Closed Moonlight Harvest (Dariel)

[Haeli]

She was angry with him. Not that she meant to get that way. But he so casually dismissed her wish for him that it hurt her feelings. But rather than allowing herself to feel hurt, she felt far better feeling angry because it was more useful than letting his callous disregard sting her pride. Oh she could have rose up from the water, grew wings, and circled the sky to prove to him that her meaning had merit, but Haeli was not one that would do such things. She needed, deep down, for anyone she called a friend to actually believe her without proof because they knew her integrity. Dariel, it seemed, was not such a creature. If he needed proof, he'd be a long time waiting for it. Especially and inclusive in regards to what Haeli claimed.

So instead of joyfully splashing the water and relaxing, she simply watched him cautiously, not sure she would share anything else of her feelings with him. He frolicked like she had moments ago, but there was a restraint about him that more conformed to his reserved nature. And his worry about what others thought. She wanted to shake her head in frustration. What would what others thought really effect him? It was none of his business too how history remembered him because then it made it less about his own deeds and more about the recognition he wanted for his deeds.

That was selfish, pure and simple. But then Ozantha had warned her about humans and their arrogance. Living in Lhavit, she'd seen plenty of it already. And though he claimed to be from other places not just from here, she knew that people were people wherever one was.

His answers were less important to Haeli now. He was less important to Haeli now. All he cared about was how people would remember him after he was long dead? How was that anything good? What about what he did during his life and what meaning those actions had to those around him while he was doing whatever it was he wanted to be remembered for?

She wanted to stop listening. Even a part of her reached inside and felt big jaws form rippling beneath her skin. She knew it intimately and it was a shape that would love the warmth of the hot springs. But she kept her shape. She pushed it away.

Instead she simply said... "Yes, I imagine that would be terrible to be misrepresented by others especially if you were specifically trying to represent yourself in a certain way." The words were spoken quietly, thoughtfully, with as much respect as she could muster though she felt none.

"Any is fine. I like them all." She added absently, as an answer to his question. But she was gazing off into the distance by then, lost in her own thoughts, not entirely certain if she had anything of interest to ask him. And still not entirely certain she wanted to hear anything else he had to say. She blinked once, glanced at him again, and realized he would expect a question back.

"If you could go anywhere in the world, anywhere, where would that be?" She asked in an equally subdued voice. Maybe he would get the urge and go there. There was definitely no glow to her eyes now. Her gaze in fact slipped sideways, over him and looked off into the distances again. If he paid attention it would be aimed southwest.

[Dariel]

Relaxed as he was, warm water carrying like he barely weighed a thing, soothing his skin and relaxing his muscles, Dariel was not oblivious. Not entirely at any rate. The change in the girl's demeanor did not escape his notice. Her replies grew shorter, terser, her attention waned. Maybe it was for the better. Haeli seemed kind and playful and naive despite her obvious smarts. Dariel was none of these things because of his own intellect or so he told himself. In these few short bells he had grown fond enough of her straightforward uninhibited libertine manner to not want to hurt Haeli unless the need arose. It did not, and for all his many faults Dariel was not a man given to pointless violence or cruelty. But sooner or later he would step on something or someone she would have gently held and taken in. Or worse. She had excused one death he presumably caused. Would she excuse another if she knew of it? Not that the young mage presumed to make that decision for the teenage witch. But he could force a decision, hasten what would otherwise have been a natural process. It might temper their budding friendship and thus strengthen it, or feed the gulf that was now appearing between them. If she even still cared. Steadying himself, in the water and in his head, Dariel took a deep breath before he practically snarled at her. "I only mean to present myself as myself. Maybe not all of me at once as I do not like to expose myself. But if I left the world a treatise on one thing or another, why would I care to stand for some little shyke to claim there are words on the pages that I never put there? In our talk tonight we have had moments where we missed each other's meanings, if only by a little. Being thinking creatures we amended these misunderstandings and thought better for it." "Do you realize this is a rare thing? That people will usually hear what they want to hear and see what they want to see? They have their own ideas, which is their good right, but they swell them by taking from other things what fits their ideas and ignoring everything which disproves them. Or worse, twist it to their use. Does the idea not offend you?" There was a certain irony to cool and controlled Dariel bemoaning a lack of passion. Certainly a good dose of hypocrisy as well. Moreover, his voice had swelled as he spoke, landing hard on each word, accenting them like he put down the heel of his boot with every syllable. The base of his nose wrinkled, the tip curving, fists clenched below the waterline to where he almost sank if not for his legs kicking out occasionally. Gone was the comfort he'd found in the pool's warm waters. In as far as he showed emotion, Dariel certainly seemed angry. "Right here, right now. If I wanted to be somewhere else I would be there." It took a moment before it became obvious that this was his offhanded answer to her question, still delivered in the same manner as before. And one more thing. "What is wrong with you? That was my question, for the record."

