“Will you behave?” Amethyst whispered, holding Hecatolite in place as the tiny rowboat made its way to shore. 

Hecatolite vibrated with excitement, “What kind of food do the elves have? Do they live in trees? Are they all as tall as Eryl?” She let out an endless stream of questions as Wolf rowed the small boat, having been brought along to negotiate the trade of supplies. 

“Mainly anything you can gather in a forest, some have been known too, and like most races their height varies, though they are mainly taller than humans.” Eryl answered flatly, looking at the terminal in Himari’s hands beside her. “There, the pages will still be corrupted but at least now it won’t send out an error message if someone tries to look at them.”

Himari furrowed her brow as she tapped on the screen muttering something under her breath about missing her grandchildren.

“Gather in the forest? Like berries? Do they eat meat too?” Hecatolite’s tail whipped around happily as Amethyst tried to keep her from rocking the boat too much.

Eryl shook her head, “Elves can digest anything your average human can, though they tend to practice more moderation than other humanoid races. Their diet consists mainly of plants they either gather or grow, but that doesn't mean they are averse to eating meat. They just…” She was interrupted by a loud screeching tone that caused everyone to cover their ears as Himari frantically tapped on the terminal.

“Sorry, sorry… I can just…” Himari stammered before Eryl calmly tapped the screen, stopping the noise. Himari let out a sigh of relief.

“That did not work as expected.” Eryl’s ears rose, turning her head to look to the shoreline. “Perhaps we will try again later, it appears we are about to arrive.” Himari quickly dismissed the terminal, the four of them having decided it would be best to hide the world terminals they possess while traveling. Well, Eryl advised it at least. She brought up the connection between the sage and the heroes, stating the low likelihood of a “warm welcome in any non-human settlement”, given the state of the world. Nonhumans may be hostile to anything resembling a sage, and humans would likely try and turn them over to Algamir.

Amethyst quickly grabbed Hecatolite’s hand, “Now, remember, be on…” she paused, a slight smile on her lips as she realized she suddenly sounded exactly like her mother. 

“Yea, I got it.” Hecatolite smiled, “Just smile, let you do the talking. I’m not a kid Amethyst, I can be,” Hecatolite adjusted herself, puffing out her chest as faint black lines appeared on her throat, “proper young woman.” Her voice came out… regal, deep… manly? Everyone on the boat looked at her with puzzled expressions as she broke into laughter. 

“Han’s voice?” Amethyst replied tentatively.

“Well, he is a knight, isn’t he?” She replied between giggles.

 Himari’s face twisted slightly as she looked to Eryl, the elven woman’s unchanging expression hiding her emotion as she simply said, “Out of everything you have seen her do, mimicry is hardly the most surprising.” 

Amethyst let out an exasperated sigh as Hecatolite charged up the beach, it's not that her sister bothered her any; though, she was nervous acting as a pseudo emissary. “That reminds me, I really should message mom and tell her what is happening.”  She muttered as Hecatolite apparently found a shell, stopping to shove it into her bag.

She shook her head, quickly straightening her clothes as she collected herself. She was wearing her armor since it was the most presentable outfit she had with her, hopefully it’s not off-putting. She thought, turning her gaze to the two elven men who stood on the beach a dozen yards away. There was a pier that led to the small town but given the size and nature of their boat it would have been pointless to dock it, instead opting to just pull it ashore on a sandy bank.

She recognized the man with the injured ear, standing tall in his armor; he scanned them freezing as his eyes widened as Eryl assisted in pulling the boat ashore. 

The other man stuck Amethyst as a noble, given his flawless posture and long flowing robes she couldn’t imagine him as anything else. Standing ramrod straight with his hands folded behind his back. She would say they were both tall, towering over her height but they were shorter than Eryl by maybe half a head. His long light brown hair had been tied back with an ornate wooden head piece that reminded her very vaguely of a crown, his long ears sticking straight out from his angular face; though she could see from here that the man apparently had his jaw clenched as he narrowed his hazel eyes.

She took a deep breath, preparing to approach the men only for Hecatolite to nearly bowl her over, “Look, I found a crab!” She chimed, holding out the small crustacean before her. Amethyst smiled, watching the small pincers that… Hecatolite popped it into her mouth with a crunch. “Ooo crunchy.” She grinned. “So, when are we going to greet the two statues over there?” She nonchalantly jabbed a thumb towards the two elven men. “The armored guy has decent water magic, probably as strong as Wolf is now. Seems like a good guy, reminds me a bit of Hans, knightly and all. But that’s nothing compared to Mr. Waterfall next to him, guys a bit shifty, don’t trust him. Could probably fight dad if he wanted; not that he would win but dad would have to try a little.”

“You can’t just go looking at people’s souls.” Amethyst hissed under her breath.

“And why not? It's reconnaissance.” Hecatolite rolled her eyes patting her sister’s back, “Anyone with identification tries to identify us the moment they see us. I mean they have a bunch of people hiding in the trees that tried to look at my page when I ran off.”

“What?” Amethyst's eyes went wide as she scanned the tree line, unable to see anyone there, she looked back to her sister. “Are you sure?”

“Oh yea, I got a bunch of bad feelings when I got away from the group. Nothing dangerous but someone over there really doesn’t like us.” Hecatolite smiled, “You didn’t think I was just running around for no reason, did you? I was trying to see if anyone was going to take a shot if I got too far away. Well, let's go.” Hecatolite nudged her before trotting off.

“She is not wrong you know,” Himari sighed, coming up beside her, her cane sinking deep into the sand causing her to stagger. “It is not a bad idea to gather information on someone before attempting to negotiate with them. Soul sight is no different than identification in that regard.”

