Fantasy Unlikely Partners

[Tharivle]

Chris had abandoned his quest to learn more about the Dryads, opting to help Ilaria locate the shards, and tabling the topic of getting another staff from the Sun Tree for later.
He looked up when she asked her question, "They could very well be." He answered. "The sun shard fell here. The states have two oceans which is why the sea shard popped up here. Moon could be here for the water as well and earth could be in the mountains somewhere."

 

[Flutterby]

"Its pretty universally agreed that the US is the most powerful human nation these days, for no good reason really. It just seems like.." Ilaria thought for a moment, and then continued. "The two World Wars. Germany was a major force in both of them, obviously. And then, after that, the US and Russia were in control, and they split Germany. And then Soviet Russia collapsed, and the US took over everything. All of that history is mostly explained, but even so.. what if the moment of the shards is what influenced the shifting of power in the human world?"
She frowned down at her notes. "But that could also be explained by the US having two shards, and the last two being separated, somewhere else in the world." It was an incomplete picture, and she felt a little silly for getting so excited over conspiracy theories.

 

[Tharivle]

Chris listened to her talk, noting how she seemed to feel silly talking. "That is a very possible thing, but how are we to prove that. And the United States is a big place. Where would they be even if they were here?"

 

[Flutterby]

"I don't know, I mean," She paged through the book she had been working on, "There's no specifics in this text, its all just 'maybe' this and 'possibly' that." Ilaria sighed, and sat back roughly in her seat.
Seth gave a small hum, sharing a look with Spots, and then said, "The history of magic on the Earth has always been an incomplete story, try as we might to fill in the blanks."
Ilaria turned her eyes to Seth, feeling the urge to snap at him, but simply nodded instead.

Seth stood a little suddenly, and at the same moment, Ilaria felt something pressing against the edge of her consciousness. It was not en entirely pleasant feeling, and her mind tensed up. Seth glanced at her, as if he knew she was resisting it, and said, "The tree that houses this library wishes to speak with us."
Ilaria relaxed, and the voice of the tree entered her mind. It was such an ancient-sounding voice that she couldn't tell if it was male of female, not that it mattered.
"A returning dryad brings news of strange happenings. Southeast of here, where it is hot and rocky."
Ilaria looked between Seth and Chris, and then stood up, placing the book back on top of the stack. "We need to talk to that dryad."

 

[Tharivle]

Chris heard what was said and simply nodded as both Ilaria and Seth stood. Seth lead the way into the elevator then out to the edge of the grove where there was a small clearing. There was about 2 dozen dryads there, all in their tree form, but they could all see the hidden faces and bodies of the tree creatures. There was a small bush like tree in the middle of the cluster of Dryads. The Dryads were whispering to each other, but grew silent as the three of them approached.
"The library matriarch told us that news of great importance had arrived." Seth said as more of a question than a statement.

 

[Flutterby]

The dryads turned their faces to look at the three of them as they approached, falling silent rather quickly. When Seth spoke, and after making eye contact with her and Chris for a moment, the dryads looked at one another for a few long seconds. It wasn't uncertainty; they knew they were going to tell them and why. But one of the dryads would have to volunteer to speak, and the individual most familiar with them wasn't present.
Finally, the squat, bush-like one in the middle looked up to their faces.
"I come from the mountains south of here, near a place the humans call Larkspur. It is, I think, in the human state of Colorado." The voice was vaguely masculine, and reminded Ilaria of Frank from Mullbrook, with its gruff tone but steady melody.
"There is a strange feeling there. There have been disappearances of human pets, children have a tendency to wander off. Even in such a small town, there are many humans that.. they fall in with darkness."
The bush paused, considering the next words. "I did not think it important, when I returned this morning, the Mother Tree was requesting extra vigilance to help your quest."

 

[Tharivle]

"Right" Chris said, "We could use all the help and leads that we can." Chris directed his commit at the little one in the middle that had talked to them.
"What makes you think that the information is not important?" Seth asked after Chris was done talking.

 

[Flutterby]

The dryad gave a shrug, or its lit-up features did. "There has been some of this for many years, an increase may mean nothing." The dryad said dismissively. "Humans are a strange species all of the time. Humans being more strange does not always mean something is amiss, sometimes they are just being humans."
Ilaria listened thoughtfully, and then interjected with, "What do you mean, they fall in with darkness?"
The dryad eyed her as it answered, "There are many who alter themselves, with 'alcohol' and 'drugs.' Their adventures with alcohol are not jovial, like the Golden Flame drinking together, but sad and lonely." There was a pause, and then the dryad added, "There seem to be more humans filled with loathing than in previous years, but sometimes that just happens to humans."
Ilaria nodded slowly, and then glanced at Chris. "Is there anything else you can tell us?"
The dryad gave a shake of its head, "I only observe the humans of the town, and that is all I know."
Ilaria gave a smile, and nodded, then turned away slowly to head back to the Grove.
"What do you think?" She asked Seth and Chris.

