Closed Moonlight Harvest (Dariel)

[Haeli]

The young man could tell the actual moment he caught and held her undivided attention. She just suddenly grew incredibly quiet in the way she stood watching him. Her eyes darted to his lips as if she could physically see the words slipping out from behind their firm expanse. Making no comments as he spoke, she listened like someone clinging to each of his words not because of their tone, but for the richness of the information they contained. She listened like someone who cared.

And in the end, her strange eyes lifted and met his own and he saw they were a odd color - not quite blue and not quiet green - as the darkness shadowed her form and highlighted her gaze. Her lips curved slightly and she smiled at him, still not speaking after he'd finished releasing his thoughts. By the expression on her face he could tell she was thinking his words over, absorbing them.

A long time passed.

"I don't know what being human means. I came to learn. When I was small, so very small that I could fit in the crook of your arm, my mentor found me among the wreckage of a ship. It bore the name Haeli on its bell so she gave it to me as well. She was not human. She lived with no one and was caretaker to a swamp far to the south of here. I grew up thinking I was like her. And the first people I ever saw were human sailors when I was older, ten summers into my life. I realized then there was a difference, then, between them and Ozatha. It was upsetting. I wanted to be like her, not what I was. That was nine season changes ago. She died, two seasons ago, and I came here. It was a long flight. But I was so alone there without her. And she always seemed so disappointed that I was only human." Haeli added, looking longingly for a moment.

"They might band together, Darik, but they are no cautious herd that takes care of its own. They are often cruel to each other, untrusting, and the strong prey upon the weak. It's like nothing I've ever seen." She said, her voice going lower.

"Being me should be enough." She said softly, then glanced around. Her long hair fell free of her cloak's hood as she leaned forward and bent down to pick something up off the ground. It was a pine cone. She pocketed it. "But I don't know who me is." She admitted.

"No, the rituals are strange here too. People pair up. They do things in twos and in families. I have none of that. I do not look to others for safety or comfort. It puts you on the outside, sometimes like you are in the cold, staring through skyglass and looking in at humans being humans and not understanding." She said, reaching into her basket and pulling out her knife. She ran her thumb down its length, testing its sharpness. "This will not protect me. It's nothing to the raw world out here. It's nothing to these humans." She added, half as if she scorned them and half as if she longed to be part of them.

"Ozantha said I should come here. She said my ship was from there. She made me promise since I first started bleeding. She said it was the way of humans to gather together, to share information, and to find mates. You are the first person that has really talked to me that is also human. Are you looking for those things? For information? For a mate?" She asked, curiosity infusing her words. Haeli had no idea that what she spoke of was perhaps not polite conversation in Lhavitian society.

"I am old enough." She said abruptly, almost defensively. "To mate that is. To be one. I want to. It will help me understand." Haeli said, stumbling over the words. She dropped her gaze again, caught her lower lip and nibbled it for a moment, then released it to meet his eyes again.

[Dariel]

