The warm drifting air caressed Rion as he stared at the vast northwestern forest with a quiet smile.
All of his new group members had already left and the ones remaining were Dora, Yuura, Tarun and Karhun.
Tarun stepped beside him and watched the forest for a few moments before he asked, "What's got you smiling like that?"
Rion pointed his finger towards the forest and replied, "Unlike anything that I see or feel, nature doesn't force itself to be beautiful or ugly, harsh or soft..."
He turned his head towards Tarun and asked, "Yet, I only see its beauty. Why?"
Tarun turned to him and simply stared into his smiling eyes. He didn't know whether Rion was asking him — or himself.
He didn't even know if it was a question at all.
It could just as easily have been a statement.
Or perhaps… the answer.
A few moments later, he spoke, "I don't know. Maybe being able to ignore the ugly is what makes you so different from us?"
