)(( The 'Librarian' in the Woods ))( Open

[Arcadia Caughey]

Archer didn't live far from here. Anyone who knew Arcadia would be able to glean that fact just by the way she walked down the street. Or stalking down the street, more like it, her wind-blown, thick and wavy indigo-black hair bouncing with every step. She had that burning stomp to her pace that was the trademark departure from her brother's lab after they'd gotten into one of their famous fights. The walk had the speed of a woman who knew if she didn't get as far away as fast as possible, she was going to start giving out some black eyes. And while she would love to smack that know-it-all look from genius Archer's face, she wasn't mad enough to want to make him cry. Close, but not quite.

She needed to wander. Hopefully to the point where she got herself good and lost. There was nothing more she liked than that, besides a good hot mudspring. And for now, she would wander alone. It was only a couple of hours since nightfall, and Adrian was still tied up with political business in Wallachia. She knew he would seek her out once said business was complete, and that he would be able to find her no matter how lost she got herself, so she wasn't worried about that. As her sire, he had the means. When he did, she toyed with the idea of them going on a nice exhausting hunt.

Violet eyes peering down the cobblestone street, able to see effortlessly despite the dark of this chilly cloudy night, she could see the familiar outline of countless tree canopies. A forest nearby. The exact sort of location that would do her temper good. She took the next right, and then a left after that, zigzagging her way towards the Eastern forest. On that walk, she passed none other than the Tel'Ranaemyn Inn. As the crossed by it, Arcadia slowed suddenly. Mingling with the myriad of the other scents of his March night, her nose distinctly picked up the rather familiar scent of

"Donald?" As her controled, even-toned brogue mumured that question to the night air, her eyebrows furrowed to augment her perplexed expression. Arcadia turned around in a slow circle, those violet eyes peering intently into the darkness. Not the slightest sign of him, and what's more she could hear no heartbeats in the immediate area. She wasn't anywhere near his clinic, either. Turning to her right, her preternaturally touched eyes fell on the sign of the Inn. She would have to ask him when she saw him next. For now, she had a lush landscape to commiserate with. Though most people didn't know it, plants gave fantastic advice. Especially about bull-headed brothers.

When she reached the entrance of the woods, she could already feel the calm trickling through her. How could she stay agitated, when the soft vibrations of the surrounding plant-life reached out to her, buzzing gently against her skin in welcome? Wild like this was really where this avatar of nature belonged. She took a very slow breath in, even though that breath wouldn't do a thing for her body. Neither would the equally slow exhale. But both did things for her state of mind.

With one of those cryptic little smiles coloring her lips, Arcadia started down the path into the woods. She wouldn't stay on the path long, knowing her. The first plant that called to her, or the first bit of earth, that would be the path she would end up following.

As the tranquil energy of the plants continued to tickle lightly against her, the tendrils of wind that always surrounded Arcadia - currently invisible - returned that tickle by blowing gently outward from her to brush against all the trees, plants and so on as she passed by them. The energy of any community of trees was different from all the rest, and the energy of this particular patch of woods didn't feel at all familiar to her, nor did the whispers of greeting she could hear from the rustling leaves of the plans.

That meant only one thing. New territory. As Arcadia took her first steps off the beaten path of the Eastern Woods, she knew that the Earth Mother would ask her to do some good works here. And she didn't mind. While she didn't ask to become the avatar she was, it was always an honor to serve Nature.

[Madeline Cauthon]

Madeline had taken Dre's advice and took the rest of the day off. She needed time to think on all she learned in Avalon, whether or not to tell Gawain she was in fact his real child. She left the forge and headed back to the inn. She started to head in the inn, but instead decided to take a walk in the woods, she walked through the woods lookinf at all the pretty plants. For some reason the plants reminded her on those on the Holy Isle. This made her relax a little. She made her way to a pretty brook and sat down.

Madeline drew her knees to her chest and looked into the stream. "By the light what am I going to do?" Maddie knew no one was around, she was just simply talking to herself.

[Arcadia Caughey]

Not far off from the brook where Maddie was musing was Arcadia. She was hard to spot, as her body was half covered by the bush she was cavorting with. In fact...were the branches of the bush actually circled around Arcadia's waist and back? They were. She'd found no other who articulated the reality of plants better than Adrian had when they'd first met - all plants had the capability to move in far greater ways than any expected them to, but they only did so when they were keeping company with those they trusted. And Arcadia was certainly one all plants trusted.

