They hadn’t made it far from the dorms when Tom turned to the others with a question.

“So Shona, I’ve been meaning to ask, how did you make your suitcases float during orientation?”

Shona looked at him strangely, “You haven’t seen a crafted platform before?”

Tom returned a blank stare.

She turned to Arthur to find a similarly blank stare. “Neither of you know what crafting is?”

She raised an outstretched hand, and a glowing green blur flew out of her hair before hovering over her hand. “You’ve at least seen an idol, right?”

She was met with silence as both stared at the floating green square of wood about the size of a hand with a painted face on the front. It was sporting a head of green hair that to Arthur’s eyes looked thick and soft.

“You guys must be really new then. Do you know any of the paths?”

Arthur’s eyes followed the small floating object as it flew back to Shona hair and disappeared. He spoke up saying, “We can turn into animals. That’s about all we know how to do.”

“Transformation then. Did no one teach you the basics before you got here?”

“The guy who brought us here said we would learn it all in our basic classes and to just focus on passing the entrance exam primarily,” Tom answered.

“We’ll start broad then,” Shona said matter-of-factly. “There are four main types of abilities. You’re both already familiar with transformation which involves shifting into an animal. Crafting, which is what I do, involves using things to make other things.”

“That sounds a bit vague. How is that any different from me whittling a stick to make into a spear?” Tom asked.

“I’m getting to that. I kept it vague on purpose.”

The group passed had passed most of the buildings on campus and were now surrounded by patches of trees. The path had switched from cement sidewalk to dirt path as they first crossed into the woods.

“Anyway. Crafting that I do is much different than crafting in the traditional sense. My crafting involves special materials that naturally contain energy. The same energy you guys use to transform. My specific focus is using special kinds of wood and the natural energy they hold onto.”

“Some people use rocks and other stuff from the earth. Almost anything containing natural energy can be used for crafting though. The crafting part is where the process gets more complicated. The closest explanation I can give you is to imagine electrical engineering mixed with plants.”

“That platform is the result of crafting and uses energy to resist gravity. Kind of like a hover craft. This little guy

“The other two paths are divinization and sacrifice. I don’t know as much about them, but divination involves using natural energy to connect with information or skills the user normally shouldn’t possess. Some people say they can see the future which is where the name comes from, but I don’t believe it. They’d all just win the lottery if they were real prophets.”

“Sacrifice focuses on the blood and tissues of the body. They can store energy inside their body and release it when needed. They can do all kinds of things like lift seemingly impossible weights and move in strange ways. You’ve likely seen some users with impressive physical ability but sacrifice users are on a whole different level.”

“Wait so I get the four groups and all, but you never explained what the thing floating in your hand was. Does it live in your hair?” Tom asked.

“Her name is Willow. She comes from the heartwood of a special tree from my home country. She just likes to hide with me when nothing interesting is going on. She can also be a bit shy around new people, but give her time and she’ll warm up to you.”

Arthur spoke up, “You’re talking about Willow like she’s a person. Didn’t you say she was made of actual wood. Like from a tree?”

“Yeah. Was she made from a willow Tree?” Tom interrupted.

Willow flew back out from Shona’s hair and floated between the two boys as the group walked.

As Tom was moving his hand above and below Willow, likely to check for invisible strings, Shona explained, “Willow didn’t actually come from a willow tree. I just liked the name willow. She came from a baobab tree my family has been taking care of for generations. My grandfather slowly made it to the core of that tree and was given the wood that eventually became Willow.”

“He was given the wood? By who?” Tom asked.

“The baobab tree of course,” Shona responded. “Have you never communicated with a tree before?”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“I’ve tried to talk with Tom when he’s just woken up and I imagine it’s a similar experience,” Arthur chimed in.

“Hardy har har.”

“Just look around.” Shona spread her arms wide to the forest around them. She pointed to a medium sized tree off to the right. “That red maple is still young but it’s still capable of telling us something. Look at how its leaves are hanging down lower than normal. It’s likely a little dehydrated.”

“You can tell it’s struggling in other ways too. That bur oak next to the maple is shading it out since it’s taller and older. The maple is stuck growing out in odd areas like into the path and away from the oak.”

“Isn’t that just biology though and not real communication?” Arthur asked.

“You’re correct that it’s mostly biological based for now, but given time to grow old, most species can accomplish something more communication wise. Assuming you know how to ask. I’ve talked with the tree that Willow came from. She mostly acted like an old lady and could easily pass as a human.”

The topography was changing rapidly as they continued gaining elevation. The sparse forest closer to campus gave way to a true forest that light struggled to pierce all the way to the ground.

Looking around, Arthur was shocked at how large the tree trunks were getting along with the dense shrubs and bushes that surrounded them as they walked.