Dariel had indulged her up to here, absorbed what she had shared about her past with obvious interest but the whole bit about bleeding and mating had seen him grow more uncomfortable, suddenly discovering miniscule bits of lint on his shirt or being seemingly very unhappy with the way his cloak sat. She could see him try to fight it, steepling his fingers, trying to relax, trying to maintain his impassive mask, but time and again he failed. Eventually the young man had to admit to himself that the moment would not simply pass. Reluctantly and with much hesitation, Dariel evetually admitted, "I presume I can... empathize to an extent. I cannot tell you how to belong however. I never aspired to do so." "But I am certain I can tell you how to find out who you are: Be mindful of your impulses. I am not saying to follow them at every end, but to ask yourself why you feel a certain urge. That will tell you who you are. If you see an old man stumble, do you rush to help him up? Steal his money while he is sprawled on the ground? Just go about your own business? You already are you. Maybe not the best developed you you could be, but to understand who this you is you really only need to pay attention to who you are when you are not thinking about your actions." "Eyris have mercy. That made no sense, did it? Well. You... asked after mating. Sooner or later you will meet someone, and you will feel an urge to mate with them. If they too want to mate with you, well, lovely. But this is something you cannot force. You will feel when the right one is around. Or one of the right ones at any rate. Being you is the same thing. Your self will assert itself when the need or the opportunity arises. Intuition is hardly ever wrong I have found. Its weakness is, it simply cannot get the work done on its own." Talking seemed to calm him down. By giving his ideas and thoughts audible shape he could revisit them, analyze, dissect, cut apart and recombine them to make more sense. And as he distilled Haeli's talk of mating down to some prepubescent girl's ideal it became more of a friendly ghost than a ghastly specter. He enjoyed talking to the girl well enough, certainly, but in no way was he ready to broach a subject many parents shied away from. His nascent smile crept back onto his face along with his confidence. He had another topic she'd asked after, and that one he knew well, even if nobody else did. Or so he hoped. "I myself? Well, I am a nosy fellow. I love information. Knowledge is Power as my old master used to say. Power is good, no? But I never aspired to belong, as I already said. I... well, I suffice myself I presume. I am rarely bored because I have so many plans in my head. So many things I want to do. I have no time to try and fit in with a band of bland, ignorant..." "...whatever they are. Frankly, I cannot fathom why you would want to. But I will respect the dead's wishes and not seek to dissuade you from it."The word that he swallowed had been 'maggots'. For all his cooperation towards Haeli, the boy kept displaying little but sneering contempt for humanity as a whole. He made no effort to hide that. The only effort he made was to be sane about it. Or at least evoke the appearance of that. In fact, his next comment was downright sober. "By the same token, I presume finding a mate as you put it will be hard. I have been... friendly with people in the past. Sooner or later they all become dependent. Their dependence registers as weakness in my mind. I would not want weak friends or mates. Does that make sense? I presume your animal friends would seek strong partners too. A hale vixen would prefer another hale fox over one with a disease, or a missing leg, yes?" Finally, he was done rambling. His hands freed of any need to pick lint, he stuck them out into the moonlight again, as if to wash them in Leth's essence. Inspecting every knuckle and every line, self-absorbed, maybe self-critical. It was only when he laced the fingers of both hands into one another that he looked back over to Haeli, feeling the need to add one more thing despite claiming he wouldn't do it. "The outside has many advantages. You can come and go as you please with nobody wondering or worrying. You see more than from the inside... though a lot of it is appalling as you already noted about people. And you are not alone. There are other people outside. They are less, but they tend to be the more interesting characters to say the least. I mean... we are outside now, no?"

[Haeli]

Haeli watched his reaction to her words and could visually see his discomfort. She'd crossed an invisible line, obviously, like she had the first day in Lhavit when she'd urinated in public unaware humans hid their movements from each other, which was baffling.

"I do not want to belong." Haeli reaffirmed, wanting him to not misunderstand her. "I want to know what it is like, how these people live. There is a difference between knowing and belonging. I am not them. I will not likely ever belong. And that is fine. Don't misunderstand me." She assured him, though she wasn't sure why that distinction was so important. Haeli didn't miss his insults either and his almost blatant dislike of humanity - or at least disrespect of them. In fact, it came across slightly arrogant and she wondered where the arrogance came from. Maybe he considered himself better than they were - different - and prided himself on it. Haeli felt like his mind came across as perhaps a bit closed to new ideas. Did he think her bland? Ignorant?

"It made sense." She reassured him. "I just have to have the experiences to understand about how I will react to them. So far there are things here I could have never imagined and rules I could not have guessed ever existed. You have lived among them, perhaps been born here or with other people. So you would not understand, perhaps, now different they are. Everything, at times, is a challenge. It is exciting though. And it keeps my mind sharp." Haeli said, tilting her head and reaching up to rub her brow.

"Old master? Were you owned?" Haeli asked, knowing slaves called their owners Masters. Slavery was something she knew about, not first hand, but her education at Ozantha's hand had been top notched. She was still on Dariel's reference when he switched gears and made more comments. He liked talking, and she enjoyed listening. But she had to struggle to follow his course changes, not because she was stupid, but rather because she tended to want to think about everything he said and he gave her little chance.

He spoke of having plans and that made her curious. "You said your head was full of plans. What sort of plans?" She wasn't sure his plans were something that she could politely ask about, but she was curious. She had plans of her own, ones she was already well underway fulfilling.

