• Closed • Seek and Ye Shall Find (Rorom, Maios, Pepper, Nauta)

[Oracle]

Nauta

Nauta bravely defended the group from the wolves. The beasts snarled and fought with a desperation that could only come from immense starvation. They bit and snapped at the Aukari. Thankfully the man was well armored and prepared for a dangerous foray into the woods. However, placing his arm in the mouth of an attacking wolf proved to be a desperate and ill-conceived decision. Thankfully his thick plate protected him from any flesh wounds but the bite strength of a wolf is nothing to turn your nose up at. Deep purple bruises would soon form over the next break and would take a couple trials to heal on his arm. All in all it was not as terrible as it could have been if he had not been so well protected. Still, his bravery was noticed by the group, and Spren most of all. The Tunawa would remember him as a warrior.

Pepper

Pepper knew she had seen something, but she wasn’t sure quite what it was. However she knew in her heart that it was something familiar, something that she had seen before in the past. The feeling wouldn’t leave her. It was the sensation that came from a parent being nearby; you knew the cadence of their footfalls and the sound of their voice without ever seeing their face. Whatever had saved them had saved her before, perhaps as a young child during her early excursions into Mistral Wood. Her fairy Miret would also be affected by the memory wipe, but she could remember a bit more than the others, perhaps due to her magical nature. She would remember that a large creature had saved them before vanishing, something with wings, but would be able to recall nothing else.
The feather tied into Pepper’s hair tugged toward the stream, as if in agreement with her decision to follow it. Water always led you somewhere interesting after all.

Spren dashed back toward the young girl and climbed back onto her shoulder. He was a little thing, and having Pepper carry him was far preferable to the option of running along behind them.

“The girl is right I think.” He said in his squeaky tunawa voice. “The water leads to the deepest parts of the Wood. We might just find what we are looking for there.

As the group passed through the warped opening in the trees, the trunks would straighten back into shape behind them, sealing off their previous path. Evidently they were on the right track.

After following the gurgling, crystal clear stream for a quarter of a break Pepper and Nauta would arrive where the stream dropped down into a beautiful waterfall. It was about fifteen or twenty feet in height, meaning that they would need to climb down the rocky face of the cliff if they were to continue. There were plenty of ledges and footholds to use, so they could indeed continue to their destination.

Exquisite and beautiful flowers grew along the ledges of the cliff side. Many were glorious lilies with delicate petals that were a deep violet color, much like stormflowers. However at the center of the flower near the stamen there was a soft glow produced by its natural bio-luminescence. Dozens of them lined the wall. However there were also a fewer number of a beautiful blood red flower. It also glowed faintly, appearing much like a tiny maroon rose with the glow of fire radiating within. This blossom was attached to a thorny vine that crisscrossed the cliff face. They would need to be mindful of the tiny dagger-like thorns during their decent.

“Strange.” Spren remarked. “Pretty flowers though. I’ve never seen them growing anywhere else in the Wood. " It was only an idle comment and nothing more. Perhaps the flowers would be useful or perhaps they were simply pretty. Only time would tell.

!

Message from: Oracle

Impacts Negative Nauta has been heavily bruised, but this injury should heal within two to three trials without medical aid. Positive Pepper: You have gained the title of Navigator! The local tunawa will remember you by this name. There will be an extra reward at the end. Nauta: You have earned the title of Warrior!The local tunawa will remember you by this name. There will be an extra reward at the end!. Notes: Maios, if you want to join back in, please feel free to do so. PM me before you do please If anyone of you have any questions please feel free to PM me. I will post again on 5/21/2018 My posting is delayed because I will be out of town next week for work. Also feel free to use the picture in my post template as a guide for the current scene. It's what I based it on.

[Nauta F'mos Geey]

The girl at least was now better protected but was she really? Nauta thought he was and that was only because he was taught good armour would deal with most things; the reason he decided it was not the worst of ideas for him to slow down the wolves but there was that flaw with the idea. Faldrun's, and by extension Sirothelle's enemies were at all times mortals and immortals. Beasts? They were a problem for the less important jobs of the city, like hunters, poor fools unfortunate enough to end up there. Hopefully the next time he was exposed to yet another flaw of his tools, it would be a lot less painful.

Though pain was still preferable to the loss of an entire limb and the pain to his arm did not impede him as the group headed deeper into the woods. He only needed legs, his arm and its pain something only to be complained about. The fact he did not have to make any decisions as the feather was in the possession of Pepper made it easy for him to fixate on the pain- not easy on the rest of his companions peace of mind though. Other than the one time he witnessed the strange scene of bent trees straightening themselves, Nauta eventually calmed down like the walk along the stream... maybe too calm...

Perhaps the unnatural calm of his surroundings was just an omen for yet another wild beast attack brought upon them by the woods?

