This world is bullshit, in a good way, but it still seems like any physics I once knew means nothing. I haven't seen other pokemon use real Moves before now and Marshal is proving just how weird a place I'm in. I mean, yeah I have psychic powers, but she's literally just creating water, and I don't think it's some 'condensing it from the air' idiotic kind of thing either, it's just… flowing off of her.

“Okay,” Marshal says, stopping the flow and rolling her shoulders, “You want to start with the fighting or not getting distracted?”

"Um…" That's a great question. …I want to put off the fighting though, so, "Maybe start with the second one," I say, perhaps more sheepishly than I’d hoped.

Marshal snorts. “I should o’ figured. Can you tell me what you should have done when you knew you were gonna go blank like that?” She asks, giving me a raised eyebrow.

That's not how I expected her to start. What does she mean? …Oh. "Moved to the not-space," I tell her, wanting to slap myself. It's much safer for me there, I think.

“Not space?” She asks, more curious than confused.

“That's what I've been calling it, it's where I go when I'm invisible," I tell her.

“Huh. Why d’ya call it that?” She asks, scratching her chin.

“I guess it’s hard to describe, but it’s just… not space. I- it’s…” I flail for words. How do I describe the innate certainty that something just isn’t? “What do other ghosts call it?” I ask her instead, pulling my arms back from their unconscious movements.

“I don’t know,” She says simply, and—probably seeing my disbelief—continues, “Even the friendlier ones I’ve met before just didn’t talk as much as you do. Weren’t as put together,” She elaborates.

“You… do remember-”

Marshal cuts me off, “Yeah, and you were in a lot more pain than any of them were, but none o’ them were as ‘all-there’ as you are,” She says, shrugging.

And ho boy if that isn’t part of the existential hellhole Marshal pulled me out of. I’ve had a while to think about it since then too, and I’m honestly not sure I would have been okay without her help. But yeah, once I wasn't bouncing between frustration, terror, and trying not to think about things, I started to honestly feel really good about my new still-not-sure-it-counts-as-life.

Although the sudden realization I had earlier, about the fact that I'm- not ready to deal with this right now, maybe later, when I'm alone. Was an experience. Marshal made that comment about knowing stuff and it was the best worst thing she could have said. Especially after Weaver’s comment about it being easier to focus last night.

Anxiety? Anticipation? I look at Marshal and she’s watching me. What’s she expecting? The Anxiety’s vanishing, now there’s curiosity. What was she worried about?

As ‘all-there’ as me. Oh.

“I’m fine, Marshal. I’m not going to freak out about having died anymore.” Probably not, at least, given my reaction to internalizing… Anyway.

A bit of relief shows on her features—though I don’t taste it—and she raises an eyebrow. “I- sorry. I know I need to learn to pay attention…” I sigh and drift closer to her. “I think it’s going to take some work, I wasn’t this bad before I- You know. So…” I trail off. She’s smirking.

"That's why we're going to work on it." Her smirk shifts to a smile, "I don't think you have trouble focusing." She says, sitting down, "I think you have trouble focusing on what's in front of you." She pats the ground in front of her, beckoning, "You've plainly got some heavy thoughts in that head o' yours sometimes, and that's not a bad thing." She breaths deeply, and the taste of joy that's always around her… shifts? "Believe me, I understand. Hmm, maybe not exactly, but ya need to keep the here and now in mind too.” She’s looking at me like she wants to see something.

What is it though? Hmm, she said ‘here and now,’ and that shift in taste was strange. In fact… her emotions have been in flux since she found me earlier, but the undercurrent hasn’t. Why? Or maybe, why not? She said she understood, but even when she was talking about…

…Right, she’s old. As in, outlived all her children old, isn’t she? And she hasn’t become detached or callus despite that, the love and melancholy I could taste earlier is proof enough. How has she managed to stay so- Oh, that’s what she means. ‘Here’ and ‘now.’ And obviously, she'd have learned how to deal with it because she probably has several times the life experiences, good and bad, than anyone I’ve ever met.

I look up from my thoughts to see Marshal’s face, kind eyes, wet nose, and a frown, now shifting to a satisfied smile. “See what I meant did you?” She asks.

“I don’t know, maybe? I mostly just realized that you’re probably right,” I admit.

She chuckles. “Naw, you did. Now, I want you to just focus on the trees, the smells, the wind, the sky, anything, everything that's around us right now,” She says.

That seems too easy, “That’s it?” I feel the need to ask.

