"Were you following me from the start?"

Nanami had made her way back to her little clearing (eventually, after many accidental detours), and Garnt had followed. Now, the two of them were sitting by the garden that housed Nanami's memorials to her two families. The rocky path probably didn't make for an ideal sitting arrangement, but Nanami didn't care, and Garnt didn't voice any complaints.

It was a fine enough question to start things off with, Nanami thought. The man had a good head on his shoulders - or maybe she should say, a bad head on his shoulders…? No, she'd have to workshop that one.

"I was," she agreed readily. Actually, that was a slight lie, but the accidental detours Garnt didn't know about wouldn't hurt him.

"Why?"

"To engineer a situation that would force you to reveal your plans to me," she admitted shamelessly, "Though I hadn't expected it to happen so quickly. I'd not seen that Dragonclad man for some time. Seeing him hanging around so close to my home again…"

She wanted to say it was an unwelcome surprise, but that was only partially true. It would have actually been a nice change of pace to humour his attempts at combat again in any other circumstance. But the man had ruined one of her projects, and that was, quite frankly, rude.

"Oh, you call him Dragonclad too," Garnt muttered, lost in thought.

She nodded. It was cute, and fun, and rolled off the tongue well. Clearly, Garnt had some good ideas. Or perhaps they were bad? People rarely seemed to like her nicknames.

Nanami couldn't let him get too lost in his own mind, though. He was considering her words, and that was all well and good, but she had questions of her own - with answers she'd rather get before the cloaked man decided what he could safely conceal again.

So before he could recover, she rapped the stone path with her knuckles, loudly enough to startle him, and then began her own questioning. Two questions for two questions seemed fair enough to her.

And she was still really, really curious about his real motivations.

"You mentioned 'letting what comes after finally arrive' before. What does that mean, exactly? I have some understanding of what the Flame is, but it sounded to me like you have some pretty specific ideas about what would happen, if it should fade."

That gave him pause. The Undead man's cloak swished and swooshed as he looked around her little clearing suspiciously, and Nanami joined him.

Her little hut, her garden, her other garden, the massive stone she had dragged over to spice her final trial up a little bit, a tree, and the stony Archtrees. This was definitely still her home, and still as empty as she had left it. Not that anyone could hide from her this close by, anyway, but she supposed Garnt didn't know that.

"There are… still some things I'd rather not say, here at least. Not to hide them from you," Garnt raised a hand warily, as Nanami tilted her head at him, "But just as a general precaution. The Dragonclad mentioned something rather specific in reference to one of the cloaking magics I tend to use when travelling - specifically one I use to ward against remote observation. The man himself might be dead right now, but the way you dealt with him means neither of us can really confirm that-"

"I've done worse to him before," Nanami acquiesced.

"-Well, whatever the case may be, there are some things it would not be safe to say right now, when I know there are people on my trail."

A reasonable point. Garnt had a… nasty head on his shoulders?

…No. Absolutely not.

But the point remained valid, and so Nanami sighed.

"But," Garnt stressed, "I will still share what I can. I may not be able to say some things now, but given enough time I will be able to set up a location safe enough to share those details later. Acceptable?"

Nanami hummed, tapping one finger against her lip. She had already gotten an agreement to 'not hide anything' earlier, so conceding felt a little bit like losing. There was no rational reason not to, though. What he said was reasonable, and made sense.

But she still didn't want to agree. She was curious! Drowning yourself in self-justification didn't just happen in a day! She wanted a chance to pick apart his reasons, and see if he could re-assemble something from the pieces!

The only thing that stopped her was a certain level of certainty, that pushing too far now would send them back to step one.

"That's acceptable, for now." She eventually spoke, nodding, "But, if I feel like you're deliberately dragging things out to keep me in the dark, I'll do something about it. Okay?"

Rushing things without rushing things. Garnt seemed wary of her, judging by the way he tensed up so obviously she could tell even with the cloak obscuring his movements. He'd remember her words and, ideally, reveal things a little sooner than he intended.

From underneath the cloak came a slow, tired breath, and then, reluctantly, Garnt nodded back.

And so Garnt wove his tale. Of the fading of the First Flame, and the Age of Dark that would follow after. Of Humanity assuming their 'true shape' and theories of what that could entail based off of his own knowledge of what could happen to a person when their Humanity, their soul, ran wild. Of an era that overturned the current order, and perhaps even ended the Undead Curse entirely.

