Flycatcher Downs well, everything has changed

Ah, a most excellent question. That's where the knowings of a great mountaineer come in, and he fluffed up his chest in boastful jest, we do not so much as climb over the mountains, but rather, find good passage through 'em. Tunnels, valleys, every pass inbetween. You name it, we find it, safety ensured (as much as you can with any kind of mountain travel), and dizziness, mmm... more or less avoided.

None of Arlette's inquiries really surprised him. After all, she'd spent all her life living in Easthollow, where they could barely call the hills there even that. Had she ever wondered what wonders she was missing in never leaving? And if the One hadn't intertwined their paths, would she have ever seen them herself? But he also understood what had kept her so grounded. Family had a way like that, didn't they? Only sometimes, usually just when I'm alone for too long, he finally settled on.

His smile grew as she rapid fired him with questions. There was something endearing in the openness of her curiosity; he himself felt more comfortable with her, and maybe she felt that, too. Yeah, of course, Kaito said with a nod. Easy to just start from the beginning, no? I never actually met my dad, just heard a bunch of stories about him when I was a kid. He died saving my mum from drowning in the ocean -- so in a way, I guess he saved me, too, since mum was pregnant with me and my siblings when all that happened, and if he hadn't been there, well... he gave a short laugh, though there was nothing much funny about anything he'd said. Dad was gone, but it was still strange to speak as though he was gone forever. He had used such language with Valette, too, but Kaito knew he still held something of a hope that dad had washed up ashore somewhere... somewhere mum, and his family, hadn't been able to reach... that even now he had found his way home.

My family was great, and mum raised us well, he carried on, and kept his thoughts withdrawn, The whole pack did. I think that's why I like Easthollow -- he glanced at Arlette, and grinned, you... kind of remind me of them, in a way, there were differences, of course, but the similarities astounded him. That he could find such common ties, in a place so different than his home. There are a lot of things I know I'm missing out on in being away from them, that I know I'll never have out here, the fasts, the feasts, the common they shared faith. I do miss them. But missing someone isn't always so bad... my Feter used to say that missing someone is simply a way you come understand just how much you really loved them.

He gave the breath of another laugh at the memory of his kin, and a look to his friend - gentle, thoughful... and perhaps, inperceptable, in just what that reminder drove him to ponder.