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Legend

Epilogue:

After Mandrake was engulfed by the tree, the Boggans were leaderless. They scattered all around. Some went north; several want east or west, while others dispersed elsewhere. No one knew exactly where they all came to rest, and the only known location was some remote island to the north.

The summer morning day was bright and sunny, with dapples of light that decorated the forest floor in a joyful dance. A soft breeze whispered through the trees, carrying with it the smells of the fragrant flowers. All was calm, until two leafmen zipped through the forest on a scout mission. The one at the head sent leaves scattering, and woke up grumpy citizens who didn't appreciate the commotion.

"You're gonna have to be a lot faster than that!" Nod exclaimed, riding his old bird as if he didn't have a care in the world.

"Unlike you, I take my job seriously." Ronin quipped.

"It's not always about watching your six and covering your flanks. You've gotta have a little fun every once in a while, especially since we don't we don't have to worry about Boggans anymore."

"Just be quiet and take point."

They continued on like that, Ronin shouting out directions, and Nod ignoring them. All seemed well until they came across a fallen tree.

"This tree has been here for weeks. Shouldn't it be gone by now." Nod inquired.

"You're right for once." Ronin got off of his steed and examined the tree. "It should be at least partway decomposed."

"Then why does it look like it just fell?"

"For once, I don't know, but Nim Galuu probably will."

So, they set off for Nim's tree. The ride there wasn't nearly as lighthearted as the former scouting mission had been. Even Nod knew the severity of the situation. Neither leafman spoke a word, so the trip was cloaked in silence.

When they arrived, the grim mood was intensified. The old caterpillar had reached his pupa stage, and was now encased in a protective cocoon.

"What?! He's a chrysalis," Nod exclaimed, "Now how're we gonna—"

"We'll just have to search through the scrolls ourselves," Ronin sighed.

"Alright, let's get this over with."

They each divided the rings amongst themselves, Ronin searching one half, and Nod searching the other. When they finished one level, they would then move on to the next. The cycle repeated itself for several hours, but the search was fruitless. Eventually, Nod grew impatient.

"When will this tree end? It seems as if we've been in here for days." Nod moaned, sitting down defiantly where he was.

"Not days, just seven, long, hours." Ronin declared.

"That's still too much!"

"I agree. It's time that we looked for help elsewhere. I'll get the queen, I suggest you come along."

"Nah, I'll get M.K, she might know what to do."

Ronin was indifferent. "Just hurry up, time might be working against us." The leafmen mounted their birds and set off in different directions.

When Ronin arrived at moonhaven, he immediately requested an audience with the queen. The guards nodded their respect as he entered her chamber. The tall flowers blocked most of the sunlight, but fragments of it still trickled in through the canopy. He kneeled down in front of the young queen. "Your majesty," He said, "There is trouble in the forest."

The little girl blushed at being called your majesty, but her face leeched of color when she heard about the trouble. "What happened? Are the boggans back?!" Her eyes flashed about the room, expecting trouble.

Realizing that he had frightened the poor girl, Ronin stood up and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "No," He spoke softly, "The boggans aren't coming back, but I fear that we may have a bigger problem on our hands."

He informed the queen of the tree that they had encountered in the forest.

"I don't know how to help." She murmured, "The forest is in trouble." Then, she spoke up, her dark brown eyes watery with tears. "I can feel it. The plants are sad. They don't have the things they need to live. They're dying Ronin!" She leaned on his shoulder and sobbed, feeling the weight of the forest on her shoulders. "I don't know what to do. How can I be queen if I can't even take care of the forest?"

Ronin hugged her and spoke in a deep, soft tone. "It's okay child, you're doing great. There are times when things don't look well, but good will always win in the end. You've only just been named queen, so don't be too hard on yourself. We'll figure out a way to make this right."

"You really think so?" She whispered.

"I know so."

But what he was really thinking was: I hope we can. If not, the balance will be broken, and the forest will die.

Riding around in a flurry, Nod searched his usual camera. Now that he was paying attention, the forest looked, well, sick. The trees' branches drooped, the grass was withered and yellow, and even the moss looked frail and lifeless. He whistled a low note, and said, "Woah, what happened?" He then continued his, so far, unsuccessful search.