“Just don’t try to force it,” She says. “This is about being present, aware, lookin’ at and being here, now,” She tells me. “Helps make everything clearer in my experience.”

That sounds too simple to me, but I’ve already decided to trust her. Looking around, I try to take it all in. The now bright green forest, with both its odd and familiar trees, the strange bark patterns now clear to me as markers left by grass-types.

The amazingly blue sky, barely a cloud in sight today after the storm yesterday.

The fresh air, smelling of plants, earth, something more floral, and an almost rain-like scent from Marshal.

The sounds of life, various bird calls, pokemon cries, insects buzzing, and the world swaying in the slight breeze.

The taste of joy, along with my still unknown sense buzzing directly from and at Marshal.

And Marshal herself, still surrounded by water, seemingly just enjoying the moment.

…

I feel an urge to do something, but I push it down, trying to follow Marshal’s advice.

…

It’s a good while before Marshal starts talking, seemingly out of nowhere, “I’m not tryin’ to tell you to stop thinking about stuff.” She says, not looking at me. “But from what I’ve seen o’ ya, you’re in your own head a lot.” She breathes deep, eyes closing, “I get that you’ve probably got some heavy things, some deep or maybe dark thoughts right now, ya just need to keep what’s around you in mind, too. All that stuff in your head might be important, but so is right now.”

Marshal’s silent for a bit, clearly thinking, before she starts again, “Maybe I do understand better than I’d like, how it feels to be lost.” There’s a burst of something in her emotions, something complex. But she keeps talking before I can figure it out, “So I think it’s good to take some time every day, just bein’ alive.” She frowns, “Maybe not the best way to put it, but I hope you get what I mean.”

Marshal stands, still gazing around, “Just- When ya start thinkin’ like that, make sure you’re safe. And if you’re not either try to save it for later or get safe, okay?” She says into the air. “And remember to take the time to be,” She adds after a second, turning to face me.

That’s… a lot. But do I feel better? I don’t know, but I think she was right about clearing my head. "Thanks, Marshal," I tell her. "And I'll try to keep all that in mind, and do this every day too."

“All I ask right now. You’re doin’ well anyways, just need to stay that way,” She says, stretching. “Now, how much fight d’ya have in you?”

Oh, Right. Marshal wanted to teach me to fight. “Um…”

She laughs, "You really don't like confrontation do ya?" She opens her hands, and I can't help noticing just how sharp her claws are. "Right now I just want to see how capable ya are, see what you need to learn. So I'll start slow and see how you do." She announces.

Then she mo- JESUSTAPDANCINGCHRIST, DODGE!

That buys me a fraction of a second before I realize the obvious. You can’t hit what isn’t there. Following that thought, I vanish. Ah… AHH! That’s what all the water was for! I need cover, fast! Wait… THE TREES!

Slipping inside a tree, I calm down for a second. It looks like Marshal knows something is up though, because all the water… How the hell is the water here?! Fuck it, doesn’t matter right now, but it has all stopped spinning.

I didn’t think she’d start immediately, or that she’d be so fast… Why are her eyes red? Oh, moving now.

As I move from that particular tree, Marshal body-slams it low and even topples it. Then, instead of stopping, she keeps moving to let it fall onto her shoulder before she turns and… IT'S HEADING RIGHT FOR ME!

I’m still phased out though, so it just sails through me without doing anything. Okay, stop, stay calm. I’m pretty sure I’m somehow even less vulnerable to anything physical while I’m here.

Except the water, for some reason. And now she’s starting the whirlpools up again. Can I stop those? One way to find out, I guess.

Quickly phasing in, blasting one with sound, and phasing out shows that, yes, I can. And Marshal’s eyes are red again… Wait, that’s another color I can name here, coo- FUCK! MOVING NOW!

Marshal's waterborne charge should miss now, barely. I need- WHOOP! Did she just try to bite me on her way passed? IS THAT FROST?!

…Am I enjoying this?

***

Oh, this is familiar, though also not as disconcerting as before. At least I’m not out there this time.

It’s also much easier to think than last time. Even if everything is a bit blurry… No, it’s coming back into focus. Oh hey, there’s Marshal, big glowing sphere and all.

I feel scattered, almost hollow? … and hungry. I’m already filling up again, though, so that’s good.

Everything's a blur, what happened? …Oh, I think Marshal hit me. Yeah, it's coming back now. One hit, ouch. Was I unconscious or just very disoriented? Mmm, no gaps in my memory, I think, so that's a thing.

Wow, she really did just hit me that hard. Amazing.