[Haeli]

Simply put, when Dariel all but snarled at her, she swung her gaze around on him and bared her teeth back at him. Haeli understood snarling. She understood stances of dominance. He was suddenly speaking a language with his body that she knew intimately. She wasn't afraid of him. No, not at all. And if he was going to take an aggressive lead she'd not let him get very far with it.

In the wild, if you were going to put on displays one better have a follow through. Haeli could have reached for teeth - a pythons would have been a good choice since they weren't poisonous but had a truly nasty bite - or claws but she simply wasn't afraid of Dariel. They were things she could draw on instantly. Her weapons were hidden ones in the dark of night that could fight off men, even big ones filled with rage. But she didn't reach for any of them because he didn't drive her to that place of fear and protectiveness. There were a lot scarier things out in the dark, some fairly close by her reckoning.

And so she laughed.

What else was she going to do with all his posturing? "No, Dariel. I'm sorry. But I do not care what someone I will never meet nor never respect nor am likely to be concerned about does or says or thinks. If people want to form a thought about me, that is their perspective. But it is only the realm of the Gods' to impose such things on mere mortals... not mine. People can think for themselves. Most can read for themselves too. Why get enraged about something that may or may not happen. I certainly won't. No will I presume other people too stupid to read the truth for themselves despite what others say." Did he really think he could control people's actions and thoughts? Did he? And did he really give other people such little credit that he parred their intelligence with say that of a flock of sheep blindly following a bellwether? She leaned back, glanced up at the stars, and smiled at Zintilia's glittering diamonds.

"You should not get so worked up about things you cannot control." The witch advised, amusement coloring her tone. She was less angry now that she understood his scorn for people and their intelligence wasn't personal. It was simply a category he lumped all people into. She was a more literal thinker and it was obvious to her he was a figurative one. His words echoed his thoughts too much not to be. So if she said she wished for him to know how to fly, he'd read other than what she meant into his words, just like the hypothetical person reading his make-believe treatise in the future.

Did he even realize he had inadvertently become that imagined .. how had he put it... little shyke... he was so angry about? That's why she was laughing. And she knew he would not probably not understand, but that was not her problem. Haeli refused to lump anyone into anything like a group or category. She'd treat them on an individual basis. If Dariel chose to be the person that did that, then it was his right. The Gods gave them free will. But she would not fall into such a narrow trap in her own life.

"Of course..." She said softly in agreement to his snarling answer to her question. Her laughter quieted now and she opened her eyes and blinked at him, surprised.

"I feel fine and my body is whole." She said and offered him a bright smile. "What do you THINK is wrong with me?" The witch asked as her question, not trying to be facetious but rather trying to understand why his rages came and went. It was almost as if his moods were deliberately mirroring her own in response to his discomfort with the situation and being out of his element. Harm before something harmed you? Humans always thought nature worked that way, but in essence she did not. Things were far more simple.

