Interesting Times

It had been a VERY long day.

After retrieving the troll lord's heart, they had wasted no time in fleeing the small town into the wooded swamps, hoping that their activities would not be discovered for a few hours at least. Despite their good intentions, there was no guarantee that Hrarforn would feel as though they had done him a service. So they had fled. A run through what remained of the night and a long hike through the day had hopefully been enough to lose whatever pursuers they had.

"I'm getting too old for this..." Tok said to his teammates as he stretched his back. They had finally stopped to camp for the night and most everyone seemed to be feeling the rough pace and lack of sleep.

"When Lady Kumiho graciously took me into her service, I had envisioned a life of quiet politicking and study. Suffice to say it has been far more... interesting... so far."

Isha smiled quietly at his comments. "What do you think this is, if not study?"

Tok grinned and sat down on a nearby rock to rest his feet.

"I would call it more... practicum."

"And what better way to learn? In that regard, I have found this adventure very enriching."

"Not enough hitting things in this last part," Ffianait muttered, stretching after carrying the shorter members of their group for the past few hours.

"He who strikes the first blow admits his arguments have run out. I find it's always worthwhile to avoid bloodshed when possible. Although... there was certainly enough blood last night to last me for a good while. I don't believe I'll ever forget the sounds that Hrarforn made when we removed that... thing... from him."

"Have you ever attended at a birth?"

Tok frowned slightly.

"Well... no, I suppose I haven't, although I've read books on the subject."

"There is much that books cannot prepare you for, I think."

"Also, ugliest baby ever," Ffianait pointed out.

Isha nodded affably at that. "At least it wasn't also screaming."

"I've seen uglier" Tok added with a grin. He nodded to Isha.

"You sound as though you have experience with child birth."

"Oh yes, I've had many myself, as well as assising with some more difficult births in the village."

"Many?" Ffianait looked a little surprised. "How many is many?"

Isha shrugged and smiled mysteriously. "Oh, many.... I never kept track. Mates came and went, over the years. It has been a very long time, though. It would be different now."

"Well, I'm never having any kids. Let alone more than I can remember," Ffianait said with a smirk.

"Well, in that you are not alone, at least." Tok said, with a reassuring smile, "I too will never have offspring, though not necessarily by choice. I have taken vows."

"Vows?"

Tok shrugged, as though the subject was of little interest.

"Where I am from an adviser must not be distracted by worldly concerns. He or she neither marries or sires children. He is devoted to his lord alone. I suppose that now... with my tribe gone and my lord dead... I suppose I could take a family if I wished. But sometimes vows are important for their own sake. Besides, I'm a bit old to be considering starting a family now, even if I wished to."

"Yeah, but at least you could look younger if you wanted," Ffianait said comfortingly.

Tok smiled.

"I could. But I have found over the years that being a changeling is both a blessing and a curse. If one gets too much into the habit of being someone else, one runs the risk of forgetting who one is."

Isha considered. "It is different for me, I suppose. All of my forms are who I am. I haven't encountered others of your kind, though - do you not feel that the changing is intrinsic to who you are?"

"Yes, but then, change is a part of all things, is it not? I grant you it may be a bit more pronounced in my case, but despite my nature what I have always sought is stability. Maybe it's because of my time living among humans."

He smiled, genuinely.

"And you, Isha? What is it you seek?"

Isha considered the question. "As an overarching goal? Wisdom perhaps, though I do have more immediate interests as well."

"Such as?"