This bush was an early bloomer, its flowers stubborn and sturdy enough to bloom and survive even a snowfall if that's what March had in store. Currently Arcadia's cool fingers were petting one of said flowers, giving it a nice massage at the the base of the bulb. One of the areas of greatest stress and sensitivity on plants. And they deserved a good massage just as much as any human. Or more, if you asked Arcadia's opinion about it.

As she kneaded her fingers with gentle care against the plant, she and it had soft conversation. To Arcadia's singular ears, each rustle a plant made was the same as any voice sounding words. As she had no leaves of her own - at least not at the moment - the plant had to settle for her talking quietly back to it in Gaelic, the tongue of her homeland. She was learning much from the plant about these woods. And the invitations the plant made were tempting, so tempting. It had been so long since she'd shifted to that form, and spent some time among the wild planted in the earth. Contrary to common belief, being rooted in the ground wasn't restrictive, but really freeing. To have parts of oneself buried in the earth and cared for was to be plugged in to All around you. There was nothing else like it.

Tempting. Enough that when Arcadia withdrew her hand, her fingers, hand and wrist had a distinct greenish tint and a telltale slick sheen - much like healty stem of a plant or the landscape of a leaf. She pursed her lips in a little smirk as she noticed it, murmuring, "Later, that's a promise," to the bush as she willed her skin to its normal state. The bush protested with a loud shift of leaves, but it was ultimately obedient and removed its branches from around her. "I'll remember the spot, there's no need t' worry on that," dhe added with a brief little grin as she stepped back.

It was then she heard it. A heart beat. It was faint, which indicated distance, but it was clearly not just a woodland creature. Slowly turning in the direction she heard it coming from, Arcadia sent her wind outward, silently bidding it to bring back the scent. Once she felt the familiar breeze of those tendrils returning to her she breathed in deeply. The wind was successful in its quest. The scent of the heartbeat in question filled her nose, and now she was nearly sure it was a female but...other than that, it wasn't one she recognized.

Now she was faced with a decision. The scent was colored with a hint of distress, or sadness, or...some lingering quality akin to that. That note in the otherwise sweet scent is what propelled her forward in its direction. Call it the healer in her, wanting to make sure there was no injury nearby. Or...maybe it was the vampire in her, tugging at her hunger strings. Arcadia did prefer to woo and feed from pretty young women, after all. Maybe this was an opportunity?

Stepping around the rather thick trunk of a very old oak, Madeline and the brook that she sat next to where now in Arcadia's sights. Did the woman know she was there? Arcadia was unsure, and her sense of fairness pushed her to speak. "Evenin', lass."

[Madeline Cauthon]

Maddie had sinced a presence, but theses days with everything that had been going on it was hard to tell. She hadn't seen anyone. She had hoped it was Jonos visiting her mind. Or hell at this point even Vivianne. She heard someone talking to her. She didn't look up ir even turn around because she was too busy concentrating on the brook, hoping to find the answer she was loooking for. "Hello."

[Arcadia Caughey]

Immediately, Arcadia got the sense that she made the wrong decision. Even after she made her presence known, the woman didn't at all stir from her position. To be faced with the portrait of another's back speaks a thousand words. Many often mistakenly took it as an affront, as rudeness, but this reclusive wanderer took it as something else entirely - the need for privacy and solitude.

Privacy and solitude were things Arcadia believed to be more precious than any any traditional kind of wealth, and as she was one who did not enjoy her business being pried into she was also the last person to pry. Especially when it came to a stranger, in a territory that she had not traveled in before. To intrude would be presumptuous.

Before Arcadia made her decision, her violet eyes took a slow look over what she could see of Madeline. Opening her senses without pressing her energy upon the woman in any way - that sort of invasiveness would be even more rude, in Arcadia's mind - to make sure she didn't sense any signs of physical injury. Certainly there was no scent of shed blood in the air. Nor did the woman's posturing or vibrations indicate she was holding herself in any sort of bodily pain. There was no signs of struggle on what she could see of her skin, hair, and clothes. A little nod from Arcadia after she made her assessment. While the woman may be pained by her thoughts, she did not seem to be injured. For the healer, that was reassurance enough.

"Bliss and spirits be with ye on your journey." Since Madeline wasn't on the move, apparently she meant in her journey of the mind and spirit. The words were spoken quietly, carried toward Madeline on a soft breeze that came from Arcadia so that they would land unobtrusively upon her ear. There was a finality to the words to indicate departure - Arcadia wanted the woman to know that she respected her need to be alone in her musings.