Or not as the atmosphere continued until the end, the drop down the waterfall. A more hopeful person may see it's beauty as the waterfall was accompanied by an arrangement of many flowers but the aukari learned in many crafts which dealt with various materials and substances was more wary of their discovery. The tunawa's inability to determine if any of the plants were poisonous was disappointing as Nauta believed it should be as easy for Spren as it was for Niv; the scout only had to taste the plants to figure out if they were dangerous but he should have foreseen the tunawa's inability to assist them. After all by Spren's own admission, he did not even know a pack of hungry wolves were bad for fleshy mortals.

Which meant the group would have to accept whatever assistance the tunawa could provide, "anything you know about the plants..." and at the tunawa's admission his expertise lay in his position as chief scout of the Fenvani, Nauta asked if at least, "you go down scout. See if bad things waiting?" Meanwhile he would suggest for the rest of the group to take the opportunity to rest. While the aukari did need the rest to prepare his crushed arm for the strain in their coming descent, the alchemist also wanted a chance to work with the new plants.

With limited time and tools, his work was limited to collecting some samples. A few of each of the plants they found if time permitted him. The only other thing the poisoner kept in mind was the idea among the old bags where possibly poisonous plants were concerned, to assume anything bright and striking to be poisonous until proven otherwise; which made him more careful with the bright glowy and bright red flowers as he collected them. The gloves as they say, were on. Well the saying was off but the poisoner needed them to work safely . Even if it would take Nauta more time, it was a lot more preferable to the alternative of yet another troublesome injury during their expedition.

Hopefully by that time Spren would give the group a favorable report to proceed with their climb despite the problematic plants. After a go with the pipe which the aukari waved around like an idiot, he figured once it close enough, any plant would just... wither and die. Curious. However it was not like he could use it in his own climb down. Spren, Pepper, the other two... whoever. Nauta would hold the rope for them from the top while they descended but for one of them, "you need to use stick to kill plants. So it don't poke you and make you fall" for the thorned flowers at least.

He would follow then down eventually, but hopefully without needing to use his injured arm and risk a fall down.

[Pepper]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/x60qFy2.jpg[/img]

70 of Ashan, 718
Mistral Woods
Stormlands, Rharne

Pepper was a bit taken aback when Nauta made her wear his armour. She didn't understand the bit about monsters not seeing her either, though running away as hard as she could in case they came across even more monsters was a very sound idea indeed. She was beginning to get a feel for the red haired man, he was, like he had said earlier not from hereabouts. He spoke in short forceful phrases, which may have sounded abrupt, but every action he had taken till this point had been aimed at protecting the group, and Pepper in particular. So she was beginning to trust the man, Thank you, she smiled at him, But will you be all right without the armour? And then he handed her two of his throwing daggers too. Pepper wasn't sure she'd do any good with them, but they just may make the tiniest bit of difference where it mattered. So she nodded to Nauta's instruction to poke not cut and gingerly took them. For a few trills she just stared at them, where should these go again? She ended up tucking them at her waist, a little to the left. I hope I don't end poking a hole in my own stomach with these..

The feather, Spren, all were in agreement with the decision to follow the stream downstream and so the party set off. Pepper looked back once to see that the path they had taken to here, had closed up as well. The woods were certainly showing themselves to be a lot more alive than they usually did, yet strangely Pepper did not feel as worried and afraid as she had earlier. She almost felt like someone benevolent was watching over them.

They followed the stream for about fifteen or twenty bits, and saw that the stream descended in a waterfall. Carefully making sure of her footing, Pepper peered over the edge and saw that the whole rock face, and even the place they stood was covered with greenery and flowers. The descent didn't look impossible, there did seem to be many ledges and handholds, but she'd still need to be very careful. She noted the beautiful flowers in violet and red, and that she hadn't seen them before. Yet her mind hadn't immediately jumped to thoughts of whether they were poisonous, and Nauta's query about the same to Spren made her realise they very well could be.

Nauta was certainly more prepared for this little jaunt than herself, a rope, a knife, these ought to have been obvious things to bring along. As Nauta asked Spren to scout the way down, she also asked something similar from Miret Miret could you also go along, see if you notice anything odd.. Or maybe any openings.. Also could you keep an eye on what would be a good place to attempt descending? Miret agreed and flitted off down the waterfall.

Not being chased and having some time to just breathe had done a lot to restore her calm. She watched with interest as Nauta carefully plucked some flowers of both kinds. Can I help? She'd noticed him being careful of his arm, it seemed he'd been injured fending off the wolves. I'll see if I can make out an easier way to descend so we don't need to put all our weight on the rope if possible.. She moved to a ledge to the side which jutted out a bit and afforded some view of the descent. Miret? Any luck? She called mentally.

