The Northern Forest of Tob, two days before the Zuranon Disaster
Lupusregina Beta snarled again after hearing the small dryad's mission, but she reigned in her rampant emotions at the blatant disrespect to her masters at her aunt's request. She flicked her claws away and stood straight, boring holes into the tree spirit with her glare.
Ooh, you are so lucky, you little twig! It's a good thing Aunt Ankoro saw fit to let you live.
She steadied her breathing and let her hair return to a non-puffed state, clasping her hands to ease her rage. She stood off to the side to not only give Lords Blue Planet and Coup De Grace and Aunt Ankoro more room, but to remove herself from the situation in case she did something she knew she would regret.
The druid, calm and benevolent as always, continued the conversation as if nothing had happened.
"I'm sorry to hear that. Do you know what happened to her? When was the last time you saw her?"
Lupusregina's heart fluttered at how kind and nurturing the Supreme Being of Nature was, despite the breach in proper etiquette. It reminded her of her duty to serve each and every single one of the forty-one to the best of her abilities.
The rude Pinison shook from fearfulness, but she was significantly more pacified than before. "I saw her yesterday in the early evening near the community grove. She looked like she was in a hurry to go somewhere. She was smiling then, so I wasn't too worried."
The younger canine observed Lord Blue Planet nodding his head. "Okay, so what changed to make you worry? Do you have an idea of where she could've gone?"
"Well, I can probably think of a few ideas. She most likely went to go see her graftmate Svend in their usual spot. I only got worried when she didn't show back up this morning. She's usually in the community grove by dawn."
"So you know she left sometime last night, but you're worried because she didn't show back up when she usually does. Who's Svend and what's a graftmate?"
The smaller dryad looked away, rubbing her right arm in a bashful manner. She giggled like some school girl straight out of a First World "anime", if Lupusregina was using the term correctly.
"Well...we don't usually have a lot of boy dryads, so sometimes we have to look to 'other' sources in order to continue our family lineage. So far as we know, humans have proven to be the most compatible."
The werewolf pleiade was already smirking, raunchy thoughts of all varieties flitting through her head at the implications that the tree spirit gave them. Her aunt had caught on, giving off a salacious grin to mirror her own.
Just goes to show how much me and my aunt are alike! All the better to make sure I serve her well and that I am the best niece possible!
She shook off those thoughts, turning to see what the reactions of her other masters would be like. Lord Blue Planet understood immediately, as expected, and winced as if pinched. Lord Coup De Grace kept an excellent stoic face, not betraying any emotion whatsoever.
He was one of the best hunters within Ainz Ooal Gown, who tracked his prey with a grace and poise so natural that she had no doubt that the predators of First World would be taking notes. She was not entirely sure where they would live, because of what Lord Blue Planet had said, but it was a question best saved for another time.
Her thoughts realigned with the present, crossing her arms as she softened her gaze towards the rude Pinison. Much like her, said dryad returned to her original objective.
"But that's not important," she practically shouted, waving her hands frantically "my sister left and still hasn't come back. It's already noon and Great Oak Naaru is gonna wonder where I've been! What am I gonna tell him?"
Aunt Ankoro spoke up. "Maybe we can help you out there squirt. Take us back to your folks and maybe we can figure something out, see if we can find your sister for you guys."
"Are you so certain that is wise, my friend?" Lord Coup De Grace asked, narrowing his eyes, "we do not know this one very well at all. For all we know, she could be leading us into a trap with her naive and childish facade."
"Hey! I'm not childish! I'm not even human," little Pinison cried, "I'm pretty sure I'm also not naive. I know everything about this forest."
"So why have you not been able to find your sister then, young dryad?"
That shut her down quickly, as she looked down in shame. Lord Blue Planet smacked the androsphinx's shoulder.
"Hey man, that wasn't cool," the druid said, furrowing his brows, "we don't take jabs like that at people, and as far as I'm concerned, I'm a hundred percent sure that she's telling the truth."
"And how can you be certain of this, old friend?"
In lieu of a verbal reply, the seilenoi opened his mouth to reveal a soft pink glow. He closed it quickly, and then explained.
"Before I came into the forest, I cast some special spells to help me out. [Charmspeak] allows me to talk to people and allow them to speak honestly with me. If I really needed to, I could even convince them to do things for me."
Lupusregina bobbed her head in praise, watching as Pinison covered her mouth with a gasp.
"You mean you can control me! How do I know that you won't try and do anything to hurt me?"
Before Lupusregina could tear into the diminutive tree spirit for her blatant disregard for her master's extremely generous offer, her aunt stepped in to diffuse the situation.
"Because if we wanted to hurt you, we would've done so already," the elder werewolf said deathly seriously, "and if we wanted to hurt your family then we wouldn't have said anything about [Charmspeak] either. All it does is ensure you're being honest with us, so now we're being honest with you."
Pinison took a moment to consider that logic, staring into the dirt. The younger werewolf grit her fangs and clenched and unclenched her fists. She dug her claws into her palms hard enough to almost draw blood.
Lupusregina closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, remembering the lessons that her father had imparted to her. He knew her inside and out, as expected of her creator, which meant that he understood immediately her "darker" side.
Always remember that there's more than the bloodshed, and more than the glory. Everything has a right to live, even if it hasn't earned that right yet.
Her sadism, her desire to split open the dryad from brow to groin and relish in her cries of agony, abated as she recalled those precious words from her father. She closed her lips over her fangs, and sheathed her talons.
By then the tree spirit looked back up to face the denizens of Nazarick, her timber features set into that of determination.
"Okay, I believe you, and not because of your [Charmspeak]. Grand Oak Naaru would want to meet you all anyways, so follow me. Just be patient during the trip, okay?"
Those words mystified Lupusregina, a sentiment that her masters seemingly shared with her. She immediately brushed aside the notion, for there was absolutely no way that such a statement could possibly be true.
They're probably just pretending to make me feel better. If there's anybody who's omniscient, then it would be the Supreme Beings. No way they wouldn't know what she's referring to.
