"Okay, I'll take the bait!" Achilleus rolled his eyes. "What the Fene are you sighing about here for the twentieth time?" He looked at the underse-walker foreign minister with sullen eyes. Llyr immediately flinched at this sudden speech, like a leaf in autumn when caught in the wind. Then he blushed to the ears, as if he were ashamed.
"I just. I... I was thinking about how cute they would be underwater." He stared dreamily at the miro kahu closest to him.
"I'm in for experimenting!" Ajtony suddenly spoke up.
"Don't leave me out either!" Suk also got the chance.
"You good spirits, there are three of them!" Benkó leaned out on the ground and pressed his palms to his eyes.
"Stop. I told you that you weren't experimenting. This also applies to the undersea-walker." Kamu noted, looking at the three with a sullen look.
"But they would be so cute." The undersea-walker foreign minister grumbled.
"I don't care! You won't even try." The Ishán of the Immortal Mist growled at him.
"Not that it will work." Physalis Alkekengi also interrupted, who was currently looking at her nails.
"We won't know until we try." Ajtony raised his index finger, but the danovus woman only rolled her eyes.
"Even if you managed to catch one, you wouldn't be able to bring it near the water. The air spirit wouldn't let you." She explained as if the matter were completely clear. However, her words only achieved more people to look at her curiously. "What are you staring at now?" The danovus lady grimaced as she realized the situation she had unwittingly gotten herself into.
"What is an air spirit?" Suk grimaced, even blinking, hoping it would put things in perspective in his mind. Even if the Zovárd had a hunch that this would not be the case, it was still worth a try.
"A nature spirit." Physalis Alkekengi simply shrugged.
"Nature spirit!" Teveli's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm, but he narrowed them almost immediately and turned sullenly towards his Zovárd friend. "Can I ask questions now?" He asked the ironic question, which only made Suk throw his head back theatrically and sigh.
"To Fene with it, you can ask questions." He finally gave in, causing Teveli to immediately turn back towards the danovus.
"So what kind of nature spirits are there? How many are there? What is their job? Tame said they are the embodiments of the elements, they have bodies that we can touch? How strong are they? Can they influence our world like ordinary ghost and spirits?" The Tele boy's questions continued and he might have continued if the danovus woman hadn't raised one hand to stop him.
"If you don't give me time to answer, I'll forget what you asked." Physalis Alkekengi grumbled, pressing her forehead with one hand, as if she just wanted to get rid of a sudden headache.
"Sorry!" Teveli grinned, scratching his neck, then smiling broadly and silently staring at the danovus, who finally just sighed.
"So let's start at the beginning. I'll say it up front, I don't know much about the subject. Nature spirits have never interested me that much. I only know what I've heard from the rumors." She thought for a moment.
"That will be more than enough." Teveli encouraged.
"To the best of my knowledge, each element has nature spirits. As far as I know, fire and earth have two nature spirits each, and air and water have four each. I was told that their job is to maintain the unity of the world, don't ask what that means, because I have no idea."
As the danovus lady finished her sentence, Teveli closed his mouth. The Tele boy had the question, which the danovus said he couldn't answer, on the tip of his tongue. So, a little disappointed, but in the end, the youngest Teike remained in silence.
"Theoretically, they are all living, breathing parts of the world just like the rest of us. So they probably have bodies, although I haven't heard anything about what shape they have. Their power is said to be immense, even when they are not used. It would take just a thought for them to change the world as we know it. At least that is what they say, if you ask me it makes no sense, but a story is a story." The danovus lady shrugged.
"You said the air spirit wouldn't let them take a miro kahu. Why wouldn't it?" Teveli tilted his head a little to the side as he asked his next question.
"Ugh, how can I put it..." The woman grimaced. "If I remember correctly, a danovus once tried to eat a miro kahu and the air spirit tore them to pieces." The woman swallowed hard.
"Just so you understand, it's almost like breaking a stone." Wandi noted with a grimace, so it was clear that he was trying not to think about it.
"Yeah, like the little danovus says." Physalis Alkekengi agreed, then shook herself.
"But if the miro kahus are under the protection of the air spirit, how could the danovuses live here on the island? Wouldn't it be safer for them on an uninhabited island?" Teveli thought, frowning.
"It's because of the agreement. According to our stories, a long time ago, the first danovus was the one who made an agreement with the air spirit living here that if he didn't hurt the miro kahus and let them live peacefully in their own territory, then he and his people could stay here on the island." Physalis Alkekengi said. "I don't know how much of this is true, but one thing is for sure, the danovuses are here, the miro kahus are here too, and we live side by side in peace. I have no problem with them, as long as they don't start playing mosquito, and if they do, then you run."
"So they shouldn't be swatted?" Benkó's eyes widen in concern, but his question only achieves the danovus lady looking at him as if he had lost his mind.
"Do you think it's a good idea to swatt an animal that is protected by a creature that could end you with a blink of an eye?" The danovus woman asked, then rolled her eyes and before Benkó could answer she continued. "No, you shouldn't swatt them. But that's all I know about nature spirits, if you want to know more, you'll have to ask someone else." The woman shrugged, then considering the conversation over, she started staring at the sky.
In the end, the group spent long hours in that small hidden valley before they were forced to leave the place due to the approaching night. Of course, this doesn't mean that several people didn't look back at the hidden clearing with longing or wondering eyes several times, but they also had to realize that their bodies wouldn't last forever. It was better if they returned to camp after this busy day and got a good night's sleep.