Log Date: 12/3/95 Log Intro: As Rayek, Ember and Ekuar proceed northward on their Walkabout, Rayek begins to respond to the other two elves' attempts to keep him cheerful and occupied, and gratefully immerses himself in the location of appropriate stone for a new spear-head. The ongoing walking provides sufficient physical activity to keep the airwalker ready to drop deeply asleep when the trio and their companion Preserver settle down to rest during the day -- however, it's then that Rayek gets another astral visitation from Winnowill. ---------- Winnowill's Spirit crawls into the rock upcropping. Winnowill's Spirit has arrived. Winnowill's Spirit flickers briefly in and out of existance before gaining cohesion and solidity. Winnowill's Spirit sends, ** Rayek. ** Rayek lies curled up in the rock shelter, Ember on one side, Ekuar on the other; even the Preserver seems asleep. Rayek's head shifts slightly, in response. Winnowill's Spirit gently touches your forehead, a gesture felt with mind and magicsense more than body. ** Rayek, awake. ** Rayek's amber eyes come open. He registers the touch on the mental level, and frowns very lightly, at the perceived 'presence' over him. "Eh......?" Winnowill's Spirit regards you. ** Now you dally with mongrels, Rayek? I thought you had better taste. ** Rayek stares up sleepily into the Blue Mountain Lord's ethereal features, and murmurs absently, "Oh. It is you. Ekuar has asked me not to speak with you."| Winnowill's Spirit cocks her head. ** And why is that? Are we not one spirit in two bodies? ** Rayek replies sleepily, "I am not to think of anything, at the moment. Or send with anyone." Winnowill's Spirit seems confused. ** I do not like this in you Rayek. First I free you from Azeure, now this other... crippled elf dictates your actions? ** Rayek glances at Ekuar's sleeping form as if confused that Winnowill is calling this into question; his brow furrows a bit over his half-vacant eyes, and he then looks up again to say solemnly, "Ekuar is... less crippled than I, right now." Winnowill's Spirit looks at you with concern, ** I have told you Rayek, you need healing. Come to me. Let me draw you near to my healing touch. ** Rayek stares up at you, expression oddly uncertain, and a hint of what might be -- remorse? grief? shame? -- flickers across his features. "I... cannot... I cannot." Winnowill's Spirit shakes her head. ** That is not true. You are your own master. You can do as you will. You must meet your needs. You must be healed. ** Rayek lies back, frowning tightly, pressing his forearm across his face as if to block the sight of the ghostly form over him from his awareness. "No," he mutters tightly, hoarsely. "Magic... will not help... I... no, I must not... healing will not help, it cannot, I must let Ekuar do this, truly, he knows best, he has been alone for longer than I have been alive and he is afraid I'll go mad, I must listen to him.." His speech picks up in its pace, tumbling out of him blurrily. Winnowill's Spirit contemplates, ** How can he know you like I do? We are one, my Rayek. ** Rayek begins to tremble, seeming troubled. No. He doesn't want to think about this -- easier, better, to retreat into that pleasant limbo of non-thought and physical action. "No," he groans. "There has been too much time -- no." Winnowill's Spirit continues to watch, ** What is time to an elf? ** Rayek's black brows tighten, as he rolls on his side between the elves whose sleeping, exhausted forms flank him. Shuddering, he gasps, making little sense, "A wall... an uncrossable barrier! I can no longer break it!" Winnowill's Spirit regards you with genuine concern, ** Come to the mountain Rayek. Let me heal you. ** Winnowill's Spirit sends. ** I must go. My people need me. I will wait for you my twin soul. ** Winnowill's Spirit shimmers and slowly fades from sight. Winnowill's Spirit crawls out of the rock upcropping. Winnowill's Spirit has left. Rayek, as Winnowill's spirit fades out of the vicinity, groans and tightens his arms around himself under the furs. Shaking violently, he mumbles, "Can't cross time anymore... I cannot..." Ekuar's forehead wrinkles, his sleep disturbed by the tormented elf next to him. His eyes open quickly and wide. "Eh-- Brownskin!" he says, softly, soothing but urgent. Petalwing eeps, wriggling tinily from under some corner of the sheltering furs. Roused by Rayek's mutters, the Preserver pipes, /Sharpdark highthing have nastybad dreamthing?