Fear not, ye little ones, that in the dark of night ye feel impotent and unimportant, for even the Sterile Queen and the Herald of Carnage were once children, given to a child's foolishness and mistakes.

But their Step-Mother loved them as surely as thy parents love thee, and taught them that even mistakes can be a lesson.

Heed to thy mistakes, for today's mishaps be tomorrow's wisdom.

-Saint Kalimia, Church of the Crimson Waters of Life

The sun shined through the windows, the engraving at the sides and corners sending sparkling fairy prism dots on the walls the contents of the comfortable breakfast nook. At the old carved oaken table sat a tiny woman wearing a simple shimmersilk kimono with Seven Sister's style embroidery of stylized hummingbirds and twining strawberry vines. Her long black hair done up in a braid, her white ceramic mask that had a deep crack down one side, and she had pale white skin without any of the melanin she'd been born with; next to her was a young man with dark brown skin, curly black hair, thick bushy eyebrows, and a heavy forehead; on the other side sat a young girl with rich brown skin, braided red hair with a pink ribbon woven into the braid, and refined features; and finally on a specially modified chair sat a squat reptilian with rich bronze scales that shown like fire in the sunlight. The two adolescents were at the gangly stage, all elbows and knees and long limbs. Both of the children wore simple linen shirts and leather pants, their wrists sticking out of the embroidered cuffs of the shirts. The breakfast was omelets, filled with cheeses, vegetables, and meats. While the three humans used salts and thick red salsa on their food, the lizard sprinkled sugar on his, with the salsa he added using a raspberry jam base rather than tomato.

When breakfast was finished, they sat as elegantly dressed servants removed the plates and placed goblets containing lemon flavored shaved ice in front of the humans while a small bowl salted insects surrounded by thin shavings of ice were placed in front of the lizard. The small woman watched the others begin to eat, smiling gently, as she toyed with her own shaved ice for a long minute.

"Dears, your Step-Mother has a small chore for you." She stated after a long while.

Both of the adolescents looked up, excitement on their faces. The lizard looked at the two siblings, who were sitting across from one another, and his mouth gaped open slightly in his race's approximation of a smile.

"Yes, Step-Mother?" the girl asked.

The woman smiled, took another bite of her omellete, and slowly chewed, savoring the masterpiece her chef had created as much as she savored the anticipation of her children. Both began fidgeting in their chairs but neither spoke before the woman swallowed and continued.

"There is a bush where a tribe of summer Peepers live." Elba told them. "Bring the bush and the peeper tribe to me, undamaged, for I wish to plant the bush in my garden so that the summer peepers may grow to adulthood beneath my gentle touch."

"Who will be escorting us, Step-Mother?" The girl asked, almost bouncing in her chair. "Will it be Xava?" She smiled at the large bronze kobold, who smiled back.

"No, dears, this time you will be going by yourselves."

Both smiled widely at that.

The bush was situated in the middle of a field of red tinged wheat with three small piles of rocks nearby. It was a large bush, a majestic bush, heavy with late spring berries, thick with wide leaves, and the stalks, stems, and branches guarded by large and sharp thorns. It was higher than a man stood, three times that across, and was shaped like an overturned teacup. The bright red streppleberries were thick on the bush, some covered with tiny green iridescent bugs, and others covered with fine hair and bursting with sweet and sour goodness. The bush quivered quite often, and there was the sound of trills, whistles, and peeping from within it. Now and then small three fingered hands, the long tiny fingers terminating in minuscule claws, would come out of the leaves to grab a berry and pull it loose. Right afterwards the branches would shake and excited trills and peeping could be heard.

Every once in a while a small lizard, mottled green and the size of a half-grown cat, would run to the top of one of the piles of rock and then slap its feet, trill loudly, and perhaps even do a back-flip. Within a few heartbeats many more little lizards, all hopping on their hind legs with their upper arms held tight to their long bodies, would race out of the bush and scramble up the rock pile. Once there a great amount of pushing and pulling would happen, and eventually the little lizard on top of the pile would tumble down and another would take its place, trilling with victory and doing a back-flip or two, and then the game would begin again, with the defeated one joining in the fun. Many times the winner was a bronze one, slightly bigger than the others, and when beaten the bronze one would often dance for a moment before returning to the game. These games could last from a few minutes to an hour or so, and after wards they would all run back into the bush, often wrestling and tumbling with one another as they went.

