The Forgotten Zodiac

Kendra got up and followed Sylas, while Byrne seemed to be enjoying the ride. he glanced down and touched his Dark Matter-infected arm every so often, peering at it with more curiousity than fear now.

Sylas hummed a tune as he drew ever closer to the greenhouse, more cheery than ever now. He grinned as he opened the door to the greenhouse, and was greeted by a warm breeze and glass walls, which allowed bright sunlight to filter in. Sylas greeted the plants with a happy, "Yes!" and quickly ran over to the flowers, dropping two flowerpots into Byrne's lap and quickly chatting it up with a bonsai tree. Sylas seemed more excited about this than anything before, really.

Byrne looked a little shell-shocked as the flowers were placed in his lap, then shook his head and smiled.

Kendra wandered around and looked at the plants for a long while, before going over to Sylas and watching him for a long while. "Are you speaking with them?" she asked, looking on curiously.

Sylas grinned. "Yeah. I was raised by Jemina, the tree of gifts. She gave me two things...one, the languages of the forest. I can't normally speak to animals, but trees, flowers, grass...all of it has a voice that my ears wouldn't be able to hear without her gifts. Her second gift was that of aim...which is the only reason I'm so good with a bow." He gently ran a finger along the leaf of the Bonsai he was holding, smiling wistfully. "She was a great mother..."

"If she raised you, she must have been," Kendra said with a kind smile as she rested her hand on Sylas' shoulder.

"Guys, guys, look at this!" Byrne suddenly called excitedly. Kendra turned to see  the human's arm practically covered with butterflies, some of them fluttering up to walk in circles on top of his head.

Sylas grinned. "Hold still, Byrne. Don't freak the poor bugs out," He laughed. The flowers Byrne held were giggling at him. "They like you. Both the butterflies and the flowers!"

"Great!" the human said, grinning. "I like them, too!" he said. Kendra smiled and laughed quietly, then turned to the bonsai tree and gently fingered one of its leaves.

"Do they have names?" she asked, tilting her head to Sylas.

"Not really," Sylas shrugged. "If every blade of grass had a name, it'd be kinda nonsensical. You just call the tree what its speices is. This is a Juniper, so its name is Juniper. The only trees with special names are the Wizened Trees. Like the Tree of Seasons. His name is Zacharias. My mother's name was Jemina. Make sense?"

"Yes, that makes sense," Kendra said. "So, can your forest prince commune with plants as you can?" she asked.

Sylas shook his head. "No. He was born with the natural gift of treespeak, but other plants...well, I think I'm the only one with this gift." He shrugged, then checked the closet for a watering can. "Oh, hey! Byrne, look at this," He pulled out what appeared to be a cloak made of grass. Sylas put it on, grinning. "It's my old cloak. Made it myself, out of dried grass...I'm surprised it's still green." He ran his fingers over the woven bumps and ridges, smiling. Then he went about watering the flowers and trees, humming happily.

Kendra watched Sylas wander around for a while, then found a comfortable place to sit. She crossed her legs and let out a deep sigh, closing her eyes and folding her hands in her lap.

Meanwhile, Byrne entertained himself with the bugs.

It was all shaping out to be a comfortable, quiet afternoon. It rightly should have been, after everything they had gone through so far. But peace was just something that didn't seem to last for them.

"Halberd Hall. Here we are." Reetah dropped down, landing neatly in front of the large manor-like construct. It was much nicer since the last time they saw it; apparently the witches had prepared for their visitors.

"Right." Verolen sighed, sliding off of her back. "So what, we just...knock?"

L'arc dropped to the ground and approached the door. "Why not?" he said. "They're expecting us, so shouldn't be a problem, right?" he asked, going up to the door and hitting it a few times with his fist.

"Nana!" he called. "We're here!"

Nina opened the door, smiling. "Hello!" Horace moved forward at once, picking up Rush. "You probably shouldn't come inside, though," Nina pouted. "You'd be magical interferences. Remember last time we activated this thing? It went berzerk when you got too close. Well, not only do we have to activate it, but we gotta wake it up, too. Delicate work. Don't worry; we'll have Rush back to you as soon as we're done. Witch's promise."

"All right," L'arc said, nodding. "I'm going to hold you to that, you know," he added quickly. He settled himself against the doorframe, content to just wait for now.

"I know," Nana smiled, skipping back inside. Horace shut the door behind them.

"So...we just wait?" Reetah questioned, frowning slightly.

"Yep. Just wait." Verolen sighed, laying back in the grass and closing his eyes. There was a stiff silence for a long while; Reetah was free to look about, using her dragoness gaze to see much further than any of the others. She spotted the ocean in the distance, the forest's treeline on the other side. And closer to the forest was a small camp of humans...with the Forestum symbol of peace. Closer still to them was one human, an older male, who was approaching fast on horseback.

He pulled to a stop in front of the Halberd Hall's doors. He stared at L'arc and Verolen, then at Reetah. Verolen was the first to say something. "What brings you out this far? It's not often you see a human out this way..."

"I mean no harm," The man said at once. "I belong to a small refugee camp a couple miles from here...I-I need help! My daugter wandered off into the woods..."

"And you came to the home of the witches for help?" Verolen frowned.

"They've helped us before! I...I was willing to pay with my family's crest..." He held out his ring, which was obviously gold. Not much of it, but gold nevertheless.

"Well, at least you know what they like," Verolen snorted. "But I'd keep that for a real emergency."

"This is a real emergency!"

"I know. But you found the right people for the job, and we've got time to kill. And we don't want your crest." Verolen stood, brushing himself off. "C'mon, L'arc. We've got a little girl to find. You can wait here, Reetah, we'll just take the horse."

"Fair enough." Reetah shrugged.

((Side quest. 9u6 But this can be where L'arc finds Treefort n'stuff. A little morale boost for those inside.))

L'arc stood up, regarding the man. "What's your daughter look like?" he asked, knowing that, if he had a description, he could ask the trees for help in the search. "And how long has she been gone? Is there a possibility that she was taken?" he asked, wondering if he and Verolen should be prepared for a fight.

The man slid off the horse, handing the reins to Verolen. "She's about this tall," He made an indication that was only as high as his thigh. "She has long blond hair, and a blue dress that her mother made for her. She's only five. I...I don't think she was taken. Morgana, my wife, was watching her. But she's bearing another child, she grew tired and dozed off...and when she woke up again, Allie was gone. Please, you have to find her!"

"Chill, gramps. We'll track her down. Stay here and keep our dragon company." Verolen swung himself up onto the horse, holding his hand out to help L'arc up.

L'arc pulled himself up after Verolen, smiling slightly at the demon's calling the human "gramps". L'arc knew that Verolen was easily twice the age of the man. "All set. We'll bring her back soon, don't you worry," he said, turning to the man.

((I thought you might enjoy that bit of irony.))

"Thank you!" The man called after them, but Verolen had already set the horse in motion. "W-well...either they're very kind people, or they just left me to be a dragon's dinner and stole my horse..."

"That's quite the odd impasse." Reetah snorted, smiling a bit. "I wouldn't worry. He said he'd find her. Verolen always does what he says he'll do."

"Oh..."

"And I don't eat humans." She pointed out. He definitely relaxed after that.

"Right then!" Verolen slowed the horse down as they approached the treeline. They had passed the camp, but hadn't stopped to chit-chat. "Let's see...what was her name? Allie? Where should we start looking, L'arc? Do you think the animals will help us at all?"