Force2reckon

  Thankfully, Tharoah provided spare clothes for Toni before they headed back out into the sweltering mangal. Sort of. She brought them down another exit of the Grand Ceils chamber, after grabbing the bags they left in the waiting room. Eventually finding their way to another small chamber recessed into the wall of a branch.

  This one, however, was already occupied.

  A small Leshy, no bigger than Surrender, which looked for all the world like someone drew a face on a flower with a pen, waited there. The bck pattern which formed her face set beneath the big pink rose. Making it look like the rose was hair, or maybe a hat. Either way it was very cute.

  Tharoah spoke with the Leshy briefly in a nguage Temate did not recognize, which caused Surrender’s ears to perk up. Afterwards, the Leshy approached Toni and held two leaves up like hands, a thread stretched between them. It stood there, waiting for… something.

  “Uh… G-go ahead?” Toni replied hesitantly. The small Leshy beamed and got to work. It was strange to watch, Temate had been fitted for suits a few times in his life, a necessity at his size. This was like watching one of the incredibly expensive tailor’s at work. So familiar, but alien because of the creature doing it, and circumstance it was being done in.

  Thread was used to measure width, length, circumference, all over Toni. She giggled quietly at the tickling sensation. After measuring her, the Leshy began to sing. Immediately the brown room bloomed with life, bdes of grass, big leaves, flowers of every color.

  All over the walls and floor they grew, and the Leshy plucked them, and shaped them. Within minutes she finished her work, and held up the clothing to Toni who's mouth dropped open.

  In the Leshy’s hand was a dress, a surprisingly comfortable looking summer dress of overpping green and brown fabric. Small flowers adorned a belt used to cinch the dress close to the waist. The bottom of the dress cascaded downward, flowing asymmetrically further down the left side.

  Toni’s eyes widened as she took the dress, her hands ran softly over the fabric. She looked to the Leshy.

  “It’s so… smooth, like silk but not quite.” Toni gnced at the Leshy and coughed slightly. “Uh, this is amazing but… you wouldn’t happen to be able to make some… underwear too would you?”

  The Leshy stared at her, unblinking. It smiled broadly as it tilted its head to one side. After a few moments Toni asked again and received another long stare. Eventually, she looked to Tharoah who just stared back at her.

  Toni sighed, “Fine, fine it’ll cover me that’s the important part. But I do need a new holster.” She lifted the gun, dangling from her finger. Tharoah grunted and spoke a few words to the Leshy.

  A few minutes ter, a thin band of fabric that looked altogether too fragile to hold the gun, was produced. It looked more like a thigh band then a holster really. Toni frowned but tested it, and seemed satisfied. Strapping it under the shorter portion of her new dress.

  Temate watched closely as the girl dressed, noting her reddening cheeks each time she gnced their way. When she was clothed again he whistled admiringly at her. She turned an even brighter red and threw his poncho back at him.

  “Shut up.” She huffed. Clearly enjoying the admiration despite her response.

  “What, you look hot. Like a fairy, probably a good thing you don’t have underwear to go with it.” Temate smirked as Toni looked at him confused.

  “Wwwwhhhyyyyyyyy?” She asked tentatively.

  “Oh, it’s just… accessibility is important right? Especially with an enticing outfit like that.” Temate’s smile widened as Toni rapidly grasped the implication.

  “I-I… I mean… I did say…” She trailed off.

  “Anywhere. Anytime. Anyway.” Surrender said from beside Temate and the two admired her together. “Very... breedable.” Surrender added after a long, intentional pause.

  “REN!” Toni conjured a small pellet of metal and tossed it at the gremlin. Surrender simply swatted it out of the air with her tail, grinning widely.

  “Come. We are wasting time.” Tharoah announced, closing off further teasing.

  They left the small Leshy behind exiting the main tree of the Grand Ceil. They stepped out into the living sauna of the mangal itself, thankful for the width of the branches with how slick they were. As they followed Tharoah through the twisting maze of branches Temate had a realization, or rather a suspicion.

  The Grand Ceil’s mangal would be better described as The Grand Ceil’s pace. It was the center of Its authority and dominion, and few other Leshy roamed its vastness. Those who did, were colossi of their own, or would be outside of the mangal.

  The colossal Leshy were practically treants, towering to heights above the lowest branches. They were about the same size as the smaller trees which made the bulk of the forest beyond the Grand Ceil's domain. What’s more, they were different then he’d expected.