[Dariel]

Head tilted aside, Dariel watched and listened, still bobbing in the deeper waters and mostly only moving to dodge some dead soggy leaf drifting his way. They felt slimy and dirty even through the clean water and so he avoided contact in as far as he could. Offhanded, instead of directly reacting or responding to Haeli, he quietly noted, "I really want to come back when snow covers all this. It must be lovely to look at. Pristine. Even enchanted if it was another night of the full moon..." Whatever had incensed him, his internal train of thoughts had apparently calmed or at least distracted him enough for it not to matter anymore. When roving pale eyes settled back on Haeli's, richer and more vibrant but not so different from Dariel's in hue, a smile dimpled the corners of his mouth. Especially when she laughed. Even if she laughed at him. Not that he was necessary aware of this detail. Dariel knew little of how animals signalled their peers. If he truly meant to threaten someone it usually involved leaving a mark that would remind the receiver of the threat. If he meant to cause harm, with words or actions, he would never signal his intentions before it was time to strike. In as far as he was capable of it, he'd simply been expressing his dissatisfaction and so thought little of returning to a more placid demeanor. "You asked what I feared. Fears are rarely rational things. Anything that can be approached in a rational fashion can be resolved in the same way." Dariel might have wanted to mention that earlier and would have saved them a lot of effort. But unconsciously and in his own way, maybe he'd been trying to test Haeli's limits. Or maybe he plain didn't know what to do. While he considered himself far from common, he was used to other people indeed being common. Foreseeable minds, foreseeable mindsets, foreseeable reactions. Of course this was the reason why he had even stayed, why he did enjoy the witch's company. And would keep enjoying it, he resolved. She presented a puzzle, a challenge and he relished it in some ways, even if the lack of control frustrated the young mage at the same time. "If I can't control something it stands to reason that I should learn to control it, no? Assuming this lack of control bothers me of course. I am not concerned by not having control over the weather for example." "On the other hand, you can actually control what people think, to an extent. You can talk to them for one. And before you argue, feelings are an entirely different matter. Fears very much included." He briefly entertained the idea of making an example, but everything he came up with was too unnecessarily complicated. Bringing up the subejct of his divulged fear again had also made him wonder why he had divulged this to a total stranger. Calming himself with the thought that Haeli, or anybody else really, could not do anything with it either way and obviously had no appreciation for even the basic concept of it, it became another thought to be tabled for later analysis. The idea of enjoying someone's company for the sheer sake of it was alien to him. And yet her counter-question deepened the smile on his face, dimples now stark black marks to either side of his mouth. "That is the kind of question I would ask. And not really an answer. But I will indulge you anyway. You seemed upset there for a moment. It seems to have passed, or maybe it has not. People who are not you tend to swallow a lot of feelings for the sake of social cohesion it appears. Your speech changed as if your mouth had harened. Words became shorter, so did sentences." "Not knowing what offended you, nor being in the habit of apologizing for things I am unaware of, I put the question to you." The shrug that followed looked like his torso dipped low into the water while his shoulders remained hovering where they were. "Why do you even bother?"

[Haeli]

The witch shifted on her sunken seat, feeling the smooth stone slide against her backside, stirring up silt that had collected in pockets of the stone. Reeds graced the edges of the water, reaching out with spindly fingers to caress her shoulders and tangle with her wet hair stained inky black by the night. It floated around her with a life of its own as she watched the boy she was with tread water out deeper. Haeli was not a casual observer to life. She was through and through a participant. And while the conversation was nice, his deliberately vague prose was wearing on her sensibilities.

Most humans had no concept of being plainspoken.

She pushed out from her seat, kicked out her legs, and rolled like an otter exposing her belly to the sky. She arched her back and floated, finding it interesting that his words carried just as easily across the water with her ears beneath the warm mineral soap than it did when they were dry. Wide teal eyes stared up into the night sky, seeking deeper meaning as the water caught and held her form. Thus buoyed up, the girl thumbed her nose at gravity and stretched her arms out on either side of her as if to embrace the sky full of stars.

Floating on her back in the warm waters with the mists curled around her was magical.