When Nauta explained what the pipe did, Pepper understood why Spren had said the woods didn't like it. That's why the wood doesn't like it.. It kills off plants to make the path instead of moving them about like the wood would prefer.. She hummed a bit thinking, then offered I'm the lightest, should I go first if Spren okays everything? I would need to take off the armour though, I'm not used to it's weight and it might throw my balance off.. I ought to be able to test the ledges etc somewhat and see if we can find a relatively thorn free path.. She looked groundwards, hoping to see Spren flying back. Given that the woods has helped us till now, I suspect we would be better off avoiding ticking it off at this stage, who knows where we'd end up next otherwise..

[Oracle]

It was a beautiful place, perhaps if their situation was less dire the group would have had the opportunity to enjoy the scenery. Spren surveyed the cascading falls with a smile before giving Nauta a shrug.

“Don’t know much about flowers, but in my opinion…red is normally bad, yes?” The tiny tunawa said while glancing a little nervously at Nauta’s hair. It might have been rather funny to hear a Tunawa saying something like that to an Aukari, but the meaning was lost on Spren as he immediately turned back toward the cascading water, lost in thought.

Spren really was quite terrible with botany, unlike his more esteemed peers. However, the tunawa was a rather good scout so he nodded in agreement with Nauta’s suggestion of him checking ahead for them. Spren disappeared over the lip of the cliff, climbing down with ease before disappearing into a small crevice to investigate for any signs of danger.

The Aukari took several samples of the strange flowers, at least two of each to add to his collection. The glow at the center of the flowers remained radiant even after being plucked from the vine, suggesting some source of bioluminescence that was inherent in the blooms themselves.

Up ahead, Pepper’s fairy companion Miret had flown down to the bottom of the waterfall where there was a deep blue pool that flowed into a rocky ravine. There was barely any space to walk on either shore, but they could indeed traverse it. Granted they would likely get a little wet, at least the water was only ankle deep in the shallows of the shoreline.

The ravine went on for at least thirty yards before seeming to flow into a small lake. The lake itself lay in a massive, open field surrounded on all sides by Mistral Wood. Stormflowers grew in lovely purple bunches and everything seemed rather idyllic, and far less oppressive than their trek had been so far. In the distance, on the opposite shore of the lake was a sillioutte that Miret would not be quite able to make out. Looking at the shadowy figure will send waves of dizziness through the fairy, making her flight back to Pepper much slower than it otherwise would have been. Any mental communications between them while Miret is looking at the silhouette will be fuzzy and difficult to hear.

While the fairy was inspecting the path ahead Spren finally popped his head out of a crack at the bottom of the cliff side.

“Everthing is clear…though there is a fairly perturbed family of moles that I ran into and they were not very pleased when I ran into them.” He said while chuckling to himself, seemingly amused with himself.
“Come on down when you can fleshy mortals!”

!

Message from: Oracle

Impacts Negative Mirethas somehow become disoriented while scouting ahead. Any mental communications will be difficult to decipher for a couple bits, and the fairy will have trouble returning to Pepper since her sense of direction has been affected. Positive Pepper: You have earned the achievement wise pacifist for choosing to not use the pipe as to avoid angering the woods further. There will be an extra reward at the end. Nauta: You have earned the achievement clever botanist for taking samples of the strange glowing flowers. They may be of use in the future! There will be an extra reward at the end. Notes: Maios, if you want to join back in, please feel free to do so. PM me before you do please If anyone of you have any questions please feel free to PM me. I will post again on 5/31/2018

[Pepper]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/x60qFy2.jpg[/img]

70 of Ashan, 718
Mistral Woods, Rharne

Spren returned to say everything was clear, and Nauta had agreed with Pepper's descent plans, so Pepper removed the armour Nauta had provided and tied it all into one bundle that'd be easy to let down, along with her knapsack. It was strange that Miret was taking so long, and that she wasn't responding to mental calls, but Pepper could still feel the sense of the diri in her mind, and so she wasn't too worried. The pipe she stuck in her pant pocket, even though she did not plan to use it, if the way became possible, it'd be better to risk using it than fall from being unable to hold on to anything. She adjusted the two daggers at her waist, making sure they wouldn't poke her as she bent or stretched. Finally she unlaced her shoes and hung them from their laces about her neck. She knew from experience that bare feet provided better feedback about the suitability of a foothold, and also a slightly better grip.

Nauta helped her figure out how to hold the rope on the way down for added security, but never having used a rope before, Pepper was inclined to treat the whole exercise with utmost caution. After a good long look she went over the edge, aiming for easy to reach ledges, and using all available handholds. She moved slowly, and many times wished that Miret had been hovering nearby. The diri's ability to spot her, and visually give directions routes to take when she couldn't see much would have helped a lot. However the descent wasn't too bad, and thankfully she hadn't needed to use either the pipe or the daggers to clear any vegetation.

