The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

C11 - Steel

Chapter 11 - Steel.

He couldn't sleep. Counting the number of individual planks of wood in the darkened ceiling wasn't helping, nor was the constant readjusting of his pillow. It apparently didn't matter the fact that his entire body was still sore and exhausted from the battle earlier in the night, nor that he'd finished applying gels and bandages to his various injuries a few hours ago.

He was simply too preoccupied by what had happened.

With a grunt, Sorey sat up in his bed, ruefully rubbing his tired eyes. The muffled sound of crickets chirping outside the inn of Marlind continued to ring in the silence as he made his way out the door, shutting it quietly behind him. He lingered for a second in the darkened hallway, his eyes drifting slowly towards the doors of the others' rooms.

Then the moment passed. Shaking his head to himself, Sorey turned his body away and instead headed outside, braving the aging night. It felt like he had wandered for an eternity through the desolate streets of town with nothing but the crickets for company before he inadvertently found himself entering the park at the heart of Marlind. All alone, the Shepherd maintained his thoughtful pace as he trotted through the empty grass fields, idly appreciating the brilliance of the naturally formed patterns embellishing the vibrant bark of the Great Tree before him.

He spent some more time there, sitting on one of the thicker roots of the massive tree a little way up from the ground and letting his mind catch up with itself in silence.

"That tree's pretty old, you know."

Edna didn't spare him a glance as she approached, training her eyes high up towards the towering tree valiantly enshrouding the town. Her pale translucent umbrella seemed to glow ethereally in the moonlight as she twirled it on her shoulder.

"Edna!" Sorey blinked. "What are you doing up this early?" He asked as she came to a halt below his perch.

She raised an eyebrow up at him. "Don't ask questions that you won't answer in turn." She reprimanded.

Sorey winced. "...I-I guess that's fair." He conceded meekly.

The earth seraph let out a soft hmph in response, disapproval clear on her face.

Looking to divert the topic anywhere else, the Shepherd glanced up towards the darkened sky. "The Celestial Record says that the Great Tree of Marlind is a few thousand years old, at least." He recited by heart, squinting through the darkness to make out the vague outline of the expansive canopy above.

"That's like, stupid vague." Edna pointed out disdainfully, delicately placing her oversized boots upon the bark of the tree as she climbed up to where Sorey was. "Can't that all-knowing book of yours give a definitive answer for once?"

The Shepherd shook his head. "Well, there's only so much information that scattered old legends and spotty ancient records can provide, especially given just how vast the span of time it's trying to account for." he reasoned. "Figuring out history is like a puzzle, where you're only given a few pieces of a thousand and told to somehow replicate the entire image. Some things just aren't possible to find definitive answers for." His eyes seemed to gleam with familiar passion as he spoke.

Edna knelt down easily behind Sorey on the root, hugging her knees with an idle huff. "So, the only thing that really knows the full truth behind the tree's story is the tree itself, then." She commented. "Nobody else."

"I guess you could say that, yeah." Sorey nodded, appreciating the interpretation. He ran his gloved fingers over the glossy skin of the root he sat upon. "Still, imagine all of the things we could learn if the tree could talk to us!" He exclaimed. "Entire lost chapters of history – recovered in an instant!"