 

[Tharivle]

Chris followed Ilaria out and Seth trailed behind them deep in thought. Chris shrugged and looked back at Seth.
"Children are most susceptible to mind control. And pets make some of the best sacrifices for demonic rituals, epically if they have the children doing the rituals." Seth saw the suppressed and worried looks from the two of them and added, "But that is a worst case scenario."

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria's eyes widened at Seth's words; her mind had definitely not gone that far. She silently looked at the ground, blinking a few times, and glanced back up when Seth added that that was a worst case scenario. No kidding, she thought silently.
She glanced at Chris. "I'm going out there. To Colorado, to check it out." She said flatly, and then her expression and tone softened a little. "It's not horribly far, as far as road trips go. Can't hurt, especially with that worst care scenario hanging over our heads." She gave Seth a withering glance, and then looked back at Chris.

 

[Tharivle]

Seth shrugged and then nodded as she said that she was going to check it out anyway. "Usually we send a pair of nights to reports like this. But since you volunteered..."
"Great, I'll drive." Chris said, "I haven't driven through the mountains in a wile." Chris smiled at Ilaria, and started walking back to the willow where they had their stuff.

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria paused, watching Chris go for a moment. And then she looked at Seth, gave him a smile smile, and jogged after Chris to the willow.
She was ready to go within a few minutes, since they hadn't been there long enough to really take anything out of her bags. Once she was ready, she stood up with a sigh, and glanced around her. It tugged at her heart, to always be entering and leaving the Grove. Such a magical place, and she was only ever visiting.
"It will probably take almost a full 24 hours of driving. I hope you're not planning to do that straight through, at least not without help." She said, looking at him pointedly. She pulled out her smartphone, intending to type in the town name and look at directions. She smirked a little when she saw that the location technology didn't work within the Grove; it would have to wait until after the fast flight back to the car.

 

[Tharivle]

Chris collected his things in just a minute or two. "Wile I can stay awake and fully alert for that long, I get sick because I'm working off of magical power, not actual rest." Chris started off toward where they would fly back then added, "We can stop or you can drive when the time comes."
Once back at the service station they walked past the front and the old man and his hound were sitting out front. "Why didn't you tell me that you had a Sun Staff?" Chris asked.
"Because that is none of your business boy." The old mans voice wasn't mean, but surprised. "How did you know that I have the last one?" He asked with narrowed eyes.
"Seth told us." Chris answered. The old man just grunted and leaned back in his chair and started dozing off.

Chris loaded his things and let Rex in the back then got into the drivers seat. "Where to?"

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria walked past the old man shyly, noting the conversation but not commenting. She loaded her things and climbed into the passenger seat, reaching back to give Rex a rub behind his ears. He gave her a doggy smile, licked her hand, and then laid down for the long ride.
"Larkspur, Colorado," She said softly, typing the name in the GPS on her phone. It popped up with a route, and announced that the drive would take just over 21 hours. She gave a soft groan, and flipped on the radio before he pulled out of the driveway.

An hour later, she turned the radio down a little, and asked, "Why did you sleep with me, the night we met? Even if you thought I was human, you must've known it was supposed to be a one-night thing, and frankly, you don't seem like that kind of guy."

 

[Tharivle]

Chris eyes her suspiciously wondering why she would be asking about the night they met. "I don't go looking for one night stands, nor do they happen often." Chris paused to think so he could say his next words without fumbling. "You came onto me." He said rather bluntly. "And I liked you. I had fun dancing. I got the feeling that you were in it for just one night, so I let the one night happen."
Chris shrugged a bit wanting to change the subject. Rex barked from the back seat, and Chris smiled. "Also Rex liked you. And you never bring home a girl that the intelligent wolf doesn't like." Chris finished with a small chuckle.

 

[Flutterby]

"You liked me?" Ilaria said incredulously, looking over at him. When she saw the discomfort on his face, her expression softened a little bit. Rex broke the tension, thankfully, and she turned her eyes back to the windshield.
"You were okay with the one-night thing because you thought I was human, and you would end up outliving me by a few hundred years." She stated, looking back to him. "Did Rex know, that I wasn't human? The night we met, I mean."

