Knot Ablaze

[Ella]

Treesinger

When Adventurer Extraordinaire tried to persuade her that the fire was already gone, she moved forward to inspect the opening where he had been poking the glowing stick. There did not appear to be a fire in there... Satisfied, she stepped back once more, looking at him when he said to. She was not sure what him not being a spring chicken had to do with him being old.

"The Elves use fire to... cook... when they visit. They let us try it. It changes the food. We have berries and fruits and vegetables; most do not need to be cooked to eat, but some need to be cooked to be safe for the Elves. They say cooking them removes the poison. When Hunter hunts, only Fire Tender is allowed to cook what is caught. Fire Tender understands the dangers of fire and how to make it as safe as possible." She supposed fire did bring happiness when she and her brethren got to try cooked foods. But the fire was always safely watched, with precautions ready to put it out as soon as possible if anything went wrong.

"Is food poisonous to you if it is not cooked? Can you eat anything without cooking it?"

[Wolfrin Fenris]

Melvorn hummed his understanding as she spoke. Well, might be able to get some food after all. "Being careful with fire is very good. Tell me, how often do these Elves visit?" He puffed a few more times from the pipe. "Had quite a few dealings with elves in my years. It's always an interesting meeting! Hahaha!"

"Oh, they come by every other month or so. But Talathel, the elf teaching my sister and I Treesinging, is always around! He's really cool. A little boring though. Ok well maybe he's a lot boring. But he's really nice, and sometimes he tells us about the lands around us." Weald's voice piped in from behind the human, who jumped noticeably and spun around to see him. What met Melvorn's eyes however made him more than a little nervous.

Weald had returned, and behind him were, 2...4...7...10...12?!, a number of briarborns, all of similar height ranges to that of Weald and his sister, and likewise dichotomous in their appearances and clothing. Some had very rough hewn faces from bark and vine, others more delicate of leaf and fibrous plant material, some had green hair, as Treesinger, others had shades of red and yellow, as leaves in the fall; some wore clothes of linen, some of animal fur, others of plant material such as Weald's sister. The one thing they all had in common however was an expression of interest and wonder, eyes of different colors and shapes all locked on the odd sight of a Human.

Either ignoring the look of growing unease at the idea this flock of Briarborn was able to sneak up on him, or simply not noticing it, Weald smiled broadly at the human and said, "Here are a few of my friends! Oh!" He turned his head to one Briarborn, seemingly male with large sky blue eyes, "Lore-Keeper! This Adventurer Extraordinaire has a quill-pen made from a scorpion's tail! And it never runs out of ink!" As the Briarborn referred to as Lore-Keeper stared in awe, Weald turned to another, a female with long yellow hair.

"Waterer! He has boots that let him walk on water! Although I'm not sure how he gets his nutrients. Weapon-Maker! Elf-Trader! He has a sword he says can kill dragons! And a hat that can turn him invisible!" At this he jabbed an elbow at another Briarborn boy, somewhat shorter then the rest. "Imagine how much easier hunting would be if you were invisible Hunter!"

There was a slight pause as Weald looked from his group of friends to the human Melvorn, and back again, as all of this information sank into the listening Briarborn. And then twelve voices spoke up at once with questions.

[Ella]

Treesinger

Treesinger had not intended to tell the human how often the Elves visited, but it seemed her brother, arriving in time to hear the human's questions, thought it was fine. "He is not boring!" She objected, defending their mentor. Unlike her brother, she considered Talathel's lessons interesting and never let her mind wander off to other things.

Turning her gaze to her brethren, Treesinger wondered why her twin had not brought more back with him. Perhaps they were busy working, like she was supposed to be. Lore-Keeper, Waterer, Weapon-Maker, Elf-Trader, Hunter, Weeder, Plant-Shaper, Tree-Herder, Grower, Forager, Forager, and even Sapling had all come. But... did her twin not tell Fire Tender, Lore-Keeper, and Mender? She did not see any of them among the group, and any of them would be who she would go to for guidance on the matter of the human.

"A scorpion's tail? Can I see it? Where does all the ink come from? Was there ink already in the tail? Is it venomous ink?" The one called Lore-Keeper questioned, moving closer to Adventurer Extraordinaire.

