[Scaltoth Jungles] A Brisk Morning Stroll

[Vega]

3rd Trial of Vhalar during Arc 717

"Alright, well let me put it this way," Vega said, sitting opposite him and with an unblinking gaze on him. "If we don't get out of this camp to-trial, I'm gonna get testy," Which thus far, she considered, she hadn't been. Yes, she'd responded in an entirely reasonable manner to his deliberate loud breathing, A lesser woman would have killed him for that. Then there was the muck that he insisted on trying to get her to put on the bruises, his determination to look at the cuts to make sure that she wasn't getting an infection. She could have lived with all of those, being the easy to live with companion that she was, and she'd even have let him share some of her muck to put on his bruises after she'd given him a little pounding. But then? "An' if you ask me one more time how I'm feelin', I'm going to break both your knees an' 'ang you upside down by yer ankles from a small tree over an 'igh cliff. Or a pool filled with alligators. Or stinging nettles." Really, he was fussing in such a manner as to be completely impossible to live with. He'd asked her, in the day since she'd been injured, at least twice. Maybe three times.

Men

"An' yes, I've got an 'eadache. It's name is Arlo an' if we don't get ourselves out an' busy, I'm gonna 'ave to do something to pass the time. Like findin' out if I can skin you in one piece, curin' yer hide to make me an Arlo-skin cloak an' then boiling your bones." Standing up, she looked at him and she gave a slight sigh. "I've never stayed still for such a long time, Arlo, an' you are the only person alive I'd do it for. But if we don't do somethin' soon, I'm going to end up 'urting one of us, an' you know, I love you, I do. But I love me more." Vega glanced at him and a deep frown creased her brow. "I mean.. well, you know what I mean. Come on, before I do you a serious mischief."

Vega was all bluff and bluster when it came to Arlo and the threats she was so quick to shout to him. Always. She assumed that he knew this and that, if he didn't, then he should. Having fought a giant snake just a few trials ago, she was black and blue, with bruises literally from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. She was very much of the opinion that she knew exactly what would make her feel better.

"A brisk mornin' stroll is just what the quack ordered. An' look at it this way," she was leaving, whether he was or not and she knew that he would. Truthfully, she wouldn't go without him, but she'd never tell him that. "We've met cannibal barbarian weirdos. Giant redhead gnawing snakes. We've done it, now. We're gonna go for a walk an' find great treasures an' untol riches." She gave him a beaming smile.

"What could possibly go wrong? Lets go this way!" With that, she'd head off into the jungle to explore once more.

[Arlo Creede]

"You're gonna get testy?" Arlo shot back, after Vega had hounded him for what seemed to be the entire morning. And the trial before. He wondered if this was how healers felt about any number of their own patients, the contrary ones, and then he was glad that he wasn't a healer. Contrary. That was about right. That was Vega. Not that Arlo planned on telling her that out loud.

He'd been crouched by the fire, making sure the coals were out after preparing their last meal, and the declaration of love took him completely by surprise. He glanced back at her, befuddled, Did he know what she meant? Of course he didn't. If he ever managed to work out the puzzle that was her mind, and by extension all womankind, he'd be famous. All of mankind would thank him. He grinned a little at that and shrugged. Besides, dwelling too long on things like that caused a strange conflicted feeling to wash over him. Not unlike the ones he'd experienced when she'd gone on and on about the fellow with the stupid name. The one that had reminded him of cheese.

"It's for your own good, you know, staying around camp and resting. And mine too, come to think of it," he reasoned. "We go off, you do too much cause you don't listen to better sense, and I end up hauling you back. And round and round we go." Plainly though she was going, with or without him. Better with him then, and Arlo got up and collected his weapons and sack. "A quiet, leisurely stroll," he warned her. But as they headed away from camp and he looked off in the direction Vega pointed, he scowled. "There's nothin' quiet about that place."

On the other hand? Well surely they'd already come across the worst of it? "You know, I overheard some old men in the market playing checkers, last i was there. They were talking about a fountain of eternal youth, somewhere in the jungle? Maybe we'll find it?" he suggested. And after all, it wasn't cannibals or giant snakes. How dangerous could it be?

