The next morning came and went with the same motions as the one before it. They woke up, got dressed, and met in the hallway under an exhausted guard's guidance and, well, guard. Then they went down to the cantina to eat with the few that were still there, between the Initiates all being taken off to do their work and the workmen and guards changing their shifts to do the same. After, he let Kipo spar with a couple more Sangheili before they left for the village, since she enjoyed it so much.

And to be fair, it was rather humorous…

"How far away is it?"

"About half an hour's walk through the forest. We're taking the path that leads inland because, though more circuitous, it is less damaged after the wave that swept through the forest." He answered as they walked the wide, paved road from Keep to village. R'Tas watched some of the laborers the debris brought on by the wave ran as they passed some of them and added, under his breath, "I wish that you had seen it before the wave came, though…."

"Was it nice?"

"Very." He nodded, "Many of the trees bear nuts and fruits, but even those standing aren't yielding much after the wave."

It was a nice path, well-made from light colored stone and repaired already after the wave came through, even if the forest itself was still covered in fallen limbs and trees. The forest had come out mostly intact nearer to the Keep, thanks to the mountain, and even further out the trees themselves had broken the wave well enough. Still, debris had been thrown further than the waters had gone, and the water had washed out enough to cause trees to fall.

Still, the work was going well, and he could already see much of the forest returning in force.

"It's quiet." Kipo complained after a while, "Where are all the animals? Birds?"

"First of all, I believe that birds are animals." He joked, smiling when the smaller creature rounded on him with raised brows, which he took to mean she was surprised, "And I believe most of them fled ahead of the wave, or perished. It will likely return to normal in the coming weeks, as the workmen clear from the woods and they recover."

"Fair…" She murmured dejectedly as they climbed one of the greater foothills that stretched around the mountain the Keep had been built into, the like of which stretched out from it along the coast and towards the other, greater mountains further into the continent. Quietly, she asked, "How much longer? We've been walkin' for almost an hour."

"Actually," he smiled, "we are in sight of it."

At the top of the hill, they were greeted to a grand view of the rest of the coastline, and a gentle harbor that was half natural, made by a long, curving peninsula capped by rolling, slight hills and forests. A lighthouse rose up from the greatest of the wooded hills, towering high and surrounded by scattered, small homes littered throughout the woody stretch of land. Piers stretched out from the inside of the land, swamped by a variety of narrow-keeled ships.

Further along the landmass, wood and steel had been used to expand the natural bay further out and around, like a dam. More docks spanned its interior, just as swamped by ships as the ones adjoined to the land had been. Tall, violet spires shot into the air all along both the natural land and the unnatural, created structure. The wave had damaged all of it, of course, and even from here the work to repair it was clear.

But the spires had done their job, it was evident, and protected the barrier, village and the harbor alike behind powerful shields.

The village itself was moderately large, surrounded by fields that were themselves ringed by lines of trees that marked out pathways between them. Scattered along the coast itself were homes, artisan shops, smithies and all else that made a settlement. And all of them clutched along the edge of the coast like it was a life raft, and the lot of it was at sea. Smoke rose over dark wood and narrow paths, as well as wider avenues, and he smiled at the familiarity of it.

"Wow…" The alien murmured, smiling widely and looking at it all, "It's so big!"

"Welcome, Kipo." He rumbled, "To Vadum Village."

She almost, almost, took off away from him to head down the hill and into the village. From afar, even just the hundred or so yards from the hilltop to the edge of the village, the settlement was quiet and idyllic. The very picture of peace, quiet, and contented living out in the silence of the country. But as one neared the village itself, the sounds began to reach them. Metal beating metal, hundreds of voices talking, tools working their trade, all the sounds of life that he had grown with.

As they passed into the village, Kipo's eyes snapped in every direction, searching out the source of the loudest sounds as they passed by building after building.

"So the village name and Keep name are the same?"

"In a manner." He nodded explaining quietly, "Strictly speaking, the village's proper name is Pillar of Light, for the great lighthouse. That is the one which you would see on most maps and the like. But commonly, it is called by the Keep to which it owes its blood and allegiance, like many such villages who are so closely tied with Keeps."

