Xan gaped at the enormous silver tortoise in front of him. Then he stuttered:

“Y-you’re a W-wild Spirit!”

The tortoise raised its head, turning to one side so he could use one of his big, watery eyes to look down at Xan.

“And you are disturbing our woods,” it said in its deep, rumbling voice.

“I-I’m sorry,” Xan said, holding up his hands in a submissive gesture. “I-I didn’t know these were your woods.”

“Mmmm…” the tortoise said, narrowing his eyes at Xan. It didn’t make any other moves, however, so Xan thought it best to leave the situation as fast as possible.

“Well, I’ll just be going, then. My apologies for disturbing you,” he said, giving a cursory bow. Then he turned to run off into the trees, but was suddenly stopped when the tortoise put out a large forefoot to block his way.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” the tortoise asked. It gestured with its head towards the crystal pendant still lying on the ground.

Xan looked at the pendant. He clenched his hands. Then he looked up at the tortoise and said dismissively: “It’s not mine.”

“Mmmm… not yours, you say? It is a great shame to treat another’s property so harshly. You should return it to its owner and make amends for what you’ve done,” the tortoise said. Then it pushed Xan back towards the pendant with its forefoot.

Xan stumbled from the force of the tortoise’s push. Then he straightened up and backed away from the pendant again.

“No!” he exclaimed.

The tortoise stared down at him, raising an eyebrow suspiciously.

“W-what I mean is, I can’t,” Xan ventured again.

“Then that is an even greater shame. If you cannot return it to its rightful owner, it is only right that you should care for it as your own,” the tortoise rumbled. He tried to push Xan back toward the pendant again. Xan saw the tortoise’s forefoot aiming for his back and pushed it away with his arms.

“I don’t want it!” he cried out irritably.

The tortoise blinked at Xan. Then it lowered and turned its head so it could examine the crystal pendant with one big, watery eye. After a moment, it raised his head again.

“You would refuse Mother’s blessing?” it asked Xan.

Xan stammered, flustered by the tortoise’s question. Then he grew angry again.

“Listen, here, you—you—argh, what’s your name?” he asked.

“Mother name us Jutha, so that is what we are called,” the tortoise rumbled.

“Alright, fine. Jutha – you call that a blessing?” He pointed an accusing finger at the crystal pendant. “That thing has caused me nothing but trouble since the moment I laid eyes on it!”

“Mmmm… you would blame it for your misfortunes? Then you are misguided and foolish,” Jutha said.

Xan stammered again, furious. He threw his hands up in the air.

“What would you know?” he cried.

“We know a great deal,” Jutha said, settling down on the ground and tucking his legs into his shell, “including the truth that this crystal is an inert object, whereas you a human with the ability to think and act for yourself. Therefore it is foolish to blame it for your misery.”

Xan gritted his teeth. His rage boiled over. Letting out an angry yell, he swung at the tortoise’s head. His hand sailed right through, but his eyes were so red with fury that he didn’t notice. He swung at the tortoise’s head again and again, and each time his fists failed to make contact. With a final, furious cry, he turned and punched the nearby pine tree. His hand collided against the rough bark with a sickening crunch. He collapsed onto one knee, gasping in pain.

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“Have you had enough?” Jutha asked.

Xan swore in annoyance. Then he sat on the ground with his back against the tree, nursing his broken hand. As the rage subsided, exhaustion began to overtake him. It was only then that he remembered that he hadn’t slept in over a day.

“Mmmm…” Jutha said, lowering his head so it was level with Xan, “It is good to let your emotions out instead of keeping them in, but might we suggest a better method of expression than punching trees?”

“Like what?” Xan asked defeatedly.

“Perhaps you could tell me of these misfortunes you are suffering from,” Jutha said.

Xan shook his head. He took a deep breath. Then the words began to tumble out of his mouth on their own, and this time, he let them flow. He told Jutha about everything – the shipwreck, the crystal pendant, Seeker Torban and his crewmates, escaping the island, Katar’s recent passing, and the argument he and Taika had just had. With the words came fresh tears, and at first, he tried to wipe them away, but after a while he just let them fall.