When he spoke of mates she noticed he had trouble equating humans pairing up as mating whereas he had no problems referring to the terms in regards to animals. He called the situation with humans being friendly. She noted the difference. "Diseased animals do not live long enough to mate. Neither do leg-less foxes. I would never take a mate with such weaknesses, no. I want to find a fit mate with a strong body and sharp mind I would enjoy spending time with. It is harder done in reality than the theory would suggest." Haeli said reasonably. "In the wilds, mates often depend on each other for food, shelter, hunting partnerships, even survival. Your words confuse me because that is normal. Or are you meaning something else?" She asked, looking thoughtful. Now that she'd gotten him talking, she didn't want him to stop. She liked knowing what someone was thinking by how they were speaking. One on one conversations, no matter how awkward, gave her a lot better insight than listening or interacting say at a tea house or just walking down the street overhearing things.

"Dariel, I just want experiences. No matter what pathway I pick to walk in my life, I want to know that there were choices. I want to experiences things. I do not need to be on the inside as you so well paint the picture with your words. I just want to be able to understand what I am seeing. And when I see two people, a man and a woman walking, I want to know what it is they have gone through as well. I am not a Dhani, though I was raised one. I want to be a human for a little while. I want to feel like them, think like them, and understand what it is to be them. I can tell you do not like them much, and that is fine. I cast no judgement on you for that. But I have never had a family, a mate, a sibling or a mother. I have had no one but myself. I do not wish anyone to feel sorrow after me for this. But I do want to know, even in small way, what that sort of thing might be like. There is no harm in it. And even if I take a mate for a single day or night, there is no harm in that either. At least I will know, right? It will never in the end make me one of them. I'm not sure I want to be one of those people in their glittering city on the top of their mountain. But I would know them better and understand a little what it was I have missed." She paused, turned to look towards where she knew Lhavit to be, and sighed wistfully.

"And even if they never accept me as one of them, knowing them is more important than being them. At least I came, if just for a little bit, and at least I tried. I might have even found my family in one of their towers. There is a man there that has a missing mate who was heavy with child when she was stolen. The child was to be a girl and I look a great deal like her and am the age she would be. I have gifts that run in her family as well. But they are cautious, as I am cautious, and we take things slowly. I am not sorry I came. Not at all." Haeli said, then turned and looked at Dariel again.

"And you... liking your power, wanting it even. How do you plan to go about that? And is it real power or only power imagined? So much power here, honestly, is only imagined. They don't know what real power is. Humans, in a lot of way, are blind to such things." She asked, feeling more open with him now, more confident.

[Dariel]

