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"That in itself is a huge step for me," she replied. "For the longest time I couldn't be anywhere near people at all. Pretty much the only reason I even tried in Gaia was because I was so lost and I wasn't stupid enough to ignore my need for help - and food. I'm sure it was the first time I spoke since it happened to me."

She picked up the knife again and twirled it around her finger again.

Without skipping a beat, she flicked her fingers and the knife zipped through the air and stuck in the turtle's softer underside. The turtle started swinging back and forth from the impact.

"Once it's bled out, we can remove the underside ... a lot easier than taking the shell off," she told him. "Then it's the same as any other animal. Blood's healthy for you too. If you're ever stuck for something to drink, it'll do you. No other blood is safe to drink, it's all too salty."

She grimaced. "The things I learned from my grandfather," she muttered, shaking her head and smiling.

"I was never taught either," she said thoughtfully. "Though I'm sure my parents ... had we gone on as a normal family ... would have taught me, or had me taught. I only learned the blades because my father shared my obsession ... or perhaps I shoud say, I shared his ... and his mother was the same. No, when I left, it was pretty much all trial and error."

She grinned. "I guess I didn't do too too badly after all."

"Oh, there are books," she corrected him quickly, "lots of them. Just not kids books, is all."

She blinked. "But what would I write a book about?"

She blushed. "No one would believe me," she mumbled. "It would be a myth to them, a waste of precious materials ..."

She raised one eyebrow. "Keep in mind," she reminded him, "the literacy rate here is not nearly as high as in Gaia. Most knowledge is passed by work of mouth, not by literature or anything like that."

Her fingers were twitching ... she needed to fiddle with something. She wished she hadn't thrown the knife ... Meh. She got to her feet and retrieved the knife, then sat down again and resumed twirling it around her finger.

"How strange," she mused. "We don't have schools ... not in the same sense as in Gaia. There are tutors, but mostly parents teach their children ... and those who want to learn a particular craft become apprentices."

She frowned. "And then there are those of us who really have no choice in what we are to become." She looked up at him and grinned mischievously. "I don't suppose it would come as a surprise to you if I were to tell you that I don't see myself as future-queen material."

She laughed at his comment, though she wondered what he meant by it.

"Do you mean they would go crazy because I have a tendancy to disappear?" she asked. "Or because having to have one would drive me crazy and I'd drive everyone else crazy complaining about it and he would go crazy doing a job he knows isn't wanted?"

She laughed again.

Elnara lay down and rested her head on her arm, pulling her blanket over herself. She stared into the fire silently, her head filled with thoughts. What if no one recognized her? Or what if they didn't believe her? She was sure they would be happy to see her again, but what if they didn't believe she had been in a different world, and that for her, only five years had passed?

Then she wondered what the exact date was. It was Quellë, she knew, but ... what date?

It could very well be her birthday soon ... or past, even. She wondered if she would be twenty or twenty six years old.

Elnara lay in silence for a few minutes, then said quietly, "Do you want the first watch, or do you want me to take it?"

"Thanks," she murmured, her eyes already closed. She had a vague thought that she should be checking on something before she ...

She fell asleep.

Triton watched the night, listening carefully and hearing the soothing sound of everyone else's breathing. He watched as the night past them by.

A few hours later, or there about he was shaking Elnara awake gently. His back was kind of stiff even though he was using Tao to proped himself up.

She instinctively grabbed his arms tightly as she jerked awake. When she saw that it was just him, she relaxed and let out her breath slowly.

"Sorry," she murmured. "Everything okay?"

She sat up and rubbed her eyes.

She nodded and smiled, the pulled her blanket around her shoulders once more.

"Sleep well," she told him, and prepared herself for her watch.

She had only been watching for a few minutes when she heard something approaching softly. She tensed and melted back into the shadows, gripping the knife she still had from earlier, just in case.

It turned out her fears were unfounded: it was only a small housecat that wandered up to their fire.

She relaxed and sat once more by the fire. The cat was cute, she thought ... all black except for a white diamond just above its nose ...

