Riinan's Backstory

Riinan wasn't her parent's favorite. She would say she wasn't even their *least* favorite. As far as they're concerned, she's nothing to them.

But it wasn't always that way.

Her parents had her young, her mother's family urging them together almost from birth. Her parent's started young, their parents started young, so why shouldn't they? They barely knew each other when they first wed. The older generation was friendly with one another, and wanted the two families to join in union. Unfortunately for the young couple, they had to be the ones to hold the union on their backs, and it shows. Yevette and Solan, married at six. And a few months after the ceremony came their first sprout, a child named Riinan.

Riinan wasn't a complicated child as sprouts go. No louder than others and curious as any. The problem wasn't with the child, it was with the parents. Left on their own right out of marriage, the two young parents had no clue how to raise a child. They were practically strangers to each other. Fights were common in their household, and became worse when Riinan first came home. Neither wanted to deal with their spouse, and the two would often neglect the sprout in vendetta against the other. If you won't help me, why should I help you with your child? Always "their" child, never "ours".

She could tell from a young age her parents didn't like her. She didn't explicitly know, but deep in her little soul, she knew there was something different. How different her parents treated her compared to other parents. How her friends would have things like 'family dinners' and 'family outings'. She didn't know what grandparents were until her schoolmates made fun of her for it. When she came home crying and told her parents, it started another fight between the two, lasting long through the night. Riinan stopped telling them what happened at school after that. They didn't notice.

It was less than a year after her birth when her mother came home with some new additions. Two little sprouts joined their family, and overnight Riinan became a shadow in her own home. Her teachers told her it was only temporary, that her parents were just focused on taking care of the babies for now, that they'll give her more attention when they're older. But they never did. She'd often find herself home alone, her family having left for an appointment without her. Sometimes they came back with leftovers, but not for her. The twins would tell her about all the fun they had swimming at the pond. Riinan didn't know there was a pond nearby.

By the time she went to high school she was raising herself in her parent's house. She didn't eat dinner with them, didn't go to family events with them. Tweenan said that others would ask about why she wasn't there, but that stopped pretty quickly. It was an open secret that her parents considered Riinan their practice child, and that the twins were their *real* first borns. She didn't want to believe it, she wanted to hold on to hope that they would accept her. That one day she'd wake up and they'd surprise her with a party, and all this could just be a funny family story to tell at parties. She stopped thinking that pretty quickly too.

In high school, she started running "with the wrong crowd". Her parents didn't care, of course. Not till people started talking. 'Did you see that gang of delinquents roaming around the city?' 'They've been causing trouble for everyone, stealing, vandalising.' I heard one of them was a sundew.'

'Hey, are they a relative of yours?'

That was the first time in a long time they talked to her. Told her to stop hanging around with those ruffians, she should know better than that. She promptly told them where they could put that advice. On the bright side, at least they were finally talking to her again.

Over time the arguments grew between Riinan and her parents, mainly her and her mother. Solan was a pushover, he didn't like stirring the pot, so he gave up quickly. Yevette, on the other hand, had a temper. Her and Riinan would exchange words constantly, until either Riinan left or Yevette made her. She thought she should feel bad, exposing her younger sisters to such behavior, but by that point she really didn't care. She didn't hate her sisters, didn't envy them either. Instead she felt pity for them. For having to have such crap parents taking care of them. She knew how to raise herself. Solan and Yevette couldn't even raise a glass at a dinner party.

Then along came Sunny.

Riinan felt pity for the new sprout. Her parents barely talked to each other, each focusing on a different twin to take care of. With all their attention elsewhere, Sunny would be left in the dark as Riinan was.

Maybe it was because she was older now, but Riinan was rather fond of the small sprout. She took care of her, bathed her, fed her. With her parents too focused on Winny's music career, and Nan dragged along with them, it was always Riinan and Sunny left home alone. The two grew close. Sunny adored her older sister, and she in turn tried her best to hide her sister from her darker misgivings. For a while there, things were almost normal. That didn't last long though.

It started after Riinan graduated high school. Her parents weren't there, of course. But when she came home she was surprised to see them together for once. They glanced at her as she walked through the door, then at each other. Her father was the first to stand up, pulling his shoulders high to make himself appear taller.

"You need to leave now."

It'd been so long since she heard his voice, she didn't register at first what the words said were. Wait, leave?

Her mother stood up and started spitting venom. 'You're just taking up space now.' 'You don't contribute anything to the house anyways.' 'Just do us all a favor and leave. Disappear.'

She wanted to fight back, to argue about how cruel it is to throw out your eldest child. To just toss them aside and pretend they don't exist. But she knew that wouldn't get her anywhere. So she packed up what little she had, and left. She could see Sunny watching as the door closed behind her. It'd be years before they saw each other again.

She slept outside the first few night, under some light posts scattered across the town. She didn't really have any friends to crash with. Most of them didn't have their own place either. For a while her days were spent just sitting on the street, listening to the crowds of plotties that passed her by without a second glance.

It was on the fifth day that someone took notice of her. An unassuming plottie, she couldn't tell you what they looked like. They stood in front of her where she sat, and asked her if she needed some money. So many warning bells sounded in her mind, but she shut them out and asked what they wanted. It was simple, they said, just take this package to this address, and leave it on the porch. Nothing difficult. Before she could give a response, they threw two packages at her feet and walked away. The first had an address neatly written on it, no name. The second was an opened envelope, filled with a decent amount of money. Pocketing the money, she made her way to the address, the warning bells growing louder.

The rest of the day was uneventful. She went to the address, a rather ornate pot with high fences and a large porch, and left the package underneath a patio chair. She spent her money on a large meal and a hotel room. The warm bath she had that night was the best moment of her life. The morning after, she left her room, returned the key, and went back to her favorite spot on the streets.

From then on she would get random passersby asking her to make deliveries for them. She never asked what they were, not that they would tell her, and went about her day a few pennies richer. She kept this up long enough that others would start asking for "their favorite courier" to help with their deliveries. Eventually she made enough to afford a place of her own, but she hardly uses it, still preferring to spend her nights outdoors. But she needed a place to hang with the new friends she's made. Some would ask about her family, but she would always tell them she grew from the depths of hell fully formed.