Melody arrived back at the Grove as the sun set with a sleepy Rui in her arms. Rui still had an excited smile as her head kept bobbing as she struggled to stay awake.

“Rui.” Melody lovingly called.

“Hm?” Rui tiredly replied.

“Did you have fun?” She asked.

Rui gave a dazzling smile. “Thank you, big sister!”

“Okay.” Melody kissed Rui’s forehead. “Let’s get you to bed.”

“But I’m not… yaaaawn… tired….”

Melody giggled at her sister’s struggle.

By the time Melody made it to their home, Gaia’s home, Rui was fast asleep.

“Ho, ho, ho. Seems like she had a little too much fun.”

Melody smiled. “Hello, Grandpa.”

Okan’s smile widened.

Melody carefully laid her sister to rest on the large bed and sat at the table with her grandfather after giving him a quick hug.

“What brings you here?” Melody asked.

“Hmm, I have become concerned that you have become more locked up here than Rui.” He chuckled.

“Me? Locked up?” She raised an eyebrow.

“Yes.” He nodded. “You have become shackled with responsibility just as you were beginning to spread your wings.” Okan placed a comforting hand on hers.

“Well… Yes.” Melody looked over to her sister and smiled. “But I am happy looking after Rui.”

“I am not saying you regret taking on Gaia’s role here in the Grove, but I am sure you have some?” He urged her to open up.

Melody tensed for a moment before looking away guiltily. “I guess….”

“What is it?”

She looked to the door. “I want to see more of the world. I want to go on more adventures. But…” Melody looked back to the sleeping Rui. “I also don’t want to be apart from Rui. Then, there is also Mother to tend to.”

Okan chuckled while stroking his beard. “Then I guess it is time for the retired king to give a break to the young queen.”

“What?” Melody was surprised.

He laughed. “I plan to stay in the Grove for a while. I will take care of things here, and you go see the world.”

Melody excitedly hugged her grandfather. “Thank you!” She then quickly separated while looking at Rui. “But…”

Okan chuckled. “You leave Rui to me. Just be sure to come back often with plenty of stories for her. Oh, and snacks.”

Melody laughed while giving her grandfather a warm and loving hug. “Thank you, Grandpa.”

The following morning, Melody and Okan broke the news to Rui.

“NO!” Rui erected her wood golem form. “I’m coming with you!” She screamed.

Vines sprouted from the ground and tied up Rui. “Now, Rui, you must let your sister do what she wants.” Okan scolded.

“But I want to go!” Rui tried to struggle against the hold, but the Elder Son of Lyuten’s power was undeniable.

Melody reached forward, overpowered Rui’s nature magic with her own, and removed the girl from the golem. She hugged Rui to herself. “I promise I will come home often.”

Rui pouted while tightly hugging Melody’s neck. “Why can’t I go too…”

Melody stroked her sister’s back. “It’s dangerous.”

“But I’m strong.”

Melody sighed and placed her sister down. “Fine then. We’ll have a match.”

“What?” Rui was confused.

“If you win, I’ll take you with me. But if you lose, you must stay here and train with Grandpa.” Melody offered.

“Really!?” Rui got excited. “You promise!?”

Melody nodded. “I promise.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Are you sure, Melody?” Okan asked.

“I am.”

Rui sprouted her wood golem once more. “Alright!” She pounded her wooden fists into each other. “I’ll put everything I got into this! I’ll prove I am stronger than you because I’ve been holding back all this time!” Rui declared.

Melody put on a pleasant smile and opened some space between them.

“Melody,” Okan spoke to her while chuckling. “You’ve never shown her how much you have been holding back, have you?”

Melody faced Rui while giggling. “Nope. But she is going to learn today.”

A whole bunch of forest spirits gathered to watch the match with excitement.

“Well then.” Okan stood off to the side. “Begin!”

Rui began to lumber toward Melody while letting out a battle cry.

“Dig.”

“KYAA!” Rui plummeted into a hole. “Not fair!” She cried through nature.

“Nature is not fair. It is balanced.” Melody lectured.

Rui sprung out of the hole and charged at Melody once more.

Melody raised a hand above her head. “Water.” A torrent of water flooded toward Rui.

“Wood wall!” Rui grew a wall before her to block the water. The wood creaked in protest against the force. Rui reached up and braced the wall toward the top.

“Wind.” A blast of wind jetted forward and broke the wooden wall while knocking Rui back.

Rui looked up at her sister with an annoyed expression.

“Come on. I’m waiting.” Melody smiled pleasantly.

The little dryad then smirked as vines burst from the ground around Melody. “Gotcha!”

The vines converged on the giantess, only for her to vanish from sight.

“WHAT!?” Rui was shocked.

“Shadow Pounce,” Melody whispered in Rui’s ear. She was behind the dryad.

Rui screamed in surprise and stumbled away from a laughing Melody.

