The Last of the Summer Ice

Log Info

• Title: The Last of the Summer Ice
• Emitter: Cryosanthia
• Characters: Cryosanthia, Elleandra
• Place: W02: The Wilderness, Waterfall
• Time: Sunday, August 16, 2020, 5:06 PM
• Summary: Cryosanthia takes Elleandra to her sanctuary waterfall, a place she discoverd before she was taken by the Fae Queen, which she visits when she wants to soak and sink. Think, when she wants to think. She lets down her emotional guard, and just about everything else, as she dives into the water and Elleandra follows suit. Cryosanthia explains she is still struggling with her memories of the Tower, all the nameless people she tried to get names for, who were tortured and died and how the only one who seemed to get a happy ending was the torturer in charge herself. Elleandra is concerned about her suicidal impulses but the sith reassures her, she has rejected the pointless death, it is the pointless life that is giving her problems. Her high emotions cause some coldness around her, which is not helped with the fast flowing water, and Elly gets hypothermic. This snaps Cryo out of it somewhat, and the wild elf assures her that she is cared for, life isn't meaningless, and Salina will somehow get what she deserves. She invites Cryo back to Wilderness point, the sith agrees, and they depart.

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The path from the village eventually narrows somewhat, with the trees on either side becoming more populous. Moss hangs from large stones that sit surrounded by beds of leaves that has accumulated over the years.

A few trails wander in varied directions though eventually even these woods will thicken. One particular trail carries with it the scent of natural brimstone...this trail wanders north and westward, where the trees grow thick once more. To the east, it's rumored that the druids have built a sacred site.

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-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  Appearing, in Order  -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Cryosanthia  6'9"     291 Lb     Sith-Makar        Female    A dashingly tall, elegant white-scaled lizard woman.
Elleandra    5'4"     108 Lb     Wild Elf          Female    Blue-haired, green-eyes, Sylvanori
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It was a long walk. At least an hour or two, south of Mictlan, along the road then east of it into the woods north-east of Alexandria. No trail to speak of, but a few landmarks the sith-makar woman was looking out for. She was also coy, about her state of dress, although she wasn't impeded by its minimalism. Her scales seem durable enough for her to brush by bushes, even ones with thorns, without injury or notice. Her large toed feet capable in the rough terrain.

Finally, she steps through a line of trees to an open space. A stream flowing off a cliff, cascading down rocks, at the bottom a pool. Shallow enough to see the bottom, deep enough to safely jump in, and another stream leading off, winding its way through the woods.

"This is the waterfall I found in the dead of winter, and I like it. I wanted to show you."

Elleandra laughs gently, pressing herself affectionately against Cryosanthia's side. "It's a lovely place," she says warmly. "I'm not certain what it is, but I have always been enchanted by waterfalls. I'm so happy we share a love of them."

Elly does not let go of Cryosanthia's hand, but does step back to not impose quite so much as she was. "We are always moving ahead, the ice can only still things on the surface, but no matter how much time it has, the movement beneath cannot be utterly stopped."

"I've... got a lot of ice, Elly." Cryosanthia says, turning so she can face her friend. Her pupils are a little spread, her throat flexes even when she's not speaking. Her nostrils are flared. For all her size and solidity, and she appears somehow even more defined in her body, there is also a fragility. All her scars are cracked, and the vessel is not sound.

Her hand goes limp, sliding from Elly's, then she kicks back and pushes off into space.

She falls. She stares as she does, eyes unblinking, upwards, at Elly. The pond's surface rushing towards her as she shrinks, and falls, limbs and tail loose until there is a giant splash and water everywhere.

Elleandra watches her friend in silence, just listening. The release of a hand is a bit of a surprise, and then Cryosanthia is diving. Or apparently just plummeting. Unsure what to make of it, Elleandra follows, her clothes simply rendering themselves to nearly nothing as she leaps after.

She is no graceful diver, but she makes less of a splash than Cryosanthia did. Of course, she's also a lot smaller. She pokes her head out of the water moments later, her gaze showing more than casual urgency as she looks around for Cryosanthia, praying she comes to the surface.

Cryo takes the impact on her back and while it stings tremendously, her heavier scales there protect her from any real damage. She sinks, watching upwards through the water as Elly follows and the splash she makes upon impact. Drifting down, she feels the small pebbles as she reaches bottom.

A hard bottom.

She holds her breath. She could inhale, filling with water. Even in the summer the water is cold, and it would make her all the more icy inside. It's very tempting, to lie there and do nothing, stare at the distorted sky as the ripples of water sheer the image.

