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Third P.O.V

"Look out, look out!" A voice shouted out. General Ronin and his second-in-command, Lieutenant General Finn, turned around and saw a brown barn owl flapping its wings as it tried to find solid air.

"Here comes your star pupil." Lieutenant General Finn said. General Ronin glared slightly at his second-in-command. He shook his head and walked towards Nod, who by now had perched his 'bird'.

"Where have you been?" General Ronin asked in a harsh voice. Nod looked at General Ronin like he was crazy.

"Wait you're mad?" Nod asked. "You told me to get back and I'm back, on this." Nod said point back to his owl. The owl looked around. General Ronin looked at the barn owl and shook his head.

"And you want credit for that?" General Ronin said. He was fed up with Nod's antics. "You're late. Find a real bird and get back to your group." General Ronin said before turning around, heading for his bird.

"You know what? No." Nod said throwing his hands up into the air. General Ronin snapped back around to face Nod.

"What did you say?" General Ronin raised his voice, which was never a good sign. Tarina wasn't far off when she overheard General Ronin's raising voice. She looked over her shoulder from her assigned position in the parade.

'Oh no,' Tarina thought when she saw what was happening.

"I'm not doing it." Nod said walking away from General Ronin. "I'm not a kid anymore and I'm tired of you treating me like one." Nod walked towards his owl. Tarina was tempted to run over and try to smooth everything out with the two of them, just like she had done a hundred times before.

"I'm trying to help you, I'm trying to look out for you." General Ronin said in a hushed exasperated tone.

"I never asked you to do that." Nod protested. General Ronin's face grew stern.

"Your father did."

There was a beat of silence between the two feuding men. Tarina inhaled sharply at the mention of Nod's father. His father had always a touchy subject and Tarina knew that. She winced slightly after seeing her best friend's reaction but bit down on her lips to prevent herself from getting involved.

"Well you can stop." Nod said. "I absolve you of all further responsibility in the raising of young Nod." He had thrown his hands up as he walked back to his bird.

"Don't walk away from me. I-I'm your commanding officer!" General Ronin said pathetically. Lieutenant General Finn looked over to his superior officer. A smile grin broke out onto his face.

"Not anymore. I quit! Hyah." Nod said. He had mounted his owl and flew away. "Whoa! Thatta girl. Easy, easy!"

"What are you looking at?" General said after turning back around and spotting his second-in-command smiling.

"Nothing. I have no opinion on this." Lieutenant General Finn said quickly. He looked back to the soldiers waiting for the signal.

"Everyone, Mount up!" Lieutenant General Finn said as he started to walk over to his troops. General Ronin clenched his teeth together. He was annoyed with Nod, yes, but at the same time he felt like he failed his best friend. Colin.

Tarina had seen everything. She watched as Nod flew away on his owl. She was dismayed by his actions, but she hadn't tried to stop him this time. Maybe it was finally time for her to stop watching over him, like she had always done. However, she felt sad for Nod. She knew that he was only acting out instead of thinking; a bad habit he seemed to have held onto since childhood.

"Tarina, you're flying with me." General Ronin said as he walked past Tarina. She nodded her head and followed him to the front of the procession.

She flew next to the General who, in turn, flew next to the Queen's barge. The ceremony had started and the whole thing was an elaborate affair. The Queen waved down at her subjects. They all cheered for their Queen.

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted her General surveying the grounds and air. The Queen shook her head and looked at her General.

"Parade. Fun. Smiling." The Queen reminded her General. The General cracked a very small smirk, which Tarina noticed, and then she broke out into a small smile. It was very rare to see her General smile. He was always so serious in events like this. It was like he never took a break.

The royal barge soon made it's way to Lake Sacred, other wise know as Pod Lake. As the royal barge landed the Queen gently on the water's surface, General Ronin and his forces took to the trees. They were not only just watching the Queen's movement, but they were also watching out for any potential Boggan attack. General Ronin was hoping for no attack but when a ceremony as important as this was happening he couldn't hope for too much.

Queen Tara stepped off of the lily pad and onto the water. But instead of sinking in the water, duckweed gathered around her footing and helped her walk on the water's surface. All the water lilies opened up as soon as the Queen walked by. She looked around at all the potential pods that she could choose from, but none of them felt right to her. She walked up to the Guardians of the Lake, who were goofing off when she got closer.

"Gentlemen," The Queen said softly. The Guardians froze. The slug had his hands on the snail's stomach and the snail felt extremely awkward.

"Hey, Your Majesty. Hello." The snail said rather awkwardly. The snail smoothed out his stomach and stood at attention.

"It's alright, relax. It's just me." The Queen said with a soft smile. "Mub, Grub. It's a very nice looking group of Pods." Queen Tara looked around carefully at the Pods.

