The Forest Kingdom: Mission 1 (Part 1)
"Guardian...forgiveness...we had been expecting...the other tribes to be attacking us." The gorilla's words were slow, as though he was out of breath, but it was painfully obvious that age was more the issue; his face was sagging in some places and sunken in others, his gait slow as his limbs forced themselves to work. It was enough to spark a little pity in the rabbit's core. Haje himself was frowning as he looked the villagers over; they were very rural, in his opinion.
But even pity had to be put aside. She could still hear Giaselle's cry in her mind. "You attacked my liaison. Forgiveness won't be easy to earn, you understand?" The leader nodded just as slowly as he spoke. "I am Silotis, Guardian." Axl was still coming to terms with the fact that a gorilla was talking to them.
Aliblu turned to Lumine and Harpuia, looking over Giaselle. He was starting to recover, breathing not as wheezy as before. But still... "He needs a Healer. You have one in your village?" She asked the gorilla, watching as he nodded again. "Then to start, we will take up residence in your village until my liaison is healthy once more." She hated how demanding it sounded, but the Elf wouldn't survive the night after so much Exhautrite had been in contact with him.
"Of course...Tiro, Dero, help them..." A pair of dog-sized raccoons darted out with a woven stretcher, backing off when Lumine growled at their speedy antics. "We will carry our own, if you wouldn't mind." Aliblu told them. They nodded and zoomed back into the underbrush.
Giaselle was shifted around until Harpuia could carry him comfortably, and still have access to his weapons in case. Haje and Axl kept close to the two when Aliblu ordered them to, the bunny walking behind Silotis. The leader's gait was even slower than before, and the other tribesmen were clustered in a ring around the group, staying away in compliance. The forest was deep and dark, and soon the group noticed their way being lit by other means.
Giant lantern-like bugs nested and moved about in the trees above them, wings and shells resembling stained glass but when touched lit up and moved a bit like lightning bugs. One that resembled a horse-sized beetle crawled down and started to follow them, staying near Giaselle. Harpuia walked a little closer when it seemed like the bug's lighting had a soothing effect on the Elf whose breathing calmed a little. Aliblu looked back at her comrades' reactions; whereas Harpuia gave the bugs and scenery a look-over but remained attentive to their mission, Haje and Axl were openly gaping in awe and wonder. Lumine was a little appreciative of the scenery as well, a ladybug-like lantern bug receiving a pat on the head as it walked next to him calmly; it reminded him a bit of Luna, likely because of the curled up antenna.
The trees grew even thicker, and soon the lantern bugs were the main source of light, the different colors creating a rainbow vision as the group trekked. Aliblu and Lumine seemed just barely intrigued by the light show, but both kept their attention on the surroundings and tribe. Harpuia kept a guarded expression, though the bugs did fascinate him a little; he couldn't tell if they were meant to be some mutation of firefly and beetle or perhaps a species separate from the kind he knew of altogether. Axl and Haje were easily entranced, and Haje at one point fell over one of the beetles scurrying in front of him, only held up by Axl grabbing his hand at the last moment.
"We hide deep...deep is good to keep my people safe. Hiding important to do." Silotis told Aliblu as she caught up to him, Lumine walking right beside her. He couldn't call on his Seraph form in here, so remaining close to his spouse gave him a mild sense of comfort in place of it. "I know how that goes, actually." Aliblu replied after a moment, glancing around as the trees began to thin the farther they went. "Yes...Guardian, you know how important hiding is. You... You understand us."
There was a pause before she bit her lip and nodded to him. "Hiding is necessary. Even if it hurts people to do so." The debacle before her wedding had shown that. Silotis snorted gruffly. "May hurt only those who care more of their feelings. Those who care will help hide."
Harpuia jolted as something flickered across his vision, stopping as something large appeared in front of him and Giaselle. It looked like a crow, the size of a car, and as it walked towards him, he saw that it had four legs built much more like a horse than a bird's spindly limbs. It stopped by him, and seemed to wait, to which he turned his head to look at the others. "If the Elf is getting heavy, you may use this one to help carry him." One of the raccoons hanging off an antelope with long black crystal-like antlers told the AXR unit. It's voice was high and quiet like a child's, and the coon likely was a child.
