"I won't do it Mate." Toni snapped, gring over at Surrender and Pipuck who sat some ways away talking.

  "I won't make you." Temate said, sitting down next to her, not reaching for her just watching her. She gred at him for a long while, urging him to go away. Eventually, she rexed, his presence did that to her, made her feel safer, bolder.

  "It wasn't your fault." He said in a ft, matter of fact tone which made Toni bristle.

  "I don't know what you mean." She gred back again. She waited for his response, but once again he just watched her. Legs crossed, arms on the ground either side of his legs. Eventually she began to rex again.

  "His death isn't your fault." He said, she froze up. He was waiting for her to rex!? That's- that's... That's cruel!

  "Of course it's not!" She spit at him, more than she should have sure, of course it wasn't her fault! "And don't you wait for me to rex again to continue or I swear-" She pointed a finger at him and he held up a hand.

  "Why are you so protective of it then?" He asked.

  "Because I was told we could bring him back, pnt it or something, and I'm just... waiting." Toni felt the seed in the bag. On a metaphysical level sure, but she could feel it. She was promised she could bring him back and she owed Jake that. If she hadn't been so... so petty.

  "Death is a fire, burnt to coal. From which old fme may not be known." Temate spoke slowly looking up and away from her.

  "What?" She asked, confused as much as angry.

  "In the twilight of life, when essence falters. Reignite the hearth, rebirth the soul." He continued, looking down at her as he finished.

  "What was that?" It sounded familiar to Toni and she eyed Temate up and down. What was his angle here.

  "That's the chant the Righ used to make the seed. I believe he also said-" Temate tilted his head in that way he always did when remembering something. "-Loss is loss, even here that's true. But from his verdure, new fruit may bloom." With that Temate looked at her.

  "So?" She narrowed her eyes. "Your point?"

  "Sounds to me like he, it, they, the Righ was saying that even he couldn't bring Jake back, but the seed is meant for exactly something like this." Temate motioned around them, to the flowing field of fruits, vegetables, and other pnts. "Where else would you pnt a seed but a garden? A nursery. New life Toni."

  Toni looked at him, mind gone bnk at the implication. "N-no, the Righ said-" she cut off, trying to remember. It had said they could bring Jake back right? That was the whole point of the seed, to bring him back, fix her mistake. Make i-

  Her mistake?

  "It's not your fault." Temate said again. She looked at him, confused now more than hurt.

  "I-I know that but..." Her mistake? She hadn't made him come along, she hadn't been the one who pnned a sneaky camping date by paying off all their friends. He'd made those choices and yet.

  "So why do you think it is?" Temate pointed out and Toni's heart stopped.

  "Why..." Why did she think it was her mistake? Her fault? Because she didn't confront him? She was- a fist thumped her shoulder gently.

  "No trailing off now. Talk to me little T." Temate smiled softly at her and she couldn't help but ugh at that. After she ughed some of her stress away she looked at him again. He saw right through her, watched her every motion. Toni was confident in her ability to read people, to understand them.

  So what did that make someone like Temate who seemed to just read her very heart and know her every need?

  "How did you... know?" She asked him.

  "He was your friend. He followed you. He called out to you and you stayed with me." Temate reached a hand out to her, the regur arm. "There's not a sane person in the world who wouldn't bme themselves at least a little."

  She looked down at his hand and reached out to take it. A small spark nded in the palm before she could, coming to a rest, pulsing like a heart beat. She ughed and wiped away her tears. Tears? When had she-

  A huge set of arms enveloped her as Temate grabbed her and pulled her into a deep bear hug. She didn't sob, it wasn't that kind of sadness, it was softer than that. The pain of acknowledging something you were afraid to tell yourself. A truth that was buried deep in a wound you hadn't realized you'd taken.

  It reminded Toni of the first time she'd had a breakthrough with her therapist. When she'd acknowledged that yes, it had been as bad as she'd convinced herself it wasn't. She hadn't been sobbing then, but she'd been mad, convinced herself of something that wasn't true. Though that time it had still been deeper, a much heavier wound than this.

  This didn't get to settle deep, and Temate. She pressed her face into his shoulder and spoke quietly.

  "Fuck. Told you I wasn't broken and here I am bein a broken mess." She mumbled.

  "Nah. You're not broken, you're chipped. The question is now that you've seen the chip, are you gonna let it break you?" He whispered back.

  That. That was what she needed. She took several deep breaths, collecting herself and drying her tears. It wasn't her fault. No more than Temate getting injured had been.

  Yet.

  "It still feels like I owe him." She said, leaning away from Temate. "Why?" She mulled it over herself, half expecting Temate to level some mad revetion at her.

  "From what you've told me he had some pn to get you alone there, but you went along with it. Why?" Temate asked and though confused Toni answered.

