Deep Forest

"Welcome aboard then Miss...? I didn't actually get your name I think. I am Tyndall, Captain of the Outcast." He bowed in a grandiose, sweeping gesture. "Will you require any special accommodations onboard? Dietary, sleeping arrangements, etc?"

A small ball of light lazily whisked through the forest air as it followed its little thread, one of many that snaked through the spirit realm, and the one that the spirit had plucked for itself. Where it would take her, she had no idea, but it was the one she chose. A light, melody laden hum emanated from the trail that followed along behind the ball, mixing with the sounds of the forest around it as it weaved between branches and across the surface of ponds and rivers.

“Oh!” The ball spoke, stopping and hovering in place before gently floating towards a deer like creature, grazing at the base of a great tree. The ball floated around it for a few moments, gleefully examining the creature before it finally took notice and scampered into the brush beyond. “Oop! Goodbye!” The orb seemed to chuckle to itself, delighted in the creature and its fleeting presence, but she didn’t follow it.

Faerandruil in truth didn’t necessarily have anywhere to be. Her brother had found a place to rest and heal, leaving her to her own devices until… well, until she no longer wished to be. She had the absolute luxury of choice to do as she pleased and go where she wanted, but for the moment she didn’t have a goal for either except to follow a chosen thread. It had already led her across lakes, over mountains, and through forests, showing her all sorts of creatures, but none really spoke to her.

She watched as the bushes stopped their rustle, relaxing after the deer had so callously pranced through them, then she floated off again, humming her tune and lazily bobbing up and down, and side to side, searching for just about anything of interest.

Days went by as she floated, watching whatever she found from afar and learning as she went. The creatures in this new land were different, but she saw many things that reminded her of her former home, and a few of hosts she had once appeared as in the centuries she’d existed. She found herself missing the last host body she had generated, but it was lost when the floods came. A pang of regret floated through her ethereal form before dissipating. If she took time to feel regrets and guilt of lives past, she would get nothing done. It was time to start afresh.

Finally, after a week of aimless floating, she finally found people. They seemed tall, humanoid, but far fairer than the humans she had met. Their ears made it more than obvious to her that they were elves. She’d met several, in fact she’d been an elf in the past, but it had been a long while since. Their language sparked a sense of familiarity for Faeranduil, and some words she slightly understood.

Beautiful. Seemingly intelligent. They also seemed to be kind to the forest around them. The spirit finally let go of the thread she had been pulling along, she may take it up again to see where it wanted to take her, but for the time being she had a new fascination.

For weeks she followed the inhabitants of this new land, learning as she did. What drove them? What did they like? Dislikes? What did they do with their time? Some worked for the good of the people, some defended them. Resource gatherers, hunters, things Faeranduil was familiar with, certainly. Some things don’t change in the centuries she’d been around, but what did was their leisure time.

She joyfully watched their fun and games, trying to learn the songs and dances, letting her little orb form bob along in tune with them. She tried to learn the rules to their games and sports, and even found herself quietly cheering for this elf or that gnome.

Then at night, she watched their merry making. Some had feasts, some drank, more songs and dances! Her little giggling orb bopped and floated around in the canopy far above, where she thought she would not be noticed. She watched as the inhabitants slept in their beds, and quietly listened to their dreams, fascinated by what they wanted or feared. They didn’t always sleep though! Some got up to far more in those beds than they let on.

Some things definitely don’t change.

As time went on, she made her decision. A new form would be made, and she knew exactly how to build it. Last time she had chosen a large forest creature, bipedal and with a thick coat of fur and a pair of large feet to support a large frame. Perhaps it would be time to rejoin society? To try something a little more social, where she could join in their songs and dances, in their games and sports. She could always fly away the peace and quiet she’d previously enjoyed, so it could be the best of both worlds!

She just needed a seed.

The thread she had abandoned was as bright as ever, hanging in the air outside of this new land’s larger settlement, where the elves, gnomes, and ogres called home. Usque, right? She picked up the thread again and coasted along it, floating between trees and over the heads of anyone who happened to cross the little orb’s path, until finally she found the end of her thread.

The thread tied itself around the base of a large, thick tree, one that seemed to speak to her in a tongue only she could hear, and one she was fluent in. Words were lost in this strange language, and instead the orb and the tree spoke in thought, feelings, and empathy. The tree explained how it had felt her attach to its thread weeks beforehand, they had grown a connection that Faeranduil had felt when she made her choice. She replied with her own experiences, of the hateful mist, her brother’s recovery, the little people she had found, and the tree listened with great enthusiasm.

The orb floated around the tree for what felt like an hour as they conversed, before finally, finding a crack in the tree’s bark, the orb stopped and dissipated into a fine, spectral mist. Something within the tree quietly rumbled, like a long yawn, and the mist was pulled into the tree itself, leaving behind a faint glow that quickly spread underneath the bark.

While the glow remained, faint and pulsing in subtle spots all around the tree, the air itself went quiet and still once more.