"Why would you walk on water when you can swim? Does water hurt you? I think water is nice. How do you get your nutrients?" The one identified as Waterer spoke, peering at the man's boots.

"Wow! Did you make the sword? How did you make it?!"

"Do you hunt dragons? Are they scary? I heard they can breath fire! It sounds terrifying! Do you use the hat to make it so the dragons can't see you when you hunt them?" The shorter Briarborn, Hunter, asked.

"I heard dragon scales can be used to make things! Do you use the sword to collect dragon scales? What do you do with the rest of the dragon when you kill it?"

"I like your face fur. Does it grow longer? I heard humans can grow long face fur."

"I heard humans are bad. Are you bad?" A smaller Briarborn, even smaller than Hunter, asked keeping a safe distance.

"Is your face fur soft? Can I feel it?"

The voices of the others, who also began spewing questions and comments, blended in with the others, becoming unintelligible.

Treesinger merely stepped back to watch as the barrage of questions began, realizing her own from before the others showed up would most likely be forgotten, even though they were important things to know. After all, if he hoped to eat what food they could offer him, they needed to know what he could and could not eat.

[Wolfrin Fenris]

Weald circled around the group of Briarborn now closing in on the human, unseeing of the worried glances that Melvorn was shooting him and his sister. Drawing closer to her, he said very conversationally, "Isn't this great? A visitor from the outside! And he is so boring. Did you learn anything while I was gone? I should have let you go and get the others so I wouldn't have to miss anything. I couldn't find Talathel."

As he waited for his twin to respond, he tried to keep his ear out for the human's responses.

[Ella]

Treesinger

"He is not boring. I learn a lot from him." She insisted, but continued before her twin could argue back. "Adventurer Extraordinaire says that laughter is magic for the soul because it can 'bring light to your darkest day' by making you happy when you are sad. It is apparently speaking metaphorically. He did not say what speaking metaphorically means. I think it is some kind of spell connected to laughter magic."

"Also, that thing in his mouth, he used a stick that glowed red to set the stuff he put into it on fire." Treesinger informed him.

[Wolfrin Fenris]

"Fire? Here? Doesn't he know how dangerous that is? Fire Tender is not even present!" He stops to consider the implications of fire here, bringing a hand up to his rough bark-hewn chin. After a moment, he shrugs his shoulders. "He must be even more amazing then I thought." He takes a moment more, considering the implications of such a thing. "What is laughter magic? Is it as boring as the magic Talathel tries to teach us? Where did he put the glowing stick? I want to see it!" He began to move towards Melvorn when suddenly his mouth gaped open and he quickly spun back around towards Treesinger.

"Wait! The elders were wrong about humans! Look, he's not dangerous at all! If they were wrong about humans, what else could they be wrong about? Maybe fire isn't dangerous!"

[Ella]

Treesinger

"I told him it is dangerous! He said he knows how to be careful with it and that what is in there couldn't burn a leaf unless he stuck it in there. I don't know why he is burning leaves in there." She explained, then pointed in the general direction he had put the fire stick. "He put it in a pocket."

She ignored her twin's question about laughter magic, having felt that she had explained all she could about it and to say any more of it would merely be a repeat of what she had already said. He could always ask the human more if he found it interesting enough.

"But we have seen how fire devours things." Treesinger reminded him, recalling the wood they had sacrificed to the fire in order to cook and the few times food fell into the fire and... melted away as if its life force were being drained out of it. Being an apprentice of Talathel, she had seen the cook fire more often than she would have liked. "I do not think they are wrong about it."

[Wolfrin Fenris]

Treesinger's head whipped around to exam the human, searching for the pocket that would hold such a wonder. After a moment, and realizing he couldn't see the man very well with all the briarborn in front and the way the man was flapping his arms around and turning slowly in place, he turned back to his sister. "It did devour the wood....but don't we all devour something? You've heard Talathel drone on about the cycle of life. Maybe fire is just another type of life?"

