“Why do they croak?” Liora asked another question about the many frogs around us.

“Well, for many reasons…” I said as I slowly spun the fish over the fire. It was one of the last I’d caught, and honestly I wasn’t sure if it’d get eaten or not.

Liora didn’t eat much. Or rather, I had become a tad too accustomed to feeding Renn who ate far more than she should. I’d caught four decent sized fish, and even with me eating far more than my fair share I still had two left…

“Such as?” Liora asked from a few feet from me and my fire. She was kneeling down near a large log, one that had a few big frogs upon it. They, like the hundreds all around us that we could hear, were noisily croaking at each other.

They weren’t too big, not full-blown toads, but there were many. Honestly I was glad we weren’t going to spend the night here. Though the sounds could be calming and soothing, to a point, I knew the many amphibians being here meant there was an abundant food supply. Odds are once the sun started to set and night came in this place would become inundated with bugs of all kinds. I’d be fine in such a place, but the young saint would likely not be… I wasn’t sure yet, I’d not seen her reaction to bugs yet.

We had set up camp not far from the lake where I’d gotten these fish, but we were still far enough from the water that there shouldn’t be so many of them. But the ground wasn’t very soft, surprisingly, so I knew it wasn’t because of underground water or that this place flooded at night or something. Odds are they either had all gathered here for food, or a more… different reason.

Right now though their chorus was a neat little distraction for my small traveling companion. Something to not be too bothered over, if even thankful for.

“Mating calls, for one. Then a few of them are also being territorial, or warning each other about dangers… such as us. While some might just be doing it because their neighbors are doing it, or because they feel like it. Maybe to them it is like singing or humming, a fun pastime,” I said as I explained the frogs even further. As I did I glanced over to the horse, and was glad to see it still lazily grazing nearby. It was a younger horse, so I had been worried it would have been a tad unruly, but it was actually very calm. Liora had named it Horeshoe, since it had just recently gotten new shoes.

“Mating calls…” Liora whispered my first answer as she kept studying the ones on the log.

“Want some more, Liora?” I asked as I studied the way the fish on the stick was cooking. It was nearly done.

“Hm…” she hummed in thought but didn’t answer. I didn’t blame her, I figured I’d end up wasting some… but it was still too bad.

I didn’t like being wasteful. Mother had always told me to be careful with the world around me, and not just because of my strength. It was not hard at all to destroy fragile ecosystems… and I’ve destroyed so many over the years that it really…

Amongst the chorus of croaks, I heard something different. Not a frog, or a splash of water from the nearby lake, but… something from the sky?

At first I thought it was just a large bird flying nearby. Or one maybe swooping down as to grab one of the many frogs around us… but instead it grew louder, and heavier.

Looking upward, I frowned as I watched a huge pair of wings approach. The kind that didn’t exist in the natural nature anymore.

“Huh…!” Liora shot upward, shocked, and hurried over. She nearly tripped into the fire as she did, and I had to reach over and gently grab her shoulder as to make sure she didn’t do anything foolish.

“All’s well, Liora… she’s a friend,” I said as Sap landed a few dozen feet away from us.

With her arrival many of the frogs around us began to hop away in a hurry. The chorus of croaks ended, for now, as Sap folded up her wings and smiled at us.

“Hey Vim!” she greeted us as she started walking over, and I noted she carried a small bag at her waist… but otherwise looked normal. The same as ever.

“Sap,” I greeted the daughter of my friend and glanced down to the young saint who had gone to hiding behind me. She had grabbed at my pants, rather firmly, and was staring at Sap from behind me… as if scared of her.

Not a surprise really. Not only had Sap arrived unannounced, she was odd. Especially for a human. What with her huge wings… and even more so especially for a saint.

“Vim…! She’s…!” Liora whispered worriedly as Sap approached.

“A friend. Liora, meet Sap. She’s my wife’s good friend, and also the daughter of Lilly, the one I told you about. As you can see, she’s a beautiful owl,” I said gently as I pulled the stick with the fish I was cooking off the fire. And pointed it at her.

“Lilly…?” Liora whispered the name, recognizing it thanks to my having told her all about her a few days ago.

