FSE

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Here's chapter 31. Wellp, this whole section is definitely growing a lot bigger than I expected. As tricky as the accent can be, I'm really enjoying coming up with interactions with these bunnies. At this rate though, it'll probably be another chapter or two before they get to the next arch. Sorry they're so long thus far, too. Hope you're enjoying the story!

-Llox

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Lykou and Kuna were brought to a mid-sized square building made of wood and stone, similar to the travel lodge, although the chimney was smaller. Another guard dressed similarly to Raghnaid stood next to the door and nodded to her silently as they entered. He eyed the boys curiously, but his expression remained steadfastly neutral.

Once they were inside, they immediately entered a hallway and took the first door to the left. The room they entered was mainly lit by a pair of wide slatted windows on either exterior wall, being situation on the corner of the building. It was mostly empty, except for a table and four stools sitting in a ring around it. Two of the stools were occupied. Closest to the entrance was a lepne wearing a vest and long trousers, with a knife sheathed on his belt and large bag made of some kind of soft, fuzzy material slung across his chest hanging on the other side. The lepne on the other side was more stout and wearing a slightly more ornate-looking vest, with some kind of emblem stitched onto the front. He also had a small, but intricately-carved wooden crown sitting on his head, with a trio of smooth agate stones embedded into it.

"Ah, thae mist be th' strangers ah wis hearing aboot!" the stout lepne said, standing up. His other guest stood and turned to greet them as well.

"Aye chieftan! Ah bring ye Lykou, 'n' Kuna, o' th' village o' Lakefire," Raghnaid reported, gesturing to each in turn. She then looked to the boys and introduced the two lepne, "Honored guests, this es chieftan Griogair, 'n' th' trade leader, Bhaltair."

Lykou thought for a moment, then crossed one arm over his chest and dipped his head slightly. "Thank you for your hospitality, chieftan," he said, nudging Kuna slightly.

The sereva was a little confused, but mimicked his friend's actions. Outside of certain spiritual and funerary situations, he wasn't used to the idea of so much pomp and circumstance towards one individual.

"Ach, na need fur a' that, tis a buzz tae hae ye!" the chieftan assured them, then gestured to the remaining two stools. "Hae a seat! We dinnae git much chance tae chat wi` folks fae places we ne'er even heard o'. Welcome tae Kerney!"

"Indeed, Lakefire is a mystery tae me. Mah band haes traveled a' o'er these hills, bit that name haes ne'er met mah ears. Wid loue tae hear a' aboot it!" Bhaltair added, standing up and offering Kuna his seat. "Ah will hae tae wait till later, though. Ah'm needin' tae mak' some arrangements. Bit ah hear that you'd lik' tae jyne mah caravan tae Whitlan, sae ah will see ye at th' lodge efter, aye?"

"Yeah, we would really appreciate that," Lykou said, sitting down alongside his more hesitant and anxious friend.

"Great, ah'll see ye tonight, then," he said, then turned and pulled a small shiny, polished disc of agate out of his bag, then handed it to the chieftan. "A'maist forgot. A gift from chief Eimhir. Pleasure as always, Grey."

The chief stood and the two embraced and patted one another's back, before the trade leader turned and headed out the door, giving a friendly nod to Raghnaid on the way out. The chief dismissed the guard as well, then turned back to his guests with a friendly smile as he sat back down. "Right, weel then. Lykou 'n' kuna. Happy tae hae ye 'ere. Ah trust a' body haes treated ye weel?"

Kuna nodded quietly, nervously looking down and only occasionally shooting little glances up at the chief.

"Oh definitely. Everyone's been extremely friendly. Thank you again for the hospitality, sir," Lykou said, smiling back. He gently rubbed Kuna's shoulder a little, then pulled him a little closer so he could wrap his arm around him. "Forgive Kuna, he's a bit shy."

"That's a'right. Na need fer fomalities, though. Ye kin skip th' 'sir' nonsense. Juist ca' me chief, or Grey, if ye lik'," he said, briefly looking over the agate he received, then turning to set it on a small decorative shelf alongside several other small gemstones sitting on it. "Ye lik' mah collection? Th' ither chiefs 'n' ah send bonny hings tae each ither that we fin' in oor territory."

"They're very pretty," Kuna suddenly spoke up just before Lykou was about to reply, seemingly noticing the shelf for the first time. "What's that little blue one on the end?"

"Ah, tha's a sapphire fae th' Longhair clan ower in Dunbri. Bonny wee thing, isnae it?"

The sereva nodded, smiling a little. "They're all really nice."

"Yeah, that's quite a collection. Are there many stones like that around here?"

"Nae exactly a lot, bit ye fin' some agates, lik' thae," he replied, gesturing to his crown. "Layin' in th' fields 'n' hills 'ere whiles. S'what ah send back, whin ah fin' a gid sized yin. Anyway, tell me aboot Lakefire! mist be ferr a wey fae 'ere."

Lykou happily began describing his home to the chieftan, while Kuna passed the time looking over the pretty stones on the nearby shelf. When that grew old, he looked out the slatted window and watched some villagers passing by. A number of them paused and chatted with each other along the way, frequently pointing towards the building he was in. Some even spotted him looking and waved to him, making him feel a bit self-conscious as he shyly waved back.

