[Pili] Chapter 2: Spirit Forest

[Throndir]

"Doubt not what you can accomplish, my child." The creature said. "Sometimes, all that's need is a gentle push in the right direction."

"Even the greatest of avalanches starts with a single snowflake. Every great achievement starts with small beginnings. The most important thing is to start that journey." She said as she smiled one last time.

Everything then started to become very bright. It was as if everything was becoming brighter and more saturated in color. Brighter and brighter did everything seem to be. The whole transition didn't last very long, and when it was finished you found yourself in a thick forest.



Location: New World
Date: ???

Before you could register what happened, written words flashed in your mind. For whatever reason, you were able to understand them, though you've never even learned words in the first place. It was as if seeing the symbols gave you instant recognition of what they meant.

[okay]You have gained a new title『Summoned Hero』
You have gained『Quick Learner』
You have gained『Mana Sensitivity』
You have gained『Greater Mana Sensitivity』
You have gained『Translate All』
You have gained『Personal Status』
You have gained『Shock Absorber』
You have gained a new title『Redirector』
You have gained『Multiply』
You have gained a new title『Master of Magic』
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You are now level 15. Spend your unallocated points.[/okay]The forest was old and ancient. Though, there was a lot of greenery, and enough of the sun's rays managed to pierce through the canopy. There was glowing runes that circled you that was already quickly fading. At the same time you noticed many glowing orbs of different colors, green, red, orange, blue, to name a few wink out one by one all around you.

But what caught your eye the most was a glowing and hovering individual facing towards you. She was smaller than you were, and it had wings on the back of its body. Like the giant creature from before, this one too wore clothing and sported yellow hair. But she had tears in its eyes and she was visibly distressed.

She said unfamiliar words then, but like before, you understood what she said.

"I-It worked... T-thank you everyone."

[Fellow Rabbit]

_

There was an uncanny tone of reassurance in the creature's response. Small though he knew he was, it's description led him to imagine this grandiose cascade of events begun by such inconsequential actions and culminating in the quelling of suffering everywhere. It sounded impossible, but for some reason it seemed to make sense here and now, coming from this creature who had the answers he needed.

And then everything went bright. Real bright. He felt as though he were looking at the sun as it peaked over the horizon, except the brightness grew much faster and came from every direction at once. He put his paws up to block some of it out, then closed his eyes when he found that wasn't doing the trick. And suddenly...

Forest. He opened his eyes to find the large creature had disappeared, replaced by another, much smaller, creature. Smaller than him, in fact. And it looked as though it had a butterfly on its back that was carrying it around.

A second later he realized some strange markings were blocking his vision. He tried to wipe it away, thinking something had fallen into his eye, but it didn't move. He looked at the markings closer and found that he could read them. More concepts that should be unintelligible to him but he was somehow able to understand. And it was just like the language the other creature spoke in before.

'Summoned Hero'? 'Mana Sensitivity'? He could understand the words, but none of what he was reading made sense to him. 'Greater Mana Sensitivity'? So it was better than the regular one? Helpful indeed. 'Translate All'? Actually, that one did make some sense. It at least explained why he could understand the creature from before and indeed these writings appearing before him.

He read on, still unsure what much of it meant, but noting that Shock Absorber sounded kind of cool. He also leveled up. A lot. And it didn't mean a thing to him. 'Level 15,' he read. That was what he was now, if these words were to be trusted. They started to fade away once he read them. He would need to find out what this was all about. It was kind of distracting.

The forest around him, now that he was finished being distracted from it, was much more like home than the more open grassland he was in just moments ago. Much more dense, but most of it was still familiar. Except for floating balls circling around him like flies. Along with more writings like the ones from a second ago, but these ones he could not read. They were taller and looked as if they were squeezed from the sides so all the little lines were closer together. And there were a lot of them until they disappeared into the air around him.

"I-It worked... T-thank you everyone."

As it spoke, he finally returned his focus to the little butterfly before him. It was a lot less serene than the larger creature from before. It looked much more as if it was in need of help.

