Book1, Volume 6

Chapter 59

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Tootle-tu-oo!

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“Ah, give me just 5 more minutes...” A sleepy voice grumped, little body twisting, long messy hair of shades of green cascading over a cute little face. Shadows streaked by as Wylla sent her arm stretching out from under her silky green flora blankets; Her hand-hammering up and down in the air, searching for the snooze button on an alarm clock that wasn't there.

“Grrr, where is it!?!” Wylla's eyes opened, the mid-morning sun shining colorful light into the wagon through the stain glass windows; A pair of small songbirds with fluffy mane-like feathery necks and long flowing tails raced about through the air staying just ahead of a tootling Ceri.

“Ah, so that's where that... singing that woke me came from,” Wylla said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, sitting up in bed, and stretching... but how did they get inside? She thought to herself, a smile forming on her lips as she watched Ceri chasing after the kite-like tails of the pair of happily chirping songbirds.

As Ceri continued playing tag with her new feathery 'friends' above, long green serpenvines hung down from the ceiling forming a line from the kitchen pantry to the wide-open front door as Tundri's masked face at the end of his leafy giraffe-like neck seemed to be directing them; The serpenvines were busy bringing in the Oryn Fruits, Traveler Bag, and other items that Wylla had left outside in the Royal Spider Lotus bushes.

“Well, I guess that answers that question,” Wylla muttered to herself, eyeing the open door as the songbirds and tootling Ceri flew around and in-between the 'helping serpenvine hands' as they continued with their tasks placing the Travelers Bag and pouches in one of the tall cubbies that acted like a mudroom area to the sides of the front door.

Tundri turned away from the open door, spotted a rumpled haired Wylla sitting up in bed, and happily began to sing out “Wah waah Wah Wah!”

A surge of warmth and joy flowed into Wylla causing her smile to widen as she responded “Mmm, morning Tundri! Looks like you've been quite the little busy beaver helping me with my belongings... thanks.”

“Wah Wah Waah,” Tundri sang back.

Hearing their voices, little Ceri quickly stopped mid-chase, turned, and flew straight into Wylla's arms “Tootle-tu-too!”

“Ahahaha, and a very good morning to you too Ceri!” Wylla replied, stroking and nuzzling Ceri's fluffy body. “Looks like you made some new friends... (chirp, chirp, chirp) and what beautiful voices they have.”

Little Ceri nodded her head up and down, looked back at the pair of chirping songbirds that were hovering in the air on the other side of the room, waiting for her to continue playing their game.

Seeing this, Wylla smiled, gave Ceri a quick kiss on her forehead... then tossed her up high and said with a laugh “Be a good girl and play with your friends while I wash up and get ready for the new day!”

“Tootle-too-oo!” Ceri sang, circling once above her before streaking towards the chirping songbirds as they resumed their game of tag.

Wylla scooched over to the edge of the large bed, and hopped down onto her feet. She then wended her way to the bathroom to wash up while thinking about her plans for the day.

Meanwhile in the living room, the helping hands snaked down from the ceiling, straightened up the bed and lifted it back up against the wall returning it into its charming farmer style cabinet form. With that done they proceeded to move the furniture back in place.

Humming a little tune, Wylla stepped out of the bathroom, face washed and hair brushed with a wooden flora brush, and was pleasantly surprised to see that the bed had been put away and the furniture returned to the living room. “I could get used to this,” Wylla said with a smile on her lips.

She made her way over to the couch, stared out the open door, and began planning her day. Let's see... I'm now ready to leave this starter zone which means facing its guardian so I should spend some time practicing my new Druwytch spells in my Syldrake Pagoda's dojo.

Second, I should visit Lunori, the Old Raven, and the others in the Spriggankin village to see how everyone is doing since I haven't seen them since we won against the Kavi a day and a half ago... and to say my goodbyes.

Ah, I also need to say goodbye to Princess Furbee. Her eyes getting a little misty...

“Chirp, chirp, Tootle-tu, Tootle, chirp...”

Wylla looked up as the playful trio flew overhead, then out the open door and out of sight for a while before returning through the door, and darting towards the kitchen area. I hope they'll get along with each other. Wylla thought to herself as images of Princess Frubee meeting little Ceri sprouted in her mind.

I'm sure they will. Wylla nodded, as her thoughts returned to her 'to-do' list.

Now where was I... oh ya, lastly, let's fill up the pantry, and maybe the storage room, with edible plants, herbs, and collectibles while searching for the way out of this starter zone. After all, I don't think I'll be able to come back here again once I leave so I really don't want to miss out on leaving something good behind...

Or am I just wasting my time doing so? I mean once I logout and they change my gender back to... me, I won't be able to be a Sylven anymore since this unique race is gender locked which means... I'll have to start all over?

NO! This is all their fault! Their mistake so the least they can do is let me keep everything I worked so hard to get.

I mean, fine I can't be this... me anymore and will have to get a new race. But everything else, my cute little Ceri and Tundri, my wonderful Trinity Unity Core, my rank and class, my powerful divine grade weapons and cauldron and even this... this dress! Wylla thought to herself, staring out the door at the waterfall in the distance flowing down the northern cliffs as she absentmindedly wiped the tears from her cheek.