/ Ekuar turns onto his side, very close to Rayek, his gaze dark and worried as he scrutinizes his student. Ember's eyes open more slowly, and she frowns through falling bangs, growling out, "Hush up, bug. S'wrong?" Rayek tries to roll over on his belly, to bury his face. To hide. "Don't want to think. Don't want to think. She's gone, I don't have to think, I told her, I wasn't supposed to speak with her, she's gone," he blurts muffledly, almost too fast to be understood. Ember rakes hair back, half sitting up, squinting around the little cavern. "Nobody here," she says. "No scents, except for us...?" Ekuar's eyes are fixed on Rayek still, but they seem to-- blur, somehow. Mist over, as the ancient elf reaches out with some other sense, some other talent. He is silent for a long moment... scarcely seeming to breathe. Rayek mumbles over and over, "I do not have to go. It will not help. Magic will not help, it will not heal, too much magic, I do not have to go..." Ember reaches out to brush a hand over Rayek's dark hair. "You don't have to go anywhere, airwalker. Nowhere except for on our long walk, and it'll be quiet and safe. Don't worry." Ekuar lets out his breath in a long, slow sigh, unutterably weary. His gaze goes to Ember, and he locksends to her with a deep sadness roiling under the thoughts, ** Someone else -has- been here, child. Someone's spirit. I can... sense it. ** Ember's eyes go to Ekuar, though she continues her vocal reassurances. ** The snake? ** Ekuar's single shoulder lifts very slightly, then sags again in the faintest of shrugs. ** I... do not know for certain, my dear. But few have this kind of power. And-- eh, me, I know Suntop's mind-touch would not have hurt Brownskin so. ** Ekuar scoots a little closer to Rayek, reaching out to hold one of the dark hands in his, murmuring soothing nonsense under his breath... his eyes, however, remain fixed on Ember. Rayek rambles anxiously, "She asked me to come to her for healing and said that she is my other half but it has been so long since we met and she cannot be trusted I know this I know this and the healing will not help I cannot go it will not help..." Ember's send is dark. ** The snake. Suntop wouldn't have let anybody else from the Palace send for him, even if they could from this distance. _Curse_ her! How do we keep her out of his /head/? ** Brown fingers continue to stroke over Rayek's hair, touch gentle. Ekuar's face falls even more at Rayek's rush of words, and he gives Ember a single nod. ** From his own lips... it was her. Oh, child... She's strong. I don't know if there's anyplace quiet enough to keep her away. ** Ekuar's eyes turn to Rayek, desperate and brimming with compassion, underlaid with fear. He can't let Brownskin fall... he can't. Little more of Rayek than black hair and a single shivering hand, now grasped by Ekuar, is visible under the fur beneath which he's vanished. His frantic burst of words slowly begins to dwindle into hoarse fragments: "No longer cross... can't be healed..." Ember's other hand reaches out to touch Ekuar's shoulder briefly. ** He'll be all right. He must be. Like him or not, he's ... important. ** Eyes return to the shivering form of elf under the furs, helplessly. ** I wish... I wish I had Suntop's gifts. Maybe then I could keep her out of his head... ** Ekuar slowly moves closer to Rayek's trembling shape and rests his gaunt head against it. His eyes slip closed... but before they do, they carry a look of dread, and of a terror seldom seen in the peaceful elder's face. He seems determined to do -something-... and horrified and afraid at the same time of whatever it is. Petalwing flits uncertainly over to Rayek's head, and lifts a lock of black hair to peek at the elf's face. Ekuar locksends to Ember, lightly, as if his mind is falling away down a dark well, ** I must go in after him... if only for a moment... Though I said it might do him more harm... ** Ember smiles a little, almost sadly, at the preserver, and whispers, "It's all right, Petalwing." Then she looks to Ekuar, worried, and nods. ** I'll be here, if ... I can do anything. ** Ekuar's mind whispers as it retreats to its task: ** Hold him. Hold us. Do not let us go... ** You sense in a locksend, Ekuar's mind is falling toward you, drifting light and weightless, like a feather, yet pulled inexorably down to you by the elder's own loving will. His mental caress, familiar and easy: ** Brownskin...? ** If there is one thing a wolfrider can be, it is an anchor to the physical world. Ember simply nods, having no real idea how to perform the task requested, but certain she will if she must. Rayek, drawn into the two elves' embrace, moans a little and tries