[un: sprite bulb] voice;

[bearshermark]

[An aggrieved breath brushes through Eleven's crystal. He sounds tired and annoyed in the moment, as though speaking directly to someone of something]

I'm trying to grow things, here.

For Goddess' sake, I only just planted this patch yesterday.

[He sighs, temper easing, though his voice remains underscored by a thread of tension]

..Has anyone found anything about the dark waters? How to remove them or purify them or.. something. I've been working around them much as I can, but something will surely need to be done to clear it up if this village is going to thrive after we've gone.

[He's going to leave one place better than they found it okay.

..Maybe. Hopefully]

Comments

[bearshermark]

[Across timelines and dimensions and a few different sets of memories, Hendrik's sworn sincerity still surprises him sometimes]

Thank you.

[He probably doesn't say that enough]

We're likely going to be looking into the forests soon.

[unswervingcompanion]

[The knight nodded even if the Luminary couldn't see it. Helping the boy out was the very lease he could do and he did swear he would help the boy back home. Something still niggled at his brain from time to time that the last go around here they were closer. But he chased those thoughts away almost immediately every single time that they entered his thoughts.]

If we are indeed headed that way, that may very well mean fighting whatever lurks dark within its depths. We should be prepared as should anyone else that accompanies you.

[He pauses]

Are you prepared?

[bearshermark]

The waters seem to corrupt anything they touch- vines, animals.. And we'll need to keep a distance from any ghost trees we come across- and likely destroy them as sources. Though I'd like to try to speak with them first.

[unswervingcompanion]

[That made him pause.]

So you believe that you can speak with these ghost trees?

[This made him more determined to be at the boy's side because there would undoubtedly be a lot of trouble, especially if the animals and vines were corrupted as well.]

[bearshermark]

I was able to commune with the spirit tree in Sa-Hareth, and I've gotten better with plants since, so I'd think so.

But I was pretty close to that tree, before.

[unswervingcompanion]

[Hendrik nodded.]

And they caused you no harm?

[Because everything seemed to be trying to do that.]

[bearshermark]

I remember being left cold, after. I didn't have access to my magic for a short time, but I wasn't injured.

But the tree Marcos spoke of was said to trap people within it.

[unswervingcompanion]

Trees trap people?

[He wasn't sure he wanted to know because his mind was going off into nefarious trains of thought. But surely he was simply letting his imagination run off with him since he was back in this strange world.]

[bearshermark]

I haven't seen it for myself, but Marcos isn't the sort to lie about such things. He's volunteered to go along with us.

[unswervingcompanion]

[That answer just gave way to more questions.]

Who is this Marcos you speak of? Is he anything like your former companion here..what was his name?

[Hendrik paused as he sought the name from memory.]

Archeval was the fellow's name, was it not?

[bearshermark]

[Oh.

It's been awhile since he's heard Archeval's name from anyone unprompted]

..Yes, it was. [Clears his throat] But ah, no, Marcos isn't anything like Arche. He's- he's a kind man.

[unswervingcompanion]

[That clearing of the throat just made him more curious as to what the relationship was. Was it something akin to the Luminary's relationship with the boy Erik? Well it was none of his concern unless it became so.]

A kind man you say? This I must indeed see for myself. When should we be expecting him?

[bearshermark]

I think we should go in two days. I'm showing Xie Yun around the fields today and tomorrow I think I want to test the dark waters a little.

[unswervingcompanion]

[Suspicious knight is suspicious.]

And how precisely do you intend to go about testing them?

[bearshermark]

Attempting to commune with affected plants and subjecting them to holy light.

[He's also thinking about trying to set the water on fire, but the idea would sound pretty stupid out loud]

[unswervingcompanion]

So it is a mere testing of theory and naught else?

[This is him worrying.]

[bearshermark]

What else would it be?

[It's not that bad of an idea, right. right?]

[unswervingcompanion]

I am simply trying to ascertain where that mind of yours is going.

[He's still determined not to let the boy go wander off and do something reckless.]