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Chapter 6

Forest Children

The girls head roughly north from Carton, intent on making their way through a forest to help hide their trail. They walk together, Danahlia holding the map at different angles while Twinkaleni points out entries of interest from her book, reading aloud the descriptions of plants, animals, and monsters. Whenever an interesting plant catches her eye, Alice asks if it's mentioned in the book. Many are, and the trio's confidence in their ability to live off the land is bolstered every time they manage to identify something edible. Alice picks many of these edible plants and flowers so the girls can sample them. Though most are not particularly appetizing, they find it fun to try the abundant local flora. As they walk, the landscape steadily becomes woodier, the distance they can see dwindling as trees replace fields and the sun begins to descend.

Under an orange tinted sky, the girls settle down for the night. With their supply of ready-to-eat foods, there is no need for a fire so they sit together, eating and drinking from their stores. Despite the day long walk, Twinkaleni is still reading from her book until the last rays of light finally get her to stop. They make beds of the thick lush grass and pillows of their packs. The late summer air is still plenty warm, letting sleep claim the tired adventures quickly.

In the night, something disturbs Alice's rest. A faint noise, quiet but nearby, it sounds like voices. She groans, her eyes heavy and body sluggish, as she forces herself to move. It should be pitch black at this hour she knows but is surprised to find that she can see. Subtle green light is just visible through the long grasses around her. Alice struggles to push herself up on her elbows to peer over it and finds the light is coming from a green core stone. It's sitting on Danahlia's chest, while Twinkaleni cradles the larger girl's head in her lap, the Murin saying something in a soothing whisper that's too faint for Alice to make out.

She tries to speak but only mumbles, alerting the other two. She tries again groggily asking, "What's, what's goin' on?"

Danahlia sniffs wetly, "Nothing, just, just go back to sleep, ok?" Her voice is uncharacteristically subdued.

Alice is about to inquire further but Twinkaleni adds, "It's alright, Alice. Everything is just fine."

"You still have a core?" Alice asks, looking at the uncommonly bright sphere.

"Yes, the one I enchanted. Now go back to sleep, we have another long walk ahead," the mouse mage says.

Vision and mind still blurry from sleep, Alice settles back down and drifts off once more.

The following morning's breakfast is a strangely silent affair. Alice is curious about the goings on of last night but isn't sure she should ask. When they begin walking again, the trio carries on as they usually do, Danahlia singing a little tune to herself about traveling a few steps ahead of the other two. Twinkaleni keeps pace with Alice while looking at her book, though less talkative than usual. Alice, prone to curiosity, wrestles with how best to inquire about what she saw.

She is about to try to broach the subject, when Twinkaleni whisper, "She still has nightmares."

"What?" Alice whispers back.

Twinkaleni looks up from her book to the Liguna, replying, "About the night her family was taken from her, among other things."

"Oh," Alice says glumly.

She watches Danahlia, striding confidently forward through the thickening trees as if without a single care in the entire world. She recalls from the night before, that wet sniff. Had she been crying? The young Tokala looks around the woods, trying to think of something to say. Something calming or caring, something to let Danahlia know that she was there too and could offer some comfort as Twinkaleni had. She is considering this when a weight shifts slightly on her back.

Reaching casually to adjust her sword, Alice yips when she feels the burning sting of a cut. Jerking her hand away, she finds thin slices on her palm and several fingers, blood only just beginning to drip from them. Twinkaleni and Danahlia abruptly turn to her.

Twinkaleni peers at her injured hand, "Alice, what happened?"

While Danahlia shouts, "Hey! Give that back!"

Alice follows the angry Liguna's gaze up over her head to find her sword in the hands of a grinning Lobovan. The wolf girl is dangling upside down from a tree branch a few feet above her head. With impressive agility, the girl swings herself back up to stand on the branch, holding Jellybane before her admiringly, "Now this is nice."

"Give back my sword!" Alice growls, baring her teeth.

The wolf girl looks down at them, her coat of sandy tones, tans, browns, and some grays, wearing little more than rags for a shirt and pants. She tilts her head to one side, "Yours? It rather looks like it's mine now, Red."

"Give it back, or I'm gonna shove my spear so far up your furry little butt, you'll taste it!" Danahlia snarls, taking a two handed grip on her weapon.

"Oh, you think my butt's little?" the Lobovan sneers, shaking her rump while wagging her thick full tail tauntingly down at them.