Months had passed since the spirit had entered the tree. On every new moon, the wood under the bark would glow a faint green which poked through the cracks in the bark like a lamp behind curtains, then as the new day began it would seemingly become dormant again, waiting for the next moonless night. To the select few, the ones who could feel the spirits of the forest that sang and danced through the air, the tree was anything but asleep.

The air around it seemed filled with the whisking, magical winds of life, turning and whirling around the tree like a silent ballet, leaving trails of green and gold in their wake as the tree absorbed the energy given out from the lands around it.

Inside the tree was a flurry of magical energy. The spirit had slipped over knot and groove, burrowing deep into the tree until it found what it needed - a heart seed. The little seed was fresh, created by the tree just for the little Fae, a donation of its own life force to create something new. Something special. The spirit curled around the seed and begun a process of renewal, mixing its energy with that of the tree and transferring it into the seed with a fresh blueprint.

Over time, the seed sprouted. Hardwood grew, curved, and snapped into place, each one forming a lattice and frame, and along that frame grew tendrils of vines and thick sheets of fungus and mushrooms, they curled and twisted together along the hardwood bones, creating muscles and organs. Leafs and mycelium sprouted along the vines, then spread and rejoined, filling the empty spaces and fleshing out the creation’s form, then they formed a membrane over the top, creating a rich, green skin that protected everything within.

Faeranduil carved at the new host carefully, putting together what she’d learned as she floated around what the locals had called Usque. The plantlife within shifted and moved at her will, and thin vines and fibres sprouted from its skin creating hair that Fae carefully wove and curated around the body. This new hair that sprouted from its head was woven into braids and kept long, and she kept the leafs and flowers that sprouted all along it instead of pruning them back. The colours that contrasted against the dark green and brown brought a sense of delight for the forest spirit, one she intended to inspire in others.

Finally, months of growing and hard work had come to a close. With the help of the tree, Faeranduil had created a new host, one she had time to curate and perfect to her heart’s content. With the magical tree’s approval, she decided it was time to rejoin the world.

Her spirit slipped into the new body and spread throughout its form before the body began to shift. The tree carried the body out from within, wood and bark shifting around it like water, a sensation Faeranduil was not yet used to but remembered vividly, and soon her body emerged from deep within the tree, as if coming to the surface of a beautiful lake, then with a little effort, it stepped free of the tree and onto the grassy forest floor.

Faeranduil stood still for a moment, feeling the cool night air against her naked form, and the pale moonlight casting against her green coloured skin. She pulled a deep breath in, filling what served as the lungs in her chest with all the smells of the forest around her, something she didn’t realise she missed so dearly. A smile crept across her dark lips before she finally opened her glowing green eyes and pulled in a sharp gasp, mesmerised by the forest around her. Even with only the moonlight above to light the clearing, she could already see all the colours and shapes that covered the forest floor. The flowers, the leaves, even the gentle glows of firebugs that wove throughout the flora. It brought glee to her little spirit heart, which forced a small giggle from her.

She looked down at her handiwork, a body of her own making, taking all the bits and pieces she had found attractive about the people she’d been watching. She looked over her two hands, her feet, her legs, her torso, even her height, it was all as she’d designed. She felt beautiful, just as she wanted.

Then the feint tattoo-like designs all over her naked body began to gently glow. She closed her eyes and began to change. Vines, bark, and leafs sprouted all over her body and shifted all around it, then quickly began to take the form of clothing. She looked herself over once more and grinned at the dress that clung to her body, grown from her own magics deep within.

“Perfect. Oh how wonderful!” She clapped her hands together with a large grin, feeling a sense of happiness she’d not felt since her last regeneration. New forms always brought with them a sense of beauty and satisfaction, no matter what she’d chosen.

From her humanoid form and long, pointed ears that poked from her hair, that form this time was an elf.

A very tall elf.

Oops.

Faeranduil closed her eyes once more, feeling the air around her, then moved her arms in a graceful ark above her head, feeling the wind move through her leafy, plant-like dress that clung to her oh so well. Ah, very comfortable indeed. She finished the ark with a long stretch, then sighed as her arms came back to her side.

“What a feeling, alive again,” she tittered to herself, glowing green eyes looking up into the night sky. It left her a little hungry, she’d admit, but the morning sun would solve that in no time. Last she checked the island she’d found herself on wasn’t one of eternal night - what a waste of a new body that would be.

Then she did something remarkable. With another glow of her strange tattoos, she held out her hands to her side, then let a cascading green mist fall from her arms in tendrils and waves which seeped into the ground. She shifted and twitched, her face scrunched in a thoughtful, focused pout, as if searching for something.

Finally, her magic began pulling from the earth once again and a grin spread across her face. She’d found what she was after! Slight vibrations emanated from around her until finally something breached the forest floor beneath her. A glowing blue gem slid its way from the earth, pulled by her magics, until it hovered before her, then fell into her hand as she reached out.

