Arrow Lake sturm und drang

he meandered along trails best left to memory, for soon they would be leaving the lake. and yet his heart had found a bit of wistfulness, and so mahler traipsed the last place he had been with stigmata. the leaves of the place had begun to shift into their brilliant twilit hues; he stood between two oaken giants and closed his eyes as a breeze played across his scarred visage.
a sound announced tahani's presence, and mahler steeled himself a moment before he turned, offering the new geist a quick twitch of his lips. "how are you settling?" he rumbled, unsure if she understood the common tongue. as takiyok had said it, the language of the two was first in tahani's mouth.