Well, let's see what she thinks about what just happened. Phasing in, I-

Phasing in-

…I can’t move. Uh, is this how a ghost faints, then? How’s my body doing?

Oh. Well, on the bright side, I'm still not definitely-dead. Although I can absolutely put any thoughts I had about my body behaving anything like a regular flesh-and-blood one out of mind. And I guess I shouldn't be surprised because I'm not- ready to think about this again right now.

Back to the present, think about it later.

So, I’m in two places at once. Except that it’s still the same place? Explains why I feel scattered, at least. I’m hanging, bodiless, on the ground where Marshal’s attack threw me and also sitting, not-quite-bodiless, on the ground where Marshal’s attack threw me, but I can’t feel things.

I have no idea what that means.

So, important question, how do I not be in two places? Hmm, What feels like the right thing to do here?

Ah, I think I just found my ghost-powers, it barely feels anything like the psychic stuff at least. Time to put myself back together, I guess.

…

This is going to take a while, isn't it? How do I even move this- Wait, I should just keep pushing now. That feels right.

…

I can still see Marshal. She's been getting more and more anxious since she hit me and I'm starting to feel bad about it, but using an entirely new power thing while not being able to move anything else at all takes time.

Also, I think my ‘body’ is almost intact again? I’m not sure anymore since I think I have two, now. Except that one feels more like a body and the other… Am I just puppeteering myself? I really, really need to learn more about ghosts.

…

“Ow,” I groan, finishing the process of literally putting myself back together by taking control of my maybe-body. It feels excessively weird.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

And all this was just her figuring out what I'll need to work on?

"Oh! Oh, you're moving again. Sorry, didn't mean ta hit you so hard." Says Marshal from one side of the brand-new, and thoroughly flooded, clearing. You know, I'd been wondering where all the random clearings came from.

"No, I- I think I'm fine, strangely," I tell her. "And, uh, sorry."

“Oh, ya don’t have to be,” She says, “Don’t suppose ya met any other spooks before?” At my head-shake she continues, “Yep, you’re all awfully fragile and extremely hard ta actually harm at the same time.” She laughs, “Makes me feel better about teaching you when I can’t accidentally maim ya.”

Yeah, Marshal, saying that isn’t scary at all.

“Um, how’d I do?” I ask her. I’m both dreading the answer and hoping I somehow did well.

"Hmm…" She starts, scratching an ear. "You're good at dodging, only seen one other spook vanish to dodge when a real fight started, and ya hid inside stuff too. You didn't panic when I started speeding things up, that was good." She stops scratching her ear and starts tapping her chin, staring at one shattered tree in particular, "You've clearly got decent instincts and a good head. You had a great sense of timing, too, but…" She trails off, looking around. "Ya barely fought back?" She asks, giving me a questioning look.

“I’ve uh, never fought like this before?” I didn’t mean for it to come out a question! Goddammit, get it together Charlie!

“Naw, really?” She asks with a chuckle. “I imagine you lived in the middle of a big human city too? Never had to fight for somethin’?” The question sounds genuine.

I wince. “I… Well-”

“It’s not a bad thing!” She waves a massive paw. “Just means you had things good.” She settles to the ground, eyes roaming over the wreck we left in thought.

A thought occurs to me as I look over what we just did, “Why are you teaching me? I- that’s not a complaint, I’d just- you know?” I say, turning my eyes on the otter.

Marshal shrugs, “Does it matter beyond ‘just because I wanted to,’ in the end?”

We fall silent for a stretch, I’m not sure what Marshal is thinking, but my thoughts turn back to when I was human and the times I almost got into fights then. And the few times I did.

"I don't like hurting people," I say into the quiet air.

"I can tell, but you still need to be able to," Marshal responds, not bothering to look at me.

I almost ask her if that's genuinely true but… I think she's right.

"I didn't think this would be so fun," I admit.

Marshal laughs. “I knock you out like that and ya still say that after,” She says once her laughter eases. “I like that attitude.”

"To be fair, you didn't knock me out," I tell her. "I was conscious the entire time, I just couldn't move."

Marshal Snorts thoughtfully, "Ain't that a meaningful difference. Well, ya got a lot to work on." She scratches her neck, her yellow line inflating and deflating a few times as she stares at the sky. "Normally, I'd say we keep going until you tire yourself out but…" She looks at me, "You're not gonna get tired, are ya?" She asks.

“I don’t think so, not with you here. Maybe if you weren’t…” I can’t exactly gesture to the massive amounts of energy she’s feeding me. “…Yeah,” I finish lamely.

