Kamille had always been suspicious of the Gods. Ginma himself, the one who blessed her with the powers she had, above them all. She worked hard to be where she was, to have the skills and the power that she had, and not depend so much on a blessing from a God. She had her reasons to believe nothing good ever came without sacrifices, pain or blood.
Nothing good ever came out of nowhere, without something in exchange.

It was not uncommon for her to hear someone being bestowed with power from a God simply to spread that God's teachings. She often listened to those stories with certain skepticism.

"How about... we go back to the village to grab something to eat? We can talk there...

Elrodan looked back at the remains of the impi. He was glad it wasn't a flat heal everyone and everything, he would be the one in need of healing if so.

He had expected more questions, deep proving questions. Such as... Hmm, well maybe philosophical to challenge ideas, such as... OK. Well he has thought of Kamille asking more. Maybe she was being shy over asking. "It's OK, you can ask me anything! I don't mind." with that he stood before her, a big silly grin on his face.

The voice came from no where almost making him jump. "Yes you are right, there are plenty of questions she could ask. Do not believe that she will not ask more". As the voice spoke, Elrodan tried hard to focus on what was being said to him as well as Kamille. He wasn't used to two people talking to him at the same time, even if he was used to talking to two people at the same time. Perhaps it was because they couldn't hear each other or know when the other was talking.

"Do you know when the celestial is speaking to me? We can go back to the village if you want, or if you want to do your work things, that's ok too? I mean you're..." Elrodan stopped, there was a sound off to the side.

Kamille was hesitant on putting a damper to Elrodan's excitement. The Gods never gave something without asking something else in return. They might not ask it right away, but they always did...

She was about to answer when she heard something. She wasn't much of a tracker - she often waited for the things to come to her, but it didn't feel like it was the time for some hunting now.

"What do you mean? Is it speaking to you right now?"

That would explain why he looked distracted sometimes. She looked around.

"The forest is not a safe place anymore. Let us go back to someplace safer."

"It was, but not at the moment. It's very odd. It's not like hearing someone talk, it... It somehow is just there, like when you think to yourself, but the voice is different. I'm used to my sound, and when it speaks, it's, it's not me in my head." he gives a confused look at trying to explain it.

Holding out a hand to help kamille up, he gives a quick look about, his face echoing the sorrow of the former few minutes before turning back to kamille with a smile. "Yes, let us move on".

As they were walking Elrodan pulled out his flute ready to play, but before playing asked "Are there many fairies here?" and with that asked, played a quiet tune.

Voices in the head. That sounded terribly ominous for Kamille, who had met someone before that could hear voices in his head before. Except they didn't seem so benevolent, and it ended up with a pair of hand wrapped around her neck.

"Just.... Be careful, okay? Be careful not to get lost.... Be careful not to forget your own voice."

They started to head back to the village, which was a short walk for them. Despite the "adventure" of early morning, the forest was quiet and calm.

"There are, but most people thought it was a myth or a story for the children because they are very shy and wary of elves and humans. Wary of anyone but themselves, actually. Which is warranted, as you may think now. They are incredibly discrete. Now the impis are forcing them out."

She soft song of the flute made their walk feel even more magical, the early freshness of the morning still hanging from the leaves and trees. In no time, they reached the road that led towards the village.

Elrodan took a long time processing what Kamille was asking. Not the be careful part, he understood that part. The not getting lost... Well he was a little lost. He thought he could get back to the harbour if needs be and then probably Kamille's house too. Though if there were these impi about, he'd rather not have to do any being lost. Then there was not forgetting his voice. How could he forget his voice? You don't need to remember it to use it. He then went through a very fast set of thoughts. He would stop the song to ask, but then she'd think him stupid, so the pause in the music was just odd and then he realised that he hadn't did anything, so was that the forgetting his voice. He let out a small "eep". No, he still had his voice. Wait, that was his voice. It sounded like his. He carried on playing.

He could understand many of the reasonings behind the fairies staying hidden from all they could. The elves back home dominated their lives. So many other races and creatures would still find a use for them be it magic or food, neither was particularly nice. Knowing some were about though was nice, and something he'd have to put into his agenda was to meet them. "When did you start to know about the fairies? Do you think... You could introduce me to them?". As they entered the village, he resumed playing the flute like a procession fanfare for Kamille.

It looked like the village had just woken up, with the merchants just setting up their carts and the women going out to run their errands. Overall, felt like a sleepy village, with a slow pace, very calm and on the smaller side.

People from the village seemed very at ease with Kamille's presence, but still looked very curiously at Elrodan. Fairies weren't a common sight around there.

"I would if I could, Elrodan. Fairies have mostly kept to themselves around here, so I haven't had the pleasure of meeting them. I know a lot of different, interesting people around here, though... I know a forest nymph, I call her the Green Lady. Very nice, very reserved too, though. I try not to bother her so much. And there's also a werewolf here, you know? Everyone in the village knows him as well. Very handsome, that one..."

She headed to an inn, where they could get something to eat and drink, before running their errands.

"Maybe... If you could find the fairies here, maybe you could try and introduce them to me. They won't reveal themselves for us willingly, and I'm not going to force them out of their hiding... But maybe, if we could strike a friendship, we could try and discuss ways to find whoever is behind this impis attacks and protect them better."

He put the flute away as they passed through the village. He had no wish to draw more attention. "There's a werewolf?! Well, that's... Different. Are they... Friendly? Wouldn't be another one wanting to eat people, or fairies? Still, the gem lady sounds interesting. Maybe I'll try and find them. I'll try and act as a link between you." but starts flying closer to kamille, starting to feel too many eyes on him.

