There had been a brief touch of amusement left to tinge Levani’s face after Kallo had returned to the burrow and promptly removed the larger pieces of his armor, which she watched - and noted - observantly. Useful, should she ever need to lug them off herself again. That amusement was increased when he brushed off the cool touch of the vibrant mosses from her wound, seeing the flicker of disdain that he had attained earlier when he’d first seen them on his own belly. It was a simple remedy of Asdenni - had been even when she was a lazy beast stalking the shadows. She’d chewed on it when an errant bone from a meal had ruefully struck her gums, and it eased the aching pains. After she’d been given her second form, the tribespeople had taught her of its abilities to stem infections from newly hewn injuries, a necessity she hadn’t had to deal with before. Still, she allowed him to take her hand and stretch her arm across the table, eyeing the vial of oil warily as he extracted it.<br/><br/>When he first touched her wounds, Levani inhaled sharply through her nose, teeth grit, but such were the only signs that he had caused any pain. The oil, initially an insufferable chill against puckered, open flesh, began to soothe the skin. Already, the reddened agitation cooled itself, the swelling to inevitably go down. With the anesthetization of the mosses combined with the unknown properties of the oil, the dull ache in her arm had been dampened considerably. To the point that, as Kallo rubbed the liquid on her injury, she could focus less on any pain that the bite mark caused her, and more on the surprisingly gentle ministrations of the warrior. Toughened palms grazed her skin, but moved tender, careful, paradoxical next to the way that she’d seen him wield his weapon earlier.<br/><br/>His words, his pained voice, pulled Levani from her physical observations, and her golden gaze connected with his blue one. Her lips were pressed closed as he spoke, her brow slightly drawn together, but her expression did not alter, did not change. Statuesque, the epitome of a person listening, taking in what he said, with no desire to interrupt or attempt to assure. Only the silence of a predator watching.<br/><br/>That somnolence belied her mind, her thoughts, as she raced to understand what Kallo felt, what he had gone through. A burden unimaginable, facing first himself the cruelty of the black and its origin, the culmination of the wretched plague. The erasure of existence of his brother, the destruction or corruption of his underlings, the fault on himself - leading them all to a fate worse than death. It reminded Levani that the world beyond Asdenni was dying, a truer representation than the thinning of the merchants who could dare to make the trip, for those that had sincere stories were often killed in their making. It was a life, a world, that she struggled to cope with, to recognize as existent, but its result was sitting right before her. A man borne of its blood, of its agony, of its trials, molded from his failures as much as from its tribulations.<br/><br/>When he had finished his tale and Kallo had spoken of how he wanted to give up, wanted to allow himself to give in to the baleful dark, Levani’s chest tightened. It was a familiar sentiment, one that hit so close to home, despite their differences. Despite the glaring differences in their stories, she had felt the same thing so many times. It would be so easy to let go, to allow herself to be one with the black, to give in to its persecution, hoping that its barbarism would become bliss for the lack of control, for lack of fighting anymore.<br/><br/>A hard lump had formed in her throat and she swallowed it down, forcing herself back into the moment, bit the inside of her cheek to keep her there. Now Levani reached forward, a hand on his, her brow drawn together. “<i>Sul’ima</i>… Kallo. If anyone is deserving of it, you are. Despite the weight of your mistakes, your past, your ‘goddess’, you have carried on. You have come to an uncertain place for an uncertain person in the hopes of a balance of redemption and retribution. You have introduced yourself by spilling the blood of my enemies, and even your own. You are deserving of my help. But…” she paused now, rescinded her hand, finally breaking her own steady gaze to glance out of the entryway, to the trees that shifted and danced in a gentle breeze. Rain was coming down sparsely now, the darkening clouds crawling over head.<br/><br/>“You must know, I have never left Asdenni. I have never had a family or a people. I have always been alone,” she admitted, a sort of humored tilt to her lips. “There were others like me, but they were… not like me.” The Watchers had made her - of what, she did not know, just that they had made her. They had made other large, sentient beasts as well. She certainly had not been the first, remembering the days where she had taunted underfoot the enormous creatures that they had molded centuries ago. None looked as she did, and none looked like each other. Each were both alone and not in an odd, eternal sense. “When the black came… the others disappeared over time. I do not know what became of some of them, though I know that others were corrupted. That they would be my strongest foes for years to come. I felt a sense of sadness for them, but not loss, not the way…” She paused, biting her lip, golden eyes still watching the emerald leaves roll and wave.<br/><br/>Levani turned back to Kallo. “Asdenni has been my home, my family, my friend, my lifeblood. I could not stand to lose it as you have your brother. It hurts me to leave it behind, to chase an unknown fate… but the forces of the black grow stronger,” she acknowledged, expression darkening, a ring of fury like a spiral of sun in her iris. “They grow more numerous everyday. I have suspected their numbers are no longer trickling in from the borders. I believe something is spawning them. Help me find the wretch, allow me to put my mind at ease, and I will leave with you to fight the dark god,” she said, the words like fire from her throat. They hurt to say, they burned her tongue as they left it, but they were wrought from her anger, her contempt, and they were necessary to keep her from falling into complacency. She could not allow what was happening in Asdenni to continue.<br/><br/>After a moment, Levani rose, nearing her companion. She gently took his hand and placed her other against the roots of the kamuna that sheltered them. Energy sparked quietly against her skin, tracing his own, feeling him. It matched his own energy, his signature, and pouredthrough her, sinking into the tree from her other palm. “For today, however, I need rest. Much rest. The kamuna will recognize you now, so that you may pass freely through her roots,” she said, letting go of his hand and moving close to the entrance. Her hand passed over the rough bark and the roots entwined themselves over the passageway, filling the burrow with shadows. She lit the candles, filling it with a soft light, and sat herself on the nest of furs and blankets. “I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to watch over me tonight,<i>sul’ima</i>,” she teased, resting her staff within arm’s reach of the bed and reaching down to untie her boots. “Though, closely won’t be necessary. This wound is not so grave,” she added, pulling off said boots and placing them at the side.