Aramiya and the Owlbear walked through the birch trees in a comfortable silence before Aramiya realized she never asked the other creature her name. "I can hear that brain of yours ticking again." the Owlbear chuffed a laugh. "My name is Enid."

"Thank you, Enid."

"Without that worm in your head it's easier to hear your thoughts and they are so loud when in this spirit form its almost deafening."

Aramiya stopped short of the tree line and put a hand on her friend. "Is it easier in wildshape?" Enid's stare was kind as she nodded. The tension in Aramiya's shoulders lessened as they made it to another clearing which was almost identical to the last one.

She saw Halsin sitting cross legged on the grass with the cavebear across from him, both with puzzled looks on their faces. From behind her Aramiya felt Enid push her forward to breach the focus of the males.

"Aramiya?" Halsin's brows furrowed as he turned to her before he stood up and strided over to her.

She took his hands in her's before taking a large breath and feeling Enid nudge her somemore from behind. "Thaniel and Oliver let me in on a bit of a large secret they've been hiding." she spoke carefuly as she looked up in his hazel eyes.

Halsin continued to look puzzled while his own companion pushed him forward. "Cillian, what on earth?"

"I'm guessing the Oak Father came to you, while the boys came to me." she giggled as they were pushed ever closer together. "What did you find out?" Aramiya wrapped her arms around Halsin and giggled. "Enid, I can't get any closer to him or I'll be in him."

"He did." Halsin wrapped his arms around her and watched as the Owlbear and Cavebear walked away, joined up next to one another communicating in a language neither Halsin or Aramiya spoke. "Told me that a deal was struck after the end of the Shadowcurse with Mystra."

"I think I know who helped strike up that deal."

Halsin's eyes went wide. "The boys?"

Aramiya placed one hand on his heart. "The boys want parents. Mostly Oliver though, if Thaniel's actions are to be believed."

"But why?" he place his hand over the one she had over his heart. "Why would they want parents?"

"Enid asked the same thing. But I think I know why." Aramiya kissed his knuckles. "While he was separated from Thaniel, Oliver watched as kids were protected by their parents from the curse but also from strangers. When I convinced Oliver to come back with us to Thaniel, he didn't originally agree. He first wanted us to play hide and seek." Aramiya giggled at the memory. "Not quite fair play with a spirit. He was trying to hide from the group to protect himself. When we found him he was upset but I convinced him to play another round. The second round we played he had creatures he called 'mummy' and 'daddy' as well as a dog that helped protect him. I have a feeling it was in an effort to keep part of himself safe-- given that his powers had changed drastically during the Sharran curse. When he returned to camp with us he looked to the two of us to protect them."

"The night of the thunderstorm." Halsin's eyes glazed with the memory.

Thaniel and Oliver were in Halsin's tent when a loud boom of thunder erupted above them. Oliver huddled into Halsin's arms burying his face in the man's chest. Aramiya looked cautiously outside the tent flap at the sky, which had lightened considerable since the curse started to lift. She had been sitting playing with the boys and crafting health potions with Halsin when the rain had started.

Thaniel came up to her and with his head against her arm looked outside the tent with her when a crack of lightning hit a tree on the other side of the river. Instinctively, Aramiya wrapped her arm around Thaniel. "Boys another boom will come in one 1000, two 1000, three 1000…" as she spoke the last word another boom signaled above them. "When you count between the booms and the lightning you can tell how far away the storm is."

Thaniel looked up at her while wrapped in her arms. "So the storm is about three miles away?"

She poked his nose and smiled. "There abouts. That tree it struck is about 2 miles from us."

Halsin could hear Oliver mumbling his counting skipping some numbers here and there. He rubbed the boy's back while he counted. Another thunder clap more distant than the last.

"That one was almost six miles away!" Thaniel climbed in her lap to watch the rain outside of the tent.

"Very good, Thaniel!" She rested her head in his shoulder. "As scary as thunderstorms can be, they are the prettiest to watch from a safe distance. Look over there," she pointed a ways in the distance. "See how the lightning changes the color of the clouds from far away?"

At hearing something was pretty, Oliver peeked his head out from Halsin's embrace. "C-could I see it from here?"

"Almost Oliver," Halsin's voice calm and quiet. "If we move closer to the tent opening we can all see it together. The worse of it has passed us."

Oliver's little head nodded and Halsin scooted them along the floor of the tent to the opening and propped up the other flap. The boy turned around in his lap to see the outside. The rain coming down in buckets.

"Woah…"

Aramiya giggled. "Not so scary when it's not directly overhead huh?" Her grip around Thaniel's middle tightened. "One day when I don't have this wriggler in my skull, we will have to play in a summer rain like this. It's so much fun to jump in puddles and enjoy the rain."

"Soon?" Oliver's little voice popped up.

"As soon as the Oak Father will allow." she replied.

"Halsin, you'll join us right?" Oliver tugged on his hand.

"A summer rain puddle jump sounds like just what Silvanus would want for us all after this."

Aramiya tapped gently on his chest, bringing him back to the present and out of their mutual meditations. They sat across from one another again Camellia starting to fuss against her.

"We never got that summer rain puddle jump did we?" Halsin asked.

"No," she hummed while rubbing Camellia's back. "We went right to Baldur's Gate after that and Lae'zel got captured by Bhaal worshipers. Everything went by so quickly."

He traced her chin and throat tattoo with his eyes thinking of his meditation with Cillian.

"Mystra and Silvanus came to an agreement that you two would join again."

"Cillian, but how and why?" Halsin could feel gooseflesh rise on his arms. "I've never heard of such a thing happening before."

"All I was able to gather is that it was a third party that made the initial request. The Oak Father will reveal in time or the third party will make themselves known." Cillian ruffled his fur. "Your Owlbear comes now."