She chuckles, "Explains some difficulties I had when dealing with spooks before." She stretches her whole body, groaning in relief at a few pops I hear, "Mmm, you go ahead and get, I've got to…" She sighs, and I start tasting a bit of that same mix of love and melancholy she had hanging around her earlier, though now a bit less… something? "I've got ta make sure Buizel knows what's coming to him soon." She says, her voice somehow conveying even more than her literal emotions.

I don’t know what to say to that. Marshal didn’t tell me what was going on other than that Buizel is growing up. Maybe he’s hitting some kind of pokemon puberty? I don’t know, but I don’t feel like asking for more about it right now. So with a wave that Marshal reciprocates, I start drifting back towards my cabin.

Some things about today have driven home the point that I really need to start learning about this world. That means I'll probably need to find a library given the seeming lack of modern technology, which either way means I’ll need to learn to read again, which means…

I’ll need to go look for Weaver at some point. Although she’s probably busy during the day. Who else do I know around here?

***

I’m not surprised to find Leaf sunning himself, the leafeon resting on his side in a very sunny patch of forest. He’s glowing slightly, but I’ve seen a lot of grass-types do that. I take a quick look up and down the trail running North-South through this section of the woods, but I don’t see anybody else.

“The Grotles not with you today?” I ask him from a safe distance.

He cracks an eye open, staring at me a moment before closing it again. He might try to hide it, but I can taste the contentment and joy, although there is some lingering anxiety. “They wanted a day to themselves. Are you just going around bothering people now?” He asks without heat.

"Sometimes," I say, floating to rest next to him and feeling a prickling sensation on my what-the-fuck-are-you sense. "Anything going on?" I ask, disregarding the sensation for the moment.

“The rain helped a lot of us regrow and regenerate, stopped the beedrill for a bit, too,” He says with a flick of his long, leaf-like tail I’ve come to realize is the Leaf version of a shrug. “I’m still tired from all the humans that have come through.” He cracks an eye again, “A swellow told me Marshal dragged you off somewhere earlier,” Leaf doesn’t quite ask.

I sigh, at least I’m not aching all over. “Dragging me off is a bit exaggerated, but she wanted to teach me how to fight.”

Leaf actually starts, ears as long as his body twitching, “Really? And you’re still in one piece?” He asks, head up, both eyes now open and staring.

“I wasn’t for some of it,” I halfheartedly joke, unable to suppress a shiver.

Leaf stares for a moment longer before flopping onto his other side, eyes closed again, "Eh, you're weird, why not."

After a bit of silence, I start searching for something to say. “So, uh, what are you doing?” I ask.

“Synthesizing,” He yawns. “All the cleaning up after humans is exhausting. How’d you get the rangers to put signs up around your den?” He asks.

"I um, took Marshal's advice," I tell him. "I'm pretty sure having one place they could put the signs helped though."

He cracks an eye again, "Mmm, she really must like you." He yawns again, " You know, sometimes I wish they would just stop letting other humans into the forest." He says, flicking an ear this time. "But there are some nice ones too, it's just luck, frankly. Have you been doing anything else? It's been quiet the last day-and-a-half." he asks.

“You’re hilarious,” I deadpan, before explaining, “I’ve been trying to focus my voice more, if you haven’t heard anything then that’s why.”

“Good progress then,” He says, closing his eye.

Again I need to find something to say, at least Leaf seems to want me to stick around right now. “Why are you right in the middle of a trail if you want to avoid humans?” I ask him.

“It’s where Maya usually looks for me,” He says simply, before yawning once more.

“Are you okay? You seem like you’re going to fall asleep.”

“Mmm,” He groans. “I don’t want to. But this is the time of year I always come closest to needing it,” He says sullenly.

“You don’t need to sleep either?” It makes a kind of sense, Leaf being part plant.

“Figures you don’t sleep,” He mutters. “But no, not if I get enough sun. I go into stasis over winter, but I haven’t needed to otherwise since I evolved.” He yawns again, “I don’t suppose you could make it sunnier? I haven’t been able to figure it out yet,” He asks. It’s sunny already—even if the sun is starting to set—but I’d bet it would help him out if he’s asking about it.

"I… can't, sorry," I tell him. "You said you hadn't figured it out yet? Is there someone around here who knows how?" I ask.

"Yeah, my sister, a couple of the cherubi, Torterra, and Shiftry. Why? Do you want to get one of them to do it? Teach it to us? Good luck." He informs me, rolling onto his other side.

