The first thought Toni and Temate had about the nursery was this. It was a Nursery with a capital N. At least if you disregarded the immediate assumption and remembered it was a nursery for Leshy. So if you consider what a capital n Nursery for a species of spirits inhabiting pnts looks like, what do you get?

  In the center of the clearing was a small copse of tree's of various kind. A prismatic array of colorful bark and fruiting buds. Arrayed around that was a dense floor of pnt life of every kind. Budding flowers, small patches of vine grown gourds and pnts. Root pnts, arrays of ferns, growing lichen and mosses.

  And many more. Neither Toni nor Temate had the nguage or understanding of such things to pick out individual pnts. Pipuck was a different matter.

  "Look a' i'." The Spiras muttered with clear awe. "I've seen many a thin' in my life an' ye'..."

  They knelt at the edge, lifting a small fuzzy pnt leaf up. They smiled as their hand ran along the edge of the pnt. A small green fsh of power travelling into it and along the stem.

  "Jus' 'ere a' the edge we go'-" They paused and looked up at The group following them, not paying attention, and sighed. They were focused on the less interesting spectacle in Pipuck's opinion. This nursery was filled with pnts from all manner of biomes! Some, like the Strelitzia Reginae or the Plumeria Rubra, didn't naturally grow here!

  But no, Pipuck looked up to the copse of tree's, again some of which didn't grow here which was exciting! Yet that wasn't what the humans and the ghanaan and the goblins were interested in. Voel, the Cuen, didn't seem impressed by any of it though, which was more annoying then missing the real magic going on here.

  What the rest saw that Pipuck and Voel were both unimpressed by in their own ways, were the lights. Flitting about the nursery were hundreds of glimmering lights, each with a different shape. Some were long, tubur, and swam amongst vines, branches and trees. Some were plump and spherical, flitting between fruit, seed and bulb.

  All manners of shapes and sizes of ethereal floating lights filled the space. They darted amongst the pnts like small creatures swimming through the air. Occassionally one would slide into a pnt and it would begin to move, until the spark floated back out and onward. Once in awhile they would stay, and the pnt would begin to change shape, gain features.

  Pipuck saw one of the fresh Leshy, the truly green kind, rolled itself over to them. A small green acorn of a Leshy looked up at them with one small eye in the center of the space which would soon be it's face. Pipuck smiled at the greenling and waved.

  "'Ello there green one, good to see you've found form." They spoke softly and the little acorn bowed gently. Pipuck bowed back and was startled when Laurel snuck up next to them.

  "Here greenling, grow great and strong!" Laurel said, handing a wrinkled seed out to the small acorn who reached out. Pipuck heard several gasps from behind as the small green acorn stepped closer. A small crack appeared as a slim, green limb extended out slowly, budding into two small leaves which took the seed.

  Then the seed twinkled and fell apart, small bits of green light flew into the seedling which grew a small bit. A second crack appeared and another small sapling grabber formed, it took Pipuck's and Laurels hands. Pipuck felt the warmth of gratitude flow from the greenling into them and smiled.

  Then it put the two new limbs onto the ground and lifted itself. It grabbed Laurel's hand with one and began to hop, leading him into the nursery. After a brief pause the rest followed, all except Voel who sat.

  "A-I will wait and watch here, the girl has expressed an interest in remaining." Voel waved towards Toni who rolled her eyes. "A-so I will keep watch while we wait."

  Toni opened her mouth to say something and then yelped! One of the small, spherical wisps had floated over to them and was bumping against her back.

  "H-hey stop that! It's not natural material you can't live in that!" She spun and then felt another bump. Then another. Within a minute of entering the nursery a dozen or more wisps had gathered around her and were flittering about, banging at her pack.

  "What's wrong with them? Pip? Laurel?" Toni asked as she slipped back outside of the bounds of the nursery. Pipuck looked around their party standing slightly within the nursery's grounds. The goblins, anxiously gathered, had a small cluster of wisps floating about them.

