"Are you sure we should be taking her along? She's technically the enemy, isn't she?"

Seeker Tempest, third of her name in her clan and first in generations to bear it, walked calm and controlled in the middle of a formation of Sojourners, and very carefully did not make any indication that she could hear the sotto-voice conversations taking place around her. She was absolutely calm. She was absolutely not terrified out of her wits. She was definitely not struggling to maintain an air of aloof coolness as she walked in the center of a half-dozen Sojourners whose collective power could likely wipe the entire Community off the surface of the planet without even breaking a sweat.

No. She was calm. She was collected. She was the first of her kin to interact with Sojourners in hundreds of years.

She damn well was in control of herself.

Whether she actually was or not.

"Are you nuts? What's she going to do, aggressively starve at us? You saw how she honked down that soup."

"She could escape and warn her friends about us and come back with an army!"

The primary conversation was taking place between what she assumed to be sisters. The taller one, the one with the Staff Of The Magi and the Owl familiar, and the Berserker. She could sympathize with the tall one's side. It was… an odd conversation, considering the events of the past few hours. On the one hand… Yes, she supposed she was still an enemy. She had declared herself such, and had not rescinded that within their hearing.

Her ancestors had fought against Gaius Caesar. They had helped break his power, bring to ruin his empire, and brought death to his very doorstep. Her people were enemies of Rome, and of any Sojourner who would take up its power again. They should have known this.

And yet… They had healed her. Fed her. Fed her well, even. Invited her to walk with them, through the center of their territory, through their halls of power, and now to the very vessel that had transported him across the great void to the shores of Seroco.

They had denied being part of Caesar's New Rome, despite their titles, despite their Arts, despite all appearances. And most strangely of all, they seemed to believe it. At least that's what the Kel'Darshein had said. And the Keeper Tree could not have lied to her. Not with the ancient invocation, not with the ancient favor called in.

And now they conversed about her, unashamedly and without hesitation, as though they had nothing to hide.

It was very confusing.

Which, the part of her mind that was very firmly in control and not a gibbering shrieking mess of nerves, stress, and fear said, was probably not that unusual of a reaction to these strange people.

"You're just paranoid," the older girl hissed to the younger.

"Yes, I am! How many things have tried to kill us since we got here?"

A part of her wanted to speak up, to assure them that she meant them no harm… Which was a strange thought. She, a Seeker, the humblest of the Community's outwalkers, meaning no harm to a group of Sojourners.

Yes, said the flea to the Zone Keeper, she thought with a wry twist of her lips. I mean you no harm.

So she walked in silence, keeping herself distant from the Sojourners as much as she was able. Because despite the Keeper Tree's assurances… Well. She walked among the monsters of her nightmares. That was not a thing that could be put aside instantly, no matter what assurances a legendary guardian of her people might offer.

So she walked along with them, as if in a dream. She could not keep her eyes from roaming over her… Captors? Saviors? Benevolent wardens?

"Hi!" The voice was young and male and came from her left side and was pitched at such a volume that it stung her ears and caused her to jerk sideways in pure reflex.

"Oh jeez," the smaller male–the one the others had called Lucas–winced and raised his hands in what she took to be a placating gesture because if it wasn't it looked like he was preparing to cast a spell on her and she was doomed anyway. "Sorry! I didn't mean to spook you. I uh, just, wanted to talk?"

"Ah, yes," Seeker Tempest swallowed and forced herself to stand straight again and to not tremble. "Forgive me. I… Tripped."

The boy gave her a look her grandmother would have called 'old-fashioned', but said nothing else on the matter. Which was good, because she was not sure what lie would have been best to follow up on that with.

"So, I was wonderin', where do you come from?" The boy asked casually, walking beside her like he was her escort on a simple Finding mission.

Alarm bells blared in her mind. He was pumping her for information! He was trying to find out about the Community! He was–

"Hey, dingus," the older sister said from where she walked near the front of the strange procession. "Don't ask her that. She's gonna think we're trying to pump her for information about where the rest of her people are. She thinks we're the enemy, remember?"

"I thought Billy set her straight on that?" The boy asked, raising his eyebrows and apparently not noticing the flush that Seeker Tempest felt crawling up her cheeks.

"Hmm. Yeah." The other female, the one Seeker Tempest was unsure what role she played in the dynamic because her coloration was markedly different from the rest. Maid? Trusted servant? Adopted child? Seeker Tempest could not tell. She certainly spoke like she belonged with the rest of them, but perhaps that was just a function of being a Sojourner?

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"Let's see," the girl continued. "'Hey Paw, I just brung this here grizzly bear home 'cause a talking tree done said it was cool and wasn't gonna hurt me none.' Yeah, I can't see anythin' wrong with the reasoning in that situation."

"Hey, listen," the boy shot back defensively. "She's the elf, right? Talking trees are like… Elf 101. Right?"

"I thought that was the Lorax," said Matthew, the older male.

"No, he speaks for the trees," said the middle sister, the one with the owl–by the great ones she needed to do better at learning their names, didn't she?.

"That means the trees still talk to him though, doesn't it?"

"Well yeah, but not like Billy. I think it's more of a general consensus thing than like, y'know, actual talking."

"So, what," the boy asked, frowning, "he's the delegate from the trees? What, like he was taking notes at Entmoot?"

