Then she can meditate.  "Let me know if you think of any questions.  I'll try to think of any other information that might help."

"I will," she agrees. 

And then she settles herself comfortably, plant held carefully between her hands, closes her eyes, and begins setting aside her thoughts and the distractions around her, until she is calm and focused. Then, she opens the door to her power. 

 The rush of information is still somewhat overwhelming. She becomes used to it much more quickly, however, weeks of practise having improved this, at least. She sets aside the information bit-by-bit, until she can focus on her purpose beyond it. 

 Symbiosis, he said. The brain, unable to survive without the body. Mitochondria, together with the human cell. Gut microbiota, helping digestion, protected and sustained within her. She can sense all of this - they are a part of her, the great, collective system that is herself. 

She cannot survive on her own, with only these pieces, however. She needs food, to provide her with energy, nutrients her body needs to run. Animals, for meat, and milk, and wool, to feed her body and protect her from the cold which her skin cannot defend against alone. Her brother, the ship on which she sails the world, her shelter in the storm, her companion in hardship, her haven from a lonely world

Medicines, to aid her body against sickness and failing health, and to heal, a function of her self so intrinsic she could not possibly stop. 

Medicines like those which come from the plant she holds, which she must care for as she cares for her body, in return for medicines to heal with, oxygen to breathe.

Is she this plant?  The magic isn't convinced.  Her magical sense remains fully within her own skin.

Damn. 

She persists for a few more minutes, trying a few other mental tracks, all as unsuccessful as the first. She's just not convinced enough yet. 

Sighing, she ends her use of her sorcery, opening her eyes. 

"No luck," she says. "I just... can't convince myself the plant is me." She frowns, disheartened. Then, she shakes her head, a determined look settling over her features, "I'm sure I'll get it to work. It will just take some time." 

Ara'Vine had taken out a small block of wood and begun carving it into a figurine.  His power is being saved for making chargestones.  

"It's not the sort of thing that can be picked up in an hour." 

If the gods' claim that she 'will take a century to do what he took a millenium to' is true, that might be as long as thirty years.  He doubts it'll be anywhere near that long for this particular trick, however.  Ara'Vine just doesn't have the personality for it, even discounting his tendency to get distracted and make bad use of his time.

She nods, "I would be quite arrogant to think I could learn it so quickly," she admits. 

She leans forward to check the stew, ladling out a bit to test it, carefully. 

"I think this is ready," she tells him, turning to pull a pair of bowls from her packs. She ladles some stew into one and offers it to him. 

He accepts the bowl with another thanks.  

It's been a while since he's been expected to make conversation over meals.  At the monastery he would listen to the monks talk amongst themselves and only speak up if asked a direct question.

She doesn't expect him to talk, if he doesn't want to. Though, she was wondering, earlier - 

"What did the monks do, to make you leave Olivine?" 

"They started forgetting their purpose.

"Enmire's usual way of doing things is to have his monasteries generate a large amount of money, then funnel that money into the most effective charities and resources for his medical researchers.

"He was closely focused on Olivine for a while, because there was a chance of a war nearby.  When that blew over, he started focusing on other monasteries elsewhere, and that let some of the monks there get corrupt.  Keeping money for themselves, squabbling over trade deals, throwing lavish parties... the sorts of things that rich people do.  It eventually got to the point that I felt like my powers were being used to make people rich more than save lives, so I left."

She makes a face, remembering her own experieces with rich, self-important people. As well, her long-standing annoyance with the inefficiency of Paean's priesthood. She hated the way she felt more like a show-piece, in Elgea, than a healer. 'Look at us, with our god's child learning in our temple! Surely we are favoured, and you should visit us, and donate to our coffers!' Paean's temples are better than many, but they are not immune to corruption. 

"It's a shame, that even such a good thing could be corrupted like that," she says. 

"The story brings to mind the reasons I left Elgea - though I had always intended to go eventually, I had not intended to do so as early as I did." 

"Something happened that made you leave in a hurry?"

"There was a lot of pressure on me to marry one of the more powerful nobles in Elgea. My mother is high in the temple hierarchy, and she had led him to expect things." She shrugs, "I could have refused, and stayed, but the pressure and... surprise meetings in unexpected places, would have only increased, I'm sure. Since I meant to leave anyway, I just moved up my plans." 

"Sounds like a good reason to leave, yeah."

He's had to deal with a number of nobles trying to seduce him over the centuries, but never a parent pushing him into it.

She nods. 

"It wasn't even that I couldn't have ignored the expectations. I could have. There wasn't anything they could have done to force me. But living with that expectation over my head at all times..." 

She shakes her head, and focuses on her meal. 

He's content to eat in silence.  Though, he's somewhat curious, "What was Elgea like for you, Saman?"

"Very busy," Sam says after a moment, turning his head to look at Ara'Vine in some surprise, "Humans are in such a hurry, always, it seems, particularly in cities. And many have such strange priorities..." He hums, the sound deep and vibrating, "I much prefer traveling." 

"Yes, one of many reasons I stick to smaller towns.  It's easier to keep up with everything when there's only a few hundred people to deal with.

"Have you met any merfolk?"

"A few," he says, "Before Father sent me to Elgea, and after, while we have been traveling. I swim most everywhere, with Erin on my back." 

(Erin pats him.) 

"I like them better, but that may simply be because I have only met them one at a time, or in small groups." 

"The best way to deal with people."  

Probably merfolk hunters or scouts, then.  Only the Lisship Ocean merfolk go out of their way to sink ships that pass overhead, though the other ones will cut up nets if the humans overfish an area.  Otherwise, the merfolk of the shallow oceans avoid humans on order of their gods.  None would avoid a sea-creature monster for that reason, however, demigod on their back or no.

"I'd wondered if you were ever sent down to provide religious instruction to them.  Though, I don't know if Paean is one of the gods with followers of both species."

He lowers his head in an imitation of a shrug, "Father did not ask me to do so," he says, "I was still quite young, when he sent me to Erin," he adds, "Though I do not know that this would have affected any decisions he might have made. Perhaps he simply had no need to instruct them." 

Ara'Vine nods.  He can't think of any more questions for either of them.

She smiles down into her meal while they talk - people don't usually pay much attention to Saman, once they stop watching him warily - at least in Garnethold, where they grew up. The merfolk did, but they don't see them very often. It's nice to meet someone who treats him like a person. 

"Do you have a place to stay tonight?" She asks, as she sets her empty bowl down, "I usually set up my tent next to Sam and sleep outside town, and you'd be welcome to stay." 

"I normally stay outside of towns too.  I can set up nearby."

She nods, and makes to stand, bowl in hand to go wash it in the river, and then pauses, remembering the danger of it. 

"...Is there anything we can do, about the sickness the river is causing? Do you know what's causing it?" 

"It's some kind of inorganic material which breaks down in an odd way.  I can sense it when I drink river water, and use the power to flush it out.  I've seen traces of stuff like it before, it's just present in larger amounts than normal.  

"I don't know if we can do anything wide-scale yet.  It isn't the sort of thing that vaccines will help with.  Finding some way to improve the irrigation filters might be the best thing we can do.  Maybe create an algae that filters it out and can form it into pellets that can be collected and sealed away?"

Focusing a little on the present, he adds, "Uh, but washing the bowls in river water will be fine for us."