to curl up again, though Ember's arm is now in the way. You locksend ** I-I-I-I told her I should not speak with her, Ekuar, I told her, I told her... ** to Ekuar. You sense in a locksend, Ekuar's mind slips around yours, warmth and weight, almost like a blanket. ** I know. Oh, my boy. I know. You did your best. ** The current of his mind seems to be almost pulling, very very gently, like a breath of wind... urging delicately toward the "surface," the physical world outside the whirling mind. ** Come out, now. Come... talk to me. Too much noise in here... ** You locksend ** I cannot go to her, she cannot help, she cannot, she wishes to heal me but I cannot be healed, healers flee from me I cannot let her, she will vanish too and... ** to Ekuar. You sense in a locksend, Ekuar's mind-touch continues to surround your own spinning thoughts, thickening, muffling, enveloping. It is as if someone has slowly put their arms around you and is easing the weight of standing from your legs, your back. Trying to lift the burden without constraining your frantic inner self. ** Healing is not what you need, no... See what a buzzing it has made in here, with only a brief visit! Come out... come out, where it is quiet... and we'll be there with you, hm? ** Rayek abruptly huddles against Ekuar, throwing his arms around the rockshaper's fragile form, and mumbling, "It will not help... it will not help..." Ember looks startled at the sudden movement, frame tensing for a moment, and she glances to Ekuar, looking for some sign as to what she ought to do. Ekuar slips his arm around Rayek and begins to rock the dark elf, gently. His eyes flicker open and find Ember. Ekuar locksends to Ember, and his mind is obviously divided, with much of it still enmeshed with Rayek's own thoughts: ** We have to bring him out. Out here, where it's quiet... Inside him, everything's tangled. Too noisy. ** You locksend to Ekuar, Rayek with the same strength that has powered the Scroll of Colors -- and which has made the Palace traverse time -- frantically grasps the offered sense of muffledness, of quiet, of blessed peace and non-thought. Don't want to think don't want to think can't think about healing it won't help -- Ekuar gasps softly, under his breath, his body tensing almost imperceptibly. Petalwing peeps timidly, /Petalwing fetch beesweets for sharpdark highthing?/ Ember nods briefly, and moves silently, barely jostling the darker elf as she curls against his back, offering simple physical contact, another reminder of the outside world, besides his arms about Ekuar, and lifts her head in worry to look at Rayek. "No, Petalwing," she murmurs, and then glances at the creature. "Then again, maybe. Something good and tasty..." Petalwing offers, /Petalwing make wrapstuff on fursoft foodthing? Petalwing bring juiceberries?/ It flits, shyly, not sure for once how to help. You sense in a locksend, Ekuar's thoughts hold you, cradle you, soothing and settling over your fevered mind like a soft new snowfall... The power with which you clutch the offering to yourself, however, cannot help but jolt him slightly. He strains for a moment, caught between two choices... giving all his power to muffle Rayek's mind, he might make this place, this limbo, an attractive place to stay. But pulling back could mean disaster. He hovers, comforting, but ever urging the thought-cocoon outward to the surface where mind-silence awaits. Ember's voice starts out soft, then raises a bit, to a more normal speaking tone. Something for Rayek to hear. "No wrapstuff, but -- berries and beesweets, aye. Would you do that, Petalwing? For Rayek?" Her arm tightens around him. "Come on back, Rayek. There's food here, soon, and it's quiet." Ekuar nods to Ember, his eyes blurring and slipping closed again, no longer able to spare any of his mind to send to her. Instead, he says hoarsely, softly: "G-good... Talk to him..." You locksend ** ** to Ekuar. Rayek finally, painfully slowly, opens his eyes; only one is visible with his face against Ekuar's thin chest. His mouth twists, and for an instant, he looks both terrified and embarrassed. "What's... what's wrong with me?" His voice is without strength, distant, dazed. You sense in a locksend, Ekuar's thoughts carry a palpable wash of relief, of approval, as they 'lift' Rayek... buoying him Outward, away from the heated buzzing and whirling down in the depths of the desert elf's spirit. His mind moves quietly, swiftly, breaking the surface and releasing Rayek's mind with a final soothing, cooling touch of Silence. Ember, at a loss for a moment, looks