She had definitely managed to make him relax again. The more she talked, the softer his features would grow, no matter how harsh the moonlight painted them. Dariel took a step towards Haeli once more, took another, a third made him pass her by and brought him within reach of a young tree, his fingers stretching across the fine bark, taking in its grain and texture. His eyes wandered up the trunk until they found Leth's face again, broken by so many slender branches that he looked like a little round leaded window. Turning away from the girl in this manner was all Dariel could do to hide his smile. "I apologize for misunderstanding you."He let the words hang there for a bit, in part because he needed to bite his lip, in part because he wanted the statement to stand on its own. Still touching the tree as if it was some pet in need of attention, still beholding the moon through its branches, mulling over everything that been said, weighing what he might say in response. "I was not quite a slave, no. I was apprenticed. My master was the one who taught me. Even if all I learned can be summed up by saying he taught me not to care to rely on anyone. It was not a terrible life, mind you. There is no great tragedy there or anything. It simply was... lacking. Oh and he would rant on and on about power. He generally meant overt power, mind you. Physical strength, blatantly vulgar magics that sort of thing. It did not help him in the end I presume." "I presume that is another cautious tale of some sort, but certainly one for another night. As is probably any help I might render you with your own designs and desires. Let me just say that what I now take your goal to be is something I can fully understand. Experiencing things, finding them out and knowing them, there can never be anything wrong with that. Knowing the hows and whys of other people, understanding them without the need to feel like or for them. That is the kind of power that comes from knowledge." "Of physicians it is said that knowing how to heal also enables one to hurt. With people it is similar. Once you understand them you have the power to help or to hinder them. I would never suggest you malevolently play with them, but if they take position against you, knowing how to hurt them with words is never a bad thing. Especially if it might delay or deflect their own intentions. But I am moving in circles."And did he ever. Maybe he was simply if subconsciously trying to avoid the topic of mating, but he had good reason to doubt the girl would let it drop. Dariel's fingers curled, nails dragging down the tree, but achieving little more than to gather dirt beneath them. Hardly a gesture of defiance, but then he did not look or sound like an overtly physical man. After all, all he'd done nothing but talk so far. "Well, I presume the term 'mating' comes down to two different but often related concepts with humans. One is partnership, the idea of sharing joys and burdens with a dedicated partner and possibly have children with them if possible. The other is straight-up petching. There is a plethora of names for it, but really, why obfuscate what it is?" "While the act may go hand in hand with a partnership and deep-seated feelings, there is no need for that as long as there is an underlying physical attraction. There are all kinds I presume. Some people mate for life, some for a few short bells, with all kinds of stages in between. But you seem to be more interested in the former kind. In away I doubt it is much different than with animals, but the needs of a mated pair themselves are different ones. Humans might not fear not being able to find food in winter. They might fear the prices on the market rising though, which amounts to the same. Both partners working to secure food would involve both of them working for coin." "I believe the basic principle is the same. But I cannot guarantee you will ever experience it, and you might be better off for it. After a few years, couples seem to grow indifferent and then, indifference festers and becomes dislike. Not always, but often. Maybe that is an experience best reserved for others." "Really, it is not my place to advise you, but from all I can tell, you are perfectly fine the way you are. You will of course make your experiences, but one might worry that they will spoil you. Which would be a shame."

[Haeli]

Haeli waited for him to finish entirely speaking before joined him at the tree in a move so swift she might have startled him. She warmed the air standing so close and he could smell her hair that was scented with some sort of flower.

The sapling was a youth really and new to the world. The witch forcefully reached out and covered his hand with her own. He could feel power there, from her mark which hidden beneath the leg of her trousers lit up with glow that infused the diorama of swamp life with a semblance of being alive. The mark crawled beneath her skin as Haeli's hand joined Dariels to the sapling forcing a link. He could feel the living thing beneath his hands suddenly. Images, feelings, emotion flowed through him. The tree was worried for its life at the careless hands of the man. It also was curious as to his attention to it. Sentient. Aware. It knew him. It named him. It watched, and so too did all the trees around them.

Haeli released his hand abruptly. She stepped back taking her warmth and the smell of jasmine with her. She glanced at the tree and paying him no more mind for a moment. "He means no harm." She assured it. "His mind is on his own life and not yours. You have not caused his discomfort, I have." She said firmly before turning her attention back to Dariel.

"Dariel." She said his name softly. Tilting her head to one side she offered him a smile then shifted so there was space between them again in an attempt to make him feel more comfortable. "I do not want your actions. Please do not misunderstand me. But I am eager for your words. There is a difference. I am not asking you to do anything. We are talking. If I wanted more from you, more than words, I would ask you with more than words. But I do not know you. And I am not so bold as that. There are so many rules. There are men who pair with men. There are women that pair with women. I do not know how to tell, even if I wanted too, who is who and who is not who and what would even please you. For all that I know you are one who only likes his same gender. I just want your words. Do you understand?" Haeli said, afraid suddenly that he'd bolt.

Deer had a strong sense of self preservation and Dariel looked almost akin to one at times. He spoke with his eyes more than she suspected he knew he did, and that told her of his discomfort more than anything.

"I didn't mean to suggest you were a slave. Now I know teachers are Masters too." It was an olive branch to change the subject. "What magics? I know something of magic." She said, curious. She didn't recognize the word vulgar or she would not have asked. The witch looked curious again, as if his words had spiked her interest.

But Dariel had said more, and she wanted to address what he said rather than ignore it, but she was loath to bring on his discomfort again.

"I will keep your words in mind. About pain and knowing true weakness and mixing the two to be defensive. That is good advice." She acknowledged. "I don't think we are so different, not as much as you might think. That would be something I would think of, in the end, had the need arose." Haeli said.

