Living inside the Rift was… exhausting in ways Tave hadn't expected.
Food wasn't the problem, not really. They had ways to sustain themselves. But survival wasn't just about eating. Not when the true difficulty came from the little things. Things like staying clean.
The remnants of battle, blood, grime, sweat clung to them after every fight. And for someone like Tave, who was never quite used to being completely filthy, it wore on him more than he cared to admit.
That's why, now and then, he would strip down to just his trousers, pour what little water he had over his face and chest, and take a moment, just to feel human again. Even a small splash of water brought a kind of clarity, a jolt of vitality he couldn't get from sleep alone.
Forest elves didn't seem to struggle with this the way humans did. It was their plant-based diets, and their connection to nature. They moved through the Rift like the wild itself, not affected by the stench of blood and sweat.
