The giant boulder rolled off Vim’s shoulder… and promptly fell down the cliff below, crashing loudly as it hit other boulders and rocks all along the way.

Vim leaned over the ledge, and I was half tempted to reach out and grab him… but knew there was no need. Not only would Vim likely not fall, he probably wouldn’t get hurt even if he did.

I stayed back, although I kind of wanted to see what I was hearing too. But the cliff was so big and high that I couldn’t bring myself to actually step up to it. The ground here was hard, too hard, but there was this odd feeling of… well…

Looseness. My ears kept hearing things shift, and rocks scrape against one another. It made me feel as if the whole ground beneath me could open up and swallow me without warning. I didn’t like it. At all. I missed grass, and compacted soil. It wasn’t right for the ground beneath my feet to sound as if it could shift and gobble me up without warning.

“Hm,” Vim nodded, pleased with the results as the sound of the large boulder came to a stop. There were still plenty of sounds of other rocks, the smaller ones dislodged and bothered by the larger one, but the roaring and banging of the big one was over.

“Can I ask why you toss them over? And not just… put them somewhere else? Like right there, for instance?” I asked him with a point nearby. To the side of one of the large cliffs behind us. There were already dozens of similarly large boulders along it. He could have placed it, or the half dozen other ones he’d tossed over the ledge, next to them and no one would have ever noticed. It would have not blocked any paths either, so…

“Hm… for fun maybe?” Vim then said.

For… fun…?

Frowning at him as he stepped over to me, I reached up to brush off some of the dust and rubble off his back and shoulder. The rocks hadn’t looked filthy at first glance, but they sure did leave a bunch of traces whenever he carried one.

“Fun? Really?” I asked. Was it fun to throw rocks off a cliff?

“Well, no… Rather it’s on purpose. There are always some rocks whenever I visit. If I piled them up like that every time, anyone sailing past along the shore will notice. Too many piled up in a similar fashion stands out, so got to make it look like a natural rock fall when I can,” he explained.

Oh… right…

As I brushed him off, I glanced past him to the ocean just past the edge of the cliff. The world became an odd dark blue, with white waves spanning endlessly. Below the edge of the cliff, was actually still quite a bit of land… but thanks to how high up we were on this cliff, and the angle, all I could see was ocean.

Yes. I could understand what he meant. There were no ships out there now, but it was obvious there would be. We had just been to a port city only a few days ago, so there was no doubt that ships sailed these waters.

Finishing with Vim’s dust, I turned and glanced upward behind us. To the rocky cliffs and gorges that the Dye Houses were hidden within.

“What about the steam?” I asked. I couldn’t see any hint of any of it, but I knew it had to be visible at least to a point. The steam was thick, and white. It looked like a dense cloud sometimes.

“It dissipates enough, thanks to the ocean breeze. They’ve never had any problems with that before,” Vim said.

“Then… what about the human workers? If they’re trying to hide, why go through such lengths if they’re letting humans come and go?” I asked further.

He chuckled at me and patted me on the back, as to guide me back towards the path. To head back to the houses.

“The humans who work here are mostly descendants from others who worked here in the past. And most live solitarily lives too; they’re not the type to go telling anyone because they don’t want anyone to know either. And even if they did… well… Mordo is here,” he said.

“Mordo? That old man?” I asked.

He laughed. “Yes. That old fossil. Don’t let him fool you, he’s dangerous,” he said.

Although hard to believe… I wasn’t going to doubt Vim. Even if it was ridiculous.

That old man was tiny. Smaller than me. Thinner. Feeble looking. He looked so decrepit that I had almost thought he was a corpse before he had greeted me. Even his skin looked old and dry, like leather.

And the oddest part of him was he just… sat in his room. Never leaving or moving from where he sat.

“What’s a fossil?” I asked after a moment.

“Hm… the remnants of something long dead. A relic that time forgot. Usually the term refers to bones, or the calcified or petrified remnants they leave behind. They’re things usually from eras long past. I basically called him something that looked, and is, so ancient that he should be in a museum,” Vim explained.

I liked how he was starting to describe his words to me. He didn’t even seem to hesitate anymore. I wonder if he even noticed that he’s been getting a little more forthcoming with me.

It made me happy. It meant in some little way… I was finding my way into his heart.

