"To Promise's tree?"

"Uh, no, back to where I came from. I was flying to Opri but popped out here, very annoying."

"I don't know where Opri is," says River. "How'd Promise get you?"

"I'm not sure what you mean. I showed up, had a look at her tree, wandered around a bit, came here. Would you mind if I get some water from your river? I'm kinda thirsty."

"Oh, help yourself," says River.

So she warps the bluestream around, making a pure-water-funnel out of the pale cyan threads flowing through it. It takes a good ten seconds and she sags a bit from the cost. Then, a thin stream of water rushes up through the newly made harmonic swirl and into her mouth.

"That seems a lot of trouble for a drink of water," remarks River. "You could have just scooped some up in your hands."

"It could have had anything in it. Better safe than sorry."

"I drink straight from it all the time."

"What's in it for me?"

"Nothing, I suppose. I'll just go back to Promise. Some of the places near her tree were okay."

"Did she feed you?" wonders River.

She declines to answer and flies off.

River chases her.

Steel speeds up. The wonky patterns might be mistaken for dodging.

"You are chasing me. That is not a friendly behavior."

"I won't hurt you," River repeats, and she attempts to land on Steel's shoulder.

Steel shoves the fairy away with a burst of telekinetic force, and flies faster. The extra speed seems to hurt her.

"C'mon, I just want to know who's got you and your orders. Did your master send you to learn sorcery from Promise? She's new, she barely knows any even if she's talented."

"I don't belong to anybody. Leave me alone or I will set you on fire."

River's having trouble keeping up anyway. She falls back.

Steel keeps flying, a little more slowly. When she gets to Promise's tree, she flops onto the ground, grimacing.

Promise is sitting in her tree's branches, picking berries. "Are you all right?"