"'Everyone'?" he squeaked, looking around to see what other creatures were around. "What worked? Where am I?"

[Throndir]

The winged creature continued to cry. You notice her look towards the many fading orbs of light above you, an each time she did so, she seemed to visibly tremble. But when it realized that you were talking to her, she finally wiped her tears away, and trying to compose herself, she fluttered downwards to be at your level inside the now-fading circle of glowing runes.

She sniffled a few times before she finally responded.

"The summoning magic that is..." She said.

As if she was remembering something, she tried to forcefully cheer herself up.

"Hi! My name is Mollyianarasoletteasharae. Hero, we-" She choked on her words as tears started to flow down again. "-beg of you to help... us." More tears started to flow

[Fellow Rabbit]

_

The interaction felt rather awkward. The butterfly was visibly anguished, a position he himself had been in on multiple occasions, but with such a drastically new setting, it was difficult to extend his sympathy. He was was still trying to gain his bearings.

He took a step back as he attempted to take it all in. He had been summoned - or had he been sent? - from the garden. That connected to the 'Summoned Hero' bit from the words covering his vision a few seconds ago, he figured. The 'summoned' part now made sense, though he never thought of himself as a hero. It was hard to understand, but he suspected he was in a world that wasn't his own and wasn't the garden, or at least not anywhere near the garden. This was a third world. A new world. And whether the creature had sent him here or this butterfly had brought him here, this was the world he was directed to help.

He hadn't gotten the chance to continue taking things in as the butterfly started to introduce itself. It had a thing called a name and it was a whole sentence-worth of meaningless sounds. It seemed to be some way this creature's species used to identify themselves. But why? Couldn't they just smell each other instead? He flicked his tail. It was starting to get difficult just deciding which part of all the things that happened to him after he died was the strangest. He was certain he wouldn't be able to remember what the butterfly's name was, but it had a distinct scent he reckoned he wouldn't forget in a hurry.

As the butterfly broke down in tears for a second time, he moved in closer again to perhaps get a better understanding. It needed his help. And judging by its size, it was help he might be able to give. A squirrel should have an easy time solving a butterfly-sized problem, right? Even a really big butterfly.

"Save your tears, butterfly. What sort of help do you need?" he asked squirrellily. He couldn't see or otherwise sense any danger nearby. Nothing that he thought he should be worried about, anyway. If this was the sort of help the larger creature expected him to offer this world, then it would be as easy as cracking open a walnut.

[Throndir]

"O-oh o-okay hero..." The small winged girl said as started to wipe her tears away. "Lots of things... But... Everyone wanted to welcome you properly first." She rubbed her eyes one more time.

"L-let me show you! I'm supposed to explain everything while you partake in what everyone prepared for you." With that, her wings flapped, and once she was airborne, lead the way to an area nearby the summoning circle. It wasn't very far, perhaps 15 to 20 ft. at the most.

Laid on large fronds of leaves, long slabs of stone, and polished wood, was an array of various food items. Fruits that you had never seen, mushrooms, various chopped leaves, and all sorts of nuts and seeds. One of the nuts on the table looked just like the ones you used to gather with your family.

"This forest is dying... But we went around gathering as much as we can for your arrival."

Also requesting Perception.

[Fellow Rabbit]

_

The forest was certainly different from the one he called home in life. It felt... sadder... if he had to describe it. There was a sense that something was wrong with it, but he couldn't tell you why. It must have had something to do with the taint described to him by the creature from the second world.

The butterfly creature went on. It wasn't lost on him that this place might have felt more sad because sadness was what was being expressed around him and indeed it was practically the first and only thing he had witnessed since entering this world. It didn't quite set the best mood.

But the mood was made slightly more neutral when it did stop crying.

"Everyone wanted to welcome you properly first." it told him. There was that "everyone" again. It seemed to ignore him when he questioned who "everyone" was a second ago. There didn't seem to be any interest in sharing it now, but apparently he would be meeting them all soon anyway, so it was a moot point.

