Time lapsed again. What could he say? What was there to say? Things moved and passed differently around this one, like the crash of endless waves onto the shore, suspended in rolling beauty before the pull of the sea sent it frothing back down. Beauty in its primal form, an aura that surrounded this one.

But even as he thought of it, the clockwork around him was running as it had before, and the world rushed to catch up. There was a sound not unlike that of what one hears when his head is pulled out of the surf, like water rolling out of his ears. Sound came first, then motion, and finally sensation. A soft stroking on the back of his hand, driving the farthest reaches of Nòtt's mind mad with pleasure. That gentle breeze, bringing the earthiness of his home gently beckoning him. The soft musings of one who brought the most alien and wonderful feeling Nòtt had ever known: The desire for companionship, beyond anything he'd ever experienced. He didn't recognize it as romance, but then, how would he be able to? What did he know of these things?

And from deep inside him, a voice: What does it matter?

He grinned back at Lemon, chuckled. “Indeed, hope we share.” He wished he knew a stronger word than hope, one that would have fit more properly with what he had said. Too long away from any conscious being, he had lost access to his old vocabulary. The word that rose up, from that same place, was plea. Yes, that sounded much better. I cannot force you to come with me, only plea. Plea on my knees that you will spend a little longer at my side.

Stars above and earth below, he was falling.

But quiet contemplation could not overtake the mechanical workings of his mind, and even as his internal monologue played, his feet moved, pulled him forward. He had two locations set out already to show Lemon, and that was a blessing in itself. He often found himself plagued with indecision, sometimes to the point of inability to act at all. So much more simple to have things set out in advance rather than make plans on the move. Point and go, fire and forget.

He cocked an eyebrow at what Lemon said, that they were far away from anything that had happened. “You're right, of course. There's something powerful about these woods, sometimes they move you far from the realm of reality. It may very well just be you and your humble guide.” It wouldn't be the first time he'd been lost in the great far expanses of these groves, dancing through the speckled moonlight that filtered through the leaves that made the canopy far above. It was maddening, of course, and it was distracting. If ever there were millennia to be lost in, these were the trees under which one would find himself to be lost among.

“And maybe if you follow me, we'll never need to leave.” No regret, he realized now. There was no point in taking back what he said, they both understood what the other felt, the implications of it. “But come, the endless forest awaits."

And indeed, the trees ahead parted like stately attendants welcoming them to an equally stately party. Lightning-bugs flickered, bright pinpoints in the night, and something that must have been a cricket began to draw out a monotonous tune that beautiful in its own right. They stood in a great clearing, before them stood a gargantuan tree, a venerable ancient doubtless familiar to the eons. It would take twenty men at least to spread their arms around it, and it let off an aura that would doubtless make embracing the great thing enjoyable.

“The Mother Tree. From where all things grow. At least, I call it the Mother Tree, I have no idea as to its real name." He chuckled again at his own poor sense of humor.