"I asked for your words." She said abruptly, in regards to his compare and contrast of what he considered the two forms of human relationships. "If you want to give advice, then that is your place. I asked. I hadn't realized there was more than one kind. From your earlier words I assume you like the later and the mates you have taken in the past want the former. That must be difficult. Humans have speech, it confuses me why they are not so clear on their needs and intents. I would assume it would make things easier before things got complicated or uncomfortable." She added.

Then she smiled. "I wonder which I will like best? Men...? Women...? Do we have to pick?" She said, then glanced at him. "What about you? Which do you prefer and how do you know? There are enough people here. I do not require children so males are not necessary." The swamp witch grinned, replaced the knife she still carried in her free hand back in the basket she had, and shifted its grip. She almost looked... for a moment... as if she were teasing him. Maybe. The look was there so swiftly and gone again before he could be sure.

[Dariel]

The twitch was restrained. Whether startled or just not a friend of being touched, Dariel's entire body seemed to want to move, but he held fast like a Suvan battle line, muscles closing their ranks on command, freezing him where he stood. Instinctively, he resisted the guidance of Haeli's hand at first, but eventually he would relent, even if that too seemed to require great self control. What followed, he took in with quiet wonder. If he had been touched, delighted, repulsed remained his secret. But the smile on his features did not fade. When she stepped back he turned along, heels rising from the soft ground, pivoting about with just enough momentum to face Haeli again. He'd given up on hiding that smile, shaking his head in obvious amusement as she continued. When he spoke, his voice was quiet again, calm, maybe even reassuring. "Now you misunderstand. You need not worry, girl. I never meant to imply anything of the sort. But I see us having more of these talks in the future. For one, we cannot cover all the ground there is in this single night." "I am certain you can tell I like to lecture. It is lost on most, but not on you. That alone makes you worth my time, and well... you already suggested you needed people to talk to. So I presume this will not remain our last chat."Afterwards he looked around with a critical eye, as if to imply that he'd prefer more civilized surroundings next time. Wholly ignoring the girl's question after magic he instead chose to move back to the other awkward topic. Dariel had actually never really been uncomfortable with talking about it per se. It was more that he dreaded the complexity of the whole issue of physical and emotional attraction, rutting and romance. There was a lot of ground to cover there. But seeing as she was asking more precise questions now he thought himself brave enough to address those, even if he'd rather be damned than lay out the exact and potentially sordid details of his own needs and wants. "No, you do not have to pick. I never saw the point. Well, except for actual procreation. But limits of any description are so terribly stifling, are they not? Besides... a hole is a hole, no?"He paused there, gauging Haeli's reaction to the rather blunt statement while at the same time hoping she had seen enough animals mate to know what he was even referring to. When she did not run screaming, all he had left in his arsenal was a plain shrug, exact in its movements like so many things with him, but otherwise wholly unremarkable. "As for you, well that is something you will find out. Luckily for you, boys are easily seduced and girls respond well to dominance. You should definitely browse before you settle, if ever. It is probably also the only way to really tell what you like. Look at the boys, look at the girls, grab the ones that grab your fancy. If a boy resists, grab his crotch. If a girl resists, grab her neck..." "Just mind the Shinya."

[Haeli]

Haeli stared wide-eyed at Dariel, her eyes expressing her surprise along with her face. The girl wore her thoughts clearly so there was no obfuscation about her. But her emotions were volatile things, prone to change instantly. And they did, her shock turning to mirth her lips curled upwards and she shook her head slightly. "You are a terrible man, saying such things to me. I might not be the most well versed in politeness, but even I know that's a terrible thing to say to a young woman." Haeli said, half laughing.

"Indeed you do like to lecture. I've noticed, but I do not mind. But I'm also starting to think that there should be a list of things I should not talk to you about, both because it makes you uncomfortable and because truthfully you have no tact in their discussion. Besides, how can I take you seriously when all I can think of is some poor tree with a gnarled cavity bearing the brunt of your amorous affections... because after all a hole is a hole, right?" She said, shaking her head and still chuckling.