"L-let me show you! I'm supposed to explain everything while you partake in what everyone prepared for you."

An explanation! That was what he was hoping to hear. All that had been explained thus far was that the summoning magic worked, which he had figured was the case since... you know, he had already been summoned and all. This butterfly hadn't honestly been much help at this point, but if there was more to elucidate him elsewhere, he felt he should go on.

He followed the butterfly the short distance to whatever it was that had been prepared for him. For a moment, it all felt a little sketchy to him, with the lack of information and the mysterious destination, but he slowly went on. He had already chosen the best escape route in case something was waiting for him wherever he was being led. It was only a short trek, however, and so far he hadn't spotted anything he should need to run from.

The offering was generous, he thought. It had seemed odd, but he found it much easier to put aside the idea that the fruits and seeds had been alive than he had when he was in the garden with the large creature. Perhaps it was that this felt more like home than the garden had, or perhaps it was that the garden had a feeling of perfection that he thought might somehow be blemished by his consumption of the "living" seeds. Whatever the case, he had no reservations in indulging in what he was now being offered.

Carefully, he moved in and grabbed what he already knew he liked the most. It was a hazelnut. A favorite of his and one he enjoyed sharing with his children.

"This forest is dying..."

Right to the point. He slowed his eating a tad, glancing around the forest again. This was definitely not the butterfly-sized problem he had hoped for. This was much bigger. The entire forest was in danger. An entire ecosystem could be on the brink of destruction. He shuddered on the inside, coming to terms with what this really was. This was a moth-sized problem.

"But we went around gathering as much as we can for your arrival."

He looked at the food. Was it becoming harder to find? If the forest was dying, how much of what was left was sitting in front of him right then? He reckoned they must have had a lot of faith that he could fix this before they ran out. He hadn't the slightest idea where to begin for something like this.

"The whole forest?" he gulped, "What do you say I can do that could help the whole forest?"

[blockquote]Perception: 1d20+1 : 2 + 1, total 3[/blockquote]

[Throndir]

http://www.youtube.com/v/ZTrrc6Ni5eM

"You're our hero... It's told that you have the power to save us all. If you say 'Status', that should tell you too." She flew up to a leaf, and proceeded to sit on it. She took a deep breath.

"This forest is our home... The home for the rest of my family; the faeries. We are the caretakers of the forest. Our people were created by the goddess herself to serve that specific function. When we're born, it isn't in the same way that humans and animals do it. For us, we... just appear. It's as if we suddenly come into being. We have memories of our life when we were still with the goddess - it was like a beautiful and warm garden. But when we were sent here, we were given new memories and knowledge. Which animals were which, how to take care best specific plants, and other things too. But we were also given a purpose."

"It's not just us faeries that live here. Many animals live here too. We are to take care of them as ourselves; this forest is what we protect, including its inhabitants. We are to protect it from humans who seek to ruin the balance. Or when calamities strike, we help the animals with rebuilding their homes. But... something happened about a year ago. We're not quite sure what, but half of our forest simply... disappeared. All the trees, plants, animals... and... and many other fairies just vanished. Instead of what used to be there, it was replaced by this barren sickly land. The ground would bear tasteless fruit, the skies too seemed to always be grey. The rain was strangely red, though, it was only on those grey lands..."

"When half our forest just mysteriously disappeared, it took our homes... And most of the faeries that lived there when it happened. Our queen, the one who nurtured the forest, was taken too. There weren't many of us fairies that were left behind - about fifty, and none with the power that our queen was granted. We thought our goddess would send more of us here to compensate... But more never came. A new queen was never selected among us either."

"Then these monsters appeared. But it wasn't like the normal ones we usually see. When the surviving faeries and I saw them, we immediately could tell... they were not good. These had horns that sprouted from their heads. They looked almost like a human, but many of them had parts from animals. Some had wings, some had tails, others had large claws. I'm not sure why, but when they came, they immediately started killing the animals and anything in these forests. Burning and torching what they could."

