Every step forward took the journey just that much further. Night Silver and the migrants she was leading, were heading through a grassland atop a plateau. Scattered through this land, there were flowers everywhere. All of various colors and sizes. Some of them looked interesting to Night Silver, so she inspected them closely. And a child who had been playing with some others in the grass, noticed Silver's lips curl into a smirk.
"Mommy, why are you smiling? Is that flower good? It looks pretty?" The child asked, with an unnatural curiosity.
"It is a good flower. It seems to have a similar property to another flower I know of. Hmm, I'd like to take some with me. But…" Night Silver answered, looking around at the others who came with her. "It does seem like everyone could use a bit of an extended break this time. I'll set up a Nature's shelter here." She continued, leaving the flower alone as she stood up. Alright, with the combination of new herbs to use in my magic crafts, and that child's curiosity. I'm sure if we spend a few days here, it will prove to be beneficial. "Create Nature's Shelter!" She called out.
This time, a mound popped out of the ground, with a large tree growing above it. Complete with a door, the entrance was decorated with flowering vines and even a few branches that generated some sort of fruit looking item.
With the addition of such a large structure in the middle of a grassy field, it was basically impossible not to notice it. Thus many of the dwarves were curious, sending their leader to inquire about what might be going on.
"Excuse me." The Dwarven Leader asked in his gruff voice.
"Hmm, oh hello there. Sorry I didn't run it by you, but I thought it would be a good idea to take a break for 2 or 3 days. The children seem to have energy to continue on, but it's better for their health to get some stable sleep. That and…" Night Silver said, giving a nod to the elves and dwarves that were showing clear signs of exhaustion. "We've been traveling for a while. And it hasn't been slow. I may be powerful, but I'm not blind to the blights of others. Besides, I'm curious about these flowers here. They seem to have some similar properties to the ones I'm familiar with. So I'd like to run a few tests on them." She finished explaining.
"I… I see, I was so focused on getting to the destination I forgot to see what we were struggling with… As a leader that isn't a great trait to have. I will do better, thank you Lady Nature. I will endeavor to do better." The Dwarven leader said, with a short bow before making his way back.
"Pfft, so funny. I'm sure he will make a great leader for his people. The ability to recognize his own mistake and then make active efforts to correct it. I might just use that deity title to his advantage. He might just do well as a king to rule over his people. As long as he is a kind king I don't see an issue with that." Night Silver murmured.
The child from earlier started climbing up onto Night Silver's back, she wanted a hug but ended up settling for a piggy back ride. "Mommy, what is a king? Are they important?" She asked, resting her cheek on Silver's shoulder.
Night Silver reached back and rubbed the child's head, maintaining a warm smile. The Class level she had as the Guardian Elven Mother really makes it easy for her to feel normal at these times. "Important, well, to you a dwarven king probably wouldn't be that important. But to the dwarves it would give them a name, a face and a leader they could rally behind whenever times become difficult. While also bearing the responsibility of preventing such hard times." She answered, the child didn't really seem to understand, instead opting to snuggle closer. "You seemed interested in the flowers. Do you want to learn some alchemy magic?" She asked.
"Oh! I can learn mommy's magic? Yes! I want to!" The child cheerfully replied, eager to learn, that, or she just wanted to be with Night Silver.
The Dwarven Leader went back to his fellow dwarves, making sure to hold himself properly. I think this is how a leader should hold themselves, right? I might have to ask about this later. He thought, nervously.
"So, what's going on? Why did the Goddess stop here? Are we staying here for the night?" One Dwarf asked puzzled, but eager for an answer.
"Shut up you dope, isn't he gonna tell us now anyway? And why would we spend the night here, it's still daylight out. Far too early for making camp, it must be something else." Another dwarf ranted.
"Relax, we are making camp here. We have people who need some rest. And supposedly the Lady has found an herb she wants to study for a few days." The Leader answered. "To come up with an excuse like that, just to make our people not feel bad about slowing her down… We must not make any mistakes with her. Even though she isn't a dwarf, she's still to be respected. So let us spend this time wisely. Those of you who need the rest, get some rest. The rest of you, let's start coming up with plans on how we want to design our settlement." He finished speaking, the last part felt like he cared but also gave an order. Huh, how will that go over? I can't look nervous, stay calm.
"That's a great idea!"
The Dwarves began mapping out their ideas, a sentiment that made the elves a little curious as well. So they started thinking about what they would do next. Two groups of people each thinking about what they want to build to live in. Occasionally if a concept required a nuanced view, the two races would convene to discuss it. Learning more as they did this, deepening their understanding of the topics they each learned previously. Some of them even seemingly felt like they had an epiphany.