"Okay!" The girl nodded, humming an odd melody for a moment before asking her next question, "What's a 'Prophet'?"

"You recall the story of the Hierarchs and their gifts to the Sangheili people? Of their elevation into the stars, and the formation of the Covenant?" Kipo nodded, turning to look up at him curiously, "The Hierarchs are the highest of the Prophets, which are the people with whom the great Covenant was first accorded."

"But what do they do?"

"They speak for the gods, and create the doctrines which guide us on the path." The answer was simple, rote and familiar, from almost two decades of training. "The Council of the Covenant offers them all the information, and the Prophets guide us to the right answers. Such is the way of the Covenant."

"Is the Covenant really big…?"

"It is." He nodded, grateful that those they passed were far too busy with their own worlds to hear their conversation. "This is but one of hundreds of worlds, spanning near as many stars, which form the Covenant's great empire."

"Oooh, like Father's creators." His eyes snapped to her as soon as he had a moment to consider what she'd said and she smiled, "Father told me a bit about 'em, now and again. They had a big ole' empire, too! Is the Covenant as big as that?"

"I… Do not believe so, no." He murmured as they reached the wide, open central market that dominated the village.

The market was wide and open, thronged by Sangheili merchants from the surrounding Keeps and villages and their aides. Fine cloth and armor from the inner continent swamped several of the stalls, guarded by a handful of black-armored Sangheili guards that watched over the merchant, himself swaddled in fine cloth. Elsewhere were fish merchants, most of them local and plying the wares of their work in the open air near farmers and hunters that did much the same with their own. Those lacked the heavily armed guards of the foreign merchants, but then, they also lacked the expensive wares that would warrant them.

And, on seeing them, Kipo finally lost her cool and shot off to explore.

Sighing, he set off after her as fast as he dared.

Luckily, she was easy to spot, ever so slightly smaller than most of the Sangheili but larger than the rare Jackals or less rare Grunts that were working under their master's orders. She flitted quickly from stall to stall, looking at food with wide and typically hungry eyes, and then at weapons and tools with excited and curious ones. The aliens serving at the stalls watched her with narrow, confused stares or, in the cases of those who had already gone to the Keep and heard word of her, awe.

None opposed her, though, which was for the best. She'd have likely put them through a stall in her excitement if they had tried…

He finally caught up to her at a smaller thing that he supposed was meant to be a stall, set back and away from the rest of the market grounds. It was built off of a small alleyway that wound between a couple smaller buildings, one of them a woodshop and the other a metal-working foundry. Which explained the various trinkets the Unggoy manning it was selling, made up of admittedly fairly well shaped and designed wood and metal decorations and accessories. Rings, necklaces, armbands- the excited little cretin had a wide variety of items made mostly of the wood and metal that he had likely salvaged from the shops.

The stall itself was just as salvaged looking, made of slats and slabs of mismatched wood and metal stacked and nailed awkwardly together. At the back was a door and a wall made the same way, hanging off of the wall between the two buildings awkwardly. Tubes ran out from under it, hooked up to several spare tanks like the one that the alien was wearing. Methane then, he supposed, probably being refilled from a larger tank in the alleyway.

None of which could possibly be safe...

"Hello!" The Grunt bounced eagerly, the action shaking the counter in front of it. "Name Yapyap the Trinket Maker!"

"And what are you doing here?"

"Yapyap make trinkets!" The Grunt laughed, cocking its deranged little head confusedly, "You no listen good? Need Yapyap be louder?"

"No, tat won't be-"

"YAPYAP MAKE TRINKETS FOR YOU!" The Unggoy yelled suddenly, cupping his little hands in front of his mouth like that would make it louder through his methane mask. He frowned and growled, and the Grunt flinched, looking to Kipo and chuckling, "Your friend make angry noises. Why he do that? He still no hear me?"

"You insufferable little-"

"He's just tired after walking down here." Kipo waved the Grunt off, turning and smile on him and waiting until he rolled his eyes tiredly and waved for her to go on. Turning back to the Grunt she waved a hand at all the odd little knick knacks and ornaments he'd laid out and asked, "You made all these?"