“Beautiful…? Please!” Sap seemed to blush a little a she stepped past Horshoe, who basically ignored her, and into our small temporary camp. “Hello, little saint! As he said, my name is Sap… it’s a pleasure to meet you!” Sap introduced herself, rather well and happily, and it made me frown a little.

Sap usually hated humans, and other people in general… maybe she was in a good mood?

“Mhm… Liora… My name’s Liora, it’s um…” Liora slowly released my pants, and with my hand still on her shoulder and back she stepped around me as to greet Sap. “It’s nice to meet you,” she said, gathering her nerve.

Sap smiled and nodded. “It is! In fact it’s thanks to you that I found you! So thanks for that, otherwise I’d have flown right past you two.”

Right. Just as Liora sensed Sap, so too had she sensed Liora… “Why were you flying this way anyway?” I asked. We were east of the Owl’s Nest, heading to SilverCreek where Renn was. An odd route for Sap to be flying in, if at all.

“Mother returned home, and she asked me to deliver a message to Renn,” Sap said as she held out a hand to the young saint.

Liora hesitated for but a moment, and then stepped forward and took it. I smiled as I watched the two shake hands. “Your wings are pretty,” Liora said.

“Oh…? I’ve been needing to clean them, actually, they’re so ruffled right now…” Sap said as she glanced behind her, opening her left wing a little as to look at it.

They of course looked fine, but I could tell Sap hadn’t been humble just now. She had been serious.

“So Lilly’s already home?” I asked… trying not to recognize the strange feeling of relief that was washing through me.

Sap nodded. “Came home yesterday. With my brother’s new wife,” she said with a smirk of amusement.

Oh. Right. “Lellip, yes,” I said, glad to hear it. I’d forgotten all about her, and pretty much everything else, simply over hearing that all was… at least, since likely a few days ago, well and good. Lilly had likely left Renn, with Lellip in tow, only a handful of days ago at best. She’d not have traveled slowly, even with Lellip in tow.

And such knowledge was so relieving it almost made me want to sit down and just… breathe. But I ignored it, bottled it away, and kept my focus.

“We’ll see. Branches is actually grounded, so it’s going a tad oddly,” Sap said with a sigh.

Grounded…? “What happened?” I asked as Liora stepped a bit closer to Sap, as to look closer at her wings.

“We’ve been having issues… are you going to eat that?” Sap asked with a point to my hand.

Glancing downward, I frowned at the fish meat I’d forgotten about. I went ahead and handed it to her, and she wasted no time in eating them.

Good. Now I can cook the other one too without feeling wasteful.

Deciding to do that I went to ready the next stick of fish meat. As I did I noted the frogs around us had started to croak again, but were now far away. Only a few sounded closer than a few dozen feet now. Sap had scared them all off.

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“Willing to talk about them?” I asked, doing my best to be kind. We weren’t alone after all, we had an inquisitive young saint who was staring at Sap’s wings with huge glowing eyes.

“Hm? It’s just my family being their stupid selves, Vim. Trunk and Branches got into a fight, one that I and father had to intervene in. Branches is now grounded, or had been until mother returned. She came back yesterday, though I’m not sure what she’s going to do about it. You should have seen Trunk and Seed, they were absolutely furious that mother brought a wife back for him. Basically they think he doesn’t have the right to her, since it’s the same as giving him a prize for his actions,” Sap said.

Jeez… “Is Trunk okay…?” I asked.

Sap chuckled between her bites as she nodded. “A few broken bones, but it’s his pride that’s hurt the most. To be honest he was in the wrong, even Seed knows it, she actually laughed at him over it. But you know how my family is,” Sap said.

“Do they all have wings like you…?” Liora spoke up, causing Sap to startle as if she’d forgotten all about her.

“Um… my youngest sibling does, yes,” Sap said gently, and I could tell she was now a tad on edge. Her earlier attitude had likely just been her joy in finding us.

“Well, I trust Lilly and Windle will keep things peaceful. Branches should be punished if he really hurt his brother, but that doesn’t mean they should punish Lellip over it,” I said.