[Vega]

The look Arlo gave her when she said that he knew what she meant was enough to make her want to punch him in the face repeatedly. He knew exactly that she was just saying that she was fond of him in a brotherly sort of almost way. He knew. Of course he did because he wasn't an idiot. Or maybe, she considered as he shrugged and dismissed it as unimportant, he really was. "Sometimes, you know you just...yer not funny, Arlo, you know that?" Vega would never admit to being a grouch because of the amount of pain she was in, would never accept that she was, in fact, testy and somewhat conflicted and confused herself. She didn't want to go there and she most certainly wasn't going to admit any sort of vulnerability. Nope.

It was for her own good? Vega's eyebrow raised and colours in her eyes became more vivid, but she said nothing. But it was for his good too? His explanation of why that was provoked no words from her, she just allowed herself to boil fury quietly. Maybe, she figured, the next words out of his mouth would be that hauling her bulk home was building up his strength. That would be about right for this conversation, Vega figured. Then, though, she sighed and ran her hands through her hair. "I'm goin' doolally, Arlo. I jus' got to get out of camp. I feel like I'm gonna crawl out of my skin, you know?" Vega was well aware that she was an abysmal patient, her father had told her more than once. "An' I already said I'm happy to change tactics, if you think we should." The thought that her trying to protect him (try as she might to deny it, she'd admit it to herself) might actually end up harming him caused a frown to settle on her face. She didn't like it, she didn't like it one little bit.

Almost as soon as they were out of the camp, Vega changed. Her eye colour grew less intense, she physically relaxed and when he spoke about a fountain of eternal youth, she grinned at him. She looked like hell, she knew, covered in bruises as she was, but she felt better than she had for two trials when she started moving again. Never, since the time she was born, never had Vega been content with staying still. She didn't like it, it didn't feel right.

"Fountain of eternal youth? Last bloody thing you need." She grinned at Arlo and would bump into him if it didn't hurt to do it. Still, they made their way and the path was long and winding, often disappearing completely. Wherever they were heading, it was deep in this jungle. Trying to be sensible, Vega stopped regularly and took drinks of water. In fairness, she didn't entirely have much of a choice, although she did her best not to admit it.

The sights and sounds were fascinating to her, and Vega felt every ounce of irritation fade away as they made their way together. She kept her eyes and ears open and she gestured with her hands for them to stop. She listened for a moment and then looked at him. "I can hear water? Sound like it to you?" Her eyes lit with curiosity and she grinned at him. "But I think it's runnin'. Maybe it's a waterfall of eternal youth?" That would be about right, she figured. But then? "If it is. I'm gonna swim in it"

[Arlo Creede]

Vega had grown restless after several trials of the rest that Arlo himself had insisted on. The unyielding nature of his demands had been something of a front, since he'd been restless too. He wasn't used to sitting in one place very long at once, biding his time, filling his breaks with mundane things just to keep his hands and mind busy. He'd done his best not to let her know it though. Still, he was as happy as her to be on the move again. Even though he might have chosen a different place to explore. Not that the jungle wasn't full of mysteries that he'd still like to solve. But cannibals, giant snakes and Immortals knew what else. He wasn't sure she was ready for another round of those.

"I'm pretty sure dolally isn't a word, you know," he muttered companionably as they entered the trees once more, off on a path that was somewhat familiar by now. Not that it stayed that way, the further they went. As for the change in tactics, he shrugged. "I'm only saying that sometimes, I might like to throw myself in front of you instead." And why not a fountain of youth for him? To be young forever? He wouldn't mind. He grinned though, and very gently bumped her shoulder. "Maybe not for me, but for you. Being a bit long in the tooth as you are." He was fairly sure she was too weak still to punch him. But just in case, he veered out of her way as they studied the ground, trying to keep an eye on a path that waxed and waned so far as what they could see.

When she said she heard water, he stopped beside her and pulled off his hat to wipe his brow, then put it on again. Funny how Saun was gone, but the jungle hadn't gotten any cooler. "I hear it," he said and gestured onward, but off to their left a little. Definitely sounded like running water, or more like running water falling some distance into a pool? Was it the same that they'd heard some trials ago when they'd run across the ruins and the snake? He wasn't sure, but on they went.

Then, there it was in a clearing ahead of them. A pool, deep as could be but with water so clear they could see all the way to the bottom. Large, flat rocks hugged the edges of the pool but the trees grew thick around them with branches that reached over the pool like a high domed ceiling. A waterfall too, tumbling down from a taller pillar of stone, and Arlo grinned, pulling off his boots, socks and rolling up his trousers' legs. "You going in?" he asked Vega. He had no idea whether it was a fountain of youth or not. But the water looked cool and refreshing, and the jungle no matter the season was hot.