"Whit is this 'sunstone' ye keep mentionin'?" the chief eventually asked the konuul.

"Oh yeah, here, let me show you," he said, then pulled out his knife and gently set it down on the table. "Apparently it's a kind of 'metal', though I only recently learned that word. A couple crafters make it into all sorts of things like this."

"Aye, that's a splendid wee blade!" the chief replied, looking it over with obvious fascination. "It reminds me o' copper, bit it keeps tis shine? 'n' ah assume tougher 'n' sharper, tae."

"I'm not sure what copper is, but yeah! You barely ever have to sharpen sunstone blades once they're cut."

"Ye nae ken copper? Weel, ah suppose ye wouldn't need tae, if ye hae a bunch o' this stuff sittin` aroond," Grey replied, then handed the knife back to Lykou and stood up. "Come wi' me, ah will shaw ye aroond Kerney, 'n' see if we kin fin' some copper tae shaw ye. 'n' some bronze, while we're at it, seeing as how tis made wi' th' stuff."

Lykou got up and gently nudged Kuna to do so as well. The sereva snapped out of his mild daydreaming with a sheepish smile as he stood up. They both followed the chief, who began giving them a small tour of the village. He was clearly enjoying himself, happily introducing them to a number of different villagers as they went. They stopped by communal storage house that kept the harvested goods from the farms that surrounded the village, and he offered them each a snack- which Kuna accepted, if only to have something to distract himself with, but Lykou politely declined. Several farmers greeted them, with varied mixtures of curiosity and delight. A few had young lepne with them, who were even more excited to meet the outsiders.

Next they stopped by a simple smithy, which fascinated both Lykou and especially Kuna. The konuul mentioned the similarities to the sunstone-crafters and the oven houses back in Lakefire, but was fascinated to see the actual metal-working being done. When he saw the copper, he brought out his knife for comparison, much to the fascination of the village smith. The two also were shown the simple bronze tools that she'd been working on.

"Where do you get that stuff from? I don't remember seeing anything shiny laying around on the ground," Lykou asked, then rubbed his neck. "Although admittedly it was dark when we got here, heh."

"Th' caravans bring it fae Tannil," Grey explained. "They bring it fae th' mines thare, 'n' we send back food 'n' wool hings oor weavers mak'."

"Wool? What's that?"

"Ach, ye dinnae ken wool either?" the chief asked, grinning. Far from perturbed, he seemed excited to get to introduce them to something else. He turned back to the smith and nodded to her. "See ye efter, Una! Thanks fer yer time."

"See ya later chief!" the smith replied, then nodded to the boys with a smile before going back to work. "Lovely meetin' ye lads."

The chief led them to another large building with a set of especially wide wooden doors that were sitting propped open by a couple large rocks. Inside, there were a trio of lepne sitting on stools next to some strange creatures the boys had never seen before. Much to Lykou's confusion and mild amusement, and Kuna's confused dismay, they were in the process of trimming most of the thick, dense fur from the creatures with a pair of shears- though the beasts didn't seem to mind at all. In fact, they were remarkably docile and relaxed.

"Are... w-why are they..." Kuna stammered out, unable to comprehend the strange situation.

The chieftan let out a hearty laugh and clapped the sereva on the back lightly. "Ah guess it mist be streenge if ye'v ne'er seen it afore. Thaes ur sheep. Thair fur is called wool, 'n' as it sae happens, thay graw awfy much o' it fur th' summer."

"Thay used tae run aff wey north when it got warm. We stairted penning 'em in 'n' feeding 'em in exchange fur th' extra fluff. It's great fer making a' sorts o' claithes and blankets and so oan. Works oot bonny weel fur th' baith o' us," the closest worker chimed in, pausing to wave to the visitors.

"This 'ere is Hamish," Grey said, gesturing to the other lepne. "Hamish, this is Lykou 'n' Kuna. They're payin' us a visit fae a far awa' village call' Lakefire."

"Welcome tae Kerney, lads," Hamish replied with a smile, nodding to them as he resumed sheering the sheep next to him.

Grinning, the chief reached over and picked up some of the discarded wool and brought it over to the boys. "'ere, cop that. Softest, coziest thing ye'll fin' in a' thae hills."

Lykou reached over and examined the wool. "Wow, no kidding! I bet this makes great blankets."

"Aye, 'n' a lot else 'asides."

After hesitating for a moment, Kuna reached over and felt it as well, and was suitably impressed. "It's really soft, alright..." He couldn't help but look over at the sheep with concern though. "It... it really doesn't bother them, though?"

"Na harm at a'. Lik' he said, it works fur thaim 'n' us alike. How come dae ye think they're sae calm aboot it?" Grey reassured him with a chuckle.

Kuna suddenly jumped slightly when something brushed his hand, earning a round of snickers and laughter from the various lepne nearby. Another individual had walked up with another sheep, bringing it to be sheared, and it had brushed up against the sereva, curiously nudging his hand with its nose.

Lykou rubbed his friend's back softly and smirked. "I think it likes you."

The sereva folded his ears down and frowned slightly in embarrassment. Still, the sheep seemed to remain curious about him, nudging him again. As the lepne guiding it stood by and watched in amusement, he hesitantly reached his hand out and pet the creature's head, which seemed to please the beast. After a moment, he couldn't help but smile faintly. This is so fucking weird, he thought to himself. But I'll gladly take this over some kind of monstrosity trying to murder us for once.

