Force2reckon

  “I profer apologies again! We had assumed you were a threat to the Garden’s and so I was dispatched to remove the threat!” Laurel chirped as he ran ahead of Temate on all fours, stopping to look back occasionally.

  “Uh-huh, and what happened with my friends?” Temate asked, wary of the energetic giant squirrel. Laurel lifted a paw and finger to answer.

  “Th-OH Hold on” He dashed over to the edge of a tree and plucked something up from the dirt, holding it aloft. “Look at this beauty, I’m gonna stow this somewhere special!” He ran up the tree and out of sight.

  “Hey! Laurel what the f-” Temate began shouting after him.

  “What?” The squirrel said from behind Temate, causing him to grab his chest and whirl.

  “CHRIST, how did you do that?” Temate demanded.

  “I went up, then I fell, I am very good at falling!” Laurel gave Temate a cheerful, proud smile.

  “R-right, my friends?” Temate asked.

  “AH YES! Sorry, distracted, this way this way!” Laurel took off on all fours again.

  “AND HOW DID WE! GAHHHH” Temate shouted after him, but had to start running to keep up.

  Several minutes of running ter an out of breath and exhausted Temate he broke out into a clearing. He stopped next to Laurel who tilted his head up to Temate and wiggled his nose. Temate just put his hands on his back and forced himself to stand extra straight as he took deep breaths.

  “You’re not in very good shape are you sirrah? Surprising considering how good a fight you put up!” Laurel commented happily. Temate gred down at the squirrel who seemed not to notice. Just as Temate was going to remark back, after finally catching his breath enough to speak at all, he heard a shout.

  “MASTER!” A small, fuzzy projectile smmed into his legs and bolted up to wrap around his neck.

  “Oof! Hey, careful Surrender, I’m a b-”

  “Mate!” Toni’s shout proceeded her own warm body smming into his side and squeezing him tight.

  “Hnnng careful! Careful you two, I got some nasty cuts!” He informed the two clinging to him. Instantly Toni stepped back to an arm length examining him, Surrender did not. She climbed back onto his shoulders and clung tightly to his head, her cws were surprisingly soft.

  “Alrigh’ le’ me see ‘im, if ‘e’s injure’ we shoul’ ge’ ‘im patche’ up,” Pipuck announced. Toni stepped back from Temate who shucked his backpack onto the floor and sat down in front of the Spiras. Pipuck was already digging through their small cloth bag, which Temate still had no idea when or where that had come from, and pulled out one of a dozen wooden tubs.

  Temate pointed out the injuries to Pipuck who grunted and got to work, while Toni asked questions and told him off for being careless. Temate looked across the clearing as his companions checked him over in their own ways. It was a beautiful clearing, not quite as beautiful as the field of flowers, but still wonderful.

  It was filled with a variety of pnts Temate would expect to see on a farm. Gourds, like pumpkins and squash, of varying sizes and shapes. Fruits and vegetables, like tomatoes, strawberries, and even corn. Nuts and other bush based products like berries, and in one area a small copse of fruit trees.

  That wasn’t the most notable thing, however. No, the most noticeable thing were the dozens of nuts, fruits, vegetables, gourds, and other pnts staring at him. Yes, staring. Ranging from no smaller than a normal nut or berry, to the size of a small tree, the Leshy gathered.

  Pnts, given life and form by spirits, a pumpkin headed figure with long leaves making a small dress. A pile of leaves and needles shaped like a human. What looked to be a pinecone, still green, but cut in half and unraveled into a hedgehog. A figure near as tall as Temate made of white birch wood, with autumn leaves making a simple tunic and shorts.

  All manner of living pnts, amalgams of pnt matter in general, collectively stared at Temate. After a bit they began to approach the small group of outsiders, not with caution or worry, just curiosity. They came close, watching, sometimes inches away, as Pipuck cleaned and treated Temate’s wounds.

  One, the small pumpkin headed… girl? She looked like a small girl, came up to Toni and reached her hands up. Toni smiled and lifted her off the ground, much to the girls delight as she let out a small, tingling giggle. Some of the smaller ones, led by the hedgehog-pinecone, hedgecone Temate decided, came up and pulled on Surrender’s tail.

