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OUTSIDE THE WEST WALL - MORNING
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Tarbin wanders a small circle around a patch of tomato plants, admiring the glossy red fruits and the swirl of Nature's power turning through them as they slowly grow. The plants draw the energy from the ground haphazardly through their roots, but by the time it reaches the ripe fruits, the Flow is orderly and elegant again. He plucks one large tomato from the plants, brushing a bit of dust from it before starting to munch it as breakfast.
Tarbin sighs quietly after his small meal, looking about the quiet garden. He hums to himself on noticing he's alone again this morning, looking to the Flow for a hint on where his companion might be. Tails swishing behind him, the lizard heads North-West of the hut, tracking a few particularly heavy lines of Nature's power, coming upon some similarly heavy new growth that brings him to hesitate. He tilts his head slightly, peering into the mass of plants and flowing power, stepping around it until a gap shows him a familiar shape nested within. "Hm? Melia? I thought you went into town... Are you growing your own hut over here?"
Narrator: The plants brush slowly aside as Tarbin calls, clearly bending to a familiar voice... or a familiar will.
Melia calls out softly, tiredly: "I am here." The elemental fades into view, her green as vibrant as ever but her spirit, her will... scared, defeated, on the edge.
Tarbin allows the plants to move aside at their own pace, pausing for a moment when he notices how thin Melia's greeting is. He quickly steps into the thicket, crouching next to her. "Are you alright? You haven't been pushing yourself too hard again?"
Melia shakes her head, frowning: "No... well, not more than I had to defend myself." She looks back at Tarbin, her expression sharp.
Tarbin blinks, shaking his head slightly. "Defend yourself? Someone attacked you? When? Who?" There's an unfamiliar venom in the last word, though his expression is full of concern for her.
Melia growls... then just sighs and lets go of her anger, sagging down. "I do not know who. This skunk lady, she... claimed I was made of her magic, made by her by accident. I felt her magic, Tarbin, I... she wasn't wrong. But I could not let her just drain me..." She shudders in a nonexistant cold she couldn't even feel.
Tarbin thinks for a bit, shaking his head again as he tries to think of who it could be. He vaguely recalls someone with a large tail and skunk-ish patterns, but as far as he can remember they met when he was still hard of sight. "I don't know who, but we'll find her. If... She is who made you, Nesseth might want to know that she has something to do with you and the other. Either way, she has no [privelege] to you. Your power is Nature's now, not hers. Nobody has a claim to that" He sets a hand on Melia's shoulder.
Melia looks at Tarbin with a smile, relaxing finally: "Yeah... it's just... she came here, and after like bare introductions wanted to get her magic, back to herself?" She frowns: "Ain't happening. I'm here, and gonna need more justification than that."
Tarbin scoffs, looking a bit aside. "The nerve..." He turns back to her after a few moments. "I'm sorry it took so long to come find you, I had no idea..."
Melia sighs, then just hugs Tarbin softly. "I... couldn't reach out after, that. But she's... well, think she is still back in the town. What should I do?"
Tarbin hugs Melia back, humming. "We'll go to the Guard. She's not getting close to you again if I can help it. And if you want to go to town, I'll go with you. If you see her again when nobody else is around, just flee. Fighting her might take too much out of you... Might make it easier for her to reclaim whatever part of her power is still part of you."
Melia sags into the hug, sighing softly: "She was strong... though if I was part of her magic like she said, how strong is she really?"
Tarbin grunts, rubbing Melia's back gently. "I don't know, but hopefully we will not have to find out."
Melia glares towards the walls from inbetween the trees: "Mmm. She's somewhere in there."
Tarbin releases the hug, turning to look where Melia is looking as he settles to sit next to her. "You're right." He sighs quietly, "I will do anything I can to protect you from her, but am no fighter. We can't let her try to take you again, though. For your sake, but also because I fear you might bridge a gap for her. The gap between her magic and Nature's."
Melia shakes her head: "Her magic wasn't Nature. Not even remotely. She just wanted what I felt was my essence, my... creation, my being. Not the part of me that was I think borne afterwards."
Tarbin pauses glancing to Melia. "If there were a way to separate her magic from you, we should look for it. If her power isn't Nature..."
Melia grumbles, crossing her arms: "No... well, probably no. It's just... what I am made of. Can we risk another ritual, Tarbin...?"
Tarbin puts an arm over Melia's shoulders in a half-hug, shaking his head after a few seconds. "I had hoped to never need to. I'd rather she just left. You did well to defend yourself, Melia, I'm proud of you."
Melia looks at Tarbin: "...I hurt another being. Proud? I wouldn't call it that. I did what I had to, that's all."
Tarbin gives her a cautious smile. "Proud you didn't just give yourself up to her. You have to defend yourself, if it comes to that. What we can do, the Flow that we can tap into can't be turned to the will of well..." He gestures toward the town's walls. "Them."
Melia frowns, snorts, then nods. "Yes." She looks at Tarbin: "Guess I have to brave in there... eventually. Skunk or not."
Tarbin hums, nodding. "Not right away, when you're ready. We do have some obligations there with doctor Doctor Plume."
Melia nods slowly: "...we have to help heal. That is our duty... what we are for. And if I am to be stopped... then I will sell my being hard."
Tarbin chuckles, grinning at Melia's determination. "Besides, you have to keep up with those new friends of yours."
Melia blinks, pausing in her determination: "Friends? Oh yeah. Got those too. That's a thing."
Tarbin nods, hoping to pull Melia away from her darker thoughts on Elizabeth.
Melia sighs after a moment: "...we will see. For I can't be kept away from people I like. That's not how it works!"
Tarbin chuckles quietly, looking toward the walls. "You're right. One sour skunk couldn't keep you away from them. We'll visit them tomorrow, even. I need to deliver some extra things from our garden to a couple merchants anyhow."
Melia hums, then leans into a hug: "Yeah... gotta go see Erika anyway. Been a while."
Tarbin hums, hugging back. "I haven't seen Erika in a long time. Maybe I will pay her a visit soon as well..."
Melia smiles: "Maybe you should! She's nice. Though can't see magic."
Tarbin chuckles, nodding. "Most can't."
Melia giggles: "Well, maybe we can help her! Or something. We'll see."
Tarbin nods, remaining in the thicket with Melia until the afternoon starts creeping up on them, the two simply enjoying the time together while they wind down from Elizabeth's meddling.