Chapter 2 – Morning Introductions
I slept remarkably well. Even though I wasn't used to soft mattresses, these bags were just right. I got up slowly and went into the kitchen. Judging from the silence, there was nothing going on in the house. There was a vase of fruit on the table, but for safety reasons and my shyness, I didn't take any. I quietly left the house and started walking towards the landing site. And then I heard a thud on the rocks... – Wait! Where are you going?! I turned around sharply and saw the same furry boy who'd given me a place to sleep. He ran up and grabbed my hand. – Look, I'm really grateful, but I gotta go. I still need to check out my plane and get some fuel. – Where are you gonna get it? If your thing can use spirit fire, I can help you. – Wait, what?! What fire? What does that have to do with spirits? – Why don't you just sit here and I'll tell you everything. Okay? – All right. Talk to me. Eeyore slowly took my other hand and we sat down on the grass. He took a deep breath. Energy began to fly around him and he began his story along with a beautiful hologram of the magic effect. – So we are spirits. We are the children of this forest and its protectors. We were all born from the same tree and we are all brothers to each other. Every day we help all the forest dwellers in their endeavors, and we also hold back the decay that is slowly eating away at the lighter side of the forest. Right now we are in the forest of Friol. It is characterized by the fact that most of the life happens underwater in the ocean and that is where we should go. I'll introduce you to the spirit tree and the rest of the inhabitants. – Okay, uh. That's all very cool, but–– First of all, I was in a hurry to get to the plane. There should still be some kerazine left. Second of all, you're coming with me. – Look at you! You've been here less than a day and you're already in charge! Okay, I'll go with you. But on one condition. You must always obey me and under no circumstances argue with me. – All right, all right, Mr. Important Furry Ears. Oh, yeah, what's your name? – My name is Lir. What's yours? – Slake. Nice to meet you. – So do I. – Well, like I said, I'm going to walk to the airplane. There's a lot of useful stuff in there. Food, weapons, ammo, gadgets, fuel, etc. We set off and, surprisingly for Slake, Lir behaved in a friendly and extremely curious manner. He kept asking Slake about his homeland, about his life, and of course about the aircraft they were headed for. – Slakey! Tell me, what the hell is that thing? – What's there to tell? It's just an ordinary iron bird. Flying, shooting, helping, killing. Nothing special. – How can a bird be iron? – Well, it's not exactly a bird. The airplane is similar to a bird in structure. It's got a tail, it's got a nose, it's got wings. But it's basically a giant piece of hardware that just does what you tell it to do. – Cool... But I still don't get it. You guys are too smart. Too smart. You should meet the Hoa people. They're all smart. So smart they've even grown a second tail! – A second tail? Who are the Hoa? – Oh, I forgot to tell you. We don't just have Friol, we have other forests. Kynar, Hoa, Noiton. I give you my word I'll introduce you to them all! From our Friol to Niven! – What interesting names you have for the woods. What's interesting about niven. – Uh, uh. Let's do this another time. It's too complicated. – How hard is that? When you say something, say it. – Well, there's been some changes in the way of life for the locals. All thanks to one Nibelz. I haven't heard much about him, but it's like he saved all the locals from disintegrating and became the new tree. – Whoa! That's pretty noble. Dying for loved ones is truly honorable. – Yes. But no. He didn't die, but rather was reborn. Into a tree. – Clearly, you seem to be no phoenix bird, yet you end your life beautifully, leaving behind ashes from which a new life of your mind will be born. And so, at a leisurely walk, we reached the landing site. Visually, the plane was fine. However, I had a slight premonition that something might have happened. – Wow! That thing is huge! Clearly bigger than the shadow owls. – Okay. If you have owls the size of tanks, I'm afraid to imagine truly large monsters. And you probably have them. I went into the cabin and found my bag. In it he found food, shotgun shells, a camera, a flashlight and a flask. Pretty useful stuff if you're going to some godforsaken place. – How does this thing work? Apparently, it doesn't flap its wings. – Very simple. The fuel burns and gives off heat. It mixes with compressed air and this mixture flies out of the airplane with tremendous force, pushing it off the ground. – Can't you put it in simple words? I don't understand such processes in words. – I'll show you later. We'll get on the boat and you try to push off and jump off. – And where does that lead? – See for yourself. Either way, you won't be surprised. Slake finished rummaging through the airplane and finally settled into the seat. – Lir, would you like to sit with me? Lyr didn't bother to answer, but made his way to Slake with quick jumps. – And how long did it take you to figure this whole thing out? – Quite a lot. Relatively. You can get used to all of them. But you can't get proficient at everything. Pausing, Lyr continued to stare at the buttons and screens with great interest. – Look at this. See that arrow? That's my fuel level. And there's only enough left here for a couple dozen minutes of flight time. – Is there anywhere we can get it? – That's a good question. Judging by the fact that you don't know the principle of jet propulsion, you haven't even heard of fuel, although I don't speak for everyone. – Okay, I'm not stupid. Don't call me that. – Did I ever call you stupid? We just have different levels of development and you will often misunderstand my speech. – Then use plain language. – All right. I carefully climbed out of the cockpit, taking Lir with me. The plane had been left until better times, and now they had to go to the spirit tree. In Friol, the tree of spirits is the palm tree and it is near the other shore. The twosome was roughly in the center of the island. They had a huge forest to go through, which consisted of huge tropical trees.