to say that she knew he was there, he ran up right next to her. He did not say a word, for he knew that it could cause an emotional explosion right then and there. He would wait patiently for her to reach her destination. For now, he just kept up with her, walking parallel to her. The ground stirred beneath their feet, and the constant quick movement kicked up a trail of dust behind them.

The people in the village who watched the two of them go by paid them barely any mind. It was not uncommon for Eliana to storm out of the Elders’ tent, and even less uncommon for Leonin to follow her. When Leonin was not standing guard outside of the Elder tent, he wasalmost always with Eliana. He found her strange and unique appearance entrancing, and could not keep himself from thinking of her at any given time. The gossiping women of the village tended to divulge their thoughts, which often mentioned Eliana and Leonin ending up together. Sometimes with upwards of six children, depending on who was asked. Eliana had long since given up on trying to put the birds in their place, and instead chose to ignore them unless she needed to ask them a specific question.

Eliana continued walking through the village, continued on past her own hut, all the way to the edge of the village. Only then did she start to slow down, breath heavy and slightly forced. She kept going, at a normal pace, until sweat