Ren Zexian snapped out of the bewitchment he felt upon viewing the boy and withdrew his sword thinking of cutting the malevolent vines that threatened him.

"Stop it," the boy said gently, giving him pause. And then he realised that the youth was not speaking to him, but to the vines. He blinked, eyes widening as the chastised vines actually unwound from the boy's legs and drew back. They rose until their leafed tips were before his still face, the boy's eyes following their movement and then they seemed to droop? "Silly," the boy smiled, causing Ren Zexian's jaw to drop as the warmth of it lit the boy's face brightly like the sun appearing from behind a dense cloud. He could only watch as the boy stroked the vines with a delicate hand for a few seconds, before the leafy vines then returned to the wall.

The boy then cupped his hands together, water filled his small palms and the boy stepped closer to the vines before carefully pouring his precious gift onto the soil the vines grew from. The vines seemed to shiver before becoming quiet and the boy picked up a basket holding tubers, small green leaves and stalks of green and purple. Without looking him in the eye, Ren Zexian found himself being side stepped before the boy began walking away from him.

"Wait," Ren Zexian called after him, quickly sheathing his sword. "Please."

The youth paused and turned, keeping his eyes firmly downcast, but not in a way to be coy, just in apparent avoidance. "Are you from the main house?" He asked Ren Zexian. His voice was calm like water and soft like feather upon the breeze. Were one not listening carefully, one would not hear him speak.

Ren Zexian began to shake his head, but realised that the boy would not notice his gesture. "I am not," he said, keeping his own tone gentle in kind.

"Oh," the boy said in response and then began to walk away again.

"Wait!" Ren Zexian chose to run after him. "I am Ren Zexian. Could you share with me your name?"

"Nathan Tobias Matthison," the boy replied, but continued walking.

"That is a long name," Ren Zexian mused. "My comrades consider mine long too, so they call me Ren... may I call you Nathan?" The boy did not say anything for a moment, but eventually gave a sharp nod. "Are you here alone, Nathan?"

"My parents aren't here at the moment," came his answer. "They have people in the main house to look after it. They sometimes bring me groceries, but no one has come to visit me for a long time. I thought that was okay, but I ran out of toilet paper yesterday." His nose scrunched up, clearly unhappy about this. While Ren Zexian did not understand what the boy meant by 'groceries' he could generally understand that the people in the large property stopped visiting the boy as they had all turned. The poisonous silver core in his gut had continued to stir all the while he stood close to the large white building. But was the boy really not aware of any of this? Was it just sheer luck that had him not open the door to the horrors within?

"Nathan," Ren Zexian said softly, "have you not noticed strange happenings of late?"

"I don't understand what you mean," Nathan replied as he opened a small gate in the thick hedge the squad had seen him disappear into before. He walked inside and Ren Zexian followed, to find a smaller garden which was even more filled with fruit and vegetable producing plants, although some of the fruits were oddly shaped and grey or luminous in colour. And also one very thin and bare of leaf tree held teardrop fruits that sparkled like gems.

Ren Zexian paused as he stared at it before following Nathan into the small cottage at the bottom of the garden. "You have unusual plants in your garden." In truth Ren Zexian did not recognise many of the flora of this world, but he could tell that certain of the plants that Nathan kept had spiritual auras and not all could be considered benevolent. Ren Zexian suspected that if anyone else found those wall, leafed vines and the vines that claimed the zombie cow, they would not live to tell of it. Something about this boy must be calming their usual natures.

"I thought they were sick, at first," Nathan informed him, his smile returning to his cute face. "But they just changed into something new. I wrote some things down about them, like in the way books inform you about plants. I wanted to draw them, but the pictures did not come out so well. The scarlet red fern even made my picture burst into flames, because it was so bad." He giggled, the melodious sound like the tinkling of bells in Ren Zexian's ears.

"So you have not witnessed any walking corpses?" He asked after swallowing to ease the dryness of his throat. "Or any undead beasts?"

The boy's smile fell once more and he shook his head. "Why would I have? Corpses cannot walk and undead... I've read that word in the novel Dracula. I didn't like that book. I prefer books with plants and trees in them. But I like the part in Lord of the Rings when it talks about ents." He stopped speaking abruptly, his stomach rumbling loudly. "I'm hungry. I'm going to make dinner now."

"Nathan, do you mind if I invite my friends onto your land?" Ren Zexian asked, thinking deeply about what he had come to learn about this boy, who it seemed knew nothing about what occurred beyond his gardens. It seemed fantastical that he did not know, but what if, though it was a small chance, what if the garden itself was protecting him. After all, those vines attacked the zombie cow that got too near. "We.. we have been travelling and have nowhere to stay."

"Have you seen my parents on your travels?" Nathan asked, glancing briefly up at him and allowing Ren Zexian to catch a second glimpse of his enchanting eyes.

"I am afraid not," Ren Zexian answered, gently.

"Oh," Nathan replied, immediately seeming to lose interest in their conversation. "Your friends can stay at the main house, if they like." He began preparing the meagre amount of vegetables as if Ren Zexian were no longer there.

"Thank you," the older man said, anyway and made his way back to the front gate.