She did eventually turn her head to meet Dariel's gaze as she floated closer, letting the hot springs current take her where it willed. Her eyes were bright, almost overly glassy, as she nodded at his fear. "I can see how you would dislike that, knowing just a small portion of what I do know about you." It was interesting for her to note too that he downplayed fears in people and sugar coated the actual truth of what he really did fear with lengthy discourse on either side of the core of his insecurity. Why obfuscate it even as you say it? Haeli dipped her head blow the water and then lifted it, letting the fresh wave of mineral laden water warm her chest and stomach. Her legs kicked idly, helping her balance.

"There are so many things you cannot control though and some you would not want too. Everything is connected, Dariel. If you were to have such powers, you might harm what you cannot see and what you would not know. Making it rain here, might rob much needed water elsewhere. It is never a good idea to play at being a God, even if it is just a simple thing of trying to control what people think. I've learned about people here, at least a little, and mostly I see that none should have these kinds of powers. True power comes from the mastery of something far more intimate." Haeli said, giving him a smile.

She rolled again in the water, fairly close to him, and her voice changed, deepened even as her body contorted. It grew more solid, her soft lithe curves filling out and muscling. Breasts receded and formed into pectorals as she rolled back up, reassuming her floating position. Hips narrowed, thighs widened, and male genitalia formed. Gone was the hair that drifted around her like a halo. And in its place was tightly shorn darkness that not only encased her head but encircled her lips and traced up her jawline.

The creature that floated within touching distance of Dariel was no longer female but all male. He laughed a dark deep throated resonant sound and continued speaking as if he hadn't even paused. "Knowing others is intelligence, Dariel. True. And knowing yourself is true wisdom. There is no doubt about that. And mastering others is strength, a kind of control you long to have I suspect. But mastering yourself is true power, Dariel. Once you have done that... the world can be at your feet. That sort of power is nothing you can experience reading in a book by turning battered old pages. It's true life, one that needs to be lived." His voice echoed out, carrying across the water. There was an animation in the man's tone, an amusement, as he paddled away from Dariel.

The man didn't even look the same, not even in a slight resemblance, as the woman had. And yet everything about him was so real, so very carefully formed. Even his icy blue eyes had a perfect glimmer as they turned once more back up into the sky, admiring the stars.

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate or that we cannot control that which is around us. To think so is a lie. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure, naturally, and that we cannot tap that internal power because we are too weak. It is our inner light, Dariel, not our deepest darkness, that should frightens us the most. Because with it we can do anything, be anyone, and leave fear far behind." The man said, kicking his legs off and reaching the edge of the hot springs. He leaned up, caught the rock edge, and heaved himself up and out of the water. Steam cascaded off his form as the water clinging to his skin surged down his back and fled back towards the springs of its origins.

The witch kept his back to Dariel and walked away briefly, long enough to be well away from the springs. He paused still within Dariel's sight, if the other man was watching, and reached down to gather himself in his hand. A stream of urine washed against part of the stone mountain as the witch relieved himself. He was back in a few moments, diving into the pool at the far side where it was deeper and surfacing to swim a lap out where the hottest part of the water bubbled. He got as close as he dared before moving back to where the temperature was more acceptable to his human skin.

"Learn to control yourself first. The rest will come far easier to you then, and most likely without fear." The witch said, his thin lips curved into a smile as he resumed his floating position. There was no modesty in him, no sense of self separate from the world.

He heard Dariel's question. And after a fashion he understood it. But he wasn't certain Dariel could understand a motivation as deep as the witch's motivation was. After a time, the witch spoke. "What you ask is like asking why a wound pains a person. If it was just a simple cut, you can respond that the flesh has been unnaturally parted and that causes pain. But if the wound is deeply hidden and of the mind, the pain is more intense and merits a great deal more explanation that someone who is outside of that wounded mind might readily understand." The witch said, lifting a foot and idly studying the toes by wiggling them. Toenails straightened and looked less ragged on the foot, smoothing out to a perfect trim. His lips curved in satisfaction as he repeated the process with the other foot, either distracted or buying time to finish his answer.

