Seeing what Tarjun does, Clara casts mage armor on herself. Just in case it comes to the worst.
Jack falls asleep.
"Thank's Tarjun. With raining down on Jack you managed that all scolding will hit you for a change." Clara chuckles, looking at Jack in the mud.
"You want to talk to the other wood cutters, or shall I get mom to fix that?" she inquires from Jewel.
Jewel sees Jack collapse but recognizes Tarjun's spell. "Oh...."
She glances to Clara when she mentions her mother, and realizes what she had said to Jack. She'd been furious, but still, "Yes, We'd better get some cooler heads here. He's going to be really angry when he wakes up."
She carefully approaches and takes Jack's axe, looking around for another lumberjack to hand it to. "I'm really sorry. But Tarjun is my brother. Oh, you know that. Jack's just asleep. We're going to get some distance from him now. We're all just people and we don't want anybody to get hurt."
Once she hands the axe over she moves with Tarjun to get some distance from Jack before he wakes up.
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"Yeah, he won't stay asleep long," Tarjun looks down on Jack, asleep on the ground. "Clara, can you fetch dad? You run fast."
He limps to the lumberjacks. "Yeah, this guy's pretty much a nutcase- you can't let him swing his axe around and attack people like that. And you shouldn't cut wood over here, they're real old tree and- well, they've got their little temperament. Besides, they're important for the woods. Why don't you stick to timber forests?"
"I'll get my mom. She can explain." Clara tells before running away.
At the house Clara tells her mum what happened in a waterfall of words. "Bruihu came out of the woods and shouted at the lumberjacks! We stopped it before it got a fight, but took out Jack. I think Jack is angry now. And now they are not allowed to cut trees anymore and you need to talk to them!"
After some back and forth about who Bruihu is, what 'took out Jack' means and why Gertrud prepares to go out and fix that. First by putting on full combat gear and then by summoning Paddington and Woolie.
"Let's see if I can fix that with my charming smile. If not..."
Jewel doesn't want to leave Tarjun, especially with Jack waking up soon. But, once she spots Mrs. Johnson coming she sprints home to get her dad.
"Dad! Come quick! Problem with lumberjacks. Treant.... And Jack attacked Tarjun. Nobody's hurt but we had to put Jack to sleep. I didn't know that Tarjun could do that! I wish I could cast that spell... Come quick!!!"
Will grabs a hoe, but then decides otherwise and drops it again. He follows Jewel back to where the lumberjacks still stand around.
Jack wakes from his short slumber. As he jumps up it shows that he is soaked in mud and still angry. "Where is that brat. He's getting the beating of his life."
The others are uncomfortable with the situation. One speaks up. "Hey, drop it already. You're making it worse."
But Jack will have nothing of that. He looks where the boy is.
With her dad following Jewel runs as fast as she can back to where she'd left Clara and Tarjun.
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Tarjun hasn't been really thinking about hiding. It's not that he isn't scared or doesn't care particularly much about taking a punch to the gut, but after his little face-to-face with a drider, an unarmed Jack the Chopper surrounded by heavy-muscled men who all look at him like he's done something really wrong seems like something he can more or less handle.
Which doesn't prevent him from taking a few, cautious steps back when he notices that Jack hasn't noticed his presence yet. Best to keep his distances. Maybe he hurt his head a little when he fell asleep, but Tarjun isn't going to give him a chance to recover.
"What, you haven't had enough yet?" A booming voice comes from amongst the trees, and even though it's infused with magic, a mere trick really, Tarjun's quite pleased with how deep and commanding it sounds. [b]"
Jack is surprised by Tarjun, but stands his ground.
Gertrud rolls her eyes. She hurries to catch up with Will. "Hi Will. Would you do me a favor and make your son shut up? He is not helping."
Then she moves on to meet the lumberjacks and Jack. "Hi Jack. How about you use the opportunity and go home to get some dry clothes. You'll feel much better then and also get some distance from the situation to not do something rash."
Will walks over to the trees where Tarjun stands. He puts a hand on Tarjun's shoulder "Let it go Tarjun. This isn't the time to settle it with Jack. There will be a time..."
Jack looks grumpy around in the faces of all around and decides to leave, as he got no support at all with the bystanders. He stomps back to his hut letting out his frustration on the grass he tramples over.
"Okay, one down one to go." Gertrud mumbles looking after Jack.
"So, please tell me what happened here, from the very beginning." she inquires from the lumberjacks.
She listens to the story of that huge walking and talking tree harassing them, how the kids intervened and how Jack made an ass of himself after Tarjun provoked him.
"To be safe, I suggest you call it a day early. I need to investigate who this tree is, and what it wants. We shouldn't risk that it comes out again while we're unprepared. Someone please inform Dwayne."
As the lumberjacks walk away, she turns to the kids. "Now it's time to tell your part. Who is this Bruihu and how do you know him?"
"Well, we were trying to figure out how to fix the problem with the drider and the hole. I prayed to Erastil for guidance.... And then I thought that maybe the Stag would help. He talked with me before when I didn't understand and was trying to do too much."