  For instance, they moved with a disturbing grace that Temate didn’t expect. Based on fantasy movies and novels he expected rigid, quaking steps. Instead, it was more like branches or grass waving in a soft wind. Or like the snaking trail of vines growing down a tree.

  “Hold still. Do not move.” Tharoah commanded suddenly, her hand held up to halt them. They did, though Toni gave her an irritated gnce. Temate thought that was pretty funny, all things considered. Toni had seemed friendly, maybe even interested, in the woman before The Grand Ceil’s test.

  Temate was considering how to tease Toni about Tharoah, when he heard the girl gasp. He looked ahead of them and his eyes widened in surprise. A mass of snakes was slithering along the branch! Temate's bde was half out of it's sheath when a gre from Tharoah stopped him. The mass stopped before Tharoah, a vague face rising up.

  “Aldaward Vinya.” Tharoah nodded. A strange, slurping, sucking sound exhumed from the creature’s face. Tharoah responded in the same nguage she'd used with the flower before. Then the mass nodded, and parted around them. The mass of vines, not snakes, swirled along the branches. After it passed, Temate removed his hand from his machete.

  “What was that?!” Toni whisper-shouted.

  “Oh don’t mind Vinya, Vinya is a gentle spirit.”

  Temate and Toni both whirled back towards Tharoah to see a second rabbit-centaur standing next to her. This one dressed in clothing not too dissimir to what Toni had now. Though obviously designed for her form. Also, partially see through as Temate’s brain noted.

  He tried not to, but it was hard to ignore the way her cream fur seemed to glow in the dim light here. Or how her surprisingly modest chest stretched the fabric. Temate had the sudden realization that his attention was being influenced. A skill of some kind. This one, he didn't particurly mind.

  “Thares.” Tharoah grunted.

  “Helloooo sister, I heard we have guests?” Thares, as that was apparently her name, waved to their group. Temate tried to ignore the way her eyes ran up and down both Toni and himself. “And aren’t they just the strangest guests, humans this far in the Vardenweld. Huh.”

  Toni returned the girl's bright smile. “That’s us, strange humans getting lost in the woods after being whisked away from our world by a silly Spiras.” Toni looked teasingly at Pipuck who actually blushed slightly.

  “Well I didn’ ask you to follow me di’ I?” They grunted.

  Toni, Thares and Surrender all ughed. Thares made to step over to them but Tharoah put her spear out.

  “They’re not just guests, Thares. They’re aides and they’re under my authority. Bother them some other time.” She said.

  Thares ears drooped and she gave Tharoah the widest, saddest eyes she could manage.

  “B-b-b-b-b-but siiiister, I wanna ask them a bunch of stuff, pleeeeeeeeeaaaaase.” Thares whined.

  Tharoah sighed loudly. “Follow us, you can talk to them on the way. Don’t distract them too much please.” She answered after a brief pause.

  Thares' ears sprang up as she hopped and cpped excitedly. She wrapped her arms around her sister, beaming. Tharoah grunted and begrudgingly returned the hug.

  “Oooooh thank you thank you thank you!” A quick few hops ter and Thares was with them.

  “Okay, okay okay, I have soooo many questions, you’re the first humans I’ve met in years and you’re from another realm you said?” Thares opened up, standing right between Toni and Temate.

  “Yes! Thank god someone normal around here, I mean Laurel was alright but-” Toni replied.

  “Oh I know what you mean, he’s such a sweetheart but he really just can not hold a conversation-”

  “I knoooow, I tried to ask him so much stuff, and I wanna ask you stuff, hey you wanna-”

  “Take turns?! Absolutely okay you go first, as apology for whatever the Grand Ceil put you through, okay?”

  “Oh thank you! Hmmm, well okay, first question, why do you guys speak English, but the Leshy who made this dress-”

  “Beautiful dress by the way, I recognize the work, Rosemba does make such beautiful things!”

  “Thaaaank you, and you look amazing yourself by the way, oh that’s another question, why are you all like off-cream white but your sister is like mocha brown but with a white belly?”

  “Oh oh oh, that’s cause we’re not technically sisters, but to your first question, this ‘english’ you speak is just a tongue, the two actually go hand in hand see. My ‘sister’ and I, and trust me she’s a sweetheart-”

  “Uh-huh, I’ll believe that when I see it-”

  “Nooooo really, she’s just… protective, you know how it is.”

