- CHAPTER 2 -

As the younger Shepard ventures further into the sea of trees that caress the edge of their property, she repeats the argument over and over again in her head, torturing herself with doubt and a touch of anxiety. Over-analyzing and overworking conflicts are not things she normally does, but – for some reason – having her hopes crushed so swiftly by the person that mattered the most in her life really got to her.

"I can't believe mom didn't even give the idea a chance," she grumbles to herself, growing increasingly agitated the more she ponders the recent events.

"She's keeping me here like some kind of prisoner!"

After a moment more of emotional exploration and wandering in the familiar Mindoir forest – the very forests she explored throughout her childhood – the young redhead slumps alongside a particularly large tree. Brushing a strand of hair away from her face, she continues to wallow in her emotions a bit more.

"It's for your own good," she mocks aloud, repeating her mother's words; downplaying the sting they had on her psyche.

Muttering in her own discontent, she lets her head fall in her hands. Now what? Normally, she could bring up anything with her mother – any dreams or aspirations that she has – and her mother would listen intently and patiently. Now that she is older, their relationship seems to have grown more strained, more distant. The more her mother's grip tightened, the more she struggled to free herself. It hurt arguing so much.

The idea to join the Alliance military always seemed to have been on the back of the younger Shepard's mind. She figured that, since her own father had once been a part of the Alliance military, then her mom would find it at least a bit interesting that she wanted to join the ranks as well.

Then again, maybe there's a reason she never really talked about him much. She knew of him, but he wasn't around the way her mother was. She knew not to bring him up to her. It was pointless.

Either way, she never saw anything wrong with being curious about what lies out there in the vast unknown that is space. She has always been curious about the endless possibilities that intergalactic travel would provide. She lives in, what may very well be, the best time to be curious about the far reaches of space. With the recent discovery of the Mass Relays, humanity has been able to evolve their spaceflight technology – along with their technology as a whole – at an incredible rate. The possibilities are endless.

In the little over a decade and a half that the young Shepard has been alive, she has been living in the same time that space travel became increasingly easier (heck she's living on another planet besides Earth! As a human, that has only ever been a dream for most of her kind until now). Not to mention that discoveries in other planetary systems have continued to allow humans to evolve as a species, and even the discovery of other intelligent species – the turians (being among the first) – happened all within the same timeframe that she has been alive. It boggled her mind when she thought about it like that.

Yes sure, there was some risk with the use of the Mass Relays – without knowing what they were or what their intended use was at first – and yes, the first contact war didn't exactly let humanity start off on the right foot when it came to aliens. But now things are working a bit better. Other species are cooperating, to say the least. Some people are still weary of other species and venturing off further into space, but nothing good ever came out of remaining in some safe zone.

Shepard wants to take a risk, and she wants to give everyone a chance. She is not the type to coward in fear of the unknown. That was just a waste of time and potential.

"I guess I should head back… I don't want mom to worry," the young redhead decides aloud. It has been long enough, she figures.

Rising up from her spot below the tree, she begins to walk back home. The thick forest would have anyone unfamiliar with the terrain lost for days. It muffles the sounds of the farm, and of the towns nearby. Shepard always found it to be a relaxing safe haven when she wants to be by herself with her thoughts. It is peaceful.

That peace and quiet is suddenly sliced through by an orchestra of blood curdling screams and the sound of gunshots in the distance. Panic sets in as a result. She follows the horrible sounds, picking up the pace as she runs. As the trees thinned out towards the edge of the forest, leading onto her property, the sounds grew louder.

"NO NO NO… What's happening?!" Shepard cries out, unwilling to believe her eyes as she breaks into a full sprint in the direction of the chaos. She sees smoke and fire in the distance, and buildings nearby fall to the ground. She can even see the once recognizable silhouette of her home engulfed in the blaze.

Something is wrong. Something is very wrong. A sinking feeling weighed down her heart as she ran across the vacant field, leading closer to the chaos while remaining at a safe distance.

Where is her mother?

A/N: I have no idea what I'm doing. I'll keep writing. Maybe this will suck less one day haha
I'm still getting in the groove of it. *shrug*