Aliblu grabbed onto Lumine's arm as the trees finally thinned out completely. They had come to an enormous village, a lake sprawling out into the trees at the edge of the village. It was now seen that the trees connected to enormous trunks, the smaller trees branching out like long weaving wooden vines. All sorts of creatures scurried and walked about, enchanting Axl and Haje to no end. Giaselle stirred slightly, now perched on the back of the crow; Harpuia found that the bird-mammal followed him easily enough with his hand on the back of it's head.
"Welcome, Guardian and friends. Welcome to our village." Silotis rumbled, as children scampered nearby to get a look at them. The group was lead towards the center of the village, the entire colony peering at them curiously. Aliblu could feel the stares, and straightened up, trying to appear stern and calm. A very darkly skinned human-like woman approached the group, her long silver antlers gleaming in the light that cascaded down from the break in the treetops; there were tassel like jewels hanging from her horns that jingled as she moved forward, and her lavender eyes had no pupils and glowed softly. "You. Green one. You bring Elf?"
Silotis turned to them. "Mirwana is Healer. She medicine Azgal. Make Guardian's Elf better." Aliblu glowered and her grip on Lumine tightened. "He is not MINE, Silotis. He works for me under his own will." The white armored reploid gave her a sympathetic glance, while Axl, Haje, and Harpuia just gave confused glances to each other. Silotis looked slightly taken aback by her anger, and nodded. "Mirwana make... Guardian's friend better."
Satisfied with that, Aliblu's gripped lessened, and Lumine mouthed 'later' to the others who still seemed confused by the reaction.
"Guardian will reside here with company. All will respect their decisions." Silotis bellowed to the village, stomping his foot and creating a rumble that reached far into the outskirts of the colony. "If asked to cater, will cater to them. If asked for information, will give. Everyone will follow this!" The second stomped was followed by a chorus of agreeing noises, the children's shouts the most enthusiastic.
Aliblu gave a glance over her shoulder to Giaselle, clearly worried still.
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"I'm guessing Hatter never told either of you." Lumine commented a few hours later, the group gathered in the medicine lodge. The males were in one room with Giaselle as Aliblu was looked over in the next room. Giaselle was laid out on a very crudely built yet somehow stable bed, Mirwana looking him over. The lodge itself was crudely built as well, somewhat reminiscent of what ancient humans would make for shelter, but with obvious changes; it was much more stable, the lodge held together by the very roots of the trees.
Axl and Haje were hanging out by the window, Harpuia watching the Azgal work; her species looked so foreign to him, and registering her was a little more difficult than it had been with Giaselle himself. "Told us what? Why did Ali get all mad earlier?" The redhead voiced the questions.
"Long time ago, Elves were rewards in battle. Very naaaasty horrible things done to them." Mirwana, surprisingly, was the one who answered. She was checking what looked like a long teal leaf, which she wrapped around Giaselle's head. "Elves had masters, who claim ownership of them. Guardian claims no ownership of Shadow Elf, though. Says he is equal. Is hopeful for us." She turned her head, blankly lavender eyes staring at them. "If Guardian claims all are equal, we may be heard."
"Heard about what? Okay, we heard you guys were attacking other villages when we first got the report, but now you're all telling us that they've been attacking YOU instead?" Axl was frowning deeply. "We're pretty confused right now." Harpuia looked disturbed by what Mirwana had told them, staring at Giaselle in concern. The Elf was breathing shallowly, but seemed better than before, which was a good sign.
Mirwana shook her head, the decorations on her antlers jingling softly. "Our Elder Silotis not good condition. Can barely defend village. How attack?" Lumine pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look we're going off what OUR report said. If there's a different story going on here, then Bunny will figure it out and everything will will get sorted out."
Mirwana shrugged, and it occurred to Haje that the spirals painting her form weren't actually paint. The markings were scars. "If she can, we most grateful. Our village not good at defending. Must make traps and shifty things to protect. Not honorable at all. Make Silotis saddened."