  She took off after them, chasing them. At first in frustration, but eventually they just seemed to be having fun. Pipuck grumbled about Temate’s needless injuries and not being able to close one particurly nasty cut properly. As they did so, the two taller figures Temate had seen, the birch and leaf pile person, approached.

  “Do you have names?” Temate asked the Leaf as it leaned over. It started at his question, then seemed to smile as it held a hand out to the injury.

  “I am called Lote, and this is my companion, Gald.” Lote replied, their voice rough, deep. Several pines and fibrous threads extended from their hands. They quickly and painlessly stitched Temate’s wound up, surprising him. Then Gald leaned over him.

  “It is a pleasure to make your introduction, what is your moniker?” Gald’s almost sing-song whisper of a voice asked. As Temate began answering, they watched Gald work.

  “I’m called Mate. And it’s a pleasure…” His voice trailed off, enthralled as Gald id it’s arm next to Temate’s wound. It used one twiglike finger to etch out a patch of birch bark and stripped the bark away. Then it took a dollop of Pipucks poultice and spread it on the inside of the bark.

  “That is a good name, one of love and kindness.” Gald took no notice of Temate’s pause, replying as if he was finished. As it did so, it pressed the stretch of birch bark on to Temate’s wound and held it there. After a minute, it pulled it’s hand away, and Temate was surprised to see the birch remain.

  “That’s… wow.” Temate looked over to Laurel who was in the process of examining several collected nuts, cones, berries and other things gathered at his feet. “Laurel, what is this pce?”

  The squirrel knights head shot up. “Ah, indeed you would desire that knowledge!” Then he seemed to get distracted by a nut that he lifted, sighing as it caught the sunlight.

  “Ahem, Laurel?” Temate softly called the squirrel’s attention back. He started and blinked at Temate, then his eyes shot up.

  “Ah! Right, welcome to the Gardens of the Grand Ceil! One of them anyway, once you’re patched up I’ll take you to see the big growth itself!” Laurel grinned and winked at Temate.

  “R-right, and you still haven’t answered how I got separated from my group.” Temate gave Laurel an irritated raise of one eyebrow. It was Toni who answered him.

  “Apparently that was the tree’s, Pipuck noticed it shortly after we got separated and ran us all here. They can spread some sort of spore that can do a few things, like confuse or distract people.” She replied, as she shaped a small metal statue of the young pumpkin girl in her p.

  “Damn, is everyone alright on your end?” Temate inquired.

  Toni nodded, and began to answer but Laurel cut in. “Yes indeed! Your fairy friend kept the rest of your group together, and since you seemed the most physically threatening, I decided taking you out first was quite indubitably the best course of action!”

  “Riiiight. He’s the most threatening?” Toni asked, fire sparking behind her eyes as she grinned in a way that gave even Temate shivers.

  “Physically, yes. You are quite small my dear… uh I’m sorry, your name was?”

  “Toni.” She smirked as she responded. Laurel didn’t seem to notice.

  “Indeed? Quite a fashionable name for such a beautiful young dy!” Laurel perked up and then bolted over to Toni. “Where ARE my manners, I was so distracted by my reward I nearly forgot due respects to you madame!”

  Laurel took off his acorn helmet and set it onto the ground. There it rapidly rotted away and a small seedling sprouted, the feather remained jutting out from behind Laurels ear. Then Laurel bowed to Toni. It was a low, earnest bow in which Laurel even forced his tail to remain still. For all of 5 seconds, then he lifted his head.

  “I am Aldeward Laurel, of the Aldagard of the Grand Ceil of the Vardenwald, 17th member of the Aldeward and first of the Squarel to take up the title! I humbly apologize for your foul introduction to our gardens.” Temate blinked and when he looked at Toni he wasn’t entirely surprised to see her blushing.

  “Oh uh… that’s quite alright Sir…? Laurel, I assume it’s Sir, sorry I can’t really tell what-”

  “Yes indeed, Sir Laurel is quite fine, or Laurel I’m not too picky about titles and such, not like some others I could-”

  “Sir Laurel!” A heavy, commanding voice rang out from the other side of the Garden. Temate saw Laurel flinch and then turn, saluting as tall as he could. Temate's eyes sought out the voice.

