow dandelions, surrounded by the walls of village homesteads. Pink-purple again. A gasp. A shudder. 
She never moved the entire time she relived the past. She closed her eyes, deeply inhaling the smoke from her pipe, exhaling, repeating the process, attempting to calm the pain that stayed buried under the surface.
“Hope.” What a funny name for someone who’d long since buried hope for dead.
To anyone passing her by, she was just an old grandmother relaxing on a porch. Calm. Quiet. Happy. Enjoying an evening smoke.
Furi: Furi, on her way to this frost island to the west she had heard of, happened to get tired and need a rest. She saw a small rickety house and figured it was abandoned, being a ways from the nearby town. She settled onto the soft grass and rested her wings, sighing contentedly. She was soon dozing, calmed by birdsong and the warm afternoon sun.
Amma Hope: Hope glanced up as the dragon settled down to sleep. She shrugged and continued smoking on her pipe. Nothing to be concerned about. So long as the dragon didn’t get into her vegetable garden, she couldn’t care less about the creature’s presence.
Furi: A bit later though, after she had slept a bit, Furi, now a bit more alert, smelled Amma’s pipe and sat bolt upright, noticing the woman and was immediately a little uneasy. She retracted her teeth and tried not to look too scary, not wanting to scare the human. She was also embarrassed that she hadn’t noticed the quite obvious old lady.
Amma Hope: Amma blew out a puff of smoke. It almost looked like she was breathing fire, like a dragon could. Other than that, she didn’t move, didn’t blink, didn’t even seem to react.
Furi: Furi decided to approach, walking straight up to the porch steps, and looking up at the woman. “…uh, hi. Sorry if I interrupted anything. Didn’t know anyone was here so I kind of just… you have a nice lawn.” She tried to be friendly, but felt awkward.
Amma Hope: That sort of got a reaction from the woman, but she didn’t seem perturbed a dragon had just spoken to her. She calmly set her pipe down on her lap.
“You do know what trespassing is, don’t you?”
Furi: Furi’s earfins drooped. “Yeah. I can leave. I just needed to rest since I’ve been flying so much lately. Sorry to bother you, ma'am.” She turned to leave and then hesitated. “Can I ask you something?” She paused for a moment.
“Do… do you know anything about the resistance from years ago? All the battles and… and stuff? I’m new, and trying to figure out where I fit in. I’m looking for some people who said they were going to rebel against High Central or… or something.”
Furi blurted it out in one long sentence, then immediately began to regret asking at all. She shouldn’t even be talking unnecessarily.
Amma Hope: “You don’t need to be ashamed of yourself. You’re asking a question, not being put on trial for murder. ”
After that comment, she proceeded to answer Furi’s question. She didn’t seem to care much about what she said, though. “I’m not sure what resistance you’re talking about. I’ve seen many rebellions. You’re not talking about the time that looked like the end of the world, are you? Can’t be. You wouldn’t need to ask about that. Even someone whose brain got replaced by a smushed maggot would remember that fight.
“Whatever. It doesn’t matter. The same things keep happening. I’ve given up caring about it long ago. Just so long as my raspberries don’t catch on fire. Maybe ask someone else who cares about fighting.”
Furi: “Okay, thanks anyway. If you want I can let you know when I find it. Just… thought I’d offer.” Furi offered politely. She liked how to the point this woman was, and figured she’d want to be kept up to date, but then again, perhaps Amma didn’t want to be bothered by this sort of stuff.
Amma Hope: “News of the rebellion changes little for me. I’ll stay here come hell or high water. No reason to go elsewhere. So, I don’t need information.”
She paused, then, looking thoughtfully at the dragon. She brushed a stray strand of hair from her forehead and tucked it behind her left ear, then spent a good minute fiddling with that ear and doing nothing else. Her facial expression never changed.
But finally, her hand dropped. Whatever it was she had been thinking through, she appeared to have made her mind about it. Her hand dropped. Sunlight reflected off the left side of her face, where a rough, elevated, but seemingly rather old scar framed the outside of that eye. The scar was maybe an inch and a half long and ran in a straight line along the side of her face.
“Do you have anyone close to you?” she asked. “If you’ve got friends and family, you may want to reconsider what you’re doing. Time only moves forward. Don’t make a choice that’ll permanently change you for the worse.”
Furi: Furi paused and began shaking her head. “No, I’m pretty much all alone. I left where I used to live, and came here by myself. Though, this place seems better.” She fidgeted slightly and then gave Amma a respectful nod. “I guess I’ll be on my way then. Sorry for bothering you, ma’am. Goodbye.” She turned to leave, still giving a small wave before taking off and flying away. 
Amma Hope: Hope watched the dragon leave.
She stared for a long, long while at the patch of sky from which Furi had disappeared. Then she stood, and entering the house, began to mumble about how the journey would be long, and her bones were too old for something like this.
But this reminded her too much of… something… that tickled the back of her mind… and she had to act upon it.
Maybe, there was time for one more gutsy course of action in her life.
Category:Events
Category:BOTGD 2
Category:Amma Hope
Category:Furi
Category:Act I