The Forgotten Zodiac

L'arc nodded. "Yeah, the squirrels should. They like being helpful and making friends and all that. If we could find one..." he glanced around the treetops, and in so doing, called out, "Hey! have any of you seen a little human girl named Allie? She's very young and she's lost; we need your help finding her."

"Sure, I saw a girl!" A little bluebird dove down from the treetops. Not exactly a squirrel. It landed atop the horses' head, twittering happily. "She was cute. Didn't seem to know where she was goin', though. I...helped her out."

Verolen frowned. "Birds like you aren't usually keen on helping humans."

"And what of it?" The bluebird puffed its chest out. "I pointed her in the direction of Treefort."

"What?! That's an hour from here, and...they'll kill her!"

"Hey, hey, I'm not responsible for what the Foresters do."

"She's just a little girl!" Verolen snarled.

"And you're just a fat demon on an old horse!" The bird snapped back.

((-wonders if the horse takes offense to that-))

L'arc sighed and shook his head. "Let's go, Verolen," he said, nudging the horse. "We need to hurry."

L'arc held on tight, looking around as the scenery whirred by. "You do know where Treefort is, right, Verolen?" he asked after a while, just to make sure.

L'arc sighed and shook his head. "West," he said, tapping the horse's sides with his heels to guide him. "I'll stear," he said, looking around for another moment to get his bearings.

"You could just say, you know," The horse flicked its ears back. "I'm certainly not deaf!"

"You heard him, then. West!" Verolen nodded.

"What do I look like, a compass?"

"That's why I'm steering!" L'arc said, sounding a bit gruff as he spoke. "Keep heading this direction, we'll be there soon enough," he said.

"Alright, alright." The horse bobbed his head, charging ahead quickly. There were a couple turns and curves to avoid the trees and river. But finally, they found what they were looking for. It seemed to be nothing at first; just a massive tree. It looked...burnt at the base. Very much burnt. But still standing, surprisingly.

"Ah, here we are," The horse slid to a stop.

"Are you crazy? This is...a tree." Verolen frowned.

"Look up, 'fat demon'," The horse snorted.

Verolen did, craning his head back. His jaw dropped immediately. The huge tree supported a web of treehouses and huts that trailed to and from the main tree. It wouldn't be all that remarkable, if it weren't huge. They didn't call it 'treefort' for nothing. Although it would more aptly be named 'Treefortress'. "What...on earth..."

"This is the Tree of Security. I'm not surprised they set up here...it's quite safe. Looks like it's been attacked recently, though." The horse commented dryly.

"Shall we go up, Verolen?" L'arc said, dismounting from the horse. "She sooner we can find this little girl, the better..." he said. He approached the tree and touched its trunk, then looked up and gauged the distance from the ground. "Well, on second thought... maybe I should go up alone. You don't do heights very well."

"Yeah...I was thinking the same." Verolen nodded. "And if we somehow passed her, well...I'll just wait down here and stop her if she stumbles along after us. Okay?"

"Yes, yes, perfectly logical. Now get off. You may not be fat, but you are heavy," The horse pawed at the ground.

"Sure." Verolen slid down. "Good luck, L'arc."

"I don't think he needs it. The girl needs it more,"

The first house L'arc came across was inside the huge tree; a town hall of sorts, it seemed. There was a huddle of activity there, and not surprisingly, most of the people there were Druids. There was one female there, however, who was something L'arc had only seen few times in his life. A tree spirit; she looked like a living carving made from twisted wood, leaves adorning her head and forming hair, a green glow emanating from her core.

"Hail, brothers. The prodigal prince hath returneth," She murmured, her voice like wind brushing past the leaves in her hair. Her glowing eyes fixed L'arc with a gaze far beyond his understanding.

((L'arc's mother was a tree spirit. Or at least that's how I envisioned her.))

L'arc looked around the council with wide eyes - obviously this was not what he had been expecting to find first. He cleared his throat after a few long moments, then returned the spirit's greeting. "Hail to you," he said, straightening to a more regal posture. "And I hope that I am not intruding on anything, councilmembers," he added after a moment.