Now and then a fluffy bunny would wander by, and all of the little lizards would run out of the bush to dance and sing to it, doing back-flips and drumming their feet to gain its attention. The singing and peeping had a note to longing, and some would shake and display small harnesses made of braided grass. Once the bunny vanished, they would hurry back to the bush, sooner if the shadow of a bird was seen. Each time the bunnies ignored them, with the exception of the wonderful day that one came over to the small lizards and allowed them to pet it and rub their apricot pit sized heads against its soft fur. That day the bush was full of singing and the tiny coughing noises that passed for laughter among the tiny lizard's kind.

Every morning as the sun rose a silver one, whose scales shone in the sun, would climb to the top of one of the rock piles and would sing in high pitched peeping and trills, the peeps and trills that answered her would be sleepy when they first joined but soon would be happy and eager and full of joy. After each morning's song the bronze would bring the silver a berry held tight in his claws. In the evening the silver would climb to a different pile and sing again, and then the peeps and trills would be disappointed and sad in tune, but soon there would only be the faint sounds of snoring with the odd peep now and then through the night.

One day, into the warm summer as the second batch of berries flowered, a small kitten wobbled up to the bitch, mewling piteously. Its fur was bedraggled and muddy, and despite its small size it had traveled far to come to the bush. When it was seen, the tiny lizards hopped, backflipped, and sang for the kitten, as if welcoming it to the bush. The small lizards took it in, combing its fur with their tiny clawed hands, or with twigs broken from the bush so that the small, but long and thin, thorns could be used to comb out the mud. The small lizards fed the tiny kitten bugs and worms, and the kitten soon began joining the games at the rocks. The tiny kitten enjoyed the petting, and often purred when the others who lived within the bush rubbed their little faces against its fur.

The kitten grew in size with them, joining them in their games, and while the tiny lizards carried sharpened twigs with pastes carefully mixed by the silver that would help them hunt, the kitten used its teeth and claws. Shrews and voles were taken back the bush and eaten, moles were taken for feasts, and once a gopher provided food for everyone in the majority of the pack. By the time the kitten had been with the tiny lizards for a two months, and the month of Hellhammer seared the plains of blood red wheat with heat, the kitten had grown accustomed to living in the small burrow that the lizards had dug for it.

It was on the hottest days of Hellhammer that the big people arrived, and rather than pick a handful of berries and move on as the little lizards and the kitten stayed quiet, these big people changed everything for the kitten and the baby kobolds who lived in the majestic berry bush.

Both of the people were adolescents, one male and one female, at that awkward stage of growth where they were all elbows, knees, and long limbs. Their ankles and wrists stuck out from the cuffs of their pants and shirts, they were lean from recent growth spurts, and they moved in the near-clumsy way that affects some adolescents at that age. Their skin was a rich, deep brown, and while the male had bushy black hair close cropped, the female had long wavy crimson hair braided around a few pink ribbons. The boy's eyes were brown, beneath a heavy brow with thick black eyebrows, the girl's eyes were jade green, her nose small like a button, and with full lips. While the girl's hands were long fingered and delicate, they were quite strong, calloused from work, weapon's training, and gymnastics. The boy's hands were large, shovel-like, callused and heavy with strength. While the girl was slender and lithe despite the muscle hard work and exercise that had been stretched over her body by her growth spurt, the boy was at that age when his muscle was all rope and tendon, hinting at the slab-like mass it would become.

They both stopped in front of the bush, the girl eying it with disdain, the boy looking excited at the sight of the bush's majestic bulk. The girl reached out and carefully selected a berry without the tiny insects, blew the tiny hairs off it, and popped it in her mouth, chewing it with the flat teeth at the back of her mouth, the berry's juices making the triangular teeth that filled 2/3 of her mouth quickly turn red. All three rows of the triangular teeth. The boy reached out and plucked four from the branch, popping them into his mouth and chewing. Unlike the girl, his teeth were normal, only wide front teeth, almost buck teeth, marking his smile as unusual.

