Vadei growls up against my face once more before getting off. Watching her initially, I slowly pull myself up with my abdomen. She nurses her growing bruises and I look about at the damage I caused. Turning around to face where I leapt from, I start to laugh a little.

"What's so funny!?" Vadei hisses as she stomps back to me.

"Uh... Just leapt far..." I answer quietly as she gets up in my face again. Limply, I point in the direction I came from.

"Well, then, Ho, perhaps you should be more mindful of where you idiotically launch yourself!" she snaps as one of her sharp nails starts to aggressively jab at my head. Going with the force she applies, I flop down onto my side. She nearly storms off, heaving with anger. I look at the grass as I ponder the fact that I was sure I saw no one near the trees.

Well, that's the problem, near them, not in them.

"Sorry, I didn't see you. I just wanted to practice my magic..." I tell her as I get to my feet. Patting myself down, I get the splinters and pieces of bark off of my outfit. She can't act like I launched for her intentionally and I won't stand for it if she does. But, she could've been seriously hurt if I go by the state the struck trees are now in...

"Just go away... Go be pampered by these stuck-up, pretentious, detestable plants! At the very least, accelerate their extinction!" she rambles with increasing contempt. She comes to a stop by a tree and suddenly slices at it with her full set of claws. Blinking at her heaving body, I take a step closer and look around at her fury-reddened face.

"Why are you all the way out here, anyway?" I ask and her ears just drop. She looks down at the ground and fists form as her expression fails to find solid ground in either anger or sadness. She growls loud and sudden, then, she turns away from me as she brings her tail around.

She nurtures it carefully and I wait for an answer, if I am likely to get one.

"Because I am not welcome in the caravan, Ho. I'm not welcome here. I'm not some powerful warrior with a century of training behind them to bolster their magic. I'm not some, damn lucky lowlander with a disgusting- BUG ARM!" she explains as she builds herself up towards being right in my face. I frown when she shouts and watch as she steps away, sneering.

"Why not try staying around Vapooliar? If you don't feel safe, maybe she can help." I suggest and she just clutches her tail tightly again. If anyone can make someone feel safe, it is probably her.

"Why can't you keep me safe?" she sniffs, almost sobbing. I ponder her words but she just lets out a mild scream-growl combo.

"The needle-legs spend too much time around me. If they're the problem, staying with Vapooliar is probably best, no?" I decided to answer sincerely, just in case she wasn't being sarcastic. I don't really know what she thinks of me with how she always seems to be so angry...

"I'm not a soldier, Ho. I can't understand her half the time, I can't involve myself in her conversations because she's not speaking about something I know! The other three are no better either, they just keep to themselves at their little carved table on their little stumps! It's not like I can live up to the delusions of these arrogant plants either... The roots don't speak, barely anyone does here. I can't understand them and they can't understand me..."

I look at her carefully and slowly nod as she gets it all off her chest. I walk up to her and place my normal hand on her shoulder and pat it. But, she growls at me, so I take it off, clearly and quickly. My eyes then look down and I watch as she carefully avoids cutting her palms open with her nails.

I turn towards the flower and my mind starts to cook an idea up. I recall the jealousy the needle-legs seem to have whenever Rose-sweerui goes all over me. Whenever I call her by how she wants me to call her as well. Maybe there's something I can do that Vadei will like?

"How about you stick with me for now? We can have a look around the places you want, I can get some things for you if you'd like, even." I suggest as maybe she'd enjoy being the centre of my attention for the moment. She might not like the idea on its own, but, hopefully, she hates the needle-legs more. I can see clearly where she is coming from with their detestable attitude.

"Do things with you, Ho?" she scoffs, though, she is definitely thinking about the idea as her tone is at least nicer now. I think.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

I nod, "Yeah. I've yet to look around properly myself, but, with me around, no one should bother you. I haven't done anything to earn it, but, they just let me do what I want, otherwise."

"Of course they just let you walk around without issue... And what did you do to deserve it? Nothing. You just got lucky in a mountain because all these, holier-than-thou, pathetic, grass-walking refugees care about is magic power!"

"Uh..." I let out as she starts to ramble once again. It bothers me, but I can't find the will to talk about it. She didn't mention it, but, I can't help but think about what I did when I finally got out of the hole. How I tried to force even children to get back in there...

"Oh, look at me, I'm an aelenvari! Look at me as I damn my species to extinction because I am a stuck-up, waste of compost!" she continues to ramble before she starts to walk away.

