The winds, they scream your name

After some time chatting with him, Nox began to feel quite old, despite not being too much older than he was. Thankfully she was still a well-painted portrait of youth, but she certainly felt far older than she looked. Motherhood was partly to thank for that, but also because she could not mirror the glimmer of passion and excitement in his eyes--not after nearly everything that she loved had been lost. Grief had taken those smoldering fires of ambition and nearly extinguished them. Yet day by day she worked to get her spark back and reignite the flame. He appeared to take her words whole-heartily. It was rare to find such a dedicated pupil, willing to listen when wisdom was shared. Nox remembered just how much she struggled to get the children to sit still and listen during her lectures, Astraea being the only exception.

For once it was nice to swap knowledge with an individual without resistance. “I hope you do, you two would get along and I fear she could use a friend out there.” If not for the current circumstances she might have introduced the young man to Astraea. He was polite, knowledgeable, and courteous, all the things she would expect of any potential-suitor that were to marry her beautiful daughters. Unfortunately, now was not the time to ask if he was in the market for a wife. Wherever her daughters were, she hoped they surrounded themselves with respectable folk. Of course, that was the least of her worries. She would have been thankful to just know they were alive.

The answer Nox expected to her question was not the one she received. And it reminded her that she knew virtually nothing about him, yet she reclined in comfort, unconcerned about the danger of speaking to strange men. It was painfully obvious that he was holding something back. The hint was not in what he said but rather what he didn’t say. “Ah, strange place to rest what with the winds, but I am as you can see, in no position to judge.” Now, if he knew the reason for her being there, he might have thought of her far differently. The atmosphere between strangers, friendly or not, was susceptible to tension and distrust. He expressed as much, albeit jokingly. Despite this, she saw no reason not to tell the truth. Unless he was an impeccable actor, which she highly doubted, he was no killer and certainly not the type to pray on lone women. No, if anything it was quite the opposite, and the fact he assumed she needed a companion to be a capable threat was cute.

She laughed vibrantly and fixated him with a playful look. A few years ago, she might have toyed with someone like him, just as a child might pin a butterfly to a tree and watch it struggle before letting it go. Nowadays, she could not afford to do such things. No, she would much rather make friends than enemies: A motto that her younger self would have scoffed at. That was not to say she didn't consider playing one of her old games. Her face softened and lost its mischievous spark. “I have one companion with me currently, but he was resting last I checked. Although if you wish to meet him I can surely arrange that, but he is more likely to drop out of the sky than spring from a bush.” She giggled at her own joke but it was partly a jest and partly the truth. Lupa much preferred high places. If he had paws like a squirrel, she would never be able to get him to come down from the trees. And if he were to stage an ambush... it most certainly would have come from above. “How about you then? A lone herbalist on a mission to admire the world and all its soil?” Nox teased him light-heartedly. Although, now that she said it out loud it sounded rather strange but… to each their own.