"I bother because I am curious. The first time I killed a man I stared into his eyes just to watch the light die in them to see if it was the same when I was killing something for food. Death is the same, disappointingly, to all creatures. It comes suddenly, swiftly, and moves them from a state of living to a state of something else. When my death comes, it will be the same for me as well. There is no mystery now, no fear to it or uncertainty of the unknown." The witch said. "The more I know, the less I fear." It was a simple mathematical equation really.

Time for another question. The witches choice was easy this time. "If you could have the knowledge of just one thing in this instant, what would that be?" He asked, his voice a liquid tenor across the water where he still floated, content in his own skin.

[Dariel]

The moments passed in silence. Watching Haeli move through the water as if it was her natural element was fascinating to Dariel. He had proven before that he did not mind silence. Many of their contemporaries grew awkward and sought ways to break such silences. Dariel knew that they would be broken when the time was right. There was nothing wrong with taking a moment to appreciate something elegant. Elegance, at least the common kind, was something Dariel knew he lacked but found a desirable quality. But his long limbs were simply not made for fluid, graceful movements. Even when they flowed, the sudden stop across their length would undo the entire impression. As it stood he was fortunately content to float, soak up the heat, soak up the sense of being kept afloat by a liquid cradle. Male and female forces and their contrasts, or was it just them? Unlike the pastoral scene of the steaming pool, Dariel's mind was never still. So many impressions, so many angles, so many thoughts and means and ends. There were few thoughts not worth thinking. When she spoke he listened, and when she smiled he smiled back and yet found himself disagreeing. In fact he doubted they would agree on too many things the further they got. Maybe that a pound of beef made for a good soup. But then she might prefer hers raw. He smiled because he didn't mind. Not that he could tell why. "Oh, I agree. Complex systems should not be trifled with. But if one were to master such a system, anything should be possible. We may also agree that most people will never develop such mastery, and nobody will ever develop a mastery of everything imaginable. But I also believe that those who strive for control and understanding will be rewarded. The trick..." Surprise smeared across his face he trailed off as Haeli changed in front of him. He was dimly aware of the existence of Morphing but it had always struck him as a tad too overt for his own tastes. Not to mention that his own talents were just right for him, allowing him to interact with the world without having to be a part of it. He was also aware of illusions. He had had to pass through Alvadas before and just the name still left a bitter taste in his mouth. Still, Haeli's skill was quite impressive, even though the reason for the change initially eluded him and left him to wonder if she was simply showing off. Of more concern was that he found he minded the absence of the witch's shape, though that could be explained away as the lacking familiarity with her male form. Through it all, he remained still in the water, a talking head and little more now that curiosity got the better of him. Dariel's laughter was sudden when it came, rolling across the water like the curls of steam that crowned it. Light, airy but with an earthy, even heartfelt quality that came from the depths of his throat, it had been caused not by the transformation but by Haeli's words. "Oh look at you now, dispensing the wisdom of the ages. And as a lecture no less. Dear." He said it and managed to actually make it sound somewhat affectionate. "While I appreciate your concern and effort, you might as well have told me that the water is warm." "If one cannot know oneself, one cannot know others. If one cannot control oneself, one cannot control others. Those who try only end up forcing people to do things, but that is not control. That is merely being stronger. Power, true power, requires control. Control