"Well, the Stag led us for a pretty long way and we found Bruihu in a shadowy valley. The Stag scratched him with his antlers and he reacted in a very un-tree like way so we knew it wasn't a dead tree.... There were also a bunch of trees with bugs and worms eating their leaves. Bruihu didn't want to talk with us at first, and when he did he didn't want to help us. Yelled at us about cutting down trees and such. He was kind of right though. Sometimes the lumberjacks cut down the trees and don't plant new ones...."
"We helped with the worms and webs and Bruihu said he'd come with us. We went back to talk with the drider. Talking it over she said it'd be OK if we directed some of the water from the stream into the hole and let it fill up. Of course we'll also need to direct another flow from the hole back to the stream so the water doesn't get stagnant. Bruihu did help by tearing up some of the dirt around the edge of the hole and throwing it in. That way it won't be a straight drop off in case anyone slips and falls into the water."
"I thought people would be happy with it 'cause the drow scare would be over and there'd be a new fishing hole close to town!"
"And then you brought Bruihu here to see the cutting of trees first hand?"
"Ah, no. We were at home learning how to plow so we could cut the channel for the water flow. Bruihu was supposed to stay by the hole. But.... Maybe we forgot to tell him not to wander around. I'm sorry. We weren't really planning much. Things just kind of got out of control?"
"Well, things happen. And you think Bruihu would listen, if you told him to stay put?"
"Anyway, do you know what Bruihu expects from us? For sure we won't stop making wood."
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"Yeah, we just told Bruihu that he couldn't come within our houses so we'd have to meet later," Tarjun shrugs. "He's a big boy tree, he does whatever he wanna do and goes wherever he wanna go. We just had no idea he'd choose to come here!"
He thinks about Bruihu's motives for a while. "I mean, if I had to take any guess, I think either he doesn't get we can't just pick wood up from the ground to build houses 'cause we ain't beavers, or he doesn't want us to cut the oldest trees or something. Either way we probably have to talk to him,'cause we're gonna need to compromise on something."
"Do you want to go talk to him? If he went back to the hole I can't come along."
Jewel shrugs and looks off in the direction of the hole. "Yeah, Sorry about that. The drider said no adults. I think she was afraid that the whole town would show up and attack her...."
"I had hoped we'd have a chance to talk with the lumberjacks AND get the hole taken care of. I thought if we were "farming" trees he might be accepting. I mean, Erastil doesn't demand that we live in caves or anything like that. And we were led to him by the Stag. I'm pretty sure there's a compromise that would work. Jack looking like he wanted to chop him down didn't help though!"
She glances at Clara and Tarjun, "I guess the plowing will have to wait. Thanks Dad! We can put the plow and the ox away after we talk to Bruihu...."
"I'll put it away myself. You take care of the talking tree. And be careful!"
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"Alright, thanks dad! Now, let's just go and find him... How hard can it be, to find a tree in a forest," Tarjun slows down as he speaks, suddenly realizing that they've got no idea where Bruihu went, and that there's nothing that resembles an old tree more than another old tree.
"... Well, darn. Uh. Bruihu?! "
How do you even track a tree?
Apparently not by following a trail of fallen leaves and bark.
That's just other trees.
"Tarjun, Bruihu isn't a tree, or at least not Just a tree. He's much more! But you know that too!!!"
Headed toward the hole Jewel hears Tarjun call out, then yell. She looks around,
"Oh! I didn't think about if he's not back by the hole and the drider.... He's pretty big, and heavy. But he's also a creature of nature. He might not leave tracks."
The imprints of Bruihu's roots are clearly visible on the ground. And after following those tracks for some 100 feet Bruihu 'jumps' out behind you.
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Tarjun lets out a not very dignified yelp, completely taken by surprise.
"Bruihu! You could have said something!... Not so loudly!" He takes a moment to gather himself, and remember how to breathe. "Listen, we need to talk 'bout what happened. Look, we're sorry you've come face to face with Jack the Chopper- that one's a nutter. But Bruihu, we wanted to know... Why did you attack these dudes? Did they try and cut down wood in a place you wanted to protect?"
Bruihu states, and after a pause to think he adds
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"Well, think of a compromise, maybe?" Tarjun leans on his crutch a little more. He can't pinpoint why, but after singing a spell he typically feels more tired. "We kind of need the wood chopping, it's true. We're not like birds or beavers or somethin', we can't survive out of the dead wood we pick up on the ground. But that doesn't mean we can't be careful about how we do it. So how 'bout we try and convince the people in our village to not cut down any old tree that's like, four hundred years old or more, stick to timber forests, and plant a tree for every one they cut down? Also, if you knew of some parts of the forest that need to be off-limits, that might help."
"How about we explain it to my mom. I think she has a clue how to do it anyway. And I don't want to talk to Jack."
Jewel spins at Bruihu's surprise action. Was he a "kid" version of a tree person?