She watched it curiously as it sniffed around the fire, then padded over to Triton. It sniffed at his face for a minute, then at his ears. It sat and licked its shoulder, then sniffed Triton again. Then it wandered over to Elnara's side of the fire.

She held out her hand, wondering if it would be scared of her ...

Apparently not. It sniffed her hand, then rubbed its head against it. She scratched it behind the ears, then began petting it. It began purring, and stepped into her lap and curled up.

Elnara shrugged. Ah well, the company would help keep her awake at any rate.

She kept petting it, but returned her attention to the night surrounding them. Finally, after several hours, she got to her feet and went over to poke Triton awake, the cat following her.

Elnara shrugged. "Pretty much right after you fell asleep," she told him, "though where it came from I have no idea. I'm amazed it survives the wild here."

She headed back to her blanket. "At any rate, there are worse pets that could adopt us."

She curled up in a ball and drew her blanket close. "Don't forget to wake me again," she murmured, falling asleep instantly.

The cat followed her back, and when she didn't pet it again, it curled up right beside her face and fell asleep too.

She raised one eyebrow. "Unless you can sleep sitting up like that, I suggest you lie down ... somehow," she said with a smile. "I'll get your blanket for you ..."

Elnara laughed and brought his blanket over. "If you want you can use my cloak as a pillow," she told him, "seeing as I don't need it, since I have my own blanket."

She smiled and threw the blanket over them, making sure that their feet weren't sticking out the bottom.

"All good?" she asked with a grin.

"Then get some rest," she told him. "If anything happens you're no good as a bodyguard if you're sleeping on your feet."

She grinned.

The remainder of the night passed uneventfully. The cat that had joined them kept Elnara company, and she was quite content to watch the rest of the night and let Triton sleep. It was true, neither of them had slept properly the night before; but she could sleep while awake, while Triton could not ... and it would be best if he were alert.

The dawn crept up eventually, and Elnara put out the fire by passing her hand over it. She took a long drink from the river's cool clear water before waking Triton.

She put one hand on his shoulder gently, trying to wake him while letting Daeron sleep.

"Just move slowly," she said quietly, "he should stay sleeping. Even if the plant's effects are finished, he's probably really tired from his ordeal."

A pained expression crossed her face as she said this.

She added, "But it may not be a good idea for him to sleep too long. We should wake him when we're ready to start moving again. The longer he sleeps, the more likely he'll have nightmares."

She spoke with the wisdom of one who knew from experience.

She took Daeron carefully and held him like a baby in her arms. His head fell against her shoulder and he let out a little snort in his sleep, then sighed and went right on sleeping.

She spread her cloak on the ground once more with her toes and laid the child down on it. Then something caught her eye.

"I guess it'll be a while before we set off again," she said thoughtfully. "I forgot ... the turtle. It's ready now."

"Heart, liver, kidney," she muttered, setting them with the edibles. "Should we give what's left to Tao?" she asked Triton, glancing over at him. She held up the soft part of the shell and the things that were in it - bones, lungs, stomach and a few other things.

She laughed and handed him the stuff for Tao. "I'll let you give it to her while I finish up here," she told him with a giggle.

She wondered which way she should prepare it.

"Do you want stew, soup, or roast?" she asked.

Elnara looked up when she heard the sound, and saw that Daeron was awake - either that or having another nightmare. She looked at her bloody hands and muttered, "Ah, great."

She sighed. "Tri, can you get Daeron? I'm filthy."

Elnara smiled. Another new name for Triton ... cute.

She started the fire up again, this time smaller.

She filled the shell with water and added as much of the turtle as she could fit in it, then set the shell right in the fire.

"Turtle soup, little guy," she grinned. "I bet you're really hungry, you didn't eat much yesterday."

Well, partially because she had drugged him early in the afternoon ...

Elnara realized suddenly that they had neither bowls nor spoons ... they were certainly going to have fun eating the soup ...

Bah. She'd figure something out.

She stirred it with the knife as it started steaming.

Elnara nodded. "Well it's food anyways, whether or not it's going to be good is debatable," she muttered more to herself than in answer to Daeron's question.