requires understanding. I do not think anyone could work magic without grasping this simple truth. Or at least not for long. But I apprecitate your concern. Or hubris. I like either." The laughter resumed as Dariel realized what man-Haeli had changed to do. [i] "This must be the most sensible use of shapeshifting I have ever seen." It was a definite compliment and his amusement seemed real enough. But it wasn't enough to keep him off track, nor would anyone have expected it to be. "I will have to disagree with your excourse on fears though. Frankly, I am of the impression that most people fear far plainer things. Poverty. Ill health. Loss. Then again most people do not care to think beyond their own needs. In fact, I myself have no fear of what you describe. As you may imagine the idea of being ultimately too weak for anything rarely occurs to me. I might have to admit that I am too weak to do something at this point in time." Dariel gave the Haeli-male a thoughtful look. What she-he described was sheer inadequacy. Unlimited potential was the birthright of every thinking thing. Few chose to even reach out, much less actually seize it. She-he described a fear of reaching and trying to seize only to discover that one was too short. Dariel's solution to it was growth. Growth and time to facilitate it. Not that the scenario Haeli-male laid out was not frightening in theory. It simply did not trouble Dariel. It certainly seemed to trouble the witch though. "It is certainly nothing that should trouble you. A sharp intellect, an open mind and what I take to be natural talent will go a long way. If you also have the will and patience to grow into your power it is never a question of propability, merely of time." It was worth a try. He still expected the Haeli-male to disagree, as she-he had been, but still failed to mind. After a fashion he had maybe been trying to even console the witch, offer a point of view that was congruent but still gave another perspective on the supposed issue. Dariel kicked out his legs under water and begun to swim slow, methodic circles around the Haeli-male while she elaborated why she even bothered. The question had been deceptively open to begin with. She could have taken it to mean why she even bothered talking to Dariel or dozens of other things she was certainly bothering with. She'd given the answer he was looking for when she chose her answer, not when she gave it. When Haeli related in that male voice how she had killed a man and waited for the lights to die in his eyes however, the question paid off for the second time. Here was another thing he could relate to. What followed was however again more fodder to be disagreed with. There was a reason common sense held that ignorance was bliss. "While that may be true for you, I am the opposite. The less one knows, I find, the less one is aware of all the problems life holds for one. The more I learn, the more I become aware of all the threats and obstacles I might have to face. Remember, I was blithely wandering through the woods before you told me there was a big cat on the prowl." Of course, the next thing he had had to learn after he found out that knowing things only bred complications was to dismiss them, evade them or revolse them. But Dariel considered that intrinsic to being able to function as a human being and felt no need to mention it. What remained was the Haeli-male's question and that had left Dariel feeling odd. There were many many things he would have loved to know. Hundreds of shades of lore lost in the Valterrian. The secrets of the Suvan Wizards, the locations of lost treasures, three words to make everyone believe him, nine words to move the hearts and minds of Gods, the patience of the mountain, the passion of the storm, how to create new forms of magic... whether the old Crow was truly dead to name something more mundane. But there was one issue with all of that. "I cannot answer your question, I fear. Nothing worth having should be gained easily. At best I might say, I would wish to know what to do to prove myself worthy of the knowledges I seek. Or where best to start the path. But even that feels cheap to me. Since I did not give you a satisfying answer, would you like to ask another question?"

