I love writing Meilin and Rollan, I really hope I do them justice. I hope my version of Rollan's garbled speech makes sense. I also realized that I cut Xue out of this, not that I dislike her character, but... idk. I really hope you all like this chapter!

-owl

Meilin was bored. There wasn't anything to do, as Jhi had helped Rollan as much as was possible and was now laying next to him, Essix perched on her shoulder. It had been only about an hour since the others had left. Worrying so much over Rollan made it next to impossible for her to spend her time meditating. Neither did she want to practice with her quarterstaff, as it was unlikely that there was not a Rhino Rider watching them. And she didn't didn't want to seem confrontational.

It was so odd to see the quick-witted boy so still and silent. Even when she met him in the training room, before she had summoned Jhi, he possessed the obvious snark. And it was clear to the point of being recognizable even while he was making an effort to be perfectly polite. Then, on the journey to find Arax, he had bantered with Conor about who had the worst childhood. And his reaction to Conor wearing that kilt in Glengavin... It was just wrong to see him this way.

"I hope these banana gourd seeds help, Rollan," Meilin muttered to herself.

Suddenly, one of his eyes opened a crack. "Blo doo hi," he whispered. It took longer than she wanted to admit before she puzzled out his words. So do I.

Meilin moved to kneel beside him. "Do you want water?"

He ignored her question. "Oog aim vack." You came back.

"It seems like everything goes to crap when I leave."

"'Re's ur pr'f?" Where's your proof?

"On our way to Glengavin, when you and Conor got yourselves caught and locked in the Howling House. And, now, when I was... elsewhere, you went and got yourself so sick you can barely move, even when Jhi had been doing her best to help you since we arrived."

Rollan huffed out a laugh.

"I wish there was more we could do to help," Meilin said sadly. "But there's only so much Jhi or I can do. If only she still had the powers she used to."

"Die paak!" Rollan struggled to say.

"Your pack?" Meilin questioned.

"Indied, B'mboo Danda." Inside, Bamboo Panda. He fell into unconsciousness the second after he had finished speaking.

Oh! With haste, Meilin tore open his traveling pack, digging past his old gray traveling cloak and his second pair of pants. Then, nested on top of a shirt was a small panda, carved carefully out of bamboo. It was no bigger than her two little fingers put together, and it hung on a string of braided silk.

Carefully, Meilin pulled it over her head. The rumors circling the Bamboo Panda gave the impression that it would grant the wearer the power to heal others from most anything. Gently, she touched Rollan's head with the back of her hand. Upon first contact, his fever was the same as it had been the last time Meilin had checked it.

Then the heat dissipated, and, almost between blinks, Rollan was at a normal human temperature. He coughed once, and Meilin moved her hand to touch his chest, rubbing soothing circles. Immediately, his rasping breathing returned to soft breaths as he fell into a deeper sleep.

Meilin turned to Jhi and launched herself at the bear. "I can't believe that worked! Nor that your healing powers used to be even better!"

Jhi rumbled deep in her throat, a mix of laughter and comfort as furry arms wrapped around Meilin.

They all stayed that way for an hour or so, until it started to rain suddenly. The subsequent crack of thunder after a strike of lightning made Meilin jump. She pulled herself out of Jhi's warm embrace and shook Rollan awake.

"W'as g'ng 'n?" he asked, his voice garbled from sleep, but still sounding infinitely better than it had earlier.

"Can you not feel the rain?" Meilin asked snarkily.

Then she helped him to move underneath the rhino carved rock, slightly out of the rain. They sat together, watching the water beating into the ground. The fine dust that had coated the clearing now became puddles of mud.

"I didn't get the chance to ask the others," Meilin said after a while. "Why isn't Lucette with the group? I thought it had been planned that she or Nicolai would accompany the group on the missions to get the talismans."

"She, um, took it really badly, that Nicolai had been taken. And, as of when we left Greenhaven, she still had yet to be seen out of her room since Lenori helped her get there after she heard the news. I think Olvan granted her a month or so to come to terms with it all."

"It would have been nice to have her here."

Rollan nodded. "I agree. When we were in Xin Kao Dai, I sent out a messenger bird to update her on where we were going."

They stopped talking after that, and Rollan fell asleep again. While the Bamboo Panda had clearly healed him, his body was still recovering its strength. Now, Meilin knew that Rollan cared deeply about Lucette, it was obvious, after all. However, she didn't agree with his decision to send a letter to her. There were so many ways that would end badly. But, at this point, there wasn't anything she could do, so Meilin dropped the matter and fell asleep, her head resting on Rollan's shoulder.