Eventually, the chief set the wool back down and guided the visitors away after bidding Hamish and the other workers farewell.

"Hae Bhaltair shaw ye some o' th' hings he's taking tae Whitlan. Th' weavers dae mighty braw wirk," Grey said as they walked. After a short stroll across the village, they approached an odd-looking round structure with a tall oak tree growing out of its center. Off to one side was an area with a tall wooden fence, obscuring the interior space. Both the fence and the building had ivy sprawling all over their sides. Unlike most of the other buildings in the village, this one's roof looked like it was made of a mish-mash of living plant matter. The chieftan turned to face Kuna as they approached, an excited glint in his eye. "Noo kuna, ah unnerstan' yer a wee bit o' a druna?"

Kuna rubbed his arm and glanced over at Lykou, then nodded slightly.

"Kin ye show me?" Grey asked, pausing outside the odd building, then gestured to some of the ivy hanging off the edge of the roof.

Kuna took a breath and looked around, wary of a few other lepne that'd stopped and started watching them as they approached the building. After a moment, he summoned up the life magic and caused a few pale blue flowers to bloom on the vines. Once it was done, he quickly dismissed the energy and shifted uncomfortably, huddling up to Lykou under the fascinated gaze of several onlookers.

The chieftan's eyes went wide as he watched the sereva work, then he nodded appreciately. "Aye, this is th' right place, then. Kuna, let me intr-"

Before he could even finish, the door swung open and a somewhat tall, slender lepne stepped out, wearing a thin green and tan robe and a flowering headdress. She had a somewhat authoritative air about her, as she examined the visitors.

"Ach, Moyra!" the chieftan said quickly, giving a little bow before continuing. "Ah hawp we're nae disturbing ye, bit these 'ere lads are visitin' fae a far awa' village, 'n' Kuna 'ere-"

"Brought me some flowers, ah see," the druna cut him off in a light, airy voice, as she glanced at the flowering vine hanging off the roof, then back to the sereva, sizing him up with a carefully neutral expression. "Seems yer th' one missing yer crown, however." After a moment, her own hand manifested a green glow, and the vines lifted and stretched over to him, startling him. It shed one of the flowers on his head before returning to its previous position and falling slack once more. "Welcome tae Kerney, young druna."

Kuna eyed her nervously. "Th-thanks..."

She raised a brow. "Whit's yer name, then?"

"K... Kuna."

"'n' yer companion, is he a druna as weel?" she asked.

Kuna slowly shook his head. "Lykou d-doesn't use that kind of m-magic, no."

"A pity. Still, nice tae mak yer acquaintance, Lykou," she said, nodding to the konuul, who smiled and nodded back to her. She turned back and opened the door, then beckoned Kuna inside. "Come in, Kuna. Ah'm sure th' chieftan wull wantae shaw yer friend th' brewhall whil we discuss druna matters."

"Aye, guid idea!" Grey said, grinning eagerly as he clapped Lykou on the back. "Ah cuid uise a crakin' dram right noo. Let's go, laddie!"

Immediately Kuna shot Lykou an anxious look, not wanting to separate from him. The canid just smirked and pulled him into a tight hug. "Go on, Kuna. Nauja was nice, right? This isn't you-know-who. I'm sure it's fine. I'll come back to check on you in a little bit," he said to the sereva quietly as he held him for a minute.

Kuna finally nodded and walked to the door hesitantly after they separated. Even so, he still stared after his friend as the konuul and the chieftan walked off down the street. He only completely entered the building after the druna cleared her throat pointedly.

*****

Once inside, Kuna noticed that the building was lit up not just by a few gaps in the ceiling, but also by clusters of faintly glowing flowers growing from vines hanging from the ceiling. Moyra walked over to a branch extending from the wall, then removed the flower headdress and hung it on the end. "Ah, that's better. That thing gets kittlie sometimes. Dae mak' yersel' at hame, Kuna. Tis guid tae hae a fellow druna aroond fur wance."

Kuna blinked at her uncertainly for a moment. The druna's entire demeanor had changed once the door closed. Where she'd once had an airy, slightly intimidating presence, she now seemed much more casual and relaxed.

When she caught his expression, she smiled and quirked a brow. "Ye a'right, then? Ye kin relax in 'ere, sorry if ah came across a wee bit intense. Hae tae keep up whit expectations oot thare, ye ken. Kin ah git ye some tea? Ah jest stairted a pot fer masell, thir's plenty tae share," she offered, then winked. "Tis mixed wi' a wee bit o' licorice root."

"N-no th-" Kuna started to say, then caught a whiff of the smell and shifted a bit. It smelled remarkably nice. "Er... actually, that does s-smell good..."

She chuckled and stepped around the corner for a minute, then returned and handed him a steaming wooden cup. "Yer a timid one, aren't ye? Unusual, fur a druna."

Kuna took the cup and murmured a quiet thanks, then shrugged slightly and took a long, slow sip.

She eyed him in silence for a moment as they both awkwardly stood there, sipping their tea. Then, she suddenly carefully took his cup and set it and hers down on a nearby wooden table, startling him. "Forgive me if ah'm wrong, bit ah hae a knack fer knowin' folk. 'n' ah think ah ken exactly whit yi'll need. C'mere," she said, then suddenly wrapped her arms around him in a warm embrace, with one hand reaching up to rub his head. "Yer safe 'ere. N' yer friend's safe wi' Grey. Promise."