"I was wanting to have a town meeting tonight to discuss that. The lumberjacks, unfortunately including Jack, are good at chopping down trees. I don't know if they understand about re-planting, or better yet, planting new before cutting. However, our Dad is a farmer and Mrs. Johnson understands the importance of the forest as well. I think we can get the idea clear to them about 'farming' the trees so they won't be clearing areas of the forest. Our little town isn't growing so there's no reason to clear great big areas!"
"I was going to ask though if you were planning to stay around after we got the hole filled with water and the drider problem solved? I think it would be great to have someone around that can understand the trees better. The lumberjacks might even learn to appreciate you if you could warn them if there's a problem with the trees? I've heard them occasionally complain when they go to chop on a tree and the branches start dropping on them. Something about a rot inside of the tree?"
"Ok, then you tell my mom what you want." Clara replies to Jewel.
Jewel is disappointed but understands. Bruihu has his own life and doesn't want to 'join' the human village. "OK. We'll go and explain things to the adults in the village. I'm sure it'll be hard. Most of the adults will just see me as a kid, but I'll try."
"I'll talk with your mother, and my Dad. Hopefully we can explain and get them to listen. But can you help Tarjun start with the plow? The plow will break up the dirt in a channel, but we'll still need to dig the loose dirt out of it. Tarjun, I think the channel should start a few feet away from the water. Otherwise you'll be working in mud as the stream fills it in behind you. Once the channel is dug out we can cut the last couple of feet with shovels and start the flow. We also need the channel cut from across the hole back to the stream, downstream maybe a hundred feet or so?"
Unless she gets too much complaining from Clara she walks away to find her Dad and Mrs. Johnson....
Once Jewel is gone Clara comments "Who died and made her the boss? It's not like plowing will work without her leading the ox." Clara has experience in not doing what she is told to do. And it works best if you don't oppose the one who told you, but simply do something else.
"Bruihu, would you show us where to get the new trees now?"
Gertrud stands in front of the house and talks with Will. She expects a feedback, but is surprised as only Jewel comes over. "What happened?"
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"Eh," Tarjun shrugs in response to Clara's remarks. "I just stick with what she tells me- you know how she is with maths," he snickers. "Way better than I ever was!"
Which, conveniently, meant that he could just follow whatever Jewel told him instead of studying for himself.
"We'll just stick to the fun stuff. Lead the way, Bruihu, and let's see how to plant trees!"
Bruihu, glad to get that last task off his list leads the way deep into the woods. Around an elevated glade the ground is full with saplings for different kinds of trees which Bruihu loud and proudly presents.
A quick check of the surroundings shows why there are so many of them, other than in the Rest of the woods. On the glade a pack of wolves gets nervous with Bruihu around.
Jewel hurries back home, figuring that Clara would talk Tarjun out of actually plowing anything. Tarjun had done really good with the practice when they both worked with their Dad. Plowing a furrow for the half mile from the stream to the hole though.... Well, it didn't really matter if it wasn't straight!
Seeing Mrs. Johnson and her Dad talking sets her mind racing. Who did she think she was anyway? The Guardians sure, but also just kids of the village. Gertrud's question stops her. "What happened? Oh, Bruihu? He was.... Well, he said he was checking to see what side we would take. He, well, he has a fairly bad opinion of humans in general. His opinion seems to be based on humans chopping down the forest, clearing land for space that they, or we, don't really need. I mean, we're not a city, but there are several areas where the lumberjacks have completely stripped the land of all trees."
She stops a moment, forcing herself to not think of herself as a kid.... It doesn't work. "He says that it's alright to cut trees as long as we are also replanting them. And not to completely clear an area because the young trees won't hold up to a storm. He seems to understand the idea of 'farming' and thinks that we should focus the cutting the same way. Plant the new before, or while the mature trees get cut."
"But, How do we, or I, present that to the lumberjacks? Especially Jack!?! I think he's a bit upset with me, and Tarjun now. Bruihu says that he doesn't plan to stay around, but he will be stopping back from time-to-time."
"At least no war." Gertrud sighs in relief. "I think we could talk to Dwayne and let him sort it out."
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"Oh. Hey," Tarjun seems immediately ill-at-ease when he spots the wolves, but he takes in a deep breath and tries to hide it, not looking the canines in the eyes lest they take that for aggression or defiance. "Hey there, doggies doggies. It's okay, we don't really care 'bout you. Let's just pick up saplings- don't look at their direction," he whispers to Clara, before starting to look for convenient plants.
Jewel freezes. "War? Bruihu? I don't think he'd be that angry, I mean.... Jack didn't HIT him with the axe."
"Or, You mean with the drider and her people? But she said she was fine with filling the hole with water. She doesn't want us having any access to her people, or any of her people coming out to us."
"I'm sorry. But War? I just wanted to talk with the lumberjacks to sort out how we need to work with the forest. Tarjun and Clara are with Bruihu looking at some young trees, sapling, for planting."
"You made Bruihu leave at the confrontation with the lumberjacks. But he could have held a grudge, and we don't know what friends he has. With him still being friendly with you, that's a big win."
"Imagine him coming back with a small army. And he alone is just as dangerous as the drider." Gertrud explains.
"But anyhow, lets go and pay Dwayne a visit." She leads the was to the sawmill at the creek.