[Vega]

Dolally wasn't a word? Vega looked at him and shook her head. "I thought you were the brains of us. A'course it is, Arlo Creede. I said it, didn't I?" The grin on her face told him that she was well aware of the circular nature of her argument, but she enjoyed the argument too much to care about the shape of it. Though, when he said that he might want to throw himself in front of her from time to time, she chuckled. "Yeah, I'm sure. It's only cos you're recognising that I'm a blatant glory hound, that's what it is." The thought of him throwing himself in front of her caused her to have some strange, mixed emotions and she considered them for a moment. She gave a sudden deep sigh and then a half-smile as she came to what was, for her, an inescapable conclusion.

"Look, yer not the kid I accuse you of bein'." If ever there was a hard-won admission, it was that. "You're a grown man an' more than capable of lookin' after yourself. So maybe the best thing we could is stay side by side, yeah?" Her expression told the truth of it before she admitted it, but at least she did admit it, Vega considered. "I don't like it. The idea of you gettin' hurt. But that's just me being protective an' it's patronizing an' really not necessary." So, side by side rather than her leaping about like a lunatic was fine as far as she was concerned - with fine being a relative term, of course. Typically, though, it had to have a sting in the tail. "An' if you do get 'urt, you're gonna wish that you'd died, by the time I finish with you, alright?"

He had changed, there was no doubting it. But then, he hadn't changed that much and as he bumped his shoulder with hers and called her 'long in the tooth'. "You see this finger?" Vega held up her little finger and waggled it. "I could kill you with jus' this finger, you know." Her grin was wicked as she said it, knowing that she was being ridiculous. "Make sure you're careful or you'll never get to be old like me."

Still, the sound of water distracted her, both of them, from the tormenting of each other which they were perennially good at and they made their way more slowly, off to the left and keeping an eye out for the path that was not quite a path. And then, there in front of them was a deep crystal blue pool, complete with a cascading waterfall and a canopy of trees. When Arlo turned to ask her if she was going in, Vega was already unlacing her dress. He might be rather relieved to note that she was wearing a pair of shorts and a vest top under it. Off with her shoes and she didn't have to be asked twice. She perched on the edge of one of the rocks, dangling her feet in there for a few bits and the grin on her face was child like. "Oh, this is cool. Grab the towels out of that there bag, before we go in, Arlo, so we can grab 'em if we ever get out?" She wouldn't really mind truth be told. And, in fairness, he knew how long she could linger in the bath.

"Oh, skewer my schnitzel, Arlo, tha'ss good." The water was cold and Vega let out a squeal as she lowered herself into it and then started to tread water, looking at him with a grin. "You reckon this is the fountain of youth? Wanna go explore behind it or jus's swim around a bit?" There was no need to tell him what her vote was, she was more or less tugging him in the direction of the fountain which was a waterfall. "I love explorin' behind waterfalls. It's like a secret world, innit? Come on."

She wasn't a strong swimmer and she couldn't swim for any distance, but Vega could swim enough to make it across the pool. Just the feeling of being submerged in the cool, crisp water was enough to make her delighted they'd come here, but the thought of exploring behind the waterfall was something she loved the idea of too. "Maybe there's treasure back there, or.. I dunno, I bet you there's somethin'!" The delight shone out of her eyes which were currently a vivid green colour as she grinned at him.

[Arlo Creede]

"Must be another of those Biqaj words then," Arlo shot back when Vega insisted on dollaly actually being something. Truth was he'd miss it if she stopped. He wouldn't say so though. That would take all the fun out of it. "Then it won't hurt you any to share a little of the glory sometimes. Helps you to be humble." Neither of them was particularly the humble sort, and that was alright too. But Vega had it spot on. He wasn't a kid any longer.

"Side by side," he agreed. "or one before the other when it matters." He didn't want to see her hurt either, and that was the rub. Arlo worried that sometimes her impulse to do it was just that. Impulse. And he worried that one trial it could be the end of her. He told her so, in fact. "And then I'd have to go around feeling guilty for Immortals know how long and I don't do guilt very well." When she waggled the finger at him though, Arlo laughed. "You couldn't. But sometime I might like to see you try."

