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For once, Eshwlyn found herself the last to awaken the very next morning, rousing bemusingly to the sounds of jovial laughter, as well as a strong savory fragrance that had her stomach roaring with yearning.

Lenora, once again, partaking in one of her recently preferred pastimes, could be heard almost deafeningly over a simmer and a boil – and right beside her, almost just as boisterous, Terra could be seen trying yet ultimately failing to embolden the crackling flames, producing only meager sparks with a flick of her wrist.

Following the loud commotion and the tantalizing swirl of ‘cooking, Eshwlyn clambered out of the burrow and greeted the pair outside with bleary, restless eyes.

Before she could even muster a yawn, the Elf then found herself suddenly staving off the heat from her palms as her sprightly little sister too eagerly thrust a bowl into her hands.

“Mend’stat, mend’stat Eshwlyn!” Lenora urged and demand with an overwhelming keen smile. “Niz – Hem, lyre, Nes’nan remim lent to!”

“It’s just stew, don’t let her excite you, it’s really nothing special,” Terra said, blowing soot and ash away from deeply charred fingers. “It’s the same one you made me a few days before... just a bit of boar, a bit of hare, elk, added in some spices, herbs, the things you must have forgotten... basically the same, just a bit better.”

.....

But the sardonic look Lenora threw toward her almost seemed to oust her claims as pure lies.

“What is the term you humans use again for things like these?” She asked, thinking for a moment. “Being humble, yes? You are being too humble. This is different, this is much better! Producing new flavors from just grinding plants and flowers? How do you know to do such things?”

“Well, it’s either learn how or eat raw disgusting meat for the rest of our existence, sickening...” She said, then very quickly, a little panickedly added. “Not that it’s sickening when you do it, of course! It’s um, it’s normal... natural... ahem... circle of life...”

Whatever it was the human was exasperatedly spouting, Lenora seemed to have taken it in stride and with a smile.

Truly, it was a scene almost too outlandish to be true, Human and Elf intermingling, and yet it was a scene that just simply and steadily grew more common as the days went by, as well as a scene she found herself willingly partaking in increasingly... even right then... tilting the contents of the bowl into her lips without even so much as a thought of reluctance.

Pride and ego didn’t dare reveal to the human her utter satisfaction as an explosion of flavor and taste flooded her mouth whole in a warm cascading torrent into the back of her throat. Once started, she found herself unable to stop, unwilling to – downing and swallowing more and more until there was just simply nothing more left to devour.

But once again, as she tilted and lowered the bowl away from her lips, a detached expression exceptionally disguised the absolute pleasure swirling beneath her unfeeling eyes.

“You... human....” She inquired directly. “You no... go... h-home?”

“Ahh, mmm, about that...” Terra said, sighing, her tiny sparks still failing to rekindle the rapidly decaying flame. “As you can see, I still have a ways to go until I’m fully rehabilitated, but – don’t worry, I’ll be out of your hair soon enough, okay?”

“Fortzmor localn, Eshwlyn,” Lenora summed up for convenience. “Jet’im... jet’im, na?”

“Jet’im...” Eshwlyn repeated, muttered, before hunkering deep back inside the burrow.

Soon, she’ll leave. Soon, she’ll be gone. Whether it be today, yesterday, surely it didn’t matter – soon she’ll be gone, she tried to herself. But when she awoke to the sound of loud snores in the early morning of the ninth day, it took every fiber of self-restraint not to toss her back out into the swampy mangroves where they first found her and simply have her fend for herself.

In an attempt to alleviate her annoyance, Eshwlyn retreated back into her usual training grounds, except, instead of tempering her might, she spent the entirety of the morning sun honing her blade, her dexterity, her grace, finding new ways, new forms to channel her aggression without any more reckless abandon.

It was the most amusing thing – not even in a hundred winters’ passing would she ever imagine herself clenching the steel of a human weapon, and much less... garnering so much interest... the very same object of many of her kinds’ countless demise.

“Oh, practicing again, are we?” spoke a voice above the familiar rustle of bushes, before Terra emerged, already ready with a sturdy branch in her hand waving high in the air. “Mind if I join? I need to get my strength back up too, after all.”

It was the woman’s influence... the human influence... that took these cardinal sins... items of unbridled contempt... customs worthy of nothing but scorn... somehow she’s made them all seem... acceptable to behold.