About fifteen or twenty bits later, Pepper stood at the bottom. She got out of the makeshift harness and called up to Nauta. All right! I'm down. It's not too bad here. There's a pool but the edges are quite shallow. You should be able to fare better since you are taller and stronger..

Nauta lowered all their gear via the rope next, and Pepper separated it out while the rest of the party made their own descent, calling out directions about which way to go next if anyone seemed stuck. Some time later, everyone was down, they had donned their gear again and were walking down the ravine.

The ravine's end was coming up now, and the stream ran into a fairly wide lake amid a wide open field, once it was no longer confined by the ravine. This was a much prettier place, with masses of stormflowers around the edges of the lake. Perhaps Miret was investgating the far side of the lake? Miret? pepper called and hurried ahead, and then she noticed a shadowy figure on the far banks of the lake.

[Nauta F'mos Geey]

The armour given to the girl was lighter than his but if she believed it may interfere with her descent, Nauta was not going to stop her. They were far from civilization if they were to consider the strange woods as a completely separate... realm and an injury worse than one the wolf gave him was something the group needed to avoid. Even the small things became troublesome especially where accuracy were concerned. He may have to chance the woods on his own once he recovered if the scant samples he collected proved promising later on. However time was not on their side and aukari did not wish to dally.

Though there was still time for one delay which he thought was necessary especially if Pepper used the armour he lent her well. Not a good idea to lose sight of the girl in the woods or lose sight of his specially made armour. For a time he briefed the girl on its used and asked her if she was sure if she wanted to remove it because it should not interfere with her climb down. It was not really concern because it was he needed. Time. With the girl right in front of him throughout, the distraction of the woods did not even mean much as Nauta was able to tap into her Frequency. With her, he was not surprised with the sort of notes the girl had but for his needs the less she had the better. It was a lot quicker than he expected for him to memorize it and let her go on her way.

Unaware of their lost tiny member, Spren's return with his report was all Nauta needed and if the family of moles was all they had to be concerned with they should not have an issue unless... "they not moles which eat fleshy mortals, Spren?" That said as the tunawa was not even aware the wolves were dangerous, the aukari was not as confident of the scout's knowledge in that matter. The only thing important to be asked then was for the scout to "keep eye out for anything else!" as he helped to send down the first person... then the second... and then finally the third. Even if the damage to his arm was not as bad as it felt, the bruise still felt like hell. The strain of pulling the rope while the others got down made it even more so.

Fortunately by the time Maios had to descend and leave the aukari to support the man down on his own, Nauta figured he could use one of the many trees to anchor the rope and him to support their efforts. It left Nauta's arm a lot less aggravated and yet, it was still not enough for him to be confident in his own descent. Maybe he should follow the girl's lead and remove his cumbersome armour; it would weigh less on him and not obstruct him as he had to work his way around the handholds but no, he was alone and if anything got the jump on him while he was vulnerable there would be nothing to protect himself.

He considered his other options but to use that again in such a wide space full of obstructions would be complicated. The final option then. Though his new appendage still hurt, a bat only needed to make use of the wind for most of the work to carry him along. It was his descent, tricky because of his reluctance to beat it would hurt enough to crash, was a spiral down as he had to get himself out of the wind's current. This allowed him get a feel of the group's surroundings, both what he could see and what he could not through the non leafy sounds which bounced back to him. Round and round he went and though it was wide from the group that he could barely see them; he knew where they were from Pepper's Frequency at the center of his flight.

In a few bits, Nauta landed in a place he thought was safe after his airborne reconnaissance. Not that close to group as he wanted to be where they would have to reach if they wanted to follow after he suggested "I think we should go this way," which should get them to notice him if they were still looking up to the cliff in anticipation of him.

[Oracle]

Pepper The crimson and violet flowers pulsed faintly with radiance as Pepper made her way down the cliffside. There was a strangeness to the bioluminescence that they produced , something haunting yet comforting. The violet flowers emitted a coolness that permeated the air around them, while the red flowers exuded warmth.

About half way down the rope there was a strange humming that came from one of the crevices within the cliff face, near to Pepper. It was like a gentle lullaby being sung, in a lovely female voice. The singing was not loud enough to alert anyone other than Pepper, as it seemed to be for her and her alone to hear.

“Daughter of the Forest.” A soothing feminine voice said gently as a tiny female Tunawa, resplendent in purple flowers stepped from the dark depths of the cliff face, to stand level with where Pepper was hanging on the rope. The Tunawa was smaller than Spren, but bore a wisdom in her deep blue eyes that was undeniable. She wore a long dress made from violets and an lovely indigo irises bloomed from her temples to create the illusion of a cascade of hair.

“You, who seek the Path of Peace, take this, you will need it.” She reached up to pluck one of the glowing purple flowers from the cliff side and offered the bloom to Pepper. “It will heal all hurts if imbibed with water, and mend the heart of this Wood.”
The Tunawa smiled in a motherly way at the young girl.

