"Working you to death..." Clara ponders. "Might work too. I thought she wants to feed you to the wolves."
"But now I want pancakes."
Jewel turns away from Mr. Beaver to respond to Tarjun. "Sorry Tarjun. I guess forget about the saplings and I'll get them later myself. I just feel like I should stay here with Mr. Beaver for a while. If the water in the stream drops too low we'll have to make some change. But I want to be sure that he doesn't completely block the flow into the hole. We've all worked too hard for that! Tell Mom and Dad that I'll try to make it back before dinner."
She turns back to Mr. Beaver as she spots a little fish swimming into the channel. "There's another. Just a little one there. Once this is steady it should be really easy to catch as many fish as you want for a day."
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"Is it me, or is she working herself a lot these days?" Tarjun asks Clara as they walk back to the Branstons's farm with the tools. "Ever since that hole just appeared, fixing it is all she's been talking about!" He briefly pauses as he realizes that this statement isn't exactly accurate. "Alright, I've gotten worked up about this whole thing too, but I've calmed down since we found a solution! She's spent the last few days running around! And next time we get a problem in this forest, she's gonna be taking it really seriously again, and not get any fun 'til it's fixed." He pauses again, more sadly.
"I dunno. Sometimes I just feel like being the guardians of the forest and whatnot really ain't fun as we thought it'd be. We've done nothing but get scared and then work our asses off. Maybe it ain't that good for Jewie."
"Work is stupid. We need to play hide and seek with Bruihu. That would be fun! Or we play catch with beaver."
"Why are we walking again? We could rodeo the oxen home!"
"We need a boat! Can you build a boat?"
Jewel stays with Mr. Beaver, encouraging him to watch as the fish swim through the channel to fall into the hole. She looks down in the hole at the water level, looking for any sort of mark close to the surface of the water that is already there to see if she can actually tell how fast/if the water is rising.... and watches Mr. Beaver's dam to be sure that his entrance doesn't get uncovered. "Well.... It does look like the water level in the stream is stable, and the hole is filling. It's just going to take a long while. The hole is just so big! But I think this is going to work. We just have to give it time."
After about an hour she glances around. "Oh! I forgot to ask Tarjun to leave a shovel so I could dig up the saplings that we need. I'll have to go back home for that. And the little wheelbarrow so I can carry them. Sometimes I wish I was as strong as he is, but he's a boy. Boys are usually stronger than girls. Thank you Mr. Beaver. I'll come by tomorrow to check again, and help if anything is needed."
She wonders about her statement as she walks home for the wheelbarrow and tools. She thinks that her dad is stronger than her mom. But is he stronger that Mrs. Johnson? Maybe that isn't so much a rule as a maybe or usually? She gathers the tools into the wheelbarrow and walks out to where the saplings are. She carefully digs the saplings that she wanted, getting all of their roots but not cutting others. Ten maple saplings and ten others picked more for their location than species. She doesn't want to take too many of one kind at once. Once she has the saplings that she wanted she roles the wheelbarrow back to the field where they are planting. She has to stop several times because her shoulders get too tired and sore. Maybe a small wagon would be easier?
She digs the holes for the saplings, completing all of them before putting the saplings in place, then adding the loose soil back on top before creating water to 'mud' them in. She shovels the extra dirt back onto the wheelbarrow to take back to where she had dug the saplings from. Taking the saplings without filling the holes would cause the ground there to be lower and could cause trouble in the future if done for a long time.
After dumping off the dirt she takes the tools and wheelbarrow back home. By then her shoulders are so tired they practically scream with the strain. She considers trying a healing spell on them but knows that the pain isn't from any actual wound. The spell probably would do nothing. She just needs to relax for a bit, and maybe get a bite to eat?
And where are Tarjun and Clara? Her sore shoulders are almost forgotten as she walks around looking for her brother and friend.
Jewel's plans work halfway. Then she gets reminded about something Clara and Tarjun mentioned from the last time they fetched saplings with Bruihu.
The pack of wolves lying on the clearing where the sapling grow.
When Jewel almost reaches the clearing where the saplings are she notices a pack of wolves. She stops and looks around, getting a count of a few before realizing that the number didn't really matter. She wasn't a great fighter or anything and had to count on the wolves to not want to eat her....
She calls on her Feral Speech hex and calls out. "Ah, Hello. I'm Jewel. I need to get some of the saplings there. Is that alright? Or should I leave and maybe come back sometime later?" She tries to recall what she knows of wolves to help her speak with them in a non-adversarial manner....