[Haeli]

He responded to Haeli's words the way he had almost all the witch's other thoughts spoken aloud - with a combination of agreement, disagreement, and almost disdain. Haeli was starting to see a pattern. Dariel was in love with words. And as his voice moved across the water, the witch could discern other patterns as well. Playfully floating, letting the water hold up the form Haeli held, the witch listened. Sometimes all people needed was someone to really hear their thoughts and give them validation. Haeli could fill no such role though. The Swamp Witches experiences were too low key, two minor, to cast judgement on the validity of the words Dariel graced her with.

"Did I not say that? That power comes from within... from knowing ones own self? That is the wisdom Eryis teaches." She answered when she returned to the water, knowing she had said those very things already as an earlier part of the conversation they'd been having.

"You would know what people fear far more than I would." She acknowledged. There was no sense in arguing his judgement there. That was why she was in Lhavit to begin with. Dariel seemingly disagreed with most of what she said, which was fine in her mind. They were two different people with two different understandings of life. He would learn soon enough that everything about the world wasn't' found in the pages of a book. And if he didn't, then it was true his reality was vastly different. She half expected that. So much of the human reality in Lhavit was vastly different from her expectations or assumptions.

She said nothing to him disagreeing with her assertion that people's greatest fears were that they were bigger than they themselves realized. It didn't matter to her if he agreed or not. It wasn't important for Haeli to win intellectual debates. Just listening to Dariel taught her a great deal about people, especially if most were like him. There were things about him she admired, but there were also equal amounts of traits she disliked enormously. Humans were like that. They were inconsistent in their own skin and surprisingly contrary. Dariel was no exception. He was more eloquently spoken than most, but she figured it was perhaps because of again, his love of words and his obsession with his own ideals.

He was doing that thinking again. His facial expression revealed intense thought and the witch smiled. He dove under the water, re-wet his hair to warm it and rolled up alongside Dariel to hear his answer. No answer was forthcoming, just another life lesson Dariel wished to pass to Haeli. The witch arched his back and paddled away, his thoughts his own for a moment.

"No, that is enough of one I think. I've perhaps ran out of things to ask that are on your level." Haeli said, his voice deeper than the once alto as it echoed across the water. The truth was Dariel was loosing Haeli's attention. He was wrapped so tightly in his own world, and in a way his own arrogance that it left an ill taste in her mind. At first, the boy had been charming, interesting, even flattering and willing to put up with her questions. But now, he wanted questions that only seemed to highlight his intelligence and his strengths, rejecting those that might cast him in a dis-favorable light or reveal weakness. It was as if he were playing by rules that Haeli didn't or couldn't comprehend.

And his words in many ways talked down to her, and though she was not well versed in human culture, she was well educated in the world and knew without a shadow of a doubt what he did. It was something her Dhani mentor had warned her about, and specifically a trait the woman had assigned to men. So when the faint quacks of ducks nesting in the far reeds, settled down for the night reached her ears, she did not hesitate. The witch went from companion to hunter in one moment, knowing food opportunities when they presented themselves. The man form would do her no good in the water so as she rolled, she shifted, her body growing massive and hard armored and her face loosing all aspect of its humanity. Her jaws elongated and her arms and legs shortened as a tail sprung forth. Haeli concentrated and Big Jaw came forward, the big salt crocodile shape infusing her and expanding her form.

The crocodile rode low in the water, dipping under until just its snout was visible. It took a deep breath then vanished under the water halfway to the reeds. All was still in the springs afterwards, the only motion made by Dariel's actions in the water.

Then, everything grew unnaturally quiet. It was as if the world held its breath. And the crocodile surged out of the water, striking through the reeds, and up into where the ducks were resting. Haeli knew her business when it came to using Big Jaw to gather food. Ducks, especially at night, were easy targets really. They grew quiet and complacent after dark. The croc boiled the water and came ashore, snapping one of the poor creatures up in its jaw, swallowing it in a series of crunches that macerated the flesh and bones. The beast continued its scramble up onto the stone rim, scrambling through the ducks, and captured another one beneath its clawed foot. It tried for a third and forth, but the birds had already caught wind of the predator and were gone before Haeli could make the captures. The second bird died easily as the rest of the flock escaped with ill tempered squawks as they took wing and climbed to the sky and to safety.

Slowly she turned, retreated back into the water, the remaining bird in her jaw, and swam back to Dariel. When she grew closer, she shifted shape again, blending back into the human female form, and took the bird from her mouth where it dangled by a wing. Her stomach protested, a whole duck already in it and stretching it to capacity, though fortunately the water birds were small. She delicately held out the other corpse, offering to share the food with him.

[Elysium]

Haeli

XP:
Observation +2
Rhetoric +3
Morphing +3
Herbalism +1
Philosophy +1

Lore:
Dariel Masute, Child of Leth
How to Form a Rebuttal
How to Read Physical Cues
Lhavit: Kinell Hotspring
Rhetoric: Question and Answer

★

Dariel

XP:
Observation +3
Rhetoric +3
Auristics +1
Philosophy +1

Lore:
Haeli the Wildling
Herbalism: Winter Plants
Lhavit: Kinell Hotspring
How to Argue Personal Philosophy

Notes: This was an engaging read. Their conversation ebbed and flowed very organically. It would have been nice to see the night's conclusion, but alas! Please contact me if you're unsatisfied with your grade!

and so, the journey continues...