World Tree MUSH

    It's evening when Yumi rolls up to the caravan again, where it has most likely stopped for the night. The sound of her bike is probably familiar in general, but more recently it's actually been a couple of days since she was last around. So the sound of off-road bike tires and turning gears is probably a welcome one, as it heralds the return of someone who's had a rather life-changing event recently.

    "Hey, guys, it's me," Yumi calls out, rolling the bike to a stop and swinging her leg off it. She's dressed warmly, of course, and has a backpack besides.

    The caravan has indeed stopped for the night. Tonight, they've struck camp a ways south of the Snowpeak trailhead, with the gentle rise of the mountains receding in the background. Now, their world has become the flatlands. They've had a few close brushes with roving bands of bokoblins, pesky goblin-like creatures that are both dim-witted, aggressive, and generally reluctant to attack anything stronger than they are.
    Zelda herself had ridden out astride her war horse, putting her horse archery to good use. No doubt Link had taken care of more than a few in the background, but she is, as the others have long since learned, a very take-charge sort of ruler.
    Tonight she's sitting at the campfire, black mourning cloak thrown about her shoulders for warmth. Patchy snow lies on the plains; wind gusts over the flatlands, but it's nowhere near as cold as Peak Province had been. It's still winter, though, and there isn't a windbreak in sight.
    The evening meal's menu is soup of some sort. Chances are the stock is made of somthing unpalatable like wolfos meat, but there's vegetables aplenty in the concoction. Zelda herself had even made a point of foraging when she hasn't been driving the wagon, collecting edible roots and tubers in a rucksack. Sure, they don't need it, but it does make their foodstuffs last a little longer.
    At the sound of a familiar voice she looks up, ladel frozen mid-stir as she focuses on the outer perimeter of the firelihgt. "Tachibana Yumi." The ladel is swung to indicate the fireside. "Come, warm yourself by the fire."

    Cecil had been out a little longer, to see that Duncan was all right. The other Dark Knight seems absent right now, leaving Cecil to his thoughts on the matter, idly looking over his sword. This is when he'd normally be sharpening it, but the magical blade needs no such attention, so instead it gets his contemplation.

    When Yumi returns, he's snapped out of his reverie, nodding slightly. Zelda's offer reminds him that he's been sitting in the cold for a while. Sheathing the blade he rises, giving Yumi an interesting look. "Hm... looks like you have more than just good reflexes."

    Rydia has... Rallied from the events of the last outing. If anything the girl is at least resilient. She's currently huddled away from the fire, preferring the warmth of her Wolfos fur cloak, and is busy...
    Fashioning a necklace from some bokoblin teeth.
    They look fresh.
    "Hi, Yumi." Muttered in a tone somewhere between 'this tooth is being a hassle to get on the string' and 'I swear I'm not still traumatized, really'.

    Another stop on the long road. Roads aren't so bad for someone who was once, if not necessarily willingly, a soldier. Right? Terra seems to be faring well, though as always she's quiet. Though she at least isn't really trying to hide! While her own sword is nearby, she gives it no such thought.

    More like, she's doing her best to resist the urge to drag Rydia nearer to the fire. Even if she doesn't like fire it's important to stay warm! Really! She's near to the flames herself, soaking up the warmth while stealing glances over to the summoner. No, no, she's not fretting and coddling. Just fretting.

    At Yumi's approach, her head lifts and she dips her head in greeting.

    Glance.

    "Zelda," Yumi greets, her mood already lifted a bit by the friendly voice. "Good to see things are still... well, not /peaceful/, but alright." She glances at Rydia's necklace of Bokoblin teeth. "You're taking care of yourselves, at least." Not that she thought they couldn't - but seeing a friend in one piece is still a relief, even if you intellectually knew they'd be fine.

    Cecil, on the other hand, gives a greeting that dulls the cheer in her eyes; her mood isn't quite soured, per se, but it's very quickly more somber, more thoughtful. "Yeah..." She absently reaches up to her chest, as if reassuring herself of something, not quite realizing she's doing so. But the girl at least manages a smile of greeting towards Terra, briefly.

    Then, the redhead crouches down near the fire, staring into it absently. There's a brief glance at Zelda, then a soft, "So, um... how much did Cecil and Rydia tell you? About what happened the other day, I mean."

