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"Are you sure you should be, though?" The butterfly asked, flicking her antennae and tilting her head worriedly. She wanted to go home - despite how much trouble she knew she would be in - but she didn't think that her new Granpa was up to the trip, not with th way he kep almost falling over and how very sick he seemed

"It probably wouldn't be good to make Ellandra sick, she already got sick once and it hurt the babies, so getting sick again might make it worse." She paused again, fluttering her wings a little bit. He seemed so very ill. . . carefully, she gently patted him on the arm - or rather, on the air just above it, he still seemed to be the don't-touch-me type for some reason, even though she didn't know why - and said, "We can take our time; I want you to feel better, okay, Granpa Vin-Vin?" And she did.

The little flutterby knew nothing of her sibling-Zi's much less pleasant encounter with Vin, and so wasn't wary of him in the least, simply treating him like she treated any other members of her kind, like anyone that she cared about. She didn't think anything unusual about it in the least. "Okay, but how should I hide under it? I've never hidden under something before, always in a basket."

Rhian cuddled close to th older Essentic, still worried for him but not saying it. She snuggled close to him gladly, unmindful of the cold sweat, and furled her wings up a bit so that they would be more easily concealed by the cloak.

"Can I hug you, Granpa Vin-vin?"

It wwas a sincere request, one she hoped he wouldn't brush off. She thought he really needed a hug - he looked like he hadn't had one in a long, long time.

Rhian hugged her newly adopted Granpa, all snug-snug but not too tight, just the kind of hug she loved to give. "Thank you for letting me hug you, and for taking me home," the butterfly said, still all snuggled up to Vin.

"But I can't help you find Farstep, I only know it's . . . . that way somewhere," she said, pointing in a direction that she thought she'd come from.

Rhian was quiet through most of their trip, only speaking up when they finally reached the carnival grounds. "Oh, um. . . I can't really fly through Farstep in the middle of the day, can you get us close to Ellandra and Ellandr-husban'ds vardo? It's that one over there," she said, pointing out th vardo in the distance.

"You can just drop me on the steps, I pretend I'm a doll a lot!" She chirped, hugging the lder Essentic yet again. Her wings unfurld a little so she culd flutter slightly. "I'm probably going to get in trouble," she amitted, her antennae flicking slightly. "I may never taste fluffy treat again!"

Melodramatic much, little flutterby? Perhaps sneaking out wasn't worth it in the long run then, hm? Well, she'd have plenty of time to think about it once she was placed under lock and key by Ellandra and Ellandra-husband.

"Thank you for helping me get here," Rhian said again, sincere in her appreciation and wondering if there was another reason - besides not wanting to get Ellandra sick - that he didnt' want to take her directly home.

Rhian tilted her head and hummed happily when Vin patted her, always loving any sign of affection, and she could tell what that small gesture meant. "You're right, I musn't let Ellandra go without help! She's too sad too much, I have to make it better!"

Then they were to the vardo, and she barely managed to get out a soft "You too! Goodbye!" Before she was slipped through the door and almost immediately captured in a hug by her terribly worried owner-mother, who was crying and worried and Rhian had no more time to think about her Granpa Vin-vin, or to mention him as she was checked over for injuries and then lectured for running away and how she had "better not do that ever, ever again, do you hear me flutterby?"

Still, she hoped her new friend and adopted Granpa would get better - and find a nicer place to sleep than where she'd found him. She wondered if he'd been lost, too, and if so, she hoped he got home again safely.