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The wolves look confused as they are addressed in wolf speak. Some of them start howling and the alpha gets up to take a closer look what shenanigans are going on there. As the wolf approaches Jewel realizes that this will be a talk on eye-level. Literally. This wolf is huge. But when there are only 20 feet distance left it recoils. Tail tucked in and teeth bared it retreats.
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"We need a boat! Can you build a boat?"
"You know what," Tarjun suggests. "Why don't you start right away and I'll join you later?"
Once he gets back to the farm, he tries to sneakily put the tools right back where he found them. Hopefully, the grown-ups haven't noticed that one of the wooden planks has disappeared.
He shushes the ox back into its stable (quiet, quiet). He puts the farming tools back where they belong (quiet, quiet). He doesn't even dare glancing at his house or the field.
When he finally tiptoes back to the woods and Clara, everything has been put away so perfectly that it's almost suspicious.
"Right-o," he greets Clara on his way back. "'S all good. Back to saplings it is?" he sighs dramatically.
Clara ponders if a tree can be turned into a boat by burning. Because that is a way of crafting she could imagine for herself. Luckily for the tree she hasn't come to a conclusion as Tarjun comes back from his stealth mission of sneaking the ox over the open field.
"Nnnngh. More work? I go on strike. You'll find me in out castle." she protests and leaves.
Jewel is a bit confused by the howling, then VERY intimidated by the size of the wolf that approached. She was just considering what she should try to say, if she could speak, when the big wolf backs away.... She hears the familiar voice behind her but is still scared. Oh Hi! I was just on my way here to get some more saplings to replant where the loggers had done their damage. I remember Tarjun and Clara mentioning the wolves but I hadn't met them. I used my hex so I could speak their language, but they hadn't answered me yet. The big one there is really impressive! I've never seen such a big wolf! Well, I haven't ever seen any wolf up close, but he was really big. Do you suppose he'll talk with me? I like being friends with all animals if they are OK with that...."
She turns and calls out
"I don't care about trees. Treehugger. Grrr."
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"Yeah, maybe you made the right call," Tarjun mutters to himself as Clara runs off. He even considers turning back as well, but concern for his sister (as always) ends up trumping his permanent laziness.
Thankfully.
"JEWEL!" he exclaims, spotting his little sister surrounded by a pack of wolves- and looking not too worried about it. He hurries to her side as the leader of the pack lets out a low growl.
"Come on, you! Shoo! Bad boy! Bad boy! Get back!" Though not exactly soothing, his shrilly orders and the club he menacingly waves around take up enough space to at the very least destabilize the wolf and make him step back.
Or so he hopes.
So far the set up was the wolves at the clearing, dozing off, but disturbed by Jewel. Only the alpha made it almost to Jewel at the fringe of the clearing. Who is backed by Bruihu.
Tarjun charges into this delicate balance antagonizing the whole pack with his club swinging.
Two wolfs charge Tarjun.
After which Tarjun finds himself on the ground with a wolf on top of him, snarling in his face through gritted teeth. Once again he finds himself uncomfortably close to saliva dropping on his face.
Jewel is surprised as Tarjun runs in. She had just started talking to the really big wolf. "Tarjun Stop. We were just talking!"
"Please stop! He's my brother and just thought I was in danger. I'm sure he didn't mean to attack. Probably wanted to scare off what he thought was danger to me. Please, Can we start over!?! We don't want any fighting. You are obviously stronger than my brother and I."
"Tarjun, Please let me talk to them. I'm trying to stop the fighting. The pack was here by the saplings before I got here so I was just trying to talk to them...."
The wolf bites, as Tarjun pushes it off.
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Bruihu steps up and swipes the wolves off Tarjun, sending them tumbling back into the pack.
The alpha retreats and the whole pack gets up and leaves the clearing.
Jewel runs up to Tarjun, helping him up while calling on Erastil for healing. The bite wound closes almost instantly. She glances up to see the wolves running off. "Oh.... I wanted to make friends with the wolves. I was just getting here to get the saplings. The big wolf said that he didn't care about the saplings but I didn't have a chance to see if he cared when we would come by to get more...."
"Oh. Thanks Bruihu for pushing the wolf off of Tarjun. I just wish it hadn't been needed."
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"You can't make friends with everything you meet," Tarjun retorts, in a tone that suggests it isn't the first time they're having this conversation. He gets up with a grimace, and inspects his hand. Thankfully, it was more of a pinch than a bite, though two tiny punctures holes are still visible on the back of his hand.
The pain has been white-hot too, and his throat hurts a bit from when he had let out a cry.
