Lira lingered a moment longer, watching the way the forest responded to Vaelith's presence—how branches leaned subtly toward her, how the light thickened around her silhouette like a cloak.
"There's one more thing I'd like to ask," Lira said. "Are there towns here? Places where people gather, trade, live together?"
Vaelith's ears twitched, and her gaze drifted somewhere far beyond the visible trees. For a long while she did not answer.
"…Yes," she said at last. "There are settlements. Old ones. Living ones. They grow like the forest does—slowly, stubbornly, in harmony or in defiance, depending on who leads them."
Renkai shifted his weight. "And you don't visit them?"
Vaelith gave a soft, amused huff. "I am not welcome everywhere. Guardians rarely are. Some fear us. Some try to bind us. Some simply do not like being watched."
Lira nodded. That, at least, felt familiar.