  “Commandant Tharoah!” Laurel stood as stock still as he could, as the bearer of the voice approached. Both Temate and Pipuck, who had remained remarkably quiet as they examined everything going on, gasped as they caught sight of her. Toni shrieked, not in fear, but that high pitched squeal girls often do when they see something cute.

  “AHHHHH MY GOD WHAT ARE YOU, YOU’RE SO CUTE!” Toni leapt up to her feet and ran over to Tharoah, or would have if Temate hadn’t caught her and pulled her down onto his p. This caused another warm blush to fill her cheeks, but didn’t distract her overly much.

  “Temate what are you doing! I wanna hug the bunny centaur!” She whined, but didn’t struggle away. Perhaps because she knew she couldn’t or perhaps because of the gleaming nce of green-brown metal the aforementioned bunny centaur leveled at her.

  Temate couldn’t think of a more apt description for Commandant Tharoah. If you’ve ever seen a centaur in a book, or heard one described, this isn’t that hard to imagine. Take a centaur, but repce it’s bottom half with that of a rabbit or bunny. Then give it an anthropomorphic rabbit torso sticking out where the head would be, with long ears and hair.

  Now just add on a gleaming red-brown breastpte, pauldrons, faceless helm and thick gauntlets. Each bearing a four leaf clover made of some greenish metal much like her massive nce. Add a half lidded gre that looked like it could kill, along with a surprisingly prodigious chest, and you have Tharoah.

  Commandant Tharoah, whose fur was all a light brown except on the front and underside where it softened to a cream, and at the tips of her ears where it turned bck, gred at them. Then she looked at Laurel who still stood at attention, though his tail had regained its freedom and batted up and down rapidly.

  “Expin, Sir Laurel. Who are these outsiders, you were sent to deal with intruders, not invite them into the Grand Ceils Garden.” She snarled in a way Temate imagined hounds doing, not rabbits. Laurel quite literally jumped half an inch off the ground.

  “Ah C-commandant, they are no threat I assure you, I could easily handle the big one so-”

  “So why haven’t you.” Tharoah growled again. Temate saw Laurel fidgeting with his paws and decided to step in. He stood up, not really trying to be imposing, but he knew the impression he often made, and bowed to Tharoah. He didn’t actually have to bow too low as she was almost his height, a thing which his stupid horny brain noted made other things line up nicely.

  “Apologies Commandant Tharoah, I managed to get enough words in during our short exchange to realize there had been a misunderstanding. My companions and I are here on behalf of Timbear, Warden of Bearbhaile, seeking answers t-” His expnation was cut off as Tharoah hopped towards him and pressed her nce up against his throat.

  “What do the bears want.” She snapped at him. That annoyed Temate, drawing a gre from him.

  “Rex Commandant. I was expining that before you put a nce to my throat.” Temate didn’t really mean to let his Power slip into his voice, but being threatened while being polite… He didn’t like that. Especially when the threat was needless, he hated needless threats. He felt the Power wash over her, and after a brief period of resistance, she stepped back.

  Then she gred at Temate. “Whatever you just did, don’t do it again. Any further use of Power against a member of the Aldagard will be perceived as an act of hostility and you will be executed, understood?” It wasn’t really a question. Yet the order to rex clearly worked as she lifted her nce up to y on her shoulder.

  Temate straightened his back and looked down at the Commandant. He let his [Towering Presence] work here, despite her warning. Though he couldn't tell you why, something in him just refused to back down in this moment.

  “I’ll use whatever tools I need to make certain of my team's safety, Commandant. If you can guarantee that, and stop pointing sharp things at our throats when we are trying to be cooperative, then I will abide by your rules, you are the authority here after all.”

  Tharoah's eyes narrowed once more, her now rexed posture tightening back up a bit. A long moment passed between the two, their gring practically electrified the air between them as the Leshy backed away. Temate saw Tharoah’s hand tighten on the haft of her nce, then rex.

  “If you can remain civil and cooperative, I will guarantee you and your companions safety. May I have your names?” She replied in a slow drawl.

  Temate let out a sigh, and heard Toni, Surrender, and Pipuck, who had all found their way behind him, do the same. He had a feeling this wasn’t going to be easy as he stared into the lidded, almost bored eyes of the bunny-centaur’s eyes and forced a smile to his face. He held a hand out to her.

  “Of course.”