"That's it. Twinkie, blast 'er!" Danahlia orders.

"Uh, Danny," the mouse mage says warily, glancing around. Her tone of voice alerts Alice and she looks to find a group of plant-like monsters appearing silently from behind trees and bushes all around them. There are nearly a dozen of them and worse, they're armed.

The creatures vary in size from Danahlia's height to one being even smaller than Twinkaleni. All look menacing with their wooden spears and strangely distorted faces, lacking in any symmetry. They appear to have been summoned up from the surrounding forest, their coloring and features blend so well with the thick foliage. Alice recalls Twinkaleni mentioning some time ago that magic could allow some people to create their own servants and soldiers. The wolf girl didn't look like much, but then, neither did Twinkaleni.

"Danny," Alice calls nervously.

With complete focus still on the wolf girl, Danahlia growls, "Fine."

Shoving her spear into Alice's hands she tosses off her cloak and immediately begins scaling the tree with anger fueled haste. Her clawed hands and taloned feet gouge bark from the large oak as she races to meet the thieving Lobovan on her branch. Despite her injury, Alice grips the spear in both hands and waves it at the ring of silent monsters. Some shift restlessly as if waiting for an opening to attack, while others watch the lizard girl climb. Twinkaleni shifts to Alice's back, holding her large book tightly to her chest.

Perhaps surprised at Danahlia's speed or that she had revealed herself to be a Liguna, the wolf girl hesitates until Danahlia is nearly upon her. She swings the sword at the climbing girl but clearly has no practice with such weapons. Danahlia easily ducks the blow, the blade biting and lodging into the thick tree's trunk. The lizard girl then uses her long tail to whip at the other girl's ankles. The Lobovan, trying to free the sword, loses her balance and falls gracelessly to the ground before Alice.

Alice puts the point of the spear to the stunned wolf's throat and demands she call off her monsters. Danahlia, having freed Alice's sword, leaps down to join them, noticing the ring of creatures for the first time.

"Twinkie, what are these things?" she asks cautiously, raising Jellybane to them.

Twinkaleni starts to rapidly flip through her book, "I, I'm not sure, some kind of plant golems perhaps."

The downed wolf girl groans, "Ugh, they're wild monsters. Very territorial," she grins then, "And guess where you're standin'."

Danahlia kneels down to roughly grab one of the Lobovan's ears, placing the sword's edge to her throat, "Call 'em off or I swear, I'll get you before they get us."

"No! Don't hurt Lyca!" cries a little voice. The girls turn to see the smallest of the monsters running towards them. Its face falls off to reveal it's only a mask made from mosses, mud, and leaves disguising a teary eyed Murin boy.

One of the larger creatures tries to grab him but misses, and the boy falls over the wolf girl protectively, sniffling.

"Nezu," the Lobovan groans disapprovingly, taking the boy under an arm.

"What the tick is this?" Danahlia growls angrily.

Alice looks more closely at the ring of now nervously shifting creatures and begins to see some irregularities. An ear or nose poking out here and there from under masks and a few tails dangling behind legs give the creatures away.

"They're kids," she says in surprise.

The tall one that tried to take hold of the mouse boy removes a bit of moss from a long equine face revealing himself to be an Echanian. He drops his spear and takes a step forward.

"Please, don't hurt them. We never meant to harm anyone," he says in the quavering voice of a boy on the cusp of manhood.

"Could've fooled me. She almost took my head off," Danahlia grumbles, lowering Jellybane.

"Psh, you came out of it ok," tosses back the wolf girl, Lyca, with a sneer.

Danahlia raises the sword again, but Twinkaleni grabs her by the arm, "I think that is enough foolishness for one day."

Danahlia lets out a breath through her nostrils, stands up, and trades weapons with Alice. Lyca stares at them for a moment before getting to her knees and checking on the crying Murin boy. Nezu appears to be even younger than Twinkaleni, though is only slightly smaller. Alice looks to the Echanian, who's getting the small band to reveal themselves. He is lean, strong, and though mud and leaves cover most of him, she can see his coat is a deep chestnut brown with an ebony mane.

"Who are you all? And why'd you attack us?" she demands of him.

He looks to her with tired hazel eyes but Lyca answers, "We weren't_attackin'_ you. We just thought we'd... lighten your load a bit."

