Thamasa was a quiet village. Secluded and serene, the locals mostly kept to themselves. After all, who was there to hide secrets from? The middle of nowhere could have any secret it wanted and no one would ever find out. Not a soul.
Dabbing away at an easel while humming to herself, a young blonde girl filled up her canvas with possibilities. A splash of black here, a daub of noir there, a swirl of darkness…
"Hm!" She huffed to herself. Oh yeah. It was all coming together.
Two golden eyes glinted back at her from within the splintery dark silhouette, like beacons in the night. Tugging at a stray golden curl poking out of her turban, she nodded to herself in approval. It was a simple little doodle, but who needed complexity anyway? It wasn't like anyone was going to-
"Relm!" A rough sounding voice hollered. The girl rolled her eyes as her bedroom door creaked open.
"Ever heard of knocking, Grampa?!" She put her hands on her waist.
"Knocking, she says. The nerve!" The old man in the doorway rasped. "Your dinner's been waiting for you for ten minutes! I've been shouting for you for fifteen!"
"Maybe try shouting louder next time!" Relm poked her tongue out at him.
"Maybe show some gratitude for your poor old grandpa, cooking and cleaning while you goof off like this."
"Goof off?" Relm clicked her tongue. "I'll have you know I made a doodle, Grampa. That's way better than your rice balls or whatever."
Her Grampa just snorted. "Pork buns actually. And if you don't move fast, they'll be all cold and eaten."
"Pork buns…" she mouthed his words. "A-alright, keep your hair on old man, I'll be down in a minute."
"Not a second longer!" Grampa warned, spinning on his heel and walking down the stairs again.
Relm sighed, and scratched a few more details into her doodle. A couple more wiry limbs, subtle ground in the background… and of course, a signature at the bottom.
"Good good!" She dusted off her hands. Tucking her paintbrush behind one ear, she called after her Grampa and ambled down the stairs.
Meanwhile, her doodle blinked.