"I might have a hard time picking one. Do you have a favorite?" The Queen asked looking back over to the Guardians.

"Well, Your Majesty," Grub started out. "We have had quiet the debate." Grub said laughing nervously.

"Really gone back and forth." Mub interjected.

"You'll note the carefully curated selection of sizes, density, color. With so many variables, you can't be too hasty." Grub advised. He failed to notice Mub go behind his back and pick up the Pod of his choice.

"Boom, right here. Biggest in the bunch." Mub said proudly. Grub looked nervous.

"Hm, well that's one way to go." Queen Tara said eying the over grown Pod. She looked around, over her shoulder and spotted a much smaller Pod. It was barely a bud but something about this Pod made the Queen want to choose it instead.

"How about that one?" The Queen pointed over to the smaller Pod. Mub looked at the Pod. He didn't really agree with the Queen choice.

"What, that one? For real?" Mub said jumping from one lily pad to the other. He got closer to the Pod the Queen choose and inspected it closer. "But it's so-" Mub started to say his protests but was cut off by Grub.

"Perfect. It's perfect." Grub quickly interjected. He grabbed a hold of the Pod the Queen wanted and nudged Mub out of the way.

"Excellent choice Your Majesty. Sometimes the biggest one isn't the best one." Grub said over his shoulder to the Queen. "I told you she doesn't like gaudy Mub, unlike you she's got class." Grub stressed out 'class' because he knew his friend barely had any.

Grub handed over the Pod to the Queen. The Queen looked down at the Pod in her hand, her heir, the future of the forest. A smile crept onto her face.

"This is it. This is the one." Queen Tara said before raising it above her head and holding it high in the air. She was showing her people their future.

After a few moments passed Queen Tara started to slowly walk back towards her royal barge. General Ronin, stilled mounted on his bird, was perched high above in the trees keeping a watchful eye on his Queen. He looked around to see if anything unusual was happening, that's when out of the corner of his eye he noticed the edge of a nearby leaf decaying. General Ronin leaned forward to inspect the leaf before stating what he had feared the most to happen that day.

"Boggans." He knotted an arrow and pointed it behind him. He released the arrow with great precision. Nothing happened for a few seconds but that didn't mean anything to him. Other nearby Leafmen knotted their arrows and pointed them in the direction their General had.

Suddenly a piece of bark fell of the tree to reveal a Boggan with an arrow in its chest. The hit Boggan gave away his comrades' position. All of the sudden hundreds, if not thousands, of Boggans were soon jumping up, all prepared to attack.

"Your Majesty," General Ronin shouted out. "Get to the boat!"

Queen Tara looked up to where the voice had shouted out and saw what was happening. She did as she was told and ran, not waiting for the duckweed to gather under her foot once more.

Back up in the tree the Leafmen were facing an onslaught of Boggans. And even though they were greatly out numbered they continued to fight. Row after row of skilled archers jumped over one another to continue their line of defense. But there was only so much that the archers could do.

Tarina, who had just watched the whole scene unfold in front of her, was now flying down to protect the Queen. Her regiment was circling the Queen as she ran towards the barge. But things were not that easy.

A group of Boggans had jumped down from the tree above and were now attacking the dragonflies. Tarina's regiment, along with General Ronin were now trying to shoot down all the Boggans, but it was hopeless; they were greatly out numbered. Tarina was knocked down from her bird but she didn't give up with out a fight. She gave him a hard right hook and kicked him off of her. The Boggan glared at her decided to continue the fight.

"Ronin!" Queen Tara shouted out. General Ronin had, likewise, been knocked off of his bird and plunged into the Lake's water. Now the Queen was left stranded on the lily pad. But as she had once said to her General, she was not completely helpless.

Queen Tara saw the Pods disappearing under the water, as the Boggans had pulled them down by their roots. Soon she was surrounded by Boggans but she decided to fight. She jumped up and then slammed back down, sending the Boggans flying backwards from the ripples she created. From the lily pad Queen Tara called for a tree vine to lift her off the the lily pad and away from the lake.

She fell down onto nearby plants and continued to run away from the Boggans. As she ran the leaves for plants over lapped each other to protect the Queen from the Boggans airborne attacks. She saw Leafmen falling down from the trees above and quickly glanced over her shoulder as she saw them fighting for her protection.

Her breathing was becoming harder as she felt the forest dying around her. She knew the Boggans were out numbering her men but she need to continue to run. She suddenly stopped in her tracks when she came face to face with a Boggan. Out of the corner of her eye she spotted a flower Jinn, Dandelion, holding back a lose root. The Queen ducked as the flower Jinn let go and knocked the Boggan unconscious. The Queen looked at the flower Jinn and cracked a grin.