“What a specimen…” she mused as she looked it over. It wasn’t cut, it had no processing marks, and seemed as wild as she. “Perfect.”

She wasted no time looking over her new gem, as she stepped back to the tree that had birthed her. The green elf placed her hand against it and glowed once more, then her lips began to move with silent words, as if talking to the tree in a language that only the select few knew. Whatever she had asked of the tree was granted, and as she pulled her hand back several branches grew from the tree, then twisted and turned over themselves in a wild, yet ornate pattern that reached for her gem, then grew around it. Finally it stopped, then broke free of the tree and into her waiting hand.

Faeranduil hefted the staff in her hand, then she twirled it with an expert grace, and she admired the balance it had with the gem. She twirled it to the side, then above her, then into both hands before pointing it at a bare patch of grass. A blue light, mixing with the wave of green mist from her own hands, shone from the gem and onto the grass, and within seconds a patch of flowers grew.

“Perfect!” Faeranduil squealed. “Oh how delightful, this will work perfectly!” She placed the end of the staff down on the ground with a smug smile, then looked from side to side. “Now… which way…”

It was only when she looked behind her that she spotted someone peeking from behind a tree. Oh she’s pretty! And… human? Faeranduil hadn’t seen one of those in a long time! She waved at the other person, and for a moment tried to remember how to speak to them. They called it… Common. “Greethello!” she called out, then paused. No, that wasn’t right. Greetings, hello, two different words. That would take some getting used to. She cleared her throat and tried again. “Hello over there! Hi!” That sounded right! “I’m Faeranduil! Please come out, I mean no harm!” Then she looked the creature over again. “Oh you’re very short, aren’t you…”

She hadn’t yet realised the small blunder in the design of her body.

Faeranduil listened intently to the relatively small woman, hands clutching her staff as she focused. While she had been listening to the locals for some time, she needed a moment to process each word and ease into conversation as a living breathing being, relatively speaking. But then she perked up as the woman introduced herself and spoke of home. Trust! Her new form worked!

“Faeranduil,” the tall elf said as she gave a short courtesy. “It's amazing to meet you! I think I've seen you before, or maybe heard your name?” She blinked once, then shook that question loose. “Of course I have. I know of your village! I've been here for some time, but I was formless until now.” She gestured towards the tree that had birthed her new body with a wide grin. “I've been in there for a while, growing. I think it worked out.”

She looked back to the woman once more. “I spent many of the last several years in a kind of solitude, but I wanted to try something else this time, something lore civilised and social. So I found and watched your people!” She held her staff close with a giddy glee as she spoke. “I found your village and watched how your people do things. How you walk and run around, the games you play, the work you do. Oh and the food you prepare and eat! Even how your kind sleep and breed, I think, it has all been so fascinating!”

The jolly green giant of an elf followed after Neris as she worked, half speaking and half watching with great intent. “Learning all this is why I made my form the way it is…” she cooed as she peered over Neris’ shoulder. Then just as she's finished picking, she lifted her staff over the much smaller woman and let her magic seep into the ground that had just been picked. Several more flowers sprouted, much to Fae’s glee. “I am surprised that you seem to know what I am, actually…” she hadn't yet considered it. “Do you know what I am?”

“I AM a forest spirit!” Faeranduil squealed with an excited grin. “At least, that’s what those in the past have called me. I think it fits, as I’ve had many forms in the past; my brother and I, we’ve spent millenia in your realm and have been a great many things. I was even a man a few times, that was fun.”

She then gestured to the forest around them. “The spirits here are strong, the thread I followed that lead me here told me as much. It’s why I chose your people to watch, your little town is in the perfect place for me and my kind to thrive, if any more made it through the mist.” Then she shrugged. “Well, one of many, but your people amused me greatly.”

The tall elf held her staff close and fixed Neris with a little smile. “So I must ask… would you have me join you in your town for a while?” she asked. “This new life is just beginning, and I’m greatly looking forward to making friends, and seeing where life takes me this time. I can be of great use too, I know how mortals value their resources greatly. Perhaps when my brother is ready, he may join us too!”

“Wishing to leave before I’ve even gone would be unwise indeed!” Faeranduil said in agreement, her smile pulled into a gleaming grin. She took her staff and swung it forward, then twirled excitedly. Her bare feet glided across the forest floor, and in their wake the grass seemed to grow a little greener, but dulled to its normal hue just seconds after.

She didn’t seem to make any objections to the human sampling the berry, at least not those ones, and instead she approached the bush as Neris left it. With a wave of her hand, another berry sprouted and began its journey of life, much to the woman’s glee. Ah, what a world, so full of life.

Had the human chosen a berry from the bush not six paces to the right, she’d have had something to say. The poison that grew within them would make for a very unpleasant afternoon!

The woman stood behind Neris and peered over her shoulder. “Perhaps there is something you are looking for that I may assist you with?” she asked, her head directly next to Neris’. “I am very excited to see your little town, may I help hasten your search?”