He was surprised and a bit bewildered at first, but after a moment his ears folded down and he nervously returned the embrace. As awkward as it was initially, he did feel a little bit better, if slightly embarrassed about it.

"Better?" she asked as she pulled back.

He gave a small nod and a shy smile. "A little, actually..."

"Hud that feeling aboot ye. Especially efter that wee moment wi' yer friend oot thare. Ye seem lik' a sensitive soul," she said, rubbing his arm softly, then handed him back his tea with a sympathetic look. "Ah'm guessin' ye'v seen some mirk troubles, aye?" she added after a short pause, in a quieter tone.

Kuna nodded again and looked away.

She patted his back softly. "Ne'er forget yer stronger than they troubles. Yer still standin', aren't ye?"

"Y-yeah, I guess so," he replied, then took another sip of the tea, enjoying the unique taste. "Wouldn't be if it wasn't for Lykou, though."

"'ere now, give yersel' some credit."

"No really, he's literally saved my life. Several times," Kuna said, rallying a bit. "...in more ways than one, too," he added after a moment, smiling faintly as he looked down into the steaming cup.

"Oh aye?" Moyra said, smirking as she stared at him. "Soonds lik' ye'v git some stories. Come, jyne me in th' back green 'n' tell me a bit."

She guided him out through another doorway covered in thick hanging vines. They emerged in the fenced-in area, which was filled with a variety of blooming plants. Some bees and butterflies flitted around some of the flowers, and a chipmunk darted along the top of the fence. Somewhere high in the tree protruding from the house, a few birds were singing away happily.

"Wow, this is... really nice," the sereva said, looking around. "You grew all these yourself?"

"Aye, proper druna wirk, after a'," she replied with a shrug. "Ye dinnae hae a garden?"

Kuna frowned and shook his head. "No, I... I've never stayed in one place that long. And I only recently started learning magic, anyway."

"Really noo?" the druna replied, intrigued. "A newbie, 'n' a'ways oan th' move?"

"Yeah, its... complicated," he finished lamely, then shrugged. "Maybe I can start one eventually, though. Does seem nice."

"Sae howfer did ye start learnin' th' craft?"

Kuna shivered, a haunted look briefly coming over him. "Well... I was taught. By a, um. Well, someone I have very, very mixed feelings about now," he said, his eye twitching. "Someone I originally thought was a fire spirit, but then she turned out to be... well, definitely not that."

Moyra's eyes widened as she stared at him for a moment. "Posed as a spirit, ye say? Ne'er heard o' a druna that cuid dae hings lik' that. A bit o' body-changing, mibbie, bit nae intae fire or anythin' lik' that."

"Yeah she's... very powerful. And she claimed to be mortal, but I'm not entirely convinced she wasn't some other kind of spirit," Kuna continued, then took a long, slow sip of his tea.

Moyra rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Druna usually learn fae older druna, bit ah hae heard that th' earlie ones learned fae spirits, 'n' ev'ry noo 'n' then one still does," she said, then raised a brow at him. "Whit aboot her fashes ye? Ah tak' it she's na langer teaching ye?"

Kuna shook his head with a certain amount of conviction. "N-no, definitely not. She, um... let's just say she matches the description of a certain kind of trickster spirit I've heard stories about since I was little. And, uh... she's apparently the one that flung Lykou and I across the world in the first place."

"...ah'm gonna need ya tae explain that," the druna said, staring at him with fascination.

The sereva sighed. "Well... Lykou and I had an... awkward first meeting. Several weeks ago now. Long story short, we ended up taking shelter in a cave together during a freak thunderstorm that came out of nowhere, and ended up sleeping there overnight. When we woke up, we were in an identical cave a very long way from where we came from. We've been traveling ever since, trying to find the way back. At a certain point one night, after he was asleep and while I was up keeping the first watch for trouble, she showed up disguised as a fire spirit and offered to teach me magic. I accepted and everything was fine until a few days ago when Lykou and I were... were attacked and n-nearly k... k-killed by a r-ravager," he started explaining, then paused as a shiver ran through his body. He had to take a moment to sip some tea and compose himself before he could continue.

"Crivvens, tha's terrible! Whit's a ravager?"

"Let's just say they're one of the most terrifying monsters out there. One, um... k... k-killed my p... my parents w-when... when I w-was a kid," he paused again to take another moment to fight off the dark memories.

"Ye poor sweet bairn. Ah'm sae sorry," the druna said, gently stroking his back.

Kuna took a long, somewhat shaky breath to steady himself, smiling weakly at her. "Th-thanks," he said, then took another sip before continuing. "I-I'm better about it than I used to be, but it still... you know."

"Aye, that's a tairible thing tae happen tae a wee jimmy."

"Anyway, yeah, we were attacked by one the other day, but then... she showed up and saved us at the last minute. Only she clearly wasn't a fire spirit anymore."

"Whit did she look lik', then?"

"L-like a person, only... not, at the same time," he said, then did his best to describe the jarzin.

"Ach, that does soond streenge... ne'er heard o' someone lik' tha'. Bit ye say she saved ye 'n' git rid o' th' beastie?"

