Darkness encroached upon the Tree of purple leaves. Held back by the light of the small campfire the children made; over which was a rudimentary cooking rack.

  Nothing fancy or elaborate.

  A simple thing made of four long sticks lashed together by strips of tree bark, held a thick branch with one end sharpened to a point over the fire.

  The cooking stake pierced the carcass of the snake several times to keep it out of the fire.

  Vrakhu sat cross-legged opposite the Tree of purple leaves. As far from the fire as he could while still being visible to the twins.

  He appeared to be in a trance. Blankly staring into the fire without so much as a twitch for nearly half an hour.

  The smell of burning wood, and burnt meat, lingered in the air above the camp and away on a gentle breeze.

  Corvin sat with his back against the trunk of the Tree of purple leaves. His legs were folded awkwardly in front of him while he watched the old man.

  At least, that was the idea.

  But after a few minutes his legs and back started to hurt. So, he wiggled around until he found a somewhat comfortable position.

  He was serious about watching the old man for a while... But he got bored after barely ten minutes.

  This old man was creepy.

  Doesn't he ever blink?

  “Oh no!” Corin’s voice echoed through the camp.

  She dropped the sack of herbs and sprinted to the fire.

  “I’m sorry. I’m sorry!” She grabbed the blunt end of the cooking stake and lifted it off the fire.

  The carcass was several shades darker than it was supposed to be, and the meat was cracking.

  Pieces of the snake fell to the ground as Corin rushed it over to Vrakhu.

  “It’s not supposed to look like this, is it? I don’t think it’s supposed to look like this.” Her fingers trembled around the stake as fear and hope wrestled across her face.

  Vrakhu’s eyes shifted to look at the burnt remains.

  He looked it over for a moment before turning back to the fire.

  “It’s edible.”

  “Really?” Corin’s face revealed her shock. “It’s supposed to look like this?”

  “No.”

  Corin drew back as if she’d been scalded and looked at the snake like it’d betrayed her.

  Corvin snickered at his sister’s back.

  He half expected her to mess it up like she had at home. So, he wasn’t that surprised.

  His amusement died the instant she spun to look at him, a sharpened stick in her hands and barely suppressed tears in her eyes.

  “What’re you laughing at? Huh?” She wiped her eyes on her shoulder. “You think it’s funny? That you can do better than me? Then you cook next time.”

  “Hey,” Corvin clumsily climbed to his feet and stepped away from Corin; his eyes remained defiant even as his lips trembled.

  “Don’t yell at me!” He took another step back before throwing up a hand and jabbing a finger at her. “Dad said you weren’t allowed to yell at me.”

  “Dad’s not here!” Corin shouted, her voice breaking even as it bounced around the quiet camp.

  “Enough.”

  Vrakhu pulled the stake out of her hands and stabbed the blunt end into the dirt.

  The snake slid slightly towards the ground but was stopped by the wider base.

  Vrakhu stepped between the twins and looked them both over.

  His blank expression and yellow eyes caused them both to take several steps away from him.

  Corin’s palms were red.

  She would need ointment, else blisters form.

  Corvin’s face paled, his knees shook, he looked like a rabbit sitting before the wolf.

  He looked at Corin. “The snake is edible. Eat before it goes cold.”

  “I can’t eat that. It’s burnt to a crisp!” Corvin pointed past Vrakhu at the skin flaking away from the snake.

  Vrakhu turned and looked the boy in the eye. “You have two options. Eat the snake or hunt, cook, and eat your own prey.”

  Corvin squirmed beneath Vrakhu’s gaze.

  He looked past the old man, hoping to get his sister’s help… But Corin was already walking towards the stake in the ground.

  “Let him starve if he wants. I’ll eat it myself.”

  She took hold of the snake’s tail, first with just her fingertips, then her palm as she realized it was cool enough to touch.

  She broke off a palm sized piece of snake meat with a bit of effort, then turned to look at her brother.

  Her lips twitched downwards just before she brought the meat to her mouth and took a bite—

  She recoiled the instant the taste hit her tongue.

