Under the bright sunlight and accompanied by Tarlequin's cheerful melodies, the Open Wound suddenly didn't look as dark as Nume had remembered it anymore. Yet some of their tribe stopped and stared for a moment before they started their descent. Far ahead of them, Zar'gno was carrying a cart down into the valley. They were too big for the path so he'd offered to carry them down one by one. With a loud squeak, Luthi suddenly flew off, heading straight for the ruins. Nume wondered what had caught his interest but she couldn't make anything out for they were still quite far away and everything was rather grey down in the valley.

'Well, somebody's found an old friend.' Feyn stated, landing next to Nume and folding her large wings carefully behind her back. Confronted with confused looks, she then added: 'That Baymout is waiting down there.'

Kran halted all of a sudden, causing Nume to run right into him and swear quietly. 'Are you sure it's Bay? Because some other Baymout would be... devastating.'

'I'll go and check.' Feyn replied, jumping off the path down the high cliff, not spreading her wings for so long, it made Nume worry she might just burst on the ground, but the Harpyie caught her fall in one elegant movement and flew away at a great speed.

With a loud sigh, Nume continued her way, always following Tarlequin who swiftly jumped ahead of them. The path was narrow and some of their followers pushed themselves against the wall, careful not to get too close to the cliff. The Fauns, however, didn't seem to mind at all. It reminded Nume of Tarlequin climbing down the cliff before they'd met Sethara. Now the thought made her sad, but she quickly brushed it off, focusing on her steps and the melodies Tarlequin filled the air with.

'Can you see that?' Kran asked her, pointing at something in the distance once they had nearly reached the bottom of the cliff.

'What?' Nume asked, searching the place, unsure what to look for.

'There's another one of these plants! Remember, we saw one by the sea just outside... just outside Sethara's cave.' Kran explained. Now Nume looked again, still unable to see.

'Do you mean one of the blinking ones?' She asked curiously.

'Yes, one of the Moodswings.'

'I can't see it.' Nume gave him a short sad glance.

'I'll show you when we're there.' Kran replied with a smile.

When they reached the bottom, Nume plunged herself on the ground, rubbing her legs. They were shaking and she was sure they might just start cramping if she walked another step. The days they'd spent wandering K'haren had certainly helped her grow some muscles but it was nothing compared to climbing down such a cliff. Moments later, Kran joined her, also plunging to the ground. When Tarlequin walked up to them with a broad smile and not a hint of exhaustion, they exchanged a slightly bothered and envious glance.

'Did you want to suggest taking a break, my dearest Great Leaders?' the Faun teased with an even bigger smile now.

'Well, it's lunchtime, isn't it?' Nume replied tiredly.

'Indeed, it is, unfortunately however, our carts have been kindly carried right into the ruins by our dear friend Zar'gno. I guess that means no food until we make it there.' Tarlequin said unbearably joyfully.

With yet another sigh, Nume pushed herself back on her feet, holding her arms out towards Kran so she could help him get up. He gave her a smirk, grabbed her hands and let her help drag him back up on his feet.

'Did you gain weight?' she asked him critically.

'Hey!' he gave her an offended look before eying himself up carefully. She laughed at that, of course he hadn't, he couldn't have, their journey didn't exactly give one a change to gain weight.

Before they walked on, Nume insisted on Kran showing her the flower he'd seen before. It wasn't far away and now that they were closer, the quickly changing colours could easily be spotted.

'But don't touch it!' Kran warned once more even though Nume remembered the last time he'd lectures her rather well. Moodswings, she thought to herself. It wasn't exactly all as fitting as Kran might think, after all, the flower only drew people's attention to its bloom and obviously not to the rest, so it was more the one trying to pick it who had moodswings. Why would you want to take something beautiful with you just to watch it die?

'How comes they grow here and by the sea but we haven't seen them anywhere else?' Nume asked absentmindedly.

'Oh, that's because of the cliff, you know, there are small creatures living here that only come out at night and they help these flowers spread. At least that's what mother told me...' There was a hint of sadness in Kran's voice. Obviously, he missed his family. Nume turned to him with a smile and suggested walking on now that the last ones in the row had finally reached the bottom of the cliff as well.

With all the people, campfires and laughter in them, the town's ruins looked way more peaceful than Kran had remembered them. Now he could imagine the town properly, raising proudly above a flowery valley with birds in the air and a river gently flowing by. He let his gaze wander until he saw Bay not too far away, trying to avoid Luthi who excitedly ran after and around her all the time. The Gseirut wouldn't stop squeaking and following her. He obviously liked Bay way more than Zar'gno with whom he'd just about learned to get along, despite his natural instincts to hide from any dragon.

Nume was talking to an elderly man who'd been once of the captives, Tarlequin sat in a circle of children, telling them some story that provoked high pitched laughter every now and again and Feyn sat on the southern wall of a roofless house, watching the whole group with a gentle smile on her face. In his head, Kran went through all the things they'd need to do. There weren't many plants down in the valley and he hadn't seen any animals they could have hunted either so they'd have to send troops hunting outside the valley, but making them climb the cliff every time was a waste of time and energy. Maybe they could have Luthi carry them up and down instead. The ruins would serve them as a base to build on, if just they could find wood and stones, the latter wouldn't be difficult since the river had carried many boulders into the valley.

'What are you thinking about?' Nume asked Kran. He hadn't even noticed how the old man had gotten up and walked away.

'We're building a new life.' He said, unable to stop smiling. 'All these people are here because they want to live in peace, isn't that great?'

'It is.' Nume replied, also smiling. 'If just there weren't people trying to take that peace away from us...'

'We won't let them.' Kran ensured her. 'We'll show them how to be better. Last time we were here, we were all alone, there were just three of us, but now...' he looked around their camp. 'Look how many people have joined us, they are all on our side.'

'You really should stop talking about "sides".' Nume said. 'This isn't a war, there are no sides to be on.'

'But there are people attacking us, trying to bring us down, doesn't that make them our enemies and thus make it a war?' Kran pointed out.

'A war requires two fighting parties and I don't want us to fight.' She looked into his eyes determinedly. 'We'll either change K'haren peacefully or we'll go down under their cruelty, but I won't let us become like them. We won't force our opinions on others. Sethara told me that we were here to give them another chance, their last chance.'

'And what happens if they attack? Do you want us to just sit around and watch them slaughter us?' Kran asked in a whisper, not to catch too much attention.

'I'd prefer that to seeing blood on our own hands. And we wouldn't stand a chance in a battle anyway. If they attack, we shall fight back with our minds, not our fists. We'll show them that they can't scare us back into submission and we'll force them to see that they are the bad ones. They can't pretend we'd be evil or taking their society down or whatever if we remain peaceful, but for that, we have to be consistently peaceful.' Nume's determination surprised Kran and caught a lot of attention since she hadn't cared to speak in a low voice. Instead, she had obviously wanted people to hear her.

Looking around, Kran could now see several people slowly nodding their heads in approval. He knew she was right, he knew that was their best chance, but he just couldn't believe he could stay calm and peaceful if somebody held a knife up to Nume's throat. Though he figured it was better not to point that out at the moment with everybody listening.

// Could you remain calm in such a situation? It's hard enough to be "the better one" and back away in an argument, but when it comes to a life or death situation, it must be incredibly difficult. I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below and votes are always appreciated ;)