As if reading her thoughts, which she honestly wouldn't be surprised, Lord Blue Planet dipped his horns. "Alright. Thank you for your trust, and for being willing to allow us to help. Go ahead and lead the way."
Pinison said nothing, which rekindled some of the canine pleiade's former rage, and turned towards a cluster of trees bunched together. She leaned in close and whispered something to the thicket.
There was a deep groaning, the trees shifting and twisting in place to rip their roots out of the earth. They slowly but surely moved out the way, their roots coiling and writhing in a way not unlike Lord Flatfoot did.
After a few more moments, the trees provided a space large enough for all of them to walk through together. A path revealed itself before them, many of the radicles slithering out of the way to give a relatively short path.
"They'll close behind us just as soon as we pass through, so we can walk and talk without any of the wildlife bothering us," Pinison said, waiting patiently by the entrance's side for the Supreme Beings and faithful battle maid.
"We're really doing this...whatever happened to wanting to expand the map?" Lord Coup De Grace inquired rhetorically. His noble visage never changed save for a slight twitch of his eyebrows.
"We're still doing that," Aunt Ankoro answered, "it's just now we're getting some of that excitement I wanted. Ready to go kiddo?"
The junior wolf smiled, giving her best grin since they had arrived into the Northern Forest of Tob. She shivered in excitement as she walked up to the entrance with the rest of her masters.
"You bet, Aunt Ankoro! Now let's go see what this stu-silly little dryad wants to show us."
Her aunt matched her smile, but gently flicked at her hat where her wolffish ears lay hidden.
"Be polite now," she said, smile straining somewhat, "we already offered to help out nice Pinison here, so please be civil."
Lupusregina wanted to pout, but she restrained herself and settled for an understanding shake of her head.
"Good girl," Aunt Ankoro praised, morphing into her secondary form and dashing into the silvan hallway. Lord Coup De Grace joined her, gliding part of the way with his massive wings. He quickly retracted them once he realized that his wingspan was far too large.
Lord Blue Planet joined them at a leisurely pace, stepping in tune with the thudding of his staff. The Druid exuded joy and enthusiasm as he walked into the artificially natural passage, giving his thanks to the nearby odd Pinison.
The tree spirit closed her eyes in reverence, walking in right behind the Supreme Being of Nature. Lupusregina was the last to enter, flanking their group and keeping a close eye on the path that had led them into the clearing originally.
She never took her keen orbitals off of their meeting spot, even as the trees closed. Her gaze flickered from tree to tree, noticing how her fur seemed to stand on end.
She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she felt as if she had another set of eyes trained on her. She knew that it was most likely Lord Nubo keeping an eye on them, but something about what she was experiencing was...different.
She got the impression of a great hunger, the same that overcame her whenever she gave into her bloodthirsty moods and tore into a bloody piece of meat during lunch.
But when she scanned her surroundings, she found nothing. She even looked to the sky, or what little of it she could find through the thick canopy, to see if one of the Ophannin's many eyes were trained on her.
The last tree affixed itself into its original spot, granting only a sliver's worth of space to peek through. The shadows of the canopy deepened on the other side, and she could've swore that she saw something nestled in the groves of the arboreal titans.
It was a pitch darkness, more unnatural than the shadows themselves. It did not move, nor did it even change in the sunlight. It was ever present and immovable. She tilted her head at it.
Lord Temperance?
And just like that, it vanished. A simple blink of her eyes was all it took, but the unending hunger and void in reality disappeared. Her ears flickered underneath her cap as she tried to ponder what it was that she saw.
But the minuscule gap she had used had sealed shut by then, and she resolved to bring it up later with her masters once they had the chance to speak with "Grand Oak Naaru".
Like her aunt, she shifted into a fully wolf form, her clothes melting into her fur pelt. She sprinted to catch up, taking one last glance over her haunches to see if she could spot any lingering traces of the phenomenon.
Like before, there was not even an echo of a memory of what she had witnessed. She refocused her energies on escorting and guarding her masters, and keeping an eye on the strange Pinison, who acted as their guide.
To Lupusregina's surprise, the walk took longer than she estimated. Though she assumed that was mostly because her masters did not walk any faster than that of a stroll, mayhaps to better speak with the young-sounding dryad.
They more or less walked side by side, the werewolf pleiade padding along on her aunt's left, while Lord Coup De Grace took her right. The Druid walked slightly ahead to be beside the much smaller tree spirit.
"So your sister, what is she like?" Lord Blue Planet asked politely. A bit of meaningless small talk, at least to Lupusregina, but she listened in all the same.
"Tulipa is always excited about everything," strange Pinison said, "new people, new land, new anything would be enough to get her exploring far and away from the community grove. But she always came back safe and sound, so I never really worried."
The naturalist stayed quiet, prompting her to go on.
"It wasn't long until we got introduced to a settlement of humans that we're close with. Younglings like us don't really get to meet them until we're older, when we're able to make reasonable decisions and opinions about things. For Tulipa though, I think she knew she'd finally found what she was looking for because she met Svend."
That was the second time that that name had come up, and now the younger canine was intrigued to learn its significance. Her ears perked up discreetly to listen closer.
"She had never met a human before, but Grand Oak Naaru warned her not to experience it all at once, to try and take it slow so she could understand Svend and his people better. She pretty much said he was full of fertilizer and dived right into their way of life."
It took Lupusregina a moment to get the joke, but she giggled quietly when she did, as did her masters. Strange Pinison grinned herself before continuing her story.
"Overtime, Tulipa and Svend got to know each other better, and eventually they fell in love. There was nothing really that Grand Oak Naaru could do at that point, but I think secretly he was pleased, even if he didn't show it that well at times."
"Wait, really?" Aunt Ankoro butted in, "I didn't think dryads and humans would really get along like that. Surely there would be more tension, right?"
The younger werewolf found no fault in that statement, not that she could anyways, seeing that she was a lesser being. Though to her it seemed more an educated guess than a total statement. Perhaps her aunt was "testing the waters" so to speak?