Rui sat on the ground in her wood golem and pouted. “No fair….”

Melody approached and pulled her sister out of the wood golem, giving her a warm hug. “Like I said, nature is not fair.”

Rui hugged her sister’s neck. “You promise to come home often.”

“I promise.”

“And you’ll bring me snacks?”

“I will.”

Rui tightened her hug. “Be careful and come back soon….” She sniffled.

Melody smiled. “I will.”

After saying farewell to everyone, Melody stepped into the Fairy Ring with Aroo, teleporting to the Trading Post.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rui was being held by Elder Elva as they watched Melody head out. She pouted and began to cry quietly.

“Oh, Rui. Melody will be back before you know it.”

“I know… She promised…”

Grandpa chuckled. “Rui.”

The little girl looked over at him.

“When would you like to start training?” He asked with a warm smile.

Grandpa’s right! Rui wiped away her tears, and a look of determination came to her face.

Grandpa laughed. “I see. Shall we start then?”

Rui planned to get strong so fast that Melody would be shocked! So shocked that she would never think of leaving her behind again! She was going to make her big sister so proud!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Melody appeared at the Trading Post, where several people and forest spirits welcomed her. After making her way out, she hopped up on Aroo and rode off toward the city of Hallfen.

“Melody!” Sam welcomed her with a smile.

“Hello, Sam.” Melody hopped down from Aroo and looked over to the charcoal kilns. “Have those been working well?”

Sam shook his head with a smile on his face. “Dr. Dundee won’t shut up about them. Every day he studies them, and every day he brags about the ‘genius’ of them. I heard that Lord Tulsen was the one that made them.”

Melody giggled. “He was.”

Sam whistled. “I don’t envy anyone who has to meet with that guy. The legends about him are terrifying. Violet told some of them.”

“Sounds like her. She probably exaggerated them a bit to mess with you, though.”

Sam laughed. “That sounds like Violet!”

A messenger ran through the gate and looked up at Melody in relief. “Princess!”

Melody gave him her attention.

“They need you at the guild as soon as possible! A nearby city is in danger!”

“Understood.” Melody quickly headed into the city to get to the Adventurer’s Guild.

Melody quickly arrived at the front of the guild, where several adventurers were collecting emergency supplies.

The guild master saw Melody. “Melody! I’m glad you are here so soon. We need your assistance in saving a neighboring city to the East.”

“What happened?” Melody knelt.

“A Monster Rush.”

Violet had taught Melody about Monster Rush before. They were somewhat rare but could easily wipe out a town or severely damage a walled city. The typical cause of the event was when a powerful monster rampages into a habitat, causing others to flee. Most times, the monsters would run in all directions, which was why this was rare for them to group together.

The other cause Violet mentioned was when a specific monster or beast becomes overpopulated.

“What is the name of the town?” Melody asked.

“Silden. We are still collecting the supplies and transportation. Could you take some people with you on Aroo?” He requested.

“Of course. If I ran beside her, Aroo could carry up to six. I could carry four in my pack.” Melody answered.

“Alright.” The guild master nodded. “Gerald! You and your team will ride on Aroo. Annabelle, Violet, you two will go with Melody.” He also called a few healers to join them.

The guild master bowed his head to Melody. “I’m truly sorry to request this of you with how busy you are.”

Melody waved him off kindly. “Don’t worry! My grandfather is looking after things for a bit. I came here to pick up a few jobs with Violet and Annabelle.”

“We can go on adventures again?” Violet asked.

Melody nodded.

“Finally!” Violet cheered.

“I look forward to us exploring again.” Annabelle smiled brightly.

“Let’s take care of this Monster Rush first, then head to the capital to look for a job!” Violet stated excitedly.

The guild master had Melody load up several supplies in her magic pack.

They gathered at the Hallfen gate to get Aroo ready. The mammoth bison protested a bit for having to be saddled, but she relented after being given several snacks.

“We’ll be following behind y’all in a bit! Be sure to save some for us!” Gona exclaimed while laughing.

“Knowing them, the Monster Rush will likely be over by the time we arrive.” Ellen giggled.

The dwarf grumbled at her comment and made Melody promise to try to leave some for them.

“All of you, be careful. Ah, Melody.” The guild master called her. “Do you have much experience fighting large groups?”

Melody thought for a bit. “I… Actually, don’t.” She surprised herself.

The only two times she fought multiple beings was when she took out the giant clan and golems, which she could only vaguely remember due to Wrath’s effects. This would be her first time fighting in a large-scale battle with her senses intact.

“Then it might be best to listen to Gerald’s instructions. He has dealt with a couple of Monster Rushs before.” The guild master stated.

Gerald stepped forward. “I will do my best.”

Melody giggled. “I will be in your care.”

They finished getting ready, mounted up and began their emergency mission to help protect the neighboring city of Silden.