"Yep yep!" The Grunt bounced, "Yapyap make pretty trinkets! Use trash from where he work at. It not Yapyap's, but it get thrown away anyway, so who care?"

"Theft is still theft." R'Tas rumbled warningly, pointing at the building that the Grunt had erected and adding with a growl, "And who permitted you to build this? Surely not the Elder. Or those who own these buildings either."

"W-Well…" The Grunt rubbed the back of his neck anxiously for a moment and then shrugged, "No. But space there, so why it matter if Yapyap use it? No one else do. So Yapyap do too."

"It matters because you were not permitted to-"

"R'Tas, leave him alone, please. He's not hurtin' anybody." He sighed at the raised eyebrows he met when he rounded on her and, yet again, waved for her to go on about her business. He could just notify a guard later and allow it to be dealt with by someone else… Smiling brightly, the pink creature turned back to the Grunt and asked, "What do you want for these, then? They're all so pretty I just have to have one."

"Kipo, that could be troublesome…" If she were to wear the cretin's creations, that would only embolden him, after all. And emboldening a Grunt that was breaking every rule possible was a poor idea, indeed. Turning, he waved a hand at a Sangheili trinket maker across the market and suggested, "If you wish for an ornament like this, then perhaps a Sangheili craftsmen would be better to look at? Even if he has nothing you want, he can fashion it for you, and besides, an Elite will have far more skill. Skill enough to craft something worth wearing."

"I want one of these." She said simply, turning back to the Grunt and asking, "What do you want for them?"

"You nice, so you can have one for free." Yapyap smiled, picking up a little bracer made of silver neo-laminate and a thin slab of wood burnt with an admittedly impressive pattern of trees and fields. It was almost like a picture of the nearby fields themselves. "This one is Yapyap's favorite one! Me give to you!"

"Oh, it's so pretty!" She smiled, bouncing on her heels and taking it from the creature's tiny little fingers, pulling it onto her forearm and closing the little clasp on it. Raising her arm, she showed it to him and asked, "R'Tas, look! Isn't it pretty?"

"Hmph." It hung a little loosely on her, but it was a good fit for her arm. And the artistry was… Well, admittedly rather good. Sighing, he nodded and grumbled, "We will need to fit the chain to you properly, but that is easily done. And I am certain we can find you fine enough robes to match as well."

"Awesome!" She smiled, bouncing up to him and turning to wave, "Bye, Yapyap! Thanks for the new armlet!"

"Bye weird pink thingy!"

"My name is Kipo!"

"Bye Kipo!"

"You should not be so lenient with an Unggoy." He counseled her as they walked away, towards the finer of the robe makers that had stalls set up today. She hummed confusedly at him and he explained quietly, "The cretins are numerous and ill-disciplined. If you encourage their ill discipline then only harm will come. To them and to those around them."

"I dunno about any of that." She shrugged, "And I don't care, either. He was nice, and he wasn't hurtin' anyone. That's all that matters to me."

"But Kipo, he's-"

"I don't care 'bout his species." She suddenly growled, cutting him off and making him come to a stop and turn to her. She only smiled, though, looking up at him and explaining, "Judge him for what he does, not what he is. That's the only way to do things."

"The Prophets would disagree…"

"And my Father would disagree with them." She said quietly, adding, "Maybe you oughta think about that a bit, hm? Anyway, where do we get these new clothes? I'm gettin' kinda hungry now so I wanna get goin' back to the Keep for dinner."

"Very well." He rumbled unsurely, turning to head back on their path, "Ka'Nara makes some of the better robes in the Keep… I am sure he will have something for you. And if not, then he will make something. There is about a week until the chosen Prophet comes for us, so it shan't be that hard."

"Okay." She nodded, "So let's do some shoppin'!"

Nodding, he let her bounce ahead to appraise the robes laid out at the Elite's stall. The craftsman paid him an odd, confused look, but he simply nodded his head and gestured for the man to get on with it. And so, with a nod of his own, the Elite sat about doing just that.