“Oh, bear in mind – I won’t go easy on you this time,” proclaimed a rousing confidence in the human’s inflection, pointing the sharpened end of the stick toward her in challenge. “Though I’d much prefer if you still go easy on me regardless.”

Yes, this was all the woman’s doing, the woman’s scheming – why all of sudden, she didn’t mind at all accepting the human’s offer, why she took great pains to try and mitigate her strikes rushing forward, constantly reminding myself to dull her strength as they clashed... to not hurt the woman... harm the human... indeed... it had to be her doing.

On the tenth day, much of it was spent loitering beneath familiar grounds, no matter what the occasion or activity, the human seemed unable but to get involved in their daily affairs, to teach them, educate them on more efficient methods.

And it was due to her unwelcome assistance that their meals would always taste delectable and fresh, why their woolen garbs no longer tore and unravel only a fair few days of use, and the sole reason why their burrow was no longer infested with insects that have seeped from the cracks.

The eleventh, the fourteenth... in time... she had even lost count... always something more to teach, always something more to learn... and it was almost as if the longer she lingered... the more tolerable her presence became.

Her sounds, her noises, her snores... especially her snores... she had to learn to tolerate them... perhaps, on a good day, welcome them even.

Much to her surprise as well, Eshwlyn realized her grasp on the human language had been steadily improving listening to her and Lenora converse for seemingly hours on end at a time. More words were beginning to sound familiar, long sentences didn’t take ages for her to comprehend them, and though she couldn’t yet form complete sentences of her own... it was still a step forward.

Yet if it was in the right or wrong direction, however – she left that ponder undecided.

Then one day, as the beginning winds of winter breezed an early caution upon the land, slowly freezing the flowing streams stagnant, stripping the lush trees of their then already wilting leaves – that the day itself finally arrived.

That evening, cloaked in a properly-stitched mantle of wolf pelt, Terra nimbly emerged from the burrow’s entrance, standing before a darkening horizon and setting her sights even further beyond.

“Alright,” She proclaimed, her breath shivering in the constant chilling breeze. “Time for me to head back to where I belong.”

Eshwlyn spared her only a single glance of acknowledgement, too busy stoking the flames and stirring the pot of tonight’s lavish meal, a meal of celebration – of farewell. A meal, for once, that was fit only for two.

“No goodbyes? no hugs, kisses?” Terra shook her head, her deep, long sigh feigning disappointment. “I know you don’t like me, but a little bit of courtesy would be nice...”

That’s when a cheery voice echoed far from the meadow, approaching closer. “If it’s courtesy you want, you won’t get any from her! Eshwlyn, Nes’nam Golik’thur mor, kos divlur?”

Eshwlyn merely continued to stir. “Nil.”

“There you have it, no courtesy from my stubborn big sister,” Lenora dashed past the swaying flowers, crossing the distance, before, in an instant, clinging tightly onto Terra’s in an almost crushing embrace. “But with me, you’ll get courtesy plenty! Hugs, goodbyes... kisses even if you want to...”

Normally such a sight before her would aggravate her to no end, but just as with everything else as of late, the instinct of hostility seemed to have only dwindled as time went on.

Terra let out a chuckle, lowering herself on bent knees to level with the little Elf’s kindly expression, “Not necessary if I ever hope to live a little longer. I’ll just make do with a hug goodbye, thank you.”

Then, with a green luster growing brighter, Lenora raised both her hands forward, revealing a meticulously-made crown of flowers draped loosely between her fingers, “Would you at least settle for a goodbye present too?”

“Oh, wow...” almost unable to restrain her smile from growing wider, Terra took the crown, and giddily placed it atop her long, flowing raven locks. “What heartless monster would say no to that,” then sounded another giggle, taking the little elf in another embrace. “Or say no to you for that matter?”

“I’m going to miss you...”

“And I, you, you adorable little thing,” assured the human, lightly running her fingers in her snowy-white strands. “Despite this being the most bizarre thing to ever happen to me in my life – I’ve never had more of an enjoyable or learning experience than being here with you.”

Then, catching the glint of an even brighter, shaper green across from her, Terra added, “And yes, that also includes you – you big grump over there. We might not have always seen eye-to-eye, you might have also wanted to kill me a couple of times... regardless, even if you do sometimes still frighten me to death... I wouldn’t hesitate to call someone like you... especially someone like you... a dear friend.”

Friend. A new word. A kind word. Perhaps the last word she’ll ever learn in her presence.

Good riddance.