  “It’s so bitter…”

  She fought to hold back her expression and quickly swallowed it down.

  Then she stuck her tongue out at Corvin.

  He bristled at the sight.

  No way was he going to let her be braver than him.

  He darted around Vrakhu as fast as he could, only slowing down once he reached the stake.

  He grabbed the snake right above the part Corin broke off and ripped off a piece of his own.

  “I can eat it!” He shoved the meat into his mouth without a second thought and bit down — Then the taste hit him like a physical blow.

  Vrakhu watched the twins eat until they’d both finished the pieces in their hands.

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  While they went back for second helpings, Vrakhu retrieved the basket of medicinal plants and sat in the same place as before.

  He took a few nearly identical weeds and a flat leaf from the basket, laying them across his lap.

  He picked up one and lightly pinched the bottom. A clear, syrupy liquid spilled from the edges of the leaf, falling over Vrakhu’s fingers.

  “What’re you doing?” Corin squatted to his left side and watched him squeeze the liquid onto the flat leaf.

  “Ointment for your hands.”

  Corin looked confused for a moment before realizing.

  She looked at her palms, noting their redness and slight swelling, but didn’t see the point.

  They didn’t even hurt.

  “They will.” He said without looking up.

  “So…” Corvin squatted on Vrakhu’s other side and motioned to the plants with a piece of meat. “How do you know what plants to use?”

  “I listen.” He folded the flat leaf in half after covering it in the liquid.

  “To what? The plants?” Corvin and Corin locked eyes over Vrakhu’s head and shared a concerned look.

  Was the old man crazy?

  “Sometimes.” He pinched it between his fingers, ensuring the entire surface was covered. Then he carefully unfolded it and placed it on his lap.

  He took a few more plants from the basket and began ripping them into small pieces. He sprinkled the torn plants onto the flat leaf before folding it again.

  He held the leaf with two fingers and moved it towards Corin.

  “Wrap it around your hand.”

  She took the leaf and stared at it.

  Would it hurt?

  “No.” Vrakhu sat the basket aside and looked at Corin. “Wrap it.”

  She shakily nodded and unwrapped the leaf.

  She hesitated a bit, looking at the odd mixture before her. Then she carefully turned the leaf over and pressed it into her palm.

  An icy sensation swept through her hand. It was so intense she had to grit her teeth to keep from shouting.

  “Does it hurt?” Corvin slid around to stand next to his sister.

  “It’s cold.”

  “Cold?” He took her hand in his and looked it over. Then, without thinking, he swiped some of the liquid onto his finger and spread it onto his palm.

  “Ah!” He swung his hand towards the ground and tried to throw the slime off his hand.

  Corin was right.

  It was very cold, and bit down to the bone almost instantly.

  “What is that stuff?” Corvin asked after wiping his palm on a nearby tree.

  “Medicine.”

  “I’ve never heard of medicine that burns cold before.” Corin was holding her hand as flat as she could to keep the leaf steady.

  How long would she need to keep it there?

  “Now you have.” Vrakhu glanced at her other palm and ignored the annoyed look Corvin sent him.

  Corin held the stake with both hands, but one was closer to the fire than the other. Which was the one being treated; her other hand appeared fine.

  “So…” Corvin kept his voice low as he spoke. As if he wasn’t sure whether he wanted an answer to the question on his mind or not.

  “Who are you anyway? Why did you help us?”

  “Corvinus!” Corin took a step towards her brother and made to grab him—

  He side-stepped her attempt, “What!? You were thinking it too!” His voice echoed through the camp, then it all fell silent, save for the crackling fire.

  Seconds dragged on; neither twin was willing to back down from the stare down they’d started.

  So, Vrakhu ended it.

  “I am Vrakhu. Nothing more.” His voice was the signal that caused the twins to break eye contact.

  They looked at their feet, expecting Vrakhu to be sitting between them—

  Except Vrakhu wasn’t there.

