“You’re sure about this, Petal?”

The Kytsune’s twin tails sway behind him in tandem with the wind-blown branches of the forest’s colossal conifers as he informally addresses his viridescent superior.

“I told you not to call me that while we’re on duty, Tomi. It undermines my stature…”

The irony is not lost on Tomi as his canid eyes gaze fondly upon his companion, proudly standing a head and shoulders beneath him. Her dryadic form, crafted from diaphanous leaves and supple branches, exudes an air of both authority and bashfulness while she admonishes her underling.

“My apologies, Commander Pisthelle,” Tomi offers with a mocking voice and a salute to match, eliciting a rustle of chuckles from the remainder of the party. An undisciplined, almost rakish lot, the Verdatian militia trails behind. Clad in mismatched armor of bark and vine, each soldier wears carefully molded individual pieces that give the appearance of having grown organically upon their figure. Jagged chunks of cork, imbued with a rugged earthen resilience, serve as chest plates, while supple vines, woven into intricate patterns, offer a surprising combination of flexibility and strength. The effect is both haphazard and oddly functional; a testament to nature’s proclivities to both peace and volatility, held together by a masterful application of Verdatian ingenuity.

Already fed up by their lackadaisical behavior, their commander scoffs and pushes ahead, her leafy curvature disappearing into the tapestry of the forest. Towering trees, branches laden with emerald foliage, cast dappled shadows upon the forest floor. Shafts of sunlight, filtering through the canopy, illuminate moss-covered stones and vibrant wildflowers carpeting the earth with a fragrance that mingles with the loamy scent of damp soil. Following a path north from Lamina village, the party ventures deeper into the sprawling expanse of greenery before them.

“Laela,” Tomi calls after her, desperate to catch up. “Seriously, are you sure your mother isn't sending us on another wild goose chase? Briarwood Forest stretches for hundreds of miles, not to mention Cirillian and Tangleroot. We could be out here for days and never find anything.”

A frown creases Laela’s delicate pastoral features. Declining to halt their advance through Briarwood, the firmness of her response is laced with a hint of exasperation. “Why the sudden doubt, Tomi? If my mother feels a disturbance in the Briarwood, then the least we can do is investigate. Or have her kindness and hospitality somehow been lost on you?”

Tomi averts his gaze, a touch of shame warming his cheeks. “Of course, I am eternally grateful to Neumaela for allowing my people refuge in Verdatia. I just didn’t anticipate the work she’d require of me to be so…aimless.”

Tomi’s callousness finally causes Laela to stop in her tracks and turn to look him in the eyes.

“Listen,” she says, her voice softening. “My mother offered your people sanctuary under the condition of your unquestioning service. Yes, her leadership has its unorthodoxies, and her eclectic nature plagues me with doubt at times, too. But our people believe that Neumaela is connected to the Verdancy in a way like no others before her. And it’s our duty, as her vassals, to protect this land. Do you understand?”

Tomi hinges his hips in a deep, formal bow. “My apologies, Commander. I see how much Verdatia and her people mean to you. Rest assured, I will strive to serve you and your family better.”

“There’s—there’s no need for such formality!” A blush turns her foliated countenance to a soft shade of autumn. “I just... I wouldn't want to give my mother any reason to force you all to leave. Your presence has been a welcome change for our people, and I…" She trails off, her voice barely a whisper.

“I’d hate to see you go…”

A harsh voice interjects, shattering the fragile moment. One of the soldiers spits on the ground as he steps forward to say his peace.

“Speak for yourself, Laela. And don’t act like the rest of us are oblivious to what’s going on between you two.”

Tomi bristles, his amusement replaced by a cold glint in his eyes. “Is that a hint of jealousy I detect, Thaunaphyll?”

Thaunaphyll sneers. “Mind your station, leafless. I can’t imagine Her Majesty would be pleased to know her own sapling is shacking up with one of the refugees from Enderteria, of all places. I, for one, can’t stand the sight of it.”

Another of the militiamen makes his voice heard, unable to contain his compulsion.

“You know, when you say it like that, it does come off a bit jealous-like.”

“Shut it Syvern, you pollenless houseplant! Speak when spoken to.”

“Sorry, Thaunaphyll…” Syvern whispers, slinking away toward the back of the group.

Thaunaphyll's jaw clenches, a deep rumble emanating from his chest. "The Kytsune have no quarter in Verdatia. I say we ship them off to Alterra, where they can make a home among the rest of the mongrel Anamalis. Why should our people suffer to prop up these vagrants?"

Tomi's fingers curl into fists, the telltale signs of simmering anger flickering in his cerulean eyes.

"That’s quite enough, Thaunaphyll!" Laela commands, cutting through the tension like an arrow loosed from a Verdantwood bow. "Tomi and the Kytsune are Verdatia's guests, welcomed by Lady Neumaela's decree. Their stay is indefinite, and that is final. If you take issue with my mother’s decision, bite your thumb before the Tribunal upon our return."

