With an amused look, Janius held Kaleeth against himself with one arm and carefully navigated his way down the branches. He still had to jump across to some other trees in order to find solid ground again, but Janius was careful and went slower than before, mindful of Kaleeth's fear.

"If I spot a big rock or something that might make for a good demonstration, I might show you." Janius responded, placing Kaleeth feet first on the ground and observing her shakes with his eyes. "I think laying down for a bit would be nice though. You look like you could use the time to calm."

Finding somewhere wet was certainly not a difficult task, thanks to the rain. After they found a pond with an tree trunk adjacent to the shore to lean up against, they laid themselves down and Janius closed his eyes. Time seemed to speed up as Janius and Kaleeth relaxed in each others arms. Before they knew it, some hours had passed. By that time, Janius' beast spirit receded on its own due to the calm, which came as a surprise to both of them as he transformed back into Imperial form. However, as much as Kaleeth had enjoyed the warmth of Janius' fur, Janius felt he could be more intimate with Kaleeth when he was closer to her size. It was hard to kiss with a wolf snout after all. After a while they decided to head back to the village while there was still daylight so Kaleeth could get the advice she needed.

Sabine's good mood lasted into the day. After washing herself in the river and taking a nap in the dry common hut, she shared a meal with Tunxeek and the pack. She even managed to sound one of her strange pulsating chuckles at Tunxeek's recount of an incident with a stray alit wandering into the village. It was rare to see her in such a state. Into the the late day, as her energy waned, she eventually became quiet again, but not withdrawn and cringing all the time. The anxiety of the ritual itself was building. With Meesei there to comfort her though, she wasn't debilitated by it.