Adventurer’s Kiddie Pool

What is normally a short dragon ride is a little longer of a trip when walking.  Shifting trees and Swampgrass aren't a problem when you can fly after all. Mya had been dropped off at Kifka’s Mage school some two months ago, but to surprise her family for thanksgiving she thought she would take the trek home. Leaving school, she probably under-packed just a little. Some medicinal herbs (her father would KILL her if he found out she went through the forests without them), and a present from Dean Kifka were all she decided she needed. Great adventurers live off the land anyway, and while Mya knew she had a long way to go, she also knew she was almost there. There were complexities of the land that she had to give herself time to figure out, but her familiarity helped. Plus, she could rely on Gribal if she ever needed anything. Waving goodbye to her friends, Mya started down the road back to Celadon. She couldn’t take a horse through the forest, so her legs would have to do, but she liked this feeling. Like revisiting an old game with fun new tools As she approached the forest, she could finally play that game again. There was still a path. Sort of. Trips were not usually made without expert adventurers or scientists, because of the unpredictable magic that protected the forests. What protected the school was like a mud bath –refreshing and fun, but also exhausting and challenging to shift through. The complex paths that gave them a new experience with every visit also guaranteed that no sane person could judge the way the forests would shift without intimately knowing the magic. It was common for children to go into the forest expecting to find their lost ball, and have to stay put until Cesta police brought them home. Mya would always wonder how they did it on their own, with no friends to tell them where to go. Now was her chance to be like those she looked up to. Now she would combine her new knowledge of magic with old experience. She had always had an intuition for how the trees worked, but could not break it down to a science her whole life.  She pulled out a little copper circle guarding a thick and almost lucid lens. She held it up to her eye and rotated it to the left. Slowly the forest began to contort around her, and she saw the dance of the trees. She had studied time magic before, it was a very dangerous thing not normally permitted for the use of students. After being caught snooping around old tomes, Kifka knew it was best if she learned about it in a safe and monitored fashion since it looked like she was going to do it anyway. On its own the lends did not do harm, just allowed one to see the past. Time magic was very dangerous and in more than one case can be lethal to the user or target. Skilled mages could barter their own time for power, or steal someone else's. But this tool was harmless. While being able to see the past, Mya couldn’t do all that much to interact with it. But she looked to observe more than anything.  Her whole life she had witnessed the forest shift, and there was a rhythm to it. It didn't want to be found but it was so deeply etched into the makings of all the life in here. The lens allowed her to see the previous grooves from the trees; which only happened under swift dances when no one was watching. Mya could now see the history of choreography. The trees innately knew to protect themselves. If there was a pattern it would repeat, and while the grass always grows back in time to cover up the tracks of its last visitors, experienced adventurers always find their way around these puzzles. If the adventures had only used luck, they would not be as renowned or as alive as they were today. She watched for a while, witnessing whole performances of saplings pass by in the glint of her eye. She was finally able to identify a cell-like shape interwoven into the motion of the trees, just flowing over the course of time. It was a shape intimately explored in school, perhaps for its prevalence in life. Moving in this methodical way mathematically produced distance to the center of the forest. Every set distance was always diagonally traceable to her last position after moving along with the trees. The pattern she danced in produced a certain joy and connection to the world under her feet. She began to laugh and smile. Before being back all the way she was already home. Her laughing was cut short, as her envelopment of fun distracted her from the reason some ball retrieval missions come back unsuccessful. Swampgrass. Swampgrass started off as insect-sized creatures that lay dormant atop blades of grass. As time goes on, they grow to shape into blades, replacing them with their body as they eat them. After taking the roots, they can grow to take on whole puddles of grass and soil at full size. As their appearance stays the same, their texture is almost like a liquid frozen in time. Adult Swampgrass is carnivorous, and will rapidly decompose life that is unfortunate enough to step in it. Their enzymes can catch onto walking animals, and slowly populate on them feeding until the animal withers, leaving its body as a home base to disperse itself among leaves. Mya noticed she encountered them when she placed her foot on solid footing which began to show that it was anything but. The Grass acted slowly, and as long as she navigated out of the forest in time it could not survive in its own biome. Her heart panged with a sense of adrenaline. Visions of running home with a burning on her bare feet invited themselves in. Her father was patching up her wounds and smiling that she was safe because it was pointless to yell that she got hurt in the first place. This was her first independent sense of real danger knowing that she had to act quickly if she wanted to see her father tend to her. By no means had she done it on purpose, the pain that was written in the stars for her as the Swampgrass ate at her would not be easy Now was an opportunity to flavor her story with challenge. She would finally get to forge herself anew, in the flames of trial. She could bring home stories to share with her two twin brothers. She pulled her leg out of the swamp grass and had to act quickly. Picking up a nearby stick, she prodded forward making sure to not step in what could potentially be an infestation. Once she could guide herself to a tree, she leaned on it and slowly lowered herself to the floor. She reached into her satchel and pulled out pink sand. She got the tin of sparkled substance and began to rub it into her invaded leg. Its friction and foreigners would kill off most of the swamp grass, but still being on their home turf could not be trusted to take care of the whole challenge. Standing up, she embarked on her trek through the forest, garnering an increased sense of self-respect. If she lived to tell this story, surely someone could use it as the foreword to her biography. As long as it was not her; she did not care for writing.  Deep in the forest, it was getting harder and harder to walk. Most of the Swampgrass had died by now, but the resilience of the few made up for the lack of many. She sat. She would need help from an old friend to keep pushing. She called an incantation taught to her by her mother when she was little when she was feeling lonely before the birth of her younger brothers. The grass and dirt jived together in the form of a small snail, and with continued tune, he began to move.  The forest had a name, long before the humans gave one to it. Lost almost to time, but eternal in importance. She called upon the essence of the kingdom she lay visitor. “Gribal” she beckoned, sparking life into the snail. It began to grow in size. A nearby tree melted and raced to it, giving it a protective shell. Moss covered its neck. Mya had called on Gribal before, but they always took different forms as the life of the forest is always changing. The snail was her favorite, so she was happy with their choice this evening. “Mya!” it's so good to see you! How long has it been? About Worm’s lifetime?” His voice projected like a boombox. It didn't shake the Trees or wake up the Birds, it just caused a small groove to enter the leaves around him. “I didn’t want to bother you today Gribal, I know keeping order can be difficult, but I really need your help.” Mya said, lightly wincing. He noted the bleeding on her leg.