"Quite the opposite actually," the dryad said, "Svend's clan accepted Tulipa with great gusto! Grand Oak Naaru himself didn't expect such a reaction, but the humans always welcomed us with open arms anyways."
Lupusregina started to unconsciously snarl at the tree spirit's unintentional rebuke, but curiosity made her back down. From her experience in the Second World, humans were quite hostile to anything not of their flesh, so to hear something else was surprising to say the least.
Lord Coup De Grace shared her sentiments, judging by his frown. "The humans actually took you in as part of their family? That must have been quite the twist of events. There must have been a particular reason why they did so with so little resistance."
Strange Pinison shrugged her shoulders. "We share the same goals. We want what's best for the forest, and we do our part to make sure it stays healthy and growing. Svend's people give and take from the forest, just like everything in nature. For every tree they cut down, they replace it with two more."
"And this does not upset you, as a spirit of nature?"
"Not especially, not once Tulipa's graftmate showed us how well they tended to the trees as they cut them down. They usually replace the old trees with new saplings! They're so cute…"
The dryad sighed blissfully, the junior canine recognizing the look of waking fantasies enveloping her. Then her face scrunched up as if she had bitten into something sour. She held up a hand for the denizens of Nazarick to hold.
"Excuse me a moment," she said as she stumbled into a nearby tree. She melted into it completely, her wooden body becoming indistinguishable from the bark of the oak.
All of them stood there, watching with fascination as she emerged seconds later with a more refreshed and shiny appearance. While she did not look sickly before, her floral extensions seemed far lusher and vibrant in hue.
"Sorry, I had to stop and cleanse my physical form," she explained casually, "we're far enough from my original body that if I don't stop to clear my spirit of impurities in a nearby compatible tree, I'd just be teleported back home."
Lupusregina looked to Lord Blue Planet for guidance, noticing that after his initial question at the start of their walk, he had been unusually quiet. She saw that he still possessed a kind, fatherly look, only now there was a hint of pain behind his honey-yellow eyes.
He clenched his staff tightly, slowly examining the woodland hall around him. He gazed at no one specimen in particular, but he did raise his hand sideways and made a chopping motion at the base of the trees.
She understood immediately what that meant.
Wait, he said earlier that nothing in First World "came close" to the Forest of Tob...Does that mean that there's no forests left in the First World? Oh, my lord…
For once her anger was not directed at Strange Pinison, who had become less and less peculiar over their walk. Now she found boiling heat encompassing her heart, imagining as the inhabitants of First World tore down the forests that resided there.
Grasslands drying, wildlife starving to death, and the great greenwoods fading away into obscurity. To even imagine that the Supreme Being of Nature would be watching and being unable to do anything seemed tantamount to heresy.
She could not even venture how much sorrow he must be reliving. And at the mere mention of cutting down trees? It must have been a cruel sight to see.
None of the Supreme Beings said anything, patiently waiting for the dryad to fall back into line. They said nothing else on their way to the community grove that the tree spirit spoke of, but the werewolf pleiade's keen eye picked up on their much faster pace this time around.
It didn't take much longer to reach the space they sought out, marked by the massive barrier of aged oaks guarding the way. Like before, Strange Pinison whispered to this batch of woodlands, encouraging them to split apart and provide a doorway for which to enter through.
The dryad was the first to enter, which did not bother Lupusregina for the sole fact that her masters would require a proper announcer for their arrival. Afterall, it was only fitting.
Rather than the fanfare and loud announcements like she was expecting, the grove was silent, with only the young tree spirit's voice being discernible. She poked her head not long after.
"You guys can come in now! The others would like to meet and talk with you."
Aunt Ankoro reverted to her bipedal form, blowing a stray leaf off that had fallen on the tip of her nose. The junior canine followed her example, smoothing out her maid uniform to appear presentable.
Lord Blue Planet was the first one through, ducking slightly to accommodate his impressive rack of antlers. The bells jingled a merry tune as he did so.
Lord Coup De Grace was second, not having to duck as much due to his quadrupedal stance. However, he did have to tuck his voluminous wings tight into his body so as to not bump them on the way in.
Both Lupusregina and her aunt were the last ones through. They glanced over their shoulders to ensure nothing had followed them, the trees groaning shut as soon as they passed.
The "community grove", as it had been named, was extremely spacious and accommodating, with the tallest oaks reaching up far beyond the heads of the lords of Nazarick. There was grass like pillow fluff to caress her shoes, as well as stray leaves littering the ground.
There was a row of especially thick oaks arrayed in a half circle, facing them as they walked in. Their bark was cracked with age and falling off in some spaces, revealing the dull wood beneath. One lorded over them all, the very top of it punching through the canopy and beyond.
Their roots spread over every single inch of spare ground, bursting past the surface like roiling sea serpents in the waves of a violent sea. An impressive feat, considering that the entire grove seemed to be the same amount of space as that of the amphitheatre in Nazarick.
The werewolf pleiade watched as the seilenoi stepped before the half circle of ancient titans, planting his staff firmly into the ground. Strange Pinison stood right beside him and tugged at the ironwood bracer he wore.
The Druid crouched slightly, the dryad whispering something in his ear. Lupusregina could not see her lord's face, as she was right behind him, but she did see him nod his head in understanding.
"I am Blue Planet of...elsewhere, and these are my friends," the naturalist boomed, his voice full of authority and divine power. The trees seemed to shiver from his thrumming vocals.
"We have come to the Forest of Tob to explore, and to take samples back to our home, so that we might use them to better understand it," he continued, "your child, Pinison Pol Perlia, found us and told us of your plight, the missing Tulipa Pol Perlia. We wish to help you find her and bring her home."
The last of his words echoed away, melding into the canopy and earth and oaken trunks. Silence reigned for a time, and Lupusregina watched the grove to survey around her.
A sigh came from the central tree, the wind blowing throughout the great space and coalescing in front of the half circle. A whirlwind of leaves and scrap pieces of wood and branches flew together, slowly but surely putting together a body.