"On the other hand, I suspect you need me. For while you are thinking deep thoughts and roaming the countryside lost just outside of the sight of the city gates, you might need someone like me with claws to dissuade things from eating you that otherwise would. I'm not afraid of anything in these woods save humans, and you've already carefully instructed me on how to deal with them." She recited. "Go in pairs. Then be prepared to outrun the better looking and lamer of the two, especially if hes lithe enough they won't mind hes not a girl." Haeli commented with a smile, teasing him again.

She pushed her hood off her head, ran a hand absently through her hair as if too smooth it down from itching under the fur lining of the hood, and then she gripped her basket.

"Can you lecture and walk? It's time you picked the topic as well. I need to get things gathered tonight and it seems you need to work on strengthening your ankle and your sense of direction." She said, drawing the knife from her basket and beginning to wander. Haeli harvested as she moved, bending to slice a few leaves off here, or take a whole plant there. She touched a lot as well, running her hands across almost everything she passed. The witch wasn't in a hurry nor was she lingering in any one place. Her eyes darted about and she was as alert as a deer moving through unfamiliar territory.

She even touched him, out of habit, occasionally reaching over to brush his arm as if reassuring herself without looking at him that he was there. It was a conversation, he'd realize eventually, that she was carrying on with the world around her and for brief moments including him in. As they walked, her basket filled up slowly and she seemed to relax more and more the deeper they got into the wilds.

[Dariel]

"Poor tree? Poor tree she says. I would be raw for days, I am certain of it. Also, I can be tactful, but I prefer not to be. People put too much emphasis on form and too little on content. Seeing as you prefer to do your business in the street I thought you might appreciate the candor."It wasn't the best of comebacks, but Dariel wouldn't seem like he took her accusations lying down. No matter how friendly the exchange was. Following Haeli when she wandered off, he tried to fulfill her request and come up with a topic. For a while, though, he just walked, taking in the nightly sights. White lichen that lit up when Leth touched it, fragrant moss crawling up solitary rocks and patches of what he recognized was Bromegrass, one of the ingredients Keper Masute made his pulp from. And more. Rustling in bushes that Haeli knew was just some rodent scurrying off seemed to pique his curiosity as much as a mumbling sound that turned out to be a small stream rambling down the mountainside. Dariel was so very much out of his element here, it stood to wonder how he ever got to Lhavit in one piece to begin with. He also learned fast. Rarely was he fooled twice, which also meant his interest in things faded quickly. Only tricks of the light, or the shadow play it caused, managed to keep him paying attention. He'd run his hand through the beams as if the moonlight was liquid. In a way he must have seemed like a child discovering the world. Though the kind of child that is not content with watching a butterfly and marvelling at the display, but rather the kind that wants to methodically cut it apart under a magnifying lens to find the secret of its glamor. He certainly shared the same dejection when something seemingly wondrous turned out to be utterly banal. The first real topic that came to his mind as they wandered might have seemed equally banal, but there was enough real curiosity in it to suggest it meant more to him. "How do you know so much about the plants of the mountains? I mean, you cannot be older than me, and you said you grew up far to the south. Did you simply try everything out? Is there a standardized book on the topic?" "Yes, I know it to be a bland topic. But as you have already deduced I hold little love for my brothers and sisters. I do however respect skill in all its forms, be it knowledge or craftsmanship. Be it making jaunty music. I am simply curious where yours is from. And what can be done with it."

[Haeli]

Haeli smiled at Dariels words but kept walking, waiting for him to pick a topic. There was no trail where she lead, but that didn't stop her from walking forward boldly, as if there were one. The witch was used to the mountain's darkness and when the going got too rough she'd slow down and pick her way carefully. When she got concerned she would concentrate on Fang's form and slowly the tips of her fingernails would harden, lengthen, and become wicked weapons. Humans could use jaguar claws just as effectively as jaguars could. And truthfully, unless one was opening a doorway or trying to do some fine writing, they hardly got in the way when one was just hiking and gathering herbs. So Haeli concentrated, just in case, and the smooth slick black claws of her cat's form slide out from the ends of her fingertips to caress the basket and tap lightly against the small harvest knife she held.

