The Heartwood [PHE] cloud girl

his father spoke to the men in tongue just vaguely familiar to ghelan. the boy exchanged no words to either, unsure how to approach the men. they seemed antsy even after they'd long since left moontide. 
the only comfort he could give them was that it would take long for anyone to notice he had gone missing.

his father's gesture interrupts his thoughts. quickly the boy slinks after him, leaving the men on their lonesome.

the trees hung over them like many hands reaching for the skies. this wasn't the open brisk of the shoreside, or the open fields of the plateau, where the sky stretched miles and miles outwards. in the shadows of these woodlands, the little glimpses of the sky he could catch gave ghelan the impression of being trapped. his father, whose body stood out from the brightness of the sun and open breeze, blended in perfectly here.