Then there was the clear pool and the narrow waterfall trickling into it. Whether he was relieved to discover she was fully dressed under those layers, or not, Arlo wasn't saying. Still, could this be an actual fountain of youth? "It's not exactly a fountain, but this could be it, right?" Truth was, he didn't really believe it but the water was clear, inviting, and the jungle around them was sweltering. After grabbing the towels from the sack, he returned to the place he'd dropped his shoes and shrugged out of the rest of his clothing, down to a pair of undershorts. With her dragging him that way, he was forced to hop the last yard or so while trying free his right foot from the leg of his trousers.

A long soak in a tub at the inn couldn't have felt better. Arlo wasn't an expert swimmer but there'd been a pond on the farm back home, and he could manage alright. "Do you feel any younger yet?" he teased her when she asked, and dipping completely below the water's surface, he came up again with a mouthful of water, shooting it much like a fountain through the air and onto the top of Vega's head. As soon as he did it, he ducked under again to avoid retribution.

The suggestion of treasure behind the waterfall got his attention, and he was happy to swim across the pool to get there. Even there, where the water dropped into the pool, it was deep. But there were a number of flat rocks they could climb up on in order to get behind the flow. Hoisting himself up, he offered a hand to Vega to get her there too. And then there was nothing for it but to stick head and shoulders through the falling ribbon of water to see what was on the other side. From her perspective, a trill later he disappeared.

Arlo hadn't gone far however. After stepping through the waterfall, he found himself into a small cave. High enough to stand upright, and room to wander a little and explore, the walls glittered in the sunlight that crept in from outdoors. Quartz, maybe, or maybe even some sort of gem deposit? What really caught the eye though, was that there was a shallow pool inside the cave. The stones on the bottom and sides were covered with some sort of moss. But if it was that, it was different than the ordinary. It glowed a brilliant blue that lit up the water and even glowed off the ceilings and walls. "Hey Vega, hurry up. You've got to see this!" Arlo called out.

[Vega]

He worried about her and didn't want to go around feeling guilty? Vega felt her cheeks flush as he said that and she was just working up a witty response of some kind, although she never got there. Mostly because when he said that sometime, he'd like to see her try, Vega lifted an eyebrow and chuckled. "I've already told you, Arlo Creede. You couldn't handle me.You'd better 'ope I don't try." With a final finger waggle for emphasis, she turned her attention to finding their way to the Fountain of Youth.

Whether it was that, or not, what they found was delightful to her. As she slipped a hair band around her wrist, Vega shot Arlo a grin as she saw a look of relief cross his face. With a shake of her head, she chuckled as she lowered herself into the water. "I dunno, but yeah, as likely as any other, I'd say," she replied when he asked if this could be the fountain of youth.Then, though, he was slow and Vega tugged at him. "Arlo, come on. Get your damn trousers off an' lets in there. Stop lollygaggin'."

The water was cold against her skin and Vega gave a squeal as she first moved, but when he asked if she felt younger, she laughed. "Watch it sunshine, I.. oh!" Arlo's trick with the water was entirely unexpected and Vega let out an exclamation of surprise and then she started to laugh. "You rotten little wart, I'm gonna kill you." Her eyes told the lie of her words, but she promised him. "You are gonna regret that Arlo Creede. Maybe not to-trial, nor tomorrow, but one trial. I swear it." She was serious and laughing at the same time and she took in a great gulp of air before disappearing beneath the surface of the water, emerging again a short time later. "Look. Look at this." Treading water in the middle of the pool, she showed him a beautiful shell she'd picked up from the floor, shimmering and seeming to almost change colour in the light. She resisted the urge to splash him, choosing instead to wait for her revenge.

It felt good to just mess around awhile, Vega thought. It wasn't like they had jobs or any such thing, but still, the opportunity to just play about was very welcome. Still, they swam across to the waterfall, Vega taking the opportunity to practice her swimming stroke. Arm lifting, use her hand to push the water she kicked to propel herself. Arlo climbed up on to the rocks where they could look at what was behind the waterfall and he held his hand out to her. Vega looked at him, took hold of his hand to accept his help and then gave him an almighty tug to get him to fall back in. She thought that he was probably half suspecting it and, even if it worked, she simply used the time to clamber up on to the rocks on her own, where she'd sit and wait for him.

Since she'd taken the time to stop and tie her hair back into a simple pony tail with the band she'd wrapped around her wrist earlier, he went through the waterfall first, though, which she was pleased to see him do and he called, though she didn't hear him over the roaring of the water. Still, it was a few trill after him that she stepped through, feeling the weight of the water pounding on to her and she looked around in amazement.