[Ella]

Treesinger

She paused for a moment as she thought over her twin's words. It was true that they had to feed the cooking fire in order to receive the heat they needed if they wanted to cook food. But that was a worthwhile exchange. It was if the fire spread beyond the safe area. Talathel had said that she needed to be careful when casting any magic that produced fire, as it could spread and devour things mercilessly if left unchecked... "We thank our food for giving us life. Fire devours mercilessly." Treesinger echoed the words of her mentor and the elders who had taught them the dangers of fire in their youth.

[Wolfrin Fenris]

"Maybe you just haven't been listening when Fire is talking." Weald shrugged, unsure he agreed with his sister's logic but unwilling to debate it further. Another time perhaps, but it was too interesting having the human here. He'd already noticed that he'd missed the answers to a few questions.

Melvorn now stood with his back against a nearby tree, a slightly bemused expression on his face, but still looking quite harried. "No I didn't make the sword. My umm... Face fur is fairly soft yes. It can grow out. No you can't," He brought a hand up to swat at a reaching Briarborn hand. "I said no!" He scowled momentarily, and a few of the Briarborn pulled back. More however simply continued their barrage of questions. Sighing, he continued trying to answer, "I have hunted dragons yes. In fact," he paused here because it was suddenly extremely quiet. Hah, found something that will quiet the lot! After a moment, one of them simply said "Really?!"

Melvorn was once more in his element. Throwing on a welcoming smile and gesturing with his hands, he began relating the tale "Yes! Mighty beasts they are, dragons. Strong, smart, and wicked! Not very wise are dragons though! So, one day, I was walking along when-"

[Ella]

Treesinger

It was good that her twin had seemed to turn his attention back to the human and the questions their brethren had been asking, as Treesinger found herself unable to come up with a reply. Did fire have a language that they could not understand?

Everything seemed to be going as well as could be expected for a group of Briarborn asking questions of a visitor until the human's voice suddenly rose. At "I said no!", Treesinger's mind was once more brought back to wondering if the human was dangerous. Seeing several of her brethren step back at the outburst, she once again readied herself to defend her people. She was still on duty, after all.

Luckily, Adventurer Extraordinaire seemed to calm down once again and continued answering their questions as he had before. Treesinger also settled back into merely watching instead of preparing to attack. As with the others, the answer of him hunting dragons and the seeming unfinished sentence caught her full attention. She remained silent, along with her brethren as the human began to tell his tale.

"What is going on here?" A voice boomed out. All eyes turned to look at the newcomer. He appeared to be "wearing" leaves and bark for clothing, though like the others, it also appeared to have grown from him if one looked closely. The bark and plant matter that made up his body appeared darker than the others and there were a few scars that looked like he had been burned by fire. Instead of the leafy "hair" that most of the other Briarborn had, short branches grew out. Some sported a leaf or two, but most were bare of foliage. Branch-like brows were drawn low over orange colored eyes as he continued. "Why is there a human at our doorstep?"

Another Briarborn, female in appearance, stood beside him, though her expression was unreadable as she looked over the crowd and the human. Her clothing was obviously growing out of her own body, as it not only did not fully cover her, but the areas where it grew out of her were not covered. Her "flesh" was a light brown and the vines of green leaves that grew from her head were pulled back to keep them out of her face. Her eyes were a golden amber color.

"Fire Tender! Lore-Keeper!" Treesinger greeted them. As she had been on duty when she found her twin with the human, she took it upon herself to explain the situation. "Treesinger found this human, who had lost his way in the forest. He appears harmless and says he has traveled all over Yslia. He has many curious items and stories to tell, so I escorted them here and kept watch while Treesinger went to tell everyone." She decided to leave out that she had thought her twin was going to tell them so that they could discuss what to do with the human. If they wanted to know why he had retrieved a bunch of friends instead of the elders, they could ask him.

The two elder Briarborn had turned their attention to the female Treesinger as she stepped forward and spoke, then turned their attention back to Treesinger's twin and the human. Fire Tender still did not look very happy about the situation, but a spark of curiosity was in Lore-Keeper's eyes as her gaze passed over her own pupil, Lore-Keeper, and to the human.

"Tell us, human, what brings you to the Springrove Forest? Do you intend to encroach upon our home as we have heard humans do to other forests?" Lore-Keeper's voice sounded more calm than her companion's and those of the excited Briarborn who had surrounded him.