Summertime imbues the Silver Forest with a luminous glow. Sunlight reflects off the multitude of pale leaves and even reaches the forest floor in gaps in the undergrowth, allowing isolated clusters of flowers to thrive. Warmth permeates the forest and is celebrated by a cacophony of life: the humming buzz of insects, the boisterous melodies of songbirds, and the muffled bustling of small, secretive critters.
One summer found parts of the Silver Forest a little less lively than usual. It wasn't due to the latest dry spell; the Silver Forest had weathered worse and would do so again. But farmers - usually content to stick to their fields and rarely venture into the outskirts of the woods - had begun encroaching deeper. As one of the newest members of the Silver Forest druid circle, Caitlin had been tasked with finding out why. The wood elf had thought her initiation might bring an end to the long string of tests and trials, but here she was, spending her days lurking near the fringes of the forest, waiting for the trespassers to return.
She'd found a place where repeated incursions had begun to carve a trail between the trees. All she had to do now was wait for them to return. So, she waited. And waited. And tried not to think of all the other things she could be doing with her time. She'd settled down on a fallen log, still enough for some nearby creatures to have forgotten she was there at all. Bird calls began to rise again, and a rabbit furtively poked its head out of a burrow.
It wasn't fair, was it? Caitlin had outclassed her sister during training, but was Alenna the one sent out here? Of course not. Alenna only beat her sister when it came to physical tests, though she also had a knack for getting what - or even who - she wanted. It was infuriating. In fact, this time away from Alenna might have been a blessing, if only there weren't so many other things Caitlin could be doing. Surely her sister should have been the one assigned this task. But perhaps her new intimacy with their former instructor had gotten her out of it. In fact, Lironal could have made sure it was Caitlin who got sent here, just to get her out of the way so that he and Alenna could-
Bird calls gradually stopped and the rabbit disappeared back into its hole, tugging Caitlin's attention away from petulant thoughts. She became aware of footsteps along the trail and eased herself behind a thick tree. Two young human trudged past her hiding place, an adolescent boy and an even younger girl child.
"Remember, Trini said the black berries are safe to eat," the boy said as they walked past Caitlin's tree. "Are you sure you'll be okay on your own if I hunt for some game?"
"The black berries, right. I'll be fine." The girl hooked a basket over her arm and started to fight her way into the undergrowth.
"Be careful, Miri. If anything happens, shout for me." The boy watched her for another moment, clearly uneasy, then strung his bow and headed farther down the trail.
Caitlin looked between the two for a moment, then quietly, carefully followed the girl. The boy, being the older of the two, would probably be the better option to talk to. But he had a weapon and Caitlin didn't want to put herself into a position where she might get shot or have to shoot someone.
The human girl found a bush with black-colored berries, but instead of the prickly blackberry bush she was looking for, it was the privet. She didn't seem to hear Caitlin as the druid crept forward. The child picked a cluster and was raising it to her mouth when Caitlin interrupted, "I wouldn't eat those if I were you. They won't kill you, but it won't be pleasant, either. It's the bramble bushes you want for blackberries."
The farm girl dropped her berries and turned a wide-eyed gaze on Caitlin. She froze like that for an instant, then took a deep breath and screamed at the top of her lungs, "Dustin!"
Caitlin held up her hands and took a few steps back from the girl. "You don't need to scream, I'm not here to hurt you." She glanced around for any sign of the boy, ready to grab her bow if he turned out to be the type to shoot first and ask questions later. "Your name is Miri, right?"
The girl - who had been looking around expectantly - brought her attention back to the druid. "How do you know my name?" she asked suspiciously. "Are you some kind of forest spirit?"
Caitlin chuckled, but didn't let down her guard yet. "Of course not, I'm just an elf. My name is Caitlin. I heard the other one - your brother, maybe? - say your name."
Miri nodded, and looked around again, starting to frown. "Yes, and he should have come when I called him." She screamed his name again, an uncomfortable experience for the keen-eared elf.
"Why don't we go find him before he gets himself into trouble?" Caitlin offered with a grimace, gesturing to the girl to follow her back to the trail.
"I don't know you," Miri pointed out cautiously. "But Dustin does have a tendency to get himself into trouble…"
"I'm a druid of these woods. Have you heard of us?"
"Pa said not to mess with you lot." The girl hesitated, as if trying to decide if that meant she had to listen or not. But when Caitlin took a few steps towards the trail she fell in behind. "I don't think Dustin will have gone far…"
"I hope not." Caitlin delicately pushed back a particularly stubborn bit of brush so the girl could pass through. "The deeper into the forest you go, the more dangerous the inhabitants become. Usually you farmers don't even like to come in this far."
"We just wanted some berries, and maybe a rabbit if Dustin could find one. Trini said they found both around here. That's Trini Martin, her folks own the land closest to the forest," Miri explained, clearly expecting the confused druid to know who she was talking about.
"And they sent you two children? Even the edges of the forest aren't entirely safe…"
"Ma doesn't exactly know we're here," Miri admitted. "Pa went off for help, didn't tell us who from. They never tell us anything."
"What does your father need help for?"
Miri stopped short and looked at the druid with disbelief. "What do you think? Same thing we all do." When Caitlin looked at her blankly, the girl flung a hand into the air. "The drought, of course!"
"Oh," the druid said quietly - more to herself than the girl - as she continued walking. "I suppose that would be a problem for farmers."
"It's more than a problem!" Miri looked miffed, but she started moving again. "Our stores from last year are nearly gone. If we can't get a late crop to grow, we won't even have food for the winter, let alone coin for other things we need."