“Why couldn’t you get your sister to use it, or even just teach you to use it?” I ask. …Ah, well there’s no love lost there, damn those are some complicated emotions. But the one rising to the top is pain?

“My sister is…” He says, clearly searching for a good way to put his feelings. “A bitch,” He finally finishes. Wow. Also, is that a translation thing again? “Have you seen her? She’s always by that forretress up north.”

Now that he mentions it… Yeah, that leafeon was giving off some serious hostility. "Yeah, I've seen her," I confirm.

His tail slaps the ground, agitated, “I don’t know what kind of deal she and the beedrill have, but she’s got free reign in their territory!” He says angrily. “And you know what the beedrill are like, right?” He asks, actually sitting up and looking at me.

"I haven't seen them, but everyone seems to have a problem with them," I say. And, reminded of a different terrifying bee, continue, "I did meet a vespiquen yesterday, Prime-Daughter-Two."

“They’re a lot nicer, right?” Leaf asks, likely rhetorically.

"I guess? I still haven't seen a beedrill." I tell him. "Although the one I met was calling me…"

Am I an apprentice to Marshal? Huh, I suppose I kind of am, aren't I.

“Was calling you what?” Leaf asks, apparently curious.

“She… They were referring to me as ‘Apprentice-Of-Order-Bringer,’ and I just realized they were right,” I say.

“…Why is she so interested in you?” Leaf seems to think aloud. “Sorry. I didn’t mean it like that, I’m just- She doesn’t usually teach anybody like you said she did.”

“I have no- Well, I have some ideas, but I don't know why either," I tell him. "Not that I'm going to complain when I'm almost certain I would have had a very bad meltdown if she hadn’t helped me.”

“Meltdown?” Leaf asks.

Uh, how do I put this? “Leaf, I wasn’t making all that noise for fun. I was alone, frustrated, and doing my best to think of absolutely nothing to do with being dead.” I sigh, “Thinking about it, I was at most two or three days from snapping and having Marshal deal with me.” And given today, it wouldn’t have been hard for her.

"And you're just… okay with that?" Leaf asks me.

“No?” I reply, looking at him. “But I’m not going to obsess over it, I know why it happened, and I’m not going to let it happen again.”

“I wish I could do that sometimes.” The green pokemon says. “Just decide not to worry about something.”

“It’s not that simple,” I laugh. “But I know talking about things helps. So, what are you worried about?” I ask him.

“Who said I’m worried?” He asks defensively, and I start tasting anxiety again.

"You effectively admitted you were," I tell him. "And I can taste it coming off you."

“I- You- Taste? …Fine, just promise you won’t laugh.”

Interesting. "Leaf, if something is bothering you that much, then I promise I won't laugh at it," I say.

“I miss my brother,” He blurts out, face going yellow.

“…Why were you worried I’d laugh at that?” I ask him, now actually intrigued.

“Because I shouldn’t!” He cries. “He decided to become a vaporeon and swim off and leave me behind with- and I…” Leaf sniffs, “And I just wish I knew he was okay.” He slumps, “I miss him, we used to have so much fun tearing around the woods. And W- When I think I might never get to see him again I- I… And I don’t even remember-” He stops there, staring at the ground.

This feels like it’s been building up for a while, long before we met.

“Have you talked to the Grotles about this?” I ask him.

His response is timid, “Yes. But they’re younger than me and they just laugh it off… and you…” He glances at me before dropping his gaze again. “You asked, and you’ve… you know?” He stops again.

“I listened? I haven’t laughed?”

“Yeah,” He says, sniffing again.

“Um, Leaf. I don’t want to sound condescending or insensitive, but… how old are you?” I ask him.

"Eight?" He says, blinking to… hold back tears. Ah, that's grief I can taste now.

Jeez, kid's going through thoughts like this at that age… Wait, is that how Marshal feels looking at me? Leaf truly does come across as an adult most of the time and I just thought of him as a kid. Oh, that's definitely how Marshal got there, wow. Am I going to end up like- Focus, remain here.

“I don’t really know what to tell you, Leaf,” I say, trying to be comforting, “I know exactly what you’re going through, but I don’t have some easy way out.” He glares at me, obviously getting ready to say something. So I stop him, “Leaf, do you think I didn’t leave people behind when I died?” I ask as gently as I can.

His glare loses most of its heat at that, then he blinks twice. Jesus, he's an emotional wreck right now. He looks at the ground again, "Sorry." he says in a small voice. "It's just… H- how are you so c- calm about it?"

I- Has he not been paying attention?