“Do not share this gift with the Warrior, he will squander it child.”

Before Pepper could ask any questions, the vibrant purple Tunawa vanished back into the depths of the crevice.
It was as if she had never been there at all.

Had she really been a Tunawa, or something else altogether?
Nauta Spren chuckled in delight from the bottom of the cliff at Nauta’s quip about the moles and whether they enjoyed eating fleshly mortals. At least the red headed warrior seemed to have a sense of humor.

Nauta made use of his transformation stone to become a bat so he could safely descend to the bottom of the cliff side once Pepper had made it down. Using her Frequency as a compass to guide him, the Attuner was able to keep his bearings well enough to fly down. Just as Nauta made it to the base of the cliff and transformed back into his original form his attention would be grabbed by a scarlet glow coming from a crack in the base of the cliff.

Pepper was still descending from her rope, so she would likely notice none of this.

It seemed to draw him in like the warmth of a fire on a chilly night. There out of the crevice an ebony skinned Tunawa male stepped out, his body covered in umber and crimson moss to form an elegant tunic of sorts. Bright, almost eerie amber eyes surveyed the Aukari carefully before reaching up to pluck one of the red glowing flowers from nearby and offering it to Nauta.

“Take this Son of Battle, and end the oppression that has been plaguing this forest for so long.” The Tunawa nodded firmly at the Aukari. “Do not tell the child of this, she is weak hearted and will refuse to do what must be done. Burn this flower in the presence of those who have enslaved the Wood to their will and they shall be no more.”

The amber eyed Tunawa vanished into the darkness of the crevice, leaving the red glowing flower behind for Nauta. Something about the creature was odd…and he certainly had none of Spren’s silliness.

Had the creature even been a Tunawa at all?
Everyone Nauta and Pepper made their choices, either taking the gifts or leaving them before pushing through the ravine and into the wide open area just beyond that Miret had seen. The fairy finally rejoined Pepper, complaining of dizziness before pointing wildly toward the silhouette in the distance.

As soon as their eyes settled on the shape on the other side of the water, their memories would be restored from their encounter earlier when they had been saved from the wolves by a mysterious creature. It was as if those recollections had been hidden behind a door, and seeing the same creature again had provided the key to free them.

There in the distance stood a magnificent winged Eldwyn, resplendent in hues of orange and black. It matched the coloration of a monarch butterfly although it looked more like a beast than an insect. It was the same creature they had encountered earlier.

Beside it, on the shore of the small lake was the collapsed shape of another of its species. This Eldwyn was teal with bright stripes of blue and purple marking its silken fur.

“The guardian!” cried Spren exuberantly. “But what’s wrong with the other one?”

The other Eldwyn was lying on its side next to its companion, it’s breathing labored and difficult. On the side of the creature was an ugly flesh wound, roughly two and a half feet long. It was perhaps several trials old, but it had begun to fester and become infected. Near by the wound was a hunter’s crossbow bolt buried in the haunch of the Eldwyn, clearly indicating that men were responsible for the creature’s horrid state.

It was dying, and the other Eldwyn was mourning beside it, helpless to save it's mate.

!

Message from: Oracle

Be aware, your actions from here on out will greatly impact the future of Mistral Wood and Mistral Village. Make your choices, and feel free to pm me with questions. Impacts Negative Positive Unknown Pepper: You have been presented with a gift. You may choose to use it in the future. Nauta: You have been presented with gift. You may choose to use it in the future. Notes: Please pm me if you have any questions. I will post again on 6/12/2018

[Nauta F'mos Geey]

The shiny was of course something which would have gotten Nauta's attention although that was probably not the sound he heard. That was the same with the dark tunawa which appeared from inside the crack. The aukari did not think anything Idalos-born would feel anything like it and perhaps what he heard was something which the tunawa used to bait him into that spot. It definitely did not appear to have been anything like chance, as if the tunawa had been in wait to waylay the aukari. While Nauta was skeptical, he nonetheless took the red flower from the tunawa; at least now Spren's suspicions of the plant was confirmed. Before he could ask about anything else however, the tunawa disappeared. Nauta peeked into the crack for anything else of interest before he left.

He would have to get his answers from Spren then. After he returned to the group he immediately asked the scout of the other Fenwani tunawa, of those which may be around the forest or hidden to give them support should the chief scout and the group he led passed them and, of black amber eyed tunawas with mossy garbs to match in their community. "Just curious about your people, that's all" the aukari added before he checked with the rest of the group to make sure none of them had been afflicted by the poisonous flowers. Maybe there were some questions of how he reached the bottom quickly enough that no one even expected him down so soon but Nauta merely brushed it off with an idea he found an easier climb as he looked on from above.

There was nothing more to be said on that subject for as long the aukari wanted to maintain the mystery behind his methods. He was unsure of the tunawa but children and brutes belonging to one of Rharne's many waterholes were not the types he was confident to leave his own secrets with.

