there will be scars, Da

[Erebor]

We are at war. There will be scars.

"Knowledge is power." he agrees, with a small, wry smile. On this they can agree – on this everyone can agree. He might not have the whispers that she has, he might not have her flame-quick nature, he might be the misguided explorer who tromps through the forest, trying desperately to catalog its million varieties of plants and animals while constantly missing the forest for its trees – but at the end of the day, he'll still know things.

And as they have said, knowledge is power.

The trees, she says, and he doesn't immediately judge her one way or the other. There is something about this girl, a strange tingle in the air that makes him feel as though they're not quite on even footing. Not that it bothers him – he accepts those with powers as easily as you please. To him, they're just like anything else in Beqanna, a natural product of the earth no matter how intensely unnatural the results may be. He can try to anticipate their whims, try to understand their capacities, but in the end what is it for? In the end they'll always be able to power their way through, no matter what. And so it's to him and his lot to survive as best they can, to do as they're able, and to always make do.

The silence hangs between them for a moment before he rather gracelessly picks up a part of the conversation that suddenly jumps into his mind. "I know nothing of wildflowers. They don't grow much in the Chamber, not after the volcanos." his voice is tentative, almost pensive. He looks at her, his face handsome in the shadows of the forest that rings the meadow. "I don't know what knapweed is, or any of the others." he pauses for just a moment on the edge of speech. He knows what he wants to ask, but at the same time he feels himself hesitate. He isn't sure that he trusts this girl to be a good teacher – in fact, he's very sure that he doesn’t trust this girl with anything. But if not her, then who? He needs to learn about everything, about plants and trees and wildflowers. And this girl knows her knapweed.

"Will you teach me their names? The Knapweed and the…whatever else is growing around here?" he offers a half-smile, charming on his handsome face, although he has yet to learn that he is handsome and does not understand what it might mean. "The trees don't seem interested in teaching me."

Erebor

Native Prince of the Chamber

warship x straia