Finally, she kicks off the bottom, glides upwards, streamlined and sleek, bubbles trailing from the tips of her horns. She breaks the surface beside the wild elf, "Ow."

Elleandra looks at Cryosanthia for a moment, concern in her eyes. Than.. something else. She's angry! "Cryosanthia! I was.. you are so.. what was that for! Diving in like that and sinking! Do you know how much you mean to me!" Her expression is a mix of anger tightening her lips and tears coming from her eyes.

The druid easily stays afloat in the water, but her lack of skill there is likely all that is keeping her back from either hugging or slapping her friend. Hard to tell which way her emotions are pulling her. What is clear is that she's not just upset, but shaken. Fear mixes with her other emotions as she heads back to the shore.

The white sith treads water, though the action for her involves her tail stroking from side to side, her legs dangle. She watches Elly swim to shore before she starts after her. She glides in, neck and shoulders out of the water, the rest of her moving in the water like she was born to.

She doesn't know how to face the anger, and she doesn't want to. "I should go." She reaches for the shore, "I'm angering everyone I know. Even Ezil, even you now. I'm sorry."

She plants her hands on a rock, pushing herself out, cold water streaming off her body in all directions.

Elly doesn't give her that chance. She throws herself at Cryosanthia, hugging tight. "No! No you don't!" she says vehemently. "I'm not angry at you. I'm angry at what you just did. There's a difference. You scared me. You put someone I love in grave danger. If something were to happen to you, Cryosanthia! I.. I don't know.."

The druid is rarely unsure of what to say, but now she is. Which makes her sulk. She pokes Cryosanthia in the chest as hard as she can. Which isn't very. "You.. you will not behave that way! Do you understand me! And you will not run from me, either!"

Cryosanthia is grabbed. She is pulled back into the water. She slides back in and allows herself to come to a bouyant point. Which is pretty low, she has to hold her breath to really keep her neck above water. She lowers her nose and closes her eyes, "It wouldn't hurt me. I can stay under water for an hour. It was... reckless to dive backwards..."

Her eyes open, she stares across the pond, at the water falling in, "You asked why I dressed down. Because it doesn't matter. All my magic armour and fancy clothes didn't help. My older armour, irrelevant too. My gloves, the others say, 'Cryo your time away has made you too fastidious'. A loin cloth from Am'shere, I'm still putting on airs if this one stands tall."

She twists, the garment in question pulled free, is held, and then she flicks it ashore, "I could fling it in the bushes, then there would be no evidence of my passing. I was never here. I did nothing. I don't exist."

"Then how come I love you?" replies Elleandra. "You did and do exist. Whatever happened while you were taken changes nothing in the impact you've had on my life. On Kamaria's life. On all these lives you have touched and made better! I don't care how long it takes, you will understand how much I care for you." Her tone starts gently, then rises, almost shouting, and falls once more, gentle as a spring rain, just barely audible even with her lips just inches away from Cryosanthia's face.

The druid sighs softly, shaking her head. "You have been listening to long to your own voice, dear one. It is time for you to listen to mine, and to others who adore you and love the thought of a world where you are always at our side. Will you listen?"

Cryosanthia turns her head, not enough to touch, but she is closer. She is hard to read, and that is made worse with her in water, her temperature even cooler. Her pupils are still spread, hinting at emotions she's holding down. It's not nearly dark enough for them to dilate for that.

"I hear Zeke telling me I am insatiable and selfish, that I do not love him, do nut understand love. I hear my youngling, crying out as I claw him. I hear Her voice, so many criticisms."

Her own voice rises, "I ignore it. It is finished! It is done! In the night they come back to me. In the stillness. I am broken. I am missing a piece. I told you about the missing piece."

"Then take that piece for me," says Elleandra. She smiles gently, her eyes not touched with pity, but with a gentleness. "I grew my heart so that I'd have enough for all those I love. But also, be patient with yourself, dear heart. You suffered for so long. How can you hope to heal so quickly?" The druid tries to draw Cyrosanthia with her, out of the water.

Settling on the shore, uncaring about her current state of dress, she directs her attention wholly to her friend. "My voice tells you this: you are loved, you are brave, you are caring, you face dangers beyond your knowledge only because you believe it is right to do so. For all those things and more, you are loved, Cryosanthia. Others may have crooked eyes, but I know you." She smiles, not troubling to sweep the tears from her cheeks. "I will be there to tell you this for as long as I have breath and you are near. Which I hope is many many years to come." Cryo is heavy, she comes out of the water only with her assistance through a strong stroke of her tail. She rises like an iceberg, bringing a small wave of water with her that spreads out across the rocks, and near her starts to skin over with black ice. She sits, tail out behind her, heavy on her wide hips, hands beside her thighs. Her breathing is slow but it bubbles coming out of her nose, she never having cleared her snout properly.