    "We're still alive, for the time being." Zelda shakes her head, leaning over the cauldron and appraising its contents somewhat dubiously. A chef she is not; a passable enough cook, but it doesn't come naturally to her, and that shows. "We will see how we fare after supper," she adds, almost under her breath.
    The cauldron doesn't smell toxic or anything, at least. Actually, it smells pretty savoury, and there are bits of what must be herbs floating on the top, diced.
    "Not a thing," the young queen states serenely, stirring the concoction. Those blue eyes settle on Yumi, though, clear and appraising, wiser and older than they have any real right to be. She simply studies the girl.
    Zelda finally lifts her chin, eyes hooding. "You are different." Her head tilts, canting to one side, thoughtfully. "Wiser, perhaps? A piece of knowledge, sought after, and found...? What has happened, Tachibana Yumi?"

    Cecil shrugs at the look he is given. "You've more than earned the right to talk about what happened on your own. I would like to hear as well, but I think that you have the good judgement to make that decision on your own."

    Rydia's own mood is a little worrying, so Cecil moves to sit on her other side, letting him and Terra give her some flanking. Zelda's lack of knowledge isn't surprising, but her acuity that something is different, aside from Cecil's comment, gets a raised brow. "It was an eventful night, when we went to town the other day."

    What happened the other day...
    About that...
    Rydia has been pretty reticent since the events with Duncan. And Yumi bringing it up makes the small Summoner roll her shoulders, neck turtling down as she bunches up her cloak around herself in a surly manner.
    "We were attacked." Is all she says at first, opting to let someone else tell the story better than she can.

    Terra edges ever so slightly closer to Rydia, once more stealing a glance once again at the small summoner. She looks past to Cecil, works up a bit of a smile, then it's Yumi's show. While she agrees it best for Yumi to tell the story in her own way and for her own sake, she does wonder if she shouldn't have at least said something more. What's the right thing to do, she wonders.

    Then the other teenager gets her attention, though she does keep a hand loose just in case the recounting of the events might disturb anyone present enough to give them cause to reach out.

    "I wouldn't say any wiser," Yumi admits. "I learned something, but it's only raised more questions." She nods towards Cecil, and adds. "I appreciate it, though I think I couldn't keep a secret unless lives were depending on it. If something ever happens to me, you guys are gonna be the first to know, every time."

    She settles her weight back a little, still crouching, then explains, "Cecil's old acquaintance, Sir Duncan, attacked under some sort of mental influence. He brought allies, a couple of mages and another knight of Baron. An acquaintance was also there, Temulin Dotharl. She's... kind of like Cecil, in a way, the way she fights. I hired her to fight on our side. But during the fight, one of the mages, he..."

    Eyes glance up at Rydia briefly, then return back to Zelda. "The mage unloaded a great, big, nonstop torrent of fire at her. Duncan snapped out of it, and threw himself on her to protect her, but he was burning alive, and I knew Rydia would be terrified, and..."

    The redhead seems to debate on something for a moment... and then decides to stand up. She takes a pair of steps back from the fire, and closes her eyes. And then, for a second or two, the area is awash in bright light and a wave of radiant warmth that definitely don't come from the fire. Sheets of light erupt into being around Yumi, forming a set of white armor, trimmed in blue and gold. The light and warmth fade quickly, the whole transformation happening fast, even her hair only having time to flutter briefly.

    Then she opens her eyes and finishes, "I didn't even think. I just moved. I needed to stop the mage, so I did."

    "A matter of opinion." Zelda dips the ladel into the soup, swilling it around half-heartedly. "Wisdom is not necessarily knowing all the answers. Sometimes, wisdom is knowing that you lack the answers, that you might strive to seek them out."
    The tale, howver, brings her to listen with all due gravity. Aside from the occasional stir of the ladel in the cauldron, she is motionless; her stillness betraying the intensity of her regard.
    Cecil's old acquaintance. Those summer-blue eyes flit over to Cecil, regarding the Dark Knight thoughtfully. Terrible powers he may wield, but the man himself is honourable. Acquaintances from the Kingdom of Baron, however...
    "I am acquainted with Temulin Dotharl." The words are given neutrally. "I have had occasion to work with her previously."
    Her gaze flicks back to Yumi, listening. She lifts her gaze as the redhead stands up, head tilting very slowly, squinting at the sudden bright light; she even throws an arm up to shield her eyes. Like calls to like, and the echo that is Hylia reaches out--
    There is a whisper of sensation, but it's reserved for Yumi alone. A faint echo of power, and something that might almost be pride.
    We are not so different, you and I, are we...?
    When Zelda lowers her arm, her eyes remain closed, drawing in a deep breath and releasing it before opening them.
    She stares.
    "Oho," she says, so softly it might be swallowed by the crackle of the campfire. Her brows arch, but the young queen manages a faint smile. "I am impressed, Tachibana Yumi. Perhaps not wholly surprised, because I know what it is to you to protect those around you... the potential has always been there."
    That smile broadens, faintly. "I suppose Link is not the only hero, here, is he...?"
    Her attention swings back to Cecil. "You've a way with understatement, Master Harvey," she murmurs, tone one of quiet mirth.

