You are welcome, came the simple reply, but it carried a quietly contented sentiment that they had brought something new and helpful to the strange swamp. Perhaps one day their seedlings would be grown enough to shelter and succor them when they came this way again.
But for now the waters of the swamp were full of silt and debris, cloudy and flavored with decay. The mermanta shook his head at them and turned his gaze towards the clean coast, not so far away. Home, he echoed, thinking of bright sunlight and living currents, and an ocean clear as crystal. For now. Until the next call came out; the next breath of adventure or siren song of something new in the world to encounter.
But for now the waters of the swamp were full of silt and debris, cloudy and flavored with decay. The mermanta shook his head at them and turned his gaze towards the clean coast, not so far away. Home, he echoed, thinking of bright sunlight and living currents, and an ocean clear as crystal. For now. Until the next call came out; the next breath of adventure or siren song of something new in the world to encounter.
