"And what do these do?" Reas asked about the herbs.

"Shouldn't you be helping your father watch the shop?" Harin said, laughing. He was, by now, used to Reas' antics, but felt that as a responsible father, he should still try to get Reas to be a bit more obedient.

---

"Sunder saw Eline and without thinking shouted, "Oi! Eline!" which prompted a punch in the arm from Balio, who could clearly see that such a racket would scare away Eline's prey, but it was too late.

Elizabeth let out a sigh and lowered her bow when the startled deer fled. Such a shame, she had a great opportunity and a deer would've made quite a good catch. "Hello Sunder, Balio." She greeted the two of them, annoyed that her prey had gotten away.

"These? They help against headaches." Elizabeth Reas. She enjoyed zir company, it was nice to have someone to whom she could talk about things like herbs and other medicines.

"S-sorry about that," Sunder apologized, rubbing the back of his head. Balio looked at the way Sunder behaved with a slightly disgusted grimace. "C-care to join us for lunch?" Sunder continued.

"If we're going to eat together, you should invite your brother as well," Balio suggested, putting a small wrench in Sunder's plans. Sunder turned to Balio with a defeated and piteous look, while Balio simply kept his unfriendly scowl.

---

"Ooh! And what have you been picking by the river?" Reas asked.

"Haha!" Harin guffawed, "Maybe instead of inheriting your father's store, you'd do better as the next apothecary." Harin then turned to Illithor, "Maybe your son can inherit the shop instead of Reas!"

Eline. "Sure, I suppose it would be nice to have lunch together." She answered, putting her arrow and bow aside for the moment. She could always continue hunting later.

"If you mix them into an ointment, they can help to numb pain." Elizabeth explained to Reas.

Ilithor chuckled softly. "Actually, I'm quite sure that Ryul wouldn't mind that." He said to Harin.

Sunder was a bit pleased that Eline wasn't going to go get her brother, although he wished Balio wasn't here either. "S-so, any catches today?" Sunder asked, trying to make small talk.

---

"I see," Reas replied looking at the plants and trying to memorize their unique shapes.

"Oh?" Harin said quizzically. He had only been joking, pegging Ryul as the type who preferred to travel instead of staying in one place. "You should let Emtardas know, I think he wants to retire, the man's older than he looks."

Eline shrugged. "No, not really m or at least, nothing worth mentioning." She said to Sunder. She had almost caught a deer, but bringing that uo agsin would be needlessly mean from her.

Elizabeth smiled. "You know, maybe you can come with me to collect Herb next time." She suggested to Reas.

Ilithor nodded. "Yes, I suppose that's a good idea. Ryul likes to travel for now, but I'm not sure for how long he will like it." In fact, Ilithor felt quite sure that Ryul just used travelling as an excuse to get away from Talila and his father.

"I-I see," Sunder said, feeling a bit guilty that he had scared away the only game she had encountered today. He also remembered running into her earlier that day and wondered if he had caused her touble then too. "S-so...what's new?"

Balio sighed and continued to eat. His brother was embarrassing himself.

---

"I would like that very much," Reas replied.

"Hah, maybe when he finds someone he'd like settle down with hmm?" Harin said. "Teann's a nice girl," Harin suggested, going with the safe option as he wasn't sure if Illithor was okay with interracial unions.

"There are new villagers, that's what new." Eline simply answered, in a somewhat cold tone. Sunder was a nice guy, but he wasn't sure how he hoped to start a conversation, with such questions...

Elizabeth smiled. "Alright, next time I'll pick you up before I go."

Ilithor shrugged. "I've hardly talked to the girl, so I wouldn't know. Either way, it's Ryul's decision who he'll be getting old with, not mine." He said to Harin. She wasn't against an interracial relationship, but it was all up to Ryul.

"Ah, right," Sunder felt a little embarrassed, "So have you met them yet? I met the son, Ryul, at the welcome dinner."

---

Reas beamed, anticipating going herb picking with Elizabeth.

"Well you know how these young'uns are, sometimes ya gotta give 'em a push," Harin said.

Eline shook her head. "No, I didn't. I figured that there enough people demanding their attention, and that I could always meet them later." She said.

Elizabeth smiled.