“Hm… all the same, I’m glad to get out of the house. It’s gotten so stuffy. By the way why hadn’t you told me I had a new sibling…? Really rude, Vim,” Sap said as I put a new stick of fish meat onto the fire. They sizzled as they began to cook.

“You know how your mother likes to keep it a surprise,” I said. She must mean when Renn and I had found her up north a few months ago.

“Yet they told Branches about Lellip…? Why does he get to know such things yet I don’t? They’ve always favored him…” Sap complained as she extended her wings a little, as if to let Liora get a better look at them. The young saint perked up, smiling as she stepped closer.

Had they…?

I frowned as I wondered if I’d ever noticed such favoritism before. I likely had… or maybe for sure I had…? I knew that Lilly has always liked Sap a lot, and also Branches, but had it always been that obvious? I tried not to get too involved in such things.

“And Renn didn’t return with them as to see it all happen. She’ll be mighty disappointed,” I said.

Sap chuckled at that. “Thus my going to see her. I’ve never seen this silver place but brother says it’s not far. I think we’re not far from it…?” Sap said.

“Three or so days at our pace, yes,” I said.

“Hm… mind if I join you? I’ll be honest I’m not too excited about going home, maybe a few days away from that stuffy tree will do me good,” Sap asked.

Liora glanced at me, and I noticed her happy and expectant look as she did. “Of course Sap, you’re always welcome. I take it then the letter is of not too dire of importance?” I asked.

“Not really. She just wanted to let Renn know they made it, and wanted to let Renn know that if she sees you first to tell you to visit before leaving the region, which I can tell you now I suppose,” Sap said.

Maybe in case Lellip doesn’t fit in and has to leave. So that I could pick her up and take her elsewhere, or home.

Hopefully that doesn’t happen… It’d make me very happy if Lellip and Branches got together. Not only would it keep the families close, it would make Renn happy too.

“How’d uh… how’d it go? Between them?” I asked.

“Hm? Oh, Lellip and my brother? I’m not sure… I stayed out of it. She seems cute, I guess…? I like that she’s of thick blood and hardy stuff. She seemed skittish at first, but yelled at Branches. That was good,” she said.

“Lellip yelled at him…?” I asked. Great. Lellip was a kind girl, as far as I was concerned, so that didn’t bode well.

“He was grounded, Vim. Not allowed to leave his room. She yelled at him to join her for lunch,” she said.

Oh. “She made him leave his room,” I said.

“Yep. Mother gave him permission, and that’s why Trunk was throwing a fit.”

I nodded as I slowly spun the stick. To the owl family, grounded was as it sounded. You weren’t allowed to spread your wings. No fun. No leaving the house. In some cases they didn’t even let you eat or drink anything. In a certain perspective it was a harsher punishment than one expected. Sometimes one had to go weeks without food.

It’s been a long time since I’d heard of them do such a thing, though. “What had they even been fighting over?” I asked.

“Crown. Trunk was badmouthing her.”

“What for…?” I asked. Trunk and Crown were more alike than not… They, alongside Seed, were the children that Lilly worried over. The ones more likely to dissociate themselves from the parliament than not.

“Crown’s being weird. She’s all sad and depressed. Trunk basically said what we were all thinking, though he did it kind of rudely. Branches took offense to it, and it escalated from there,” Sap said.

“What’d he say…?” Crown was depressed over that human she had loved, wasn’t she? The one that died?

Sap lightly shrugged as she picked off the last piece of fish from her stick. She was about to toss it into her mouth, but paused as she glanced down at Liora. Sap then offered it to the saint, but Liora softly smiled and shook her head. “I’m full, thank you.”

The owl gently nodded and ate the last piece, and I wondered if maybe Crown was the real reason for Lilly’s letter. It seemed Sap didn’t know the full contents, based on the way she wasn’t minding it much.

“How’s Crown doing, then?” I asked.

“Badly… I uh…” Sap glanced at Liora again, swallowed, then looked back at me. “She’s lost weight,” is all she said on the matter.

Odds are she had wanted to say more, but didn’t wish to in front of the girl. Though if it was something private, or something she felt a child shouldn’t hear, I couldn’t tell. I’d ask again later once we had a moment alone, such as when Liora slept or something.