“And… what’s a museum?” I asked for another.

Vim frowned, and then stopped walking.

I too stopped, and wondered if I had just taken it too far. Was that one of the words he didn’t want even me to know?

He sighed as he looked at me, and then crossed his arms. When he did, I noticed a spot on his sleeve I had missed. I stepped towards him to brush the rubble off.

Vim didn’t stop me, and even patiently waited until I was done before he spoke.

“Other than that Renn, there’s something we should probably talk about before we go back,” he said.

“Hm?” I perked up and nodded.

“Have you told Riz what happened in Lumen?” he asked.

Frowning I shook my head. “She’s not really asked. And… to be honest Vim, I really don’t want to talk about that… so I’d not bring it up if I can avoid it,” I told him honestly.

“Figured. Well… don’t. Not until I talk to her about it, okay?” he asked me.

I nodded. “Sure… can I ask why?”

“Well… maybe. Let me see how it goes first,” he said, and then he turned and returned to walking.

Joining him, I wondered what was wrong. He seemed worried, which for him was a little concerning.

“Should I worry?” I asked him.

“No. Not in that sense. It’s just… a painful matter. Other than that, how are you faring with the smells?” Vim asked.

I smirked at him and nodded. “They’re odd, Vim, but they’re not anywhere near as bad as you seem to think they are,” I said.

He sighed. “I know,” he said.

Oh…? That had been a rather somber tone from him. So he knew…? Was there something else at play then?

He helped out in other ways, but he didn’t seem willing to help the camels in any of the buildings related to the snails. Neither the pool habitats, or the steam and boiling building where they crushed and mixed the snails… though right now that one wasn’t really being used. We had arrived in-between batches, it seemed.

It was interesting he’d help with the dye process of the other methods… just not anything that used the snails.

“Why do snails make ink, Vim?” I asked him as we went to walking back towards the dye houses.

“Some animals just… do. Either with their blood, or mucus in the snail’s case. In a certain sense plant based inks or paints are the same. It’s the ones made from rocks or gems that are bizarre, in my opinion,” Vim said.

“Rocks…” I’d not seen those yet. I wonder which building housed those colors. I’d only seen the snails and a few of the plant based ones so far.

“You and Riz getting along?” Vim asked as we passed by a rather large boulder. One nearly twice the size of the ones that Vim had just carried moments ago.

“Yes? She reminds me of Lellip. Though oddly, a little less…” I hesitated as I wondered how to properly say it without making Vim think me odd.

“Less…?” Vim slowed a little to look at me.

I grumbled and nodded, unable to figure out how to properly say it. “Girly? Lellip, even though her job was… more manly, was more feminine. She liked to make designs, and sewed cute things into her clothes. Yet Riz, even though surrounded by beautiful colors, doesn’t really seem willing or wanting to let it distinguish her. When we met her she was wearing a bright shirt, so I had expected her to be a little more…” I struggled to continue, since I wasn’t even sure what I was saying.

It wasn’t like I wasn’t happy to spend time with her. Nor was it as if Riz didn’t act like a girl her age, or something. She and I have actually had several interesting conversations, and I had enjoyed dinner with her and her mother last night. I felt bad to, even if not intentionally, speak bad about her.

Vim smiled at me as he watched me struggle. “Flamboyant. You expected her to be dazzling, and are disappointed to find she’s just like any other woman her age,” he said for me.

“I regret saying it. It’s horrible of me. There’s nothing wrong with her, I just…” I took a deep breath and wished for Vim to chastise me for saying, let alone thinking, such a thing.

“Mhm. A result of our travels. You’ve continuously been meeting the odd or unique, and now that you’re starting to meet the more normal ones it’s bothering you. Do you not remember how normal most in Lumen were?” he asked.

“I do. And yes, I get it. I don’t even know what I’m complaining about… Riz and her family are wonderful people. I shouldn’t even be thinking what I’m thinking,” I said to him honestly.

Vim nodded, seemingly agreeing with me. Yet… he said nothing more.

“Vim… why would I think less of her? Just because she’s normal?” I asked him, in an effort to understand.

“Well… do you honestly think less of her for it?” he asked back.

Opening my mouth to say no, I realized that’d be a tiny lie. “Slightly,” I admitted.