"And as the months went by, and those monsters kept attacking and killing. We would end up losing someone... and our forest dying with each death of its inhabitants."

"That summoned hero circle you came from wasn't something that was here originally either. It just... appeared. But we know of its purpose and use. It was part of the memories granted to us by our goddess... We decided to use it. Our last hope was you. So we began to prepare for it, we gathered what we could from our dying forest to hail your arrival, we told the rest of the critters of the forest to come watch as well. But... there was a problem with it all. The use of this specific summoning circle required the use of the divine essence..."

The faerie paused, her eyes starting anew with fresh tears.

"I'm the last one."

"The last one with that divine essence. We knew from the start we might not have enough of the divine essence between us to activate it... But we hoped. And we prayed. I didn't want them to go, but everyone... everyone decided I would be the best to stay here... To teach you, to guide you, to explain to you, and to beg you. The others... they protected me. They poured everything into the ritual. And I watched as one by one each one was consumed... Turned into divine energy to power the runes... My family... They were disappearing in front of my very eyes, but I held firm because... because this is what we all decided."

"So..." The faerie closed her eyes, trying to will her tears to stop, but to no avail.

"So please hero, please save us." When she said this, only now did you notice many other animals behind her, hidden in the bushes: Squirrels, birds, elk, rabbits, bears, foxes, wolves, and many others.

"Please save us all."

[Fellow Rabbit]

_

http://www.youtube.com/v/Hm6VUAsJDRo

With every word the butterfly spoke, the larger the problem seemed. The forest was still under attack. Its guardians, whoever they were, had already been taken down. Nature itself had begun to falter under the taint as it moved in. Somehow nothing they could do had done anything to stop the bleak future this series of events foretold.

And they called on a squirrel to get help.

They had great beasts with large claws and strength he couldn't imagine. They had flying acorn-thieves that could go wherever they wanted and soar to heights no squirrel could reach. They had creatures with great horns and powerful kicks. They had other squirrels. They had butterflies with powers he had neither seen nor imagined until just moments ago. They even had the same kind of monster that had killed him in his past life.

Yet they called on him specifically to change everything.

He was humbled, but even after all this butterfly's explanation and after the encouragement of the creature from the second world, he still was having a hard time believing so much could depend on him. Whatever these monsters were that were destroying what was left of a mysteriously disappearing forest seemed to be on much a larger scale than even the forest himself. The size of it all was much more than he thought he could handle.

He find himself squeaking "Status" lowly to himself as the butterfly spoke, but his attention was immediately piqued as the butterfly uttered that it was last of its kind. Those bubbles that had been floating around when he first arrived... They had been butterflies themselves up until he was brought into this forest. Whatever faith they had that he could save them, they had staked everything on it. It left him little choice, he thought.

But it was exactly what he had already told the creature in the garden he would do, wasn't it? He had been sent here to save them, and in doing so, make this the kind of world he would want for his family. There was no question.

As he finished eating the small offering they had prepared for him, he glanced at all the animals. There was desperation in their eyes - a look he had never seen in his own world. They anticipated his decision no less than the butterfly who had given up everything but her own life just to ask him for his help.

He stood up on his hind legs, nodded, and eyed the butterfly with a look of solemnity. "Show me what I need to do."

[Throndir]

The moment you said 'Status', a semi-translucent green-colored window appeared in the air in front of you. Again, they were written in various symbols, but you realized you could read these as well.

[okay]-
Summoned Hero
Level 15

Condition: Healthy

HP: 34/34
MP: 40/40
STR: 14 +
DEX: 25 +
CON: 22 +
INT: 10+
WIS: 10 +
CHA: 15 +
MAG: 26 +

Blessings: Quick Learner, Mana Sensitivity, Greater Mana Sensitivity, Translate All, Personal Status, Shock Absorber, Multiply

You have 3 unspent ability points.[/okay]

"There is a lot you have to do hero... There are many things you can do to help us all... How we can save this forest... If we can save it at all? But you need to be taught first... We knew that when summoned heroes are brought in this world, many times, they know nothing about any of their new-found abilities and powers. But..." She then flew down, then grabbed a random nut.