  The rest of the group, except for Pipuck and Temate, had maybe one or two small wisps which seemed to be examining them. In Pipuck's case there were maybe half a dozen, where Temate had none. In fact the wisps seemed to avoid him as if he were toxic. That didn't surprise Pipuck, seeing Temate was linked with bone and likely smelled of death to such life sensitive things.

  Pipuck looked to Laurel, who also had no wisps, but who wasn't avoided by them. They were probably used to him, being from this area. He looked to Pipuck and they both smiled, turned to Toni, and shrugged.

  "That's not an answer!" Toni squeaked as several wisps followed her out into the woods and began chasing her around.

  "You carry sssomething of great life with you sssweety." An amused sibint voice flowed over their group. Pipuck turned and saw a lizard? A bird? It was some combination of the two. A feathered lizard stood before them, right red and white plumage covered their body. The feathers were so small and shined in the light streaming in here making them appear as scales.

  Lending to the confusion was the long, serpentine twist to their body and proportions leading to a sharp beak shaped face. The top of which had a beak but the bottom appeared to be a soft, feathered lizards jaw which fit into the upper beak neatly. Their hands were sharp and taloned like a lizards, but their legs narrowed to the crooked spyed birds talons rather than a lizards.

  Three rge feathery tails extended out from their back, slowly waving about as she corralled the wisps from around their group.

  "Come now Spark's, leave the visitors alone." They practically sang the words to the wisps who gathered around them before flitting off into the garden. All except the ones around Toni, who ran immediately towards the woman and was accosted by many more Sparks as she entered the nursery again.

  The persons soft ugh at the situation filled Pipuck's heart with comfort and joy. Pipuck could read a person rather easily, a skill you developed after nearly 400 years of life even if only 40 or so were spent in humanoid dominated realms.

  "What do you mean, something of great life?" Toni asked as the Lacert, the name of this type of Awakened as Laurel expined quietly to the others, shooed the Sparks away from Toni.

  "I do not know what you bear young human. How could I? I am not you." The Lacert replied.

  "Oh." Toni said as she began thinking, one hand coming to her chin.

  "Apologies for the unannounced visit miss Nijij, but we seek audience with Thares, is she present?" Laurel asked Nijij, a strange name Pipuck noted. They might need to look into the meanings of these names if they were to stay longer, but a short visit. It probably wasn't important.

  "No apologies necessary. Trevad Thares has informed us we may have guests and all the Trevad bid you welcome." Nijij bowed.

  "Trevad?" Pipuck asked, that seemed important.

  "Caretaker, gardener, seeder, parent, minder. It means all these things, it is our title much like Laurel is Warden. Watcher, protecter, seeker, guider, wall." Nijij answered Pipuck who smiled. Language was strange in most realms, they knew. For instance some pces like Toni and Temate's nguage was a pure technical tool of tongue and body. In realms like this one, where hybrid idea and materia merged it got... confusing.

  For instance, Nijij was clearly speaking the common tongue of this world, and one of the tree major common material tongues. English to Toni and Temate, True material to those who knew the greater tongues. Trevad was a use of a soft material speech. A word whose meaning was as much in it's intention as it's physical expression.

  "We thank you Trevad Nijij for your allowance, could you take us to this Thares of here?" Kea spoke up, bowing low and considered. That was training of some kind, hospitality, kindness and diplomacy. The girl might be uncomfortable in a fight, and here in the wilderness, but Pipuck admired this.

  Nijij smiled and bowed back. "Please, follow me." They said and began leading the group into the nursery. When the goblins and Voel didn't follow they stopped and cocked their head. "You are all invited, goblins of Mate's tribe, I see your connection you will be safe here." They spoke to the goblins first.

  Sioh pushed Chiel forward. Who spluttered and they growled something at each other. Eventually Chiel relented.

  "We wait for Chief here. We watch. We leave soon find tribe." Chiel said, looking almost prepared to fight Nijij if they forced the goblins to come. Nijij simply looked to Temate who nodded, and then they nodded to the goblins.

  "Very well. You child of the Flying Folk, are also invited." Nijij turned to Voel who waved a hand.