Her head hangs, "Because, everything else has. I do not need these to clear," She brushes a hand along her arm, her scars, "the ice and lights are fine. The ones I loved, are lost. Left me. Even She! After all she did, I lied and said I forgave her... and... I haven't. Her plaything and puppet for years and then discarded without notice..."

"I have not seen even Faran... Braelnoir, yes, she is a treasure. And Merek... who..." The sith shakes her head slowly, "Everyone else loves me from afar. Very afar. This one did not know you felt this much or cared."

Elleandra sighs gently, "My pardon, Cryosanthia, but I care greatly. I fear I have not been clear enough. The past is lost to me, but the present, I hope, will suffice." She reaches out to slip an arm around Cryosanthia. Well, as much as she can. Despite the cold, she has no problem moving close.

"One of the things I've realized in my short life is that people reveal themselves over time. Sometimes, it can be very painful. Others, it is a wonderful surprise. I am happy to sit here with you and help you melt some of this ice." The druid strokes Cryosanthia's back in an attempt to soothe her friend. "You've been through so much. I believe in you, Cryosanthia. I know you can pull through this. And I will be with you every step of the way. For every victory, and every loss."

Cryosantia is like a giant block of ice, always colder when her emotions are strong. Inert, she feels Elly pressing softly against her, her warmth being stolen. She should relax, but can't, her muscles are stiff throughout her. Her voice is low, and shaking, "There were so many bodies Elly, so many people she dismembered for curiosity or amusement. I tried to remember their names, to find their families. She would find my records, destroy them. I tried memorizing, there were so many. No songs or mnemonics would suffice. Soon I stopped trying, they became an endless conveyor of limbs."

Her head turns, her eyes are black, "How do you comfort someone you know is going to suffer and die. This one tried, there was little I could do. Any mercy was punished, even saying they expired, I was punished for my lack of care. Never-ending. I have seen the insides of so many."

"Mercy in the Light, for her. The prayers of a goddess answered by another goddess. For the rest of us, in with Her? No mercy enough for left overs. It was beyond their reach. I did what I could, but I was not a saviour. I was not the answer to a prayer."

Elly reaches a gentle hand to stroke the side of Cryosanthia's snout. "You cannot carry the blame for what you were forced to do. You are blameless. Let them go, let them rest. Be at peace. You spent decades in the frozen dark. Look up and let the light touch your face once more. Know that for what happened, any transgressions you may have made are now forgiven."

The cold of Cryosanthia seems almost endless, and yet Elly remains nearby. She does not endure it, it seems, but embraces it, accepts it. "I ask you to start walking the path towards the hardest journey in your life. You must find a way to forgive yourself, little by little, knowing that you had no more choice in the matter than the hammer striking a nail."

"I chose to go with her Elly, I chose Zeke, I chose to stay, or not leave. I don't know why I stayed so long." Cryosanthia says, the last word turning into a low wail. She pants hard, leaning forward, splashing water up on her face. She's icing up, hoarfrost growing like a fuzz around her horns and along the top of her snout.

She is uncomfortably cold, like holding a melting block of ice, except Elly's soft warmth is in a futile battle. The sith a seemingly endless heatsink. "I want to, but I find... it was a mistake, a huge mistake to try. Hope and instinct led me astray."

Not certain what else to do, Elleandra shifts her body, throwing a leg over Cryosanthia's and kneeling. She wraps her friend in a hug. She's so cold! But Elleandra is fire, and that element is closest to her. Her small flame is not so easily extinguished. "A mistake is not something you deserve to suffer endlessly for, Cryosanthia. I know little of the light. Let out your pain, I won't flee from it. I can feel it.. like a great river about to crest over its bank."

The shiver that runs through Elly is not a matter of cold. At least, not the cold that Cryosanthia makes. "Trust me. I'm right here. I will catch you no matter how far you might fall."

"It's still too big to feel, Elly, I can't." Cryosanthia says, gripping Elleandra in a freezing embrace. She holds on tight to that little warmth of fire. Her emotional landscape is an empty tundra with winds that coil across driven snow and broken sheets of ice on grey water. A tall Tower stands, built of her memories and in the seas around her three giant icebergs. One, formed of all the suffering since she escaped, the second which dwarfs it, of all her suffering while she was held, and a third, smaller than the second but larger than the first, from losing her cihuaa.

