"I - I don't know," says Helen. "We can ask somebody. Is there somebody we can ask? Somebody old, who's known a lot of witches? Would that help, asking somebody?"

"Nnnnno probably not," sighs Shura, "they'd just - tell us, I guess, and whatever the answer is it can't be good if we've never heard of anyone who did it."

"Okay," says Helen, hugging her some more.

"It's cute," says Kalavar. "Want to snuggle?"

Nicoa bobs his head in a ptarmigany nod.

Kalavar turns into a long-haired cat and snuggles up fluffily.

...Is it time for Helen to hug her some more? Helen thinks it is probably that time.

It is definitely that time.

Hug hug hug hug hug.

Shura is quiet, but very huggable.

Helen is also quiet. And very huggy.

Nicoa doesn't fly as fast as a cloudpine, but he is seen on clan grounds a bit later. He lands in a tree within eyeshot of Shura, but doesn't come closer.

"What happened?" murmurs Kalavar. She's sitting with Helen and Shura, curled up next to Helen as a black dragon with silver-edged scales, but her voice reaches Nicoa and only Nicoa.

Nicoa picks up one foot, then the other. "We went to the edge. And she put me down. And she walked away. And I tried to follow her but I couldn't go, and I screamed at her to come back when it hurt too much and she didn't. And then it didn't hurt anymore and she left. And I left too after a while."

"That's sad," says Kalavar. "I want to snuggle you."

"She didn't come. I called her and I know she heard me and she didn't come back. They would have let us try again and she didn't come back."

Nicoa hesitates, but flutters down for snuggles.

Kalavar snuggles him.

Helen and Kalavar snuggle their respective snuggles some more.