Sun Mote Copse and my whole earth shook

He resists the urge to comment on her name. Vermouth figures she’s heard some variation of, “Wow, that’s a mouthful!” too many times in her life already. He does wonder if he could pronounce it correctly, though there’s an easy workaround for that.

“How about I call you Keshi? And you can call me Vam,” which is almost uncomfortably close to his actual name. “Sure,” he adds, “I’d love to give a tour.”

With a smooth smile and expectant raise of his brows, he gestures for her to begin walking. Vermouth falls into step with her, keen eyes roving the forest ahead. Since the boughs are still mostly bare, he spots a hillock rising over the treetops. Actually, it’s more of a cliff, he notes as they come closer and he can see the sheer drop.

“You get the best views of this place from up there,” says Vermouth, guiding her slightly south to ascend at a gentler angle.

This change of course surprises him with a glimpse of a glittering pond ahead. It may even be big enough to be called a lake. He wonders if Keshi sees it but says nothing at the moment, instead gesturing for her to take point as they climb the hindside of the cliff.

Written using this map.