"First, let's partake of what we set up for you... This is called a pili nut." The fairy said as she offered the morsel. She then glanced back at the other animals still hiding in the bushes.

"Do you mind if the rest join us?"

[Fellow Rabbit]

_

He scanned the words that appeared in his vision, being sure to read fast and commit it to memory rather than just gaze over it like last time. A bit of the information seemed to be repeated from when he first arrived in this world. Blessings, as they appeared be called. But this time there was also a great deal of new information. HP, MP, and seven other words he couldn't make sense of, all followed by numbers that didn't mean anything in particular so far. Three unspent ability points. Not a lick of it made sense aside from the reassuring words 'Condition: Healthy. He assumed that meant him. And that was good to hear, considering he had just died and all.

He snapped out of focus when the butterfly flew down to the food he had been eating from. For a fleeting moment, he had both the urge to defend the stache of food they'd given him and a much more minor urge to make a run for it, but he suppressed both for now.

"A pili nut?" He had to admit he really liked the sound of that. It had a nice ring to it. He moved forward and grabbed it as it was offered to him. The most noticeable quality of this nut was that it was enormous - at least three times the length of an average walnut, which is the largest nut he had ever eaten. He nearly had a hard time grasping it in his tiny paws, but he was really excited to dig in.

"Do you mind if the rest join us?"

Admittedly, the question had caught him off-guard. He was under the impression that all the food here was for him. Even if it might be a bit much for just one squirrel. He repositioned himself to see all the animals behind the butterfly with one of his eyes. As before, they looked desperate. Once again, there wasn't much question there. He had only just told them he was willing to help save the forest. This could be a good first step, right? It was so strange suddenly having such a great responsibility like this. Prior to this, he had only ever had to look out for his family. This was quite a step up.

He eyed one of the red-furred monsters amongst the animals as he scanned the crowd. Those he was particularly unsure of. One had killed him, after all. Worse: one had threatened his family, and quite possibly even killed them as well. That creature's kind were to be feared by squirrels, not welcomed in.

He noticed then that it was amongst other animals of prey, including squirrels, yet appeared virtually uninterested in them as food. Maybe it was different here. Maybe squirrel-kind didn't live in fear of the usual predators of his own forest. There was clearly a much larger threat looming over them, anyhow.

But it was the same kind of monster that had killed him. This wasn't even that long ago. Ten minutes at most. How could he just open up like that to something he lived to fear?

"If that nut could feel, how do you think it would be feeling right this instance?" the words of the great creature from the second world echoed in his mind. He looked at the wonderfully-named pili nut in his tiny paws. "Perhaps fear? Perhaps pain? Maybe even regret? The same as that fear you felt running from the fanged ones. ...what makes you different from that nut?"

That was it, wasn't it? It was just how things worked. The fanged one was only subsisting. All it wanted was food, and to it, he was food. But there was food here and now, right in front of him. It wouldn't need to eat a squirrel for food if it could eat some of this. After all, it wasn't eating the other squirrels. In that sense, maybe it would be better to let the predators have their share. It would keep them from digging in to other things. That made him feel a lot better.

Still having not tried the pili nut yet, he returned his gaze back to the butterfly before him. "I would like that," he finally answered. He would still be keeping his distance from anything with sharp teeth, though.

Having another look at the nut he held, he was having a hard time find a place he could get his teeth into. Walnuts at least had grooves he could gnash away at until he could bite into something. And they were much, much smaller. This pili nut had tapered ends, yes, but its sheer size made it awkward to positioned correctly. If the taste turned out to be worth it, he would have to work out a good way to break the shell. For just this once, though, he thought he might ask for help.

"Now how do I open this?" It occurred to him that the information he got from saying 'status' was likely important, but this was far more urgent. It wasn't every day he got a chance to try a new kind of nut.

