The day had stretched on and with the sun setting they broke to make camp.  As was the case as often the case as it wasn’t, the Landian had a site from his past that he guided them to.  Once there the pair settled into their usual routine.  She set about making camp and he, after setting out Ras, Cheriss, or Keid, disappeared to go and gather wood.  He returned to light a fire and once it burnt down some she set about making whatever meal would serve for dinner.  They had long settled on her cooking over his and the Landian instead moved to finish laying out their camp.

He rejoined her quickly enough, and they both sat about the fire as the day faded into night and world shrunk to the stars above and the bubble of light from their campfire.  This was often the part of the day Keto most looked forward to.  As she had manage to make a part of their routine the asking of questions.  There was no guarantee that Quartes would answer, as there was plenty that the Landian still refused to delve into.  However, there was more now than when they had started their travels together.  Which was a thought that had occurred to her earlier in the day and which Keto had mulled over throughout the long hours of the day’s travels.

Taking a breath, she started.  “Quartes,” the Landian’s gaze, those pale pupil-less eyes of his kin, shifted to her and she noted the hint of a smile.  That almost stopped her.  Quartes was more likely to answer her questions, and more of them, when his mood was good.  She also didn’t want to waste such an opportunity but neither did she want to mull this over throughout the night.  Sitting up a little straighter she continued, “When I joined your campfire those months ago, why did you let me stay?”  The Landian shifted, and Keto continued before he answered, “You had to have been travelling on your own for years at that point, why the change?”  The words came out in a rush as she finished and the Bard paused herself by stirring their dinner.

Moments passed before Quartes finally spoke.  “Back west I am feared, tied to the long memories of the destruction I brought.  Here,” he continued, looking up towards the stars but then back down to Keto, “I’m revered which,” his head tilted in thought, “I’ve come to realize has its own core of fear.”

“And I had the fortune to show up brazenly at your campfire?”  Keto offered with a smile that she didn’t quite feel.

“Yes and no,” the Landian answered, his own smile sincere.  “When you sat at my campfire I knew that it was time to do something, I just struggled with what that was.  I am not capable of fighting the war I did last Cycle, nor would doing so save us from the Dragons.  So, yes your timing and the message you brought was perfect.”

“However,” the Landian continued, though not before pausing to poke at the fire.  Keto thought for a moment that red may have come into his cheeks.  Finally Quartes shrugged, “I was lonely, and from the moment you sat at my fire I felt like those times where I was most Quartes and not Lehn.  My kin where never my best company, save for Elhandriel at times.  It was Keid and Cheriess and Ras that were,” he gestured to the trio of weapons set about the fire.  They saw us as comrades, not roles to play.  I had missed that, more than I think I realized, and you reminded me of that.”  He looked up from the flames, and Keto felt her own blush at his look, “Have been a better company to me than even they were, gave me not just a hope for a new beginning but a way to look forward to each day.”

Keto could feel her face starting to hurt from the smile that had grown on her face.  “So, no regrets then?”

“Sooner would’ve been better,” he offered with a smirk, “though I suppose our relative lifespans doesn’t make room for that.”  Keto answered with a short laugh, the Landian smiled and continued.  “So, do you have another question you’d like to ask?”