She stops and looks at me, "Bye?"

"Are you coming or not? I have things I want to see." she demands to know as she starts to walk again. I shrug and catch up with her as we leave the trees and come out into the open. She's practically storming across the field and I need to be careful. Too much force and I just go flying...

"So... Where are you from anyway? I assume you weren't born in the fields and farms just outside of Tobaballe." I ask her as I try to get a stable walking pace going. I try to be a bit light-hearted about my home, but it might not have been the best idea...

She sneers at me, "Why does it matter? My home's gone. Somehow, I'll probably just end up back in those fields again anyway."

"It matters because what is wrong with wanting to go home?" I point out to her.

"What do you know about wanting to go home? To be home, somewhere safe." she spits and growls.

"Vadei..." I simply tell her as I gesture to everything about us. She comes to a stop and looks away at the nearest mountainside.

"You wouldn't know it." she sighs as she stares longingly at the slope of the mountain. I follow her gaze and it lands on the same mossy stone she is staring at.

"You lived in a mountain?" I ask for the sake of it.

"No, just near one. A small, modest village in a... What was, a quiet valley. Somewhere in the south, south-west of the continent. Sandwiched between Highland Humans and the Redstone Canyon which keeps the Lowland Humans like you out."

"I'm Tobaballian." I correct as I have no idea what 'Lowlander' is really supposed to mean.

"Yes, a place in the lowlands. Hreshnia way." she tells me and, once again, I have no idea what she means. Where'd she even get the idea Tobaballe is in the 'lowlands' anyway? It's a towering city that nearly goes as high as the mountains it is settled between. It's earned the nickname of Civilisation's Gate because of it!

Though, I only truly understood what that means before I went out into the wastes..

"So, what makes the Highlands the Highlands exactly?" I ask as I try to recall Tobaballe's height. I know we were taught it in school and it's a source of pride for the city, to some extent. I never really cared, personally, but someone from the higher floors probably cares a lot.

"The lowest point in the Highlands, or Jherikra, is measured at a little under nine-thousand halfmans." she answers with a roll of her eyes. Something in me deflates and I just assume that her stated measurement equivalent to metres.

"H-How high?" I ask before I shake my head at the question, she probably doesn't want to talk about geography, "I see... Being in the fields back at my home is probably a lot different to the way it was back at your home..."

"Sadly, I used to only have positive memories of farms... The ones back home..." she depressively sighs as she brings her tail around to hug it. Watching her do it, I pay attention to how careful she is with it. Her tail doesn't look injured, but, I am surprised to see how rough it still looks. She's not been able to look after it, even here?

"You care quite a bit about your tail, don't you?" I ask as she hugs it tighter to prove my point.

"Of course I do... " she starts as she frees it up for me to see, "Outside of it just being important because it is a part of my body... What we do with them is quite meaningful. If we are intimate with someone, it is considered a sign of trust to let them hold it as they and you sleep. Don't even have to be sleeping, just let them hold it, touch it... Parents will normally cover their child with their tail as they sleep and a lover will generally tighten theirs with yours. A Sleeping Tail Knot. Generally, there's a lot of hugging the tail if you trust someone."

I smile as she explains these interesting details and I start to grin knowingly as she hides her tail.

"No, you are not hugging my tail." she comments as she tries to at least give a smile herself. Faking my disappointment, I try to play into the joke so I can try and cheer her up.

"How about that ear thing?" I ask as I shiver slightly at the memory. I nearly gag too, even if I don't recall tasting her spit.

"It's a spell-tradition, something I was just taught by my mom when I was young. I can't tell you much beyond that, but, if you ever find the time. There's probably an interesting story behind it at some library somewhere. Maybe try your luck at an oxfuine village if you ever find yourself at one." she tells me.

"Hm, oxfuine." I repeat as I look at the things that make her, her. I look at her soft, fluffy ears and her tail which is even more of the same. I even spot a rather flat sheet of fur on the back of her legs. I assume it goes higher but I can't tell as she is thankfully dressed, although her clothes are falling apart.

I guess I should make a point of getting her some new clothes later.

"Okay... Enough questions now, I want to do something!" Vadei goes as she lets go of her tail and takes a quick few steps past me.

"What you got in mind?" I ask as she continues to walk and look about.

She looks ahead at the mountain on our left and she starts to smile a little, "How about a race?"

I look up at the small outcropping she is pointing up at, "Sure, game."