Spring, age 7.

Today's outing with the gang is rather far away, and as such we have both James's and Andrew's parents joining us today. Apparently they all grew up together in a city some distance from here, and are still on excellent terms. On the way here they told me it's customary for most to leave the city you grew up in, though some well-off families tend to pass on their home to their first born.

They all treat me a lot better now. Just a year ago, they would look at me with scorn and distrust.

I have black hair, and your hair color is considered proof that you are loved by the element it represents.

Alfred is the only adult outside of my family that never looked at me with disgust.

We've arrived. Our destination, The Blue Sea.

It's just a meadow though. A very very big meadow. My parents told me it's a hundred miles across, and three hundred miles long. It's surrounded by the Summergreen forest, where we usually play, which stretches from the Emerald Sea to the White Peaks, a mountain chain that stretches from the northernmost parts of the world to the southernmost parts.

On the other sides of the mountains are the Dead Lands, which is a desolate desert.

``We'll stay by the wagon, you kids just run around and have fun, just don't stray too far. James's Parents will circle above, and they'll let you know if anything dangerous comes near, so just relax.'' [Earthclaw Phillip]

``Don't worry dad, we'll be careful. Come one guys, let's get down to the river.'' [Andrew]

As we walk down hill to the river, I gaze out over the meadow. It stretches as far as the eye can see in all directions except for behind us, where it meets the forest. It's absolutely covered in cobalt blue flowers flowing in the wind, creating the illusion of watery waves glistening in the sun with their bright yellow anthers. There were so many different kinds, some of which I recognize from earth, and some that were very unlike anything I had ever seen.

One of which certainly did not have an earth analogue.

It looked like an amethyst

Not just because of it's color, which was actually a bit more of a deep aquamarine.

It's pedals were crystal. Their structure were a bit like an amethyst, in that there were several tiny crystals creating a larger structure. It's surface was smooth though, not jagged like a real amethyst. The flower itself looked like a mix between a rose and a funnel shape and was the size of a grown mans palm.

``Nathan, get up and follow us, we can't stop every time you see a new flower.'' [James]

I had unintentionally squatted down in front of the strange flower. I tend to get sidetracked when I see something beautiful.

``I know the flowers are nice Nathan, but the river has some awesome critters.'' [Andrew]

They stopped calling me inkhead after the cavern incident. Quite a relief, they always said it with a tinge of disdain.

``Alright, I am coming.'' [Nathan]

They all really changed after that incident. Tony changed the most, he was always kinda confident, but he shied away from things that could go wrong. It's like he proved something to himself, and he carries himself with courageous self confidence now.

His sister, Sarah, always ignored me but at least now she'll say hello when the gang gets together.

James and Andrew both treat me with more respect and call me by name. They were nervous for a while after the incident, afraid of running into another crystal host. After all, the adults never found the fox, so they still hav-

``Nathan, I know we have all day, but we really want to make the most of it. We don't have time for your internal monologue, you slow way down when you're talking to yourself in your head. Try to keep up okay?'' [Tony]

``I do not do that.'' [Nathan]

What a weird accusation.

Arriving at the river I notice quite a few species I haven't seen before. I have seen several ``weird'' species in this world, most of which are some form of reptile, and this place is crawling with them. I think the smallest I've seen was the size of a small frog, and the largest was the size of a large bull. They all have this long flat body like my parents familiars, but some of them are serpents and others have Interfemoral membranes as wings, large ones on their front legs and smaller ones between their four hind legs, most of them have crystals embedded in their skin.

The weirdest one here is of the winged variety, about the size of a large bird, that dives into the river to catch smaller pray. It has a long tail that it uses to steer in flight, which together with it's Interfemoral membraned hind legs makes it incredibly dexterous in the air. Once it dives, it curls together in the shape of a spear and literally skewers it's pray on it's armored snout.

``Look look, there's snappers by the riverbank! Look! That one caught a frog!'' [Andrew]

Snappers are antlion-like serpents the size of a pencil. They stick their head out of the sand and drag anything they can reach down to eat it. Anything that comes close gets bit even if it's too big to get dragged down.

And of course, Tony and Andrew are already edging each other on and competing on who can get closer without being bit...

Damn brats..

James and Sarah both brought their fishing poles and found a spot a bit down stream. They have a weird relationship, most of the time they hardly interact at all but every now and again they sync up completely, seemingly out of nowhere. They might just be the closest friends in this entire group.

And as usual this leaves me as the odd one out.

Not that I really mind. They are good kids, and I'm glad they include me in their outings, but at the end of the day they are kids.

I can't really have a proper conversation with them. Not yet anyways.

It also leaves me with the time to go exploring on my own. The flowers around here are spectacular and I want to see how many different kinds there are.

The flora here is really amazing. Even the grass is different hues of turquoise and cyan, growing beneath the bed of flowers in a two feet tall blanket.

We spend the day playing and enjoying the view. As evening comes, Andrew's parents cook the fish that James and Sarah caught in a vegetable stew. We sit and eat as the night approaches, and greatly enjoy the spectacle as the sun sets and the manaflies rise from the meadow. Every time I have seen manaflies so far, they have been in all colors of the rainbow, but today, as far as the eye can see, they are almost exclusively blue, adding to the illusion of a blue ocean.

I sit down by myself a bit away from the group. The stars will come out soon, and I feel like watching them by myself before we head home. It's a long trip, several hours, so I'll have to sleep in the carriage along with the other kids, and I think I need some time to clear my head before that.

``Mind if I sit down?'' [James]

``Hmm? Ah, sure.'' [Nathan]

I didn't hear him approaching, so it took me a bit by surprise. He sits down next to me, and looks out across the stars.

For a while, we just sit there in silence, but looking at the scenery and the sky.

``You know, I never liked you.'' [James]

``Hm?'' [Nathan]

``You never seemed like you wanted to hang out with us, or do anything but stand around and look at random stuff, and yet we always had to drag you around. If it wasn't for Tony telling us that we had to, we would have left you behind all the time.'' [James]

``I cannot really say that I am surprised. I could always feel your disdain and I never really felt like I fit in with you guys.'' [Nathan

``.. That just made it worse.. But then, after the incident with the boar, you changed. In the first place, I was really surprised that you didn't just run away and leave us when you found out things could go wrong. You usually take off when we make pranks that get us in trouble.'' [James]

Making pranks and getting yelled at are part of growing up. I don't want to get scolded, but I wasn't going to stop them either. They needed to experience the repercussions themselves. Now that I think about it, I guess they took it as me skipping out on the shared responsibility.

``But that time, you didn't. You had this look on your face that took us all by surprise. Like you actually cared.'' [James]

``I do. I may not always show it, but I do care.'' [Nathan]

``Yeah, I know that now.. After we ran into the crystal host, none of us doubt that anymore. And I-.. I never did thank you for that..'' [James]

``You don't really have to. In my mind, there was no other option, I simply did what I had to.'' [Nathan]

``No, there were other options. You could have run away without us, or we could have tried to sneak past it. But both of those could have ended very badly for the rest of us. You shouldered the risk by yourself, and that's what I have to thank you for..'' [James]

He turns to face me.

``Thank you, Nathan.'' [James]

I put my hand on his shoulder.

``Don't worry about it James. Any time.'' [Nathan]

We sit in silence for a while, before the adults call out to us to let us know we're going home.