Luna settled into her routine of patrolling the land around the village. During her 5 patrol days of the week she took her time to range further out than her colleagues. The plan was to find tracks of bigger animals and find out where she would usually find them at a given time of day. Animals were just as predictable in their behavior as humans.

In the first six weeks Luna found reliable spots to find deer at and brought one young buck home. She made sure to know as many of the animals in her area, so she could evaluate which animals could be killed without harming the population in the long run. She had listened attentively when Jonas explained how the Hunters took great care to pick the animals they shot.

The animal was traded in at the butcher, some of the meat in exchange for his service. The same went for the animal skin, which went to the tanner and leatherworker, who would use the softer leather to improve her arm guards and boots. Protecting her arms from the bow string was important, but the equipment provided by the village left a lot to be desired. It was not obvious to Luna at first, but after just a short while she had improvement ideas for every single item in her possession.

Overall Luna was enjoying her new life very much. The freedom to roam nature, two classes that felt right to her and nobody riding her should all day long telling her what to do. It had been nearly 8 weeks since her Rite and the season was turning to autumn. Luna was currently sitting high up on a tree near the outskirts of the forest, enjoying the afternoon sun on her face. This week Saturday was her day off and she had nowhere else to be.

This tree had become one of her favorite spots. She had found it during her third week and had attached some rope to make climbing the first few meters easier. Once the branches started, climbing got easy. Luna had made herself at home in a branch fork near the trunk, about 10 meters up in the air. The massive beech tree stood on a small mound, giving Luna a spectacular view over the surrounding land. From here she could keep track of animals without the risk of spooking them and after some tinkering with the rope Luna had managed to set up a secure backrest for herself.

Over the past weeks the sensation of being observed had come and gone and Luna had not been able to figure out what caused it and who was responsible. Her perch on the tree also served the purpose of giving her the best possible chance of catching who or whatever it was. The last few times she had been here, nothing had happened and she decided to limit her excursion so far out, because she had managed to get caught in a downpour twice and was thoroughly soaked through by the time she got back to the village. One positive aspect of this was that Luna was now the proud owner of a sturdy, dark brown, waxed wool cloak. The downside, she now owed her mother half a deer of meat.

Today was looking to be the same as the last times, hopefully without any surprise rain showers. Nothing of interest was happening and Luna was contemplating if she really wanted to carry a deer all the way back from the village, from this far out. The decision was made moot, when Luna's sixth sense alerted her of her secret observer. Craning her neck to look around she did not immediately find the source. On the third time doing a full check of her surroundings, something stood out. Easily 200 meters away a person seemed standing in the open, one hand raised towards Luna in greeting.

It was too far away for Luna to identify the person and their size seemed a little distorted. She quickly decided that she was going to get down and meet them. Grabbing her kit Luna quickly descended the tree and rushed towards the location the person had been moments before. Getting there Luna realized nobody was waiting there, but a crude arrow made of sticks was pointing towards the forest, next to it someone had crudely scribbled "Meet" into the dirt.

While Luna was certainly not stupid, she did not see what anyone would gain from luring her towards the forest. If they had wanted to harm her, they could have done that already, as she was sure she had been observed before and no harm had befallen her. Slightly confused but no less sure of her decision, Luna kept following, first another 200 meters, then another until she had reached the tree line.

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Who, or rather what, waited there was like something from a fairy tale to Luna. A little creature that seemed to be made from wood, with large black eyes and stubby green hair. If that wasn't enough, it started to speak in a high pitched voice. "Follow me please Miss! The Mistress is waiting for you!"

Now that was a bit much even for the adventurous Luna, who had to steady herself at the next best tree. "Uhm, who are you and what are you, if you don't mind me asking?" Luna decided, after pinching had confirmed that she was indeed awake, those were perfectly harmless and reasonable questions.

The little creature had already moved a few meters away and turned around, staring up at her. "I am a forest gnome. Now follow! Quick! Quick! You do not let the Mistress wait!"

Despite the size of roughly 30cm, the forest gnome was deceptively quick. Caught by surprise Luna quickly followed. She had so many more questions, but no matter how hard she tried she could not catch up to the gnome. Despite its short legs, it was out-running her. It seemed to be running and floating at the same time, barely touching the ground.

They raced through this bright part of the forest, the sunlight still reaching through the canopy. Nearly all trees were beeches, the monotony only interrupted by the occasional oak or ash tree. The forest floor was mostly covered by dry leaves, but little weed islands of green had grown where the sun would reach the forest floor.

Luna lost herself while following the gnome and only woke up from her stupor when the forest suddenly ended and she stepped into the sunlight. Looking around she kept walking forward carefully ,until she reached a small pond and Luna suddenly realized that she had no idea how long it had been since she left the forest. She was absolutely parched. She refilled her water skin with the clear, cold water and was in the middle of quenching her thirst when an amused voice interrupted her.

"I apologize for clouding your mind on the way here, the forest does it to all sentient beings who are not at home here and I cannot control it, even if I tried. Now please, would you tell me who and what you are?"

Luna was sure that the pond had been empty just a moment before, but now a giant water lily sat right in the middle of it. On this waterlily sat woman with long green hair, who seemed to be wearing nothing at all. Furiously blushing, Luna turned away, coughing and sputtering, desperately trying to not suffocate on the water she just inhaled.

Catching her breathe Luna finally managed to get some words out. "I am Luna, a human living in the nearby village of Creek Springs."

"Well met Luna. That is how you say it, isn't it?" The woman replied "You must excuse me, it has been a while since I learned to speak your language and I have not used it in over a century. How about you stop lying to me?"

Suddenly the woman's demeanor changed, the lily she was resting on rising above the water level and it was as if a cloud had been swept in front of the sun. A cold shiver ran down Luna's spine. The meek figure of the friendly woman now seemed threatening and domineering.

"Do not lie to me little girl. You are no more human than I am and if you want to leave this forest again, you are going to tell me. Right. Now!"

Stepping backwards Luna stumbled over tree roots and fell on her backside. Fearfully looking upwards Luna rapidly began to speak. "My name is Emilia Lunare Silvenlake! I have no idea what I am. Just 7 weeks ago I was a normal human girl, then after my sixteenth birthday I underwent the Rite during summer solstice. Now I have a new name I never heard off, my race changed and some skill I cannot control is dumping memories into my head! Now would you please put on some clothes!"

"Now that wasn't so hard now, was it? Ah, yes. Silly human things, these clothes. If I remember correctly, humans think it immodest to not cover themselves, no?" The woman replied. Sunshine returned and the threatening aura dissipated as if it had never been, while flowers started to bloom around the woman, hugging her tight and forming a dress of green leaves and colorful flowers. "My name is Everwood. No, I am not named after the forest, the forest is named after me and those of my lineage that came before me. You may not ask how old I am, that would be incredibly rude. Just know that I was already here when there were more monsters than humans in these lands. I made the deal with your king and your village founder. Nobody bothers this forest and in turn this forest does not bother you."

That was a bit much for Luna to comprehend right away, she had to think on it for a second. And it left one question unanswered. "Hello Everwood. If you do not mind me asking, but if you are that old, what are you?"

"What happened to you people. Have humans stopped educating their children?" Everwood looked at Luna scornfully. "I am a Dryad silly child and if what you told me is true, we have a lot to talk about."