"Big bush." The boy said. His voice cracked on the second word, going from a deep bass rumble to high tenor. The boy winced as the girl flashed a vicious smile at him, a smile that accompanied the teasing every older sister laid on their little brother since time began.

"Talkative and descriptive as always, little brother." The girl laughed, grabbing another berry and popping it into her mouth. The boy just grunted and she laughed like the tinkling of a silver bell. "Any ideas on how we get this bush, and the babies living in it, back to our Step-Mother?" The boy grunted and shook his head, making the girl laugh again.

"Chop?" He asked, a monosyllabic bass grunt.

She laughed again, plucking another berry. "No, Step-Mother wants this bush so she can plant it in her garden." The girl laughed. "I don't think hacking it into pieces is exactly what she meant when she told us to bring it to her." She looked around nervously. "And I don't want her to cut my hair and take away my ribbons." One hand went nervously to the braid that fell to in between her shoulderblades. She glanced at the boy, with his haircut that looked as if someone had plopped a big bowl on top his head and cut around the bottom. "You wouldn't understand."

"No." The boy shrugged. His punishments took the form of standing in the corner, or holding weights out at shoulder level and standing in the rain, or sitting beneath a waterfall in a loincloth, or other things that served to strengthen him, instill discipline, and increase his endurance and stamina. His sister glared at him, and he stuck a finger in one ear and jiggled it around, staring at her with flat, unreadable eyes.

"You're such a lump." The girl laughed, stepping forward and parting the leaves to look at the interior of the bush.

Just inside, long toes wrapped around the branch, one of the little lizards was caught in the act of reaching out of grab a berry that had been pulled out of its reach. The young girl and the small lizard stared at one another for a moment, and the girl's face split in a big smile.

"Well, hi there, little..." the girl started to say in a soft voice, smiling widely.

The little lizard struck out, the neck longer than it looked, its mouth opening wide and the rows of tiny sharp teeth on the upper and lower jaws biting deep into the end of the girl's thumb. The girl screeched and pulled her hands back, the little lizard releasing her thumb as quickly as it had struck.

The girl shrieked, the branches slapping shut as the little lizard leaped further into the bushes. "It bit me!"

The boy chuckled and shook his head "You scared him." He grunted.

"He bit me!" She put her thumb in her mouth and sucked on it, her lower lip jutting out in pout. Inside the bush came a chorus of victorious peeping.

"Peepers." The single word held amusement and affection. "They bite."

She girl had sat down, and was rocking back and forth, sucking on her thumb, tears filling her eyes. When the girl saw the boy smiling she glared angrily at him and pulled her thumb from her mouth. "It's not funny. It really hurts." The tears spilled from her eyes and she started sobbing before jamming her thumb back in her mouth.

He gave a grunt, walking past his older sister, and knelt down in the wheat before spreading open the branches while grinning at his sister. He turned back to the bush just in time to see a little bronze one staring at him with glittering little black eyes.

"Hello, little guy." The boy said, wiggling his ears and letting his mouth hang open afterwards in an approximation of the way the tiny lizards smiled.

The bronze lizard hissed, long translucent fangs unfolding from the roof of its mouth as the head jerked back on the long neck. The fanlike ears folded up and flattened against the side of its head as the fangs unfolded. It held a stick that one end had been gnawed into a sharp point crossways across its body, the end smeared with something sticky. The boy's smile turned to shock as the little lizard suddenly reared back and threw the small stick at him, the point piercing the skin just under his eye and making a single drop of blood to well up.

With a scream the boy fell back, clapping one hand to his face. His sister lunged up as the bush rustled shut, pulling his hand away to look at his face. Already his dark skin had a big purple splotch was surrounding the tiny trickle of blackish blood. One hand dove to the thick leather belt around her waist, her nimble fingers opening a pouch and pulling out a small white runestone. Already greenish mucus was flowing from his nose, his eyes were becoming bloodshot, and his body was starting to shake.