It stood around a head taller than Pinison, still quite short by the standards of Nazarick as it would have to crane its neck to look Lord Blue Planet in the eye. The new dryad's body was segmented and scratched in some areas, a result of putting together a body from the environment.
There was no green anywhere on its surface, only hues of brown from the wood which composed it. Its mouth was facing downwards in a permanent scowl, and its eyes were much like Pinison in that they were black voids carved into a wooden plane.
For hair it had dried, crumbling grass and twigs, with branches sticking out of its build at random intervals. It looked more a haphazardly fashioned doll than a living being, with how its individual pieces grated against one another.
"I hear you, Blue Planet of Elsewhere," the elder dryad spoke with a rasping voice. "I am Naaru Pol Perlia, the patriarch of this grove, but everyone refers to me as Grand Oak Naaru."
Lupusregina's eyes bugged out of her skull when she saw the Supreme Being of Nature himself do a half bow before the self-proclaimed patriarch.
"Well met, Grand Oak Naaru! Truly, a pleasure to meet you in the flesh. Pinison mentioned that you were someone of high standing within this forest."
The elder dryad inclined his head. "My grand flora can be quite the exaggerator at times. I am merely a caretaker of my community, just as I imagine that you are, He of the Elder Roots."
That took Lupusregina's lord back, his head snapping up and nearly goring his peer. "Huh? I'm sorry, what was that title you just gave me?"
Grand Oak Naaru dared to look Lord Blue Planet in his amiable eyes. "Do not think I would not recognize your aura, oh great one. You possess an aura that I am all too familiar with from my sapling days, one I swore would never make its way here. There is terrible power within you, you and all your compatriots"
The werewolf pleiade snarled, every sense going into attack mode once she saw the trees at the edge of the grove deposit more dryads, laden with heavy, wooden armor and spears of twine and slate arrowheads.
Their expressions were fierce, and they marched with a single unity that betrayed the notion that they had prepared for such a scenario many times. The thudding of their sandals was deafening, and they quickly surrounded the residents of Nazarick and held them at spear point.
Lupusregina crouched into a defensive position, her claws flaring and fangs elongating into true wolfish form. She snapped at those who stepped forward, forcing them to steady their advancement.
Just as she was about to pounce and rip the dryads to pieces, for double-crossing their goodwill and faith, a hand landed on her shoulder.
She turned and saw the steely gaze of her aunt, her eyes glaring with a recognizable order.
"Stand down kiddo," she said, her voice peaceful but her claws extended in much the same ways as Lupusregina's. "We should at least give these folks the chance to explain themselves. Remember, Pinison was being honest with us."
The elder werewolf said no more, but it was more than enough for the junior canine to comprehend. She backed up, getting into a standing position to face the elder dryad.
Save for her, no one else had moved, especially her masters. She chalked this course of action up to the fact that the lords of Nazarick were already in control of the entire situation, and hadn't even needed to pull out their weapons.
She took solace in that, and crossed her arms with a smug smirk at the dryads. She was internally egging them on to try and do something, anything that would make the Supreme Beings leap into action.
Disappointingly, they did not.
"What is the meaning of this?!" the androsphinx demanded in a low growl, "is this how you treat all your guests when they come offering help?"
Betrayer Naaru stayed silent, his empty sockets flickering between each Supreme Being with an unreadable expression. Pinison stood in the middle between both parties, trembling the same way that the leaves did during a violent storm.
The atmosphere was so electric it would have made Lady Tempest Aizawa jealous, as Lord Blue Planet and the elder dryad stared one another down.
It was commendable, to have the ancient tree spirit do as he did, but Lupusregina knew that he would be nothing more than a splatter of sap in a heartbeat if the situation called for it.
The Druid was the first to break the hush, several dryads swiveling to face him with spears drawn.
"What do you sense? What makes you think we're enemies?" He asked. There was no righteous fury, only genuine curiosity.
"You reek of death," the patriarch replied, "the sickly sweet smell of rotting meat and dusty bones. You smell as if you're from a tomb, Blue Planet of Elsewhere, and you smell almost exactly the same as Zy'tl Q'ae."
"Almost the same? What's a Zy'tl Q'ae?"
"A demon tree that has haunted this forest for centuries. You are far calmer and more reasonable than it. You also do not have the same malevolence, nor the insatiable appetite that is characteristic of it."
The elder dryad held up a hand, his "soldiers" pulling their spears up into guarded but non-hostile forms. Betrayer Naaru's eyes were as hard as the armor of the Druid, piercing black that would have made a lesser creature tremble in fright.
"I apologize, Blue Planet of Elsewhere, for recent events have had me on edge and rather paranoid unfortunately. If you truly wish to help, then please, allow me to tell you of our plight."
"Would not your missing dryad be the plight that you are referring to?" Lord Coup De Grace asked, the light of the runes painted into his fur fading away. "Surely you have some priorities here that you wish to maintain?"
The elder dryad nodded. "And you are correct, oh great feline, but I am afraid that the disappearance of my grand flora Tulipa is but one of many that have gone missing."
That declaration caused Pinison to gasp, which confirmed to Lupusregina that the junior tree spirit was not fully aware of the functioning of her own home.
"Grand Oak Naaru!" The dryad squeaked, "you mean even more of us have gone missing? Why didn't you tell me anything before?! Now I'm really worried about Tulipa. And who else has gone missing, and why haven't you told me so that I could go out searching for them?"
"Because it's not your place, little one," Betrayer Naaru rumbled, "you're barely exiting your ringling years, and you have no cause to be concerning yourself with matters for the elders to deal with. This is not your problem."
"But it is! My sister has gone missing, and you and I both know that she would never, ever deviate from her routines. What's going on here? Just let me-"
"This is not the place or the time!" The elder dryad snapped, "return to your tree! The guests and I have much to discuss, and we need to do it now."
Strange Pinison looked scandalized, and disappeared in a flurry of leaves and grass. In the moment before she truly left, Lupusregina could've sworn that she was leaking rivulets of blackish fluid from her eyes.