  "I was gonna get him to come out into the woods unprepared, then 'go to the bathroom' and ditch him out there. Let him suffer a bit." She admitted. It had been a petty pn, but she'd grown tired of that behavior. If he made a big deal out of it, she'd cut him off entirely.

  "Mmm. So you could have just cancelled and refused to go but didn't? He was only there because you went along with it?" Temate asked and Toni nodded.

  "This isn't helping Mate." She snapped, it really wasn't. If anything she felt more guilty now!

  Temate nodded slowly. "It was petty and childish and stupid." Temate chastised her.

  "He'd been doing this for years!" She jabbed a finger at him. "I wanted to punish him!"

  "But not kill him." Temate said ftly.

  "OF COURSE NOT! He was an idiot not a monster!" She shouted.

  "But he died." Temate said, still ft and straightforward.

  "Yes! YES HE DID! And it was my fault!"

  "Mhmm. You called off all your friends." Temate said. Toni paused.

  "Well... No, Jake did that but-"

  "And you forced him to follow you into the woods." Temate cut her off and she narrowed her eyes.

  "No. I fucking didn't and you know that, you were there." She hissed.

  "Right, so you made him chase us when we followed Pip then?" Temate asked.

  Toni blinked. "Well no. He followed us."

  "Okay, so that was also his choice not yours. What about when he gave up and ran away? Did you make him stop following us in that in between space?"

  "No! He tried to stop me from following but I was just scared and clinging to you!" Toni growled.

  "Huh. So. You didn't make him get rid of your friends." Temate held up a finger and began counting off as he went. "You didn't make him agree to come with us. You didn't make him follow us. You didn't make him run away." Temate snapped his fingers and feigned realization.

  "Oh I know! You shot him!" Temate excimed smiling softly.

  "What?! NO! The woods killed him!" Toni pointed out seriously.

  "Huh. So how is this your fault?" Temate asked her.

  "It's-" Oh. Toni stopped for a second, then continued. "not my fault." When he pointed all that out.

  "You felt responsible, because you saw all the things, all the choices, that you made or did which brought him there." Temate pointed out. "It's something people do a lot. See only their choices. Assume that being responsible means you were in control."

  Toni leaned back, looking at Temate who just stared directly into her eyes.

  "Really?" Toni asked, dumbly. Temate nodded to her.

  "Really. You didn't control him, he was a grown man. You have some responsibility. We all do in any thing we're involved in, you choose to get involved or not and how." Temate expined with near robotic precision. It was strange to Toni, as if he was quoting a manual which for all she knew he was.

  "But you did not control his actions, unless you shot him, directly taking choice away from him, it's not your fault. Most importantly, you owe him nothing. He's dead." Toni saw Temate's face darken again for a moment before he schooled it.

  "That's. A little sad and cold." She said without thinking about it. "Ah- I mean..." She started to expin but stopped when Temate shook his head and chuckled.

  "You're right. I also don't fully believe that. You cared for him, he was your friend even if he sounded like a shit friend to me." Temate looked up at the sky above, in the distance Toni heard a bit of thunder rumbling. Absentmindedly she realized it hadn't rained here since they'd arrived.

  "So what do you believe." Toni asked him and Temate looked at her again.

  "If you feel responsible, if you care for someone, your duty is to carry a part of them with you. 'Everyone in life has a story and a lesson. Listen and learn so yours can become richer.'" He said that st part with a sad yet loving smile and Toni couldn't help but return it.

  "Who's that quote from?" She asked.

  "My great-grandfather. Before he passed, it's the st thing he told me on his deathbed." Temate's smile saddened, but also grew more loving. It was a strange expression and Toni reached up to hug him this time. She pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek.

  "He sounds like an amazing man." She told him and he nodded as his hand held her again. They sat there like that for awhile until a soft spark nded on Temate's p. Toni looked at it and came to a decision.

  She reached over into her bag and slowly brought out the wrapped bundle of cloth with the seed in the middle. She grabbed Temate's hand and was satisfied to see him blink in surprise. She unfolded the seed and pced it in his hand, as she wrapped hers up with his.

  "We can't be having kids right now, obviously." She whispered and moved their hands towards the small wisp which flitted up and away as they approached. "But maybe we can create a life of some kind."

  Temate was watching her, she could see him from the corner of her eye as she held their hands, and the seed, out to the spark. He turned to watch with her as the small, soft spark, dull compared to it's siblings, slowly spun around their hands. It was actually quite pretty all things considered.

  The small spark was almost a perfect sphere. No rger than a marble with a soft glow, a perfect little bead of white surrounded by orange. It honestly seemed like the embers from a campfire clinging to a small cloud. Cautiously it drifted into their hand, appearing to nd on the seed, rolling around it's exterior.

