Simon never thought that he would ever end up sitting in a gully talking to himself in any universe that was out there but here he was making that crazy scenario a reality. At least he thought that he would only end up talking to himself because there was no one else around him but he couldn't let that small sliver of a virus that the rabbit had implanted in his brain some time ago. The rabbit had mentioned Soothsayer but didn't really elaborate on its properties or how to engage this 'effect'. He lit a leaf on fire before so he figured that doing it again would potentially do something. To Simons complete utter surprise he did hear something in return. When the voice spoke it sounded like the voice was right at the tip of his ear, it was at an acoustic sweet spot for sound but it wasn't yelling. It sounded like the voice was completely surrounding him, like he was the water and the jar was the voice. He heard nothing else around him, no monkeybats, no fire, nothing but the voice. 

[quote] "Lonely boy . . . I want you to see me. Take me away. I trust you . . . Under your feet. Look . . . Take me to the river. I am the water to the fox's flame. You and I, my dear lonely boy. You and I." [/quote]

When he first heard the voice it was like a state of nirvana, he felt complete nothingness as he hung on every word that was released into his mind. As the word was still hanging in the air the sound of fire crackling slowly began to flow back into his ears. Simon was so entranced that he couldn't think clearly. Simon truly had no idea how he was going to take something to the river that he couldn't see with his eyes. There was nothing that was under his foot since it was flat against the ground. That was when he looked under his foot and discovered that there was a black necklace that was barely visible if the voice had not mentioned it to him, especially since Simon hadn't noticed it when he first entered the gully. Simon picked it up carefully and not wanting to harm it he placed it gently around his neck. When he put it on he had a slight eerie feeling, why had this necklace felt so snug perfectly on his neck. It almost seemed like it was made for his skin. 

Simon had no idea if he could be able to communicate with the voice again in the future if need be so he emptied the rocks that he had taken for protection out of his pocket and stuffed as many flowers that would fit in his pants (that were an absolute disgrace). Simon stayed on his knees as he thought about what he was going to do while as he sat he couldn't stop thinking about one line that was said in particular to him. 

[quote]"Take me to the river. I am the water to the fox's flame"[/quote]

Was it just a coincidence that he had picked up the mask of the fox and happened to start the fire that was now running rampant throughout the forest. Even though he would love to see this place burn to the ground for everything that it has done to his companions and himself there were so many things that could be learned about this place if any straight information could be gained in this place. So many advancements that could be made in the herbal medicine world. He didn't truly know what was going to happen bringing the necklace to the river but he figured that it would be the safest thing to do at the moment. With this thought Simon decided to start this leg of his journey, Simon wasn't sure what way the river was but he figured that he should head forward since he hadn't seen any rivers aside from the one that seemed to have healing properties but that seemed inaccessible at the moment because of the flames that Simon had provided. 

As he started to walk he could feel that something had been observing him intensely but as he slowly turned around in a complete circle he hasn't spotted anything besides trees and flames. However Simon knew from what he had experienced so far that even though you can't see anything doesn't mean jack.