  Temate snorted at that, drawing the attention of both girls. He raised one eyebrow at them.

  “Something funny?” They asked, in near perfect unison, then looked back at each other and ughed. Temate snorted again, the two talked a mile a minute every hop and step of their trip.

  For a while their chatter devolved into just compliments, stuff about their world and Toni’s life. It was nice to see, Toni was pretty energetic around him, but this? He hadn’t seen this since they’d come from their realm.

  Honestly, it had been worrying Temate a bit. He knew she wasn’t in the best pce mentally, with the talks they’d had. And he’d been encouraging her as best he could, but he wasn’t the best at endless small talk. Nor were any of their party, really. Surrender preferred to listen, and Pipuck was... still avoiding being too close.

  Temate smiled softly as he watched the two, and for once Toni wasn’t looking back to check for him every minute. Good, she was rexing.

  “So wait, you were just a rabbit once and now you’re… what?”

  “Laegor, that’s what we call ourselves. The Grand Ceil brings life to all the nds around It, and to some creatures he blesses intelligence, and in our case new forms. Ways to allow us to better perform our duties.” Thares beamed proudly.

  “Which are?” Temate interjected on instinct, he couldn't help it, look he's a nerd alright, this was his shit. Thares beamed at him and he felt his own heart jump a little.

  “Depends, in my sister’s case, she’s an Aldaward. Oh-” she turned to Toni. “-and I call her sister because we’re both of the same kind and were Awakened together-” she turned back to Temate to continue. “-The Aldaward are direct protectors of the Aldawood, the area the Grand Ceil’s Life fills.”

  “Hm, and why not just use Leshy for that?” Temate asked.

  “Oh, because they’re fairly gentle souls, most of them. And even those willing to be violent are adverse to it. So they make us.” Thares chirped.

  “That’s…” Temate trailed off in thought. He supposed he saw the point, but awakening and even altering creatures just to fight for them? Hmmm, pretty clever but maybe not so much moral. At least back home people would absolutely lose their shit. He wasn't sure he minded so much, depended on a few things.

  “Do you get a choice in that?” Toni asked, concern written on her face.

  “Oh yes, well yes and no.” Thares shrugged as she answered. “We’re awakened with that intent but some of us, such as myself, aren’t really suited to it.”

  “Oh, and in that case you get to do something else?” Toni questioned her.

  Thares nodded. “Mhmm! Then we get to choose, based on our [Powers]. OH and that’s also why we speak this tongue, when we’re awakened we know every tongue of our awakener. And the Grand Ceil is old and knowledgeable. I don’t know much about the nguage myself though.”

  “It’s the Common tongue of this continent.” Tharoah informed them as they stopped outside an opening into another tree. Much to Temate’s relief this space seemed retively open, except for a small alcove behind a desk.

  “Really?” Thares replied.

  “Yes. That’s why it’s set as our primary, in case of lost wanderers.” Tharoah stated and motioned for them to enter. She stopped Thares as she tried to hop in with them.

  “Not you, you can get back to the Garden’s.” Tharoah pointed a finger off into the distance. “And no, your little pout won’t work this time Thares, this is Warden business.”

  Thares huffed loudly. “Fine, but heeeeey, you two humans come find me when you’re done! I’ll be in the West Garden’s for the next few days with the new sprouts!” She gave them a broad smile and a wave, which Toni emphatically returned.

  “Will do Thares! It was nice meeting yoooooou!”

  And then she was gone.

  “She nice.” Surrender said from Temate’s shoulders, he jumped a bit having forgotten, or maybe not realized, she had made her way there.

  “Yeah, she was great. We should definitely stop by and visit her before we leave.” She looked pleadingly at Temate who smiled and nodded.

  “Of course. She was really helpful too, I’d be more than gd to see what else we can learn from her.”

  “For now. Sit. It’s time to expin your duties.” Tharoah snapped over them. Maybe snap wasn’t the right word, since it wasn’t harsh or even all that command, just… sharp.

  The four found various chairs, well three as Surrender remained on Temate’s head, and sat.

  “First. Let me expin the Rot.” Tharoah announced, crossing her hands as she sat in the small alcove behind the desk. Temate sharpened his focus on her as she began.