With a flick of her heel, Laela turns and continues deeper into the forest, leaving Thaunaphyll fuming in her wake. Tomi, unable to resist a parting shot, winks at the disgruntled soldier.

"It should have been me," Thaunaphyll whinges, his dissatisfaction snagging firmly on the thorns of neighboring brambles.

“Oh, not this drivel again.” grumbles the final Verdatian, reluctant to speak up until now.

“Stow it, Grünamish. We all know that the Verdancy belongs to my father. I should be the one commanding this band. Not Neumaela’s whore of a daughter.”

“Shhh! Keep your voice down, Captain. They say the Kytsune have ears like a Temetrian. Don't go looking for a fight with Tomi by badmouthing Commander Pisthelle”

“Syvern, you spineless sprout! A fight? Seriously? You don’t think I can handle myself?”

Syvern and Grünamish exchange a knowing look.

"Leave it be," Grünamish interjects with a sigh. "Your father follows Neumaela's prophecies as fervently as any of us. You're no fool, Captain. What is there to gain from sowing the seeds of dissent?"

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Are you blind? Have you seen the state of Leif village? My home is in ruins, all in support of Lamina and its outcasts! If Father were in power, those scavengers never would have crossed Verdantian soil. Our lands would be flourishing! Instead, Neumaela, in her ‘infinite wisdom,’ insists we prepare for some phantom war after fifty-something cycles of peace. You see no fault in this direction?"

"Look, Thauna, my pockets don’t get lined by spewing doubts. The fact of the matter is, Lady Neumaela's prophecy was made undeniable by the Kytsune's arrival. Quote, ‘The seeds of war planted by a visitor from ashen lands.’ What more proof do we need?"

"And what of the prophecy since, hm? Two cycles since the Kytsune landed, and not a whisper from her Majesty. Seems a bit suspicious, does it not?”

Syvern's brow furrows. "What do you mean?"

"Makes me wonder if this whole thing was just a ploy," he conspires, his voice barely a rustle in the leaves. "A way for Neumaela to solidify her position before the Tribunal elections."

He trails off, letting the implication hang heavy in the verdant air.

"And I have a feeling I'm not the only one who thinks so..."

Submerged in his thoughts, Thaunaphyll finds his monologue cut short by bumping into Tomi, who has stopped abruptly in front of him.

"Watch where you're going, knife-hand!" Thaunaphyll snarls.

But his jeer garners no response, and the party watches on as Tomi’s ears begin to twitch rapidly, honing in on Briarwood’s many subtle voices.

"Tomi, is everything alright?" Laela asks, concern cracking her voice like thunder.

"No, Laela," he laments. "That scent… the same one that choked my home with a blanket of extinction and despair… it has permeated this forest."

A pervasive sense of dread washes over the Kytsune as his more bestial traits begin to draw out of him. Claws, usually sleek and sheathed, extend with a sharp snap, and his canines elongate into menacing rows of daggers. He crouches low, his feral senses straining to pinpoint the source of his anxieties. Laela kneels beside him, peering into his eyes, and sees something within him for the very first time:

Fear.

Tomi's movements are small but frantic; prey in desperate search of his predator. Each breath rasps ragged in his throat, and his eyes beg Laela for an answer. "We need to find it. We must find it…"

"Tomi, we don't even know what 'it' is." Betraying the calmness of her voice is a subtle, distressed tremor in her hand. "Can you at least tell us what we're looking for?" Laela pleads.

"I don't know, Laela! I can only feel it! That creeping black death; a void of consumption. It's here, and it needs to be eradicated. Aren’t you people in tune with the lands or something?”

Thaunaphyll scoffs, a harsh bark of laughter that echoes through the trees. "You really think we’re all some kind of ‘mystical tree-whisperers,’ you bloomless fool? Not all of us are as gifted as Laela and her precious mother.

Tomi whips back around, his attention locking onto Laela. "You can locate it? The source?"

Laela's gaze flickers away, confidence fading from her eyes. "It's… not that simple, Tomi," she mumbles, guilt variegating her cheeks.

Tomi imposes himself over her, snarling a grim warning between his teeth.

"If we don't stop it now, whatever it is, it will devour this forest and turn everyone you know into ash! We need to find it, and we need to kill it. Now!"

Laela recoils, fear creeping into her posture.

"I– I can't…”

“You can't what!? Save your own people? Do you not understand what’s at stake here? If you’re too barkless to lead us through adversity then why did your mother even bother making you Commander!?”

