finding salvation

"Oh, you haven't? He's a delicate soul, Maeve. You be careful with him, you hear? He's a close friend of mine." Ronin speaks with the crooked sort of smile that suggests she's akin to a mischievous younger sister, about to go on the prowl after someone who might not be quite as ready for her as she is for them. Because it's true from Ronin's point of view as well - she has provided him with a welcome escape from the way his life has flipped on its head over LongNight, and this trip through the Wilds would not have been nearly as effortless without her company. "Oh, I can absolutely believe it. It takes quite the woman to be able to do your line of work, and you have my respect for it. Even if I did fuck up and call you a whore to begin with." Ronin smirks, reaching out as well to pluck another leaf from her hair that she's missed. "You'll be trend-setting for all of Torchline when you get back. Speaking of--" Ronin's face lights up in a relieved smile as, before them, an enormous tree with a curious shimmer about it appears. They enter into a glade as beautiful and bursting with life as the rest of the Greatwood, but this is clearly more than an average tree. This is the Mathair - the mother tree, and it will soon enough lead them home. RONIN Darkness is a funny thing. It creeps up on you.