I wasn't sure if he'd just welcomed me back onboard, but I sure felt like he had. So instead of going on about the same subject, I took advantage of the long silence that followed, and closed my eyes to listen to the sea.

I had spent my first years at a seashore, but coming to it again as a druid felt like I was about to uncover some old secret I had always wanted to know as a child. There was a calm humm, a melody coming from somewhere far, far away, barely carried to me by the waves. And even though the ship seemed to be heading towards the sound, it never got any closer, always remaining distant, always coming from somewhere across the vast sea and never truly being present where you are.

I found it to be quite soothing, but there was also something familiar about it, as if I had heard it before...but then Valen interrupted my focus.

"One of your 'meditational exercises'?"

I opened my eyes and looked at him.

"Something like that, yes. Why?"

"Is that how you're so calm?"

"Um...I'm not sure I understand...", I said in a truthfully confused tone.

"Even if you don't particularly care about the danger you're in while I'm around, I've been thinking...how come you trust me so easily?"

"I...what?", I asked, feeling even more confused. Valen aimed his eyes at the water again.

"Well, after what happened at the inn in Steamwheedle Port, Thoraim almost shot me when he broke into our room that night. I had five days to explain everything to him and let him think it over, while waiting for you to recover, and I'm still not sure if I really have his trust."

He stopped for a moment, then looked at me again.

"You on the other hand don't really seem to have a problem believing me after only twenty hours since you heard my story. To top it off, you're the one I damn nearly killed back there, something you can't say about our dwarven friend."

His question came like a blow from behind while you're expecting to see one in front of you. It was almost frightening to realize how I had completely ignored the chance that he might've been lying about many things in his story, just to buy him some more time for making an escape, or possibly another attempt at whatever his objective was.

"Don't get me wrong, though. I'm not trying to make you doubt me. I appreciate your trust very much. This is just the way that people of my trade are taught to think. Always predicting other people's thoughts by asking ourselves why they reacted to something the way they did", he hurried to add after seeing my reaction.

Thinking closer, I did have my reasons. I had felt the warlock's shadowy power in the room that night. And the fact that he had told me his story without leaving anything out, like he had back in Moonglade, was a pretty good sign that he had been honest about it the second time.

Even so, I had to admit that I hadn't considered other possibilities as seriously as I perhaps should've. In the end, I didn't really have an answer for him. I didn't really know why. So I remained silent for a little while, to show him that.

"Maybe it's because I understand you a little better. Because I was there. I know that the attack on Auberine was true. And this curse that was laid on you...it sounds just like something that a sadistic master of a pack of demons would do."

"How would you know what someone like him finds entertaining?", he asked with a slight bit of surprise in his voice.

"I've read a lot of books in my life. Of course, most of them were about druids and such, but there were also many books on Azeroth's history, complete with observations on the enemies the world has faced over the centuries."

He didn't seem to have anything to say after that, so I decided to close my eyes and have another go at listening the sea.

It didn't take him too many minutes to interrupt me again.

"So...what exactly is it that you do when you...uh...meditate?"

"I listen."

"To what? The waves?"

"Sort of...but no, not really. Why?"

"Well...this might seem a bit ridicculous, but if you're going to come with us, I'll have to try anything I can to hold back the curse, in case it kicks in again. So I thought...maybe that would help me."

Again he had managed to surprise me speechless.

"I mean, your druid tricks seem to have done wonders for your mind and spirit since Auberdine."

I had to admit, he was correct again. For all I knew, I might've been as tormented as him, had it not been for all the years I spent in peaceful Ashenvale, learning the ways of nature. If I had even survived without the old druid's help, that is.

Still, the thought of teaching him to listen had me chuckle a bit. For someone with his nature to learn it...

"I know it probably sounds like a joke to you...but I did teach you how to use a sword and you did fine, remember?"

"Alright", I finally approved. He probably wouldn't grasp it anyway, so I figured it wouldn't hurt to let him have a go. Besides, there wasn't really anything that special to it.

"It's quite simple, really. All you need to do is focus."

"Um...okay", he said quite doubtfully, then closed his eyes. "What am I listening for, anyway?"

"That's where it gets a bit complicated. What you need to understand, is that every living thing and piece of nature has a sound to them. Not the one that you can hear with your ears, but one that your mind can hear."

"So basically...we're talking about being able to sense life?"

"You could say that, I suppose. But there's more to it. Things that you'll have to find out for yourself."

I guess I shouldn't have been quite so surprised at his understanding. After all, unlike him, I had been only a child when I was taught this.

A few minutes passed in silence.

"Are you sure there isn't something else I should know to succeed?", he asked soon enough.

"I know it gets a bit frustrating at first."

"Not really. I just have this feeling that you're playing a joke on me."

I couldn't help laughing for a bit.

"What, you don't trust me now?"

He didn't answer.

"It took me weeks to master it, and that was with a bit of luck on something. For all I know, not everyone can do it at all."

"That figures", he said and opened his eyes again. "After all, not everyone who stopped to think for a while at some point is suddenly going to awaken their inner druid, eh?"

I laughed again. His simple logic made my lesson sound like a bit more of a joke than I'd anticipated.

For a moment, he looked like he wanted to give me a pat on the shoulder, or some other physical gesture of gratitude, but he held it back a bit awkwardly and kept to words.

"Thanks anyway. Maybe it'll come in handy someday", he said. "I think I'll go see if they've got anything to eat on this boat", he continued and walked off.

That's when I knew he had just welcomed me back.