Nanami had seen the term 'Age of Dark' before, but only in passing. Information had been borderline non-existent even when she had been able to look into things for herself, and lacking anything to go off, she had moved on to other topics. Whichever scholarly hole Garnt had popped out of, it held access to far more complete records than any she'd seen, so perhaps she would ask him to show her around at some point. That part about an end to the Undead Curse also sounded promising. But…

"Those aren't your reasons at all, either." Nanami murmured. The information was interesting, but that still wasn't what she wanted!

"They're a part of it, but you're right. The details of my main reason are one of those things I cannot talk about right now. But," He raised his hand, as though to ward off her inevitable complaint, "Strictly speaking… The end of the Undead Curse, the overturning of an era, the guarantee of being remembered forever in what passes for history books in an age ruled by the Dark Soul, they are certainly welcome benefits. For me, though, they remain a means to an end."

He paused, struggling to find the words. Nanami waited patiently. If she interrupted now, she suspected he may well end up searching forever.

And her patience was rewarded.

"In the broadest terms I can think of… There is something, somebody, that I would only be reliably able to find after the conditions of the Age of Dark are met. My goals mean the somebody in question would seek to avoid me, and my own reasons mean I cannot allow that. I will fill in the blanks myself, given time, but… I truly hope this satisfies you, at least a little." Garnt trailed off, and his shoulders drooped slightly. Even saying that much seemed to exhaust him. She supposed it must have been stressful, sharing just this much of what he had dedicated his life to.

Nanami hummed happily to herself. Was it a revenge plot this spellslinging Undead had in mind? It could also be something non-violent, she supposed. Perhaps a falling out, with the Age of Dark serving to reunite him with somebody. This was a lot closer to what she had been hoping for. Because-

"Before you find this person, you'd have to disrupt and destroy a lot of lives. The Lord's Blades won't be taken freely, regardless of whatever plots and schemes you come up with. Are you prepared for that?" She noted, amused.

"Yes." He replied without hesitation. Nanami raised an eyebrow. A little more spine than she had expected.

"I am not saying I am willing to kill indiscriminately," Garnt went on, "But it is unthinkable for me not to act, when the potential consequences are so high. There is no inherent value to suffering, but sometimes, a person has to make things worse, so that they can heal back stronger."

Interesting.

She had been hoping to prod a little more at his motivations, search for holes in his resolve, but the man before her wasn't so easily shaken. That was more fun in its own way, though.

Nanami hoped it wouldn't take him too long to fill those gaps.

"Then, if you'll allow me, I'll pay my respects to my family, and we can set off afterwards. There are a few things I need to take care of in a nearby settlement before we leave, and I imagine you'll want to resupply," she said, slowly rising to her feet.

"Of course," Garnt responded, rising as well, "I'll wait by the clearing's edge, then? I wouldn't want to intrude."

She waved him off, and he started slowly shuffling away. His legs had gone stiff from the unfamiliar seating arrangement, she was reasonably sure.

Nanami clasped her hands, kneeled by the monument, and talked about anything and everything that came to mind. What she was considering bringing along, what she thought of Garnt's choice of outfit, whether or not she'd find something interesting enough to make a wood carving of, and half a dozen other things.

This wasn't the first time she bid farewell to her family, and she thought it unlikely to be the last. But there was a chance.

And it would be quite some time before she got to see this little remnant of her family again, so she may as well treasure it.

Eventually, she joined Garnt at the edge of her little clearing.

"Well then, shall we? We won't stay long, but I'm sure you'll find the settlement of Bones interesting."

"…Dare I even ask why it's called the settlement of Bones?"

"It'll be obvious once we get there. You can ask one of the locals once we get there, if you want."

And then, they set off.

It was a familiar walk for Nanami - the Yusi settlement known as Bones was the closest one to her home. It was where she most frequently travelled to liaison with the people under her protection, relying on them to collect offerings, or inform other regions of one of her temporary absences.

The route was a lengthy one, not helped by Garnt's attire. A long, flowing cloak was unsuited to traversing through large swathes of muddy swamp, and when the swamp cleared away, it tended to catch on outcroppings of rock, or particularly lengthy bits of foliage, or, occasionally, both.

Still, even accounting for Garnt slowing them down, the journey was taking a lot longer than she had been expecting. Perhaps she might have to start carrying him around?

The sorcerer called out from behind her, interrupting her musing.