He sighs
"Yeah, thanks for your help, Bruihu-that helped a bunch." He turns back to his sister. "You could have waited until we got back to get the saplings! That was real dangerous!" On some not-quite conscious level, he knows that it's not completely true - Bruihu was around, and even he hadn't had the foresight and common sense to predict that the wolves would have stayed in the clearing.
He still didn't want his little sister to walk to a growling pack of wolves to make friends.
Jewel accepts Tarjun's complaints for what she was sure they were, his concern over her safety. "OK I guess. I know some things are just dangerous. But you remember that I wasn't here when you came here and found the wolves. So I just forgot that they might be here. And you were grumpy down by the stream so I figured I'd give you a break from this work."
"I promise I won't come here alone again, not with a pack of wolves here. But.... I would like to get another chance someday to talk with that really big wolf. He said that he didn't care about the saplings. And he didn't seem like he was angry about me being here. He might not want friends, but he might have been willing to leave us alone if we left him alone?"
"I did forget how heavy this wheelbarrow is though. I always count on you to handle the heavy stuff and I know I shouldn't. Thanks for not complaining about that! but maybe there's a way we can get the saplings closer to where we need them?"
"Hey Bruihu? Is there any way we could plant trees from seeds? I mean a little closer to our homes, maybe even near where they've been cut so we can restore the trees faster there?"
Jewel listens, muttering to herself.... "Acorns, pine cones, OK, Yeah, so seeds like the farm...."
She pauses and turns to stare at Bruihu. "Move a few.... You can.... How do you move trees? Can you get mature trees to move to protect the saplings? I mean, so like the strong winds, the spring storms, won't hurt the little trees? Then we could plant a larger area. I mean, the lumberjacks have been cutting for so long I was just worried that it would take all of the years until we are adults."
"Oh! Right. Give us just a little bit then so we can gather some seeds and get the saplings that we needed from here. Since the wolves have left I mean. Better to take advantage of that for now. And Thank You again for that...."
She quickly grabs the shovel and moves to dig up a dozen saplings. Not exactly how she had planned but she wanted to see trees move. "Tarjun? Can you handle the wheelbarrow? I hate to ask just after apologizing for always asking you to handle the heavy stuff, but you are a lot stronger than me." She tucks any acorns, pine cones or whatever other seeds she can find, puts the saplings in the wheelbarrow, but keeps the shovel in hand, leaned over her shoulder.
As they start back to the area where they were planting she glances around. "Where's Clara? I thought she was with you. ??"
You start your way back with a cart full of saplings and about a bucket full of seeds. After a while you notice that Bruihu slows down and falls back. Checking why, you find that an oak started to follow you. And it is really slow.
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"He might not want friends, but he might have been willing to leave us alone if we left him alone?"
"I dunno, but he didn't look too willing to have you stick around, with him growling and all," Tarjun retorts, as inclined as ever to admit that he might have reacted badly. Still, the argument going nowhere, he sighs and reluctantly picks up the wheelbarrow. "Sure. Throw those saplings in. And don't worry about Clara, she just didn't want to do any more work so she went..."
He pauses, hit with the realization that she hadn't exactly been clear on where she wanted to go.
"Actually, I dunno where she's gone. Like, home, maybe? She said she wanted to run off to a castle." He shrugs. "Whatever that means."
Girls.
Apparently taking note of Jewel's complains about his grumpiness, he helps her without protesting for quite a while before he notices Bruihu walking off. The creaking of the wheelbarrow comes to a halt as Tarjun stops.
"Bruihu? That a friend of yours?" he calls out, suddenly feeling a bit uneasy as he sees the towering oak slowly moving around.
Is this another treant? Are they bad treants? Can you even fight off a treant? What do two treants fighting each other look like?
It isn't exactly clear with the different physiognomy but it looks like Bruihu does a facepalm.
Jewel almost facepalms when Tarjun mentions the wolf growling. "Tarjun.... That's how they talk! Growling, yips and some of their head and body movements. He was surprised that I could talk to him. I think I might have been the first human that ever talked to him. But seriously that's how my hex works. I hear and see what an animal does when it is communicating and the magic translates it to something I can understand. When I talk, the magic translates my words into something that the animal can understand. Of course its not perfect. I misunderstand frequently because I don't see things in the same way that an animal might, and sometimes animals don't understand me because what I try to say doesn't translate to anything they can understand."
She realizes that she's rambling right about the time Tarjun mentions Clara going to a castle. She almost trips over a small bump on the ground as she stares. "Castle? There aren't any castles around here! I wonder what she was talking about. She just wanted to avoid coming along and helping...."