"Arlo, it's beautiful," she was dripping wet, but she didn't notice in the amazement. The glittering was beautiful, and then there was the blue of the moss and Vega put a soaking wet hand on his arm. "Do you think we can.. I mean.." she was more or less whispering when she asked, "do you think we can touch it?" If he didn't suggest differently, she would kneel and try to just dip her hand in the small pool's water, but it was with uncertain movements.

[Arlo Creede]

He couldn't handler her? Vega said things like it all the time. But more and more, well, if he'd given it too much thought Arlo wouldn't be able to quite figure why it had begun to strike him much different than she had meant it. Not too much thought, but the twinge of uncertainty resulted in a slight wobbling grin, even while he pulled off an expression meant to imply, "In your dreams."

The water was cold. So cold that the pool, and the stream emptying into it must have been fed by a source deep underground. It was the only logical reason Arlo could think of. Here, deep in an unnaturally sweltering jungle, he wouldn't have anticipated the shock of plunging in that had temporarily taken his breath away. It didn't stop him from tormenting Vega. There was very little that had a chance of stopping it. "That's your fountain of youth," he shot back.The stream of water he'd sent into an arc and onto her head.

It was like a chameleon, he told her when she showed him the shell. Then he reconsidered. "Or maybe more like a prism. My mother had a little bit of glass when I was a kid, round but cut with sort of flat places all over it. It picked up the light, changed the reflections on the wall. That's what she called it."[/i] Meanwhile, it had been better swimming towards the waterfall and the stone shelf at it's bottom than treading water in one place. But then he had to clamor up on it twice. First he'd offered his hand, unsuspecting, only to get yanked off his feet, toppling forwards back in the water. He'd come up sputtering and eyeing her, sitting there on the shelf. "Sneaky and underhanded. That's you. And now you've used up your vow of revenge."

She was right though. What they found behind the waterfall was a wonder. Surely, they couldn't be the only ones who'd ever discovered it and been there before? Arlo could guess that there were some sort of reflective bits of stone embedded in the walls and ceiling that were picking up the light from the pool and the sunlight slanting in through the waterfall, that caused them to light up and seem to twinkle, almost like star shine. It looked magical though, especially when combined with the soft blue glow from the pool.

But when Arlo looked at Vega, standing there soaking wet, and noticed the way her wet clothing clung to her every curve, and how the light shone off her damp skin, he stared just a little longer than he ordinarily would. "It's..." he said, and paused there as if he was considering things, or had lost his train of thought. Or was feeling indecisive, unsure. Not like him, really. He rarely groped round in the dark for words, even if as often as not, he was as likely to choose the wrong ones. "It is," he finally said, frowned a little and looked back at the pool.

"I'm not sure," he said when she asked about touching it the water. "You'd think it's the same as in the pool, leaked in from the waterfall or from underground?" He wondered, he said then, if it was only the moss that was glowing, or if it was also the water. He suspected it was just the moss, but the only way to be sure would be to scoop out some of the water and look. Except they'd left all their belongings on the bank of the pond. "You want to risk it?" Arlo said, grinning at her as her fingers hovered above the water's surface.

He wondered, he added, if they were to take away one of the stones with them, and store it in a jar, would it continue to glow like that? And for how long? There was only one way to find out. "You touch the water, I'll reach in then and grab that small stone on the bottom," he offered.

[Vega]

Whether it was a chameleon or a prism, Vega thought the shell was pretty so she swum back to shore to deposit it among their things before moving back to the rocks where he had climbed up. They'd decided to do this because it would be an easy and leisurely stroll and she'd been going up and down the wall stuck in camp. Bruised and battered as she was, the swimming was a welcome relief for her. Vega was a very physical creature and the lack of exercise over the last few trials had been a large part of being grouchy. To be able to get in the water, swim and use her muscles again was wonderful to her.

Which meant that she was in a good mood to begin with, but when he re-emerged looking all affronted and spluttering water, Vega guffawed. Sneaky and underhanded? Yep, that was her and the grin she gave to that was entirely unapologetic. It was the last bit of what he said which she responded to. "A, Arlo. Not the, a. I've used up one of my vows of revenge." Vega was clear, there were others and they'd be fulfilled in due time. "I have a long list of crimes you've committed over the time we've been together. From insultin' my hat onward. There's a lot of revenge still to come."