Words spoken, she did not hesitate as she went on her way. She didn't go back the way she came, not just yet. She wanted to do a bit more exploring of the area, and in true Arcadia fashion she picked the direction that seemed like it would be the most difficult to travel through. The night was young, and she had her own ire to work out through a good solid wandering.

[Madeline Cauthon]

Maddie was being rude, and she knew it. "Wait!! I'm sorry. I just thought I was the only one out here. Hi my name is Madeline. Please don't leave on my account."

[Arcadia Caughey]

Arcadia never ran, but she always did move at a brisk pace. So when Madeline called to her, she was already nearly waist deep in brush. As she turned, some of the plants shifted a little bit to make the movement easier for the child of nature, before a thin branch or two wound around her middle. Unless Madeline had keen night vision, with the distance between them the movements of the plants would most likely seem like a trick of the eye, or just the reflex movements of branches getting pushed around by Arcadia's turn.

Madeline was greeted with one of Arcadia's ghostly, cryptic little smiles. While she made no attempts to hide what she was, the vampire had always found no need to draw attention to what she was, either. So, unless she was with those she considered family, her smiles displayed no teeth at all, or if anything a brief glimpse of the very front ones. Beyond the turn, and that smile, Arcadia made no other moments towards or away.

When she spoke, her brogue was smooth and casual. Controlled, almost. As if she was trying to downplay a quality of her voice, and so she was - the lyrical and lulling fullness that her voice gained when she was made one of the vampiric kind was barely noticeable, only noticeable if one was looking for it. "M' not like most other folk, m' lass. I take no affront t' a person who needs t' be alone with their thoughts, and m' a big fan o' doin' so m'self, actually. That's the reason why m' here." A gesture to their present landscape.

"So don't worry yourself on my account, Madeline. Most of m' time is spent wanderin' alone in the wild, I wasn't expectin' or hopin' to come across a companion." A wry twist of her lip as she added, her violet eyes still holding the woman's gaze from her distance away, "Unless it was for dinin' purposes, o' course."

[Madeline Cauthon]

Madeline smiled. "I understand that. Hi my name is Madeline Cauthon, it's nice to meet you. The plants and trees are peaceful out here."

[Arcadia Caughey]

When Madeline divulged her last name, Arcadia's brow arched a little. It was a surname that was familiar to her and certainly not the most common of last names, but she wasn't the sort to jump to conclusions. Just as it was entirely possible that this young woman was some sort of relation to the Cauthons she knew, it was just as possible that she was of no known relation to them at all. Not only did Arcadia not jump to conclusions, she didn't inquire. If she was meant to know the answer, this rather zen servant of nature would find out somehow all in good time.

She did, however, pick up on the fact that the woman introduced herself twice. Arcadia knew that she had not given her name the first time Madeline offered her own, and that was probably out of old habit - if this was just a one-time encounter, or there was any chance that Madeline would prove to be a source of food for this evening, her name wasn't something she felt necessary to give. After a noticeable pause where she was clearly mulling this choice over in her mind, she finally offered her first name. "Arcadia. And they are that, aye, a rather welcomin' community o' foliage and flower here. I've never walked this particular nook o' the neighborhood before."

As Arcadia spoke to the woman, she remained where she was, quite comfortable standing in the thick of plants. Even from this bit of distance, while she and Madeline exchanged words her violet eyes watched the woman, not once looking away. She was the sort who always keep her eyes set upon the person she was speaking to. The distance would probably prevent Madeline from feeling any hypnotic thrall if she happened to look in Arcadia's eyes - that was the one vampiric quality about her that Arcadia really could not stifle. Eyes were eyes, and that was that.

There was a wry twist of Arcadia's lip as she added, "What was it, exactly, that y' understand?" Depending on Madeline's answer, Arcadia might become rather bold.

[Madeline Cauthon]

Maddie had heard that name before. "Arcadia? Your name sounds awfully familar. You wouldn't happen to know a Gawain Cauthon by chance do you.? as for her answer to arcadia's question. The need to be alone and commute with nature. I was taught that everything in natuure has something to say, and someties just sitting around them, helps give one a piece of mind."

[Arcadia Caughey]

When Madeline mentioned Gawain, all possibilities of this lass serving as her nightly meal flew right out of the forest. She could only imagine what the man would do, after hearing that Arcadia had taken the liberty of piercing the neck of one of his relations. Not only that, but Arcadia almost never fed off of anyone she knew or got acquainted with, unless it was for the purposes of sharing deep affection or intimacy. While over the past couple of years this infamous stoic had 'opened up' a bit, she was still a very private sort of woman for a number of reasons. Out of necessity, she felt.

