[Child of the 7th Age]

Cami reached out for Bird's hand and gently squeezed it. "Dester' edra....Daughter of the Wind. That describes you perfectly. I wonder how your parents knew you would be like that, when you were still so little?"

Cami's voice was soft and wistful. "Maybe someday, I'll meet another shapechanger, and say the words you taught me. And, in every kindness that's returned, I'll see and remember a friend who once stood by my side."

As Cami turned to go, another idea crept into her mind. There was one other quality she'd come to associate with Bird. Her friend would probably disagree, but Cami was sure she was right about this. Bird seemed to display an uncanny measure of grace in her every feeling and action. The hobbit had never met anyone who could calmly accept and welcome change with such humor and cheerfulness, even when circumstances were not ideal.

It was one thing to have a special person missing from your life. It was another to be totally bereft of kith and kin, not even sure whether your own people lived or died. Yet, she had rarely heard Bird complain, or bemoan the doom that had fallen upon her head.

On a sudden impulse, Cami glanced around one last time, and called to her from across the beach, "Bird, I too have a mathom for you. It stands somewhere between hope and belief. Someday, somewhere, you will find
other shapechangers, and discover the fate of your people."

Then Cami raced forward along the white sands to catch a skiff back to her cabin. A single thought ran through her head as she stepped onto the deck of the Star to start the last leg of her trip. Goodbye island. You are beautiful, and I shall miss you dearly, but I go to where I belong.

[ December 11, 2002: Message edited by: Child of the 7th Age ]