ELN472: Ruby 🌺 🎨

Adopted into the wealthy Goldwarren family as a kittom, Ruby's childhood was an easy- if somewhat isolated- one. She was raised within the walls of the Goldwarren family estate and taught things like manners, and how to properly curtsy when meeting a royal elnin. All things she couldn't care less about, of course. Despite the silver spoon in her mouth, Ruby always seemed eager to leave it behind in favor of something more fun.

Her life changed when she discovered a hole beneath a rose bush by the estate's garden wall. Finally, she had a chance to see something outside! Quickly and cleverly, she dug the hole a bit wider and escaped. To her shock and amazement, an entire town lay just beyond the walls of her home, one that had never been so much as mentioned by her parents.

From that day on, her visits to town became a regular occurrence, one that she hid from her parents and servants with relative ease. The miners in the town of Goldwarren didn't question her presence; she was certainly not the first urchin to show up in search of food and work. To keep her busy and out of their fur, they often nudged her in the direction of the town's other kittom resident at the time, Denisil. She took to him quickly, bonding with the gloomy kittom like an older sister.

In time, she grew to love the people of Goldwarren like her own family. They welcomed her warmly, fed her, told her stories that made her gasp and giggle. It didn't matter that they were the sort of "simple" folk her parents often scoffed at. They loved her like she was their own. How could she not love them, in turn?

Unfortunately, all things must come to an end. When Ruby grew into her adult form, she realized with no small amount of sadness that she had become far too large to squeeze beneath the garden wall. Seeing no other choice, she tried to petition her parents for leave to go where she would like now that she'd grown, only to have them double down on her restrictive schedule. It was for her own good, they'd said, but she resented their stifling influence more than ever.

That very night, she escaped the estate through her bedroom window. In a flash, she was out and over the garden wall. At the edge of town, she hesitated- she should at least go back and tell Denisil of her plans to leave- but as a shout went up from within her childhood home, she knew she didn't have time to wait if she hoped to make a clean getaway.

Her return to the town of Goldwarren came five years later. Some kind of incident had left the mine- and the town- completely abandoned. She'd heard a little of it, in warnings from other travelers- a monster had attacked the miners, leaving no survivors. Even her childhood home was empty, her parents having skipped town with their money before anyone could come asking about their treatment of those who'd worked for them.

She surveyed the estate, so much smaller now than she remembered, then set the ghastly thing ablaze. With truly nothing to return to, Ruby set her mind on a single goal; she was going to become strong. Stronger than any monster.

She would avenge the family she'd lost.