After the friendly and very pleasant encounter with Ariadne at Moonglow's doorstep, Dwin continued her journey northwards. She wanted to see the ocean (the big water thingie) again and rumour had it that there was another moon-village located there. While making her way there through a valley and a very thick and unhospitable forest, her mind often returned to the pretty fairy-like girl she had left behind. The interest was anything but romantic on her side, rather she allowed herself the pleasure of enjoying a memory of an alluring and attractive person and letting her imagination wander along all the paths of "what if"s had the life and fate been different for either of them. It was entertaining and kept her mind busy. 

Finally, she reached the end of the tangle of a forest that had been just as unwilling to let her go as it had been unwilling to let her in. She let the wind play with her fur and closed her eyes to appreciate the cold breeze that brought a wealth of smells and scents with it. Then - feeling thirsty, she found a puddle nearby and lapped up the water. It did not taste bad, the only complaint was the sand that came along with it. 

"OOOh, you have happened to have the same experience of intestines twisting, burning and turning inside out, while your body expells all the water from you?" Dwin grinned, looking the dark-pelted newcomer up and down and deciding to sit down for the conversation. "I do not advise on trying sea-weeds either. They may do miracles for the coast-dwellers and direct descendants from mermaids, but for ground-crawlers like me they just about nearly murder you," she smiled. 

"What's you name, kid?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. "I am Hag of the Forests Dwin. Depending on the mood you may leave here either blessed or cursed," she told him, feeling playful today and testing the youngster to see, what kind of fabric he was made of. 

"Oy, oy, oy - not so fast, dear Taggak friend," Dwin shook her head and raised one of her paws to emphasize that the guy had to pause a bit. "I said I am a hag, not a fairy-godmother that gives blessings left and right and asks nothing in return," she explained, then furrowed her brow, briefly looked up in the sky, then back at the fellow. "Frankly speaking, I am not sure, how they operate. I ate mine, when I was in my crib and the fairy-folk have been avoiding me ever since," she said and pretended to wipe away a mock tear, when in reality she was grinning ear to ear and tail was tapping in pure amusement. 

"Plus - you do not know, what mood I am in now. For all you know, you might leave here as a frog. In the best case. In the worst, I could turn you into a stick and throw it to puppies to chew on," she told, then leaned closer and added in a conspiratorial whisper. "For all eternity!" She leaned back and watched his reaction to these news. 

"And you call me fake?" Dwin began to laugh. Funny ways, how people's minds worked. They were fine accepting that the some leaf-shaking above their heads and probably some chants did the miracle. But, when she had promised a solid curse instead of a blessing that she had no idea, how to give, she was suddenly declared a con-artist. Eye-roll.

"What I was saying - hags are better at cursing than giving blessings. I never stayed around long enough so that my mentor could teach me the craft," she explained. "But there's a way to avoid a hag's curse," she continued to spin the yarn. "Impress her with a story and she will consider. Maybe even give you some cryptic notions about your future," she arched an eyebrow and waited for the fellow's response. 

"It depends. Hags are finicky things. You never know. But if the story is good or such that she has never heard of, then she might look at you favourably," Dwin gave the boy a toothy grin, but kept the banter friendly and playful. Her young companion had already earned a nice green check-mark in the list of qualities the young Blackthorn found important in people. Right next to - "Has a sense of humor". Or rather - the kind of humor that Dwin had grown up with and that helped her connect with people outside her immediate circle of family and friends. 

"But - mind you - hags are always, always, always better than Muses. Those posh girls demand your full love, attention and admiration, they squeeze you dry and then leave you on the rocks, when they grow tired of you. They have drunk a bit too much of the ambrosia and think themselves gods. That happens, when you live in the clouds and do not stand firmly on the ground as hags do," she added. "Anyway - stage and spotlight is yours - story of your choosing, please!" she told him, sat up straight and looked at him expectantly.

"It is a very beautiful story, thank you for sharing that with me," Dwin replied. She had listened carefully and seen the story unfold before her eyes. The big lake, the whale, who she had never seen in her life, but assumed being something like a huge sea-lion. And the raven, who had stolen the soul. Oddly enough, she liked the flawed main character of the story that left you wondering, what would you have done in his place? 

"Well, you have impressed the hag - so instead of a curse, she will give you a blessing," she told after a long pause. "May you be blessed with everything your heart desires, but also have the wisdom of choosing wisely and knowing the difference between, what you want and actually need," she told. And with that they bid their farewells and went their separate ways.