((This probably isn't a relative. There are a lot of tree spirits; most of them sleep inside a special tree, and when that special tree is destroyed, so are they. Like Jemina. Sylas doesn't know that his mother housed a tree spirit, but it doesn't matter anyway, 'cuz she's dead. xD))

"Of all the...lad, we thought for sure you were dead," One of the younger - but still much older than L'arc - members exclaimed.

"Interrupting? No...we were just deciding on something. I think we've pretty much made our choice, though." An older member nodded. He stood and hobbled over to L'arc, smiling. "We're very glad to see you alive, young prince."

"Hold up, this could easily be another trap," The third member interrupted, frowning deeply. "If you're truly the prince...what was your mother's name?" The Tree Spirit said nothing, watching silently.

"My mo-- of course," L'arc said, nodding. He understood their suspicion well enough - war was hard on everyone, and to allow any stranger in without scrutiny would be rediculous. "Her name was Emmryn," he answered without hesitation. "She looked a lot like... like you," he made a vague gesture to the woman in the room, trying not to be rude.

The tree spirit dipped her head slightly, smiling. "Hm...well, I suppose..." The third member grumbled for a moment. "Fine. Well, what brings you here after so long? You're only slightly late."

"The young prince seeks something. A task he must complete, for the good of another." The spirit hummed. "What you seek is here. It is good that you have come; the members here were just deciding on what to do with it in question."

"What? He's after that?" The younger of the three grinned. "Wonderful, wonderful!"

"Feh! He's always had a soft spot for humans, ever since meeting Jemina's son..." The second grimaced.

L'arc seemed to bristle slightly. "If we are to ever have peace, then we have to reconcile with the humans. Not all of them want to fight, you know," he snapped. Immediately, he corrected himself. "Sorry, sorry that was... rude. Out of turn, sorry," he grimaced slightly and glanced to the ground, then looked back up. "I'll take her off your hands, yeah?"

The third member said nothing, but he still looked unhappy. "Versha will take you to her," The youngest of the three smiled. "And, prince L'arc, we...well, we had decided to keep her here. Majority vote."

"L'arc here intends to take her home. All things have a right to grow." Versha, the tree spirit, smiled brightly. "The child is young, and though her people have caused much harm, we are not to blame an individual for the acts of their kind. Especially when they have committed no crime against us themselves."

"If more human children grew up in harmony with the forest, this war would be over in no time." The second council member nodded. "Even if they don't quite understand our ways. I hope more refugees make it this far."

"Come, prince L'arc. The child you seek is...as she says, 'exploring'. This city is an exciting discovery for her young mind."

L'arc smiled slightly as the council members talked about the child, then followed the one that had spoken.

"We'll get her home safe," he said. "I can assure you of that."

The Tree Spirit led the way across a long rope bridge, not quite walking, but floating a few inches off the wood. "Do you remember your first encounter with a human? You were quite young then. Sylas, I believe his name was...and I hear from the birds that he is still alive today. Traveling with you. Not many here believe the birds, though; popular assumptions dictate that you had fallen in battle long ago."

"Tree lady, tree lady! I found a bug!" Allie ran out of a house, her hands cupped around said bug. It was a large beetle with a sapphire blue shell. She stopped in front of Versha, holding it up.

"Yea, I see, child." Versha took the beetle, smiling gently. "Is this bug alive?"

"Duh. I didn't squoosh it."

"Why not? You have the power to..." Versha murmured, still smiling away.

"'Cuz that's meeeaaannn. If I went around smooshing every bug, there'd be no bugs. And mommy says some bugs are really nice. Like Dragonflies!" Allie said excitedly. "I can't wait for summer. Dad says there'll be LOTS of Dragonflies."

"Oh child, you bear understanding that many of your kind do not..." Versha sighed. She lifted the beetle to her mouth and kissed its shell before handing it back to Allie. "Take this, child. He will stay by your side. Think of him as a pet, but take very good care of him."

"Yay! I'm naming you Shiny, 'cuz your shell is really shiny!" She jumped for joy, holding the beetle carefully in her small hands. She paused, though, and looked up at Versha. "Can I go home now?"