While her mind was whirring with all sorts of thoughts springing from that one bit of information, none of it showed in her expression. As cool and collected as ever, there was only a slight twist of her lip as she replied, "Aye, I know him." A slight pause, and she added after a moment of consideration, "And Airtia." She didn't mention where she knew them from.

As for what Madeline said about nature, there was one of Arcadia's ghostly, knowing little smiles again. For the first time her eyes strayed, wandering slowly over the surrounding brush, even taking the time to tilt her eyes upward and gaze into the canopies of the trees. As she did so, a soft breeze rustled its way through the branches. Unlike natural wind, this wind seemed to have no single direction, and rather moved outward in a number of trajectories from a single central point. Which happened to be where Arcadia stood, if one took notice.

"Aye. Often times quite a bit t' say. I've always found plants give rather good advice. A balanced blend o' logic and empathy, entirely without bias." Did she mean that literally? Absolutely. She was still looking forward to having a few conversations in this woods about the tiff with her brother, eager to see what the native foliage had to say about it.

[Madeline Cauthon]

Maddie smiled. "Gawain is my father, and Airtia is my stepmom. We're you in the Society too? Forgive me if I'm being nosey, my foster mother sent me away as a child, and well I've beeen running into alot of folks from the society. Some I remember some I don't."

[Arcadia Caughey]

The Society. While she was thankful for some of the people that she met there, she did not remember the organization fondly, nor its leaders. If that fact crossed her features, it was brief, and her smooth zen-like brogue continued without showing any hint of tension or distaste. "Aye, I was a member o' the Society for near a year. I left shortly before the Society closed, and was the Commander of the Circle of the Shadow Dragon in my final months there. Once in that position, my dealings with the high command increased and it quickly became clear that we did not see eye to eye, so I moved on."

She reached down, her fingers gently petting across the branch that had curled itself around her middle. Perhaps it was out of self-consciousness that she turned that attention upon the plant. Arcadia was not one who liked to be in the spotlight, so to speak, even when it came to casual conversation with one person such as now. "Pass along my well-wishes t' them both, I trust they are well?" It was a very subtle, convenient way to turn the topic of conversation away from herself, and on to Gawain and Airtia.

While she awaited Madeline's answer, she mused over the information that the woman had given her. The part that Arcadia had not responded to - this woman had been running into a lot of folks from the Society. Where and when, she couldn't help but wonder. Arcadia's eyes strayed for the second time, as if she expected to see ghosts from her past emerging from the forest thick.

Her hand continued to stroke the plant around her middle, as she sent a beat of her power against the base of the plant the branch belonged to, and was thankful to feel the plants energies pressing back. A need for comfort. She was suddenly less certain about traversing through these woods than she had been before. Over the past few months, she had not been in a mood that suited keeping company beyond a few select people, so the possibility that old faces were near? She was unsure about that.

[Madeline Cauthon]

They are doing well. "Actually this is the first tiime in years seeing the both of them. I've been on earth trainning on the Isle of Avalon to become a Priestess. Hence why I know about plants and what not."
Maddie stood up. "Well I must retun to the inn. I'm the receptionist/bartender there. It was a pleasure meeting you Arcadia. I'll tell my folks you said hello. Plase feel free to stop by sometime, I'll buy you a drink."

[Arcadia Caughey]

The Inn......Tel'ranaemyn. She had successfully committed the name to memory when she took note of the sign after a faint waft of Donald's scent had touched her nose on her way to these woods. So Donald had chosen a residence that was filled with the faces of her past. How all these paths converged...well, now she had more to think about as she wandered these woods than the simple tiff with Archer, to be sure.

Part of her wanted to ask. Find out who was about, so she could be better prepared. But the question remained - would she even grace these woods again beyond this night? So she decided to leave the question unanswered, like the one before. If she was meant to know, that information would come in its own good time. Whatever will be will be, as they say.

So instead, she gave the young woman one of her little smiles. She wondered if this conversation had stirred the woman away from her solitude and made her retreat, and if was now Madeline departing on Arcadia's account. But she was not one to keep people from their travels. "Perhaps sometime, aye. Your inn houses a very good friend o' mine, I think. Bliss and spirits be with you and your parents, Madeline, enjoy your evenin'."