Kuna slowly nodded. "Y-yeah. And helped me use my magic to heal Lykou. He was... hurt pretty badly," he said, his ears folding down sadly as he thought back to the recent events. "I was so scared that...."

Moyra gently rubbed his arm and smiled at him. "Aye, but he didnae, did 'e? Tha's whit's important."

He smiled back weakly. "Yeah."

"Sae howfur dae ye ken she's th' one tha' magic'd ye 'cross th' world?"

Kuna looked down into his cup thoughtfully, then shuddered slightly. "She basically told us so. In the creepiest, scariest way," he explained. "At first she was pretty nice- a little creepy and weird at times, but generally nice enough. While Lykou and I took a day to rest up and recover some, she hung around and answered random questions we had, about her, and magic, and so on. And then she gave me my last magic lessons. The next morning she was preparing to send us off on our way and wish us well, then she just... gets real creepy and lets us know she's been manipulating things around us a lot longer than we thought, and that she's the one that put us in this situation in the first place, right before vanishing in a... very dramatic way."

"Tha's pure weird, a'right," she agreed, then sipped some of her own tea and thought for a moment. "Ye ken, some o' this does seem vaguely familiar though, somehow. Whaur wis it ye 'n' yer friend wur headin' efter kerney?"

"Oh, uh, Whitlan, apparently. Our, uh, next destination is off that general direction."

"Hae dae ye ken whaur yer goin', exactly?"

"Well, the last trick she taught me before... all that, was how to use s-... er, star magic to navigate home."

The cup stopped part way to the lepne's lips as she gave him an odd look. "Star magic, ye say? Whit's star magic?"

"Well, uh," he replied, then pulled the medallion out from under his poncho. "The kind that's making this work so we can talk right now."

She looked at the faintly glowing necklace with rapt fascination. "Aye, that magic..." Her gaze flicked between him and the medallion for a moment. "Ye kin actually do tha'?"

He nodded, then closed his eyes and concentrated for a moment. He found it slightly more challenging without Lykou around, for some reason, but after an awkward minute, he managed to grasp the energy and opened his eyes again, showing her the glowing pale blue light around his hand. "See?"

Moyra eyed him in silence for a minute. "Ye ca' it star magic, bit ah ken tis something else. Whit exactly, ah'm nae sure, bit ainlie a few druna kin dae that stuff. Mak' sure tae visit th' high druna in Whitlan while ye'r there."

"High druna?"

"Aye. Tis a bigger village, a full toun even. Thir's sev'ral druna, bit the one in charge wull mibbie ken somethin' aboot yer mysterious teacher."

What in the world is a 'toun'? Kuna wondered to himself as he rubbed his shoulder anxiously at the thought of a larger-still village. After a moment, though, something else occurred to him. "By the way, that reminds me- isn't the chieftan usually the person in charge of a village? He, uh... kind of didn't seem quite that way around you," he pointed out with an arched brow.

The druna grinned. "Aye. Grey is in charge. Th' chieftan runs th' village." she said, then swirled her tea, looking down into the wooden cup as she did so. "As lang as th' druna says he does," she added before taking a very pointed sip.

Kuna couldn't help but grin back at her some. "I see... guess being a spir-, er, druna tends to make people listen."

"Oh aye," she confirmed with a smirk. "Bit thir's mair tae bein' a druna than juist glowin' bits 'n' making plants graw 'n' dae stuff. Tis jest as important tae learn howfur peoples' heids wirk 'n' git tae ken yer neighbors real weel. Knowing fowk is mair important than ony amount o' fancy magic tricks."

"Huh. That... makes sense," Kuna said after a moment. He glanced around at the fence nearby. For a moment he had a weird feeling similar to being watched. "Er, should we be talking about this out here? Someone nearby might overhear you."

"Nae. Nobody wid be rude enough tae hear something a druna didnae want heard said in th' privacy o' thair ain back green," she said, casually strolling up to the fence and conjuring up her magic. Suddenly the vines creeping over the top began stirring to life and she knocked solidly on the wood, causing someone on the other side to audibly scramble away and trip. "Isnae that right, Callum?" she called out over the fence.

"R-right m-ma'am, m-miss Moyra!" came a very anxious, and fairly young sounding voice from the other side. "A-ah mean, w-what whis tha', whit a f-funny soundin' bird ah heard jes' noo! Ahaha..." More scrambling could be heard out in the street, followed by frantic footsteps running out of earshot. The druna chuckled.

Kuna looked at her with mixed concern and amusement. "Neighbor's kid?"

"Aye. He likes tae snoop, bit he's a guid lad otherwise."

"You're not worried he'll-?"

"Nae. Everything ah tellt ye is mair or less an open secret. Fowk ken, bit thay ken better than tae pure ken, ye ken?"

Kuna scratched his head as he tried to follow along. "I'm... not sure?"

"Exactly."

"O...kay...?"

She got another good snicker out of that. "Dinnae worry aboot it."

Kuna shrugged off the confusion after a moment and finished his tea. "Thank you again for the tea. This is really good stuff."

"Yer quite welcome," she said. "Sae how much did that streenge teacher teach ye, anyway?"

