She sighed defeatedly at her appearance. "Too bad I ran out of ingredients..." She muttered.

Valerian took off her white bonnet and released the long, wavy blond hair she has. She pulled out a strap and placed it in the grass as she wrapped her hair up into a high bun. Using one hand to hold her hair in place, she used her free hand to grab the strap and wrapped it for her bun.

She then looked down at her ruggedly bonnet and tossed it into the stream. She never been one for bonnets.

She looked down at her reflection again. "I only have until midnight to get those ingredients..."

When she stood up and turned, she saw Matthew sitting on a rock. He seemed depressed.

"You talked to Max, didn't you?"

Matthew scoffed. "I don't know what the hell is up with him and......whoa!" He said as he looked at Valerian. "You're different! What happened to your freckles ......that.....you know....make up eighty percent of your body?"

"What? Don't you like no freckles?" Valerian held her chin up.

"Wel, uh ...what the hell did you do? Is this a witchy beauty thing you guys do?"

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Valerian shrugged. "only once or twice a year." She lied.

"That's......weird."

"Enough about me, let's talk about your issue instead."

Matthew sighed. "Why is he acting like that? And why aren't you guys helping him? Also, why is it just Shadow that's allowed to talk to him?"

She put a hand up to silence him. "He's not acting like anything....he's grieving, and he only lets Shadow talk to him because he listens, he understands him. You don't need to be mad at him or Shadow for their connection."

"It's not Shadow I'm mad at.....okay, maybe a tiny bit because he only gets to hang with him....but I'm mainly mad at Max. He's not the same!"

Valerian folded her arms. "He's the same as he always has been. Matthew, he lost a lot."

"I know he did, I can help him...but he's pushing me away!"

Valerian held a finger up. "You feel useless."

Matthew was about to argue, but no words came out. "I'm always useless, even when hunting!"

Valerian was shocked. "Well, that's very harsh to say about yourself."

"But no, this is about Max....he's always thinking about his own shit!" He folded his arms and rocked his legs. "It's not about me feeling useless...this is about Max!"

"Denial." Valerian said in a singsong voice.

Matthew's face then turned pink. "Yeah, you're right.....but it's not about me feeling useless, I am useless ......and it's true! I can't hunt like I used to, I piss everybody off, and I don't know what else, but I know ...there's a long list!"

Valerian put her hand out, telling him to stop. "Let's go for a walk....I need to find ingredients for my skin anyway."

Matthew tilted his head. "I thought you didn't like your freckles."

"I changed my mind." Valerian said simply.

Matthew nodded. "Alright, I'll help you.