"I'm sorry I left you guys up there for so long," Sydra said, as he let the others out of his Arbor Sanctum. They were currently standing in front of the finished staircase and admiring the finished project.
"It's fine, we were just enjoying the heated pond this morning and taking a little time to rest. Yesterday was a busy day for us all," Erich said, as he pushed the hair in his eyes to the side of his head.
"By the way, Silf, I talked to Sophia and she said it is fine for you to stay with her. Of course, that is only if you want to, you can also come with us," Sydra said, turning to look at Silf was sitting on Cidre's shoulders.
"I think it would be best if I stayed with the Queen, at least until I am a bit older. I heard the others talking, and I'm not sure I would be of any help on the journey you are going on. When I am older, I'll visit Emerald Pine Valley, and come to see you all," Silf said, looking over at Sophia who was walking up to the group.
"That sounds nice, by then there should be a road that connects our two settlements, so it will be easier to travel between the two. Since that is all taken care of, are you guys ready to head out now?" Sydra asked, slinging his backpack over his shoulder, while looking at the others who only had their clothes on them.
"Yeah, everything we need is still inside your Arbor Sanctum. It makes it easier for us to maneuver, and if we run into any danger you can always just bring our weapons out and hand them to us," Erich said, patting Sydra on the shoulder with a smile.
"I see..." Sydra said as he looked at the others with a malicious grin on his face, making them think it might not have been the best idea to treat him as a pack mule. "Anyway, Sophia thanks again for looking out for Silf, and Silf, it was nice to meet you," Sydra said, before heading up the ramp with the others. Sophia and Silf couldn't go to the surface yet, as Sophia had to head back to her palace and start organizing things once more. When the group of guys reached the surface they saw many people running about, with a few blankets laid out on the ground as people stared at the sky. Walking over to Lorn, Sydra pulled out a map he had drawn up that morning and handed it to him.
"This is a map of the towns that are outside the forest, as well as some other places that might be good for you to visit," Sydra said as he pointed towards the area that the meteorite had crashed long ago. It was basically a gold mine for these people, and would be of great assistance to helping them get back on their feet.
"You have done a lot for our people, but I have no way of thanking you. If you ever need anything from us, please let us know," Lorn said as he studied the map with a grateful look. Sydra simply nodded, but said nothing about how he and the others had basically ransacked the building that rightfully belonged to the people of Tindow.
After a few minutes of bidding farewell to Lorn and the other people of Tindow, Sydra collected some of the piles of wood he had the spiders create, and led the others back to the Fluttershi that was still sitting outside the building.
"You know, that place was a lot easier to explore than the plasma ruins. I'm surprised that it only took us a day," Robert said as he inserted the crescent key and started up the vehicle. Once everyone was sitting down, Sydra pulled out the map and pointed out the direction of the next set of ruins they were going to.
"Indeed, but that just means we have more time to explore in the future ruins. Plus, I would say that we got a good amount of benefits from this place, even if it was a bit dangerous at times," Sydra said as they began to race through the trees once more. Looking down at the map, it seemed the next place they would be visiting was surround by water, as the map showed the image of squiggly lines that resembled waves. Thinking it would be wise to sort through the things they had received so far, before getting more stuff Sydra wanted to head into his Arbor Sanctum. "Do you guys mind if I head into my Arbor Sanctum, there are a few things I have to do in there?" he asked.
"Not at all, do you need any help with anything?" Erich asked, while shuffling a deck of cards in his hands. Where he got the cards from was unknown.
"No, I should be fine," Sydra said, before entering meditation and heading into his Arbor Sanctum. As he floated to the ground, Sydra looked around to see what he should start off with first. He ended up deciding to work on the wood he had collected, as it needed to dry out before it could be used for anything. Stretching out his hands, Sydra began to raise the temperature that surrounded the planks of woods for a few minutes. Once he was done drying out the wood, Sydra moved it into a storage area that was connected to his palace.
'Hmm, what else needs to be done?' Sydra thought as he looked around. He still had to check on the seeds he had planted, as well as finish sorting out the information that was inside the cabinets. In the end he decided to check on the plants before figuring out the paperwork in the cabinets. Floating over to the place he had planted the seeds, Sydra was surprised to see that one of them had already grown into a tree that was taller than he was. The tree resembled a willow tree, with it's long drooping branches, covered in green leaves.
"I've never heard of a tree growing so fast before, I wonder what it is," Sydra said as he bent down and sent Root Echo through the ground to sense the aura of the tree. After a few seconds, Sydra stood back up with a frown on his face. "Where did the other seeds go?" Sydra asked aloud as he walked over to one of the spots he had planted a seed and began digging into the ground. As his fingers dipped into the soil, Sydra quickly found the seed and pulled it back out. When he had planted this seed it was a light blue color, but now it was dark grey, and it didn't emit any life.
"Did that tree absorb all these seeds life force?" Sydra wondered as he tossed the seed to the side. Walking over to the tree, Sydra reached out his hand and placed it on the bark. Sending forth his consciousness, Sydra tried to probe the tree and figure out what happened.
"Oi, what are you doing?! Invading my personal space like that," The tree said with a light female voice as it kicked Sydra's consciousness out. Shocked, Sydra took his hand away from the tree and stared at it, wondering what just happened.
"Did you just talk to me?" Sydra asked as he looked at the tree closely, hoping he was imagining things.
"Of course I did. You were trying to peek at me, and we don't know each other like that. Hold on a second, I'm going to project my spirit form out so that we may talk easier," The tree said, before a grey mist began to emit from it. A few seconds later and a young girl could be seen sitting on the ground in front of Sydra. Her hair resembled the branches of the tree she came from, and she had light brown eyes. Her skin was lightly tanned, and on top of her head was a light red flower.
"Wow..." Sydra whispered as he looked at the spirit in front of him.
"Don't stare at me, it makes me nervous," The spirit said as she blushed. "My name is Marie Willow, and I am the spirit of the Devouring Willow you planted. I assume you are the nature spirit of the Ascending Cloud Tree?" She said, her voice as soft as a summer breeze. Sydra nodded and sat down in front of her.
"Are you the reason the other seeds I planted have withered away?" Sydra asked as he dug out another greyed seed and tossed it away.
"Yeah... I'm sorry about that. I wasn't aware of my surroundings yet, and I used those seeds to help myself grow. But don't worry, I won't try to take any of your tree's life away," Marie said as she looked around the island. "I'll have to explain more later, as I can't be out of my tree for too long just yet. The only reason I'm awake right now is because I felt your presence and I wanted to say hello,"
"Oh, okay... Well it was nice to meet you, if you need anything let me know," Sydra said as Marie dissapated into mist again and went back inside her tree. Getting up, Sydra patted the dirt off his pants and walked to the palace while deep in thought.
'It seems I will have company on my island for a while... And really cute company at that," Sydra thought as he entered the room that was filled with cabinets. Opening one of the cabinets, Sydrsa got to work on sorting out the paperwork.