[Throndir]

The fairy then waved her arms in a beckoning motion.

"It's okay, everyone!" She said. A moment later the rest of the animals started to hesitantly move out of the bushes. There was much less than you expected.

"Not everyone could make it." The fairy explained. "Many are wounded or injured, and some of the others are helping take care of them..." She laughed, though it was forced.

"Normally... it isn't like this... Usually its us, the faeries who takes care of the injured ones. Other animals... don't usually tend to others if they're not in the same family unit. But because of everything that's happened, and with the pushing of the other faeries too, we've learned to have... some strange sort of peace and community here. Almost like a fairy society, where we help each other out. Those who normally eat meat have been trying to change their diets... But, whenever a raid happens and the monsters appear killing without regard, it's then that we let those who need to, make use of their sacrifice."

While she had been talking most of the animals that were present had finally made it. Many of them actually stared at your curiously. It was the other squirrels that seemed to be the most excited. Many of them began darting in semi-circles around you, gibbering away.

You knew they were excited, but then you realized that you were actually able to understand the nuances of what they were saying in the same understanding you had when the faerie was speaking.

"You're one of us!" One had said.

"You're like us! The hero is like us! You're a squirrel! What's your name?" Another had said.

"Yes! What's your name? The fairies call me Pea!"

The fairy smiled softly at the sight.

"To open a Pili nut... Well, Pea and Fora, why don't you show him?"

With that, both the squirrels pointed at the center of the Pili nut.

"Make a bite right there! It will make a little hole..."

"Then... you split it! Pry it open!"

"It should be easier for you too, than before... Try it." The fairy urging you on.

[Fellow Rabbit]

_

He wasn't quite sure what to expect of the animals as they made their way into the offering area. The larger, predatory ones unsurprisingly made him uneasy, but even the smaller animals he would normally associate with made him ever so slightly nervous. What mannerisms had they here that he wouldn't expect to see where he came from? In what ways did they expect him to greet them? And how much of the food would they try to claim from him?

He didn't have to wait long to find out. Naturally, the other squirrels in the crowd were the most eager to scamper up and introduce themselves. Like any squirrel, he himself was actually happy to meet more like him, but he soon found that indeed they had a different way of being squirrels in this forest.

"What's your name?" one of them asked.

'...Name?' he thought. In his forest, he had never referred to another creature with a name, but rather by their unique scent. It made sense to him, but then this ability to communicate so complexly also wasn't a thing he or any other squirrel was able to do in the first world. Vocalizations were generally limited to chirps and squeaks to warn others of danger nearby and whether it was approaching, leaving, noticed them, or other related things. Even calling out a specific kind of danger wasn't an option before. It seemed rather silly to dedicate a different sound to every squirrel he met, particularly when the number of different sounds he could make were so limited.

Then again, the ability to speak with such a significantly more robust set of sounds, all with their own meaning, did make it seem a little less silly.

"Yes! What's your name? The fairies call me Pea!" another squirrel asked him.

"A name... " he mused, feeling it proper to give them an answer. "I'm afraid I don't have one."

He wondered if he should think of a name for himself, but the butterfly returned the topic back to the nut in his hands.

"Make a bite right there!" the one called Fora pointed at a particular spot on the pili nut. "It will make a little hole..."

He set the nut down to get a look at where Fora was pointing and sure enough, there was a small indentation in the center of the nut's long edge.

"Then... you split it! Pry it open!" the first had said.

This one's name he had heard twice now, but in the excitement he had already forgotten. It was still much easier for him to remember others by the way they smelled.

He took the nut in his paws again and adjusted it so he could get his incisors into the little notch and pry it open. Sure enough, the shell cracked right in half to reveal the treasure hidden inside. He discarded the shell as he grabbed the kernel, chewed away a bit of the skin, and took a small bite.

It was right then and there that he discovered a taste he had been missing out on his entire life. A rich buttery flavor washed over his palette like a rainstorm flood into a thirsty lakebed. His tail stiffened and his body straightened as he swallowed the delicious treat, then he slowly loosened back up to his original position as the first bite faded to a delicious aftertaste. Euphoria.

