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Over breakfast, Llinos asked about Almonihah's story. Slowly, haltingly, with a few helpful additions from Zrathanzon, he told his tale. He found that somehow, here, in this tranquil place, the pain of memory seemed like something he could vanquish, rather than some invincible monster that would surely devour him if once let out of its cage. Llinos himself seemed sympathetic and kind as Almonihah told of his past, and it seemed almost as if he understood the young child's pain.
Soon enough, breakfast was over, and the three cleaned up the campsite, packed up, and set off further into the sheltered canyon. Almonihah saw hints of movement all around them as they walked, as if there were animals watching from just out of sight in the trees around them. After a while, however, he actually spotted an animal—a deer that looked up at them as they passed. The funny thing about it was that it had one of its legs bandaged.
“Did you do that, Llinos?” Almonihah asked, pointing at the bandaged leg.
“Yes, child,” Llinos responded. “Animals come here when they are in distress, and I do what I can to aid them.”
“Oh,” Almonihah responded, his little face thoughtful. After a bit, he thought of another question. “Is that why it's so peaceful here?”
Llinos was silent for a moment before he responded. “That is... part of the reason.”
Almonihah wondered what the rest of the reason was, but decided that Llinos probably would have told him if he had wanted to let him know.
They walked on for much of the day, with Zrathanzon and Llinos doing most of the talking, while Almonihah listened avidly. They talked a lot of the state of the forest and the settlements near it, but sometimes their talk strayed to other things—animals that had been here last time that the Ranger had visited, the few other acquaintances the two shared, and so on. Almonihah saw many more animals on their way, as well, some healthy, some obviously recovering from either injury or ailment, but all watching them with a sense of... watchfulness, perhaps? Certainly, they didn't seem to be behaving like the animals they normally met in the woods.
“So... where are we going?” Almonihah asked when there was a lull in the conversation.
“To my home, little one,” Llinos replied, smiling gently.
“Oh,” Almonihah seemed a little surprised by the simple answer, but then, perhaps feeling that he would sound a bit rude if he just left it at that, said, “That sounds nice.”
“Thank you, child.”
They reached a point where the a smaller stream fed into the stream they had been following. Llinos turned and followed the tributary stream, and Almonihah and Zrathanzon followed. The stream meandered down from a small canyon in between the low mountains of the edge of the Stormpeaks. Before long, they reached a small clearing right where the stream exited the smaller canyon. There was a small hut, apparently made from fallen wood and other such materials, and another small fire ring in the clearing, but the oddest thing was that most of the clearing was clear of snow. Indeed, as they entered the clearing, Almonihah could feel the air getting warmer, until he was slightly uncomfortable in his warm clothing.
“Welcome to my humble home,” Llinos said, gesturing at the clearing and hut. “While I fear that there is not really room in my house for more than myself, at least Naishia has seen fit to ward off the winter's chill here.”
“So that's why it's warm here?” Almonihah asked innocently as he started to strip off the outer layer of his heavy clothing. Llinos simply nodded in response.
Garekh, who had run ahead of the group, ran out of the little canyon, his tail wagging happily. He came to a halt in front of Llinos, who smiled and scratched him a bit behind one ear. After a moment, he trotted over to Almonihah, then sat back on his haunches, looking expectantly at the child. Hesitantly, he reached out his hand.
Observing this, Zrathanzon cautioned, “Make sure you mind your claws.”
Almonihah nodded, then cautiously rubbed the wolf behind the ears with his fingertips, careful to keep his claws from scratching Garekh. Said wolf showed his approval of the treatment by wagging his tail more vigorously, which brought a shy smile to Almonihah's face.
After luxuriating under the attention being given him for a bit, Garekh stood back up on all fours and raced back off into the woods. Almonihah watched him go for a moment before following the adults, who had already fully entered the clearing.
Once he reached them, Llinos turned to Almonihah and said, “It is my understanding that Zrathanzon has been teaching you something of the ways of the ranger.” He paused for a moment, and Almonihah nodded in confirmation. Seeing this, Llinos continued, “As Zrathanzon has told you, I am a Druid, a priest of Naishia. As such, I know much of the wilds and the plants and animals living therein. I understand that Zrathanzon intends to spend much of the winter here. If you wish, I could share something of my knowledge with you during your stay.”
Zrathanzon looked expectantly at Almonihah, who suddenly wondered what the two adults had been talking about earlier that morning. He rather suspected he now knew the answer to that question, but that didn't change his answer to the unstated question posed to him.
“Yeah, that sounds good.”
The three spent much of the next several weeks together, either near the clearing or somewhere else in what Almonihah was already mentally calling “Llinos's valley”. He continued his lessons in weapons and ranger skills with Zrathanzon, but with the added pleasure of Llinos's instructions about the ways of animals, the lives of plants, and the uses of herbs. He also asked Llinos about Naishia, thinking back to his earlier conversation with Zrathanzon. Often, while Almonihah and Llinos spoke of Naishia, Zrathanzon would add comments about Bahamut. Of course, the time wasn't spent solely on lessons, for Almonihah found that Garekh was playful as well as friendly, and the pair spent many happy hours making up games and sometimes just running around the valley.
One morning, when the snows had let up for a while and the sun shone brightly on the white world, Zrathanzon made an unexpected announcement.
“I think it's time I went out and checked on a couple of the settlements around here.”
Almonihah looked at him with surprise, but after a moment asked, “When are we leaving?”
Zrathanzon looked back at Almonihah. “I don't think you should come this time. Some of the places I'm going... you're not ready for quite yet. Llinos, are you fine with keeping an eye on him for a couple of weeks?”
The druid seemed less surprised than Almonihah had. “So long as the child is content to stay with me, I am,” was his quiet reply.
“So do you think you could stay here with Llinos this time, Almonihah?”
After a long moment, Almonihah nodded his head. “Yeah... I guess so,” he said uncertainly.
“In that case,” Zrathanzon said briskly, “I'd better start packing.”
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So... it's been a month since the last time I posted. Yeah... well, anyways, I did manage to write a little here, a little there over the past month. I think Garekh may explain why Almonihah gets along so well with wolves as an adult. Well, among other reasons. Beyond that, Llinos has been another interesting character to learn about. I'd always known there had to be a druid somewhere in Almonihah's past, but he'd never mentioned him before for some reason.
