"What, how do I know evil? Uh-", Calden stuttered to come up with a good reasoning for his suspicions about the crone. "I'm just, getting this... I don't know," he sighed. It was true that despite her eccentrics July had not done anything that would justify putting her in the same category with monsters, and it was not like Calden was entirely sure about what he had seen. He couldn't read those auras too well yet, they very different from what regular eyes could see and not always so straightforward to decipher. "Well she did use some sort of magic. I saw a big cloud of it leave overhead towards the woods earlier, even through your clothes! And she, she isn't just old lady that's for sure! I can see the magic inside you and it's beautiful, but hers, its..." He paused again. Truth be told Calden had only seen one person in his new state aside from Astrid and that was the old woman. How could he be sure that wasn't just how people normally looked like? Doubt began creeping into his mind, had he been accusing her for nothing? No. That couldn't be, something didn't feel right!<br/><br/>The swirling dance of doubt and suspicion stopped as Astrid directed his mind elsewhere. Calden turned from the scenery around them take a glance at Astrid. "Umm," he pondered out loud, trying to remember the last time he had felt hunger or thirst for that matter. "No. Not really... I-" he was about to mention of not even sleeping, but held his words. He thought that Astrid would no doubt feel guilty that he sat there in the darkness, alone. The only thing talking about it would have done is ruin her sleep and put more stuff on her already loaded conscience. Calden improvised to quickly come up with some words that he had paused, but the half- truth he conjured up sounded weak. "Not that I really miss it. I mean, we're living on just berries and shrooms. Heh! I'm kinda glad for it at the moment really." Calden continued pondering on his night-times, coming up with reasons why it wasn't so bad, and really he could still come up with many. It had not been that long since the 'merging' and he had needed a lot of time to think so as to not fall apart and cry of fears that lurked in his heart, ever ready to jump at a weak moment.<br/><br/>The night continued its mystical display of the hidden parts of nature around Astrid as she walked. It was hard to say if the sounds were even louder than during the day, but it was difficult to spot any rippling of a stream from beneath the concert of chitter. After climbing over some mossy rocks and landing back on the soft green ground, Astrid's foot sank in a bit and wet seeped through the leather of her boots. It was not a stream. The moss ahead sank in a gentle slope to form a small forest pond. It's surface undisturbed, the pond reflected in the ghostly blue light of Astrid's sphere to wrap on its surface a twisted version of the forest around her. In the darkness, its water was perfectly black. Anything could be hiding below the surface. There were a little less of those strange critters making sounds. Around there, the night was beginning to feel truly like one.<br/><br/>"Um...  lets go back?" Calden suggested; his tone trembled slightly with trepidation.