I Thought I Outgrew This|Skyheort, Talen'sul

[Darastrix]

Nathan stepped closer to Mina and put his arms around her. "So do I."

At least where Etaf was concerned, there was the chance of things eventually making good sense. He wasn't so sure that would be the case with Soahc.

"I guess all we can really do is wait and see."

[Kender Bard]

That night and the next day were uneventful. Then a week passed, and still nothing. Mina began to wonder if perhaps it had been... a mistake? A quirk?

And then she received a vision again. Luckily, she wasn't doing anything but washing laundry. Her blank-eyed gaze drew some odd looks and concerned comments from the other wives, but nothing worse. When it was over, she hurried home and wrote down what she'd seen. It was a little more than before, but still overall rather confusing.

When she saw Nathan again, after Astrophel had been fed and was playing quietly with some wooden blocks, she commented, softly, "I may need to visit my brethren over this."

[Darastrix]

That would make her be gone for about a week. Nathan didn't like the idea, mainly because he didn't like Mina traveling so far alone, but he supposed it could be worse.

"Do you think it's that serious?" he murmured.

[Kender Bard]

"I saw another vision," Mina said, rubbing her hands together a little, frowning in concentration as she recalled what she'd seen. "It was about the same as before but the man mentioned the 'dream' a few more times again. He seemed a little distressed. But I'm still clueless, and I don't want to keep getting harassed by visions until I can figure it out."

[Darastrix]

You knew what the last visions were about, and you still had them until we finally ran into the man, he thought.

"Anything to get this over with quickly, I suppose," Nathan murmured. "But I still don't like the thought of you having to travel alone to get to this place. Especially this time of year, with the thaw coming on so fast."

[Kender Bard]

"I'll be safe," Mina assured him with a small smile. She looked nervous a moment before adding, in a hushed whisper, "I shouldn't tell you this, but I trust you and I want to put your mind at ease. I'd be doing relatively little overland travel. Much of the trip takes place underground."

[Darastrix]

Nathan gave a little shiver at the idea of traveling underground, a loose feather fluttering to the floor at the movement. "If traveling like that doesn't bother you," he said, keeping his voice quiet, "then I'm glad for it. I wouldn't want to make a trip like that, myself."

[Kender Bard]

"I don't like it," she admitted, reaching and picking up the feather from where it fell. "But I know it's very safe and I'd rather be safe and uncomfortable than in the open and uncomfortable with fear and worry anyway."

[Darastrix]

Nathan nodded. "At least it's safe. I just...you know. Underground. Something like a basement isn't bad, it's just the idea of travel like that. It just doesn't seem natural."

[Kender Bard]

"It doesn't feel natural," Mina agreed with a small smirk. "But I've done it a few times before and one more won't cripple me or anything. It's why I can travel so quickly too." She gave him a quick hug. "Everything will be okay."

[Darastrix]

I hope so.

"Maybe all it'll be is some small thing that will take little time to finish," Nathan said. "Maybe just finding them and getting an interpretation with the dream like you did for that priest's vision."

[Kender Bard]

"Possibly," Mina remarked, brightening. "It's actually what I'm hoping on. I have a theory, but I want to confirm it with some other priests. You see, unlike most Etafian priests, I went voluntarily into the church. More often than not, I'm told, people are called to the vocation. I've heard that often another priest will arrive to bring one into the fold. Maybe that's what this is; Etaf wishes me to bring a lucky individual into her care."

[Darastrix]

Nathan raised his brows in surprise; he hadn't known that. From what he knew of Etaf, though, it made some sense. And just because Mina's other series of visions was about something dangerous didn't mean that this one had to be.

"It sounds like a reasonable guess to me," he said, smiling a little. "This might even be finished before the year is out in that case."

[Kender Bard]

"That'd be wonderful," Mina said with a small smile. "I'll go next week. Don't worry about Astrophel; I can arrange for one of the Etafians to look after him while you're at work if you like."

[Darastrix]

"I'd appreciate it," Nathan said. "I could get someone from the guild to watch him, but from day to day, you never really know when someone's going to end up with an engagement."