  "A-I am comfortable here." After a minute of no other response, Nijij bowed and waved the rest of them on. They headed further into the nursery, Nijij using their tales to wave off the Sparks who came to bother Toni.

  - - -

  Thares' ughter filled the small circle their group had made. Toni, sat in the center, blushed as Thares, Nijij and Taure, a small mouse girl halfway between a human and a mouse, sat with her. The three waved off the vast array of Sparks who had clustered around the group, ignoring the rest of the nursery.

  "It's not funny Thares, they're bothering me, some of them are even- HEY" She smmed her hands onto her p to force the dress she was wearing to stay down. Some of the Sparks had flitted into it and were now lifting and moving it, reminding all around that she was wearing nothing underneath.

  "STOP THAT YOU PESTS!" She shouted and waved her hands frantically to try and push the Sparks out.

  "Come out you lot, leave the poor girls clothes alone, we'll find what you're looking for!" Thares said, and the Sparks popped out of Toni like a firework. Even Temate couldn't help but ughing at that which received him a furious gre from Toni.

  "Shoo now. This is [Still Seeding] we will find what you seek." With that, and the wash of Power from the [Power] Temate clearly felt, the Sparks left. The group sat alone, an invisible barrier made obvious by the Sparks flittering around it's edges.

  Toni sighed. "Thank you Thares." She took the rge camping bag off of her back and swung it onto the ground in front of her. Temate watched her take a deep breath and open the bag.

  "I think I know what their after, and I don't..." She trailed off looking sad for a second. Then she shook her head and continued. "I don't know how I feel about it, or them wanting it. Him." After some brief rummaging Toni pulled out something.

  A softly wrapped object was held in her hand, and as she began to unwrap it Temate remembered. A seed, a single perfectly spherical fuzzy seed sat in her hand. It was small and Temate saw Toni smile at it, a complicated smile of sadness and love. Temate remembered Jake, the cocky boy he'd met with Toni.

  All three of the Trevad's gasped, and despite holding it out to Thares it was Taure who moved first. The small, blue gray mouse girl's hands grabbed the seed quickly as she examined it. Her eye's were wide as she muttered something under her breath.

  "Hey! I was showing Thares!" Toni objected, but before she could take the seed back Thares put a hand on her shoulder.

  "Taure knows seeds better than any of the Trevad here babe, trust her she will not harm them." Thares said comfortingly. Toni looked nervously back towards Taure, but stopped reaching to take the seed back.

  "Where did you get this seed?" Nijij asked, looking quizzically at Toni.

  "It was a gift, from the Righ of... what was it Pip?" Toni looked over to Pipuck.

  "Harvest Court, Autumn Court, Fall Court. You'd know it as one of those." Pipuck replied.

  Toni snapped her fingers. "Right! This cool like, fire person who was also a pile of leaves? That was really confus...ing... what?"

  Thares and Nijij were looking at Toni strangely. It was Taure who answered her.

  "A gift of rebirth from a creature of harvests? That's a very special gift miss Terror." Taure said, her voice was sharp and fast, the words almost flowing together as one. "It is not of their nature to grant a rebirth, so you either greatly impressed them, or they had another reason to offer. Though it is incomplete." Taure concluded.

  "Incomplete?" Temate, Toni and even Surrender said that altogether. Pipuck raised one eyebrow but said nothing clearly believing that was not the case.

  "Yes. A great creature of Harvests and endings, clearly either they are too linked to their nature or were unable to reach too far as they did not give it the spark of life it needs." Taure nodded rapidly, her ears fpping about as her tail twitched excitedly in the grasses around her.

  "Ah." Pipuck said in answer to her and she nodded somehow more emphatically.

  "This is why the Spark's here seek it. They are rebirth by their nature, spirits of Leshy who's shells have broken apart and who now seek new vessel after their energy reforms. This is the perfect vessel for many of them." Taure stared lovingly at the seed. Then she carefully folded the cloth back around it and gave it back to Toni.

  "It continues a pattern already however, so I cannot predict exactly how it would react to a Leshy Spark filling it. The Grand Ceil would know, though it is unlikely to be bad as the magic is one of life and rebirth." Taure added.