Vim smirked at me, in a way that made me flinch. He found this amusing. Better than being angry, I guess, but honestly I’d have preferred his anger instead.

It made me angry at myself, for crying out loud.

“You’ll find Renn, most who we meet are simple. They’re born. They live. They die. Not everyone has a grandiose story, or purpose. I’d think by now, being as old as you are, you’d not only understand this… but actually desire it. Do you really want everyone to have terrible pasts or turmoil filled lives? I’d rather everyone be like Riz and her family, not like us… or those like Merit or Tosh,” Vim said.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Ah…

I blinked a few times as I not only understood what he was saying… but realized the truth of it.

He was right.

Like always.

“That’s true, Vim,” I agreed.

He nodded in a way that told me it had been obvious, and I had just not seen it.

“I guess I just expected weirdness, or the unique. This place is, I admit, but the people living here don’t match it. But if I think about it, Herra’s family hadn’t been any better,” I said as I thought of them too.

“Hm. Why do you desire the unique, Renn? The unique usually bring chaos. Like Lumen,” he said gently.

“I’m not sure…” I said honestly.

“Doesn’t explain your attraction to me, Renn. I’m rather boring, aren’t I?” he asked.

Smiling at him I nodded. “You are! But… in a good way,” I said.

He nodded as if he somehow understood. Which I hoped he did, since I really didn’t.

“Though… I guess I’m not very unique either, am I?” I said as we passed an odd looking rock. It was flat and smooth, it looked like a perfect place to sit and rest. Maybe that was why it was a little bit away from the other rocks, more alongside the path than not.

“In my experience the more unique one is, the crueler fate is to them,” Vim said.

“Would explain our people’s suffering, at least,” I said softly.

Vim nodded as we rounded a small bend. The ravine we were walking through was actually a little straight, but the many large rocks littering the path made it curve and bend.

“Does this place flood?” I asked as I noted the stain marks on the rocks we passed.

“It’s happened, yes. The driest places flood the worst,” he said.

Huh… I wonder what they did with all their paints and dyes, and the things that made them, when it did. The buildings were not only leveled with the ground, several had dusty dirt floors, not wooden or stone ones.

As we drew closer to the camel’s residence, I noted the smell in the air. It was unmistakable now. “I’ve been told the smell bothers you,” I said as I tried to figure out why it bothered him so much. It did smell, but it honestly wasn’t that bad. The only real bad part of it was how it overpowered the smell of everything else, once you noticed it. It wasn’t so strong it was blatant, but when you focused you realized the smell was just… a tad stronger than anything else. Not just the other dyes and paints, but even the animals and dusty rocks all around us. Even the smell of the sea was somehow pushed aside by it, oddly… especially since the smell had a faint tinge of the sea within itself.

“It does,” Vim said honestly.

“Is it really that bad to you? I admit it’s… odd, and overbearing, but it’s not that bad. I think that stew you made a little bit ago was way worse,” I said.

“Something like that,” Vim said, and I noted his absentminded response.

Studying him as I walked alongside him, I realized he was indeed lost in thought. I wonder when it had begun. Was he still thinking about what I had said earlier? Or maybe before? Something else? Had he seen something?

I looked around for a possible source of his focus, but other than rocks and the brownish plants and trees…

Nothing seemed too out of the ordinary. For a place that looked as hot as it felt, it was honestly a little plain.

Actually it wasn’t too hot here. Likely thanks to the ocean. There was a gentle breeze, which seemed endless thanks to the ravines and caverns we were in. It flowed in from the sea, and seemed to make it continuous and steady. At night it was a little noisy too, whistling and blowing between the rocks and cracks.

Remembering the wailing of the wind at night, I noted that I had slept in the only empty room in the main building. Alone.

“Did you sleep in one of the other buildings Vim?” I asked as I thought about it. After a point I had stopped seeing him and hearing his voice.

“Hm…” he mumbled an answer and shook his head.

No…? So he hadn’t slept then. I wonder if this is one of the places that he didn’t sleep at.

It was interesting to find that there were places he felt comfortable enough at to sleep, while others he didn’t.

“How long will we be here?” I asked. It’s only been a single day, but based off the way he and the others have been talking it might be some time.

“The workers are scheduled to return in the next month. I plan to stick around until a few of them arrive,” he said as he glanced at me.