Still… weight loss…?

Crown, like all owls I’ve ever known, had been scrawny. So… that meant it was likely worse than Sap was hinting at.

Poor Lilly. Poor Crown, too. Maybe we should have brought back a partner not for Branches but her instead… Unlike many in the Society, Crown would have been easy to have found such a mate for. She was more like Windle than not, and thus would not have had the same issues that those like Lilly or her son Branches had.

“Well… hopefully she’ll get better now that she’s at home,” I said.

“Actually she plans on going back with mom in a few months. To stay with your wife,” Sap said.

Ah… yes Lilly had mentioned she had hoped Crown would. She was hoping being near Renn, and being busy by helping Randle and the rest out, would be good for her. Probably would be. Renn ate so much that just by being near Renn she’d gain some weight.

I smirked at the thought. “I’m sure Renn would love that.”

“Hm… I’d say I’m jealous, but honestly I think that’d be too much for me. A city of humans…? Ugh,” Sap shivered a bit as she thought of it.

Yes. I agreed, to a point. “We’ll see how long Renn can last,” I said.

“You don’t like humans?” Liora asked Sap.

I heard Sap’s wings ruffle a little in movement as I focused on the fish I was cooking. It was about done. “Not very much, no. Hard to hide amongst them with my wings, after all,” she told the saint.

Liora made a soft sound as she realized what Sap meant, and I heard the saint nod knowingly. “Worse than my eyes, huh,” she said.

“Hm… I’d think hiding glowing eyes would be hard too, wouldn’t it?” Sap asked.

“Rather it’s uncomfortable. Vim makes me wear face covering stuff,” she complained.

“Hm. Mother once told me when she was young and traveling with Vim she had to once paint her wings. She said she debated dropping Vim on his head from a very high mountain because of it,” Sap said.

Wait what…? Oh… maybe she meant when we had painted them white. To make her seem like an angel… She had been smiling and had enjoyed that, though, from what I remembered… Particularly the way the humans had knelt and bowed in front of her in worship.

Still, that was a good memory. One I’d not remembered in over a hundred years. We had saved quite a few of our members and had not had to spill any blood to do so. Renn would like that story, if she hasn’t already heard it from Lilly.

“Would dropping him on his head even fix anything?” Liora asked.

Sap laughed at that and glanced at me. “I like this one much better than the last!”

Liora glanced at me a little worriedly, but I paid it no heed. “The last saint Sap met was very rude. And annoying. And grouchy. Here, want this one too?” I asked her as I stopped cooking the fish and held it out to her.

Sap took it without a word or even acknowledging me as she focused on little Liora. “I’ve only met three, including you, you’re as rare as I am nowadays little girl,” Sap said.

“You’re rare…? That’s sad, I think more people should have wings. Is it fun flying? Are they heavy? And are you almost naked because you’re hot like I am or is it because you can’t find shirts that fit you?” Liora asked, showcasing both how comfortable she now felt with Sap and per usual how inquisitive she was. She was like Renn with her questions, but with the childish unfiltered layer slathered all on top it.

Sap laughed at her as she took a bite of the fish I’d just given her. “One question at a time! Let’s see…”

As Sap went ahead and answered what felt like a hundred questions from the young saint… I found myself growing a little anxious.

Renn was okay. At least, she had been a few days ago.

Which meant I had time.

I had expected as much. I had no doubt the gods would eventually try to go after Renn… but I also expected them to try and threaten me again first before doing so. Especially if there was something odd going on, as I suspected.

No matter. I didn’t know where they were at the moment, and as far as I was aware had no way of finding them… since after all I’d not found even a hint of them in hundreds of years. So I needed to wait for them… and well…

Staying by Renn’s side, the only person they really could threaten me with, was my best opportunity for such a thing.

Hopefully Renn would forgive me for using her in such a way. She had once volunteered to be bait before, back in Lumen… but this was different. And it was I who was doing the trap setting this time, not her. So… well…

Hopefully she’d forgive me, since I’d not forgive myself.

Hopefully.

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