But it passed, and the werewolf pleiade found herself focusing on the patriarch of the grove.
His expression did not change from the stone-cold scowl he had worn since they had arrived, but she saw a pang of regret flash through before dissipating all together.
"I apologize for you all having to see that," he said, "but my little one can be a handful sometimes, and often tries to get into too much for her own good."
"Not without a reason," Aunt Ankoro said, crossing her arms, "apparently you've been keeping secrets from her too. Anything else you want to get off of your chest?"
Betrayer Naaru was as still as a marble statue, blending in with his surroundings. Then he seemed to deflate, slumping somewhat as his body appeared to age another few centuries with weariness.
"There is no point in holding off any longer, but please, I beg of you, do not get my grand flora involved with this. Elder Roots below only knows the true extent of her recklessness."
He gestured to the rest of the warrior dryads to back off. They promptly marched back to their outposts at the edge of the clearing, melding into their home trees.
Betrayer Naaru flicked his wrist, the roots of the trees in the half circle bursting forth from the earth and coiling into familiar shapes. Soon enough, there was suitable furniture for the denizens of Nazarick to sit upon.
"Please, if you may," the patriarch said, taking one of the chairs that had formed around a small round table. Lupusregina eyed the appointments and appraised them, feeling that they were lacking in quality for individuals such as herself and her masters.
"Don't you think these are a bit plain for the Supreme Beings, dryad?" the junior canine said flatly, "surely you have better accommodations for my masters? Or at least something more spacious?"
"This'll be fine," Lord Blue Planet said, "we're somewhat big, but I got it covered."
Then the druid waved his own hand, a soft green glow shining from his palm. The roots reacted immediately, enlarging the admittedly tiny furnishings so that they might not crumble under the weight of their occupants.
Betrayer Naaru didn't bat an eye, folding his hands in front of him and patiently waiting for them to take a chair.
Once everyone was seated, Lord Coup De Grace jump started the conversation that needed to be had.
"You mentioned that others had gone missing, and that Tulipa was just the most recent one as of this morning. How far does this go back and why doesn't your 'grand flora' know about it?"
The elder dryad sighed, pinching at the spot where the bridge of his nose would've been. "I believe the first one to vanish was Elder Osage. One day she said that she had heard voices coming from beyond our grove, ones that sounded like some of our brethren. She left to investigate and never returned. That was around a moon ago."
So this has been going on for a while then. I wonder just how many have gone missing, and why?
He continued. "Then some of our other sisters, too, claimed the same thing: that they heard voices from within our forest calling out to them. The voices of loved ones or acquaintances who had left in seasons prior. Like Elder Osage, they, too, did not return."
"So this isn't just an isolated incident, but a full blown serial kidnapping," Lord Blue Planet stated, stroking his goatee wisely, "You're losing people and you don't even know where they've gone. Have you, I don't know, tried to send anybody to track them down?"
Lupusregina nodded along with this sentiment, pondering as to the machinations of the community grove and why it had allowed its own members to disappear with no repercussions.
"Many of my people have gone to investigate and find out what has happened, only for them to join the ranks of the departed. Around a dozen are gone now, and my Tulipa is among them."
Betrayer Naaru paused, his clasped hands shaking slightly as he set his "lips" into a tight, straight line. "Something lurks beyond in the Forest of Tob, stealing my family, and I have reason to believe that it has to do with Zy'tl Q'ae."
"That demon tree thing you guys mentioned earlier," Aunt Ankoro remembered, her eyes flickering to her niece, "you said something about Blue Planet smelling like it. What did you mean by that?"
"There is...I am unsure how to explain it properly, but there is a taint to the aura you carry, which overlays who you are as living creatures. It is dark and foreboding, in much the same way that the demon tree is. But its evil permeates through and through, unable to be contained by something so insignificant as a body."
The ancient tree spirit looked each one of them in the eye, Lupusregina too enraptured with his soothing manner of talking to bother getting upset at the breach in etiquette.
"Your scent of decay is surface level, like old dirt over fresh soil. The place where you live itself has great malevolence, but not you yourselves. My initial reaction was too hasty, I'll freely admit that."
The younger werewolf frowned at that, recalling the bouts of laughter she and her own sisters had shared with their masters back home. She recalled her and her father watching First World films together in his suite, playing catch in the fields of the Sixth Floor with something called a baseball.
She witnessed first hand how Lord Luci*Fer had built the lion statues in the women's baths and enchanted them to activate with a specific phrase and wreak havoc on those bathing. She knew how rowdy Lord Suratan could be, and his constant challenges to wrestle with Lord Warrior Takemikazuchi.
She had personally watched the blooming brotherhood of Lord Nishikienrai and Lord Flatfoot, even in the olden days of Second World. The half golem and assassin vine waiting in the shadows for their prey and striking with flawless symmetry and synergy.
The forges of Lord Amanomahitotsu had never been brighter than with the ringing of his hammer and tongs, and the library of Ashurbanipal's shelves had never been more bursting to capacity than with the ever expanding collection of Lord Grievous Sin.
The Great Tomb of Nazarick had been the most bustling and downright happy that it had been in an extremely long time. She couldn't possibly comprehend how her masters could be considered anything other than purely benevolent and righteous.
Well...some of my lords aren't exactly the nicest, but it's the mortal's fault for pissing them off or getting in their way anyways. They should know better than to tread in the path of a Supreme Being.
But still, something about the grove patriarch's statement didn't sit right with her. She decided that the first task she would do when she got home would be to speak to her dad and ask for his opinion on the matter. He would know what she was talking about, surely.
"That answers one of our questions, but opens up several more and leaves one already asked unanswered," Lord Coup De Grace stoically said, shattering Lupusregina's thoughts, "why has the other one, Pinison, not been told about this."
Naaru stared hard into the surface of the bumpy table, tracing a twig-like finger along the grooves. "Because if I had done so, she would've been one of the first ones to go out searching for them. She is too stubborn and hard-headed to listen to reason when her heart is set to something. I feared telling her would only add to the pile of missing dryads."