It was too nice a trial to list them, though, so she waited while he climbed out of the pool, again, and watched him as he moved forward. He'd changed, physically, since they met. Of course, when they first met it had been cold in Desnind and so they'd both been more wrapped up. She was fairly sure that he hadn't had any kind of physique then, though, much less a good one. Still, she wasn't going to be giving him any compliments any arc soon so she pulled her gaze away and concentrated on putting up her hair, pulling it away from her face.

Through the waterfall, it was like a different world and Vega was entirely entranced. The walls glittering and shimmering were beautiful in their own right, but then there was the moss and glowing water. She moved over to the wall and held out her arm. "Look, it's reflectin' off my blood," she said and turned to look at Arlo with a grin of delight. He was looking at her with a strange expression and she looked down at herself then frowned a deep frown. She liked the silver of her blood and how it glowed just a little, she considered. But Arlo stumbled over his words, searching for the right one as though not wanting to hurt her feelings. Which was ridiculous, because she didn't care two hoots what he thought and she told herself that clearly.

She shifted uncomfortably, shuffling her feet and then she knelt next to the pool. He was much more interested in that, which made sense. There was an overhanging sense of feeling uncomfortable, wanting to hide the silver which gave her skin a strange sort of glow in here, but Vega ignored it. Then she looked up at him and he grinned at her. Her discomfort vanished at that and she returned the expression as she relaxed back into her usual. "Do I wanna risk it? Yeah, for sure." The glint of excitement in her eyes was impossible for her to fake, he knew her too well. "Life's full of risks, Arlo Creede. No regrets, that's my plan an' I don't wanna think about what we could 'ave found out if we'd just been brave. Alright, lets do it."

As she said it, she dipped her hand into the water. Resisting the urge to scream and pretend that there was something wrong, she scooped up some of the water in her hands and it seemed to be entirely clear. There was no blue tinge that she could see. That didn't mean there was none, of course, because of the way that the light reflected, but he was right, they weren't going to find out unless they went back and grabbed some things. "I can swim back an' get a waterflask, Arlo? We could put some water in it. Obviously, really." Vega gave a rather wry smile at just how thick she could be sometimes. "An' somethin' to put some moss in too? If you want. An' not till after you've grabbed your stone." If he wanted her to, she would, but if he didn't, she wasn't that bothered one way or another.

[Arlo Creede]

Vega's expression shifted from a bright smile to a deep frown in the blink of an eye. Which naturally brought a confounded frown to Arlo's own face. If he lived to be a hundred, he figured he'd never manage to come up with a cipher for a woman's mind. If he did and was able to share it with other, equally confounded men, he'd market it and be a very rich fellow indeed. He reasoned though that each and every woman might rate her very own cipher though. Vega included. Especially Vega. Then again, just the thought of it threatened to bring a grin back to his face. He must be a glutton for punishment.

"It's nice," he said, belatedly referring to the way the silver blood in her veins shone faintly through her damp skin. Taking her hand, he turned it over so he could look at the inside of her wrist and forearm. " Look there, it's like a flash of lightening, with all it's tendrils branching out across the sky." But, right, they'd been talking about the water and the moss. What she said about risk gave him another trill's pause and he looked like he might say something else then, but then reconsidered it as she dipped her hand into the water.

Arlo wasn't sure what he'd expected. But it was just water. Clear like ordinary water. Or it probably was. Hard to tell inside the cave where everything was glowing a faint blue. "Good idea," he said, regarding the flask. "I've got an empty jar in my sack too. A good sized one that I carry in case I find something interesting to pick up along the way." It seemed like those moss covered stones were just that sort of something. "Maybe bring back something too, that we can use to chip off a bit of the wall?" He'd like to have a better look at whatever was embedded there, that was catching the light like that.

But first, he'd stretch out on his belly at the water's edge so he could reach the bottom of the pool. And reaching it, he snagged two small rocks that were loose enough to take without having to pry them away with a tool. When he got them, he was back on his knees, and oddly, though it was hard to tell without going outside again, the moss on the stones seemed to change color when they were exposed to the air. A much more greenish color. But it still glowed as brightly as before. "I wonder if it'll keep glowing like that, even if it was all dried up," he said. "Better we not let it dry out now. We can put them in the jar with water from the pool," Arlo suggested while dropping the stones temporarily back into the water while she was off to get what they needed.