And of course, there was the guardian. It was only because his memories of the group's encounter were restored that the aukari was not as wary of the giant beast. Unfamiliar with the other of brighter colours as it was not with them during the chase for obvious reasons however, Nauta chose not to approach yet in case he may be mistaken as a party to those responsible for the arrow he spied. Curiously as the aukari watched the creatures only distinguishable by their colours, he felt the giant he was indebted to was cut from the same cloth the tunawa he previously met if nothing else but through the tint they shared.

The similarity was inadequate for Nauta to carry out the tunawa's request. Had it been truly the will of his saviour, he wondered why the creature did not go through the deed with the other weakened. Perhaps sentiment held it back but with no indication of its true desires, the alchemist saw no reason to use the bomb he specially prepared for the 'maybe' oppressor. With the tunawa's straightforward instruction, it was not hard for Nauta to guess the nature of the poison and then, to dry the surface of the red glowing flower and stuff it into one of his many bombs. Fire was plentiful for the redhead to exploit in his weapons but at the end of the trial, he was reluctant to use it as he was not going to be anyone's borrowed knife.

Pepper was asked if she could go on ahead to check on the other guardian as Nauta believed the resident of Mistral would be more invested in their protectors' wellbeing. On the other hand he remained with Spren for a few questions to be sure of the target. They were only as simple as getting to know how sure Spren was that these creatures were his guardians since the tunawa seemed unsure of the dark one earlier and, if he had seen the giants doing anything 'guardianny' before. The stories and Spren's accounts of the forest protecting the tunawa colony and the lost children of Mistral were enough for Nauta to finally follow the girl in her attempts to heal the wounded beast.

Though by Nauta's own admission, "I useless here" and as he did not know where to begin, "we better off going back to village for a healer" even if anyone open to healing the creatures which may have been responsible for the recent disappearances was a toss up. At least for the most important thing, "the arrow has to go" and he only had one tool which could help as he drew a stone dagger from his bag. Not a trained surgeon by any means, he would of course risk a lot of errors in the act but the dagger should minimize them- if the guardians would allow him to use it that it. He slowly pulled on the arrow and then pressed the dagger by it to see if they would not be trampled by the giant. With no hostile opposition, he could continue.

If there was a risk of an attack however, the aukari was fully prepared to make a run for it with the girl forcefully carried along with him if need be. Should the creatures persist in pursuit, the bomb would have to come out for his own protection which would be a pity for the giant whether or not it was his benefactor.

With the arrow as the point he needed to cut out, Nauta dug the dagger in deep at its side as he laboriously went around it. Perhaps there were some important bits he cut into but the guardian was almost dead anyway and he forced himself to continue even if Pepper was alarmed by the act, the quicker he completed the job the better it was for anyone and there was no reason for himself to be delayed. Once the arrow was loose enough to be pulled, he pulled it out and cast it aside like some taint. To think that was the source of all the problems of late... The wound he had made already begun to heal over, though it would be no good to any damage other than the one he had made to remove the arrow. There was but one thing left to do.

"I've done all I can. If got nothing else, we go back get someone else" he told the rest before he moved aside to give them the chance to work if they had anything they could do for the hapless creature.

[Pepper]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/x60qFy2.jpg[/img]

70 of Ashan, 718
Mistral Woods
Stormlands, Rharne

Pepper was curious about the humming and singing that was faintly audible to her as she neared a crack in the cliff face. Spren hadn't mentioned anything, but when a female tunawa emerged, she thought perhaps Spren hadn't realised the presence of other tunawa would be of interest to the humans. She was pretty, and all in shades of violet and indigo, and her voice was peaceful and musical. Upon being addressed by her, Pepper could only listen quietly, and she accepted the purple flower from the tunawa,. If the purple flowers were truly capable of healing all hurts, they were very valuable indeed. It was also quite likely that the red flowers had a power of their own. The admonishment to not tell Nauta about these didn't sit well with her, but she would wait and see. The flower she first thought of putting in her pants pocket, but it would be crushed, and she didn't know if that would affect its power. So she ended up weaving the thankfully long stem into a buttonhole. Perhaps it would be taken as simple girlish vanity by others?

Pepper dipped her head at the tunawa in a gesture of respect, but just as she was about to ask about the red flowers, the tunawa disappeared into the foliage. Shrugging mentally, Pepper continued down, and was soon waiting with Spren for the rest of their party to arrive.

Nauta joined them surprisingly soon, and when asked how, he said he'd found an easier way down. That was a bit suspicious, but perhaps it was a complicated answer and he just didn't feel like going into the details. The purple tunawa's talk about the warrior, which could only have meant Nauta, coupled with the evasion made her decide she wouldn't say anything about the tunawa. Nauta then checked if any of them had been poisoned or harmed by the red flowers and she had the suspicion that perhaps he had had a meeting with his own tunawa as well. However, clearly enough, their encounter hadn't gone that well.