 

[Tharivle]

"I don't really know if he knew or not." Chris said looking in the mirror at the wolf that was now sitting up and looking between the two of them up front. Rex just tilted his head to the side, not giving any other indication that he knew they were talking about him.
"Do you know if there is a motel there or is it to small of a town?" Chris asked. "Also, you getting hungry? Its almost 11. If we are going to find something we should start looking now."

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria smiled and turned in her seat to look at Rex. "Did you, mister? Were you secretly playing matchmaker?" She ruffled the fur near his chect affectionately, and then turned back around.
"I could eat, anything is fine." She responded, pulling up their destination on her phone. "It looks like.. It looks like there is a bed-and-breakfast type place sort of in town, and a hotel about 5 minutes away. So yes, somewhere to sleep once we get there." She said quietly, blinking slowly. The car did nothing to protect her from the actual sun, unlike the dense trees in the forest, and the exposure made her a little drowsy. "I'll probably fall asleep if we eat, though."

 

[Tharivle]

"Okay. You can take a nap and I'll drive for a few more hours." Chris said as he pulled off the highway to stop.
He pulled into a gas station and filled up the tank, then drove across the street to a Subway. As they were getting out he saw a faint shimmer of light on a small tree. There was 4 small trees along the front, but one of them was glowing and as he stepped closer he saw the face and arms. "Ari, is that a Dryad?" he asked softly after stepping closer to her.
The features of the tree moves ever so slightly as it opened an eye. To humans it would have been a small piece of bark shifting up just an inch. But to the two of them they could see an eye open and look at them. "I know of your assignment. I have nothing to report. Good luck friends." The voice was soft and nobody else could have heard it but them. The Dryad closed its eye and went back to sleep.
"Nice to know it works outside the grove." Chris said as they went inside.

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria nodded silently, grateful he didn't seem bothered by it. She stayed in the cra as he filled up, her eyes scanning the parking lot. It was pretty empty; apparently this wasn't a popular time of year for road trips.
At the restaurant, she hopped out of the car and followed along. She slowed as a glimmer of golden light caught in the corner of her eye. Turning, the glimmer lined up with on of the 4 small trees out front of the building. She glanced at Chris, and nodded, smiling to herself. It was like having little friends everywhere they went.
The Moon Child jumped a little when the dryad moved, brushing it off with a small chuckle. She gave the dryad a nod, and then followed Chris inside. "Well, it wouldn't do much good if it didn't, I suppose." She mumbled, her mind now focusing on what kind of sandwich she wanted.

 

[Tharivle]

Once they were done eating they left. Chris glanced over at the Dryad outside the door and noticed that it was again looking at them, but closed its eyes as they got in the car again.
Chris went back the way they came and got back on the highway. "I'm good for a few hours if you want to catch some sleep. Just plug in the phone and set it in the cup holder."

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria hadn't realized how hungry she really was until she had a sandwich in her hands. It was satisfying enough to make her happy-dance a little in her seat as she ate. As they left, she smiled slightly at the dryad, but made sure it was subtle enough to not be noticed by the surrounding humans.
In the car, she plugged her phone in and turned the navigation back on, turning up the volume for him and placing it in the cup holder.
"Wake me up if you need something," She said, before placing a sweatshirt against the window and leaning her head on it. The hood covered her eyes, and she was in a light sleep within 15 minutes.

 

[Tharivle]

Chris drove in silence for about 15 minutes after Ilaria went to sleep. Then he turned on the radio. Scanned through the stations a bit because his presets were all out of range by now, before settling on an 80s station. The music wasn't loud and he hummed along quietly. Chris drove on like this until Ilaria woke up.

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria slept, not entirely peacefully but deeply, until she started to feeling hungry. When she woke up, the sun was about halfway to sunset. She checked her phone for the time: 5:14 PM.
She groaned softly as she righted herself in her seat, the sweatshirt falling onto her lap as she rubbed an eye and stretched out her limbs. "You let me sleep like 6 hours." She mumbled, as she stretched her calves out carefully.
"Are you hungry?" She didn't exactly wait for him to answer, but said, "Im hungry. Can we get food?" Her voice was muffled, some of her consonants blurring together, as she tried to actually wake up.

 

[Tharivle]

Chris glanced over at her as she woke up. "Yesss?" Chris answered. "Was I not suppose to let you sleep that long?"
They were coming up to an exit as she woke up and they could see that there was a few places to stop, and Chris was getting hungry too, so he ramped off and they stopped for gas and food.
Chris pulled into a gas station and filled it up. Then got back in after it was filled. "I wonder if we will see Dryads everywhere or if it was random chance that we saw that one the last time we stopped." Chris looked around at what little vegitation that was in town almost expecting to see a flash of gold. "Where do you want to eat?"