Everything that I have belongs to ME!

I'll make sure I'll get to keep it all or else... or else I'll... I'll riot! No, that wouldn't work. I'd just get taken down by security and thrown out... plus it would probably ruin things for my family and their friends. Since that's the case I'll... I'll break stuff! Which would then lead to the same as before plus jail time so not that either.

Hmm... guess I'll just cross that bridge if or when it's in front of me. No need in letting it consume me right now since it won't even come down to it... probably.

“Anyway, let's just focus on the here and now,” Wylla said softly, getting up off the couch and making her way to stand in the open doorway.

“Hmm, there's still one forest to visit and that cliff over there in the north. That waterfall is quite eye-catching, even from way over here.” I really hope the way out isn't in some type of underwater cave Wylla thought as her eyes looked over at the pond by the cliff which the waterfall fed into.

“Yup, that should do it! If all goes as plan this should be my last day... or two here.” Wylla stepped out of the doorway onto the small porch and then made her way down the steps walking towards the Oryn Tree pool.

She then sat down on the soft grassy ground, shifting into the sitting lotus position, and turned her head to look towards Tundri. She opened her mouth, and was about to tell Tundri that she was going to meditate and enter her Syldrake pagoda to train in her dojo when the door into Tundri's wagon shut close and he began to shift back into his big adorable flora yeti form... with little Ceri trapped inside!

“Ah, Tundri don't! Little Ceri...” Wylla called out, quickly rising to her feet but it was too late for the transformation had already begun and Tundri was just a novice in using this shapeshifting magic so he couldn't have stopped even if he wanted too.

“Oh no... Little Ceri... please be okay.” Wylla cried out, her heart beating hard and an empty feeling fluttering about in the pit of her stomach as she stood by the side of the pond.

In less than a minute Tundri had shifted back into his large two-legged garden backed form; He tilted his masked face to the side, looking confused as he felt waves of worry and sorrow emanating from Wylla body. “Wah Wah Waah Wah?'

“Little Ceri... and her new friends were still inside when... when you...” Wylla stopped, not wanting her words to hurt Tundri who was still so very new to the world and may not have understood the full scope of his actions.

“Wah Waah Wah Waa...” Just as Tundri began to comfort and inform Wylla about his Wagon form a pair of feathery birds and a closely following SnapDragon burst out of Tundri's round watery belly flying up into the air around Tundri with a cacophony of chirps and tootles!

“Ah! They're okay!” Wylla cheered, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, clapping her hands.

“Wah Wah Waah Wah Wah...” Tundri sang out, explaining that the Sylgarden Wagon space inside him remains unchanged regardless of his outer form.

“Wow! That's awesome Tundri!”

“Tootle-tu-too-tutu” Ceri sang out from above, letting Wylla know that you can exit the inside of the wagon through the waterfall window in the kitchen when the red door is gone.

Tundri nodded his head and added “Wah Wah Waah Wah!”

“Ahahaha, Is that right? You can also use your watery belly as an entrance when you're in your big 'gardeny' yeti form?”

Tundri nodded once again, sang out “Wah Wah Waah” causing the oryn energy within him to flow inside as a pair of 'helping serpenvine hands' popped out of his watery belly, grabbed the last of Wylla's belongings from the spidery lotus bushes, and carried them back inside the wagon's space through Tundri's round belly pond.

“Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful,” Wylla cheered, dancing about up and down, clapping her hands.

She then stopped, looked straight at Tundri with glowing eyes and softly said “What else can you do?”

A series of infoboxes popped up showing Tundri's abilities. Her eyes skipped past his great Way of the Sylgarden Wagon skill and read each of the other abilities one by one.

“Ooh you have both Green Thumb and Gardenheart skills that seem to have a great amount of synergy allowing you to appraise, grow, and harvest any flora you come upon; Not only can you increase their size, rate of growth, and nourishment values but you can devolve them into seeds or evolve them into something entirely new.

Maybe you can even combine plants together and make new species... with some imagination, I'm sure you'll figure out all sorts of ways to use these two skills.” Wylla said, her brows slightly furrowed, right arm wrapped around her body as her left hand held her chin as she stood in her 'I'm thinking' stance.

An image popped into her head, bringing a smile to her face. “Ahahaha, dad is going to be so envious of me when I tell him about this, just thinking of all the new dishes he could come up with for the restaurant with these two talents alone... with your help my cooking skills will rise and I'll be able to beat him, and Kara, in our very own food wars!

Then the student will have become the master.

Not to mention the big help you'll be for my alchemy.” Wylla said, as the picture in her head shifted from her as the head chef in their family restaurant as her dad prepped the veggies for her to imaginings of gardens of herbs and flora as her cauldron bubbled in the center like a miraculous potion fountain.

“I'll be able to make sooo many potions! Which I can then sell for lots and lots of Lyr! Well, maybe not lots and lots of Lyr since I can only make low-rank potions at the moment and well, I'm not sure how big the garden of materials you'll be able to grow will be since we're only rank 1 right now... so I shouldn't get too carried away.

