“AHA!” Farwaen roared triumphantly, his hands groping a nearby tree. He was still blindfolded, and only wore a big smile — naked as can be. This didn’t stop him from his victory as he slapped the tree with a final word. “Tis but a tree!” “Yes… I know… they’re all trees…” Hafface’s annoyed voice came from the blackness, somewhere behind him. “They’ve ALL been trees.” “Yes indeed my daring damsel, but one of these trees happens to be THE tree, and I’d be remiss not to check each one!” Another groan. “Each one?” A jumping laugh broke from Farwaen as he stepped forward blindly. “Each and every one!” They’ve been checking trees for hours now. Most of the trees bore regular fruits which only satisfied the stomach. But with a blink, it happened. An idea, born from pure instinct, bubbled up in Farwaen’s mind. He had no reason to know it, there was no logical explanation for it, but suddenly He knew in which direction they could find the tree. His smile curled, his silence causing Hafface to suddenly stop behind him. Swinging a hand behind him blindly, slapping Hafface a few times in the process, Farwaen let out a chuckle. “I think I know where to go.” “Oh please let this be the end,” Hafface answered. They chased the instinctual trail and in almost no time both of them found what they were looking for. As if they’ve been walking in circles for hours only to now stumble upon it. Before them stretched a clearing as Nimueh had described it. The canopy opened up revealing a sole tree basking in the middle of the light. Its fruit looked purple and strange and Farwaen knew, without any doubt, that this was the tree they’ve been looking for. “Wait, how did you know they were purple?” Hafface asked, Farwaen not realizing he had been thinking out loud. He coughed and Hafface growled. “Were you peeking this entire time?” “Hark! Tis the tree we have been looking for, my dutiful squire!” Farwaen ripped the blindfold off and stood proudly in front of the tree, fists on his hips and stance wide. He sucked in a breath of the breezy forest and puffed out his chest. “Pray tell, oh wild tree of mystery, speak to us of your noble lady.” First there was silence, and then a lone cricket started chirping. Hafface slapped her face and pushed Farwaen forward. “You have to eat the fruit, you idiot!” “Ah yes…” Farwaen’s smile faltered as he pedaled forward to the tree. Once there he reached up slowly, fingers tapping one of the fruits. He retracted his hand and poked a different fruit, a thoughtful hum rumbling in his throat. “For all that is good, are you really checking each one?” Hafface swore. Farwaen snuck a smile over his shoulder. “The first one was bruised.” “Move aside!” Hafface burst past Farwaen, the man desperately using his hands to censor his view. The elf, however, only gave him a frustrated look before ripping two fruits from the tree, slamming one into his mouth and taking a rigorous bite of the other herself. Farwaen closed his eyes and let his teeth sink into the fruit, taking a healthy portion into his mouth. He wiggled his nose, tasting the strange fruit and then swallowed. When both of them opened their eyes they weren’t in the forest anymore. Instead, they found themselves in a verdant, serene field. A small creek, crystal clear creek ran through the field, and sitting beside it was a green fox. [color=a2d39c]“I’ve been waiting for you.”[/color] The fox said, though both of them knew that a goddess was talking to them. [color=a2d39c]“You wish to talk?”[/color] “I sure hope I haven’t kept you waiting too long, my venerated vulpis.” Farwaen lent himself to one knee and tipped his head, one hand flourished outward with the other cupped the space between his forehead and his raised knee. “But lo, I do indeed seek an audience with you, Queen of the Wood.” [color=a2d39c]“Stand, Eidolon.”[/color] The fox said.[color=a2d39c]“And speak your mind.”[/color] Even though it spoke towards Farwaen, it was looking at Hafface. Or – judging from the intensity of the gaze – looking through her. “Very well!” Farwaen stood tall. “I have braved your wilds in nothing but my own skin as per the request of thine own prophet — and I’m here to…” Hafface prodded Farwaen in the back and he cleared his throat. “Right, I’m here to request the release of the violent curse set upon the forest the elves rely on.” [color=a2d39c]“The violent curse they suffer because they refuse to abide by the laws of my domain?”[/color] The fox asked as it stood up. [color=a2d39c]“The violent curse they suffer because they refused to listen to a blessed one of their own? The violent curse they suffer because they believe themselves superior above all but their so-called Lady?”[/color] The eyes of the fox began to burn and glow with rage. Though her voice didn’t reflect it. [color=a2d39c]“Tell me, Farwaen. Why should I lift a curse that the elves so readily deserve?”[/color] "Because, my dear Lady, tis but the nice thing to do!" Farwaen tipped his head. "Take them unto thy benevolent bosom and show with example the possibility of coexistence and mutual respect to both party's desires." [color=a2d39c]“The nice thing to do?”[/color] A chuckle slipped from the fox. [color=a2d39c]“I don’t think you understand to whom you are talking to, Eidolon. When a lion catches a newborn gazelle, should he leave it alive because it is the nice thing to do? No. He will eat it. Like nature, I am not benevolent. And yet despite all that I have made an attempt to offer coexistence.”[/color] It locked eyes with Hafface, who was standing behind Farwaen now. [color=a2d39c]“I’ve sent Nimueh. One of your own. One who I gave understanding. And when she went to talk to the other elves she was ridiculed and shouted out. Still, she lives banished. Still, she is talked about as if she is some hag that must be avoided at all times.”[/color] The land on the other side of the creek shimmered and shifted into the shape of Masol’s Blackstone. It showed Nimueh pleading with Masol and Masol verbally putting her down. Until the crowd started chanting and Nimueh fled. [color=a2d39c]“You wish for a second chance for the elves. I am willing to give it but for a price. Are you sure you are willing to bind yourself to this, Farwaen of the Eidolon?”