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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And here Fuu thought she had been done with being abruptly whisked away to other worlds! Lucky, she supposed, that she had been in Cephiro when it had happened: she was equipped for danger. But a hurried, frantic search for her friends and fellow world-whiskees Umi and Hikaru had turned up nothing. Using the wings to continue the search had been the best option.

What Fuu found on ascending to the next level of the tree was a whole crowd of sentient insects and sentient... other people, most of whom at least appeared to be human. No long blue hair or red tufty braids, though. Fuu sighed and clasped her hands over her chest for a moment before putting on a friendly air. The future was going to be full of strife and adventures ranging from the fascinating to the horrifying, if Cephiro was any standard to measure by, and it seemed like this crowd would be her companions.

What kind of trouble was this place in, to need so many? Why were they here? No flashes of light, no pleas for aid or quests solemnly imparted. Maybe it wasn't trouble at all. Fuu approached the nearest person with a smile on her face, as though this was a perfectly normal gathering. "Hello! I suppose you've also arrived here from another world?"

Yoshitsugu dipped his head briefly in response to the greeting, glancing over the young woman in front of him before making a response. Young was the key word here; her apparent composure considering the situation was especially impressive considering the age she seemed to be.

"Perhaps," he said eventually, tone even and calm. "I have yet to see any clues about the location of this place."

A pause, and then Yoshitsugu added:

"It is not my homeland."

Something of a charitable clarification by his standards, but he had his reasons for it.

Well, this person was at least wearing something familiar... somewhat familiar. A little ~~Koei~~ overelaborate, but definitely Japanese. "I think we would need to explore outside to know that, but it might be hard to gain sufficient perspective at this size," she said. He seemed to be remarkably calm, which was nice.

"My name is Hououji Fuu," she said, bowing. "May I ask yours?"

"It will also be extremely dangerous," Yoshitsugu pointed out, his tone matter-of-fact. "No doubt that there will be countless dangers and threats to our life beyond this tree."

That probably didn't need to be said, but he said it nonetheless. Just like everything else about the situation it didn't seem to bother him, per se; it was what it was. Accepting what was before you and dealing with it as it came was the sensible approach.

In response to her introduction he bowed ever so lightly himself.

"Ōtani Yoshitsugu."

"Indeed, even the most everyday things will become deadly perils," Fuu said. "I wouldn't like to meet an ant at this size." And ants would be met on any sort of tree. Not to mention spiders, praying mantises, birds....

But the name he gave distracted her from that train of thought. Otoni... Yoshitsugu? She knew that name, she was sure of it. "It's very nice to meet you," she said, trying to place it--history, the Edo Period.

Her first thought, however, was that he had been named after Otoni Yoshitsugu. Traveling to different worlds was one thing, but time was something wholly other. "Is this your first time in another world, Otoni-san?"

"The weather as well. Wind, rain and snow all become dangerous to the small."

Flying outside the tree would probably be impossible in many circumstances, come to think of it; who would wish to risk their wings disintegrating or growing heavy under a drop of moisture?

Yoshitsugu's own wings fluttered a little as he considered the problem for a second, before he directed his attention to Fuu's question.

"Assuming this is one, yes. The concept of other worlds is explored somewhat in myth and legend, but with the exception of those stories I have had no reason to believe travelling between any differing 'worlds' was something that was possible."

He met her gaze.

"You speak as though it is not your first time."

Fuu wondered how conscious Otoni was of the wing-fluttering and if she had made any such gestures herself without realizing it--amazing, really, the magic that allowed them to control these new limbs. She nodded in agreement.

"Making a list of some kind would be helpful... as for possibilities, short while ago, I didn't think that being shrunk to a few centimeters was one," Fuu said, cupping her face in one hand. "But you're right, I have been to another world before, strange as it may sound--this is not so unusual to me."

Yoshitsugu huffed, quiet and amused... though a certain level of interest showed in his eyes. The mix of souls drawn into this tree was unusual, perhaps, beyond the situation itself.

"You are experienced with more strangeness than most your age would be accustomed to, then."

He leans down to pick something up from the floor; his saihai, though the baton really is much larger than your usual. With one flick of the weapon something manifests. It's a dragonfly, or perhaps mayfly, crafted from purple light, which fades after a second or two.

Notably? Its wings were almost a perfect match for Yoshitsugu's own (aside from the colour).

"More so than I."

Fuu's eyes widened at the sight of Otoni's saihai. She had only ever seen one in a museum. That one certainly had not given off any insect-shaped lights. Her eyes flicked to his wings, which showed the same colors.

"Perhaps what we count as strange are quite different things," she said. "I've never seen a saihai that can do that before."

"It acts only as a focus for my own, innate power. That is but one manifestation of it."

Explaining musou would be far too much work, but it was a true enough statement. He lowered the baton to his side again.

"Though this saihai one is, indeed, very unique in many respects. Most strategists would not be able to user theirs as a weapon."

And probably no other had a long concealed blade in the handle, either, but Yoshitsugu wasn't about to show that feature off right now. Its use as a club was obvious enough, though.