Once everyone was all geared up again, they crossed the ravine and entered the wider area beyond. Miret joined her when Pepper called for her, complaining of dizziness. Abruptly stopping with the complaints Never mind that, look there! She pointed out the creatures to Pepper, and the others had surely noticed them by now as well. As Pepper saw them, her earlier memory of the encounter where they had been saved from the wolves was restored.

Pepper thought the monarch coloured one was the same as they had met earlier, but the injured one was someone new. Spren's comment seemed to bear her assumption as well. She walked a few steps further and peered at the teal and purple guardian in an attempt to make out what was wrong. Oh... It's wounded.. It has been shot by a crossbow.. Pepper's voice held an appalled horror and she moved a few steps nearer with the unconscious desire to help. Sense reasserted itself however. Approaching an injured creature was dangerous. Either it or its companion could retaliate if they thought they were going to be harmed further.

Pepper however recalled that they had practically been led here, if the opening of paths had been a deliberate decision on the part of the orange guardian. Perhaps the guardian hoped they could do something to help.. The purple flower had been entrusted to her for healing the wounded creature, things made sense.

You all better stay back a bit She called to the others of her party, making a waiting gestue for emphasis. Let me see if I can approach first.. Almost all her attention was concentrated on the pair in front of her, and she trusted Miret would let her know if the others had anything important she needed to pay attention to.

With hands demonstrably empty, and held away from her body, she stepped towards the pair, taking care to not make any sudden moves. She'd heard somewhere that wild creatures didn't like meeting eyes directly, and though she believed these were intelligent, they were also wild. So erring on the side of caution, she kept her eyes slightly averted as well. She wasn't challenged, the wounded creature, perhaps female, was clearly too much in pain. The wound looked red and infected. The other also stayed still, though she knew he was watching her keenly for any threat.

It's okay to approach I think She called out, not too loud.. to the group behind her. "The arrow has to go" Nauta's comment reached her as he neared her, she nodded. That was good thinking. She moved back a little, addressing the pair in a low voice, It's okay, it'll be fine. He's going to remove the arrow first. Then we'll do something about the wound too.. A hand touched the flower for reassurance as Nauta began to cut away at the flesh near the arrow with a stone dagger. She pressed a hand to the flank of the creature, hoping to send calm. The cut must hurt, but there was no other option this far from any trained healer. Hopefully the flower would also take care of any additional damage getting the arrow out would do. Even so, Pepper was glad it wasn't her who needed to do that grim job. She wasn't queasy, no girl past her first blood could afford to be squeamish about blood. But it certainly wasn't a pleasant sight.

As Nauta pulled out the arrow finally, she said I think I can help with the wounds, I need some water and something the creature can drink from.. She hoped Nauta would be able to figure something out. As Nauta moved back to give her room to work, she took her waterskin from her waist, unstoppered it, and carefully dropped the healing flower in. Stoppering it again she gave a few gentle shakes, hoping this would be enough and wondered if the creature would be able to drink directly from the waterskin, if they couldn't find a larger vessel. In any case, if Nauta or any others could find something the creature could lap water from, she'd add the water from her wineskin to it, if not she'd try having the creature drink directly from the waterskin itself. She found herself praying the female tunawa had spoken true and that the creature would be healed. Clearly, the health of guardians was closely entwined with the mood, and health of the Mistral Woods.

[Oracle]

Spren looked at Nauta quizzically when we began asking him about the other Fenvani Tunawa. “Some live by themselves, but very few come to this part of the Wood. Most of us live in the colony. Never heard of any one that looks like that though.” And that was that, the little Tunawa scout continued forward until they arrived in the vast open field with the lake.

Pepper and Nauta both agreed to help the wounded Eldwyn whilst it’s amber hued companion watched silently. The Aukari approached close enough to get a good look at the wound along with the arrow lodged in the haunch of the blue beast. Spren hesitantly moved closer as well, hovering nervously behind Nauta’s left leg as they approached.

“You’re right, the arrow needs to go.” The Tunawa said in agreement with a jittery nod. “It will just fester if it’s left in, but…but we need something to clean out the wounds. “

The Eldwyn they had run into before watched silently off to the right, her beautiful golden eyes stared intently at Nauta and Pepper. There was wisdom in those mysterious eyes that hinted at an unspoken intelligence. It was clear from its calm expression that the beast knew why they were there and that they meant no harm. The eyes paused for a moment, starring at Nauta as if deeply understanding the choice he had made in deciding to heal rather than hurt.