[/color] “Alas, I have little choice.” Farwaen stood up tall. “On my honor, I swear to you that I shall pay your price and grant the elves their benediction — and should I fail, I give them to your final judgment.” “Farwaen!” Hafface squeaked, clearly anxious. “Worry not for me, Hafface!” Farwaen waved a hand. “A knight is only as gallant as their word, and I have already given mine.” Hafface shook her head wildly. “I was more concerned about the whole part where you gamble the elven people on this.” [color=a2d39c]“They will have their part to play.”[/color] The fox said as the vision of Nimueh being ridiculed faded away again. She turned to face the elf directly now. [color=a2d39c]“As do you, Hafface. I do not expect the elves to listen to the Eidolon, no matter how boisterous he is. So you will have to make sure they are taught how to respect nature. Plant a tree if you sunder one. Tend the berry bushes from which you pick and never take all the berries. If you hunt do not selfishly take the carcass with you and deny my scavenging children. There is a cycle in nature, so too must there be a cycle between elf and land. A cycle of giving and taking. If the elves understand and can respect that cycle, I might be persuaded to lift the curse. Will you do that, Hafface?”[/color] “So long as you give us allowances as well,” Hafface stepped beyond Farwaen, the knight averting his eyes. “Allow us to bring baskets, to wear our clothes, to gather material for our homes. Let us do what we naturally need to do to be comfortable and survive — even thrive. If we can do what we need to do, and keep your decrees at the same time, then maybe we all can thrive together.” Farwaen nodded in agreement, a proud curve on his smile. The fox goddess remained silent for just a second before she said: [color=a2d39c]“I’ll allow it, but on one condition.”[/color] She then locked eyes with Farwaen. [color=a2d39c]“You will kill Masol.”[/color] “Ah!” Farwaen bit his knuckle and grew pensive, almost comically so. He turned to the side, away from Phelenia, as if in dark consideration. “A macabre prospect, my Wizened Woman of the Wood. I dare say I have not yet met this man and find the idea of being his assassin quite the disturbing task. Dare I say!” He turned to the goddess, a shining plea in his big eyes. “Dare I ask? Perhaps instead of rigor mortis to be cast upon this target of yours, expulsion? Sent to learn the proper respects in isolation, far from intervention of the new covenant between you and the elves?” [color=a2d39c]“Just as Nimueh was forced to live in isolation? I think not.”[/color] The fox said as it threw a sly smile – as much as a fox could smile like a humanoid – at Farwaen. [color=a2d39c]“You did swear that you would pay my price. This is it. Wet your blade with his blood and deliver his soul onto my brother of souls. When his corpse falls to the ground my curse will be lifted to give the zenii time to adapt to the new covenant.”[/color] “I see…” Farwaen pinched his chin and looked at Phelenia with downcast eyes. “As you had said, I have given my word as a Knight and it would not be fitting of my honor to turn from my dictation, however dastardly the request. If you are sure of this, and see no other solution — then I shall engage Masol in a sport between gentlemen; though I will add that some may not find this conquest befitting of a new beginning and budding relationship.” Hafface quickly added. “It could cause more strife, more odds.” [color=a2d39c]“Perhaps.”[/color] The green fox said towards Hafface but then turned towards Farwaen. [color=a2d39c]“But he must die if the covenant is to succeed. It was his arrogance that put the zenii on this path. He was the one who humiliated Nimueh and refused to heed her warning. Even now he sends in his dim-witted followers into my domain believing he can fight me. He must die.”[/color] [color=a2d39c]“And then-“[/color] The fox began to glow and morph right in front of both Hafface and Farwaen. A figure began to emerge from the glow. She was elven in features, but a bit taller and unnaturally beautiful. A dress of emerald green leaves was draped over her body. Before them stood Phelenia as the aspect of beauty and life. [color=a2d39c]“-the covenant will flourish.”[/color] She gave Hafface alone a gentle, hopeful smile. [color=a2d39c]“Don’t fail me.”[/color] Then she held out a hand. A bright light flashed from her palm. When Hafface and Farwaen both blinked they found themselves standing in front of the tree again, with the purple fruit in hand. The two stood in silence for a while, contemplating everything that happened and what will happen. A dense somber atmosphere fell between them as they thought and ran scenarios over and over… Until it was suddenly cracked by Hafface's voice. "Oh but [i]she[/i] can wear a dress!" End [hider=Summary]Farwaen and Hafface travel through the forest in their birthday suits. Considering they now abide by the laws of the forest they find the tree they are looking for very quickly. Farwaen is a picky eater but Hafface is done with his shenanigans and eats a fruit herself. Both of them suddenly find themselves in the verdant green field divided by a creek where Nimueh once found herself. Where a green fox is waiting for them. Farwaen explains that they have come to lift the curse upon the forest. There is some back and forth on why Phelenia would do that but eventually she offers up the possibility. But only for a price. Farwaen immediately agrees to the price without even hearing what it is. The price starts simple enough: the zenii have to learn to respect the forest and the wilds. Teaching them is Hafface’s duty now. Farwaen is satisfied for a second until he hears his own task. He has to kill Masol. He tries to offer alternatives or warn the goddess that his death might cause more trouble but she doesn’t care. Masol must die if the covenant is to succeed. Eventually he agrees to the task. Phelenia transforms into her aspect of beauty and life and then pushes them out of her “realm”. The elf and the eidolon find themselves again in front of the tree. Hafface isn’t happy about the fact that Phelenia got a dress.[/hider] [hider=Spirit] Farwaen started at 8 now he has 12! [/hider]