It was fortunate that he was among allies for the moment, for he very nearly forgot to pay attention to his surroundings as he focused so intently on the taste of the nut. But alas, the moment of ecstasy couldn't last, and before he knew it, he had already finished the treat. He didn't recall ever having such a wonderful feeling from trying a new kind of food before. It was special sensation and not one he intended to forget. The best feeling he had had since before the fanged ones had threatened his family. He had to have more.

"This 'pili' nut..." he said, "This is the greatest thing I've ever tasted! Where did you find it?"

[Throndir]

"It's good, isn't it? We really like it too!" Fora said.

"The other nuts are good too, but Pili is my favorite!" Pea commented shortly after as he watched you finish it. "There are no more Pili nuts here in the forest though... That was the last one!"

"I'm glad you got to try it! I'm glad it's the hero..." Fora as she began eyeing the rest of the food. Though there was plenty, admittedly, but Fora was still hesitant about getting food for herself. In fact, once the other animals had come too, most of them had simply watched. There was a small number who picked some sort of food up, and even gently nibbled on them, but they didn't seem to go through the food with as much gusto as one would have expected considering how thin they all looked.

"Would you like a name, hero?" The fairy said as she fluttered down to you.

"When the faeries first arrived... We gave everyone names. Sometimes other animals receive names from their own kind, but not all the time. But the ones that the faeries talk with often, we give them names. The ones gathered here right now... They're the heads of their clans. They're ones with names."

[Fellow Rabbit]

_

The last one? No, that couldn't be! In the span of just a few seconds he had learned of the greatest treat in three worlds and was being told he might never have one again? It wasn't right. He would do anything in his power to make sure whatever tree or bush this pili nut had grown from would return to this forest. It was a staple of this new world in his eyes and he owed it to his family to make sure they could taste it for themselves.

"Thank you, friends, for giving me a chance to taste it." He admittedly felt awkward sitting there knowing he had just been offered the very last of these squirrels' favorite treat that thought they might ever see. Truly that was a sign of their trust and reverence of him. This was a trust he knew he must uphold. Bringing this delicacy back to the forest would now be a service he owed to them in addition to his own family.

Then a strange urge came over him. It was friendly enough, but it wasn't something he would normally do in his own land. He leaned in to the nearest of the two squirrels - Fora - and gave her a hug. Where did this gesture come from, and why was he so sure that it was a way to show appreciation and tenderness? Was this a proper way to interact with those he met here? And would that matter given that he is seen with such stature? These were questions he couldn't answer and frankly didn't know how to ask, either.

"Thank you," he said again, quieter now that he was so close to Fora's ear. Everything still felt like it was moving so fast around him, but in that moment, he felt an unexplained relief from some of the tension he had accumulated since his encounter with the red-furred creature in the first world. It felt good, though. So, instead of worrying whether or not this was how the animals acted here, he seized the moment and continued the embrace until, only a few seconds later, the butterfly spoke up again.

"Would you like a name, hero?" It fluttered down and summed up some of what names were about in this forest.

He was glad to have that finally explained to him, even if he might not still entirely understand it. To him, a creature's scent was still certainly enough to identify them by. But then, this whole concept of complex speech and thought was something he still hadn't entirely gotten used to.

"A- a name?" he responded, stepping back from Fora to better face the speaking butterfly. "I think I would very much like to have one of those."

[Throndir]

"Ah...! Well...!" Fora exclaimed as she giddily hugged you tightly back. "The fairies did that too! But... I'm glad you got to try it. It's one of my favorites!"

The fairy began to think. But then an idea came to her.

"Well Pea... Fora... What do you guys think?" She asked. Both the squirrels thought for a moment. Then Fora spoke up.

"I really really like the Pili nuts..." Fora began. "And... I really really like the hero... How about..."

The squirrel glanced at you.

"Pili?"