Introductions

"You're going to ... ," he started again, confused. "Introduce you," she responded. "To the ... ," he prodded (not tracking this at all). "To the trees," she said firmly (and for the umpteenth time). "These trees and those trees - the forest in general." "The trees," he repeated, standing at the edge of the backyard face-to-face with some oak or elm or whatever it was. "Do I shake a stick hand or something?" She ignored him, leaving him there, laying her hand on various trunks, doing a throat-singing kind of thing. She turned and stared at him from a ways back, wearing an expression that surprised him (one that he would later call "cold scrutiny"). "Not particularly high marks," she said, returning to his side, "but potential. Your fly's undone, by the way, you're developing high blood pressure, and a headache starting on the left side is coming later today. Best to drink more water overall." He felt the headache coming even now, and stared open-mouthed at her. "Do I do anything? Am I supposed to say something? Do I get a quest?" he whispered. She turned and met his eyes cordially enough, but there was no laughter in her voice. "You get to live," she whispered back.