thehometree | Glimmer, glitter, shine...

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Glimmer, glitter, shine...

One by one, new adventurers now arrive in the Tree. As one gain wings and rises to the second floor, another light brings in the next person. Soon, a steady stream of people from all kinds of worlds, times and realities come to join the others. Whether confused, angry, excited or scared, your arrival is welcomed with nothing but joy as the fireflies and glow worms descend to greet their new friends.

The Tree offers no explanation and no reason, but the truth is undeniable.

As you will soon realize, it isn't easy to be tiny.

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As often as that? Granted, he seemed the kind to exaggerate, but even once had been quite an experience. "We're fortunate to have someone of your experience here!" she said with a smile.

And he dropped right from ~~hamminess~~ the grandiloquence of epics into sounding like a normal teenager. Fuu wondered just what sort of person she was meeting here. "They are quite splendid." She looked over his wings appreciatively; they were of the sort unlike hers. What was the significance, if any? "I've never flown under my own power. It's going to take quite a bit of practice, I think."

"We are indeed!" Owain agreed readily, still grinning. "No doubt my expertise will prove indispensable. ...As will yours, of course. You'll have to tell me of all the realms you have visited."

Never flown under her own power... that was an interesting choice of phrasing. So she had flown under some other power? --Ah, wait, of course.

"So are you a Pegasus Knight, or a Wyvern Rider?" Owain's tone conveyed that he clearly expected the answer to be one or the other. "Did your trusty steed not arrive with you? As a Swordmaster, I'm fortunate enough to have my bosom companion always at my side." He indicated the sword sheathed at his hip, patting its hilt with obvious affection.

Fuu couldn't help but laugh at the young man's effortless ego. "It was just the one, but I do have a few stories, it's true." But not right now--she needed to explain the Mashin. She didn't think a swordsman would understand giant robot without having to enter into a whole new set of explanations. "And the Mashin are guardian spirits," she said. "We separated a little while ago, however, so he wouldn't have been with me in any case."

...Pegasus knight, though. Fuu tapped her fingers on her chin. That sounded like something out of Fire Emblem... or Greek mythology of course. Was she meeting a Greek warrior, perhaps? Maybe their myths weren't so mythical after all. She could look for an answer to that question with something she'd neglected up to now. "Ah, do forgive me--I haven't introduced myself properly. I'm Fuu Hououji."

"Well, one Outrealm is still better than none," Owain said with a lackadaisical shrug of one shoulder, "especially if it was the beach or the hot springs. The festival was pretty cool, too. ...Just tell me it wasn't the one with all the spikes." That was an experience he certainly didn't wish on this girl, or on anyone for that matter.

And then his eyes went wide when she mentioned the Mashin, and he gaped at her in awe. "...A guardian spirit? You have an actual, real guardian spirit?! That's... that's so AWESOME! What's its name? How did you meet it? Where can I get one?"

...Introductions, right, right. Owain's grin quickly returned full-force. Yes, this girl with a guardian spirit was definitely someone he wanted to get to know. "Well met, Fuu Hououji! I am Owain, scion of the Hero-King, avenger of righteous justice! ...It's all right if you want to just call me Owain, though."

...The one with all the spikes?! Fuu touched her fingers to her chin in alarm over the thought of such a place--and then pressed her hand over her mouth when Owain, perhaps not unexpectedly, began demanding answers about Windam. She was quickly reevaluating how much she should reveal about her interworld adventures. She had been open as a sort of reassurance to others that this wasn't so terrifying, and as a way to center herself. But it was inviting entirely too many questions and she really should have expected that in the first place.

"It's good to meet you, Sir Owain," she said, moving her hand to cup her cheek as she smiled in a slightly fixed way. She was starting to geta clearer picture of him, at least--the dramatic warrior seemed to be an air over natural boyishness. "I could ask you many questions about this Hero-King and all the spikes, but perhaps we should focus on our present surroundings. We don't want to be blindsided if this is one of the dangerous places."

Sir Owain... he could definitely get used to that. It had a nice, heroic ring to it. As one of Exalted blood he was entitled to honours well above 'sir', of course, but it was rare that anyone called him anything other than just Owain.

Or 'that weirdo'. So yes, 'sir' was a huge step up. He ought to get along very well with Fuu, he thought with a smile.