at Ekuar, and then, uncertainly, begins to talk. A story, about Bearclaw and stealing the human cub, interrupting herself more than once to draw comparisions between the wily old chief and the arrogant Sun Village hunter that she knew. As he speaks, her voice falls away a little, and her eyes go to Ekuar again. ** Should I stop? ** Petalwing nodnods briskly and flicks out into the night, chattering anxiously but determinedly about finding the desired treats for its favorite highthing. Ekuar's eyes open as well, and he smiles shakily. "You did well," he tells Ember. "We're back, aren't we Brownskin?" He strokes the raven hair. "You see how noisy it got in there, eh? You see why the ways of the mind, the-- eh, the magic ways, will not help?" Rayek's face turns slightly and he studies Ember throughout her story, but doesn't say a word. His expression looks bereft. Rayek mumbles tinily to Ekuar, in doleful agreement, "Magic won't help. I told Winnowill no. I cannot be healed." Ember's voice picks up again, as Rayek turns to her, and she finishes the story, much in the same way she told the tale to Goldfire when she was young, and then reaches out to touch Rayek's cheekbone with paler fingertips. "You can be healed," she disagreed. "Just not the way we're used to it, old friend." Rayek's regard turns to Ember mournfully; he doesn't interrupt her as she finishes her tale. Only when she turns to her final statement does he mutter meekly, "Healers will vanish." Ember blinks. "What?" Ekuar ahhs with faint reproof. "Brownskin, my dear, not all healers are the magic types, who might mend a broken leg like I would mend a cracked stone. Eh?" He nods toward Ember. "She and I, in our way, are healers too. And we haven't vanished." He smiles. "Nor will we." Ekuar glances at Ember, his gaze gentle but meaningful. Rayek cries, "Don't go!" and clutches at Ekuar startledly. Ekuar locksends tentatively to Ember, ** Eh... ah... Leetah, you know. Sun-Toucher and I pleaded with her to go to Brownskin at the Festival. And she came... but then she saw him, and ran. ** Ekuar ohs! He bends his head to press his cheek against Rayek. "We won't, Brownskin. Remember? I'm always with you. Never leave. Shh, there." Ember's eyes close. ** Mother, ** she replies unhappily. ** That's part of why I came to the Palace to check on him. Father seemed so angry and .. ** Ember shrugs helplessly. "We're here, Rayek." Rayek, soothed, slowly begins to settle, though his gaze still darts nervously about the tiny rock shelter. Ekuar rocks Rayek slowly. "I think that Winnowill only knows the ways of the mind, Brownskin," he says mildly. "And in that way, she-- eh-- she only makes things worse for you. Because you need -less- noise inside, you see, not more." Rayek nods, a little too rapidly, staring blankly out from Ekuar's embrace. "Need it quiet," he mumbles. Ekuar looks down at his student, his voice loving but firm. "But my dear... the right kind of quiet, hm? Not the kind where you float inside your own head forever. You've... seen a bit of what that might be like." He offers a small, warm smile. "The kind of quiet to be found out here, with Ember. With me. Eh... the quiet of walking, and hunting, and using the body. Right?" Ekuar slips his hand from around Rayek to grip the dark bicep, fingers light against the smooth muscle. Ember listens silently, brows drawn down over worried eyes. Ekuar locksends to Ember, consideringly, ** If he can bear it, it might be best if we packed and went now. He's almost too ready to-- mm, retreat back inside. ** Rayek nods again, timidly, just as Petalwing comes darting back into the shelter with a tiny Preserver armload of dark red berries. /Petalwing find juiceberries!/ it announces proudly. Ekuar laughs, his voice soft but genuinely merry. "And here's one way to use the body right now, thanks to little Petalwing!" Ember nods at Ekuar. ** Any time you want. Night is best for travel anyway. ** She grins a bit at that, suspecting the other two won't agree. "Ah. Thank you, Petalwing." Rayek offers no protest, not yet uncurling out of Ekuar's single sheltering arm. He looks almost uncomprehendingly at Petalwing, as the bug flits before him, chattering brightly, /Sharpdark highthing have juiceberries now?/ Ekuar's hand smoothes across the tense dark shoulder. "Eat something, Brownskin," he urges. "Taste what the Preserver's brought, hm? They look delicious." Rayek, now that the rockshaper has gently directed him, studies Petalwing and its armload as the bug happily lights on the furs beside the elves. It drops its load and sends the big speckled berries bouncing against the nearest elf limbs. Ember chuckles. "Thanks, bug," she says, and lifts one of the berries, offering it on the tips of fingers to Rayek. "Eat," she encourages. "They're good." Petalwing grabs a berry too, and flits right for Rayek's mouth, giggling. /Petalwing feed sharpdark highthing!