"Oh man," The older sister–Isabel, right? Her name was Isabel?--let out a laugh. "Now that would be an awesome crossover. 'Hey Onceler, there's some trees here to talk to youuuuuohmygod they've breached the walls!' I could see it."

"And then Treebeard pulls the Onceler's hipster face right out his butthole," the boy–Lucas. It's Lucas. Must remember–practically crowed.

"No!" said all three of the younger girls at once.

"Not The Onceler," said Isabel.

"He's too hot to die," said the owl girl.

"Plus I like his songs," said the not-of-the-family girl.

Lucas gave them all the Old Fashioned Look again and snorted. "You guys are so weird."

Seeker Tempest, alone among those she had once believed enemies, striding next to those who could wipe her from existence with but a thought, shoulder-to-shoulder with the heirs of he who had ravaged the world, couldn't keep silent any longer.

"What in the name of all the stars and their first born suns are you people talking about!?"

The laughter that came at her outburst caused her cheeks to flush even further crimson, and her sharp eyes caught a look between Isabel and the adopted girl, followed by the summoning and passing of a coin from the older to the younger.

"Told ya," The younger girl said.

"Yeah yeah, rub it in," Isabel grumbled.

"Sorry Tempy," The girl with the owl–Owl. Owl…live. Owl… Olivia! That was her name!-came and patted her on the shoulder. "But we were all kinda getting tired of the whole 'shy little mouse in the middle of cats' routine."

"Yeah. been there, done that," Lucas said, rolling his eyes. "Took forever to get Dinah out of her shell. Didn't feel like doing that again."

"I was never in a shell, doofus," Dinah–thank goodness now Seeker Tempest had a name and not a general description to remember–glared at the boy. "I was just…"

"So introverted you were making clams look positively talkative," Isabel said, chuckling.

"Okay fine, be that way," Dinah huffed, then looked back at Seeker Tempest. "Ignore them. They're ignorant city folk. C'mere, walk next to me. We can talk about whatever ya like. Doesn't have to be anything of substance. We just want to get to know you better, is all."

"But… Why?" Seeker Tempest asked, staring around at all the eyes staring at her. "I am outcast. I have nothing to offer you, even my subservience would be far outstripped by… well…"

She gestured at the Thunder Caller following them, and past that to the bloody great Bargalest that undulated through the forest next to them.

They had a bargalest as a pet. She hadn't even had the mental capacity to consider that one yet.

"Because you're a new neighbor and we want to get to know you, ya goober," Lucas called from where he was already moving ahead of them to walk next to his father. "That's what neighbors do!"

The thought made her blink. And for a second she almost refuted it.

But a memory paused her. A kindly smile set into an ancient wrinkled face. Clear blue eyes that sparkled with warmth and wit. And a gentle voice, beckoning her the same way every time 'come over here dear, tell Auntie about your day.'

Neighbors.

Not friends. Not… Not yet. But… But perhaps not enemies, either.

"Al…Alright," she stammered, stepping closer to Dinah. "I… Suppose I can do that."

* * *

"That was a good idea," Matt whispered to Allie as they moved through the jungle. "Putting her in the middle like that."

"Old infantryman's trick," she whispered back. "Put the new guy into the middle of the veterans, and they'll start jabbing at him or talking over him until he's forced to respond. And when he does, that's when the dam finally breaks."

The two glanced back over their shoulders to see Seeker Tempest, the elf girl who only a few hours before had been alternating between terrified and pure hate for them, was now talking haltingly with Dinah about her favorite foods.

"Well it worked," he murmured. "You're damn good at this."

"Si," Allie just said with an impish smile. "I am. Now excuse me, we have just entered a new hex and I must claim it."

Golden power washed off of his wife and into the ground, and a moment later he let out a deep sigh as his own Calling connected to the new land. His body felt lighter, his muscles stronger, his eyes sharper… It was a rush every time he stepped foot onto 'home' turf.

This was the second hex she had claimed since they left the camp, and each time she did, it was only a couple moments before another of Billy's amber-leafed eye-stalks popped up from the ground and turned to follow their progress.

They walked slower than they had on their previous trip to the Dilligaf. Partially so as to let the new member of the family acclimate himself to the group and the trail–and Onesie seemed to be doing an admiral job of that, as it snuffled and sniffed into every bramble patch and frond it passed–and to allow the girls time to work on getting Seeker Tempest to feel more comfortable around them.

And when they reached the Dilligaf, Matt found out that they likely needn't have bothered.

The elf's jaw dropped and her eyes nearly bugged out of her head when they came out of the jungle into the clearing that housed the remains of the yacht. She stared at it as though trying to imprint every detail in her memory.

"Alright gang," Matt said, clapping his hands together. "This is our project for the rest of the day. I'm going for the solar panels and equipment first, and then I'll start stripping the hull. The rest of you, fan out into the ship and grab everything that isn't nailed down. Everything. Be careful moving it, take it slow and easy, but grab what you can. Onesie and Henry are on hauling duty once we have a big enough haul."

He glanced over at Seeker Tempest, who was still staring at the yacht. "Seeker, do you want to help us out? You don't have to, of course. You're our guest here–"

"Iwouldgreatlyliketheopportunity!" she squeaked.

Matt grinned. "Well alright then. Let's get to work."

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