"And your other people? How have you tried to fix this?"
"I had forbidden them from leaving the grove and telling Pinison about anything that was going on. If my suspicions are correct, if the demon tree really is awake and somehow stealing the voices of family and friends to lure my own away from me, then the situation is far more dire than even in my worst nightmares."
"Then you willingly cut yourselves off from your allies," Coup De Grace said, "A bold move, especially when you have unseen predators stalking you in the night."
"Unfortunately, it was our best option. We may be separated and unable to communicate, but we are well defended. The danger lies outside our walls, not within, otherwise we would've been picked off long ago."
The elder dryad stood from his spot from the table, pacing behind it in thought. "That being said, if you truly wish to help me and my people, then you must go and find our human compatriots, those of Svend's tribe. It is possible that Tulipa's graftmate has seen her last, and he may wish to assist in the search."
"The lumberjacks that Pinison mentioned? It doesn't bother you that your 'grand flora' or whatever you called her was together with a human? I figured as spirits of nature, you'd be very much against that," Aunt Ankoro said, drumming her claws on the table.
"Our relationship with humans is one that was developed over many centuries. I have personally watched their generations grow from saplings to full-fledged trunks under the guidance of their leaders. They do what is best for the forest, giving and taking to the cycle that sustains us all."
"And if they start to take down a little more than they should?"
"They do not and will not, as their own leader sees to it that they stay in line or face banishment. I will admit, in the past I had my reservations about humans in nature, but they have proven time and time again they are true protectors of the Forest of Tob. There is no one I trust more than them, other than my own kind."
Naaru pointed to a space far off to Lupusregina's right, and she turned to see a small patch of trees moving out of the way to form another path.
"That will take you as close to their settlement as possible. I would advise caution, and to be wary of voices which remind you of loved ones. Go, and tell Svend's stamen and grand stamen that I said hello."
The elder dryad took a step back and faded away into the largest oak in the half-circle. The roots which composed their furniture began to recede as well, though slowly enough to give the denizens of Nazarick ample time to get up and stretch their limbs.
"So now we get to go and meet some more people. Whatever happened to collecting samples and filling out the map?" the androsphinx asked in his usual snark.
"We can still do that, we just happened to be given something a little more exciting to do too," Lord Blue Planet replied, fixing the straps on his armor and striding towards the newly opened path.
Lupusregina watched Lord Coup De Grace and Aunt Ankoro share a glance, concern etching their faces. Then they followed after the Druid, speaking to him in hushed tones that the junior werewolf tuned out with her sensitive hearing.
She guarded the flank, as was her place, walking semi-backwards so that her eyes never left the trees of the half circle or those which formed the outline of the grove itself.
No other dryads popped out to chase after them, nor did the younger Pinison reappear to rejoin their party. The sense of being watched was also absent, an odd sense of calm coming over her that made her realize she had been on edge even when with her masters.
She rushed to catch up with them, the trunks of the trees snapping shut like the great doors to the throne room in Nazarick. They had stopped whispering to one another, the seilenoi seeming more somber than before.
The junior canine linked up with her senior, who was still cheery despite whatever contents her brief exchange with her fellow Supreme Beings had held. They walked at a steady pace, but quick enough to reach their destination in due time.
"So what do you think this settlement of humans will be like kiddo?" Her aunt asked. Some nice small talk to pass the time while they were on route to where they needed to go.
Lupusregina shrugged, "Eh. I'm not expecting too much, though I gotta admit that I have to hand it to that one human who managed to snag a dryad. Wonder how one of them would be in the hay?"
Aunt Ankoro swatted her shoulder with a chuckle. "Now you really do sound like your dad. He never was one to miss a beat when it came to his women."
"What can I say? I was made in his image after all, or so the saying goes."
"Yeah, just make sure that doesn't get to your head now. Hate to see someone as cute as you get a god complex.
Light hearted banter like theirs was perhaps one of the greatest gifts she had been bestowed upon by her creator. While she would have loved both her dad and Aunt Ankoro either way, she felt a particular strong bond as a result of how close they had become so quickly.
But on the other hand, she could not help but to reflect on the relationships of the other Created, those who had yet to really form those bonds like she had with their own creators.
Her mind wandered to a particular true vampire and Roc Supreme Being, having only heard whispers among some of the other lords and denizens of Nazarick as to the pair's complicated relationship.
Her heart ached for them, it truly did, but she felt that it would be best to focus her attention elsewhere.
That line of thought, in turn, made her reflect on that alien sensation earlier, in which she felt as if she was being observed while extraordinarily hungry. If there was ever a better time to try and ask her masters as to what it could potentially mean, now would be the best time.
But before she could give voice to her thoughts, Lord Coup De Grace stopped abruptly, halting their progression along the path to their recently acquired goal. His nose twitched in a familiar fashion, one that Lupusregina's aunt was mimicking as well.
Then the smell hit her as well. Thick and pungent to the point of being mouthwatering, were it not for the sickly sweet undertones. It was the scent of fresh blood being spilled, but being mixed with something else she could not identify.
"You guys smell that too? Kinda reminds me of rancid synth barbecue," Lord Blue Planet said, his handsome features scrunching up in disgust as he waved a hand in front of his nose.
Aunt Ankoro nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Not really sure how anybody could be out here grilling in the woods though. Maybe a deer got caught by some wolves? Or whatever else is out here."
The androsphinx hunter said nothing, pivoting on his paws to face a line of trees to his left. His runes began to glow as he activated his mana reservoirs, and the padding of his feet hushed to the werewolf pleiade's ears.
He tucked in his wings so as to avoid bumping between two trees he passed. He then sped up to a light jog, making a beeline towards the source of the new scent. Lupusregina's aunt was right behind him, her footfall also silenced as she sped past in her wolf form.
The junior canine was not long in copying her superior, her clothes melting away and bright, red fur covering the entirety of her body. She held back a joyful howl as she sprinted to keep up.
