Runes, Runes, Runes

Though she thought her theory wrong, the tree proved that it had been the one writing the runes. A few new ones appeared as the others disappeared, but these seemed to make a little more sense to her. As she watched the runes shift and change, it made sense to her. ᛊᛟᚱᚱᛁ it read, and she smiled at the old tree. Placing a paw on the bark once more, she pushed her thoughts out once more. This time there was no pain or fighting, the Oracle let her in without worry. It felt like she could feel where each animal and plant was in the forest, where each one slept and grazed. 

Her eyes closing ever so slightly, she told the tree it was no problem, it only hurt for a little bit. She gave it a goodbye and pulled her paw from the bark as she opened her eyes. Scribbling the last runes on her parchment, she tucked the scroll back in her bag before standing up. Abraxas was offering her a helping hand and the other three watched with curiosity as she denied the help but gave him a soft smile. “The tree speaks, its runes are old but it speaks.” The group nodded, most likely just going along with what she was saying so she didn’t seem crazy.

They had decided that it was time to pack up and head back to the clan, the time spent there had taken longer than they had thought. Auris had greeted them back himself, and after speaking with the group took Antlia back to his home. He offered her a seat, and she took it albeit cautiously. The runner wasn’t sure if she had done something wrong, she hadn’t wanted to upset the clan at all.

“Abraxas told me that you figured out the tree is trying to communicate with us.” She gave a slow nod, not meeting Auris’ gaze. “You don’t have to be nervous, I am not here to punish you. In fact, I brought you in here because you are the first Reosean that has even tried to communicate with the Oracle.” 

“I just figured it was worth a shot, since the runes seemed to have been from an older time and weren’t making sense to anyone.” The Haedian nodded, indicating he wanted her to proceed. “It apologized to me as well, gave me an awful headache at first. I think it wants to be able to speak to you guys.” Auris nodded once more, a smile on his face.

“Well, that’s not the here or now. I wanted to offer this to you myself since it comes from a place of trust.” He indicated for her to stick her paw out, and as she did so he dropped a seed into her hand. “A seed from the Oracle itself. You have permission from me, and the rest of the clan, to tend to the tree as you see fit. You will not need an escort either, so if you would like to go study the tree some more without distraction, you have full permission.”

Antlia didn’t know what to say. She never thought that she’d be trusted with something that she thought was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Reaching around, she plopped the seed into her satchel before pulling the Haedian leader in for a hug. He tensed up before relaxing, returning the hug before pulling back. “Thank you sir, I promise to make good use of the rest of my time here. I think my first step is to try and teach the Oracle the way we write runes now, that way no one has to be confused anymore when it wants to speak.”

“Sounds like a great plan. I hope to receive some of your findings as well, I notice you like to write.”

“Ah, yes, sorry. I am a curious being and love to be able to write down my findings to try and share with the world. I study the stars above ground, so it’s only fair that everyone else can read about my findings as well.” She glanced around the room, noticing that the decorations all seemed to be covered in bark and some places plated in copper, giving off a sort of natural feel while also still being a bit fancy.

Auris gave her a farewell, sending her off on her own. She wasn’t sure where she should go now, though she felt like she should head back to the Oracle to try and get some more of those runes down. Maybe if she could find a likeness in their current writings, she’d be able to understand more of what the tree was trying to say to them.

Giving one more glance around camp, she took off towards the tree once more. A single study wouldn’t hurt anyone.