Light blazed through the Water Frond Snake from head to tail like it had when Juniper awakened it. But rather than pure silver light, this time flickers of gold and green, red and blue flared among the silver as it outlined scales, hinted at the creature the Water Frond Snake was meant to be. Blue saturated the fronds with only the tips of each one deepening into purple. It was as if they drew all the color in. The scales turned reflective and silvered, like thousands of little sun spots reflecting off the water.

Which was when I noticed the scales weren't disappearing like they had when Juniper awakened the construct. Instead, it looked as if they were solidifying. Flexing, like they would an actual living snake rather than a simple carved representation.

A tongue flickered from its mouth. I stared at its mouth for a long moment just to make sure I wasn't seeing things and I wasn't sure whether I should be concerned or relieved when I saw it taste the air again. I ended up with a nauseating mix of both.

Its eyes settled from a bright glow to actual slitted eyes that were as blue as the fronds adorning its head. Eyes that moved and took in everything around it. What glowing spots remained on its body faded away and the snake wriggled in a way that felt entirely different from when Juniper had been piloting it.

I couldn't tear my eyes away from the impossibility staring me in the face, but I also couldn't put off the desperate need to know if Juniper was safe any longer. I sent her a whisper on the wind quickly followed by one to Ana. No answer came from Juniper, but I hadn't been expecting one, not really. Not with how deeply she had been sleeping when we left her in the healer's quarters.

Ana took longer to respond but when she did she confirmed that Juniper's mind was where it was supposed to be. She also said that the pearl had completely disappeared into her forehead and had shifted into a mark that looked eerily like a silhouette of the Water Frond Snake's head. Which undercut the relief her first message brought, but I couldn't solve everything all at once.

As I watched the snake twist and pull at the rope holding its head in place, I couldn't help but remember that the Lady Blue was known for transformation. She turned regular fish into monsters that wielded weapons and walked on their fins. Could turn those into further abominations with her blood. The Lady Blue herself was always shifting form from one creature to the next and the story were never clear if that was by choice or punishment. She transformed the landscape by eating away at our shores and devastated other places with her assaults.

Everything she touched she changed and it seemed that a couple drops of crystallized blood and the Water Frond Snake were no different.

I could understand that in my mind, but I was still having trouble accepting that the bone construct had somehow turned into an actual living, breathing snake. I found myself looking for the scorch marks left by the tribesfolk honoring the shrine that had been in its mouth, but couldn't get a good look past its flickering tongue.

The snake tested the ropes holding it in place again and the trees supporting its head groaned. I was about to shout for everyone to let go of the ropes—better to lose that than a section of the walkway—when the Water Frond Snake abruptly shrunk and fell out of its bindings before plunging into the water. It reappeared a moment later, larger again, flinging an enemy fish into the air and catching it one smooth swallow. The fish disappeared down a gullet that hadn't there minutes ago.

I watched as it repeated the maneuver a few more times before it sunk below the water one last time and didn't come up again. At least it still seemed to have its blood lust, or simple hunger, for the fish.

Perhaps the Swirling Waters Tribe had the guardian they'd always wanted without the sacrifice of its members. At the same time, I couldn't forget what had changed the snake in the first place.

It took longer than I would admit for the tribesfolk and me to shake ourselves from our stupor at what we had just witnessed and gather up the rope the snake had kindly not broken. Questions raced through my mind, too quick to answer any of them, as we made our way back to Bramble Watch.

Was Juniper truly safe? Was the Water Frond Snake going to attack anyone or just the fish? How should we factor it into our defenses now that it was a loose, random factor? How was it suddenly an actual animal? What else could the Lady Blue do? Was the Water Frond Snake under the Lady Blue's control or could she take control of it whenever she wanted? On and on and on.

Nothing I was likely to figure out soon or control even if I wanted to. All I could do was accept that the Water Frond Snake had ate a few fish and then disappeared. My mind still tried come up with scenarios where I could find or influence it and have be just as big of an asset as when Juniper had been controlling it.

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I relayed the everything that had happened to Ana as I walked and told her to pass it on to the rest of the whisper women and Tribe Master Toniva. I wasn't ready to speak to Esie and Kaylan again yet, and I liked the guarantee that Ana's messages would reach everyone they were intended for.