"Oh," Caitlin said again, though she judged that response was rather inadequate this time. She felt a twinge of sympathy for the farmers, but she didn't know if it was her place to do anything about it. She'd have to ask the elders when she reported back to them. The farmers weren't a part of the forest, but if the drought was causing them to venture into it…
A loud squeal from farther up the path interrupted her thoughts. Boar, it sounded like, and if Dustin had gone this way…
Caitlin whirled to Miri and - before the child had a chance to react - picked her up and set her on the lowest branch of a tree. "Stay here," she commanded, cutting through the girl's protests. "Do not leave this branch. I'll help your brother."
The girl didn't hop down but she did let out another ear-piercing shriek, calling her brother's name again. Caitlin winced at the noise as she dashed down the makeshift trail.
It wasn't long before she reached a rocky outcropping, one that cut down sharply to the brook that ran below it. Dustin didn't even notice her arrival, too busy aiming his bow at the base of the rocks, where something was scrambling and trying to get up.
"Don't," Caitlin said forcefully. The arrow flew anyway, clattering against the rocks when the youth released the bowstring in surprise. He scrambled for another but Caitlin quickly closed the distance and stretched out a hand to guide the bow down. That's when the boar, an arrow protruding from its flank, finally found a way up the rocks.
Caitlin spoke a few words and gestured towards the boar, causing a sudden surge of vines and weeds to sprout from the ground, hindering its progress. The creature's wound didn't look very deep, and it probably wouldn't take long for it to power through the vines. She spared only a moment for Dustin. "Find your sister and get out of here! She's waiting for you back that way."
Dustin dithered uneasily between the hampered boar and the path. Then another call of "Dustin!" pierced the woods, and he took off in his sister's direction.
"Now," Caitlin said, turning back to the boar. "It doesn't look like that arrow did you a whole lot of harm, but you'd probably heal a lot faster if it wasn't still in there." She grabbed a thick tree branch and swung herself up just as the animal made it through the last of the vines. The boar dashed to the base of the tree, still looking for a fight. She climbed a few feet higher to where some branches crossed, making herself as comfortable as the tree allowed. "So you let me know when you're ready for it to come out."
The forest felt subdued with the farmers gone, the buzzing of insects and the burbling of the brook relatively quiet without the sound of their voices. Not that the boar was to be forgotten, as it grunted every now and then to remind her it was still there, and still mad. It took half the night to settle down, giving Caitlin some time with her thoughts. Like this brook, none of the nearby water sources were sizable enough to provide irrigation for crops. Druids could bring about limited amounts of water, and encourage plants to grow as well, but she wasn't sure if the farmers were their responsibility. On the other hand, the forest those farmers were venturing further into certainly was.
The boar finally collapsed, exhausted, and Caitlin very slowly, very carefully worked her way out of the tree. "Alright now, we'll get this arrow out of you, see if you need to be patched up a bit, hmm?" She approached excessively slowly, watching for the slightest indication that the boar was going to get back on its feet. But the animal only panted and watched her with wide eyes. Caitlin circled and assessed the wound. "That doesn't look too bad. Let's just get this arrow out of you…"
She crouched, keeping her weight carefully balanced so she could spring up instantly if the need arose. Then she gently laid a hand on the boar's flank, feeling it flinch but make no move to rise. "You probably aren't going to like this..."
She took only a second to try to realign the arrow with the entry wound, then abruptly tugged it out before the boar could get up, ignoring the extra damage it caused in her need for haste. The boar gave a piercing squeal as it surged to its feet. Before it could turn towards her, she laid her free hand on the boar's flank and swifty uttered a healing spell. The boar stopped mid-turn as if not sure what to make of this sensation, then abruptly charged off into the underbrush.
Caitlin let out a shaky breath and brushed off her leathers. It didn't make her look much cleaner, but it gave her a chance to regain her composure. Eventually she felt collected enough to make the short hike back to her camp, relying on familiarity and elven eyesight to find her way in the dark. Tomorrow, she'd return to the circle.
The elders listened impassively as Caitlin - trying not to shudder under their penetrating stares - reported her findings. She finished and was met with silence. Obviously they were expecting something more. Mostly to break the silence, she finally asked, "Can't we help them?"
Shawynn was the most recent addition to the elders of the Circle, and had been responsible for teaching some of the lore Caitlin and Alenna had learned. She pursed her lips thoughtfully and turned the question back around on Caitlin, "Why don't you tell us?"
Would she ever be done with these tests? Caitlin stifled a sigh, attempting to maintain her composure in front of the elders. "Alright. We have the means to help them. Encourage the crops to grow, provide them with enough water for the farmers to get at least one harvest in this year. Enough to keep them from starving, at the least. With how many of us there are, it shouldn't be that difficult… Assuming it's our place to do that.
But if you take a broader view, these people are our neighbors. If we want them to be good neighbors and respect our forest, perhaps we should be good neighbors and help them in their time of need. And they are in need. We'd be saving these families from... debt at the least, starvation at the worst."
"So," Shawynn replied, with a miniscule nod for the points Caitlin had made. "Not such a meaningless task after all?"
Of course they'd known she'd felt that way. This task had not been just a test but a lesson as well. Caitlin took a deep breath and struggled to swallow her pride. She wouldn't let them see her flinch as they hit their mark. "Helping them would affect these people's lives a great deal."
Whatever the elders were thinking of her, they gave no outward sign of it. "Then that is what we shall do."
In spite of it all, a small grin tugged at the corner of Caitlin's mouth as she imagined what Miri's reaction would be.