  "That's... You're saying a Spark here could use this to become one of the Leshy people things?" Toni said, clutching the seed to her chest protectively. She looked out at the swarm of Sparks around this area, trepidation clear on her face. Temate stood and moved to her, putting his good hand on hers.

  "Let me take him for now. They seem to avoid me, perhaps I can shelter it." Temate whispered softly and Toni agreed rather quickly.

  "Why are you afraid Toni? The worst case scenario is the Spark would catalyze a new life, one with the heart and soul of the person whose soul is within the seed." Thares asked her.

  "Yeah but what about his memory? Who he was and is?!" Toni shouted the words, then coughed. "Sorry, I just.... I don't-"

  "They are already gone." Nijij spoke softly, Toni turned toward them, eyes wide.

  "NO They can't- They can't be, the Righ said it'd bring him back!" Her voice was strained with panic.

  "Who he was. His essence. Not his mind. That is gone for all material beings during rebirth. Rare-"

  "NO! No no no." Toni shouted, cutting Nijij off. "No, there has to be a way to get him back completely I don't..." Two big arms wrapped around to hug her, one of gleaming bone and she froze, then rexed.

  "It's alright Toni, just think about what you've learned and if you decide something... Well we can follow it then." Temate told her.

  "I- I just." Toni began, hands coming up to set on Temate's bone one. "I-" She didn't know what to say. Everyone could see that, and four more pairs of arms came to wrap around her. All three Trevad and Surrender. Then Kea a moment ter.

  They sat there for nearly 5 minutes as Toni began to cry, remembering something she had tried to forget. Remembering the tattered form of Jake, shredded because he followed her, because he liked her. Even if she didn't like him back, not like that, she'd told him multiple times but still.

  It was hard, he had died because of her, because she refused to not go camping with a stranger who she now loved. Loved? Yes loved, she could admit that to herself now if not to him yet. He had nearly died for her, how could she not? So what did she do.

  Well for start, stop bawling like a babe, she was a grown ass woman. She took a deep, sniffling breath, and breathed out. She released her grip on Temate and spoke.

  "I'm fine. Thank you." Slowly the group unwound from around her, only Temate's hand lingered and she glowered at him. "Really, I'm fine." She said again. Temate smiled, nodded and removed his hand giving her a pat on the back.

  "I know, but I'm also always gonna be the st person to let you go." He stated, so matter-of-fact all the time. She smiled softly despite herself.

  "Right. Well you better be the first one today, cause you gotta go get your goblin tribe all gathered up right?" She told him as she wiped tears from her eyes. Temate nodded and looked around.

  "Do you... want me to keep hold of Jake's seed still? Or do you want to keep it? In case..." He asked and Toni thought about that for a moment. She'd agreed readily to letting him hold the seed, but the Sparks couldn't get into her bag or the wrapping. Plus maybe... She slowly took the wrapped seed back from him and pced it back in her bag.

  "In case." She answered him. "Oh and your machete." She pointed towards the bde still at his side, chipped and damaged, the handle broken in half. He grimaced but unbelted the thing sheath and all to hand to her.

  "There, you sure you can fix it?" He asked raising his hands defensively when she gred at him. "You're the one who said your metal is only temporary so..."

  "[Patchwork]. It's a new [Power] I got after the goblin fight. I can make very very small quantities of permanent metal slowly, for exactly this kind of work." She thought for a second and then added another thing. "And I'll need Sioh to stay behind too, you can take the rest but have her stay."

  Temate blinked but nodded. A few minutes ter a grumpy Sioh stood with Toni waving goodbye to the other goblins, Temate, Surrender and Pipuck as they began heading out. Temate ughed as Nijij stayed with Toni, constantly batting off Sparks who came to accost her. He knew the choice he would make in her pce, he just wondered what hers would be.

  "Alright tribe. Let's go pick up your friends and family shall we? Chiel, you lead." He pointed ahead and Chiel nodded before taking off further into the woods.

  Force2reckon