  If Toni could personify the spark it seemed zy, but cautious. As if it didn't trust what was being offered. As Toni watched a small trail of purple and yellow dust flowed across their hands carried by some breeze. They glimmered in the afternoon light making the scene shine as they did.

  The spark seemed to rex atop the seed and sank into it. Toni felt something in her heart, like a wound healing. A warmth that filled her with pride and confidence that she'd done the right thing. She smiled and looked up to Temate who smiled back at her. Their hands csped around the seeds.

  It was such an innocent gesture, such a pure loving one, holding hands. The joke was that it was the lewdest thing a person could do and Toni felt there was more to it than that. In some ways, holding a person's hand was so obscenely intimate in a way that not even sex was.

  Toni and Temate pressed together and began to kiss slowly. Not the possessive kiss they'd shared time and again in bed, or the hungry one's they'd shared occasionally. It was pure, it was a way of saying 'we are one' without having to say it really. It was love, Toni knew that. She also knew she would have considered anybody who told her they were in love within a month of meeting someone crazy.

  "Ow!" She hissed. "Don't grip me so hard." His hand was squeezing hers firmly, she looked at him and saw his face pained.

  "I was about to tell you that." They both looked at each other, then together looked down to their entwined hands.

  Thick roots were spreading out from between their hands. Wrapping around them and pulling them tightly together, growing. They gasped, the seed was growing as they watched, thick roots snaking along their arms and around their hands. Toni shouted in a panic and saw Temate's eyes flicking through options.

  "Rex." Toni heard from beside them. She looked over and saw Taure standing there. A small palm full of purple and yellow glimmering in her hand. She blew it and the dust flew out and along their hands. The roots did not let loose but simply grew more firmly.

  "Rex, it's crushing our hands Taure! What's happening!" Toni yelped as the roots continued running up her arm.

  "You gave it the shell, it is trying to honor that I believe. Preparing the seeding."

  "What does that mean?" Temate grunted, less perturbed by the pain. He even seemed to be rexed some.

  "The spark chooses its form." Was all she said, strangely cryptic for the small girl as she grinned.

  "Is it gonna kill us?" Toni asked, worry clear in her tone.

  "Oh no, though it might hurt." Taure giggled and blew her dust once more.

  "What is that?" Toni asked trying to distract herself as the roots grew thicker, up above her elbow now.

  "Mmm, a mess of things. Kindness, determination, trust, gratefulness. Everything good I could get from your talk." She answered. "I am sharing what you feel with the spark."

  "A-ah are you s-sure this is safe!" Toni grimaced as the roots tightened around her shoulder and chest, some extending up to touch her face. Then, without warning, they retreated back into the csped hands of the two lovers.

  "Yes." Taure replied, as she nodded towards their hand. "Now follow me, we'll get the other Trevad and make it a bed of its own." Taure turned and began to head away. Temate released Toni's hand and Toni saw the seed. A small sprout peeked out of the crack, small roots tangled together out of the bottom.

  They followed Taure as she went around the nursery. Slowly she gathered the others and in a small corner of the nursery where only moss grew, they began to work. Nijij and Oro prepared the soil. A person Toni had not seen yet, a proper centaur but with a deers body, cast some sort of magic on the space.

  Power flowed from her antlers as she chanted, words Toni did not know but understood. Words of protection, of connection and care. The space and soil grew warm and moist as Toni watched. Thares came over and lead Toni and Temate to the soil. Together they lowered it into the soil.

  "In this [Still Seeding] ground, [Life's Bounty] be found. [Evergreen] life may [Life Abound]." Thares spoke as she helped them pce the seed gently into the soil. [Power] Toni realized. Not as she'd seen so far. These were not warriors, they were gardeners, caretakers of life. They did not gain [Power] which made them burn their enemies, or carve their flesh.

  They brought life. They... Is this what [Power] could be? I mean she had [Power]'s which leaned toward less combat stuff, but she'd only really thought about how they might evolve into combat ones. But why did that have to be the case. Toni looked at Thares who smiled softly at her.

  "We will watch over it. The seed is full of life, and with these [Power]s it should grow quickly." She nodded toward Temate. "By the time you return to the Grand Ceil, and complete speaking with It, we shall have a vessel prepared for you to take with you."

  Temate nodded back to Thares. "Thank you Thares." He told her and Toni replied the same.

  "No. Thank you. This seed is special, I did not want to pressure you into allowing this, but I dearly hoped you might. This greenling will be great some day, I know it. Promise to return with them here someday when they are grown, to know their people." Thares looked between Toni and Temate.

  Together they answered. "Of course, Thares."

  It took Toni awhile before she felt comfortable leaving. Thares had to expin how they'd care for it and watch over it three times over. How they'd transport it, what the vessel they'd make for it would be like. She only stopped when they heard Kea scream.

  Force2reckon