Back in Bramble Watch I itched for something to do. Technically, there were plenty of things to do from blood marking trees to repairing equipment to killing fish as they swept past. I could watch Juniper sleep while willing her to wake up in order to get whatever answers she might have about the Water Frond Snake or set out on my own hunt for Ambervale even though Ziek likely had it well in hand. Walking the pathways to check for damage and check in with the various defenders was another option, but I didn't do any of that.

I was reluctant to range too far from Bramble Watch in case I missed Juniper waking up and my nap hadn't completely removed my exhaustion. I knew better than to micromanage the others or double up on their tasks even if it was tempting. The flood waters were still taking care of most of the horde and making it difficult for them to swim back upstream.

The tribesfolk were concentrating their defenses around Bramble Watch and pulling back from their outlying outposts so that as many people as possible could mark the trees. I was hesitant to join them due to what Lithunia had said about "the blood of those who wish to claim it" as I had no wish to be tied to the delta more than I already was.

So I was unexpectedly left to wait. Plenty of things to do and yet nothing that suited my current circumstances. Ana bundled me back into the Tribe Master's sleeping quarters in the command post with a heartfelt promise that she'd come and get me as soon as anything changed. I was supposed to rest and recover so that I'd be fully ready for whatever came next, but compared to how I had fallen asleep without wanting to before, now I couldn't stop my mind from racing from problem to problem, question after question.

I didn't know if the Water Frond Snake transforming was a good thing or not. I didn't know if we would be able to meet all of the Beloved's conditions at the same time. I didn't know how my interactions with Esie and Kaylan would play out going forward or if Juniper would blame me for forcing her out of the Water Frond Snake.

I toyed with the Knife Dancer's Revenge, but taking it now would be a waste. So I slipped it back into a pouch and tried to sleep. Eventually, I drifted off and despite how stressed I'd been I finally felt rested when I woke up.

Only to find Juniper sitting close to the door, knees tucked up to her chest. I jolted and she jerked her head up in surprise which made it easy to see the new mark on her forehead despite the dark. It did look like a miniature version of the Water Frond Snake's head and it was reflective like the snake's scales.

"Ana—" I started to speak and then cut myself off. It was obvious that one or other of them had made the call to let me sleep again.

Juniper looked like she should still have been sleeping as well but couldn't fall back asleep. She kept twitching her head this way and that as if she were hearing whispers on the wind from all directions, but even the boon I had gotten in the spirit's home wasn't allowing me to hear anything—which meant whatever she was reacting to weren't whispers.

"She's coordinating the logistics of marking the trees with my mother. They thought it'd be best for me to get used to…everything away from distractions so they put me in here too," Juniper explained.

I sat up and wiped the last of the sleep from my eyes. "What do you mean? What do you need to get used to?"

"I thought I'd lose my mind to the blood lust. It was all encompassing but then you were there, calling me back." I could tell she was considering how to phrase what she was going to say next. "I'm…glad I didn't succumb completely but it's hard to get used to how empty everything is without that drive. The certainty." She brushed a finger across her new mark. "Not that it's completely quiet. I can still hear Cascade in the back of my mind. Her hunger. The desire to protect her territory. It's just loud enough that I can't sleep."

I blinked. That was…entirely more than I had bargained for. I wasn't sure where to start between Juniper apparently missing the blood lust and hearing things in her mind. I decided to start simple.

"Who's Cascade?"

"The Water Frond Snake." She elaborated after I continued to stare at her, "I named her. It felt right."

Sure. Why not.

I moved on to more important things. "Will your mind get stuck again? If you can hear the snake in your mind?"

Juniper glared at me for a moment before shaking her head. "Cascade. But no, I don't think so. Her mind is her own now."

"And you're fine with that? It doesn't surprise you?"

"I didn't know what to think at first, but…" she shrugged, "it feels normal the longer it goes on. I don't know if it's because I spent so long as the Water Frond Snake or something else but I doubt I could change it if I wanted to."

Words escaped me again. This simple acceptance wasn't what I was used to from Juniper. She worried and silently stressed and refused to budge once she got an idea in her head. I wasn't sure if this was a new development of the later, but I could help but be skeptical of anything related to the Water Frond Snake's transformation. And I couldn't help but think that having a second presence in your head would be worrying despite that.

We lapsed into silence. Juniper didn't seem keen on providing more details and, while part of me wanted to drag every last thing from her, I was having trouble accepting everything she had already said and I got the feeling she wouldn't take criticism of her new circumstances lightly. So I kept my mouth shut and resolved to watch and listen, so that if there was something going on beyond than what met the eye I'd be ready.

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