  They found him sitting beside the flickering campfire. The fire had been left alone too long, and the old man was feeding the flame a handful of sticks.

  The twins shared a look between themselves.

  When did he move?

  “She told me your name. I wanted to know who you were.” Corvin stepped over to the fire and tossed in a stick of his own.

  “An old man of no consequence.”

  The little clearing was suddenly plunged into darkness.

  No rush of wind. No sound. The light was just… gone.

  In its place was a pervasive feeling of cold that somehow enveloped the body all at once.

  This was not caused by a mere drop in temperature.

  It was a complete erasure of warmth.

  Then, just as suddenly as it went out; the fire returned with a quiet — whoosh —, bringing light and warmth back into the clearing with it.

  When the daze finally cleared from the twin’s eyes, Vrakhu wasn’t beside the fire anymore.

  He’d moved once again and had returned to his seat away from the fire. On the edge between the light of the fire and the shadows of the forest.

  Corin and Corvin looked at each other.

  Their hearts raced at the scene they’d just witnessed.

  “Are…” Corvin had to swallow the lump in his throat before he could talk. “Are you a cultivator?”

  Vrakhu’s eyes slid away from the fire and landed on Corvin.

  “Yes.”

  Corvin shrank beneath his gaze and turned to Corin for support.

  She stared at the dirt, unable to meet the old man’s eyes.

  “Not that I’m not grateful or anything. Because I am. But why *did* you help us?”

  “Do I need a reason?”

  “Cultivators always have a reason. If it doesn’t seem like there’s a reason, you just didn’t understand it.” Corin muttered reflexively, her voice barely audible over the crackling fire.

  Vrakhu stared at her for a while.

  Long enough to make her feel like she was about to be scolded.

  “Let’s call it a whim.”

  Corin fought back the instinct to say something.

  But Corvin did not.

  “You saved us on a whim?”

  “Yes.”

  Corin and Corvin both flinched at the coldness in his voice.

  “Are…” Corin coughed to clear her throat. “Are you looking for disciples?”

  “No.”

  Corin’s heart sank.

  She nodded slowly and looked at her feet.

  “Even if we asked you to teach us?”

  Corin’s head snapped up and she stared at her brother with her mouth agape.

  He didn’t just ask that… Did he?

  She shifted from looking at her brother to looking at Vrakhu.

  His expression hadn’t changed.

  He hadn’t even looked away from the fire.

  Had they offended him?

  “Why would you want to learn from me?”

  The twins glanced at each other.

  A smile danced across Corvin’s face.

  A frown flashed across Corin’s.

  They both felt hope and hopelessness in equal measure.

  It was Corin who spoke up first.

  “Because I’m not a burden. I want to prove it, and prove I can help people.”

  Once she’d said her peace, Corin watched Vrakhu for a reaction.

  He continued to stare past her without a word.

  “I—” Corvin stepped forward, placing himself between Corin and the old man. “I want to be the strongest. Stronger than everyone, like my dad. That’s why.”

  Corvin and Corin stood side by side as the seconds passed by.

  With the dark forest around them, the light flickering beside them, and Vrakhu’s unmoved countenance.

  The twins felt as if time had stopped moving.

  As if his answer would never come.

  But as seconds turned into minutes without an answer.

  The twins were faced with the reality that maybe Vrakhu would leave them too.

  As minutes turned into hours, they had no choice but to accept that reality as truth.

  Call it pride.

  Call it a hopeless wish.

  But neither twin made a sound the rest of the night.

  Maybe if they didn’t talk, the night would never end?

  Maybe if they were quiet, Vrakhu would never answer them, and they’d never have to hear the words.

  Vrakhu neither moved nor made a sound as the twins finished eating the snake, then crawled into the hollow at the base of the tree.

  Corvin and Corin were enveloped by a peaceful warmth as they drifted off to sleep…

  Then, as if to spite their wish, Vrakhu’s lips began to move.

  “Those are horrible reasons.” He said, but long after the twins had fallen asleep.