Eventually, he came across one of the camera's that could be found around the forest. He jumped and waved in front of it until the red light on its corner blinked and the lens zoomed in on him. "MK! MK, we need to talk, the forest is in danger!" He shouted when he knew she was watching the camera.

"What? What's wrong?" Her worried, startled voice projected from the camera.

"The trees that fall and the plants that die aren't going away. The plants that are alive are withering and dying, but they don't decompose either. None of us know what's wrong. It's like the plant's aren't getting enough water and sunlight, but the sun isn't blocked, and the water supply is still normal."

The camera was quiet for a while, it felt like hours before MK responded. "I think I know what the problem is."

"You do? That's great! Tell me so that I can let Ronin know." Nod pumped his fist in the air in triumph.

"Na, ah, ah," MK's voice answered, "I can't let you take all the credit for my idea. Plus, I want in. Shrink me back down so that I can help." Her tone was playful enough, but it still bothered Nod that she wouldn't just help him now. The forest was dying, why couldn't she just give him a straight answer, but on the other hand, he could see her again, so…..

"Okay, meet us at the grove where Queen Terra died. I'll tell Ronin that you know what's wrong, and that you're coming to join us."

"Yes!" MK whooped. Nod imagined that she was probably doing a fist pump.

After Nod told Ronin the plan, Nod, Ronin, and the queen met MK in the grove. MK was gigantic compared to them.

"I'm ready to be small again." She said in a deep voice that sounded like it was in slow-mo.

Nod laughed, and he said, "She sounds like a man! Hey, MK! Say, ow I hit my elbow!"

She, of course, couldn't hear Nod, and even if she could, she would have ignored him anyways.

MK stood next to a tree that was twice her current height. When she looked up, a decrepit leaf fell down into her hand, and the remaining leaves on the tree were battered and wrinkled. "Oh, my, gosh it's worse than I thought." She said in the slow-mo voice. Then, she looked down at them. "I'm ready."

The young queen put both hands on the sides of her head and concentrated. Her brow furrowed and she locked her eyes on MK's face, willing her to become smaller. As the queen focused, MK steadily became smaller, until she was just as small as they were.

"Whew, that was a rush." MK said, holding a hand on her head and leaning on a stick that was poking up from the ground for balance.

"Well, what's wrong?" Nod asked.

"Okay, you said that the dead plants aren't going away, right?" They nodded. "And you also said that the plants that are still alive are sick." Again, more nodding. "Well, then the soil is messed up. When the dead plants and animals decompose, they make the ground healthy so that plants can grow in it. Without healthy soil, there aren't healthy plants."

"And this means what?" Nod asked, waving his hand in a circular motion meaning to go on.

"It means that we need to bring back the boggans." She said casually.

The other three were anything but casual.

"Do you know what you're saying? That's crazy talk!" Nod exclaimed.

"Why would we bring them back when they killed Terra and caused the forest to die in the first place?" Ronin growled.

"No! Not the boggans! They can't come back! They'll kill the forest!" The queen yelled.

MK put up her hands defensively. "Wait, wait, wait," She said, "The boggans can help. They can make the dead plants rot, which will make the forest healthy again."

"Even if they could help," Ronin interjected, "We don't know where to find them, and they'd probably just try to kill us."

"Well, yes, they would probably would do that, but what if they didn't? Then we could bring some of them back, and they could help restore the balance." MK countered. She knew that she had struck the right chord, because Ronin was very concerned about the balance.

"Fine, we'll go." Ronin gave in. "Does anyone know where they could've gone?"

Nod grumpily and reluctantly replied, "I heard that they've gone northward, to some kind of 'island paradise' no doubt it's a huge scalp now."

"Then that's where we'll go." Ronin sighed, "Lets pack up before we go," He said, and then he turned to MK, "I just hope you're right about this."

So, the three each grabbed a bird, a pack of supplies, and a farewell from the queen before flying northward.

So, this was actually the beginning of a school science project that we had to do for ecology. And in case yall didn't see the thing above, this story is up for adoption! Just review or pm me to get it! My only request is that you please give me credit for the first chapter and idea.