"Well... I can make things grow and change, obviously. Including at a distance, which was one of the last things she taught me. And I can heal people, although I've only done it once so far. Still don't have much experience with things besides plants."

"Aye, they dinnae stop ye," she replied with a smirk. "Forby healing, ah ne'er tried much else wi' people or beasties masell. Whit else? Ye ken how tae make plants move aroond?"

Kuna looked at her quizzically. "Well... you mean other than just making them grow and change quickly?"

"Weel that's certainly one way, bit tis th' pernicketie wey. Tires ye oot quicker. Thir's an easier way."

"Really?" the sereva asked, intrigued.

"Aye. 'ere, let me shaw ye." she said, then took the cup from his hand, then set both cups down on the ground. She then gently took him by the shoulders and walked him over to a particularly large, thick vine hanging from the side of the house. "Git this big fella fixed in yer mynd. Then claise yer eyes 'n' focus oan th' life energy aroond ye. Grab it lik' ye normally wid, 'n' follow it tae th' vine. Wance ye guide th' flow tae it, ye'r connected tae it 'til ye let go. Instead o' trying tae shape or graw it, huv a go movin` th' energy flow aroond some."

Kuna followed along as she instructed him. He'd been able to feel the energy of things around him before, but he'd never thought about focusing on any that he didn't have direct control over. He'd largely treated a lot of it as background noise up to that point. So when he reached out and shifted his mental grasp from the energy he was manipulating, to the energy already flowing through the plant, it came as a surprise to him. Something about it definitely felt different, and there was some resistance. A lot of it, in fact.

"Kuna, laddie, that's me," the druna pointed out.

Immediately, he opened his eyes and blushed as he realized the flow he'd been reaching for was in fact connected to the lepne teaching him- and his hand had been following his mental grasp right to her arm. He was mildly mortified, but relieved it hadn't been some other part of her anatomy. Fortunately, she had a highly amused expression, rather than an offended or annoyed one. "S-sorry!"

She chuckled and shook her head, then patted his back. "Dinnae fash yersel'. Folk are practically unmovable anyway. Jest gie it anither go."

He took a deep breath, then nodded and tried again. This time he tried to pay attention to what the different flows of energy felt like. He gradually started to get a feel for what was a tree root, a bush, a flower, and of course, the lepne. And finally, he found the vine and began mentally tugging at it. Again, he found some resistance, but nowhere near as much as he'd encountered with Moyra. Finally, he managed to make it shift a bit, and he opened his eyes again when he did so. Much to his delight, he saw the vine twitching and moving around as he mentally tugged at it.

"A'right, ye'r getting it! Weel dane, Kuna," the druna congratulated him, rubbing his head lightly.

"Thank you so much!" Kuna said, releasing the energy after another moment of fiddling around with the vine. "That's a lot easier than constantly growing and changing it!"

"See? Ah tellt ye!" she replied with a chuckle. "Ah, tis a pity yer hame is sae far awa'. Tis nice teachin' someone th' craft fer wance."

He smiled at her a bit bashfully, then thought for a moment. "Maybe I could repay you..."

"Nae need, t'was ma pleasure, laddie."

"Well, I may still be pretty new to it, but I could try and help you learn, you know," Kuna said, then tapped the medallion around his neck. "This kind."

Moyra glanced back and forth between him in the medallion, clearly having an internal debate with herself. But after a moment, she grinned, bouncing in place slightly. "A'right, let's huv a go it then."

He smiled back at her, then thought for a minute, rubbing his chin. "Hmm, could be a bit tricky. Before we start, when you first learned magic, how, er, did you start out?"

The druna looked up for a minute as she dragged the memory out of the recesses of her mind. "Let's see, ah wis a young lassie whin th' lest druna picked me as his apprentice, efter talking tae mah parents fur a while. At first he jest hud me tend his garden a bit, th' auld normal way. Whin a'd bin daein' that fur a lil' while 'n' ah git tae ken him better, he eventually asked me if ah'd lik' tae learn how tae speed hings up a bit. O' coorse, me bein' sae young, ah jumpt at th' chance," she said, smirking at the memory. "Sae he shawed me his magic 'n' how it cuid dae stuff tae th' flowers 'n' sae oan. Ye kin imagine mah excitement. He said if ah wanted tae learn tae dae th' same, ah'd hae tae drink a funny-smellin' tea afore th' neist time ah gaed tae bed, 'n' then mah dreams wid somehow mak' me be able tae cop magic energies th' neist mornin'. Sae ah did juist that, 'n' sipped it with mah parents nearby. At his urging, ah did it while ah wis awready in bed, 'n' wis sure tae let thaim ken it'd knock me oan me arse."

"Wait, there's a tea that can do it?"

Moyra nodded. "Why? Whit happened wi' you?"

"Inkari- that's my, uh, teacher- just kind of... somehow knocked me out. I guess with magic or something. One moment I was sitting there, and the next thing I know I'm opening my eyes in the 'astral realm', as she called it."

"Wow. Soonds a bit scary."

Kuna shivered. "It was startling, but not half as scary as the, uh, 'trials' themselves."

"Trials eh? Ah remember huvin tae confront some hings, bit it wasn't tae bad. Ye ken, fightin' bairnskip nightmares 'n' self-doubt, that kind o' thing," she said, then frowned as a thought dawned on her. "Och, right, ye likelie hud... worse ones, aye?"