Ah. I had his attention again. I wonder what he had been thinking about.

“Is it okay to stay so long? You were worried we were off schedule right?” I asked.

“We’ll be fine. After here the only other member in this area is Landi. There are a few other members, but I only visit them when they request me to do so. As long as we’re heading back north before the summer ends all will be well,” he said.

Oh…? There were that few members down south?

I thought of the map I’d seen back at the Cathedral. I remembered a few other places and names, some with double digit numbers, near here. Near Secca.

Maybe they were like Trek, who just… didn’t need or want people showing up without being invited first.

“Landi? Is that her name?” I asked as I realized he had told me her name.

“Hm,” he nodded. At first I thought he was lost in this mind again, but he glanced at me and smiled. “Her true name is actually really long, and in another language. Landi is the name of the person who placed the crown upon her head,” he explained.

“Oh…? So she’s like the Clothed Woman then?” I asked.

“Yes and no. Look at that,” Vim paused, and pointed in front of us.

I too went still as we went to watching a massive… spider? Beetle? Walk across the path in front of us.

“What is that?” I asked him.

“A scorpion. And a rather big one, too. Usually they’re about half that size. That thing’s lived a long time,” Vim said, impressed with it.

It was huge. The thing was likely as big as my head, but it was hard to tell its real size. It seemed to have some kind of stinger curled upward onto its back.

The thing scuttled away, not too quickly but fast enough that it made me weary of it. It disappeared into a crevice, and for a few moments I heard its tiny little feet as it clattered…

“It can climb walls?” I asked as the thing emerged again, walking up the cliff wall.

“Hm. Bothered by it? We’ve seen bugs before, you’ve never seemed weary of them,” Vim asked.

“Well… I know those bugs. I’ve never seen that thing before. Is that a stinger?” I asked.

“It is. Venomous too… some people are also allergic to them, so try not to get stung by one. They’re actually all over the place, not just deserts… but your home is often covered in snow, which would explain why you’ve never seen one before,” Vim said.

I huffed at him. “Are there… any other things here I should keep an eye out for?” I asked as I looked around.

“Certain snakes. Other spiders. A few other insects, and animals… I’ll point them out as we see them. Honestly your lands are the same, just different species and types. Actually… I’d almost say your lands are more dangerous, in a way. You have large predators. Real ones. The deserts down here really don’t,” he said as he returned to walking.

“They don’t?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Not really.”

“What are camels, by the way?” I asked, since it was a good time to do so.

He smirked. “Large beasts. They’re… unique. Imagine them as sturdier elks or… like a moose maybe?” Vim seemed to lose confidence in his explanation as he spoke.

He frowned after a moment, and I realized he was still thinking of a better way to describe them to me.

“Sturdy elks,” I said and nodded, to let him know that was enough for me.

“Well… yes and no. They have no horns. Actually, they have llamas here. Did you see them?” Vim asked.

I nodded quickly. Riz had me help her feed the animals this morning. Some of them had been things I’d never seen before either. “Oh! So they’re like that?” I asked. That made a lot of sense then. So they were odd deer looking things.

“Well… kind of. Camels are bigger. They’re considered good workhorses. But they’re more closely related to the llamas than not…” Vim sighed as he spoke and then shook his head. “You need an education,” he said.

It was my turn to frown. “Am I that dumb?”

Vim paused and glanced at me. I stopped too, and blinked at him.

“I meant I was doing a disservice to you. You’re smart enough that you’d benefit greatly from an actual education. You’d put it to wonderful use. I was simply regretting the state the world is in Renn, one where people don’t really get to enjoy such a luxury. Not that you’re not intelligent. You’re far from dumb,” he said to me.

I smiled at him, and not just because it was adorable how quickly he had come to my defense… from himself. It felt silly, but good, to receive a compliment from him in such a way. “Can’t you give me it?” I asked him.

Vim shifted and frowned. “I suppose…” he admitted.

My smile grew into a mighty one. “Really?”

Drawing closer to him, Vim actually leaned back a little… but he didn’t step away. “Well…”

“Well what? Don’t pretend you can’t teach me Vim. Not when half the places you take me to are built by your own hands, and you’re the one who taught them how to do it all,” I said with a gesture down the path. Some white smoke was visible, past some large rocks and cliffs. We were near the houses.