“Oh, we did that, didn’t we? You have to be more careful around here, you know I can’t stop the course of things. To deny them food would be to value some life more than others, and you know how pointless that is.” 

“Oh don’t worry about my leg! I just needed a favor from you. A ride mayhaps?” Mya asked.

“Oh Hoo! Of course, little one, let us embark! Where shall we go?“

“East Candor please!” She smiled. She had to be very specific. Gribal knew very intimately the life force and area of his domain, but could not visit or see anything outside of it. He is entirely devoted to his own locus of control. “You got it kiddo!” a slope lowered from his shell. And she climbed atop it. Stretched out on it, she gave Gribal a big hug. It had been a while. They whistled together and Mya got to tell him stories of the outside world. They did not care much for things they could not see but loved the eminence of excitement she radiated. They were impressed that she could name her direction so eloquently and precisely without his help. She had grown. Once she approached the edge she thanked him and sat. “Will I have to wait another Worm’s lifetime?” They teased. 

“Maybe a fly’s. I’ll be back soon, I promise. He slugged away, getting smaller and smaller with every push until all of their essences retreated back into the forest. Now she would finally apply her balming healing oil, being sure no more Swampgrass could survive on her, and she could begin to march once more. The trip across the forest was perilous, but she was alive. And even got to catch up with her best friend. Cesta, the town on the outskirts of Gribal’s domain was welcoming, and atop her doorstep, she heard the clamor awaiting inside. She rang her doorbell and smiled, Happily home.