Kaelion had already loosened the leather strap across his chest, the small pouches resting against his flank shifting softly as students gathered. Two-legs with wide eyes and louder heartbeats. When another approached [PhoenixRising], voice tentative and hopeful, he angled his head down toward her, dark eyes glinting with something that may have been amusement.

"You may," he said, shortly, extending a pouch toward her. "You were told to collect one." There was a faint huff at the end of it, not quite a laugh, but close enough to be charitable.

Before anyone could linger too long in the glow of novelty, Astol shifted and dug at the earth with a front hood as he turned his gaze toward the thinning light beyond the canopy. His ears flicked, once, toward the horizon. "The sun has dipped below the elder branches," he noted. "It will soon begin to lean now toward paths less patient with wandering feet." His eyes swept over to the human professor [sweetpinkpixie]. "It is time."

As he stepped forward, the intention was unmistakable: we go now.

A faint smile touched Elatha's mouth as she inclined her head. "Stay close," she instructed kindly to those near her. Then she fell naturally to the rear, waiting for the humans to proceed a couple steps in front of her.