But still, every little bit helps and I have no doubt you'll be a big help as we grow in rank!” Wylla finished her thoughts out loud with a nod, and then returned to reading about his other skills.

“Let's see, you also have Helping Serpenvine Hands which we've seen in action and really are as advertised. There's also Essential Flora Fragrance which can buff or debuff various statuses depending on the scent and Earth Flora Creations which is similar to my own skill.”

Her eyes then shifted to the last two info boxes:

[ SylCauldron Punch – Your fists become greatly hardened allowing you to punch like a sledgehammer causing great physical damage. ]

[ Royal Fish Lotus Scouts – Your lotus fishes are able to exit your watery pond and swim through the air scouting the area around you while maintaining a connection with you from up to a quarter of a mile away. Range will increase with increased skill proficiency. The scouts may perform other minor tasks such as gathering as well. ]

“Yes! I'm happy for you Tundri! You have a great variety of useful skills for both combat and non-combat situations.”

“Wah Waah Wah”

“Tootle-tu-too!” Ceri sang, flying next to Tundri as her songbird friends disappeared into Tundri's watery belly heading back inside to rest.

“See Tundri, even Ceri thinks so too,” Wylla said with a nod. “I really am lucky... both of you have such a great variety of skills that'll be really helpful in our ranking up and journeys ahead in Abrynth!

But before that happens!” Wylla said with a clap. “We need to prepare so that means I need to spend the next four to five hours practicing my new Druwytch abilities in my... or rather our Syldrake dojo so that means the two of you are free to explore around here until I'm done.

Feel free to gather any plants or items that catch your eyes because once we leave this area we won't be able to come back!” I think.

“Wah waah Wah Wah!”

“Tootle-too-tu!”

“Ahahaha, great... so both of you stick together, stay safe! And meet back here in about 5 hours.” Wylla walked up to them giving Ceri a nuzzle and Tundri a pat on his chest (which she did by stretching up high on her tippy toes).

She then returned to her spot by the Oryn Tree pond, sat down in the lotus position, and closed her eyes breathing in and out... in and out... in and out as her ethereal astral form entered her Unity Trinity Core, appearing in front of her Syldrake Pagoda.

Just as Wylla stepped into her dojo inside her core, outside in the starter zone next to her body the Oryn Tree pond began to glow with a bright golden-green light as the water gurgled, rising up into the air vertically, forming an arched doorway shimmering in the light of day.

The sounds and sight of the water caught Tundri's and Ceri's attention as they quickly made their way over to the pond, stopping in front of Wylla to protect her.

A burst of sweet scents filled the air as a stunningly beautiful woman with long flowing hair of shades of green stepped out of the newly formed watery portal. There was a softly glowing wreath of flowers upon her head and her silky midsummer-like dress of autumn hues fluttered in the gentle breeze.

She radiated warmth and love putting Tundri and Ceri at ease as they felt a strange connection with the woman; Similar to the one they had with Wylla, but not quite as strong.

They didn't understand it, but they knew she wasn't here to harm Wylla or them as they moved apart, opening the way to Wylla.

The woman turned towards them, her golden honey eyes taking them in, a gentle smile that touched her eyes on her face.

She stepped in between the trio turning to look at little Ceri first. She lifted her hand and gently nuzzled Ceri's cheek. “Hello Ceri.”

Turning, she lifted her other hand and ruffled Tundri's leaf laden shoulder. “Hello, Tundri.”

“It's so wonderful getting to meet the two precious members of my daughter Wylla's family. I'm so very happy to have you in her life.”

“Wah Waah Wah Wah!”

“Tootle-tu-tu!”

Tundri and Ceri sang out, both basking in the warmth of the Goddess Sylvenori's love and affection. “Please continue to look after her. She'll need your love and support for the trials ahead.”

“Wah Wah Waah”

“Tootle-tu”

“Ahahaha, I'm gladdened by your promises to do so. You really are deserving of my daughter's love. Now then, I really don't have much time to spare so I'll get to the matter at hand. I'm here because I have a request for the two of you. Or rather... a quest, one that is very important so this is what I'd like the two of you to do...” The Goddess explained to the two what the quest entailed as they listened to what she had to say.

“... So will you accept my quest?”

“Wah Wah Waah!”

“Tootle-too-tu!”

“Wonderful. I knew I could count on the two of you.” She said, removing the beautiful wreath of flowers from her head and placing it upon Tundri as it glowed and melded into him, providing him with the blessing needed for this quest. “Now then, there's much to do and time is ticking so I bid you both a very fond farewell.”

The Goddess Sylvenori then stepped up to Wylla, leaned over, brushed her silky hair with her hand, gave her kiss on the top of her head, sighed as she looked at her one last time, and then left through the watery portal. The water splashing down into the pond signaling the end of her brief visit.

Tundri turned to Ceri and sang out “Wah Waah Wah Wah.”

“Tootle-tu-oo-tu,” Ceri sang back, nodding her head.

The pair then turned and headed out to start their quest, comforted in the knowledge that Wylla would be safe here by the Oryn Tree without them, for the Goddess Sylvenori told them so.