"Nice one, you're stealing my moves kid." The Queen said, trying to stay up beat. They continued to run away from the hundreds of Boggans chasing the Queen.

"Your Majesty!" A Leafman on his hummingbird shouted out. "Come with me." The Leafman said. Already the leafman had the flower Jinn's mother on his saddle. The Queen thought it more important to get the flower Jinn girl out of dangers way first.

"Take her to safety. I have to led them away from the crowd." The Queen said as she veered away the Leafman.

"You're totally my hero." The flower Jinn girl shouted out. The Queen cracked a smile as she ran away. The Leafman couldn't say anything but follow the Queen's orders.

The Queen jumped from leaf to leaf and flower to flower, finally to run onto a tree branch but soon ran out of branch. She jumped off the tree when she spotted her General on his hummingbird. General Ronin caught the Queen with ease.

"Okay, so maybe you were right?" The Queen panted out. General Ronin smirked.

"Reminded me to gloat later." The Queen had a small smile on her face but was cut short when a Boggan arrow flew past, inches from her face. General Ronin turned around and saw Mandrake and his son flying towards them. Mandrake shot his arrow first, which General Ronin deflected with ease. Mandrake's son shot the second arrow. General Ronin grabbed a hold of the arrow spun around and knotted it into his bow. He aimed for Mandrake's son and didn't miss. But Mandrake had aimed his arrow at the Queen.

"Son, No!" Mandrake said after he released the third and final arrow. When General Ronin turned around all he saw was Queen Tara falling. She had her arm stretched out for him to grab but he was too late. She was far out of his reach.

Tarina watched on in horror as she saw her Queen fall from the great height. She urged her bird to go faster, trying to catch the falling Queen but the wind and lighting was against her and her General. She pushed against the strong wind that threatened to knock her off course. She could barely see the Queen's frail figure lying on the ground but her vision was suddenly blocked when a Stomper, with red hair and a purple jacket, leaned over the injured Queen. But the Queen was soon cut completely out of her vision as the nearby trees closed the opening.

Soon a stronger wind blew her off of her course. She couldn't see what was happening. But just as sudden as the strong wind had started, it stopped. Tarina was able to perch her bird and dismount. She was about several yards away from the Queen and what looked to be the Stomper, but smaller.

"You need a doctor." The Stomper said frantically. "Somebody call-. What is this thing?" The Stomper asked as the Pod wove its vines around the Stomper's fingers.

"It's the Life of the Forest." The Queen said weakly. The Boggan's poison was settling into her bloodstream. She knew she would soon be gone. Her spirit would join the Forest.

Just at that moment Tarina and other Leafmen made themselves known. Some had jumped down from the tree branches that they had be running on. They stepped closer to their dying Queen. The former Stomper, not knowing who they were, gathered the Queen in her arms, trying to protect her. Tarina gasped softly when she spotted the arrow sticking out of Queen Tara's abdomen.

"Tara!" The General's voice called out, full of worry. He didn't wait for his bird to be properly perch. He jumped off his bird and threw off his helmet; not caring where it landed. He ran over to take his Beloved into his arms once more. His hands cradled her body and with all the strength that she could muster she offered a weak smile to her General and said,

"So serious." With her final breath as she tried to look into her Beloved's eyes. General Ronin shook his head as he knew what was happening, they all did. General Ronin pulled the Queen closer and rested his forehead against her own. He slowly rocked them back and forth, trying his best to comfort Queen Tara. He was breaking down inside but didn't know what to do. He didn't want to show it.

General Ronin, along with the other Leafmen that were with him, watched as the Queen's body materialized into an essences that was soon gathered by the wind and carried away. They watched the former Queen's essences drift away and then keeled down in front of where the Queen had died. The patch of grass where the Queen had laid had now rotted away from the Boggan's arrow.

Lieutenant General Finn was the first one to stand up. He looked down at his still kneeling friend and placed a hand on his shoulder. General Ronin was the last one to stand up. Tarina looked at her General with pure concern and worry.

"I'm so sorry." The Stomper said. General Ronin sighed before looking up at the former Stomper.

"What did she say to you?" General Ronin asked.

"Something about glue? Or a canoe?" The Stomper said, very confused. She hadn't really caught the name that the Queen had told her.

"Nim Galuu." General Ronin said, perking up slightly.

"The Scroll Keeper." Lieutenant General Finn said walking up behind his friend.

"We don't know anything about the Pod with out Tara. Maybe he does." General Ronin said turning back to his second-in-command. "Take the Leafmen to Moonhaven. Fortify it. Keep everyone safe." He ordered. Lieutenant General Finn looked at his General.