He was rather glad to head into the inn, after the events of the morning. "If nothing else, warning then of the attacks... Though they do probably already know by now. It would be worthwhile. Maybe I'll go in search of them after food. Do you usually eat here? What do you recommend?". He looked around, the smells, the sounds, and all of it seemed a new experience to what he was used to. He didn't mind being inside, and while Kamille was about, he didn't have any reason to worry, but this had a different feel to it. 

"If you want to look out for them, please be careful. I know you can take care of yourself, but I still worry about you."

As she entered the tavern, she was greeted by the woman behind the counter.

"Good morning, Kamille.... Oh my! Is that your friend?"

"This is Elrodan. Elrodan, this is Mary. She is a good friend too. Mary, could you bring us some broth, cheese and some bread, please?"

She headed to an empty table while Mary went out to grab what she asked.

"Well... Let's see... You don't have to worry about the werewolf here, he is quite friendly. He can look scary, but if you ever cross his path, just tell him you're friends with me. I'll need to do some things today, but we can visit the Stargazers Field, Lantern Light Woods... There are a lot of beautiful places I'd like you to see around here."

"You're too kind. I'll try and stay away from impi. I don't know how much I would have been able to do if you hadn't been there. So yes, I'll take good care." he admitted.

He waves a hand at Mary. Then as Mary moves away, he moved closer to kamille to whisper. "Have you talked to her about me? Just, she seemed a little... Funny on seeing me. Still, she seems nice."

He nods along for a bit before starting up his questioning. "So, do you have people that don't like you? You seem to get on with everyone. For good reason I may add. How long will you take? If its only a little bit, I can wait here or somewhere? Or, if you'll take most of the day, I'll go try and find the lady or the fairies or just explore? Do you want me to prepare anything for those other trips?" and with that his mind began to wander. A small smile upon his face.

"She's just curious, I haven't talked to her about you. People here don't see fairies this open, you know.... Like I said, they tend to be really shy and keep to themselves."

In no time, Mary came back with two bowls of stew and some bread. She shot curious glances to Elrodan, but made no questions - she was sensible enough to make questions when Kamille was alone.

"Some people don't like me. And those are very vocal ones. When helping in people's problems, I'm bound to cause problems for other people sometimes... People are complicated."

She thought that summed up things easily.

"It will take a while, yes. You can explore as much as you want, just try not to get lost."

Elrodan nodded and wondered about all of the people that had stared, could do many people not know the company of fairies. He would have to do something about this.

"Complicated... A pity. Oh well. They are the ones that are losing out." he said before tucking into the food. After eating he leant back and smiled. "That was very nice food. If I can find some other ingredients when out today, I'll try and bring some back for her as easy of thanks."

He stood up on his chair and wiggled his bum. "Where will I meet you later? And when? I hope I will be able to meet the fairies and get them to come and say hello by then." he have his cheesy grin. 

Kamille doubted it would be that easy, but she didn’t want to dishearten Elrodan. She ate her own bowl of food quickly.

"We can meet right here, if you don’t mind, at sundown. Don’t feel discouraged if you don’t find them, it's alright."

With that, Kamille went to the counter to pay for their meal and exchanged a few words with Mary. She came back to Elrodan.
"There, now I need to go. If you need, Mary will keep you company while I'm out and about."

Elrodan agreed and once kamille was ready, they said their goodbyes and she departed leaving an odd sensation in Elrodan. Feeling a sense of duty towards all other fairies, he flew over to the bar by Mary to exchange pleasantries and show her to indulge her curiosity. Elrodan in return struck a bargain with Mary, knowing that he should not rely on the kindness of Kamille for his food and drink. While he would be out, he would search for various herbs that could be used in the kitchen as well as doing a song that night. Once all was agreed, Elrodan set out for the forest.

At first he was very happily skitting about in search of the desired items for Mary. As he ventured further in, and the vegetation became more closely knit, he started hearing other noises. At first, he put it down to birds, yet when he stopped and tried to spot them, he couldn't hear or see anything. On one louder crash he tensed up quite a bit, fearing that it was another impi. After standing stock still for a good five minutes without further sound, he carried on, if still wary. As luck would have it, he found a bush full of ripe nuts that he was able to fill up on along with a couple of berries shortly after. With a plentiful supply to give to Mary, he spent a whole floating around and enjoying himself playing with wildlife and forest bathing. After a bit he found a small tricking stream that he drank from before sitting up in a tree above the gentle water. While there he took out his flute and started to play. Lost in the music and forest atmosphere, ascertain hours passed before he found himself wondering what the time was and if he shouldn't start the return journey. Finishing with a sudden stop he again heard a distinct noise from somewhere behind him but when he turned to look, still nothing could be seen. Stowing the flute, he wound his way back to the village and the tavern, weary and ready for a nice meal and drink.

The day went on uneventful for the most part - and, thankfully, Elrodan didn't seem to encounter more impis that day. Mary was good company for most part of the day, should Elrodan need her, and when night fell, Mary introduced the fairy to her son, a boy of 5 or so. He seemed fairly curious about Elrodan and would bombard him with questions.

"You're friends of Kamille, right?" The boy started, eating a bowl of stew while Mary put another one in front of Elrodan. "People call her a witch, but she is the nice kind. When I need medicine, mommy buys it from her. She is friends with the druids too... And the werewolf, they said... But he is nice too. Do you have any friends like a werewolf? Or other fairies? Are there other fairies in the woods? Mommy said there were, but no one sees them..."

The boy didn't keep him company for long, since Kamille soon arrived. Very much like Elrodan, she seemed tired, with a quiet Mischief trying to sleep inside her hood.

"You're already here? I hope I didn't leave you waiting for long... How's your day been?"