Around the shaman’s fire

JP with Lucian, Winteroak and Bandorchu

Tarmen had taken the time alone to gather his thoughts.
There was a lot he didn’t like about this whole thing and it was making him restless. Being stuck in a foreign landscape was one thing he had been ignoring this whole time, but he was finding it harder to ignore.
Everywhere else had been similar to a place back home, but these sands were utterly unknowable to him and it was…..
He had to slap himself to keep that thought at bay, but it still left him chilled despite the heat. Plus, he had Alexis to worry about, following her to the shamans camp after a silent afternoon.
Despite his previous gruffness towards the boy, he still gave a small bow, in the end appreciating the aid given.

The young boy spooned some of the soup until some wooden bowls, tore a few chunks of bread and passed it on to Alexis and Tarmen, before tucking into his own fare.

The stars were coming out and the light fading, not as fast as in winter, but fading nonetheless.

He looked up at the sky.
"Do you see the same stars when you look up where you come from?" He asked curiously.

Sniffing at the meal, Tarmen tried a small spoon. No sense of poison, though he guessed he would know for sure later.
The boy’s question gave him an excuse to set his bowl down, looking at the night sky with a hint of longing.
“More or less.”
He quickly sobered himself to ask his host a more direct question.
“Would you mind explainin’ your interest in my friend? Haven’t been the most subtle about it.”

The boy looked at Tarmen and shrugged casually. "You needed help. It felt like right thing to do." He answered dipping a chunk of bread into the soup before taking it to his mouth.
"Plus you would end up loosing face and time searching for the young girl.”

"Why do you say that?" The boy asked looking at Tarmen, cocking his head slightly to the side.

“You said we would lose time searchin’ for her. Most times that talk means there won’t be a search at all.”
Again with that look. Like the boy was an old man merely acting the role of a curious innocent.

"She's long gone. She's answered the call. You would not have found her." He tried to explain. "Her parents simply aren't ready to understand that. Yet."

“Not even her body?”

Alexis asked quietly.
Painful as that would be for the parents, at least they would know. Alexis knew she would want to know. She was traveling up and down a foreign continent getting herself caught up in divine schemes because she didn’t.

"She answered an ancient call." The young shaman tried to explain before looking away in surprise at the air above Alexis head. For a few moments he looked on before smiling and touching his hand to his forehead and chest. He looked back at the two. "For many other families this would feel like a great honour. But her parents don't believe such things..." He explained.