"What about you?" Lieutenant General Finn asked. General Ronin could see the true question that laid in his friend's eyes.

"Mandrake will be looking for this Pod. But he won't be looking for a Leafman traveling alone." General Ronin said, standing up straighter.

"That's not what I meant." Lieutenant General Finn objected. General Ronin placed a hand on his right shoulder.

"I know what you meant." General Ronin said, giving his friend a gentle reassuring squeeze. "I'll send word when I reach Nim's" General Ronin turned around to face the Stomper. Lieutenant General Finn nodded his head and jumped up onto a nearby leaf.

"Who are you people?" The Stomper asked as Leafmen ran past her, some jumping back up to the trees others running towards their bird. Tarina mounted her bird and was about to fly away but she had to look back at the heartbroken General. She had only seen that look on two other people, but had only recognized it on one. The first time she saw that look it had been Nod's mother, Nora. The second time it had been her Aunt, when she had lost her husband. If Tarina didn't know any better, she would've assumed that at one point in time The General and The Queen had been lovers. Everyone knew how close the two were, but very few knew how much they truly meant to each other. Tarina never knew how much The General loved The Queen until that night.

Shaking her head, Tarina pushed aside her thoughts and flew away.

"Is this some sort of reenactment, or some-," The Stomper stopped mid-sentence as a bee flew by. "That's a big bug."

"No, it's about average actually." General Ronin said as he walked over to the Stomper.

"Then what? I'm tiny." The Stomper said as though she was joking. All of the sudden her face dropped, her eyes opened widened and she let out a gasp. "Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, wha-"

""I'm not sure why the Queen brought you here either," General Ronin said walking towards the Stomper, whose hold became tighter around the Pod, as she backed away from him.

"No, no, no, nope. No." The Stomper girl continued to talk over The Leafmen General.

"But she gave you that Pod; so your gonna have to come-." General Ronin was trying to explain things the best he could with the Stomper before she cut him off.

"Make me big." She demanded.

"Excuse me." General Ronin cried out in shock. Was this girl crazy? He thought.

"I'm not going anywhere until you make me big again." The Stomper girl said pulling the Pod away from the General.

"You know what I don't do magic." The General said in an exasperated voice. He was getting fed up with the Stomper girl. She didn't understand the severity of the situation she had just been pulled into.

"You can talk to Nim Galuu about that." The General said as he tried to pull the Pod out of the girl's arms. But the Pod, having already bonded with the Stomper girl, wrapped its roots around the girl's arm. "He might know something-"

"Might!" The girl shouted out. Her breathing had quickened and her heart was pounding against her chest. She just wanted to go home.

"Whoa whoa whoa, not so fast soldier boy." Mub interjected loudly, sticking his head in between the Stomper and the General's arms. "You do not yank on a Pod, especially when it's attached to something so lovely." Mub said smoothly as she looked over to the girl. The Stomper looked absolutely confused, terrified, but still confused.

"Talking snails." She muttered out as she looked at the 'bug'.

"Actually he's a snail." Mub said, jerking his head over to his friend. "I'm a slug. No shell over here baby." Mub rubbed his belly, freaking the girl out even more. "It's just slows me down." He said as crawled over to the girl as she took steps back, away from him.

"Ronin right? Head of the Leafmen," Grub asked nervously. "Big fan, I just- love what you do with your jaw. Yes that!" Grub exclaimed out. Grub cleared his throat and then stood up straight. "We are the official Pod care takers sir." Grub said, raising a hand to a salute.

"It can't survive without us." Mub said looking back over to the General. The girl, grateful for the small break from the slug, let out a sigh.

"We keep it moist." Grub interjected.

"Moist is what we do." Mub said, puffing out his chest. General Ronin looked at them, raising an eyebrow.

"You're kidding," The General said. "You're not kidding. Fine." The General's shoulder dropped and he let out a heavy sigh. He called out for his bird. Once the bird was perched he grabbed the slug, threw him onto the back of his bird and then followed the snail.

"Word of the Queen's passing will travel fast. We have to travel faster." The General looked over to the Stomper. "With all this extra weight we're gonna need another bird." He explained.

"Bird." The girl muttered. "Of course." She said shaking her head and scoffing at the idea of riding a bird.

General Ronin and the girl, who's name as he had learned was M.K, along with the Pod's care takers were about half way up the river when she asked.

"By any chance, you don't happen to be a part of an advanced society of tiny people living in the woods, do you?"

General Ronin looked at her and then looked back at the Pod care takers. They had their tongues hanging out of their mouths, much like a dogs M.K noted, and looked like fools. General Ronin grunted.

"Some are more advance than others." He commented before turning his attention back to flying his bird. M.K swallowed a lump down her throat. She didn't want to be here and yet she was, but why?

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