"…are you sure you know where we're headed?" Garnt asked, wading knee-deep in eight inches of swamp water.

"More or less. Why?" Nanami replied, strolling slowly across the water's surface. Perhaps Garnt would be interested in learning to do the same - it would certainly help him a lot right now.

"Well, it's just that, how do I put this…" Garnt paused, then pointed to his right, "Do you see that Archtree there, Miss Nanami?"

"Yes…?" It was an impressively tall specimen. The Archtrees in Yusi's swamps all looked like some strange cross between an oak tree and a boulder, or stalagmite, but this one brought to mind something a little closer to a mountain. In fact, it looked a little familiar…

"We've circled around it about six times so far."

"Ah."

They were at an impasse. Even saying that much had taken most of Garnt's remaining supply of courage, drained as it was by their earlier talk. However, Nanami was also unwilling to say anything, and unprepared to explain anything. Mentioning that her poor constitution resulted in her being easily disoriented would necessitate an explanation of said poor constitution, and then Garnt might even ask more questions, and…

It was time for Nanami to unleash one of her most potent secret moves - Social Style: Put The Responsibility Of Conversation On The Other Person Technique!

"If you have a suggestion or solution, you should simply say it loud and clear, Garnt."

Garnt stumbled, then looked at her in consideration, before reaching into his cloak to root around for something. After a short pause, he pulled out the completed emblem that signified his passing of her Six Trials.

"Perhaps if you marked off the direction the settlement's in on your map, I could take over navigation…? I do not wish to be rude, but I would really prefer reaching that settlement sometime today, rather than next week." He said, handing her the emblem.

…Breaking it out of annoyance would be a terrible decision, but was so, so tempting.

"Please do not mention this to anyone when we get there," Nanami said, smiling, as she handed the emblem back, now with a little arrow pointing towards the East, and slightly to the South. Garnt gingerly took it back, and she busied herself with brushing the resulting wood shavings off her sleeves while he examined his new map.

After a few minutes of studying, Garnt picked a direction. Nanami noted it took them well away from the enormous Archtree.

She didn't say anything, and neither did Garnt.

Nonetheless, it was a long, and embarrassing, walk to Bones.

By the time they reached the settlement, the Sun's first few rays peeked through the foliage and the rock that blanketed Yusi's skies, that flaming orb's very own greeting. It provided just enough light for the enormous ribcage that Bones hung in the midst of to be seen at a distance.

Garnt stood and stared.

An enormous set of ribs, yellowed by time, curved out of the ground and stabbed at the sky. A similarly huge skull laid at one end, partially collapsed, leaving teeth as large as most trees visible to anyone who wanted to look. On the other end, a long line of bones were partially sinking into the swamplands, which did little to conceal their scale.

And hanging between each and every one of these titanic ribs, on a bevy of platforms, rope-bridges and ladders, was the settlement of Bones. Tiny huts and grander structures were both visible at their distance, suspended between the earth and the clouds.

It had been a while since she had last seen it. Perhaps five years, if she hadn't lost track of time too badly…? Witnessing it for the first time, Bones must have been quite the sight. In fact, he appeared to be shaking. Had it been too much of a shock? He seemed like a man made of sterner stuff, but being caught off-guard happened to other people all the time, or so she had heard.

She stepped a little closer without making a sound, and felt her brows raise in confusion. Was Garnt… snickering to himself?

"Hah, Bones. More obvious than I expected. Lord Below, and here I was worrying she was setting up another nasty surprise, playing things off like that… 'Ask the locals' indeed," the man muttered, and then, noticing her, leaped away, splashing water everywhere.

"Did you want something, Miss Nanami?" He asked after a pause. Swampwater dripped from his sleeves.

He sounded tired.

"Just to clarify, I meant exactly what I said. There was no… setting up, of anything." She remarked, feeling a little awkward about the whole thing.

Perhaps making her own motives suspect hadn't been the best of ideas…? Then again, exhaustion was also a weakness she could leverage. At the very least, it might make the sorcerer more reliant on her.

Ah, well. All she could do was move forward.

"Shall we keep moving, then?" She asked, when it became clear Garnt wouldn't say anything more. He gave a sharp nod, and she led him towards the skeleton's head, sticking a little closer than before. Her new wielder was nervous and tired, which made him a danger to himself more than anything. Best to make sure she could respond appropriately if anything leaped towards him from the water. Or the sky, she couldn't rule that out either.