His fist slams into an oak behind Laela, shattering the trunk with a deafening crack. Tears begin to well in her eyes, but she quickly blinks them away, forcing down the wave of emotions for the sake of duty. Filling her veins with Heirocia’s breath, she draws upon her well of mana, channeling it throughout her being. The forest responds with a soft green hue; a pulse of life emanating from Laela's form. The space left by the silence fills with a soft hum; the lifeblood of the Verdancy thrumming through the air. A cacophony of luminescence dances and swirls around Laela as she begins to merge with the forest itself.

"She's actually doing it," Syvern whispers, awestruck. "She's becoming one with the Verdancy."

With a jolt, her eyes snap open, their emerald depths glowing with the same intensity as Ifrit's summer luminance. A sudden gust of wind tears through the clearing, whipping the trees into a frenzy, all converging upon Laela: the heart of the storm.

"Damnable whelp," Thaunaphyll spits, his voice drenched with disdain. "You haven't a clue what you've just unleashed. All this time spent frolicking under the Verdancy's boughs, yet you remain woefully ignorant of its customs. If it wouldn’t end up with me in irons, I’d strike you down where you stand."

“You and your leaf litter don’t have the mettle. Why don’t you just stand there and bark like you always do, Thaunaphyll. Let Laela save your rind once again,” Tomi retorts with a snarl.

"See this, the both of you?!" Thaunaphyll exclaims, flinging his arms wide in a gesture of exasperation. "This is precisely the barbarity I warned about! This invader mocks the very heart of Verdatia, sacrificing our future matron to appease his childhood terrors. You never would have set foot on Verdantian soil had Neumaela known the havoc you'd wreak!"

A bloodcurdling shriek tears from Laela's lips. The emerald tempest swirling around her intensifies, clawing away at the once serene landscape. Coiling roots erupt from her frame, burrowing deep into the earth and anchoring her to the forest floor. Palpable tension pervades the winds, begging to be broken by action or by fate.

In response to his commander’s outburst, Thaunaphyll readies himself. “To Phantus with the Tribunal, I’m putting an end to this now.”

With claws unsheathed and rapier drawn, Thaunaphyll gives Grünamish a telling nod, then dashes at Tomi, the sunlight pouring over him like tears from Celestial Greatwyrm.

Tomi meets the charge with a feral roar, dropping to all fours and launching himself at Thaunaphyll with the fury of a tidal wave. Grünamish and Syvern seize their opportunity, surging forward with a combined yell and tackling Laela with all their might. The impact rips her from her trance, dissipating the emerald light as her roots reluctantly renounce her freedom.

A series of staccato stabs clack and clang against Tomi’s claws. Forced back on his heels, Thaunaphyll executes a graceful sweep under a lacerating hook from his foe. Blessed by Heirocia’s winds, he deftly steps behind his assailant, poised to riposte, only to find himself disarmed as Tomi's nimble tail whips around his wrist, snatching the rapier clean.

Like lightning, Tomi whips around, pouncing on Thaunaphyll, ready to deliver a final blow. The rake descends, Thaunaphyll’s eyes close for a final time, then…

Nothing.

Silence occupies the forest once more, cheated by the frantic hammering of Syvern’s heart and Laela’s ragged gasps as she struggles to find her bearing. Thaunaphyll's eyelids creak open, revealing a sliver of startled green staring up at Tomi's razor-sharp claws hovering mere inches from his unbloomed face. The stench of damp earth and feral musk filled his nostrils, a stark contrast to the usual perfume of the Verdancy.

Tomi, his chest heaving with exertion, leans over Thaunaphyll, a bewildered whisper escaping his lips.

"It's... it's gone..."

He whips his head around, azure eyes darting wildly through the clearing, searching for the source of the dread that had moments ago coiled around his heart like a suffocating serpent. Streaks of sunlight sift through the leaves, casting shadows across the forest floor, obscuring all but the concerned faces of the Verdatian militia.

"Will you oafs quit gawking and get this overgrown mutt off of me?" Thaunaphyll barks.

Snapping out of their stupor, Syvern and Grünamish scramble forward to assist their captain. With a combined grunt, they heave Tomi off Thaunaphyll, sending the Kytsune sprawling into the dirt before extending a hand to their companion.

Her strength mostly returned, Laela’s shimmering figure darts to Tomi's side. A tender frond strokes his head in a gesture of comfort as he continues his mutterings with a darkened brow furrowed in confusion.

"I– I don't understand, It's just gone..." Tomi murmurs, struggling to find an answer to his incertitude.

Thaunaphyll spits a mouthful of dirt and shoots to his feet, a sneer twisting his features. "See, Laela! He can't even control his own primal instincts! This highborn menace and his pack of savages need to be banished from Verdantian soil with all haste!"

Laela’s leaves turn in response to Thaunaphyll’s aggression. She stands quickly, emboldening her posture with a storm of defiance before addressing the insubordination. However, before she can deliver her conjecture, she is cut off by a resounding cry from deep within the forest.