Jutha listened patiently and attentively as Xan talked. Then, when Xan finally fell silent, he slowly nodded his head.

“We see. You have gone through a great deal in such a short amount of time, and have lost many that were dear to you. It is only natural that you grieve,” he said.

Xan wiped his nose with his sleeve. Surprisingly, he felt better. The weight that had been sitting in the pit of his stomach was gone. He took a couple deep breaths as a feeling of calm began to settle over him.

“However, there are some things that you are still wrong about,” Jutha then said. Xan looked up at the silver tortoise wearily, too exhausted to argue. Jutha continued:

“Despite what you may think, you are not truly alone. The eyes of destiny have looked upon you favorably, for in your escape you were given new companions to journey with.”

“But…Taika doesn’t want anything to do with me,” Xan sighed.

“Mmmm… Perhaps for now. But, given enough time to grieve and to heal, she may yet change her mind. As may you,” Jutha said.

“I… I don’t understand,” Xan said.

“You said that you no longer want to carry Mother’s blessing,” Jutha gestured to the crystal pendant, “because it has been the source of all of your woes. And after what you have told us, we can understand that line of thinking. But the truth is that it has done nothing that you haven’t bid it to. Regardless of the power it holds, a Sanguine crystal can do nothing without a wielder, and therefore you cannot blame it for your misfortunes.”

“So, you’re saying that everything is my fault?” Xan asked.

“We are saying that sometimes bad things just happen, and no one is to blame. You must learn to recognize that, or you will never be able to truly heal,” Jutha said.

Xan sat in silence for a long while, thinking over Jutha’s words. Then he sniffed, wiping his nose on his sleeve again.

“It still hurts,” he said.

“Aye, and it will for a while yet. But just like all things, that too shall pass in time. So…” Jutha lowered his head to meet Xan’s gaze, “what will you do now, little one?”

Xan looked off through the trees, in the direction that he assumed led back to the Verdan village.

“I suppose I should head back,” he said.

“Good,” Jutha said. He extended his legs out of his shell and stood up. “Will you be taking Mother’s blessing with you, then?”

Xan looked down at the pendant. The gold around the Spirit Sang had been bent slightly by the impact with the tree, leaving the purple crystal looking like it was ready to fall out of its setting. In spite of that, it continued to sit there, sparkling in the afternoon light.

“I don’t think I can,” Xan said after a moment.

“Mmmm… then perhaps we can hold onto it for you,” Jutha offered.

Xan nodded wordlessly. So Jutha bent his head down to the ground. He opened his maw and extended his tongue, scooping up the pendant. Then he retracted his tongue and snapped his jaws shut, seeming to swallow it whole.

“It will be here, should you ever decide to carry it again. You need simply return to these woods and call out our name,” Jutha said.

“Thank you, Jutha,” Xan said. Jutha simply closed his eyes and bowed his head in return.

A sudden rustling caught their attention, and both turned to see a small, silver creature stalking its way between the trees. When it caught sight of Xan, it blinked over and pounced excitedly onto his chest.

“Shadow!” Xan cried out in surprise. The silver weasel squeaked ecstatically. She blinked away, hopped about for a moment in sheer joy, then blinked back onto his shoulders. She purred as she rubbed her head against his.

“How’d you find me?” Xan laughed. He picked Shadow up off of his shoulders and cradled her in his arms. Shadow continued to purr loudly while he petted her.

“Your timing is impeccable. I was just about to—” he said, before he looked up to see that Jutha had disappeared. He quickly scanned the trees around him, but the giant silver tortoise was nowhere to be seen. Somehow, he had simply vanished.

Xan stood up. He placed Shadow on his shoulder and said, “Let’s head back.”

Shadow began to dig her claws into his shoulder. Anticipating what she was about to do, he interrupted her by gently pulling her paws up off of his coat.

“Not this time girl,” he said. “I’m going to walk back. There’s some things I need to think about.”