Pepper took the lead and slowly approached closer to the two creatures. The one with the silken blue and green fur with the wounds decorating it’s side met her gaze with exhausted violet eyes. There was a plea exchanged silently between them, silently beseeching Pepper for whatever help she could give. There was also a flicker of recognition as if this wounded Eldwyn had known Pepper in the past. If these were indeed the guardians of Mistral Wood then perhaps this creature had spied her wandering this forest in the past when she was a child. Regardless of such things, the Eldwyn needed help, and quickly.

Pepper approached with her hands held up passively but the blue and green beast stayed perfectly still, as if being utterly aware of her intentions. Once she had ensured that the beasts would not react aggressively, she told the others that they could also approach. The young woman did her best to communicate Nauta’s intentions to cut out the arrow. The amber and black Eldwyn lowered its head before reaching its long neck out to touch its nose gently to Pepper’s forehead. She would feel a light tingle of air and silky fur before the beast pulled away, apparently this was it’s way of granting permission to them to remove the arrow from its companion.

Nauta set to work, gently pressing the blade against the offending flesh before putting pressure on the hilt to break the skin.
At that moment the wounded blue Eldwyn reacted, it’s entire body tensing with pain just before releasing a terrifying screeching call that echoed across the treetops. In the distance, to the south one could possibly see the canopy shifting and writing in response to the sound it had made. Somehow these creatures were linked to the Wood, and their voices could breathe life into the trees themselves, causing them to shift and move, normally according to the whims of the Eldwyn. But this creature was in extreme pain as a result of the arrow being removed, so there was no telling what sort of things were happening within the southern part of Mistral Wood because of its bone chilling call.

Pepper touched the side of the wounded creature, trying to calm the poor thing. The Eldwyn shuddered before it sighed with exhaustion. The young woman could see from this angle at the creature was emaciated and starving from trials of being wounded and unable to feed. Likely, its companion or mate had sent the woodland into chaos whilst trying to get help for the injured creature.

Perhaps all this chaos, the kidnappings the shifting Wood were simply because a foolish group of hunters had tried to kill the poor Eldwyn and its mate had gone into a fury. Sadly they might never know the entire story, but at least they were trying their best to repair the damage that had been done.
As the arrow came free, Pepper mixed the flower with the water in her waterskin. The flower almost immediately dissolved in the liquid and the purple radiance spilled into the water itself.

The blue Eldwyn was finally recovering from the pain of the arrow being removed and seemed to innately understand Pepper’s intentions. The beast wearily lifted its elegant horned head and gently took a delicate drink from the proffered waterskin.

A bright indigo glow could be seen radiating within the Eldwyn’s throat before dissipating within its body.

For a moment nothing seemed to happen. The golden eyed Eldwyn worriedly moved closer to its mate, sniffing him gently before looking with concerned eyes at Pepper and Nauta. The other Eldwyn grew terribly still, its breath coming in shallow gasps while blood leaked from the flesh where the arrow had been removed.

Everyone stood there with bated breath for several trills as the creature continued to struggle to breath.

Slowly the gaping festering wound along the Eldwyn’s ribs began to lose its discoloration and turn to a healthy fleshy pink. Eventually the skin began to knit together before sealing completely, leaving a notable scar behind. The puncture where the arrow had been also began to succumb to the healing effects of the flower and sealed after a couple bits had passed.

The azure colored eldwyn took a deep shuddering breath before opening its bright violet eyes. The pain and exhaustion was gone, although the creature was still surely famished.

Coming to its feet the creature carefully turned to Nauta and touched its velvety nose to his right hand in thanks. He would feel the same silky tingling that Pepper had felt earlier when the other Eldwyn had touched her. The creatures themselves reunited by both touching noses before turning to depart.

Spren stood their speechless, having watched the everything with a slightly ajar jaw. His eyes glistened before his face fell faintly at a somber realization.

“Will we even remember this...they made us forget before...” He whispered fretfully, looking to the Aukari man and the young woman with a saddened expression. The Tunawa didn’t want to forget this...that they had saved the guardians of Mistral Wood. But he didn’t suppose that they had much of a choice.

All the while, Pepper and Nauta might begin to feel a strange tingling along the skin that had been touched by the creatures, as if some of their magic had left an imprint on them in some shape or form. Only time would tell what sort changes had been wrought upon the two of them.

!

Message from: Oracle

Please feel free to do a wrap up post if you would like to react and get additional knowledges. Thank you all for going on this lovely little adventure with me! I have greatly enjoyed it! Both of you will be given a special reward for completing this event that I will reveal after I finish posting the review. I intend to review this on 6/20/18 so if you want to do a wrap up post, please get it in by then. Impacts Negative None! Positive Pepper: You have helped heal an Eldwyn of Mistral Wood! This sacred and ancient creature has granted you a mysterious blessing! There will be an additional reward at the end! Nauta: You chose the path of healing and helped repair damage done by others. The Eldwyn of Mistral Wood have granted you a mysterious blessing! There will be an additional reward at the end! Notes: Please pm me if you have any questions.