Said the deceptively young looking lass that was still waist deep in plants. She was going to chance the odds, Arcadia decided, and remain in this community of foliage at least until Adrian came for her. She had a promise to keep, after all, with the plant she'd had lovely conversation with before a heartbeat had wooed her away.

[Sky]

His nose was initially sending him on a hunt for food however it quickly got diverted by another scent. The black anthro cheetah followed it it had a familiar brush to it but he didn't fully recognize it.

He came across the two talking he had learned his lesson about sneaking up on people... He made it an effort to make a little extra noise.

His small muscular build crouched a little, more of a protective raction then an offensive stance. He cleared his throat a little and in a raspy voice from all the inactivity it just indured he spoke.

"Hello, welcome to the forest. I have been gone for a while but i am sure you will see me often if you traverse through here much."

[Madeline Cauthon]

Maddie looked at Arcadia. "Who is this friend, perhaps I could give this friend a message or anything since I'm headed back that way. And I will send your regards to my folks. It's nice meeting you Arcadia."

Maddie was turning to leave the woods when she heard another voice. Maddie turned her attention away from Arcadia to the cheetah who had shown up. "Hi my name is Maddie."

[Arcadia Caughey]

Nearly all creatures had a scent of some kind, and nearly all had some form of heart beat. For those reasons, though he most likely didn't know it, Sky need have no fears about sneaking up on Arcadia. While her violet eyes didn't turn from Madeline while the young woman was speaking, the distant pulse of a second heartbeat tickled at her preternatural hearing, and the scent which followed quelched any fears she might have about running into someone she knew from the days of old - this scent, like Madeline's, was not familiar.

A wry, a slightly mischevious little smile touched Arcadia's lips when Madeline offered to deliever a message. "No need t' trouble you with that, lass, I've a mind t' take him a message o' my own in the comin' days." She still owed Donald and his god for that time the pair of them interrupted her at her most sacred and secret of hunting spots, after all. This would give her a good excuse to return the favor, especially if she stumbled upon some sort of secret dwelling of his.

When Madeline addressed the newcomer, that was when Arcadia's violet eyes turned to look upon him. If she was surprised to see the manner of man that stood before them, it didn't show on her features. Arcadia was well known for her near unbreakable state of zen-like calm and reserve. Some found such a trait stand-offish, and perhaps that was true. While she was kind enough, Arcadia was a private sort out of what she felt was necessity.

"M' not from this area," Arcadia offered to Sky in her calm, controlled brogue, "so m' not sure how often m' feet will tread over this ground. But thank you for makin' yourself known, and for your welcome. You've picked a fine place t' dwell, there hasn't been a bit o' these woods yet that has greeted me with any less than open arms." Or perhaps more appropriately, open branches.

[Sky]

He laughed then shaking his head. It wasn't a warm nor cold laugh... merely reaction. He walked towards the too now that he saw they werent afraid. His long tail wrapped around his left leg so as not to drag on the ground and to avoid the need to hold it up.

"So what brings you guys out into this forest. It's not often that we have guest coming about."

[Madeline Cauthon]

Maddie smiled. "OH I just came out to be one with nature, and do some thinking. I love the plants and trees out here, they are gorgeous."

[Arcadia Caughey]

Silently, Arcadia found herself in agreement with Sky. She was not used to running into many in forests late in the evening, not without stumbling upon a camp or another such small settlement. Those were easy to spot from a distance, and during her wanderings she usually changed her path with the settlers none the wiser that there had ever been a traveler near. Certainly she had not expected to run into one, much less two here this night.

As was Arcadia's way, she was the last to answer the question. It gave her more time to choose her words, or to perhaps avoid the question entirely as the topic moved on to another as the flow conversations often did. Unfortunately Madeline's answer did not shift the topic, so it was time for Arcadia to add a brief reply of her own. "I've spent the majority o' me life in such forests, in this realm and the one of m' origin. Such wanderin' is in my soul." It was information that was widely known about her, so she didn't mind sharing that much.

Madeline was leaving soon, she had said as much moments before. But Sky, it was clear that he at the very least spent a good portion of his days here. She would have to amend her plans, and apologize to the plant she made promise to before moving on to her nightly hunting. Arcadia was a woman of great reserve and privacy - while some knew of her role as one of Nature's servants and the forms that came with it, she was not the sort to slip into those forms when others were near that she just met.

At the moment, Arcadia showed no signs of wishing to leave. There was no immediate need to, her thoughts were just musing ahead to the rest of the night's necessary activities.