There is a dragon too, small and scuttling against the rocks, trying to manage the icebergs, an ant battling a castle. Her emotional guardian, which screams at the sky.

It's too much.

Cryosanthia falls forward, onto Elleandra, into the water with a long, mournful wail that vibrates through her throat and empties her lungs. Bubbles stream upwards as she hugs Elly and drops...

... down.

Elleandra is hardly strong enough to manage to keep Cryosanthia from tumbling forward. She also has not prepared for swimming. For all her being, she clings tight to the plunging, freezing one that she loves. If it is fearless, if it madness, it doesn't matter. She cannot breath an hour under the water. But she does not attempt to escape, clinging as tight as she can, hoping that her frail flame will be enough.

The water freezes where her skin meets Cryosanthia's, and she wonders if she could even escape it if she tried. Wordless, her magic will not avail her now. She puts all her faith in the one pulling her to the bottom. She's not afraid.

It is not a deep pond. Standing, it would barely be over the average person's head. For an elf, a little deeper. It is not wide and the water is not fast, and the sunlight reaches all the way down.

Yet it is deep, when one can't breathe, from emotion or inability. Cryosanthia sinks, eyes closed, holding onto the heat that is Elly and trying to feel. Melt one of those icebergs a little, quell their growling and grinding in her soul. Her emotional guardian struggles too, underwater and fighting, chipping at the edge to break something off, let some emotions turn and another side rest in the sun.

Bubbles leak up, the trail thinning as the last of her air leaves her lungs. Cryo inhales, the heavy weight of water surging in filling her chest, cold shocking throughout her. The last of her bouyancy gone, she hits the bottom with a solid thunk, Elly above her, much more soft and floaty, but not enough. The sith-makar's body switches over, her metabolism altering for this mode of breath. Her muscles going anerobic, her thoughts slowing and in that, becoming easier to handle.

She's going to drown, comes the first.

She's stuck, comes the second.

Be calm, you can't free her otherwise, comes the third.

This seems wise, and she tries to do so.

Elleandra remains there; she makes no attempt to break away. Her flame will be quenched forever, or it will triumph. This is her test. She focuses on staying still, on ignoring the growing noise of her screaming lungs. The ice pierces her, or tries, and yet she resists. Whatever the cost, whatever the freeze she must defeat, she trusts utterly that it will give way. It must.

Her air escapes, slowly, but she cannot draw any more air in. Her body screams at her, but only for a moment, and then she grows still, calm. The leaf that falls from the tree does not fight against its time, if it is come.

Cryo has the sense that her emotional guardian is giving her a long, hard look which suggests this could all have been avoided if she'd only been a little calmer. This is noteworthy, but not helpful. Her slower thoughts are simple and practical.

Don't let your friend die. Swim up.

She does so, pushing off the bottom and stroking her tail hard, pushing herself into the turbulence of the waterfall. The less dense water isn't helping, but the speed of it, as it cuts away at the ice that is holding the elf to her.

Still, not swift enough, Cryo pushes herself onto a rock directly beneath it, which gets Elly above the surface, even if a heavy shower of water now surrounds her.

Elly feels the air around her and her body demands she gasp it in. She sputters, coughs, but manages to get breath. She's also freezing. She cannot control the shivers at this point. She realizes that even her eyes seem to have been partially frozen in the experience. It leaves the world a total blur, and she holds tight with numb hands. She hopes they are still holding fast to Cryosanthia.

"Are we above the water?" she asks in a half-choked voice. "I can't tell.. if we lived or not." She laughs softly, thinking it a fine joke. "Gods, Cryo.. that was cold, dear. Are you okay? Can we try.. maybe something a bit warmer after this?" Her teeth are chattering, which makes her words all the harder to deliver.

Cryosanthia turns her head to exhale all the water, a mildly painful process where her chest clenches up tightly and her lungs squeeze themselves empty. A long gush of water pours from her mouth, followed by a cough and a gasp. It's never an easy transition and she sounds a little hoarse and watery immediately after. "Yesss... we'rre out, we lived."

She holds onto Elly, who now feels colder than she does as the sith has returned to something resembling the water temperature while they Elf has yet to. She pats gently at her flanks, trying to warm them. "Thiss one iss fine. Thiss one doess not have warm things."

A thought strikes, "You silly, why didn't you turn into a salmon or otter?"

