Morning sunlight shines through the window and into Solvi’s eyes waking her up before she's ready. Swinging her legs out of bed, she wiggles her toes and moves her muscles to see how the pain is doing for the day. Shuffling on her crutches, she walks to the healer's house to get a check-up.

“Hello, Solvi,” The healer's door opens after the second knock.

“Good morning, Zenoi. Could you take a look at my legs and tell me how they're doing?” Solvi asks hopefully.

“Of course, please come in.”

“Thank you.” She walks into the house and sits at the table.

“How has it been feeling? Is the pain getting any worse?”

“No, just the same as every day, but it does feel like it's hurting a little less than usual.”

“Good, it means you are healing quickly, and my initial thought was worse than it actually is. You should be able to walk without your crutches soon, and back to training after that.”

“That’s great to hear, Zenoi, thank you. So what kind of timing are you thinking?”

“I would say another two weeks and you will be back on your feet like normal. You can walk home without your crutches today if you would like.”

“Oh. Is there anything you have that can help me heal the last little bit faster?”

“Why do you need that? Are you going somewhere?”

“Well, I'd like to get back on my feet and be able to train again.” She fidgets with her hands, quickly hiding them under her cloak.

“I see. There may be something I have in here that can help you move along a bit faster, but you will still need to be careful when moving around more than usual. That includes carrying anything heavy.” She looks at Solvi with concern and a slight sorrow.

“I understand, thank you again.” Solvi returns the look with gratitude.

“Please be safe,” the concern in Zenoi's voice grows. She hands her a small box filled with herbs and sets a hand on her shoulder.

“I promise I will, and I'll be back soon enough.” Solvi leaves the healer's house and heads back home to collect some things for her upcoming trip.

“Sol, where have you been? I looked for you yesterday after I came back from visiting Caeda and you weren't here,” Tagen says right as she comes through the door.

“I was meeting with the elders. I had to ask them what was going on since no one else would tell me. I tried to get them to let me go retrieve the Life Seed and bring it back, but they wouldn't let me go. They said that I'm not old enough or strong enough to go, but we all know that I'm the best warrior this village has. Even if I am injured, I'll be fine soon enough.” Anger rises again as she thinks about how they called her weak.

“I agree with them, you can't leave, we need you to be here,” he pleads, looking fearful.

“But why? The Vikings already took everything they could from us, so why do I still need to stay to protect everyone. There are other warriors here for that. I have to do this.”

“It isn't that easy, I can't explain it, but I know we need you to stay here. I feel like something bad will happen if you leave.” He reaches for her hand but she pulls away, done with the conversation.

“The village will be fine if I leave, I know it will.” She turns away and goes to her room closing the door behind her. Putting her things into her mom's old pack, she gets angry at everyone for telling her no and that she can't do it. If her mom was still here, she would never tell her those things. Reaching into the bag to move some things around, her hand lands on a soft object she didn't put in there. Pulling it out, it's a leather pouch filled with something crunchy. Inside she finds dried up leaves, crushed into small chunks. A smell wafting out of the bag reminds her of the Ancient Oak. The way it smelled in the springtime when all the new leaves started to sprout; a rough, earthy smell with a little bite of freshness and new life. Attached to the pouch is a small tag, in her mom's handwriting saying, ‘Leaves of the Ancient Oak, use them wisely’. Almost as if it was written just for her, Solvi holds the pouch close and knows exactly what they're for now.