"Hold still, Fraker, it'll be OK. Hold still, honey." She said, bringing the stone down and touching the small puncture. The stone flashed gold and split with a sharp crack, the purple of the splotch disappearing and the blood glimmering and vanishing. His eyes went back to normal, no longer looking like he was suffering from a hangover, and he relaxed beneath her.

"Thank you, Avie." He whispered, his voice cracking on her name.

She bent down and kissed his forehead, tossing the cracked stone over her shoulder. Behind her, unseen, one of the mottled green lizards darted out of the bush, caught it in mid-air, and darted back into the bush before she straightened up. "It was a bronze, wasn't it?" She asked. He nodded. "Well, if he has poison, we know there's a silver in there with him." She sighed and shook her head. "That means there's a lot of them in there. We'll have to get them out of there and put them in a basket so we can dig up the bush." She suddenly got a wicked look on her face before she rotated her hips back and forth against the boy's groin. "Or we can do something else."

"Get off." Fraker said. "Don't be gross."

With a laugh she stood back up and stepped to his side, reaching down and helping him up.

"Village." The boy said, rolling his head to pop his neck.

"It wasn't too far, only a mile or so from that wizard's tower we passed." Avie answered. The boy nodded and they turned and walked together toward the road, which was only a few score paces from the majestic bush.

Glittering little black eyes and one set of bright green eyes watched them leave. Before they were halfway to the road a chorus of victorious trills sounded inside the bush, along with a yowl from a small cat.

The young girl made an obscene gesture behind her.

Shara's small cottage was on the edge of the village of Gult, which was a part of the Alben Arch-Duchy, which in turn was a Red City Protectorate. It was a neat building that was as meticulous in its construction as Shara was in its cleaning. The walls were painted with whitewash bought from the general store, owned by Logat the Fat, a rotund man who was generous with prices as well as with loans, credit, and the rich ale he brewed. His wife, Tomi the Lean, often derided her popular husband to her coven of like-minded wives, lamenting his generosity, jocularity, and the fact that he viewed the population of the village and the surrounding farms as members of an extended family rather than customers to be squeezed. Tomi had learned not to gossip for a period of time when the local wizard Heetak, who lived in a fine stone tower an hour's walk from the village, had cursed her tongue for her gossip, making her words come out as the bleating of a sheep for an entire moon.

Tomi's shrill voice could be heard from within Shara's cottage, a voice that had driven Shara's husband Polt to the general store for a few mugs of Logat's tasty mead, served in chilled mugs of pewter. The store owner/bartender's wife was complaining to Shara, as the other woman rubbed wax into the surface of the table, about how her husband has refused to buy her a lovely embroidered comforter, stuffed with fluffed naka-undercoat, that she had fell in love with when the phaelan, the little people who moved through the Six Worlds with their trading caravans, had shown the luxurious and exotic comforter to her. Shara, a long suffering woman, privately despised the shrill, greedy, and selfish woman who sat at her table eating her freshly baked brownies. Shara had privately told her husband one night that Tomi not only had the face and laugh of a mule, but could eat like one.

Outside the windows that her husband had bought from a phaelan caravan and lovingly installed her garden was carefully tended, and for a split second Shara thought she saw a flash of deep red. When she took another look the color was gone and she shook her head, hoping that the red squirrels had not descended on her garden again.

"Right after he told Gompit that he didn't need to pay for the feed he bought until after he sold those smelly goats he raises, Logat told me that we couldn't afford to buy something as frivolous as that lovely bedspread." Tomi was saying, unaware that her hostess was only half listening. "It seems like he cares more about all of those farmers more than he cares about his own wife. What kind of standing can I have in the community if we don't buy luxuries to prove that we're better than the dirt farmers?"

Despite the sympathetic clucking that Shara made she had no real pity for the other woman. Tomi had been born in the Red City far to the north, a huge metropolis that had stood for eons, while Shara had been born on her father's farm, just outside the village. She often felt that Tomi expected the same luxuries that were common and expected in the city to be brought to her, and couldn't understand why the other woman couldn't be happy with the fine home that her husband provided.

