Roleplay with TheNovaSwag

Chapter 61: The End of an Adventure

M:   "He has a point," Rowen admitted, "there is no way we would be able to keep up with such an appetite.

"Hey Rowen, how exactly does your leg work," Mandara asked, "we were thinking of making a new tail fin for Edel but we're not sure how to do it."

Rowen didn't answer immediately, he actually looked rather uncomfortable with the request, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "Um ... well, I don't normally like showing it to people, which is why I wear such tall boots ... but I suppose if it's to help Edel then I can make an exception."

Rowen walked over to a chair and sat down, he wordlessly unstrapped his boot and slipped it off his prosthetic leg. It was simple in its design, the wooden limb was shaped like a flesh and bone leg and had a floral pattern painted on it, the leg attached to a metal brace strapped to Rowen's nub so it could come off with a simple twist. The ankle joint appeared to be a ball and socket joint with gears on the  outside, allowing it to move.

Rowen didn't say anything, he wouldn't even look at anyone, he had always been self-conscious about it so he didn't want to see the other's reactions.

N:   Johann walked up to Rowen and sat down at his feet legs crossed as he tried to study the prosthetic. "It looks really cool," he muttered as he outlined the pattern with his finger, "and the flowers are beautiful."

He looked back at Edel's fin and he tried to imagine how it would move, using his hand as a sort of model. "So it would need to fan out," he said, stretching out his hand, "and fold in," his fingers came together, "and it would have to go up and down." He waved his hand up and down as he returned his attention to the mechanism in Rowen's leg.

"I think that ball thing there helps you move your ankle, right?" Johann asked, "and it allows you to move it easily, so why can't we make one for Edel? One gear so he could open and close his fin, and another to move it up and down."

"There is a lot that goes behind making joint," England said, "so it might not be as simple as that. Also, try not to overanalyze Rowen."

Johann raised a brow and looked up to the captain's face, and seeing his discomfort he lowered his head, "Tut mir leid," he said quietly.

M:   "It's alright," Rowen murmured, "I'm just not used to people seeing it, that's all."

"Why not," Mandara asked, "it's cool and the flowers are pretty."

"Mandara, you shouldn't ask such personal questions," Derogan scolded.

"No, it's ok, I might as well get it off my chest," Rowen sighed, he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his thighs, letting out a long sigh before explaining, "so that night it happened, my wife Sara and I were sleeping and my dog Titan was at the foot of the bed, I woke up to the sound of him barking and saw that the whole bedroom was filled with smoke. I was disoriented from sleep and the smoke so in a panic I led Sara out the door and into the blaze, the biggest mistake of my life. We didn't get very far before the house started to collapse, knocking me down and trapping my leg, all I could think to do was tell Sara to run, to leave me and save herself."

Tears started running down Rowen's face as he remembered, but kept telling the story, "She ran, I didn't see what happened next as a large brick hit me in the head and knocked me out, when I came to it was three days later in the infirmary. Mandoria was there but my wife wasn't, confused, I asked him where she was. He said that she didn't make it, that the front door was barricaded by debris so she was trapped, suffocating to death while fruitlessly trying to push the door open."

Rowen stopped to bury his head in his hands, softly crying, "it was all my fault, I could have led us out the bedroom window, and instead, I led her and our unborn child to their deaths, and that's why I don't like showing people my leg, because it shows them I'm a murderer."