"You're common thieves then," Twinkaleni remarks distastefully.

"We're not thieves!" Lyca growls, and then haughtily adds, "We haven't stolen anything yet."

"You tried. That just makes you bad thieves," says Danahlia, looking down at the wolf girl.

The Lobovan bristles, jumping to her feet to match Danahlia's stare, despite being a bit shorter and unarmed. The tiny Murin boy is grasping her hand and she's about to say something when the Echanian calls loudly, "We're sorry for the trouble. We're just trying to get some food."

"Shut up, Philip," Lyca orders, still locking gazes with Danahlia.

"Maybe they can help us."

"I said, shut up!" Lyca roars, baring her canine teeth at him.

"You try stealin' from us, and then ask for help? You got some nerve," Alice growls, checking her cut hand. The cuts across her palm and several fingers bleed and burn, but are very thin and, she guesses, not deep.

"I'm sorry. We didn't have a choice," explains Philip, "So many of us are sick and the forest has become too dangerous. We need food and medicine but we can't afford either."

"Sick?" Twinkaleni asks, "What from?"

Tensions slowly settle as the horse boy tells them of a sort of plant that has been spreading in the forest, and now even more so after the recent rain. From what he says, once the plant matures it produces bubbles that float about until they hit something. The moment anything solid touches their delicate skin, the bubbles pop, releasing a powder that makes you sick. He goes on to say that this plant has forced them from their usual hunting and gathering grounds.

"How many of you are there?" Alice asks, licking her hand before Danahlia helps her wrap it in on of Ms. Ringtail's bandages.

"They don't need to know that," Lyca is quick to say.

Philip answers anyway, "Almost two dozen, though half of us are sick now."

Of the handful of forest dwellers, Lyca and Philip seem to be the oldest. The others are of various species but all look ragged, thin, and nervous.

Lyca glares at Philip as he talks and stomps over to him, saying in obvious irritation, "Philip, a word."

She then grabs the tall boy's wrist and yanks him a few feet away to whisper angrily, the tiny Murin, Nesu, never leaving her side. The others watch Alice's party and their two companions uncertainly. Alice, Danahlia, and Twinkaleni gather to confer with each other.

"What should we do?" asks Alice.

Danahlia jerks her head to the side, "Let's get outta here, we don't owe 'em nothin'."

Twinkaleni rubs one of her ears between two fingers, "This plant and the sickness it brings concerns me. It might be best to avoid the forest all together. They themselves may already be afflicted."

Alice shakes her head, "I don't think we can walk all the way around this forest. Did you guys see how big it was on the map?"

"Yeah, we can't go around, but I don't like the idea of us walkin' around here with these guys," says Danahlia, eyeing the strangers, "They already tried to rob us once."

"I think they only did it because they're desperate," suggests Alice.

"Perhaps," nods Twinkaleni, "They say many of them are sick, which would mean they need food not only for themselves but their companions as well, though this is assuming they're telling the truth about this sickness and their numbers."

"Look at 'em," says Alice, "One thing I'm sure their tellin' the truth about is that they need food."

The girls glance over at the handful of muddy kids. With their masks off, Alice can see the gauntness of their cheeks, the uncertainty in their eyes, and the grim frowns on their faces. She had seen the same plenty of times in Toki village when there just wasn't enough food or room to go around. Many children who had lost their parents had to sleep outside with nothing but the grumbling of their stomachs to comfort them. She herself had been there often enough before she learned to support herself.

Danahlia looks sharply away from them and grumbles, "What're we supposed to do about it?"

"We should help," encourages Alice, "I don't think they're lyin'."

"How do you propose we do that?" inquires Twinkaleni.

"Well, we're pretty well stocked on food. And like you said, we can use that to find more," Alice assures, pointing to Twinkaleni's book.

"Whoa, whoa, you are not seriously sayin' we should give 'em all our food are you?!" Danahlia exclaims.

Alice shakes her head, "Not all of it. Just some, just so they can get by."

"But they said there's like twenty of 'em. And what about that bubble-makin'-gettin'-people-sick plant they were talkin' about?" Danahlia argues.

"Perhaps we can aid in that as well. We will need more information first, but if there is an entry in this guide, it may tell us something of value about treating this illness," says Twinkaleni, holding up her book.

"Oh come on, not you too. We have enough trouble takin' care of ourselves. We can't feed all these guys, we don't even know 'em," Danahlia points out.