She continues along walking with Tarjun until she notices that Bruihu has fallen back, about the same time that Tarjun notices the second tree walking. She listens to the exchange between Tarjun and Bruihu and starts giggling uncontrollably. "That's just funny Tarjun! Where is the face on the tree? But seriously, animals have faces but can we tell if they are friendly, or angry, or whatever else other than by their actions? But seriously? An unfriendly tree? That's funny!"
As you walk on, more slowly to let the (un)friendly tree catch up another tree joins the walk. And another one, and another one. Within a few seconds a tree rocks left and right, freeing the roots from the ground and then walks after Bruihu.
As everyone just stares in awe, Bruihu leads the trees close to the farmhouse and in a place he thinks is nice he has them take roots again. And just like that there is a nice little grove some hundred feet from the house.
While Jewel doesn't really want to see trees dancing like Tarjun mentions.... Or maybe it would be interesting? She does agree that Clara is missing something special! "Wow Bruihu! That's incredible! It'll take some explaining to the people here in the village, but with everything they've seen lately I don't think they'll have any issue believing! And that's a perfect spot to start our own tree nursery. Thanks for bringing it so close to our homes!" She glances around to see what other homes are in sight. "And of course we'll have to be sure Dwayne tells the lumberjacks not to touch any of these. I don't want any of them thinking that trees can be walked right up to them to cut down!"
She cuts off a quiet giggle at the last thought, not really believing that anyone could be THAT stupid.... Then she remembers Jack and him looking like he thought he could "chop down" Bruihu! "In fact, let's go talk to our parents, then maybe swing by Dwayne to be sure."
Bruihu replies and sits down at the new grove.
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It is so late that supper is already in preparation at the Branston house. "Hello kids. Take off your shoes and come lay the table." Shelly greets them as they open the door.
Jewel freezes as they enter the house. She hears the words and smells the cooking dinner, but it takes a moment to absorb everything. "Oh.... Right! I hadn't noticed how hungry I am. But we have trees.... I mean saplings that need to be mudded in. And seeds to be put down in our new grove. I guess we can talk to Dwayne tomorrow though."
She does take off her shoes and moves to the kitchen to wash her hands before moving to the table. "Mom, Have you met Bruihu? He walked some trees over here to start a new grove where we can plant seeds for saplings. Then we won't have to go far into the woods for more saplings. He's sitting down to rest in the new grave now."
"Tarjun? Do you think we should have offered to create water to mud in the big trees at the grove? I didn't think of it at the time but it would have been proper to at least offer!"
Clara climbs a bit around the ruins, looks a bit out into the woods. Checks on the door to the crypt. Gets bored. Finally she walks home.
She opens the door and while entering the house she calls "MOM! Can you make a little sister for me?"
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"Shoot. Well, I guess we can still offer when we see 'em again. Maybe splash their trunks a bit if they're too much in the sun!"
Tarjun kicks off his shoes, and grabs the plates. It's not often he's trusted with them, for reasons that he typically thinks terribly unfair until they're proven to be right.
" Mom, did you know trees could walk? We saw some walking around." He pauses. "If they can walk, do you think they can run? Or jump? Or dance?"
"Are you two trying to pull my leg? Trees don't walk." Shelly replies.
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Tarjun stares.
"Yes. Yes they do. We told you! With their roots out of the ground and everything. Kinda look like they're shuffling their feet all the time, except they're really long feet with really long toes."
Though not above lying, Tarjun lacks his typical grin that would have surely followed such a preposterous claim, if he had genuinely been telling a joke.
As everyone just stares in awe, Bruihu leads the trees close to the farmhouse and in a place he thinks is nice he has them take roots again. And just like that there is a nice little grove some hundred feet from the house.
"Have you smoked something? Are you drunk? Breath on me, I want to check."
Jewel moves up and puffs a big breath at her mother, then points in the direction of the new grove. "Mom! They aren't walking anymore, but they re-planted themselves right over there. Want to come check on our new cradle for the saplings? And maybe we can give their roots some extra water and help them be more comfortable with their new home?"
Seeing the disbelief or misunderstanding still on her mother's face she moves over to the door, opens it and points. "Right over there. Let's just walk over there. Maybe Bruihu will say Hi to you? He's really fun!"
Shelly looks out of the window and rubs her eyes. "What are those trees doing there? That's in the middle of our field! Will! Come here!"
Will comes over from the other room and looks where Shelly is staring at. He sighs. "What have you done now?"