“I’m… not?” I answer slowly. “Remember all the screaming I was doing?” I laugh. “I just have nearly five times the life experiences you do to help me, and even then I’m not doing a great job.” I sigh and look around us, “It hurts, it’s going to hurt, and there’s nothing you can do about that part except keep going. I went down the road of trying to push it all out and that just made it worse. To the point that Marshal had to help me.” I look back at him, “If you’re really afraid of never seeing your brother again then go look for him, that’s what I intend to do for my old friends and family. Even if I’m not sure I can ever see them again,” I tell him.

He's silently crying now, and I'm starting to wish I wasn't constantly aware of his emotional state, I'm too focused on him to tune it out even though I want to. And uh, I guess what they say about crying is true, since Leaf is effectively drowning the area in emotions.

I feel awkward, floating here while he’s crying right next to me. But I don’t know what else to do or say except to try and supply silent comfort.

I don’t know when he stopped synthesizing, but the glow has faded from his skin. He’s sitting on his haunches, eyes streaming tears and staring at the trees around us.

I feel guilty. It’s probably a good thing that he’s letting it out, but I can’t help but feel I pushed him into it.

“What are you doing to my precious Leafy-Boy!” Someone cries.

I’m not riding one of my own strange emotional fluctuations though, so I just turn to look down the North path at the voice’s source.

“N- no Maya, th- they’re helping.” Says Leaf, raising his head as I finish turning around.

The woman, a ranger and presumably ‘Maya,’ has darker, kind of gold-chocolate skin, curly black hair, red eyes, and has the same hard, compact muscle as the other two rangers I've seen, though she's a bit shorter and wider.

“Are you going to leave him alone or not?” She asks, scowling at me.

"No Maya, really, they-" Leaf stops, then he gets up and leans into me. …Wow, he's a ball of anxiety on the inside, isn't he? Actually, what determines when I start tasting- Deal with it later.

The ranger’s scowl lessens to a glare as she looks between us, and sighs, “Okay, can you at least get across why you’re crying Leaf?” She asks the plant that’s currently trying to bury himself in my side.

He thinks for a second before flicking his tail a bit, shaking his head, “Not r- really, sorry,” He says, voice still a bit choked. “Um, c- can you, Charlie?”

There is something I've been wanting to try, but it's still a bit too sunny right now. "Maybe if it was darker out," I tell the leafy lamprey, shrugging with a few arms.

“Th- then no, sorry Maya,” He says, shaking his head at the human again.

She was watching our exchange, and, once we finish, she sighs again before sitting on the ground cross-legged. "Is Misdreavus helping?" she asks him. He doesn't bother responding verbally, just nodding. "Would you like me to pet you a bit?" Leaf slowly pushes off me when she asks, moving towards her lap. Once he settles in Maya looks at me, "You want some as well?" She asks, raising an eyebrow. When I don't respond she just shrugs, "Yeah, you don't look like you enjoy being touched." She examines me more closely. "I didn't know what to expect when I finally saw you, but Onaga and Emil weren't kidding, it's like you're deeper than you should be. And that's not actually fuzz, is it?" She asks, outwardly calm.

Looking at the two of them, I realize something about Leaf. He’s big. It looks like if he stood on his hind legs he’d be as tall as the woman currently stroking his ears. Is that normal? He’s only about the size of a large dog, but my mental image from the games keeps being proven wrong.

“Uh, w- what’s with the staring?” Leaf asks.

"Sorry, I just noticed something I hadn't before," I say apologetically, looking at the ranger now.

She’s running her fingers along the leaf-like veins in Leaf’s ears, but she also tastes stressed out, so I think she’s using Leaf to help herself with that.

“I don’t know what happened, but are you okay, Leafy?” The ranger asks.

Leaf is still crying, although it seems like he's starting to calm down. "Maybe," He says, leaning into the woman so much that she falls back.

I sigh, considering what to do now. Leaf has his ranger friend, and I’m not sure what I want to do now.

“I um… Do you mind if I float off, Leaf?” I ask him. “I might go talk to Prime-Daughter-Two, or possibly Weaver. I think I need a new perspective on a few… things.”

“No! I- Please stay a bit longer, a- at least until Maya leaves. You’re easy to talk to,” He says, pleading with his eyes.

I can't help it. "Yeah, okay, I can stay," I say. And the immediate wave of joy he gives off lets me know he's feeling better.

Actually… I could follow Maya to wherever Weaver probably is couldn’t I? Hmm, that’s not a bad idea.