The last, short leg of their journey passed by uneventfully. She cut down a mess of scale and fur hanging on a far off stony branch that was eyeing her spellcasting companion a little too hungrily, dispersed a kaleidoscope of low-flying Poison Butterflies before they got too close… nothing she hadn't already been doing today.

Nanami did derive a little bit of amusement from the way Garnt jumped each time he heard her hands cut through the air, before relaxing once it became clear they weren't pointed at him. She could have done it silently, but a girl was allowed a bit of fun, here and there. It would be poor manners for a sword to turn on its chosen wielder, so really he had nobody to blame but himself.

"So, how do we get up there?" Garnt asked, once they were close enough to the skeletal head to touch its shadow.

She had been looking forward to this part, most of all.

She scooped him up, one hand under his neck, the other under his knees, ignored his panicked cry of "Wait, what are you-?!", and, in a single, perfect motion of the Harlequin Butterfly's footwork, leaped.

She sailed through the air at an angle, accompanied by Garnt's continued shouting, and a pleasantly cool breeze. It was the little things, really.

Her first jump took her to a nearby branch, which she immediately kicked off from, soaring ever higher. Branch, kick, branch, kick. It was a rhythm she was used to, but a pleasant one nonetheless. Besides, it wasn't often she had a passenger along for the ride.

Garnt's panic had leveled off, and she could feel his head twist slowly from one side to the other. Taking in the sights, she hoped. Even Yusi's own inhabitants rarely got to see the swamps from such an angle.

A medley of grays it might have been, it was nonetheless the land she had taken to caring for.

They landed smoothly atop the beastly skull, with Nanami depositing Garnt in a standing position so steady he didn't even stumble. A shame. It might have been fun to watch a less composed reaction, but even doing so rarely, she had gotten too good at transporting people safely. Or, perhaps she'd gotten bad at it? She wanted to see people a little unsteady after their trip through the air, after all.

She watched the sun rise, instead. It was a rare sight in Yusi, and even half-obscured by Archtrees that sought to touch the sky, the thin layer of golden light washing over the swamp's treetops captured her attention.

"What… was that?" Garnt began, cautiously. Nanami was tempted to ignore him, and then ignored that thought instead.

"I'll honestly answer any three questions you ask next, so please be more specific." She replied. Just enough questions for him to waste a few figuring out the impromptu rules for a 'game'. Well, even if he didn't, he'd feel compelled to play along with the limit of three questions, probably.

There was a brief lull in the conversation as Garnt deliberated on this, and Nanami took the opportunity to watch the sun a little longer. She idly wondered if Garnt wanted her to kill it. He sought an Age of Dark, after all, and was an 'Abyss-seeker', whatever that title meant. Fighting the sun sure sounded hard…

"That movement you just performed. What was it?" The cloaked man eventually spoke back up.

"The Harlequin Butterfly is a style of footwork I learned a long time ago that allows a person to imitate a state of weightlessness. You've seen me walk on water already, haven't you? It's that, taken further." Or he wouldn't waste any of them. How fun.

"Where did you learn it from?"

"An assassin came to my home to kidnap me, a long time ago. I'm quite good at picking up skills, and he was keen on showing his off. I learned a little quicker than he intended, though… Why? Did you want to learn it?"

"…Perhaps some other time. The last question, then. Why did you do the things you did today?"

Today, hmm… That covered everything since dawn broke - in other words, since they arrived at Bones.

"To be blunt, if you're going to wield me, you need to be familiar with my capabilities, especially since your goals are… well, if things go the way you'd want, we'll be working together for a while. It's easier for me to just show you this or that. And," She promised honesty, she supposed, "I think the way you get so nervous is very funny."

Garnt looked at her, unblinking, for what seemed like a very long time.

Then he snorted, turning away.

"Let's move on with this business of yours then, Miss Nanami. Please lead the way, it's about time I introduce myself to the locals."

False Shockbloom

A blossoming, crystalline flower. It refracts light, creating an optical illusion that resembles bolts of lightning arcing between the petals.

The swamps of the runoffs produce all kinds of life that would be unnatural elsewhere in Caerdiaeth, and indeed the world. Not all of them are dangerous, however,

These blooms, on the other hand, are highly invasive.

A/N: Slowly but surely starting to run out of backlog. Such is life.

Next time: Daffodils 1•3, on Thursday, the 16th of January.

Toodles~