The flash of red appeared again, and Shara stood up, tucking the rag into the sash that snugged the linen dress around her matronly form. She waddled over to the window and looked out at her sweet corn, leaning forward until the tip of her nose smudged the glass set in the windowpane.

Outside Avie held still, holding her breath and staring at the rich black dirt, trying to think of anything but the large woman staring at where Avie was crouched between the rows of corn. She was trying to sneak up to the back porch of the cottage where a large lidded basket was sitting. Avie figured the basket was big enough to fit an average sized clutch of peepers, and she planned on filling the bottom of it with sand from the nearby creek so they'd be comfortable inside. She figured on making Fraker carry the big bush and she'd carry the basket.

A mouse ran across her hand and Avie choked back a scream as its little paws pattered over the back of her hand. Right after that a large caterpillar fell from a leaf and into her hair, forcing her to concentrate on not pawing at her hair to get rid of it. When Fraker snickered behind her she couldn't stop herself and kicked backwards, kicking the boy in the chest twice. He spluttered, but kept quiet.

Inside the house Shara cocked her head, seeing the stalks wave, and the thought of going outside and chasing off the squirrels or crows from her garden had just started to form when Tomi cleared her throat loudly.

"Are you listening to me, dear?" The thin woman asked.

Shara turned from the window with a smile. "I'm sorry, dear, I thought I saw something in the garden."

"More tea, please?" Tomi held out the cup, tilting it in the local custom.

Smiling outwardly but inwardly despairing at the sight of the mostly eaten plate of brownies, Shara shuffled over the cast iron stove, that her husband was still making payments on to Tomi's husband, and picked up the hand painted ceramic pot. She touched the magical rune on the side, instantly bringing the tea to a soothing warmth, and waddled back to her guest.

Outside Avie squealed and brushed the caterpillars (the first one had been joined by two others, and all three of them were being eyed by a crow circling overhead) out of her cornrows. She kicked backwards at Fraker to stop his snickering, taking satisfaction in the grunts of pain as her two kicks connected. Another glance toward the house showed Avie that the woman inside was facing away from the window, so she began creeping through the rows of sweet corn.

The woven basket on the back porch was large, filled with carefully washed linen and cotton clothing with the lid next to it. Avie could see two leather belts that had been scrubbed clean hanging from the laundry line, and kicked back at Fraker before nodding at it. Fraker nodded back and began crawling toward the laundry line, his attention fixated on the wide leather belts swaying back and forth in the warm breeze.

A few more moments had her sneaking across the carefully scythed grass, in her mind a slowly moving pool of oil that needed no attention and bore no interesting features. She glanced over, just once, to check on Fraker's progress. When she saw the two wide leather belts missing she smiled to herself. Sneaking wasn't exactly what the oracles had prophesied was his future and fate, but he still made her proud. Still smiling, she turned her attention back to the basket and the clothing, which were still sitting right where they'd been, warming in the sun.

Just grab the basket and run, Avie.

Shara breathed a sigh of relief as she leaned against the door she closed behind Tomi only moments before. The other woman had finally finished off eating the brownies and then made her excuses to return to her husband's shop. Shaking her head Shara moved through her small house to the back door, opening it carefully, mindful of the loose hinge on the bottom that her husband had promised to fix that day before Tomi had driven him from the house.

Her garden was as carefully tended as her home, and she smiled at the sight of a pair of garden fairies playing with the long tassels of corn silk.

The smile quickly turned a frown when she looked down to find her laundry dumped into her flower bed and the basket missing. Why someone would steal a woven wicker basket that could be had for a handful of copper bits confused her, and she would have put it out of her mind completely as a prank by the local children.

Except the existence of a single hexagonal gold coin of unfamiliar design left behind.

