Bitterroot Valley footloose and fancy free

Thanks for the lovely thread Summer! <3

Although he'd known her for scarcely the amount of time it took to cross this very river, her enchanting aura was such that Ico was very much inclined to believe most anything she said. Or at least to take her words under very strong advisement. And so he was intrigued by her open-mindedness, and glanced from her back down to the curious gemstone, wistful, wondering...

He remembered the two greedy wolves from Walnut Grove. In the end, one of the wolves fighting for the gemstone was chased away from the pack. It was the healer. The wise one. The one who 'won' the stone merely kept it as a keepsake, and it never did prove powerful — except in its dangerous allure.

And hence, a conclusion. He shook his head. I shan't take it either. But nor will I cover it up or cast it away. Passers-by can decide for themselves what to do with it.

Just as they had.

And later, as he returned to Fields and their long journey, musing quietly over the snowy stranger and their peculiar find, Ico felt in his heart that he'd done the right thing.