Then another, "Why don't you turn into an otter? I could chase you round a rock to warm you up."

"I wanted to be there with you as I am," says Elleandra. "And make it clear that you.. you understand." She finds air hard to come by. But her next words are more difficult for her to express. It takes her time.

"I want you to understand how much I want you to stay here. To stay with me. I won't lose you, Cryo. Not if I have anything to say about it. Even if my life must ride the edge of the dagger. If I can save yours, it is a good trade."

The white sith nods slowly, the water splashing over her as well. She remains on her back, submerged more than floating. The rocks are holding her up. "This one understands, Elly... you should not have to ride a dagger for me. The pointless death holds no attraction for me, I have faced it."

She shrugs a little, her tail slowly ruddering the water, "It is the pointless life. This one has seen too much through her eyes, our insignificance, our short and meaningless lives. Everything I do feels empty, nothing matters. Will I outlive the tree or the tree me, it's irrelevant. She outlives us both and sees no justice for her murderous acts, and the gods are happy with that. One might as well rail at the sky."

"Braelnoir tells me not to dwell, that we suffer and sacrifice sometimes so things don't change, and there is some solace in that I suppose."

Elleandra tilts her head, "Honestly, how could I not ride the edge of a dagger? I don't think you realize how much you mean to me, Cryosanthia. And if pointless death holds no attraction, I would kindly ask you stay above the waters with me for a while."

Cryosanthia's words are considered, weighed, and taken in. "What we do matters. Perhaps not to the Gods, but honestly.. who gives a whit about them? What matters is down here. In the blood, sweat, and soil, Cryosanthia. There may be some measure of mercy offered to her, but I wouldn't count on it. One does not live that way for as long as she did with out a price. It will find her. But that is not my doing, nor my matter to deal with. The balance will have its way with her, though, and she will be paid in full."

"I _like_ swimming. No one understands. The water gets under my scales and I feel things across my whole body. It is exquisite." Cryosanthia says, pushing herself higher and out of the water. There is space behind the waterfall, enough to breath, to look through it like a curtain.

The sith chuffs, "Perhaps you are right, one can hope. Perhaps Lady Brightscales will send her dreams each night, where she is someone she killed and she suffers herself until her missing piece is hammered back in."

Elleandra settles near Cryosanthia, still shivering as she tries to regain her body temperature. "Or perhaps her suffering came long ago, and has driven her to what she is today. I trust the world to deal with these matters. More than I trust the Gods themselves. Hm. I am strange, aren't I?" The druidess rubs her arms, working some heat back into herself.

"I'm sorry if I misunderstood, Cryosanthia. I'm just so worried about you. I would do anything to protect you, and everything to help you smile again." Elleandra wipes at her right eye, seeming suddenly annoyed at her emotions. "Do you like hot baths?" she asks suddenly.

Cryo blinks at Elly, "Oh, you did not see the Mage's Magic Mansion. Yes! I enjoy them greatly. Mikilos cast that spell for me each day when it was necessary for me to be extra-dimensional, and I always included a cold pool and a hot pool."

She also shrugs a little, "She did not suffer. She was imprisoned, and put in a dream. In the dreams, she unleashed her anger and was not bright enough to realize she affected a reality. This one is still not even sure the Mistake I knew is real, or a dream version of herself. Thus she is 'innocent' because the things she imagined did the damage. I cannot say, my head hurts trying to make sense of it."

"Magic can go too far," mutters Elleandra softly. "But like I said, there is an older magic, yet. Ways to heal that do not rely on sorcery or prayers for divine intervention." She scoots a little closer, laying her head on Cryosanthia's shoulder. "The magic of just touching, of knowing that someone cares about you. The magic of the first and last rays of sunlight. There's something about these that touches us."

She looks down at her feet, wrinkled from the swimming. "I fear that Kamaria will find it most amusing when I return home, looking like a half-drowned rat." She laughs at herself, then. "But she will forgive me anything, if I can convince you to spend some time with us, and talk to us. Or to just be silent and let us sit with you, so that the love in our hearts might help you in some small way."

Cryosanthia is a solid support, strong and easy to hold. She is not too cool now, the temperature of the water, not a good source of warmth but not the ice source she was earlier. Her hand strokes gently along Elly's back, scales sliding smoothly with the lubrication of the water. Rivulets cascading away from her fingers. "Knowing someone cares, helps. The first and last rays, this one has not thought on."