The small lizards in the bush watched with curiosity as the mismatched pair arrived in front of the bush carrying a round thing made of woven reeds. The silver watched eagerly, her eyes taking in how the basket was woven, her little clawed hands opening and closing in an eagerness to try it herself. When the lid was lifted the peepers could see that it was half-filled with marvelous stuff. Shiny, soft looking, and it took them a minute to realize it was like the soft comfortable edges of the flowing water, only brought to them in the wondrous round thing.

"Not gunna work." Fraker grunted as Aveliene set the basket lid aside.

"Hush, you lump." Aveliene said, glaring at him for a second before staring speculatively at the bush. "I've done this before in the garden when babies needed moved."

Fraker just grunted again and Aveliene turned from him, pursing her lips and beginning to whistle an excellent imitation of the baby lizard-folk in the bush.

Inside the bush all of the lizards listened intently to the high pitched chirps and trills made by the big two legged thing. The song was alluring, enchanting, urging them to gather into the basket at the big thing's feet and play in it. The silver suddenly began trilling in counterpoint, pulling the attention back to her as she jumped from branch to branch inside the bush, shaking the stick with the praying mantis head attached to it. The tiny pebbles inside the inch wide head of the insect rattled in accompaniment with the complex trilling. The bronze, larger than the other peepers, joined in, his trills and peeps aggressive and almost angry.

"You're making the silver and bronze ones mad." Fraker told his older sister, listening closely.

"They're just babies." Aveliene laughed, turning to her brother. "So what if they're mad?" She went back to singing, adolescent surety not letting her realize that more of the peepers were singing the song that the silver was singing than Aveliene's song.

Fraker stepped back a few paces as the song in the bush changed tune, more and more peepers joining in. "I think you did it wrong." The tune sounded more threatening now, more filled with hissing then peeping.

One of the big ones hopped out, running out and blowing a raspberry before turning around and running back into the bush with an insulting flip of his tail. Two more ran out and threw ripe streppleberries at Aveliene.

"We might want to run." Fraker said, his voice cracking as he backed up.

"Relax, I told you, they're just babies. We can handle a few babies." Aveliene sung, still struggling to hold the tune. The counterpoint the silver was running was increasing in pitch and complexity, reaching a range that Aveliene's adolescent voice could not hold very well.

Fraker stepped back even further, the deep grass closing around his legs. He didn't like the way the song seemed to be getting more and more aggressive or the way the little green peepers kept running out to throw pebbles or streppleberries at Aveliene. He'd spent many days playing with the peepers of his step-mother's gardens and knew when they got angry or agitated.

"Avie, run." Fraker urged.

Aveliene saw the bronze hop out of the bush, an acorn cap on his head and a broad leaf from one of the nearby oak trees across his chest. He held a little spear in his clawed hands as he jumped forward toward Aveliene. Each jump was nearly two feet high and five feet in distance.

Aveliene screamed, whirled around, and ran, following Fraker all the way to the cobbled road before turning back and looking at the bush. The little lizards were lifting up the basket and carrying it to the bush, trilling in victory as they did so.

"Well, so much for the basket plan." Aveliene said. "I told you your plan wouldn't work."

Fraker just grunted in reply. When a plan worked it was all Avie's idea, when it failed, she typically claimed the plan was Fraker's.

"Now what, you lump?" Aveliene asked, turning and walking down the road toward the village.

"Try again." Fraker shrugged.

"Little brats got berry juice all over my clothes." Aveliene whined, pulling her braid around to chew on the end as she walked. "Now I'm all sticky and sweaty and I haven't had a bath in almost four days."

Fraker just shrugged again. Getting sweaty or messy didn't bother him the way it seemed to bother Aveliene. Frankly, he didn't see the big problem in going without a bath for a few days.

"Let's go to the creek so I can think." Aveliene said, veering off the road and heading for the oak trees that edged the deep slow creek. Fraker just shrugged again as Aveliene kept whining. "My hair got bugs in it, my braid is coming loose, and I smell bad." When Fraker just shrugged again she pouted. "It's OK for you to stink, you're a boy, but I'm a girl and girls shouldn't stink." She blushed slightly, her brown skin darkening. "I really really need a bath, I'm kind of icky." Fraker just shrugged again and Aveliene looked relieved at his lack of curiosity.