"I don't think I should be pushy about it. I think that a girlfriend is the least thing Ryul has been thinking of lately." Ilithor said to Harin.

"They seem like nice people. The father's a fisherman. I'm looking forward to having fish. Haven't had fish in a long time," Sunder said.

---

"Hah!" Harin guffawed again, "my boys are at that age." He looked at Gil, who turned away, embarrassed, "And I just want to see them settled down, give me some grandchildren. But I suppose as elves you can take your time with these things." He meant it in an unoffensive way.

Eline nodded. "Some fish is nice every once in a while." She said. Despite her second form being that of a cat, Eline had never been too fond of fish. Even in her feline form, she much more preferred other creatures, such as mice, small birds and rabbits.

Ilithor chuckled softly. Though he wasn't one to speak himself, Harin appeared to be a bit impatient. "Don't worry about it, I'm sure they'll settle when the time is right for them. And when they meet the right girl for them, of course." He said to Harin. Then again, that was easy to say for him. He was an elf, he had a somewhat lengthier lifespan and wouldn't have to worry about not getting to see his son settling down and having children, just like Harin said.

"Well, we should be getting back to work," Balio interrupted.

"What? But-" Sunder interjected.

"Let's. Go." Balio said with finality.

"A-alright," Sunder repleid, defeated, "Well, see you later, E-Eline."

---

"Maybe you're right," Harin acquiesced. "Well, time to continue working." He got up with Gil, and went back to the foundation for the new house, though Gil started working on something else with the wood that was lying around.

Eline nodded and got up herself as well, hoping to find something good to catch this time. Without anyone scaring away her prey.

Ilithor got back to work as well and decided to see how well his fishnet would be working. It looked good enough, so Ilithor expected it to be just fine.

Balio stopped right outside the mine and turned around. "What do you see in her?" he asked confrontationally.

"We-well...she's nice," Sunder said, nervous and blushing.

"And?" Balio pressed.

"And? Well, she's pretty..." Sunder replied.

"Yeah?" Balio asked, "Yeah. She's pretty alright, but then again, it's hard not to be."

"What do you mean?" Sunder asked.

"She's a shapeshifter!" Balio yelled, "You're only attracted to her because she wants you to be! You don't know what she actually looks like!"

"But we came to Soren not to be judged for who we are," Sunder argued, "we shouldn't judge her either."

"Not everyone's like us. You're too naive, you can't trust everyone, especially not anyone magical."

"But what about Emtardas and Reas?" Sunder asked.

"I don't trust them much, either," Balio replied with some resignation, "look, just...be careful, and keep these types of people at arms length ok?"

"I...I'll have to think about it," Sunder muttered.

"Well, let's get back to work," Balio concluded.

While the others got back to work, Freya had left her room and entered Emtardas' shop, just to see if the man had anything that could be useful when she would continue her journey again. Perhaps a compass could be good, she supposed.

Some objects clattered to the floor as Freya entered, followed by some under-the-breath cursing. Emtardas, the clumsy store owner who had dropped the items turned to look at his new customer. "Ah, welcome to my humble shop. My name is Emtardas. Is there anything in particular that you're looking for, or are we just browsing?" Emtardas rubbed his hands together, being a little creepy. Since the economy in Soren was a closed system, the only way to attain 'more wealth' was from outside customers.

"I am looking for a compas. Do you have one?" Freya asked, looking at the store owner. The place wasn't too big and she wasn't even sure that he woukd have anything that woukd be useful to her, but she could ask, at the very least.

"A compass?" Emtardas repeated, "Yes, I'm sure we have some, miners use them all the time, and break them too." He headed over to an aisle and produced some compasses of varying qualities and prices. "This one can also be used as a sundial," Emtardas explained some of the different gimmicks available. "Ah, but what are you planning on doing with it? Exploration? For that you'll need a shovel, or maybe I can interest you in a pickaxe?" Emtardas was slowly ramping up his sales pitch and would soon get to unnecessary, almost useless items.

"Travelling. I just need to be certain that I am going into the right direction." Freya told Emtardas. A compass could make her journey easier, if she would decide to continue with it. Sure, she had a destination set, but that was before her fiance had died, and this village was small, but perhaps it wasn't too bad. Perhaps she would just stay here.