"She is," was all Wanders could manage to say as he took the portrait back from her, and he remained silent as he spoke about her.
She swallowed, unsure of what to say. It was one of the few moments in her life where she felt anything that she could say at all would simply be inadequate for this moment. "I'm sorry," she sighed with a sigh. Another moment of silence passed, and the knowledge of what she saw was hanging in the air, heavy and limp. She couldn't be sure how smart of an idea this was, but the words were out before she could stop them.
"I saw you," she said. "Last night, after you wandered off. What you did to that bandit." There wasn't much of a sense of judgment in her voice. It was a simple statement of the facts, with a hint of quavering hesitation.

Wanders felt a pang of regret, knowing this may not have been the first time he had the accusation and what he was thrown back at this face. Even though he wasn't yelling, she couldn't help but feel that way. She closed up her pack once more, "I'm sorry. Suppose you're right. Hardly sounds like he was innocent. I'm sorry I followed you.'

"Well," Wanders began. "Wouldn't have felt right if I did. I only followed to see where you were going, and that's what I saw. Didn't really think of what to do depending on what I'd seen."

She lifted up her pack and slung it over her shoulders, making her way to the rest of the group along with him, "So..Sylvara. How did we differ? If you don't mind me asking."

"It's no trouble," Wanders said. "Everyone has at least one. But I'm sorry to make you tell it."

Wanders went silent for a moment, idly tapping her fingers on her chin. "I figure you must have an amusing story as well," she said. "There's always one of those, too. What's...the strangest thing you've seen?"

"I can't really speak for targets," Wanders said. "But when I was training, there was another in the same group as me. I've heard tales of members of the Brotherhood figuring out their own methods as they go along. But he had his figured out before he even began. He was telling me about covers he would want to assume to get close to his targets."

She chuckled a bit, "It was very impressive, actually. He put quite a bit of thought into it. He had ideas for anything from a scholar on the Dwemer to even a famous chef. I don't see how he could plan those ahead of time. I suppose he'd save them for when he would need them. Just in case, I suppose. He had...several. It was staggering."

She let out a bit of a wistful sigh, "It's a shame he wasn't a writer. I think he would've been great for that. The roles he told me has such interesting stories. He was a strange one. I wonder where he is now..."

"I haven't," she admitted. "I'll...have you think on it. It's a tempting offer."

She watched, though, as she pulled the flute out of his bag. "A musician as well? My, my, you are just full of surprises. I'd love to hear some."

As he began to play, she began to follow the notes he played carefully, only to find she found herself getting lost. The somber feeling of them enveloped her. For the duration of the song, nothing else existed. It'd been some time since she he'd heard anyone play any music, she realized.

When the song was finished, she politely applauded. "That was lovely," she said. "Seemed a bit sad, though."

She tapped a finger against her chin, thinking of all the songs she knew. "How about Stagger and Sway?"

Wanders sat there, once again, captured by the melody of his playing. Up to this point, she'd only ever heard it played with the words, but there was something stronger about simply hearing the melody itself. The words were never spoken, yet she could feel the mood of the piece. She'd never had a moment like what the song spoke of, and it's one she never often thought of having, but she found herself longing for it as he finished playing and put the flute down.

It was a moment before she was able to speak, "That was...amazing. Thank you. It's been a really long time since I've heard that one."

She leaned forward slightly, "Are you alright?"

"No," Wanders said. "I don't think we are. The way I see it, we always have a choice when it comes to what our lives are like. This notion of a...cursed fate. It doesn't exist. We only convince ourselves that it does. I've thought about this myself. I've come across so many people who feel like they can't escape from where they are. I don't think that's true, though. Anyone can, for the most part. The process of change...is difficult. I think that's what scares people."

She stood up from where she sat, idly pacing as she spoke, "Change brings uncertainty. People may not like where they are in life, but they feel that at least there they've adapted and gotten used to it. So used to it that they can't see beyond it. Change...they don't know what happens then. Even if it's for the better, the task is so overwhelming that they'd rather just stay where they are, with what they know and have adapted to, even if it's not good for them They say 'it's just not that easy.' And it isn't. But if there is anything that I've learned, it's that nothing that's worth doing ever is."

She sighed, "That's how I think most people are, unfortunately. I never wanted to be like most people."

"That's rough," Wanders admitted, unsure of what else to say. "You won't have to worry about that much from me. I'm not in the habit of burning others alive. Perhaps if there was good reason to, but if there is such a thing as a 'good reason' for that, I don't think I've found it yet."

(Well. This is a painfully sparse response, and I also apologize for the long absence here. Truth be told, I'm not sure what happened. Real life stuff went down and, well, the next thing I knew several months had gone bye. Oops.)