"Hmm, yes, I suppose there will be time for the telling of tales later," he conceded with a solemn nod--and no small amount of disappointment. "As this realm's chosen champions, we have a sacred duty to set right the wrongs that have wronged her fair subjects. ...Once we figure out what those wrongs are." He considered for a moment. "If we could locate some native tree-dwellers, perhaps they could shed some light on the nature of our quest..."

...A shame the only natives he'd seen so far were bugs.

She could tell him a few selected adventures, perhaps. Like the fairly recent incident where they went out to fight and went back home because their enemies got too caught up fighting each other to even pay attention to the Magic Knights. "Yes, and I think it's important that we form our own judgments, even if some authority of this tree does come and give us a quest." Though she still smiled, the blithe tone did not accompany it.

It was back soon enough, though, when she considered the matter of the natives. "Sadly, I don't speak firefly. But there are so many people here, perhaps there is someone who could translate? I have to say, they don't seem to be very worried or distressed, at least so far as I can tell."

Owain's brows furrowed, and he frowned. "You think... we may have cause to mistrust the powers that summoned us here?" That was frankly not something that had crossed his mind, and probably wouldn't have at all had Fuu not mentioned the need to form their own judgments. Some of the Outrealm quests he'd been on had seemed silly or inane, sure, but they had all ultimately benefited the greater good. Could a realm draw people in for evil purposes? It was a concerning thought.

He had yet to see any trace of evil here, though. And Fuu was right--the fireflies all appeared quite happy. Owain was thoughtful as he watched one zip overhead. "A translator... yes. Yes, it may be that these creatures have been sent to guide us, to light our path through the darkness both figuratively and literally!" A determined spark lit his eyes as he returned his gaze to Fuu. "We must find a translator at once! Either that, or learn their tongue ourselves!"

"I don't assume that they're malicious, but--it is possible that they may have a bias, or wouldn't tell us all the facts for some other reason." Clef had certainly not been trying to hurt them, and Fuu didn't hold it against him, but she still did not want to fall into the same fault. Nor did she want anyone else to experience what she, Hikaru, and Umi had, especially not someone as exuberant as Owain.

He seemed to be serious as he considered it, too, which was a relief. But Fuu also wasn't surprised when he jumped right back into his usual. Enthusiasm. "What a good idea," she said. (And she meant it, even if her tone wasn't as buoyant.) She looked around. "We can even make a primer, if necessary, or... some sort of sign language? I believe that bees use dancing to communicate with each other."

"Ah, yes, I could see that." Old Hubba had not always been very forthcoming with details when they'd helped him recover all his Einherjar, after all. They'd often found themselves fighting a lot more opponents than they'd anticipated. Still, he hadn't meant any harm, and it had proven to be worth their while to help him out. Owain remained optimistic. "But we'll forge a path to victory without all the facts, if need be!" Because who needs facts.

He smiled excitedly. "Great, let's get started! First we'll need a firefly..." He scanned their surroundings for a likely ~~guinea pig~~ candidate. "Do you think they dance, too? It's too bad Inigo isn't here... ooh, there's one!"

Oh god, Owain, this is not what she meant. "I prefer to believe in the saying 'knowledge is power'," she said. "It would be a shame to do something to your utmost only to find out you have to go back and undo it, after all." You know, it would be a bother. Not life-scarring.

"Hm... well, I know their lights are a mating signal. I don't know if they're social otherwise, but these aren't typical fireflies anyway. Excuse me, Mr. Firefly!"

The one she'd hailed came buzzing over obligingly.

"Hey, it listened!" Owain's smile stretched wider as the firefly landed in front of them, folded its wings back, and looked at them almost expectantly. "That's awesome! If they already comprehend human speech, this'll be a walk in the park!" They could devise a code, and use the fireflies to relay top-secret messages, and maybe they knew how to communicate with other insects and Owain could eventually have the entirety of the forest's creatures at his beck and call!

...And also learn why they'd been brought here. He couldn't forget that.

Of course, they had to make sure the firefly actually understood, and hadn't just come over to them because it was friendly. "Okay, firefly," Owain said eagerly, "if you can understand me, do a backflip!"

...Nothing. It merely continued to look at him. It didn't even try. Owain sighed, dejected. How disappointing...

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Glimmer, glitter, shine...

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