"I can sit. There are things I might talk of, I suppose. Gossip and trouble. One doubts you wish to know which dancer has been painting her toes too look larger, but perhaps it would amuse." Her breath leaves her in a long sigh of an exhale, "Kami is good for you. Together you are a pleasure to watch."

Her tailtip flicks. Thoughts, that she tries to chase away like fishes.

"Will you come back with me, then?" asks Elleandra, her tone hopeful. "They always give us a nice, hot bath at the inn. And they are used to all sorts of late night noises." She blushes brightly. "I meant talking, of course! Sometimes arguing, but usually just talking." She laughs softly at herself, feeling very silly. "And if you enjoy seeing us together, she's there waiting. And she's anxious to see you."

"Yes, of course." Cryosanthia says, tilting her head and sounding confused, "She is anxious to see me? Talking, will be fine, of course."

She curls her back and slides right into the water, rolling and righting herself, "I'll help you to shore. We can look for your clothes. This is the furthest I've been away from my things."

Elleandra grins, "Well, I can make clothes pretty easily. I just.. figured I'd banish them for diving." She gladly lets Cryosanthia guide her over, though. She's still got a considerable shiver in her. Standing in the sun for a time will help, though.

She looks at Cryosanthia thoughtfully, "Kamaria is more intuitive then you think, perhaps. She wanted to follow you since you last spoke to her. She's concerned about you. She can sense the hurt, and she wants to help. You have to understand, she's not one of us adventurers. She isn't going to storm castles or do any of the other foolish things we tend to. But she is no less valiant, and her heart is far more generous and loving of friends than most you will ever meet."

"I... oh..." Cryosanthia is stunned by that idea, both that she noticed and wanted to do something about it. She nods, "This one understands. I would appreciate speaking with her, then."

She searching around, eventually finding her loin cloth, then observing Elly as she dries in the sun. "It's possible to climb out, but it's easier to follow the stream out then go around. We should go, so we are not travelling in the dark."

Elleandra laughs gently at the surprise on Cryosanthia's face. "You know, dear, I rather doubt you know just how much we love you. Have you ever thought about how many hearts are focused on you now? Kamaria will be delighted to show you where she stands in this, of course, and there are others who are not so thick as to not see you for who you are. As for those who fail to see it.. I can only pray that they might understand eventually."

She uses her magical clothing to get dressed, once she feels adequately dry. She looks rather the worse for wear, though. She's not sure how, but she's managed to scratch up her feet and left shoulder fairly well, and bruise her hip, too. "Hmm, thank goodness you are coming back with me, or Kamaria would focus on how awful I look." She laughs and grins at Cryosanthia, "I must be getting soft."

Cryosanthia slowly bobs her head, remaining focused on Elleandra. "This one was not, and thank you, for that wish." It does not close all wounds, but it helps with some.

Her emotional guarding is currently basking on one of the ice bergs, hoping the refracted warmth makes it down, melts some more away. Hopefully, it scratches away. Piece by piece.

Cryo looks at Elly's injuries, her hip, her feet, "This one can carry you out. You are very soft." She says without thinking, quickly covering, "Perhaps you could turn into a swiftclaw, something durable, until we reach the road."

Elleandra laughs gently, "Very soft.. thank you. I rather like it that way." She shakes her head, "No, no swiftclaw, no other form. You are stuck with me as I am, Cryosanthia. But.. I am happy this way. I haven't had even a minor injury in some time. My grandmother will be so delighted to hear that I've done something worthwhile for once." She laughs at herself, now. "I had better slay a few hundred vampires before I meet her, though. She makes my mother's life look like a boring camping trip on the city lawn."

She can climb, or walk, or jump for joy. "Sorry, I'm just.. so giddy that you can stay with us for a time. Kamaria is going to be so delighted, too! And if you aren't careful I'll introduce you to my mother."

"All these things sound wonderful, this one is not sure why you warn of them. It will be interesting to meet your Nest-Mother." The white scale admits, taking a lead and starting down the shallow stream that leads out of the plunge pool. "And your Grand Nest-Mother."

Another thought makes her fall silent, "Let's go."

Elleandra laughs gently, "You'll probably love my mother, honestly. Everyone does. I don't know if we'll see my grandmother. I'd rather defeat a few giants before I do. Or at least have a child or two. She has expectations of those who follow after her. Especiallly since I have her name."

Despite her small injuries, Elleandra has little trouble keeping up, and the as usual, brush and everything that might make it hard to work through the wilds simply lets her by. Privileges of a druid, of course. Even so, they will barely make it back to the inn before nightfall.