What Troy saw was a figure with hair going down to their waist, with no injuries to speak of, not even a drop of blood on their body, with a green glow emanating from their hand. This is what I looked like after the amber healed my wounds. I think I don't have enough experience with it to target its ability, so I think it just sped up my body to where it didn't have any pain, which is why my hair, which I had kept short since the incident with the bear, now extended to my waist.
"I did it." I said, in amazement. 'I didn't think the timing could be so perfect.'
"You did what?" Maddie asked, "You should put your bandages back on and…" she trailed off, it just occurred to her what she was seeing and didn't know what to say.
I walked up and said, "Let's head back, I'll tell everyone everything. It's a lot and I'd rather only tell it once."
She nodded, and we all began to walk back to town. At some point I realized during the walk back that I wasn't wearing a shirt, since previously I was covered completely in bandages. No one said anything on the way back either, I guess I dropped too much on them all at once. Hopefully they don't treat me any different after they hear it all. It'd be one thing if they were wary, but I'd be a lot more uncomfortable if they treated me much better than usual, not sure why.
When we got back Jake, Liam, Mrs. Smith, and Diana were standing outside waiting for everyone to get back. When they saw us, they smiled for a moment, but were confused about my appearance. They started to ask questions, and I motioned for them to wait.
"I'll…explain everything in a moment." I spoke. I wanted to do this, but now that the moment is here, it's much more stressful than I thought.
Everyone gathered in the space outside the town hall, where Conner, Maddie and myself ate sandwiches yesterday, although now the atmosphere is much more serious.
I cleared my throat and opened my mouth to speak, but couldn't get the words to come out. I began to feel a bit nauseous, and my throat was tightening up. I swallowed a few times and tried to slow my breathing, but nothing worked.
"It's ok Prestin," Mrs. Smith said, noticing my anxiety over everything, "whatever you need to say, we'll listen, and nothing will change from before. Is that okay?"
Upon hearing this I smiled for a moment, before nodding and beginning to tell them everything. I told them how I could feel the emotions and presences of some things around me, like other people and the drafis. I told them about the amber and the place with the glowing lights and how I could use the amber at that place to cause living things to grow and explained the area they found me in before was where I could use it. I told them how I healed my injuries, and explained that my hair had grown out because I didn't know how to be that precise with it yet.
I took out the small amber to show everyone, and Troy recognized it from before, when we went there on his coming of age day.
I then told the full story of what happened with the drafis. The way I knew what it was feeling and knew it wasn't aggressive towards us, and how its actions led me to conclude it eats rocks and ores, so I used a piece of gold ore I found to lure it away.
After I finished everything, everyone was silent. I expected as much, and I could tell they were unsure what to think based on their expressions.
"Does that mean you can tell what we are…are all feeling?" Maddie asked, breaking the deafening silence.
"No, I can't." I answered, "I'm not quite sure why or how it works, but it's worked on some other creatures, but only every so often will it work on people."
Maddie breathed a sigh of relief. I guess the thought of me knowing every emotion everyone was feeling would be a bit creepy.
"Alright everyone," Mrs. Smith said, "that's that. Its still the same old Prestin, so go about your day." She stood up and went over to me with a warm smile, "Come on, lets get you a shirt and we'll have Holly style your hair."
As Holly perked up from hearing her name, Mrs. Smith's smile made me feel less stressed about everything. I was worried about things changing, but Mrs. Smith assured me that things would be pretty much the same.
As we went to the town hall to grab a shirt, I saw Holly whisper something to Mr. Smith, and they both headed over to the forge. I got a clean white shirt and, as it was now the 20th of Straat with the storms starting in full force, I got a leather jacket too.
When I went back outside the clouds rolled overhead, so a storm was likely in the afternoon, and so I grabbed an axe and gathered some branches so the wood wouldn't have to dry for as long before we use it.
When I got back, about two hours had passed, and the cloud cover grew thicker in the sky, but no rain yet. I decided to head over to the forge, to see what Holly and Mr. Smith were doing over there.
When I arrived Holly looked very excited, and when she saw me she said, "Prestin! Ok, I had Mr. Smith make me some scissors, so I'll be able to cut hair and things better than last time. I'm ready to do your hair now!"
"Yep, that right." Mr. Smith added, "Took me a day or so to get 'em made, but they're sharp enough to cut through animal hide like butter!"
I didn't know what butter was, probably something from the old world, but I nodded along anyways, and Holly took me to a bench outside to cut my hair.
I asked her to cut it shorter but to keep a lot of the length, and in the end it was exactly what I wanted. It went down to my lower back but was only to my chin near my face. I took two pieces of rope to tie the hair in the back together in separate places so it wouldn't get blown around by the wind.
I thanked Holly for the haircut and went about my day as normal, spending some time by the coast to fish and relax after the stressful morning. I didn't see anyone until that night when we ate dinner, and since the storm had started, we called it an early day and went to bed.
As I was cataloging the events of the day in my journal, the wind blew a branch against the walls and I flinched, dropping the book. It landed face down, and when I picked it up, I noticed there was writing in the back of the book that I didn't remember.
Reading through it, it was definitely my handwriting, but it talked about gods and Dryads and elements. It all felt familiar to me, but I couldn't place when I had written this, or who Dryad was.
I thought about it for a while until the storm was constantly interrupting my thoughts, so I tried to fall asleep, which took less time than expected.
I remember the dream I had that night vividly, I was in an unfamiliar, yet comfortable place, and a woman in a green dress told me everything that was in the back of my journal, plus some other things. She told me about the stone, and how to use its magic. She said, "You don't need the help of the Sprites, First One. It will be more difficult, but you can use the amber to channel Vert's power by using your soul's energy. You need not worry about using it all up, for it is vast, much more so than any other in this world."
"Who are you? Why? What is this place?" I asked.
"I am a Dryad, one of many, but the only one you have met. This is the Spirit Grove, much like the one you have visited, but much more vast and pure. As for why, it's nothing like divine providence or fate. It was simply coincidence that you were born, that you can interact with the Spirits of this world."
"What should I do from here?" I asked, "Why did you remove my memories?"
"Because Vert wanted to test you, ensure you were worthy of their power. They wanted you to figure out how it works first, without any knowledge of the Spirits or Gods, and you passed, so I have been permitted to return your memories to you." She stepped closer, "Utilize the walking stick you have, it is my gift to you, it is as strong as the metals you forge, and can be restored and shaped how you see fit by channeling Vert's power."
With a smile Dryad continued, "I wish you all the best on your journey, First One," as she kissed me on the lips, and it was a familiar sensation, as if this had happened before, and just as she pulled away, I woke up to the sunlight peering through the window, reflecting off the dew on the grass outside.