“I’m more surprised she was checking the surroundings that much.” Amethyst replied, her eyes still warily scanning the trees. 

“Hecatolite’s ability to feel hostility directed at her lets her know there are people, but I doubt she was able to locate any of them herself.” Eryl said as her and Wolf finally finished getting the boat out of the water, the sailor they had brought with to assist with rowing opting to stay with the boat as the rest of them began moving towards the two men.

Amethyst grabbed onto Hecatolite’s arm as they approached the men, stopping a few yards away she cleared her throat. She all but pulled Hecatolite into a deep bow as she called out to them, “Hello, I am Amethyst Lapidary, and this is my sister…” She paused as the noble looking Elf walked right past her.

“Maybe he didn’t see us?” Hecatolite said, looking back at the man who strode directly to Eryl, nearly toppling Himari on his way.

Amethyst watched the man for a moment before shaking her head. “No, I don’t think that’s it.” She had seen people with that look before, unblinking as they moved in a direct line. She had no doubt that man was whatever the equivalent of an elven noble is, only someone who thinks their better than everyone else would do that. She sighed looking back at the armored elven man who did not move.

The man walked directly up to Eryl, stopping barely an arm’s length from her with his arms held out wide, “My nephew has told me you traveled far to return to the grove, and I wished to welcome you home, sister.” 

Eryl’s ears sagged slightly, the man’s eyes twitching at the movement. It was not lost on Eryl that the man did not bother introducing himself. “Well met, I am known as Eryl.” She replied, “I fear there may be a misunderstanding, I am not of the forest nor am I returning to the grove.”

The man cut her off with a slight chuckle, “All elves are children of the grove.” He swept his arms towards her, “I am known as Elder Astari.”

Eryl did not move as the man’s hands came towards her face, clearly intending to cup her cheeks; she believed he was going to attempt a older elven greeting of pressing one's foreheads together; though that was normally reserved for ones the person holds “dear”, like family and close friends. 

Maybe he is trying to imply that he sees all elves as family? She thought as the man's hands rested on her cheek. She could feel a slight tug as the man motioned to pull her head down, which struck her as odd given one normally waits for the other to move on their own; a way to reciprocate as it is. One initiated by placing their hands on the other's face and presenting their forehead, if the other feels it warranted, they will move on their own. Elves are very hierarchical, if I remember correctly, and if he is an elder it would be best if I did not offend him… Eryl felt a slight chill run down her back. 

 “I. Am. Hecatolite.” Hecatolite seemed to appear, wedging herself between the two and rising on her tail to meet the man’s now wide eyes, speaking slowly, annunciating every word in Solresol. 

Eryl blinked, suddenly finding herself looking at a mess of snow-white hair that seemed to wobble slightly as Hecatolite tried to balance herself. A sudden feeling of hostility flashing as Astari’s eyes narrowed, his face quickly turning into a scowl as he looked into Hecatolite’s unblinking eyes. 

“And what exactly is this creat…” His arms twitched as he spoke, his hands that had been resting on Eryl cheeks moving slightly as if he was about to bat her away. 

“This is Hecatolite, she is attempting to introduce herself to you but is unaccustomed to elvish ways.” Eryl cut him off, placing her hands on Hecatolite’s shoulders to steady her. Eryl knew she couldn’t understand elven, but even she could hear the disgust that dripped from his words leaving her little doubt that Hecatolite could feel the emotion behind it. 

Astari stepped back with a click of his tongue as the human in black armor came to retrieve the creature. He had intended to warmly welcome this Eryl and lead her away from the humans but… no matter, he looked over the group that had come with Eryl. His eyes passing over each of them dismissively, she seems fond of these pests; perhaps I can use them somehow.

He had doubted his nephew’s word, yet after seeing Eryl it was painfully clear she was no average elf. In fact, he would go as far as to say she was an oddity. He had attempted to identify her several times, but it was as if she simply did not exist, the spell fizzling as if he had used it on open air. she must have a very high deception skill, but why would she waste the energy to suppress her mana? He couldn’t fathom why she, clearly a high-born elf, would suppress her mana to such a degree as to make it feel nonexistent? He will admit for a moment he thought her magically inept, choosing to test that with his greeting he was relieved to find that she did in fact contain mana. And if she is a high-born elf, he could only assume she had a mana pool comparable to his own.

When one is suppressing their magical pressure it will cloak them from detection, a quick way around that is physical contact. No matter the amount of mana control one has it is impossible to remove it completely from your body; it won’t give you an accurate reading of someone’s power, but you will be able to tell it's there. Like dipping your hand in water while blindfolded; you know there is water, but it's impossible to know how much.  

He shook his head, in due time, no need to rush these things. He thought turning back to his nephew who stood slack jawed as he gazed at Eryl. Astari rolled his eyes, it was not lost on him that Eryl was indeed a beautiful woman, even he could admit if he had been a couple hundred years younger himself, he may have attempted to court her. “Rilitar,” his cold tone seemed to snap the younger man from his trance. “Escort sister Eryl’s companions to the port, merchant Tiniaka has dealt with human trade before, see to it that they are treated kindly.” He turned back to Eryl, “If I could have a moment of your time, your companions will be well taken care of there is something I wish to ask of you.” 

Eryl’s face did not change yet her ears lifted at the sound of his voice. “Certainly, Elder.” He watched her closely as she turned and spoke to the group in the human tongue. Eryl’s ears moved as the rude mana-less creature grabbed onto her hand and tried to pull her along…

Certainly, a very strange woman. He thought focusing on his own unmoving ears.