The cat appeared suddenly at her side and rubbed against her leg. She scratched it behind the ears absentmindedly.

She smiled. "Your mother is absolutely wonderful," she said wistfully. "Though I'm sure you understand I'd like to try to find my own first."

She tucked her hair behind her ears and turned her attention to the food.

She looked up and grinned. "Good thing someone came prepared," she quipped.

The cat purred as if agreeing with her.

The cat poked at Daeron's face curiously, then head butted him and rubbed against him.

Elnara laughed. "Doesn't look too dangerous to me," she replied. "Not like we're keeping it here anyways. As for the soup ... give me a few more minutes, I think ..."

She set the mug on the ground beside her.

Elnara smiled and speared a piece of turtle meat with the knife and blew on it, then took a tentative bite.

"Excellent," she grinned. She dipped the cup in and handed it to Triton. "Careful," she warned, "it's really hot."

Elnara raised one eyebrow. "Triton?"

"Careful!" Elnara warned him again. "You're going to burn yourself, or waste the food!"

Elnara gasped. "Of course not!" She ran over to him and gathered him in her arms and hugged him. "No one's gonna hurt you," she reassured him. "Not while Triton and I are around to keep you safe."

She ran her fingers through his hair and hugged him again.

What did he go through, she wondered, that he's this scared of eating wrong?

Perhaps he wouldn't get over his ordeal as quickly as she had hoped.

She gave him a squeeze. "As much as you want," she assured him.

Elnara watched him go with one eyebrow raised. "You know," she commented, rising to her feet, "I think Tao might actually be the best thing for him."

She picked up the turtle shell and rinsed it in the river, then tucked it into her bag. "Let me put my bag on her, too," she said. "I'd prefer if it didn't get wet either."

Elnara looked at Triton and grinned. "Hope you're a strong swimmer."

Then she stepped into the water. It was cold, so cold it felt it was squeezing the air from her lungs. She waded in until it came up to her neck, then pushed off with her toes and started swimming.

Elnara took a deep breath and dipped her head under the water. It was clear and clean, and she dove for the bottom, reaching out with her hands. She felt smugly satisfied when she touched it, then brought her feet down as well. She kicked off for the surface.

She broke surface and took a deep breath of air, then wiped the water from her eyes and looked around, smiling. She had drifted a little downstream ...

She stretched her arms out and started swimming for the far shore.

She felt her feet touch bottom once more, and waded the rest of the way out. Her clothes were dripping and clinging to her. She made a face. Walking in wet clothes ... not fun. At least it was still summery weather. She would be dry soon enough.

She glanced over at Triton. "You ok?"

Her brows wrinkled in apology. "Sorry."

She peeled the bottom of her tunic away from her skin. "At least you can take off some of your clothes if you need to," she laughed, "and still be decently clad."

"I don't know why they don't make a bridge somewhere around here," she commented. "I mean ... as a shortcut, it's not exactly popular, though it is used often enough."

She squeezed some water out of her shirt.

Elnara followed his finger and her jaw dropped when she saw the bridge that was nearly out of sight. She blinked. "I ... guess ... someone else thought there should be one, too."

She bit her lip and looked back to Triton. "Sorry ... didn't know there was one."

As they set out, Elnara found herself wondering who Daeron's parents were. If he was only four years old ... his parents could possibly be around her age. Or, the age she was supposed to be. Maybe she had known them.

Elnara smiled and translated the nickname for Triton. "Coron is a ball," she explained, "and helf is fur - so when he calls her 'coronhelf' - which is how he should really be saying it - he's calling her 'furball'."

She laughed. "It fits her."

Young, and needed lots of sleep ... well the peppermint sleeper didn't hurt either.

Poor kid, she thought.

"How long were you with them?" she asked, wondering if she would understand his response.

Elnara's eyes grew wide. Almost a year ...

His comment made Elnara laugh. "No, no, we can be home inside of a month," she giggled. "But it makes me wonder ... where they went ... and what they did to him."

She watched Daeron playing with Tao. "As if they needed to break him in or something, and he just wouldn't ..."

Elnara winced. "Please, no," she groaned.