[Sky]

Sky pulled one of his eye tufts, what most would normally have as an eyebrow, up in as much of an arch as you could consider it. He made a light polite cough to clear his typically unused throat so he didnt so so rough when he spoke.

"Well you are both always welcome here to hunt to live in peace or to travel through. As long as you treat this... ah... nature as she deserves. The wolves running these trees also do not attack so do not fear them."

He stood there for a moment if no one planned to talk any further to him or had anymore questions he would probably just leave. No need in standing around bothering people.

[Arcadia Caughey]

When Sky said that bit about treating Nature as she deserves, one of those small cryptic little smiles curled her lips. As with all of Arcadia's smiles, there was no display of her teeth. A glance to Madeline, and when she noted the silence from the woman she would set her eyes back on Sky and make the first reply.

Her calm, controlled brogue had a faint touch of amusement to it. "M' one of Her devoted, y' need not fear that any o' Her own will be mistreated by my hand." Even now, she could feel Her whispers tugging at Arcadia, revealing to her what parts of this woodland 'garden' needed to be tended by one of Her own healers of the earth. It was enough to make Arcadia shift her position, front teeth biting the inside of her bottom lip as she wondered if making such an immediate retreat from here was the correct choice. Such service was her calling, after all.

But, from the way this male spoke he seemed to have ownership of these woods, suggesting to her this was private property. A rarity in all her wanderings, which is why she added, "M' thanks for your welcome. It's rare that I come across private land whose owner wishes it t' remain wild, instead o' clearin' it in order t' build a 'civilized' dwelling." A faint hint of distaste when she said 'civilized'. For a lass who preferred sleeping in caves or under trees or in the softness of open meadows [before she was turned and cut off from the sun, of course], what people called homes she often found restrictive and uncomfortable. "And my apologies, if m' wanderins here were trespassin'. "

[Sky]

He gave her quite the curious look. did she call herself on of natures own? Well that was obvious because every living being was typically sprouted from her ever giving womb. He tilted his head to the side and this time laughed, a real laugh that could be felt. A rare thing from him to be sure, but becoming more adn more common place then some years ago.

"Well I don't.... 'own' this land i protect her. It gives to me and i protect it in return. How could i honorably live wrapped in this loving embrace and take food shelter and water and not give back. No... no she owns me... i am her child and i give much deserved respect."

((how i try my hardest to live that way... i wish i really could))

[Arcadia Caughey]

She actually didn't call herself one of Nature's own! Her reply to him was that she was one of Nature's devoted, which is why she'd added, 'y' need not fear that any o' Her own will be mistreated by my hand.' Perhaps that is where he misheard or mixed up her words. For Arcadia there was great difference between the two terms, own and devoted. To call herself one of Nature's devoted was her diplomatic, reserved way of saying she was one of Her loyal servants. Some would drop the term avatar, but the word sounded too much a title and Arcadia shied away from anything that sounded formal or fancy. Which is why she always cringed when people called her Countess, a title she had taken only because it had given Adrian joy to bestow upon her.

If only she would read his thoughts, she could have corrected the misunderstanding as they used the term 'own' in similar fashion - that all living creatures were Nature's own. But while mindwalking was a gift of the vampiric blood that she could cultivate if she wished, she always stayed far away from it. An individual's mind was their own, she felt, she had no right barging around in the brains of others. So instead, there was a faint lift of her brow, the only sign of her own confusion as he laughed at her words. A moment of missed connections!

She was relieved to hear that he did not consider himself owner of this land. She was a woman who chose her words carefully, and she had made that suggestion to garner what his philosophy was on such a thing. They were of like mind, good, and this wild had an ally. So now there was a pause from her that nearly bordered on hesitation. If the ground, the air and the plant life of this area were not whispering to her as they were, the hesitation would have lead to a choice to keep her mouth closed. She was so reticent about drawing attention to herself, or revealing things about herself, or however you'd put it. But she pushed herself to speak, "So then...as one who cares for her y' wouldn't mind if I walked this wild and tended t' the life that grows from its earth?"

If it were years ago, or even only a year ago, she never would have asked such a thing. Instead, she would have slipped off and done that business covertly. But over the past year, those close to Arcadia had been pulling her out of her hermit-esque shell, hence her 'bravery'. Since Sky seemed to serve Nature in his own right, maybe she was nervous that when she asked that, he'd know exactly what she meant? She was silly, or rather skittish, when it came to such things.

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