[center][h3]Knowledge Forsaken[/h3][/center] “Rehair.” Nimueh said as she carefully tried to shake awake the zena. “Rehair. Wake up.” She whispered. Rehair slowly rose from her slumber, until she recognized the voice and jolted upright. She locked eyes with Nimueh and looked furious. “What are you doing here!?” She whisper-yelled at the zena girl who stood rather sheepishly in between the pile of sleeping zenii. Rehair took her by the arm and carefully took her away from the warmth of the blackstone. “You need to leave right now.” “I know, I know. I’m no longer welcome here but Rehair you have to listen to me!” Nimueh said with a big smile on her face. Rehair stood in front of her with her arms crossed. “I want to teach you something.” A doubtful eyebrow rose from Rehair but the zena didn’t stop Nimueh. “Right, how to do this?” Nimueh asked herself out loud. “One second.” In an instant, she transformed into a rat. Rehair almost screamed and stomped her. The rat scurried around a bit, seemingly grasping at the thin air around before it transformed back into Nimueh: “Okay, look at this!” Nimueh reached out with her hand towards some grass nearby. At first, it only started to glow green. Then it began to visibly grow towards her hand. It grew so fast that it could wrap the grass around her fingers before she released the magical power. The green glow vanished and Nimueh looked up at her friend with an excited smile. Rehair just frowned. “See? Magic!” Nimueh exclaimed in pure – though somewhat quieted – excitement. Slowly she pulled her hand back. The grass retained the shape of her fingers. As if some phantom hand was still supporting it. “Is that what you used to kill Slouwe?” Rehair’s question cut straight through Nimueh. She lost all excitement in a blink of an eye. Suddenly there was a tension in the air that Nimueh hadn’t felt before. She always considered Rehair to be her friend through thick and thin. Like a sister. Now she was less sure of that. The zena woman radiated something she had only felt coming from Lonam: hostility. “I didn’t mean to-“ “You didn’t need to mean it. It still happened.” Rehair cut her off. “Go. Leave. Take this… this horrible thing with you. It will bring nothing but blood to the blackstone.” Rehair turned around to head back to the safety and warmth of the blackstone. Nimueh grabbed her arm. “No, Rehair. I promised I would teach-“ Slap! Nimueh staggered backwards as Rehair finished her backhanded swing. “Stay away from me.” Rehair sneered. Her eyes were now burning with hate. “I got nothing to learn from you!“ The zena looked up and down Nimueh’s body. Most of her wounds and scraps had healed and she wasn’t hungry or thirsty. It was obvious that she could survive and even thrive in the wilds. Away from the blackstones. There was even a glow around her. A glow of someone who found some kind of purpose. “You’re obviously doing well. So leave the zenii alone. You’re no longer part of us. Head into the forest and never come back.” The girl stood defeated and ashamed. Before she thought that maybe at least Rehair would still forgive her but clearly she was mistaken. Her former friend now held nothing but the deepest hatred for her. “I need to come back.” She stammered. “The Beast Queen, she-“ “Again with your Beast Queen!” Rehair almost yelled. “She’s real!” Nimueh almost shouted, but she didn’t want to wake up the other zenii. “And I have to tell you guys, all of you guys that you cannot enter her forest with pots or baskets or anything like that! She doesn’t like it.” Pure despair was growing in the young zena’s heart. By word or by claw, the words the Beast Queen used made it clear what would happen if they didn’t listen. “You greedy grub.” Rehair sneered. “We’ve finally found your treasure trove of food in the forest. Enough that we wouldn't have to worry about it anymore, and you would take it all for yourself?” “It’s not about greed!” “Go away.” Rehair said as she turned around again. Leaving Nimueh in the cold air away from the blackstone. She stood there for a moment, defeated. Eventually though, she transformed into a rat and skittered back towards the forest. Neither Rehair nor Nimueh had noticed the handful of restless zenii in the pile being awake with their eyes closed. [hider=Summary]Nimueh sneaks up to her friend Rehair at the blackstone at night. She tries to show and teach magic to the older zena but she refuses, pointing out it was used to kill a zenii. Nimueh tries to insist but gets slapped. She then tries to repeat that the Beast Queen doesn’t like what the zenii are doing. Rehair accuses her of greed and goes back to sleep. Nimueh also leaves. Neither notice that some other zenii weren’t fully asleep either.[/hider] [hider=spirit]Nimueh starting spirit: 5 + 1 spirit: appears in this post + 1 spirit: focus of this post Nimueh ending spirit: 7 [/hider]