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Owain didn't appear terribly put out about having been abruptly dropped into a strange new realm. He had travelled to distant planes before, after all, and he was always sent back as soon as whatever task that needed accomplishing was accomplished. Granted, he usually had an entire army with him, rather than a bunch of confused strangers... but details.

He returned the young woman's smile with a broad grin of his own. "Indeed! Greetings, fellow Outworld traveller!" He poised his hand in front of his face. Dramatically. "As the rosy dawn that breaks upon a new morn shatters the grim shackles of night, so I have come to shatter the sombre grip of darkness upon this fair realm!"

He assumed that must be why he was here, anyway. What other reason could there possibly be?

...Well! That was. Certainly a greeting. Fuu couldn't hold back a smile at his enthusiasm--and at his words fellow Outworld traveler. So here was another person who had been to other worlds! That was quite a relief. Fuu had no illusions about her experience being common, but it was nice to know more than herself, Hikaru, and Umi had been through it.

"Then this kind of situation is not new for you?" she said. "I thought I might be the only one here who's ever been to another world--although I do hope things aren't as dire as all that." Despite the airy way she said that, his speculations on shackles of night and grips of darkness put a bad feeling into the pit of her stomach. If this was like the legend of the Magic Knights... Fuu would not let that happen again, ever. And she would need to find out everything that she could to prevent it.

"HA!" Owain was not actually laughing. Just loudly saying 'ha' with a huge grin on his face. "My lady, I have traversed tide and time more times than I care to count!" Well, possibly, anyway. No one really knew if the Outrealms were different eras or lands or dimensions or what was going on there. But he had crossed through time at least once, and across oceans more than once, so surely that entitled him to at least some bragging rights. "I eat other worlds for breakfast! ...Metaphorically, I mean."

His smile grew slightly softer. "I'll grant that the wings are new, though." He glanced over his shoulder at his new appendages, flexing them a little. Long and slender like a damselfly's wings, they were utterly clear and colourless for more than half their length... but closer to his back, they abruptly became a deep blood-red. "What ancient, forgotten magic bestowed them upon us, I know not... but aren't they awesome?"

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.

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"Another world?"

The thought that this was a completely separate world hadn't quite crossed Gohan's mind yet. He had still been hung up on the how and why, and hadn't worked his way up to the where yet. Of course, he didn't doubt that this could've been a different location from Earth, given he'd been to plenty of other planets before... but...

The term 'world' was loose enough to make him consider the possibility that he probably wasn't even in the same realm of existence anymore.

"... I guess it's possible, isn't it," Gohan muttered back, idly scratching his cheek with his finger. "Everything's so strange yet familiar... it's possible this might be some alternate version of Earth where the fauna's just... way bigger."

"Perhaps... but I don't think insects can be this large naturally," Fuu said. There was something about--their exoskeletons, they couldn't support themselves beyond a certain size because they would collapse under their own weight, right? Then again, there were the giant insects millions of years ago, right?

She cupped her face in one hand. "Maybe we're in a different time on Earth? I think they were quite large in the time of the dinosaurs... I hope we won't all be stepped on by an apatosaurus looking for lunch." Though she smiled as she said it--Fuu still thought they were in an entirely different realm, given all the magic. She didn't think Earth had that in its prehistory.

"Don't worry, dinosaurs are pretty easy to scare," Gohan said offhandedly, not really thinking about whether dinosaurs were perfectly normal in her world or not. "Not to mention, we're really not very filling, given how much bigger than us they are. Kind of makes you wonder why they even try to eat people."

Nonetheless, she had a point. It was just as likely that they were in another time, in addition to being in another world. Maybe this was the past. Or the future. Or the past of another world. Or the future of a completely different world. The possibilities were endless...

... which, of course, made it impossible to figure out.

"We don't have any way to verify where we are though," Gohan couldn't help but sigh. "So we kind of have to resort to speculation..."

The hand moved to press Fuu's lips against her teeth. She had suggested dinosaurs purely for the implausibility of it, but she managed to recover. "Are they! Well, that's a relief, and we would be even less filling than usual given how small we are now."

She looked towards the exit to the banquet-laden branch, where the exterior could be seen. "There seems to be quite a bit of fog around the tree," she sighed. "If that clears up, we might be able to find some sort of familiar landmark."

The idea of dinosaurs being rare in other worlds hadn't even entered Gohan's mind. Dinosaurs were just another animal to Gohan, like dogs, tigers, and dragons. No doubt, if she was from a world like his, she probably had those, right? Well, maybe less dragons, but all the same...

"That sounds reasonable," Gohan chimed in, before adding with a chuckle: "At least until then, we have some pretty reasonable accommodations here. Even if we're... well... living in a tree." He extended his hand to her then, offering her a smile. "My name's Gohan, by the way. It's nice to meet you!"

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Dinosaurs. They'd find out soon enough. If they were around, Fuu suspected they would know immediately... at least it would be a quick death to be stepped on.

She shook the proffered hand. "Likewise, Mr. Gohan. I'm Fuu Hououji. It is a relief that we've been so well-provided for, that's true--although I would quite like to know who is doing the providing. I don't suppose you've found any indication of our hosts, apart from the fireflies?"

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