The temperature dropped immediately when the pair walked into the treeline, the shade and the cool water of the creek instantly cooling the pair. Fraker smiled as he walked up to the mossy bank and sat on a rock. He pulled off his boots, revealing he wasn't wearing stockings on his feet, and wiggled his toes before putting his feet in the water. He idly kicked his feet, enjoying splashing in the cool water.

"Close your eyes, you lump." Aveliene said from behind him.

Fraker sighed and closed his eyes.

"Don't peek."

Fraker sighed again. He heard Aveliene move through the soft grass to the water and into the water. Birds were cheeping, insects were buzzing, and he could even hear the sound of a fish grabbing a particularly juicy bug that lingered too long on the surface.

"OK, you can open your eyes." Aveliene said.

Fraker opened his eyes, glanced at his sister, then took off his leather vest and his cotton shirt before leaning back against the rock to stare up at the leaves of the trees. Over his heart was a charred black skeletal handprint surrounded by red puffy tissue, looking as if he was burnt only moments ago.

Aveliene got her hair wet then called out to Fraker, standing waist deep in the water of the creek. Fraker grabbed Aveliene's skirt, dug in a pocket and then tossed a little gourd to her. She pulled the top off and poured the liquid inside onto her hand before letting the gourd float away. She quickly scrubbed her hair then ducked under the water to rinse the berry smelling elven shampoo out of her hair. There were lots of different shampoos, but she preferred the shampoo from the alchemists from the Singing Waters elven heim because of the way it smelled, plus the little container could be buried in the ground and rotted away in only days.

Fraker kept staring up at the trees, ignoring his sister. Aveliene kept watching him to make sure he didn't peek at her while she washed off, then grew offended when he didn't even try. When she was finished she got out of the water, dried off with a towel that had been folded up to the size of a coin, then changed her clothing, putting on a new pair of panties and a bra of the same pinkish color. Once she was dressed in her leather skirt, leather leggings, Von-Lon Imperial Legion boots, cotton shirt, and leather vest she marched over to Fraker and looked down at him for a moment before smacking him.

"Ow. What was that for?" Fraker asked, opening his eyes.

"You know what it was for." Aveliene said, turning away from him. "Go bathe, you smell bad."

Fraker just shrugged and Aveliene smacked him again. When she smacked him a third time he sat up. "Fine, fine. Why do you have to smack me?"

"Because otherwise you don't listen, just like a donkey." Aveliene told him, turning around.

Fraker got undressed, tossing his clothing on the rock, and waded into the water. Aveliene turned around and watched, moving over to sit on one of the moss covered rocks.

"Wash your hair." Aveliene yelled at him. He snorted and rubbed water into his coarse hair. "Wash behind your ears before you end up growing potatoes back there." Aveliene yelled, ignoring Fraker's irritated snort. She sat and watched him bathe, admiring him.

"Mom said you're not supposed to stare at me while I bathe." Fraker said when he looked up.

"Yeah, well someone has to make sure you actually wash and not just stand in the water for fifteen minutes." Aveliene shot back. "Are you even using soap?"

"What difference does it make?"

Aveliene rolled her eyes and dug in her pocket, pulling out another little dried gourd with the cap tied off with string. She tossed it to Fraker, who caught it and stared at it suspiciously.

"Wash your hair and body, you smell bad." Aveliene said.

Fraker grunted and did as he was instructed, not bothering to argue with Aveliene as she instructed him on every little bit of washing off.

"Didn't you bring any extra clothing?" Aveliene asked when he got out and started getting dressed in his dirty clothing.

"No, why should I?" Fraker asked, pulling on his pants with no sense of modesty.

"Ugh, because you'll stink again." Aveliene said. She dug into her pouch and pulled out a small bundle. "You're lucky I figured you'd rather stink." She pulled the ties and clothing dropped out.

"I hate denim." Fraker grumbled, pouting slightly at the sight of the cloth woven in Alben, the dark red dyed warp threads marking its origin.

"Wear it, you jackass." Aveliene said. "I don't want you making the peepers angry with your boy stink."