[Vander hums an agreement. His arrival certainly would have been a lot smoother had the ‘rescue’ parties who had gone to greet them at the tree been better prepared. Instead they’d all walked face-first into… well, let’s call it an eventful first meeting. It seemed the shard-bearers new and old (relatively speaking) all had a hell of a time down there.]

Could have been worse. [A shrug of one shoulder, though his expression does betray just a touch of displeasure.] Think my hot-headed kid would have jumped to a more drastic solution, if it hadn’t been me and a level-headed friend of hers in there together.

[His time down in the caverns amidst the Tree’s roots had been a rather hectic whirlwind—confusion and anger upon waking, an amalgam of relief and dismay upon meeting Vi, sharp worry when faced with the dryad’s ultimatum. Needless to say, by the time he met the affable man Cyrus and was shepherded off to the city proper, Vander had been feeling more exhausted than he had in a long time.]

Gotta say, though, that whole ordeal didn’t exactly make me eager to get a glimpse at what else this world had in store for us. Glad to see its more like this. [He sweeps his gaze over the quiet market before them, laughs slightly.] Less poison and more window shopping.