Tom raised an eyebrow at Shona, “So you had an honest to goodness conversation with a tree? There’s no way I can believe that unless I see it. What did you even talk about?”

“A fungal infection in her roots mostly. Some checking in on Willow who she seemed to see as a pseudo daughter. Then she asked how I was doing.”

Tom still seemed unconvinced, but Arthur spoke up asking, “So what exactly is Willow? You said she was an idol, but what does that mean?” Prompted by his question, Willow began floating around Arthur’s head in a circle.

“Oh, idols are crafted figures that can do almost anything. Many have specific focuses like energy storage or protection, but the more carefully crafted it is, the better the idol. Willow does well with energy storage, but she dabbles in just about anything I ask her to.”

Willow floated back over to Shona, who began petting the idol with one finger.

“Let’s see her do something then,” Tom said excitedly.

Shona nodded her head toward a wide-eyed Tom, and Willow flew over to him. Arthur watched as Willow bumped into Tom’s shoulder and heard a loud zap followed by Tom yelping in pain, backing up, tripping on a root, and falling on his butt with a thump.

“She shocked me!” Tom cried out from the ground while staring at Willow.

Shona was laughing and even Arthur chuckled a bit at the sight of Tom on the ground clutching his shoulder.

Shona stopped laughing, saying, “I swear I didn’t tell her to do that. I just meant for her to go over and show you something. Maybe too much creative freedom for her there. My fault.”

“My guess is that Willow didn’t like what you said about having conversations with trees. She also prefers being referred to by name. Try a proper greeting.”

Tom stood up and put his hand out to shake but quickly shifted to a fist which Willow happily bumped into. “The pleasure is all mine Willow,” Tom said cautiously happy to not be shocked again.

He shifted over to the other side of Arthur trying to gain distance from Willow who followed him as he went and settled onto his shoulder. Tom braced himself at first but relaxed when she no shock came.

“I think she’s trying to say sorry,” Shona explained.

“Oh,” said Tom, “No worries, Willow. Water under the bridge.” He kept walking and asked Shona more about talking with trees and any specific etiquette rules to be aware of going forward.

Looking around, Arthur began noticing rock outcropping mixed in with the trees around them. The forest had been getting denser for a while before now beginning to thin.

He still couldn’t believe that this whole place was man-made to some degree. Looking up, he almost forgot that he was staring at a ceiling full of lights as opposed to the real sky sometimes.

Tom and Shona were still discussing something about tree conversations, so Arthur took a moment to begin really looking for anything out the ordinary.

Even though he hadn’t been planning on trying to find the deer until a few weeks into class, Arthur had still spent some of his lunch looking into the creature out of curiosity.

Based on what he’d found, brocket deer liked mountainous regions most and the group should just now be getting high enough to reach potential brocket deer habitat.

Arthur panned his eyes across the rocky outcrops careful not to miss any movement. He paused for a moment on the other two still talking, wondering if he would have been better off looking on his own.

At least with silence, he wouldn’t have to worry about the deer hearing him and running away. He was glad to have people to talk to at least. This was likely much safer as well and Shona had more experience getting around the campus than they did.

“Hey guys, we should be getting close to potential habitat spots for the deer. Make sure you’re looking for any movement. Red brocket deer can be very tiny based on what I looked up online,” Arthur informed the others.

Tom turned to Arthur, saying, “You did remember to bring your phone to take the photo, right?”

Arthur looked sheepishly at the ground.

“Arthur! I didn’t complain for half a week to Vincent during summer school about how we could get lost and need medical help for nothing.”

Tom reached into his pocket grabbing the flip phone there before shoving it in front of Arthur’s face.

“I’ve spent years without a phone, only relying on public libraries and constantly hearing you talk about how they’re just a distraction and a waste of time. Now I finally have one and we can use it to communicate with the rest of the world.”

“They are a waste of time. I still don’t really use mine since email works fine,” Arthur defended himself.

Tom’s head dropped dejectedly, “I guess I’ll be taking the photo then.”

“I have my phone too for taking photos.” Shona said, pulling out a touchscreen from her pocket.

Tom’s head swiveled between her phone and his own flip phone, slightly jealous but nevertheless happy to have something.

Arthur looked ahead up the trail that had shifted from dirt to ground rock some time ago. The rocks had taken over while trees were now a rarity. Arthur thought the trees were juniper trees, but he wasn’t sure.

“Look at those juniper trees over there. I’ve never seen one in person before,” said Shona.

Arthur was feeling more confident in his pick since the crafting tree expert was in agreement.

They likely had only a mile or two to go before reaching the summit and Arthur was still keeping his eyes peeled for any movement. Beyond a few birds high in the sky, he hadn’t seen many animals since they’d left the forest.

The group continued chatting as they trudged up the gradually increasing incline of the trail, ever closer to the top.