He took in a sharp breath, likely to argue or say something… but instead he said nothing and only made an odd noise as the deep breath he had just taken slowly leaked out.

Vim held my gaze. His eyes dug into me, making me want to squirm. I felt my tail and ears slowly become rigged, and the hairs upon them go stiff. My own focus became stronger, as I held his gaze… and waited.

And waited some more.

Then he nodded.

Grinning up at him, I nodded back. “Good. We’ll alternate it. One day we’ll train, the other you can spend time teaching me,” I said as I decided.

Him teaching me on the days we couldn’t train, such as here where it’d get us or rather me in trouble, would be better… but I knew he’d not teach me in such a way for the same reason he’d not train me. If he didn’t want people seeing us train, or me being taught to wield weapons, then there was no way he’d be willing to teach me anything secretive with them in earshot either. If anything, Vim would likely see such a thing as an even bigger danger…

“A proper education requires books, and tools, Renn…” Vim tried to come up with an excuse. I enjoyed the way his eyes squinted and his head tilted ever so slightly.

He was struggling. Mentally. Likely stressing over what we were talking about.

“Books? Really?” I asked him, dared him to change his stance now.

“Well…”

Looking away from him, I nodded as I returned to walking. “You can teach me what you can. Honestly Vim… stop acting so bothered over it. You’re always telling me stories and teaching me stuff, what’s the difference?” I asked without looking back at him.

“Renn…” Vim groaned at me, and I couldn’t help but giggle at his tone. He sounded absolutely distressed!

“Come on! I’m supposed to help Riz with the green dyes today,” I ushered him, turning just enough to catch a glimpse at his face.

Vim was scratching the back of his head, and looked defeated. He was staring down before him… nearly at the same angle he had been earlier, when I had been leaning up towards him. He was likely staring at the very spot he had been earlier, where I had been.

Maybe my forceful actions had actually bothered him. It looked like they did.

Although it was a little rude of me, I couldn’t help but feel excited.

It was bothering him… but he was also willing to indulge me.

He had mentioned once, that he had… several others of him inside, always arguing. Over me.

One wanted to deny me. Not just my love, but my very presence.

The other loved me, and wanted to indulge me completely.

Well…

If he wasn’t able to let the one inside that loved me win, then I just needed to… give it a helping hand, right?

A little assistance. A little help. That’s all.

Surely it wasn’t so wrong to do that, was it? Surely he’d forgive me for it, right?

Vim finally sighed and nodded, to himself. He stepped forward as to join me back onto the path. I turned away before he looked back up at me, but I knew he had seen me staring at him.

“You’re more bothered by this than teaching me how to swing a sword,” I teased him.

“The pen is mightier than the sword Renn, I’ve told you that,” Vim said from behind me.

Frowning at his odd statement, I wondered why he seemed to believe that so strongly.

I mean… I guess I understood it. Knowledge was dangerous. It was powerful. And that was what it meant, of course… but…

Glancing down to my hand, I imagined the sword that I always swung. It wasn’t here or on my waist. It was with the rest of our packs at the house. Yet I could envision it clearly. Its gleam. Its dullness. Its weight.

I could even feel the strange ring that vibrated down it, when it collided with Vim’s sword.

I could feel it, even though I hadn’t held it in several days. Not since after we left that port town, where we saw that pile of dead bodies.

And most importantly… I could feel…

Its deadliness.

With it I could kill. I was growing comfortable with that thing in my hand. I was growing accustomed to it. I was learning, and becoming familiar, with what it was capable of.

I knew now what a sword could do. I knew how I could use it to kill people. Many people. One after another.

And that was in my hands. Not even his.

I was far from a great warrior. Not even a shadow of what Vim was.

His little phrase made sense in a normal way… Like if one compared it to me or another common person. But when it came to Vim himself…

Glancing behind me, Vim tilted his head at me worriedly. Was he worried I was going to wring something else out of him?

Right now he was safe. Since I couldn’t get his statement out of my head.

If he had a pen, he’d be dangerous. Yet if he had a sword… well…

“Could you conquer a nation with a pen, Vim?” I asked him.

“I’ve done it before,” he stated.

Of course he has.

“Will you teach me how to do that too?” I asked.

He took another sharp breath and flinched. “That’s what I’m afraid of,” he groaned.