"Honestly, Dariel, I wish I had a mentor here like I did from my home. Ozantha knew so much you could not learn from books or just by being out within the woods. But here, there is a different way one can learn. Though I can read and write and I love books... I love them like old friends... I cannot usually sit still long enough to take information from them. Instead I watch the world and the animals will often clue me in on what is good. Normally I don't have to bother them overly much either. You just have to watch. A Okomo with a stomach ache will graze on certain plants. A deer with a near miss from the tufted cat we spoke of earlier will eat certain moss and lichens to keep the bleeding in her wounds down. You have to teach your eyes to understand the strangeness of where you are and what they are seeing. Because many people will simply see, but there is no direct link between their mind and their eyes to know the truth of the scene." Haeli said, smiling in the darkness though she doubted he could see it.

"I like plants a great deal. They gift us with so much. And for all that this place is high, there are plants here that are much like the plants back home - cousins or siblings - and the properties are sometimes near the same." Haeli added. Then she looked thoughtful and continued. "Not always though. I've made mistakes and gotten sick before. It happens. But I don't sell anything I'm not sure of." She said, nodding to herself.

"I find it strange here though. In the Gyvaka Swamp, everything is life piled on top of life. Every inch of everything is teaming with life. Here it almost as if its a desert. Life thrives, but its so much harsher. There are beautiful things and medicinal things and comfortable familiar things, but there is so much less of it. You may not realize it, but there's room to breathe here. It's amazing to me the difference." She added, then glanced at him. Haeli was afraid she was boring him, not talking about anything he perhaps had an interest in or knew about.

"What about you, Dariel? What are you passionate about? I don't know anything at all about you." She added, looking thoughtful. "Well, nothing at least except the bad things I probably shouldn't know." Haeli said, slowing down to stoop and trim another few leaves off a thriving arrow leaf balsam root plant.

[Dariel]

Making sure Haeli was not in range, Dariel stopped and lowered himself to take a look at a flat stone that just lay there. It lay in the moss and looked oddly out of place, a veiny white in the moonlight. Thin fingertips brushed over the weathered surface, gently, tenderly. Somehow that little rock was like him, wasn't it? Tearing his gaze away, he looked over to where the girl was similarly bent over some kind of bush. "I know what you mean. They say experience is the best teacher, do they not? Granted, my business is less with plants and more with humanity. Paradoxical, I know, but it also means my judgement is critical and not tainted by... sympathy." He mused along while his fingertips never left the cool rock, eyes squinting narrow while his pupils widened to accommodate the ever shifting lighting conditions. Soon all the leaves would have died and gone. Soon they would be covered by Winter's death shroud. The next night of the full moon would be as bright as day. "Though I like books well enough, to say the least, they can only guide and prepare for actual experience. Or discuss theories that cannot be proven I presume. Or to distribute mere knowledge, such as with dictionaries. And of course blank ones for taking notes. I would not know what to do without a notebook, I confess." With a last gentle brush he bade the lone rock goodbye and stood up, straightening his clothes with a few habitual tugs. Closing the distance between him and his herbalist companion across crunching leaves, in fact sounding as if he ground his heels into the dead foliage to be especially loud, he stopped to peer over Haeli's shoulder. The plant she took leaves from looked like a weed to him. But truthfully, all plants without a proper use looked like weeds to him. And looking pretty in a vase was not a proper use to him either. But this was what she did, and he had no reason to doubt that she knew what she was doing. As for what he did, well, he could always deflect."I do not think I have ever been in a proper swamp. My main idea of it involves a lot of bothersome insects and pungent smells. But that might be my imagination. As for the plants up here, well..." Running his spread fingers through the shrub in front of him, Dariel tilted his head to the side, trying to stay on, or rather off topic. Well, maybe he could throw her a single bone down the line."The plants that grow this high in the mountains are survivors I presume. Adapted to the conditions of the high mountains yet still aesthetically pleasing. At the risk of overdoing it with the proverbs, another one comes to mind." "The most beautiful flower blooms in adversity. I may have mangled that a little, but not the intention. Anything can thrive under ideal conditions. The best things thrive where they have no right to. I presume that includes swamps, at least where humans are concerned. I may further presume that inept, wrathful masters make for adversarial surroundings as well. Going back to the topic of learning, I feel I learned more what not to do rather than what to do in all those years." "And since I had such a useless master, I never really learned a proper trade. Right now I am simply a student of the human condition... or a tourist if you will."