She could hear the Druid behind her grumbling, a soft hum emanating from his position as he activated his own brand of magic. She chanced a glance, the elder satyr clopping along as a bulbous, spiky plant grew where he originally stood. It glowed a soft green, and connected a trail behind Lord Blue Planet's hoove falls.
In short time they all ran side by side, deftly weaving through and around the trees and rocks in their path. The strength of the stench grew stronger and stronger with each step, and eventually they managed to reach the source of it.
They ground to a halt, a rather cramped thicket of trees preventing them from being able to properly spread out as much as they should. But that was the last thing on Lupisregina's mind right now, especially with what she saw in front of her.
The canopy of this section of the forest was particularly dense, only occasional motes of light managing to meander through and light the area. There was no sound either. No wind blowing, no chirping of the birds, or even the typical ambience of the forest to keep them company.
That was, except, for the noisy crunching in front of them.
It had an ashy gray skin, marked with numerous sores and blisters up and down its body. Pieces of branches and other rubbish were embedded into its flesh, though that didn't seem to bother it in the slightest with its jerky, insectoid-like movements.
Its arms were unnaturally thin, no more than skin on bare bones, with wide hands that ended in thorny fingers. Its legs were much the same, ending in disturbingly human feet with overgrown, yellow toenails.
Its emaciated body rocked with the sounds of it feasting on the corpse of a deer, dead, fishy eyes staring back at them as if accusing them for not arriving soon enough to save it. The creature was hunched over, obscuring its head as it messily tore into its meal.
Lupusregina dared not transform back, so as to not accidentally alert the creature to their presence. She spotted Lord Coup De Grace in her peripheral, slowly edging his way to a nearby solid rock ridge.
Aunt Ankoro inched a path through some narrow clusters of shrubs, while Lord Blue Planet raised his staff, the pine cone tip bristling with mana.
"Don't do anything to scare it. I want to try and sneak around to see its face," the Druid spoke over a private messenger. There were grunts of acknowledgement from the other lords of Nazarick on their ends of the line.
The werewolf pleiade herself began to follow her aunt, who had nestled deeper into the bushes. The both of them watched the creature from the side as it dug its head out of the carcass of its former prey.
She wasn't really sure what to make of its head, only that a piece of a human skull was growing out of the right side of its face at a lopsided angle, an ethereal red eye glowing through the lined up sockets of the human skull and the creature's original head.
It had a narrow, deer-like snout, brimming with needle teeth and a slobbering, prehensile tongue. The stubs of antlers were just barely growing out of the top of its head.
It continued to tuck into its meal, unaware of its new visitors to its feeding grounds. Lupusregina felt a pit of disgust lodge itself in her stomach as she gazed upon the alien monster. It matched no known descriptions of any of the monsters from the Second World, at least according to the books of Ashurbanipal.
The junior canine scooted in closer to her aunt, not out of any sense of fear or need for protection, but because the senior canine had a better view of their subject. It was from her clearer vantage point through the bushes that she saw that Lord Coup De Grace had reached his intended spot.
He had adopted a more bipedal stance, his limbs having subtly shapeshifted to fit the build needed to support him. She had not seen him access the "inventory" that all Supreme Beings had, but in his hands was a rather large crossbow.
It had four limbs in the shape of gilded eagle wings, with the head of a bird of prey to serve as the riser. Loaded into place was a barbed arrow alight with spectral blue flames. He lightly rested his index against the trigger, and took aim.
Lord Blue Planet had moved to the opposite side of the space from Lupusregina and Aunt Ankoro, slightly below the ridge that the androsphinx stood on. He held an expression of profound horror and fascination, his eyes trailing up and down the creature's body as he furiously scribbled down notes in a notebook.
His staff leaned against his side, still aglow with mana should he need it. He took a light step forward to get a closer look, the light bending around him to give him a divine aura.
Evidently that shift in the light was all it took, as the creature's misshapen head snapped up to look at the Supreme Being of Nature. It's beady, blowing red eyes bored into Lupusregina's master, and she let out an involuntary, threatening growl.
The creature's attention turned towards her, its jaw hanging stupidly open to let its tongue roll out. It gurgled back in response to the werewolf pleiade and stood to its full height, only just barely surpassing Lupusregina in her humanoid form.
Blood drenched its chest from when it had seemingly buried its entire head into the cavity it had eaten out of the deer. A discolored pus leaked from the animal remains, the sickly sweet stench all the stronger now as they discovered its source.
The creature was absolutely still, facing towards the junior and senior werewolves as it continued to throatily gurgle at them.
Every instinct in Lupusregina's body told her to lash out at the monster and take it down, before it so much as lay a finger on her beloved masters. She flexed her paws and shot out her claws.
The monster saw this, its jaw bolting close and its own talons raising up into a defensive position. It roared in challenge, the decibels halting as if it had to take a gulp for air every second that it did so.
Right as it was about to lunge at the two werewolves, aunt Ankoro leapt from her spot in the shrubs, howling and baring her fangs. She moved so quickly that Lupusregina couldn't comprehend her movements, only knowing that one moment she was in the bushes with her, and then the next right on top of the creature.
The animal wailed as it crumbled under the weight of the Supreme Being of Cleverness, its stick arms beating at the chest of her wolf body. It even bit at her, its needle teeth shattering against her adamantine skin.
Just as it was trying to slither out from underneath the paws of her aunt, Lupusregina witnessed the flaming arrow from Lord Coup De Grace's crossbow sink into its shoulder. The blue flames did not engulf it as she expected, but rather seemed to absorb into its flesh and weigh it down.
The creature squealed, slamming its fists harder and harder into the elder werewolf's chest. It opened its mouth to gargle some more, but then different noises rose from its horrendous maw.
First, it tittered like a songbird, singing nature's classics as if it could somehow entice the Supreme Being on top of it to let it go.
Aunt Ankoro stared down at it in confusion, no longer baring her fangs but not removing herself from her position. The junior canine herself was bewildered as to how and why it could sound like a bird.