/ Ekuar's eyes twinkle as he watches the solicitous Preserver. "And after him, you can, eh, feed me!" He opens his mouth trustingly, like a baby bird. Rayek stares, perhaps warily, up at the bug and Ember. As Petalwing is closer, it succeeds in getting its berry to him, first; Rayek bites at it, hesitantly, then chews. His gaze remains, all the while, wounded and limpid. Ember grins, pulling her hand back slightly, then laughs and pops her berry into Ekuar's mouth. Petalwing giggles again and promptly flits to get another berry to feed the oldold moverock highthing! Ekuar chews and savors the fruit, winking at Ember. "Well! When we agreed you'd help feed us on this walk, I hadn't imagined you'd do it with your own pretty hand!" Ember smiles and steals another berry, offering this one to Rayek again, with a grin towards Ekuar. "Whatever suits," she chuckles. "I could even chew it, if you really wanted me to." Rayek's gaze settles on Ember's hand, as if the movement of her long, brown fingers abruptly captivates him. Then, strangely, he frowns. Ember tilts her head down at Rayek. "Airwalker? You all right?" Ekuar's hand begins to move up and down Rayek's shoulder, warm and reassuring. He chuckles. "I've seen that, among wolves and Wolfriders. I always think it's touching." Ember, absently, says, "Softens the food for the cubs. Much easier. And sometimes it'll take poisons out, too." Her eyes on on Rayek, curious. Rayek mutters, "I... I thought... something familiar... I do not remember." Petalwing beams, holding up a berry. /Sharpdark highthing know berries!/ Ekuar tilts his head fondly at Rayek. "Let the huntress feed you, Brownskin, maybe the sweetness will help you, eh, remember." Ekuar licks a dab of berry juice off a corner of his own thin lip. Ember touches Rayek's nose with the tip of one finger, then offers the berry again. "It'll come to you later, Rayek. Don't worry about it." Rayek looks bemusedly at Ember, then, forehead furrowed. Ember smiles at Rayek, arching an eyebrow curiously, and waves the berry under his nose. Rayek nods, shyly then. "Alright..." Ekuar's eyes lift to Ember's face, scanning her with affection and a faint sparkle of serene hope. Ember's eyebrows crinkle. "All right, what? Shall I feed you the berry or not?" Her voice is teasing. "I'm getting juice on my fingers." Rayek blushes, just a hint, then lifts his hand to take the berry. Ekuar awwws. "It's much more fun when she feeds you herself," he says happily. "Trust old Ekuar, I know." Ember chuckles, handing the berry over, then licking her fingers. ** I don't think I've ever seen him blush before, ** she sends absently to Ekuar, then laughs. Rayek stares at his hand for a moment, at the place where Ember's stained fingers brushed his, then distractedly eats that berry. Ember picks up another berry, tossing it lightly in her palm. "Compromise," she suggests to Rayek. "I'll feed you this one and make Ekuar happy?" Ekuar sends in return to Ember, thoughtfully, ** He does blush, when there's been a mark put in his shell... Something about you, pretty child, that's helping do that. Something... ** The send trails off into a pleasant and introspective muzziness. Ember's sending is something of a snort. ** I look like mother, that's all. ** Rayek, at the suggestion that Ekuar needs to be made happy -- even if it was made in jest -- blinks. His eyes widen a little, then he nods to Ember hastily. Ekuar's shoulder moves slightly against Rayek in what might be a shrug. He sends to Ember, absently, ** There are village maidens who resemble her, eh, more closely... in body. It's something more. ** Ember blinks at herself, and grins, reaching out to pop the berry into Rayek's mouth lightly. ** True enough. I don't exactly have her curves, do I? ** She winks at Rayek. "There." Rayek chews, and swallows, silently. Ekuar smiles conspiratorially at Ember for a moment, then looks back to Rayek. "Now then, my dear. How do you feel? Eh-- do you feel you could bear for us to pack and walk again?" Rayek starts, then, swallowing the last, and another as Petalwing feeds him the remaining one. When that's eaten, he blinks, and mutters, "A-as you wish..." Ekuar laughs, very softly, almost soundlessly. His eyes gleam with fondness. "Brownskin... My