    Yumi tells it like it happened. And Rydia finds herself with Terra to one side and Cecil to the other.
    "... I'm fine now, you two. You don't need to mother hen and papa wolf over me." She points out. Though mention of Temulin makes the girl tense faintly. It's the bright and warm transformation that gets a sudden yelp, and has the Summoner covering her eyes.
    ... But when she sees there's no actual fire involved she clears her throat and tries to ignore the hot warmth of how red her cheeks are, now.
    Rydia is not embarrassed. That didn't happen, you're all imagining things.
    "Mn. That's the long and short of what happened." She confirms, and gets back to making her bokoblin tooth necklace.
    Where did she get those teeth, anyway?

    "Mm," Cecil agrees. "I was going to tell you about Duncan, but with him still recovering from his mental domination, whatever it was, and your own concerns, I thought it best to let Yumi here let out on her own terms what happened." He's using first names, that's unusual.

    A look of concern is given to Rydia, and then Cecil looks back toward Zelda. "I was worried about Rydia, anyway. It's a good thing Terra is here..." Even if she doesn't talk much. "This is perhaps a boon, to find it out, but it also worries me that we had to find this out under the stress of seeing my own people committing such atrocities. I am... very glad that Yumi was there. Thank you, since I was unable to properly say so before."

    The story, of course, is rather unsettling. Everyone has so many problems. Terra pulls her legs in and contemplates herself for a few beats and at least she manages not to feel guilty for her own issues seeming relatively minor compared to all the trauma and danger most everyone else has been through.

    Rydia's sass gets a look from her and she simply doesn't budge. She's even tempted to lay it on a little thicker. Mother hen, though? She contemplates that as Yumi stands, then yelps herself at he flash of light!

    When it's all over, ever-present tingle in her breast intensifies to a flutter. "Ah..." It's enough that, rather than offering comfort necessarily just for Rydia's sake, she grasps a corner of Rydia's cloak for her own. Cecil gets a grateful look, then it's back to glancing between the two dominant personalities at the campfire.

    Then her stomach growls.

    That faint impression receives a silent response, warmth and faint amusement. 'Perhaps not.'

    That squeak, though. The squeak immediately has Yumi feeling guilty - she shoots Rydia a chagrined glance, a silent, 'sorry'. "I think my transformation's always going to be bright and warm like that, even when I do it fast. My element is 'sunlight'." Calling her a hero, though, that has Yumi a little bashful. "It feels kind of cliche to say, but I don't really think of myself as a hero. A knight, maybe, but..."

    She shakes her head. "I think you're right, though. The potential was always there." She reaches up, lightly thumps her breastplate. "I think this always knew I could do it, it was just waiting for my mind to catch up. All of this feels so... so second-nature." The redhead crouches down, picking up a rock from near the fire. "I know how to use my strength and speed, even my magic, like I've had it for years. I've got a sword, too. 'Prominence.' Like how I knew my name when I woke up." The pebble, after a second or two, takes on a soft, gold-white glow, radiating warmth. She holds it out, making a 'gonna toss it' motion for Zelda, then lobs it over. It's warm to the touch, imbued with sunlight, though it fades after a few moments.

    "See what I mean about only raising more questions?"

    There's a glance in Terra's direction at the soft sound, though, a moment of confusion and worry. She doesn't say anything, but the 'are you okay?' is written all over her face. To Cecil, however, the magical girl only nods, smiling faintly. "You know what I'm gonna say, right? Don't worry about it. We're friends, we protect each other. Now that I'm able, of course I'm gonna be right on the front line with you."

