Soon enough, Arlen has packed everything Nior deems necessary, and Harin has secured his adventure kit/combat bindle. They are ready for adventure.
"I think this might actually be too obvious to be a trap," says Mir.
Arlen appears to have already followed the bird to its next branch, and awaits the others.
"Nior will protect you," Mir assures him, patting him on the back as he follows the bird.
"The hell he will. I'm the size of a grown man and I have a quarterstaff, I'll protect myself."
The bird leads them quite a ways through the woods. It's cold. Caves are also often cold, though, so they're not dressed as badly as they could've been.
"I'm worried for you fragile little bastards. So stay close to me, I have a stick."
As they proceed, though, it begins to seem more and more appropriate to shut up. He does that.
Nior looks around. His eyes settle on a tree across the clearing.
(The other beaver, who appears to be her husband, is less talkative. He seems mostly to be along for moral support.)
Aslan. Who in any available world is Aslan? The name makes Miraen feel like... like someone just showed him the challenge of a lifetime and then clapped him on the back and told him to get to it. Energized. Alive. About to get things done.
Harin feels, for an instant, like the kind of person who deserves to be happy for what he does. A good person, someone who deserves to rest. After a moment it leaves him hollow, but in that moment he understands what it could be like to be happy.
Nior feels two things at once. One is an echo, an understanding of Mir's reaction. The other is... complicated. Like a beautiful intricate puzzle, like staring into the cold embrace of death, like something that's perfectly right and perfectly wrong in a seamless, gratingly incongruous meld.
"Holy shit," he breathes. "Does that happen every time you say 'Aslan'? Why do you have other words?"
"Lovely house you have," says Mir. "Please, can you tell us what's going on? It's been a very confusing day."
"I'd hoped for something along those lines," Mir admits. "Does the prophesy say anything about how we're supposed to manage this?"