only wish is for you to be happy and whole, and by my side. If you'd rather rest here longer, then we can do that." He looks into Rayek's eyes, inquiringly. "My question is, dear one: how does the body feel? Rested? Ready to walk? Or painful, and-- mm, in need of rest?" Ekuar adds, low: "Perhaps with the... visitor, you did not get the sleep you needed." You say "I... I... slept strangely..." Ekuar prompts carefully, "Will you tell me?" Rayek looks frightenedly between his two companions. "I do not remember..." Ekuar mms, and nods slowly. "It must be down deep, tangled in the noise." His hand caresses Rayek's shoulder. "Don't worry. It'll float up when you're able. Did... Did Winnowill interrupt your sleep, break into your dream?" You say "I... I think so... I... do not know... I..." Ekuar looks down at Rayek, his eyes liquid and gentle. "Brownskin... I have an idea, eh, about how I might help if anyone tries to make more noise inside your head. Like she did. But... I need your permission, hm?" Rayek blinks, and peers at Ekuar unsurely. You say "What... what do you mean?" Ekuar says softly, musingly, "It's only this. While we're asleep, I could try to rest my mind with yours. Like the blanket, you see? Some part of me sitting quietly with you. So that if she-- if someone-- came into your mind, I would know." He gives a quiet sigh. "It's hard, otherwise... you might be so deep within yourself that you couldn't, eh, wake me to tell me someone was there." He smiles. "I'm looking after you. But if anything about this displeases you, it's all right. I won't insist." He coils a strand of smooth hair around his skeletal fingers. Rayek blurts out, "You... you will keep it quiet in my head? Silent? But you will not go?" His speech grows a little quicker, a little more anxious. Ekuar pulls Rayek against him for a moment, speech catching in his throat at the pure emotion in the plaintive words. He closes his eyes tight, and when he opens them they glisten with brimming tears. Ember watches silently, almost curiously. Ekuar coughs slightly, to clear his voice. "I won't go," he promises solemnly, as he has before. "No matter what, I'm with you." He smoothes the dark hair back from Rayek's brow. "And at night, I could-- eh, do my poor best to keep it quiet. To be with you, silent and soft. Hm?" Rayek nods, quickly, pleadingly, clasping at Ekuar's shoulders. Ekuar strokes Rayek's temple gently. "I'll do whatever I can, then... As long as you remember this. Eh... remember that we mustn't wrap you up so soft and tight on the inside that you'd rather stay there and never come out. You must always come back out to us. All right, dear one?" He blinks away an unshed tear, which trickles from the corner of his eye, and then he smiles. Rayek, feeling his throat tighten, mumbles huskily, "I... will try.... I will try..." Ekuar rocks Rayek back and forth, steady as a heartbeat. "I know you'll try, indeed," he says soothingly. "And I'll be there to help you. We'll manage it." Rayek mumbles, anguished, "What's... wrong with me? I'm... not supposed to... I'm not supposed to be like this..." Ember, softly, says, "I think you're tired, Rayek. It's been too long since you've ... " Gone into wolfsong, is how Ember thinks of it. "Since you've let yourself ... play. You just need rest." Rayek frowns tensely. "Play," he mumbles, wonderingly. "I... do not know if I have ever..." Ekuar clicks his tongue, swaying backward and forward very slightly as he cradles Rayek. His voice is feather-soft. "Supposed to? Supposed to, oh, sweet Brownskin. Chase those words from your mind. Hm?" He nods to Ember. "Listen to her. She comes to the truth of it. You've fallen a long way-- and now, eh, there's a long journey ahead as you return to yourself. And along the way, you'll be many things. Feel many things." Ember reaches out a hand to the darker elf, to clasp it on his shoulder firmly. "Maybe it's time you learned, then. You and Ekuar and I, we'll see if we can't teach you how to have some fun, 'Brownskin'." Rayek wrinkles one eyebrow at hearing Ekuar's name for him out of Ember's mouth, but seems to relax. A little. Ekuar adds, after Rayek's mumble: "You'll re-find yourself. Rebuild yourself. You'll discover new things and choose to hold on to them." He brightens at Ember's statement, and bobs his head, his thin arm firm around Rayek's back. Ember smiles at Rayek, green sparkling in blue eyes. "It'll be all right," she promises. Rayek sucks in a breath, then, seeming as wary as a young hawk trying previously unused feathers, he nods slowly. [End log.]