    Although Rydia earns a glance, the young queen declines comment. It isn't her place to smother the girl, and she knows well the value of having one's own space. She'll offer comfort later, in her own way, if it should become necessary.
    Sovereign and Summoner seem to have a bizarre but functional support for one another through the various crises in their lives; like drunks leaning on one another to stagger home. The teeth are eyed, but she has no qualms about where those came from. Rydia probably got them herself, of course.
    Clear blue eyes settle back onto Cecil, studying the man quietly. She doesn't have any comment to add, though, shaking her head silently. It's not her place to speak to that.
    Terra, however, earns an equally searching look, but she still holds her silence. Whatever answers she seeks aren't yielded up, though. The matter of the half-Esper is quietly filed away for later; an enigma to unwrap and solve at a later date.
    Yumi earns her attention again. Her mouth quirks at that silent response, but she can't hold back the faint smile. Hylia is dignified and intense, a protector-goddess, and treating with her is like staring at the sun; the light that casts back the darkness. Zelda is young, yet, although her maturity sometimes makes her seem much older than her years. She's allowed a bit of amusement.
    The stone is caught and marveled over, turning it this way and that. When the sunlight fades, though, she doesn't discard the pebble, but instead tucks it into a pouch at her belt. A keepsake, maybe?
    "A hero, Tachibana Yumi, is merely one who places themselves into danger for the sake of those around them." Zelda stirs the soup-like concoction, reaching for a stack of stoneware bowls pilfered from Snowpeak's pantry. Carefully and methodically, she starts filling them and setting them aside. When she reaches the last one, she offers it to Yumi. "That is what you are, and what you do, is it not...?"
    A sword, though, that brings her to look thoughtful. "A sword..." She doesn't share whatever thoughts that raises, but by the way she's eyeing Yumi speculatively, there are gears turning behind those soft blue eyes.

    Talk of heroes, of swords, of battles and more. Cecil sighs. "I don't want to be a hero, I just want to do my duty and do what's right." He grips the hilt of his sword, regarding Yumi... then turning to look at Terra and Rydia, with a twist of his lip into a faint smile. "I suppose, though, that what we have are companions."

    With a heavy sigh, he asides to Yumi, "Not if you can help it, you won't." He looks to Zelda, to explain further, "You are right of course, because as much as I advise against it... Yumi here will throw herself forward regardless."

    Back to Yumi, "Until you know more about your power, try not to get too carried away."

    He moves to sit again with Rydia and Terra, looking thoughtful. "I wonder what other surprises we all might have, though." Surely there aren't any more, right? Not with Rydia and Terra!

    Getting looks! Terra doesn't really shrink away from the attention and she was only surprised! She shakes her head, finally shifting herself around a bit to get more comfortable. "I'm okay." At least she's succinct?

    She does find it in her to feel a bit of envy. Purpose! That's a thing she seems to really be lacking in compared to most everyone around her. Still, she supposes as she studies Zelda's ladle, that's something she can work on alongside- Cecil has a good word for it. Companions. Nobody's looking, right? She can smile at that comforting thought and nobody will think she's being weird at all.

    Until she looks up while reaching over to pass a bowl to Rydia and then Cecil- Nope. There's people looking. Her face colors but she carries on with passing around Zelda's offering of supper. Ulp.

    "I'm not sure I'm ready for more surprises quite yet." Flat look. ... Was... Was that humor?

    "A sword," Yumi confirms, "And a very big one. I finally understand why I kept feeling like I needed a weapon with more heft and reach. It turns out I'm a powerhouse type." There's a soft breath, and her transformation finally releases, the armor coming apart in a shower of sparkles that quickly dissipate. "But I... I mean, I guess you're not wrong, but it still feels..." Fidget. "I'm just me. 'Hero' is kinda embarrassing." She takes the bowl and sits down properly at last, contemplative.

    Only to get the obligatory 'you be careful young lady'.

    "Well, as long as I don't push my power too hard, I'm pretty sure I'll be fine," she replies, looking a tad... guilty? "...but if I need to push my power to save someone, or to stop someone who needs to be stopped, I'm not gonna hesitate. I'm not sure who or what I was, but that's the kind of person I am now."

    Then Terra cracks a joke. Snrk.