Haje frowned; Silotis seemed to be old and very tired, and if he was their Elder, then did that mean they'd be losing him eventually? But, Aliblu had explained how the Wonderland thing worked. They couldn't technically die from age, so...was Silotis sick? The chachaoong kept his thoughts to himself for the time being.
"Oh, please." Attention was drawn back to the Healer as she attempted to feed Giaselle some odd liquid. It looked like dry ice, but as she dumped the spoonful back into the bowl it was teal colored like the leaf wrapped around his head. "Cannot get Elf to open mouth. Must drink or cannot heal." Lumine walked over and held Gia's head up, helping to get the Elf's mouth open. Mirwana fed the bowl's contents to Giaselle, who's coloring came back at last. His breathing evened out and he seemed to fall into deep, restful sleep.
"Elf must sleep for now. Needs plenty of rest." Mirwana said, getting to her feet. There was a knocking on the door, and Aliblu entered. Lumine immediately went to her side, informing her of Giaselle's condition. "... Someone should stay here to watch him. Not that I don't trust the Healer, but...Giaselle..." The Elf stirred, a soft noise issuing from him, and Aliblu went to sit next to him, brushing hair from his face.
"I'll stay if you'd prefer." Harpuia offered. Truthfully he was still on high alert even in a 'safe' location. It would be better to have them stay together in number. Aliblu glanced at him, then nodded. "If you're okay with that." She turned to the others. "I wish to talk to Silotis now. So if you'd like to follow me you can. But stay together. Without Giaselle we have no way around this area." They all nodded in unison and followed her out, Axl giving a look over his shoulder to Giaselle and Harpuia. He hoped the elf would be better soon.
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Finding Silotis was hard. Aliblu looked over the village from the treetop tower, Lumine lifting her onto his shoulder to help her gain a better visage. Axl and Haje were on similar towers, trying to help locate the leader but finding no trace of him. Nor of the villagers they'd come here with. The rest of the village seemed to go on even so, the females and child gathering water from the lake and filling what seemed to be a crude filter.
Nearby, in the sunniest part of the clearing, villagers were farming plants that looked like hybrid vegetables and fruit, carrying the food to a large storehouse. It seemed like they were saving up the good, possibly for a feast?
Axl jumped down, yelping as the branch actually moved and wound up setting him on a different tree. "ALI! YOU DIDN'T MENTION THEY COULD MOVE!" He screamed, turning a little red as he saw her staring at him in amusement. "Axl, EVERYTHING in Wonderland is prone to moving. It doesn't follow the human world natural laws." He seemed to fume, then gaped as Haje expertly back-flipped and weaved across the branches to get to where he was. Crossing his arms and letting his eye twitch, he pouted at his boyfriend. "Show-off."
Aliblu also jumped, but her bounces were on hand and foot, racing across the trunks like her animal side's true natural gait. Lumine hovered over them all, smirking as he watched his wife run; she never failed to seem just so full of life and energy. The bunny made it to the other side of the swamp, ears perked straight up, and the three males tensed; radar ears from Ali rarely meant anything good. The white stalks twisted and turned, the bunny perched like a waiting hare. Her head barely moved, and finally her ears went down and she returned to them.
"It's odd. I can't catch any noise out there. It's like there really isn't any other group beyond this village that dwells here." She said, climbing to Haje who grabbed her hand to get her up. "This village is so remote it can only serve as a shelter. And with Silotis in his condition...there really is no way this village could be attacking the other villages." Haje finally spoke up. "It's obvious that somebody is lying here. For what reason, we don't know. But..I got a bad feeling about this. We need to figure out what's going on and fast."
Lumine landed, standing close to Aliblu and wrapping his arm around her waist. "We can't really leave, anyway. The Elf is still healing and we can't chance moving him in his condition. Bunny wouldn't allow that." Aliblu shook her head. "And I most certainly cannot leave this village if they're in trouble." She looked around at them.
"We've got a mystery to solve, and a village hanging in the balance."
