<span style="color: #00FF00">Valehna was quiet for a long time, just staring at the red-blue glow on the water. Her mind was somewhat jumbled, with both the spirit, the children, and the consequences of their actions in her mind. She wondered about her current state as well. It was the strangest moment of her life, to be sure. There was a Blight, she had lost everyone she had ever known, and her survival depended on near complete strangers.<br/><br/>"I guess we won't find out till we get the lyrium, then," she finished with a sigh.<br/><br/>There was another silence.<br/><br/>"Do you ever miss anyone from back home?" she asked abruptly. Her eyes were fixed on the lake, as she didn't want to look at him directly when she asked that. She feared he might be able to read her if he looked her in the eyes.</span><br/><br/>Mesaraih smiled at Ester's answer. "That I am," he said. "I guess it's a good thing I'm mostly okay with it. Let someone make fun of you and they never see you coming." He rummaged in one of his sacks to find a small pebble and threw it at her, aiming for her chest.<br/><br/>He laughed at her question, then paused for a bit before answering. "Well, I'm an assassin. I trusted someone I shouldn't have, and they ended up ambushing me for killing their rich daddy. And you can make fun of me for that one, I'd deserve it," he said. He was still digging absentmindedly through the sack.<br/><br/>He rested his eyes on her now, noticing how she had turned to face him. He found himself suddenly very curious as to how she ended up in the cage, although he had his suspicions.<br/><br/>"What about you? Forbidden magic from a lost age?" he asked.<br/><br/>His fingers met with something small, round, and squishy inside his sack. He frowned. He couldn't think of what it might be. It felt like a smaller pouch with several soft objects inside. He pulled it out and opened it, taking a sniff as it was too dark to see properly. It smelled like fruit... like berries.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">I don't remember him giving this to me,</span>Mesaraih thought.<span style="font-style: italic">Did the spirit put it in when he was giving me all the herbs?</span><br/><br/>He remembered Ester's reaction to the deer from before and smiled. "Look what I found," he said, throwing her the pouch of berries.