    "Again you prove my point, Master Harvey," Zelda points out, with a gentle half-smile. "A hero is more concerned with doing what's right than anything else. The same is true of you, of Tachibana Yumi, of Link... of everyone here. The light has not been snuffed from Hyrule. Not just yet."
    To his criticism on Yumi's self-sacrificial ways, the young queen's smile only turns rueful. "That much is true, Master Harvey, but atleast she will be somewhere we can keep an eye on her, and support her if the need should arise." It's all they can really do. "I suppose I can scarcely point fingers, in any case. I am inclined to do the very same."
    Yeah, screw that wimpy, whiny princess act. This sovereign takes matters into her own hands.
    "While I might agree with Master Harvey's advice, and not to rely on your powers too heavily, I feel that I am not informed enough to judge one way or another. You know more than we do of your own capabilities and limits." Zelda inclines her head in concession. "That is your decision to make."
    Her gaze flicks back to Rydia and Terra, thoughtful, but she doesn't comment on Cecil's observation.
    Shaking her head, she ladels soup into her own bowl last, cradling it in her lap. "I wonder if that is a clue in and of itself, Tachibana Yumi. Perhaps understanding of who and what you are now may lead you to your lost past."
    Once more she looks over to Terra, considering. Did the half-Esper just... crack a joke...? Her smile is almost dubious with the way her brow furrows, but... she can't help a faint laugh.

    Cecil is already back to looking at his sword, though he chuckles slightly at Terra's quip. He is starting to relax a little, and when he looks up again he is smiling.

    "I cannot help it, I don't want you to push yourself, Yumi, until you understand yourself better..." he trails off for a moment, then drums fingers on his sword. "But on the other hand, if you did not give it your all when needed, I think I would be disappointed. Just try not to do so /unnecessarily/ until you know more."

    His smile turns mildly bitter, and he nods to Zelda. "I just have the feeling that it may be necessary more than we'd like."

    Well, it was an attempt. It even got a reaction. Terra certainly wasn't sure when she decided to speak up and she's even half serious about it. Is that what makes it amusing? Enough! Finally, she gets her own bowl and lets the warmth radiating from it soak into her hands for a spell.

    Talk of heroes, swords and pushing oneself or at least being careful while doing so filters through her mind and she glances about from speaker to speaker, taking it all in. She could stand to learn from everyone present, certainly.

    "I only hope that we can be together when the need arises. I... Wasn't really sure what to do. Before." At least it went relatively well. Few enough people were hurt but can it get worse? She dislikes already knowing that particular answer.

    Yumi nods faintly to Zelda. "It could be. I've often wondered if who I am now, is who I would have been before, just... without memories. But maybe my life experiences made me a different person. It's pretty common for someone idealistic to get jaded as they're exposed to how harsh the world can be..." That, in and of itself, is a pretty pessimistic viewpoint - but Yumi has never been ignorant of the cruelty of the world. "It's hard to tell. More than anything, I've been wondering if this is... I think maybe I was a hunter. That thing, we fought in that shopping distict. The moment we set foot in that weird space, I felt like we were in for a fight, and when I saw it I /knew/ we had to bring it down. I think I hunted those things. It would make sense, at least."

    She looks Cecil's way, then smiles a little. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna go turning myself into a solar fireball to stop a mugging. I work myself hard sometimes, but I know if I go and burn myself out, I'm no help to anyone." Terra expresses concern, and Yumi turns to give her an appraising look for a moment. "I can tell you what always goes through my head in a crisis, if that helps. First order of business is always making sure the uninvolved people are safe. If my allies dive in headfirst, that's their choice, but I never want to see an innocent person become collateral. That's a good place to start."

    With nothing more to say on the issue of Yumi's abilities and limitations, Zelda contents herself with her bowl of soup. It may not be the most flavourful stock around, being most probably made of something gross like tough and stringy wolfos meat, but it's edible and it's hot.
    There's a lot to be said for that right now, with wind and snow gusting over the plain. The campsite beside a rock outcropping is the only thing keeping it from getting the worst of the wind.
    "I... have a feeling that's the way of things more often than anyone would like," Zelda replies to Cecil's prediction, and there's something subdued in her tone; something thoughtful. It's certainly the case in Hyrule. Since time out of mind, it's been a waltz in three parts -- Courage, guided by Wisdom, rises to confront Power.
    The princess drums her fingers against the rim of her bowl, and for a moment she's several thousand miles away from the others, working through a problem she alone cannot solve.
    It's Terra's observation that brings her back, and she dips her head in purposeful gesture. "Yes." She can but echo Terra's sentiment. "In numbers, protection. I have heard it said in some worlds: 'United, we stand. Divided, we fall.' I hear wisdom in those words."
    For the rest, she only tilts her head, listening; soon her bowl of soup is empty, and she drops a handful of snow in it, swilling it around to rinse.