"Many times in the past we were in need of help, Danny, and the only reason we've survived this long is because perfect strangers offered us what little they had," Twinkaleni reminds, "Now it is our turn. We might be these people's only chance."

Alice nods, "We have to at least try. It's the right thing to do, you know it is."

Danahlia shakes her head in defeat, "Fine."

In agreement, the girls set down their packs and begin removing bits of food. Alice offers out a loaf of hard baked bread to the weary strangers, who look at her and the others in confusion. Twinkaleni and Danahlia follow suit, holding out some cheese and Danahlia even offers some of her precious dried meat.

The dirty children are hesitant to accept and Danahlia shakes her offering, grumbling, "Go on, take it."

A glimmer of hope enters their weary eyes and a few step forward only to have Lyca shout, "Hey! What's this?"

The wolf girl stomps over to the trio, Alice telling her, "It's what we can spare."

Lyca looks to her with some mix of wariness, anger, and perhaps something else.

Joining her, Philip asks, "You're, giving this to us? Even after we tried to rob you?"

"Yeah, you guys aren't gonna make it as thieves," snickers Danahlia.

Lyca growls, "We don't need-"

But as she raises her hand to slap at Alice's offering, Philip catches her wrist, "Don't be stubborn, Lyca. We do need their help."

The Lobovan glares at the Echanian, her lips rising over sharp teeth, but then her stomach burbles audibly. She huffs and turns away. Philip slowly accepts Alice's bread, and then grins widely once he has it. The horse boy immediately begins to break it into pieces, offering them to the other children. A few others accept the girls' offerings gratefully, smiles slow to reach their cheeks as if they hadn't done it in a while. The girls hand out a good chunk of their supplies, but feel warm satisfaction in doing so.

Philip thanks the girls profusely and they get a little better acquainted. Then, as a group, they all head deeper into the forest. As they walk, he explains that Lyca and he were from the same town. The wolf girl had lost her parents, much as Alice had, and he was sent away by his mother in the hopes that he would avoid being drafted into the war that had already claimed his father.

The two left together and drifted for a while, occasionally finding other orphans and those with nowhere else to go wandering or near villages. Once their numbers had swollen to the point that traveling would be dangerous, they decided to settle in the forest. Life here had never been easy for them but they survived on what they could hunt and gather. That was until the recent heavy rain brought about a rapid growth to the horrible plants.

Philip recounts that they grew deep in the forest and seemed harmless, but once it started to rain, they began producing the illness inducing bubbles that would detach from the main plant and float off. Twinkaleni is particularly curious about this plant and flips through her book, asking questions.

She eventually points out an entry and asks, "Is this the plant?"

Philip, much taller than the Murin mage, leans over her shoulder to see, "Yeah, I think that looks like them."

"Excellent. According to this book, those aren't plants at all but a type of fungi called, the floating puffball."

Danahlia snorts, "That's a funny name."

"Indeed," Twinkaleni continues, "it says here that the floating bubbles you refer to are its sporangium. They contain its spores, or seeds. It also confirms what you say about the sickness."

"Does it say anything about a cure?" asks Alice.

"Uh, yes, here, it says the young fungus can be harvested and brewed with water into a tea that should help dissipate the symptoms. But, only the younger fungi that have not yet formed a sporangium are suitable."

Philip's eyes widen and he places a hopeful hand on Twinkaleni's tiny shoulder, "Does that mean you can heal our friends?"

"Uh, um, well, potentially, given that we can, acquire the necessary immature fungi," she stammers.

"That's great! You hear that? We can make a cure!" announces Philip, raising a fist to his companions. They join him in a little cheer and even Lyca seems pleased with the news.

Curious, Alice walks beside the wolf girl and asks, "You guys don't seem all that surprised that Danny is a Liguna."

Lyca looks to her with a sneer, "Pff, she's not so special. We had two Cold Bloods with us a little while ago but they didn't wanna stick around."

Danahlia takes great interest in this and begins asking about her kin. Amused, Lyca reveals they were a brother and sister pair who taught the others a bit about living off the land, what plants to eat, what to avoid, and even how to hunt. They left sometime before the floating puffballs began to be a problem. When asked about where they went, Lyca says they didn't say. Danahlia seems pleased to hear that more of her kind are around, but also a little disappointed she had missed them.

Alice wonders, "When was the last time you saw any of your people?"