The sereva nodded and rubbed his arm. "Yeah, but... it was good for me in the end," he said, then sighed with a faint smirk. "Definitely felt a lot better afterwards, and with some luck maybe I've seen the last of a... certain recurring nightmare," he added with a slight shudder at the end. "So at the end of yours, did you reach out for some glowy... thing?"

"If ye mean walk thro' some shimmery doorway-type thing, aye. 'n' then ah woke up."

"Oh," Kuna replied, scratching his head thoughtfully. As wary and somewhat afraid of Inkari as he now was, part of him really wished he could ask her another question right then. "So... nothing before that, just the 'doorway' thing, huh?"

"Aye. How come, whit wis it lik' fer ye?"

"Er. Just... for some reason there was an extra step for me, I guess. Not sure what that means. But I had to reach this shimmery glowy thing that made everything feel amazing for a minute. I was hoping you did something like that, too, because grabbing that energy is how I do this stuff," he said, tapping the medallion again.

"Och, na, ah didnae experience anythin' lik' that. Ah jest remember bein' able tae kind o' cop th' life magic enside me 'n' hings aroond me."

"So you don't... feel any others, even a little?"

The druna rubbed her chin and thought about it. "Weel, noo that ye mention it... sometimes if tis real wheesht 'n' ah'm a' relaxed-lik', ah sort o' feel lik' thir's ither hings there. Jest barely at th' lip o' notice, tae th' point whaur ah'm na sure if ah'm imagining it or nae."

Kuna smiled and nodded. "They are. I really only know the two so far. The way it was explained to me, one flows through your body- that's the life energy- and the other flows through, well... your soul."

Moyra stared at him wide-eyed. "Crivvens! Soul energy, ye say?"

"Mhmm. That's what this is, and apparently also what that... thing is that I had to grab in my astral-dream-thing," he explained, then thought for a minute. "Well, I have an idea. Take this for a minute," he started saying as he took off the medallion and handed it to her. "And see if you can feel the energy inside, then-" He paused as a perplexed and mildly bewildered expression crossed the druna's face.

"Dè tha thu ag ràdh?" she asked.

After briefest pause, he clapped his palm to his face, then took the medallion back and slid it back over his head. "Right. Sorry, I wasn't thinking."

The druna arched a brow at him. "Whit wis that? How come wur ye suddenly talking sae strangely?"

"Uh, so... people around the world don't always speak the same way, with the same words, as it turns out. I'm not entirely sure why- Lykou seems to think some spirit that supposedly taught our ancestors to talk in the first place decided to make them different for different people, for some odd reason. Anyway, this spirit sign," he explained, tapping the medallion again. "Allows us to talk to anyone as long as it has soul energy in it."

"Ach, that's amazin'. Sae that wis whit ye pure sound lik', aye?" she asked with a smirk. "Ah imagine ah mist hae sounded quite funny tae ye jest then, as weel?"

Kuna shrugged with an awkward grin. "Definitely different," he admitted. "Anyway, what I was trying to say is, if you can hold this and try to feel the energy inside, then try to find something similar flowing through you, maybe you can separate it from the life energy and grip it. It'll be tough at first, but it gets a lot easier after the first time."

"Aye?" she responded, gently examining the medallion while it still hung around his neck. "Hmm..."

"Hey, I know. Why don't you wear it while you're focusing on it? It'll be easier and we'll still be able to talk as long as one of us has it on."

She thought for a moment, then shrugged. "If yer a'right wi' that."

"Of course," he said, then slipped the necklace off again before handing it to her.

The druna slipped the necklace on and smiled. "Whaur did ye git it anyway?"

"Lykou and I met these people called shakonu, and one of them did magic. He gave them to us so we could talk, and let us keep them after I, er... helped them with something."

"Soonds fascinatin'. Ye shuid tell me a' aboot it efter this," she replied, then took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she held the medallion in her hand.

"Inkari said the magic energies all have different, er, personalities. Soul energy is kind of, I don't know, shy I guess. So try taking a gentle approach with it."

The lepne nodded and the two sat in silence for a bit. Eventually, they both sat down so that she'd have an easier time focusing. For his part, Kuna quite enjoyed silently sitting in the garden and enjoying the ambiance of all the varied plants and the occasional small critter darting around. It was quite peaceful. Occasionally, he sniffed at some of the flowers and eventually he started counting the number of different plants he could tell apart from one another. It was a bit of a challenge, seeing as how some individual plants had multiple kinds of blooms on them- obviously a product of the druna's magic. He could see several kinds of fruits hanging from certain plants as well, but he didn't dare pick any without her permission.

After a while, Moyra suddenly jolted and her eyes shot open, then she looked down with a big grin at the pale blue glow around her hand. "Ah... Ah git it! Ah did it!" she said excitedly.

"Congratulations!"

"Och, I havenae felt this excited sin ah wis freish," Moyra said with a slight giggle. "Tank ye sae much, Kuna."

"Don't mention it, I was happy to help! Only fair since you helped me, too," he said, using his magic to wiggle one of the nearby flowers with a grin.

The druna chuckled. "Sae whit does this 'star' magic dae, anyway?"