    "I did not ask to be thrown together with any of you," Cecil says abruptly to what everyone is saying. "But I don't think I could ask for a better group to be here. I hope that I can speak to Duncan, find Kain, and settle my own affairs swiftly..."

    He resheaths the blade and reaches out to get a drink. "But first, to fix your own hero's little problem."

    Terra can certainly feel where Cecil is coming from. Not asking for things, getting them anyway and feeling stuck. Still, she also agrees with the sentiment that she really couldn't do better if she wanted to. Yumi's own doubt about her identity makes her wonder about her own as well; she even finds herself nodding a little!

    Zelda gets all of her attention for the offering of that kernal. Proverb? It makes sense. Having company at least lets her mind move to other things than feeling isolated or strange.

    "Is he far?" Terra, ever the abstract thinker, isn't so much concerned that Link is probably out purging the surroundings of monsters and the like. No, she's more concerned that he might feel lonely. Or miss dinner. Speaking of, she sets upon her soup with gusto. Whether it's actually good or not seems lost on the half-esper.

    Yumi turns to Cecil and gives a little nod, smiling. "Zelda was really, literally, my first friend. We met a couple days after I woke up. I met all of you not too long after that. Officer Nakano is nice, he's looked after me and let me live in his home, but he's been... I guess kind of hands-off. Like he wants to let me figure myself out. So more than anything, I think I feel like all of you are as close to family as I've got." Her cheeks heat up a little - saying something like that outright is embarrassing! But it's the truth.

    Other things which are true: Somehow, Yumi has managed to scarf down her entire bowl already. "...eheh... Could, ah. Could I get a bit more stew...?"

    Is he far? The question brings the Hylian to look over, considering. While she could reach out to his mind to determine the answer for herself, she apparently elects not to, for she only shakes her head. "I do not know. Not so far that I could not call to him, were there an emergency. Better, I think, to leave him to his own devices."
    "His is the heart of a man, but there is a little of the wild in him. And like any wild animal, I am content to keep my distance." Zelda shakes her head, taking a long stick and poking at the fire's embers. Once that's done, she refills Yumi's bowl. It smells good, at least. It's probably even edible in its base state despite being made from some kind of gross stock or another, like wolfos meat -- but grey and stocky, rather than their gap-grinned, leering white cousins. Still just as terrible for eating unless rendered into soup stock or chucked into the stewpot special. "Besides which, he is, forgive the pun, something of a lone wolf. I do not think him well suited to operating in groups. He is from one of the most remote areas of Hyrule, where I suppose folk are accustomed to taking care of their business by themselves."
    She looks up to the moon and the stars, eyes seeking out the familiar constellations, though some of them on the furthest horizon are blotted out by the miasma of Twilight.
    "We will pass by his home of Ordon Village, on our way into Faron Wood, but I believe it would be better to avoid it. They would not understand, seeing him as he is now. And I cannot risk revealing my true identity... nor will I risk calling the Twilight down upon them. As it is, I would have expected the usurper's hunters to find me long before now. Their quiescence makes me suspicious."
    She rises, patting the dust of the road off her robe's front. "We should stand watch tonight, come to think of it. I will stand first watch." She passes by Yumi as she goes, resting a hand on the redhead's shoulder, companionably, reserving a smile for her. The Hylian manages a friendly pat before letting her hand drop, heading for the wagon where her weapons are stowed. "Decide amongst yourselves whom you wish to stand second watch."
    With that, she retrieves her weapons, buckling the quiver at her hip and checking the pull of her bowstring, striding purposefully for the edge of camp, where the firelight is at its weakest. There she'll wait, climbing onto a pile of rocks, huddling into her black robe and keeping her eyes focused outward, still as a statue but for the occasional turn of her head.