"Me and Twinkie found one hiding out in a village a few months before we met," the lizard girl answers.

Lyca grins at Twinkaleni, "Twinkie? Ha! That's so cute."

"I know, right?" Danahlia smiles back.

Twinkaleni sighs.

Alice hears a few coughs coming from up ahead and the group picks up their pace. Soon they're among several more children, many of which are lying on the ground as a few others tend to them. Immediately, Lyca and Philip's group spread out to share what food was given to them, none of the small party eating a bite until then. They break for a short while to share a meal. The forest dwellers are ravenous, letting not a single crumb go to waste, but still giving each of their group equal shares. A small pool left by the rain gives the girls a chance to refill their water supply.

Philip almost immediately begins calling for volunteers to look for the fungus. Lyca, and by default Nesu, stand with him as a matter of course and a few others join them. Twinkaleni volunteers to go as well and, not wanting to leave her alone, Danahlia and Alice decide to go too. A few of the volunteers take empty sacks with them and the group heads off to find the potentially lifesaving fungus.

The depths of the forest are dense and still damp, becoming more so the further they travel. Misty fog trapped under the thick canopy begins to limit their vision and they unconsciously huddle closer together. The knowledge Twinkaleni has gained from the book pays off as she is able to point out various edible plants. She double checks to be sure, and the party of nine plucks, picks, and unearths as they go, slowly refreshing their depleted food stores with various leaves, shoots, roots, and even a few mushrooms.

The group begins to disperse little by little, encouraged by their early success, prompting Lyca to warn them to stay together. As they search, Philip tells them they are heading in the general direction of their old camp site where they left much of their supplies, the floating puffballs having forced them to leave.

As he does, the little Murin boy, Nesu, tugs on the wolf girl's pant leg, pointing at a bush, "Lyca, saccha berries!"

The others become excited by the discovery and quickly approach only to have Lyca shout at them to stop. They obediently obey and Lyca tells them she had seen this particular bush before and that it had a floating puffball on it. She motions for Philip to investigate. Circling the berry bush, the horse boy points out that the puffball is still there. He waves for the new arrivals to come see so they know what to watch for.

Alice, Danahlia, and Twinkaleni circle to him cautiously and look to where he points. Nestled under a few of the bush's leaves and surrounded by bright pink berries, that have the clustered appearance of raspberries, is the puffball. It's a rather unpleasant looking, dirty flesh colored bubble the relative size of a fist with a few long hairs poking randomly out from it.

Twinkaleni looks closer, checking the book entry and Alice asks, "Can we move it?"

Philip shakes his head, "Nope, anything touches these things and they pop. It's rare that one would get caught like this without goin' off but I've seen it happen."

"And if this one detonates, its spores may contaminate the berries," adds Twinkaleni getting a nod from the Echanian.

"Can we get the berries on the other side?" asks Danahlia, referring to the other side of the bush.

"Don't risk it," warns Lyca, "A branch shifts too much and that thing can burst. We just have to leave it."

"Can you do anything about these things?" asks Alice, disappointed to be deterred by so small an obstacle.

Philip answers, "We used to throw rocks and sticks at 'em to get 'em to pop, but then a few days later the place would be covered with new growths."

"Have you tried burning them?" wonders Twinkaleni, peering at the puffball.

"Burnin' 'em?" asks Lyca, looking to Philip.

"Mm, no, we haven't done that. We haven't been able to get a fire going in a while with all this damp," he says, gesturing to the surrounding fog.

"Won't that just make 'em pop?" asks Alice.

Twinkaleni rubs one of her ears thoughtfully with a, "Mmm."

Danahlia looks to the little mage, "I know that look, whacha thinkin'?"

Instead of answering, Twinkaleni asks, "You've seen these puffballs floating around freely?"

"Um, yeah, I figure that's why they call 'em floatin' puffballs," says Lyca, Philip nodding.

After a few more moments of ear rubbing thought, Twinkaleni announces, "I wish to try something. Everyone step back."

Alice and Danahlia do, though the others look confused. Danahlia then uses the shaft of her spear to push a few back with her and Alice does the same with her arms, giving the Murin mage some room.

Lyca grumbles an irritated "Hey," but doesn't resist.

Once Twinkaleni is satisfied, she takes a few steps back herself, before pointing a finger to the puffball and shouting, "Feasta!"