Verana sat on the edge of the river, watching the sun rise, feeling a building exhaustion in her, coupled with a burning energy, as if the two went hand in hand despite being polar opposites; keeping her awake but weighing her down.

 Her head felt heavy and full, like she should have a headache but it was only on the very edges of her awareness. She hadn't eaten since before the fight and though she felt her body burning through energy even as she rested, whatever had happened in that match with Shelby had left her with no ability to eat, no desire to do much more than struggle to return to reality.

It had been two days of her drifting and watching as the human Market, tournament grounds and accompanying tents was dismantled and slowly carted away down the road into Clairval or back into Keepsal. There remained large pavilion tents further away from the river that belonged to the Nobles remaining for the Council meeting that would be soon underway. 

She had remained in the forest through most of the changes, where she had woken up  in the middle of the night and only venturing to the river now. Some part of her felt too raw to deal with humans, to deal with the questions and reactions of what Sencha and Shaktay described as  the Sight brought by the Peace blades. 

Instead of the future, what was Seen was from the past, locked into the swords some how and exposed to all those watching in the arena. The fighters had not been aware of it, had barely been aware of their fight, as the Swords pulled power out of the two of them to change the arena into something Seen.

But now, she had no choice in the matter. 

She had promised the humans that she would attend their War Council, though she was still unsure what she was expected to say to them, or how she was expected to convey anything more than what had already been shown and said. She had no idea what their thoughts or reactions to the visions would be. 

 It was quite possible that all the work she had done up to this point had suddenly been erased and she could be walking into a room of hostile strangers, creatures alien from herself, unwilling to understand or listen to something that they did not believe in.

"Eat." Sencha sat beside her, pressing a clay bowl into her hands, startling her by his sudden presence. He had remained aloof from her since their match and she wanted desperately to turn to him for reassurance and comfort as a child would have. But the distance between them still yawned wider than she had strength for.

The bowl was warm enough to draw her attention and she glanced down, seeing a thick porridge with sweet syrup and berries from the forest. It was a fortifying dish more suited for winter than the current weather but she felt comforted by it, though her stomach turned at the thought of food. "I'm not hungry."

Sencha's expression was unrelenting, it wasn't a gentle sort of care that she would find in him. "You are. Your body is anyways, you've been caught in-between for too long, you must come back here, now, and eat. Your test is almost done."

"The world seems like a different place." She said softly, before shrugging in defeat and slowly spooning the food into her mouth. The first couple bites hit her stomach like rocks but after forcing herself through them, she was struck by a ravenous hunger. Verana finished the bowl with no further hesitation before looking up to him, half debating asking for more.

He watched her with a sad expression on his face, inclining his head when her eyes met his. "It is not done changing yet. But... there is something else, There's a new smell, low on the wind. It's too distant for me to identify, but it is coming this way. You must stay on your guard. The twins and I will be roaming the fields around the Star stones, but you will be the only one amongst the humans."

Verana frowned, thinking his words over. "From what was explained to me, each noble is allowed two guards to remain close to the stones, the rest of the armed fighters will be further afield, too far to respond immediately to a threat. Its tradition. They meet like this traditionally  so that no one can bring fighters to overwhelm the others."

Sencha did not look pleased but his only response was a question. "Do you remember how to pick up the smell of blood?"

"Of course." Verana nodded, her eyes locking on his for a long moment, trying to discern his thoughts from the emotions she smelled coming off of him. "What do you think will happen?"

"Perhaps nothing." Sencha shrugged, reaching out to lay a hand on her cheek, his hand patting it gently before he pulled away, "but keep your nose to the wind and your ears open. The boat is coming to get you. Go in Peace."

Verana stood, taking a couple steps away from him before turning back, her voice wavering as she tried to find it once more. "I don't hate you, I shouldn't have hated you. I'm sorry for not trusting you."

Sencha picked up her bowl, looking down at it with a sad expression, before looking back up to her. "You did, even in your own way, you still trusted me. I couldn't have taught you if you didn't."

"I..."

"No. Not right now." Sencha shook his head, his expression returning to a neutral one. "The time for more talk comes once your test is done. Then it will make more sense and I hope you can forgive me for it all."

The ground behind her crunched with the sound of the human's boat on the shore and Verana inclined her head before turning to offer Benchan a quick smile. He watched the two of them for a moment, before lowering her eyes to her. "Trust me, Lady Verana. I won't let anything happen to you today."

Verana smiled to the human and climbed into the boat. "Nor I, any of you, my friend."  She hoped their promises weren't needed, but something about the way the clouds shifted above made her sniff the air once more, looking for the smell of blood.