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| - All things considered, Sequoia and Amras had taken the news of Echo's adventure quite well. They were upset, clearly, but not angry with her. After about forty hugs, Amras escorted her home. He kept looking over his shoulder at his baby girl, sighing sadly. Twenty-one years old and fighting off drow! He watched her out of the corner of his eye, striding along confidently with the antique sword hanging from her belt. He had wanted her to live the same carefree life as he had. Amras had always been secretly grateful for the attention the boys in the village paid her, hoping that she would settle down in the village and have children rather than go off adventuring. When they arrived at Anastasia's house, Amras gave her another hug and suggested reluctantly that he could teach her how to use that magnificent sword if she liked. Echo surprised him by accepting quickly - she had never shown the slightest interest in swordplay before. They agreed to meet each day for an hour of lessons. Anastasia was still out when Echo entered the treehouse. Moonlote seemed to be quite aware that something was afoot, and was standing alert at the front entranceway, waiting for her. Echo gave her a hug and went to find Cora, but the little bearcat was nowhere to be found. Finally she climbed up to her room, only to discover her curled up in Gimby's cubbyhole with him, fast asleep. The forest gnome looked up and smiled at Echo as she entered. Echo was happy to see that he was still awake. She decided that now would be as good a time as any for him to fill in the backstory on how he came to be a part of her life. Gimby was happy to do so, explaining to her what a day in the life of a forest gnome was like. Surprisingly it did not seem much different from the lifestyle she lived here in Erülisse. He had a great respect for nature and loved animals, as evidenced by the way he befriended Cora, and was very impressed by Anastasia's treehouse. All in all, Echo decided that she liked the gnome very much, and promised to help him find a way back to his sister as soon as she possibly could. More important things were being taken care of in the village just then, however. The next morning, after a long sleep (Echo had learned from her mother, a half-elf, how to sleep and occasionally employed this tactic when she was particularly worn out), she awoke to find Illwyn sitting at the foot of her bed, her usual lovely skin ashen and looking terrified. Echo sat up quickly, asking her what the matter was. Illwyn explained that scouting parties were being sent out to all the neighbouring elven villages, and she and her father Elgalote made up one of them. They would be gone a few days at most, but Illwyn was clearly reluctant to leave the village. Echo reassured her that with Elgalote and Benji at her side, she would be perfectly safe. They hugged good-bye tearfully and Illwyn departed, her face still grey and now tearstreaked. Echo climbed down the ladder with Gimby at her heels. She looked around the main living area in amusement, noting that the pristine neatness that usually described the room had been replaced with a rather unkempt look. It was not difficult to guess the culprit of this happening, as Cora was sitting in the dead centre of the room surrounded by peanut shells. The bearcat looked up at Echo adoringly and offered her a peanut as a peace offering. Echo sighed and accepted it, then noticed a note lying on the table. Anastasia hinted that perhaps Echo might like to tidy up the place a bit, and then get started on teaching her new animal friend some manners. Gimby quickly offered to deal with the cleaning as repayment for their hospitality, which left Echo staring at Cora, who was making her customary chuckling noise as she sharpened her teeth on a chair leg. By early afternoon Echo was reasonably satisfied with their progress. Gimby had put the treehouse back in to ship-shape in record time, and she had succeeded in teaching Cora how to attack. Echo would have preferred to start with something a little easier and less violent, but the bearcat was a natural at fighting, so she decided to run with it. She borrowed a practice dummy from her cousin Tomazen, whose mother Holda had gone off to the village where she grew up to spread the word of the drow. Even gruff little Tomazen seemed rather concerned, a far cry from his usual emotionless attitude. Echo (accompanied by Moonlote, who seemed to have become her bodyguard), discovered on her way back to Anastasia's that her brother Storm and grandfather Finwe were also one of the scouting parties. The village seemed tense and somehow empty, despite the fact that only a dozen people had left. Amras called for her later that afternoon, arriving at Anastasia's house with his own longsword at his waist. He seemed quite worried about something, likely his young son, but tried to hide his concern from his daughter. The two of them climbed down to the forest floor and set up on the archery range. Amras taught Echo about the very basics of swordplay that first day, how to hold the weapon properly and how to balance her weight. Her natural grace was somewhat helpful, but Echo was no swordsman. An hour later she felt that she had disappointed her father for the first time and the two parted in a rather glum mood. The next few days were more of the same, teaching Cora and learning from her father. Occasionally Echo caught a glimpse of her great-grandmother, but for the most part Anastasia was in meetings with the village elders and the mayor, coming up with a plan to rid the drow from their woods. Anastasia did not share any of this information with her, much to Echo's disappointment. She had hoped that her role in finding the drow might lead to a greater share of trust and responsibility, but this did not seem to be the case. One evening as Echo, Gimby, Moonlote and Cora sat in the main room of the treehouse, playing a game, Illwyn burst in to the room dramatically. Echo launched herself at her friend, hugging her tightly. Illwyn was breathless and wild-eyed, bringing with her the news that Anastasia had called a town meeting. After a brief argument over whether or not Gimby should attend such a meeting, Echo gathered up the forest gnome, the lynx, and the binturong and escorted them out the door at Illwyn's heels. They headed toward the village meeting place, wondering if their entire world was about to change.
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