"Well, apparently a lot of things, but so far I only know a couple. There's the bit with certain spirit-signs, obviously," he said, gesturing to the medallion. "And it also lets me find my way to things. Like finding other spirit signs in the first place, for example." To demonstrate, he drew the medallion's symbol in the ground, then imbued the drawing briefly, causing the light to jump up and point to the necklace.

"Och, wow! Tha's brilliant!" she excitedly replied with a little clap.

"And then you can also use it to find your way to other people, things, and places, but they have to be ones you're already familiar with," the sereva said, then thought for a moment before demonstrating, smirking as he focused on Lykou while casting the spell. A light jumped up into the sky, immediately being lost in the daylight, but he held his hand up and saw a path among the unseen stars recreated on its back, pointing to where the konuul presumably was with the chieftan. "You can't see it right now, but at night you can see the light jump between stars to point where to go."

"Let me guess, yer friend?" she asked with a knowing grin.

He nodded with a slightly bashful grin of his own, then looked down at his hand again. "Oh, that reminds me though, I'll have to re-cast the one leading us home once I'm back with him. That one takes both of us."

"Oh? How's that?"

"Well, since I, uh... haven't actually been there, he has to be the one to focus on Lakefire while I channel the energy through both of us," Kuna explained, looking away a bit awkwardly.

"Hauld oan, ye haven't bin thare?" she asked, tilting her head in confusion. "That's right, ye said ye first met in that cave... Sae ye come fae a different village?"

The sereva shifted uncomfortably and rubbed his arm a bit. "Something like that."

She eyed him thoughtfully for a moment. "Ah'd ask how come ye'r joining him in his village, bit ah hae a feelin' that's pairt o' they mirk troubles ye mentioned, aye?"

He nodded silently.

"Fair enough. Ye ken, you'd be welcome tae stay 'ere in Kerney if yi'll want. Cuid always use anither druna aroond," she offered after a moment.

Kuna quickly shook his head. "That's... very nice of you, but Lykou needs my help to get home. And anyway I wouldn't want to, um..."

She smirked. "Ye cuid ne'er say bye tae him sae easy. Hud a feeling you'd say that, ah juist wanted tae confirm it. Awready that claise in juist a few weeks, aye?"

The sereva's ears folded down and he nodded, smiling as he stared at some flowers nearby thoughtfully. Then he chuckled as he turned back to her. "I guess having several life-and-death encounters together will do that to people. You know... he actually has a kind of magic, too. Not the kind we do, and even Inkari isn't sure how it works."

"Really noo?" she asked, intrigued.

He nodded and described the mud slide event and the subtle hints he picked up on, much to her fascination and delight. "And the whole time, he had this faint, easy to miss glow around him, and particularly in his eyes. They were even prettier than usual, and it was like he knew what was going on all around him all the time. And I know he's, you know, really fit and all, but I swear he was faster and stronger than usual." He chuckled a bit. "It's funny how he can be so, you know, toned, but still fluffy at the same time. Of course, he was totally exhausted afterwards and I had to help him walk to a new campsite afterewards."

"Ne'er heard o' such a thin'!" the druna said, then smirked. "Sae dae ye mak' it a habit o' obsessing o'er peoples' looks, or jest him?"

The sereva blushed and looked away with a flustered smile. "I-I was just trying to be observant. Inkari said I should keep a 'curious eye' on him if I thought something unusual was happening, that's all!"

"Mhmm, ah'm sure," Moyra replied in an amused tone. "Weel ah suppose ye shuid git back tae him, then, afore he starts worryin' aboot ye."

"Oh, uh, y-yeah I guess I should," Kuna said, standing up and dusting himself off. "N-not that I'm trying to run off, I-"

The druna chuckled and cut him off, patting him on the back as she stood up next to him. "Relax, kuna. Ah haven't gotten tae spend time wi' anither druna in fer a while, tis bin a delight. Thank ye fer stopping by 'n' spending a few hours wi' me."

He rubbed his arm and smiled at her. "Thank you for having me. It's been really nice. Thanks again for teaching me about that plant-moving trick."

"Aye, 'n' thank ye fer teachin' me the star-magic. Ah cannae thank ye enough fer that," she replied, then remembered the medallion and reached up to grab it. "Speaking o' which, 'ere, ye'll be needing this back."

"Oh, right," he replied with a light chuckle after taking the necklace and slipping it back over his own head. "Would be awkward out there without this."

"Aye, 'n' afore ya go," she said, then grinned as she brought another vine down to his head with her magic. It grew and formed a circle on his head, then sprouted several flowers, before the whole thing hardened into the texture of wood. Finally, she dismissed the magic and physically snapped it free from the end of the vine. "Thare ye go. Ev'ry druna aught tae hae a proper crown, at least a wee yin."

He folded his ears down and smiled back at her. "Wow, thank you..." he said, then shifted a bit, clearly thinking something over some internal conflict as he shifted around in place.

She smirked again and opened her arms wide. "Right, c'mere then," she said. The sereva smiled and hugged her happily as she rubbed his back.

"It's been fantastic meeting you, Moyra," he said after pulling back from the embrace.

"Likewise, Kuna," she replied, then began leading him back to her front door. "Dae tell Lykou ah said hello. 'n' compliment him oan his ain healin' skills fer me," she added with a wink, tapping his head lightly.

He gave her a slightly surprised look at the final comment, then blushed and nodded with a small grin. "Will do."