The Tree [Druids]

Cairn, Hiroshima, and Paris would be led further into the Druids territory, and closer to the Oracle tree. The ancient text upon its bark would be more noticeable to the group now. The haedian that led them would stop in front of another, a brown and cream long haired Duveteux that they quickly figured was the leader Auris himself.

“Ah, there are our new guests. Now before I direct you to the task I wish you to accomplish, I must tell you some about The Oracle here.” The leader would start off before continuing on, “The Oracle holds the collective knowledge of the woodland creatures etched upon its bark, it is our most sacred living thing within these caves.”

The group would quietly listen to the haedian, not one of them daring to question the Druids leader. Paris seemed to be the most interested in the tree, Cairn more so in the text, and Hiroshima would just seem to feel out of place.

“Your task is to tend to the Oracle, it will decide if you all are worthy to be among us Druids and fit to be a Guardian of the Wood.” Auris would continue on after what felt like a few moments. Once he felt satisfied that they knew enough about the tree and their assigned tasks he would leave them to it, likely having other guests to greet.

“How exactly are we meant to tend to such a large tree?” Hiro would grumble, looking up towards the top of the tree.

Paris would lightly bump her big brother, “Just like any other tree dummy, water, nutrients, love. Its size only means it needs more than your average tree.”

Cairn would seem to be ignoring the pair however, approaching the tree to lightly touch the closest of the texts. To her it seemed to pulse with energy, was it arcane? Something ancient and lost to time? It was hard for her to say for absolute certainty, but it intrigued her nonetheless.

Paris would take notice of Cairn soon enough before tapping her lightly, “Hey. Come with me to get some water? We’ll need quite a bit for the tree.”

“Hm? Oh yeah, sure I can help with that…” Would be Cairns' reply before shaking off the thoughts in her head.

The pair of girls would be off to collect some buckets, before finding a pool of water to collect water from. Water flowed down into the pool from a crack higher above them, bringing with it minerals. It wouldn't take but a few moments for them to scoop this mineral rich water into each of their buckets and return to the tree to water it.

Hiroshima would meanwhile collect some dead leaves and other plant matter. Deciding to use his fire magic to turn the lifeless plants into ash, doing so carefully in a spot with as little life as possible. Catching the whole underground forest on fire wouldn't be ideal after all. Collecting said ash in a bucket soon enough before returning to the tree.

The Lacework male would mix the ashes into the soil at the base of the tree, knowing quite well that ashes helped seed new life. Oftentimes once a fire would rage through a forest, new plants would sprout up from the aftermath. That's what he was hoping for with this as well, that his inner chaos that was his fire magic could be used for good.

The girls would have meanwhile gathered another bucket set of water and brought it to the tree once more, doing their best to satisfy the water needs of the tree. Paris would after the last buckets of water would try to tap into the tree with her plant magic. Closing her eyes and trying to focus on it, in hopes of getting the Oracle to ‘tell’ her if it needed anything more. 

“That should do it.” Paris would say to Cairn after a few moments had passed them.

“Hopefully it is enough, yeah.”

“It is. Trust me, I know.” 

Once the group felt satisfied with their progress they would take a rest beneath the tree. Cairn would watch the glowing crystals nearby, wondering if they tied into the text upon the tree or if it was merely coincidence. Hiro would shake his head at his daughter as if already guessing her thoughts.

“You aren't taking any of their crystals home with you. You have enough at home.” 

“Hm? But these ones aren't the same as the ones I have..”

“They pretty much are though.”

“These ones are stronger, they have a higher frequency…” 

Paris however would interrupt them, “Hey, doesn't the tree look like it's starting to bloom and glow more?” 

The tree would very much seem to start blooming, the text glowing brighter. This would seem to trigger the return of the Druids leader, Auris, who seemed to be quite happy with the results of his little ‘test’.

“It seems like The Oracle has spoken.”