The singing carried on for a few more moments, only to abruptly stop once it realized that there was no discernible reaction from any of the denizens of Nazarick.
Then the creature switched tactics, now the chittering of a squirrel coming forth. It's limbs jerked too and fro, reaching for some sort of leverage to escape its confinement. It tried to headbutt its jailor, only for the jutting, human skull to shatter and bleed black fluid into the soil below.
But it was its final attempt at escape that instantly set Lupusregina on edge, and made her reflect back on what she had experienced earlier at the beginning of her and her master's journey.
"HELP ME! SAVE ME!" The creature cried out, its voice vaguely human and heavily distorted. It went silent, huffing and puffing from its exertions. The call echoed throughout the forest, bouncing off of the trunks and dirt and foliage that made up the Northern Forest of Tob.
One moment. Then another.
The temperature dropped so quickly that Lupusregina half wondered if Cocytus had followed them out into the forest, but as far as she knew, he was back home with his own creator.
The shadows cast by her and all of her masters darkened to such a degree that they were tears in reality. Pitch voids that one could accidentally step into and fall forever, with nothing around in either direction for miles.
And that's what the creature did. The shadow cast by its own body and that of Aunt Ankoro enshrouded it, before it simply fell through the earth as if it had fallen through a cloud.
That same sense of endless hunger returned in full force, and it took all of the werewolf pleiade's willpower not to run off into the trees and tear into the nearest prey she could find. The sensation of being watched was even stronger, to the point that it felt as if whoever was observing was actively breathing down her neck.
The feeling persisted for a few more seconds, before vanishing entirely. The junior canine's heightened eyes darted in every conceivable direction for the source of those eyes which watched her. But just like before, there was nothing else to take note of.
Lord Blue Planet hadn't moved at all, pencil and notebook in hand still from when he was writing. He blinked several times at the area where the anomalous creature had been.
"What...what just happened?" He asked, putting away his notebook and picking up his staff. He gestured for the senior werewolf to move out of the way, before gingerly prodding the space where their "prisoner" had been.
Lord Coup De Grace slid down from his vantage point, kicking up pebbles and dust on the way down. He reinserted his crossbow back into his inventory space, and then resumed a quadrupedal stance.
"I believe we may have just found what has been stalking the dryads," he stated matter of factly, "I'll admit, I've never seen anything quite like it. It was...disturbing to say the least."
Aunt Ankoro returned to her semi-humanoid form, cocking her hip and resting a hand on it.
"I can't say for certain what it was either, but I think I have a few ideas," she snarked, kicking at the spot where the creature had been as well. The corpse the abomination had been feeding on was also gone, leaving behind only the discolored pus and black sludge that it had bled out.
It unnerved Lupusregina to hear her masters speaking as they were. To actually hear them saying that they didn't know something was something she never once imagined in all of her life.
They're probably just trying to whittle down the list of suspects for what it is! Surely they're already narrowing it down to a single type. Yeah, that's exactly what they're doing!
Her nervousness drained away after that line of thought, vigilantly observing her lords talking amongst themselves. She even found it in herself to give a satisfied smile with the knowledge that they would be hunting down the prime suspect soon enough.
Lupusregina decided then and there in the lull afterwards to share what she knew, and what she had experienced.
"My lords? Aunt Ankoro?" She said, catching her masters' attention.
All three of them faced her, sparing her curious peers at her sudden words. They were kindly in their expressions, with infinite patience and great empathy for her, their shared servant.
"What's up kiddo? Something on your mind?" Aunt Ankoro asked, flashing the junior canine an award winning smile that instantly made her relax.
"Yes actually. When we first made our way to that community grove, with the stran-our guide Pinison, there was something that I felt. I don't know what it is, but I feel like I should inform you of it."
She started from the beginning, simplifying her story of their trip to only incorporate the portion where she had first sensed that she was being watched, the unending hunger that had nearly consumed her then and again with this most recent encounter with the alien monster.
All the while her masters listened on, their faces like stone as they absorbed the details of her improvised report. When she finally finished, she anxiously awaited their response, her eyes flickering from Supreme Being to Supreme Being.
"A watcher in our midst? Somehow that makes sense, all things considered up until this point," Lord Coup De Grace finally said, stroking his mane with a paw.
"You know, now that you mention it kiddo, I do recall feeling something weird when we first got here. Thought it was just the wildlife though," Aunt Ankoro chimed in, rubbing the back of her head.
Lord Blue Planet inclined his head in thought. "Since we found...that thing out here in the forest, and you said that it was only as it was trying to escape that you felt that sensation again, it wouldn't be unfair to say that the creature and your feelings are connected."
The Druid then knelt, reaching into a pack he had concealed on the inside of his ironwood chestplate. He pulled out an ordinary iron dagger and two vials with clasps for lids. He gently scooped up the pus and black discharge, placing each liquid into its own container.
"Really? Of all the samples we could take, you decide to take whatever that is?" Said the androsphinx, raising an eyebrow at his peer's decision.
"Might as well," replied Lord Blue Planet, "I'm sure I can analyze it with some appraisal magic when we settle down. It's definitely disgusting though."
"On that, we can agree."
The seilenoi stood back up, tucking the vials and dirtied knife back into the hidden pack he had. His attention turned towards Lupusregina, and she wondered if she had done something wrong with how intensely he stared at her.
Only for her to realize that he was looking behind her rather than at her. She glanced over her shoulder to see the glowing trail that the Druid had left behind during their impromptu diversion.
"Glad to know our way back is still intact, at least," he said, using his staff as a walking stick. His pace was much more leisurely, and he ran his hands along the surface of the trees and other plants in his way.
The others followed him, with the younger werewolf right behind to bring up the rear as per usual. She took one last look at where the creature had been, and then scanned the treeline for anything out of the ordinary.
She spotted nothing. Not even the pitch shadows she had seen the first time around. The watchful and ravenous feelings were also absent.
She focused on guarding her masters, and shoved away all thoughts pertaining to the recent events as a matter for another time.
Afterall, what could matter more than the Supreme Beings themselves?