DRUIDS - 2

"Xayah, when you finish what you are doing, come with me." Cailu instructed, having come up beside the vayron while she was lost in her task of pruning and tending the plant under her scrutiny. Something that effectively startled Xayah and made her jump in surprise, nearly dropping what was in her paws. "Nothing bad, don't worry. The Druids have simply taken note and appreciation of you tending to their plants."

Xayah blinked at Cailu, kind of... surprised, really. Simply working on some pruning and general tending of plants was enough for her to be welcomed on the territory now? Not that she was about to start complaining, that is. No way. It was just... not at all what she expected. Surely, more would've been needed from her and the others before gaining the chance to go further into the territory. What about everyone else? Were they also being granted this opportunity? It didn't look like there was a large crowd behind Cailu, just waiting to go into the territory with her and their haedian guide.

"I'll finish working on this plant, and then we can be on our way." Xayah said, turning her focus back to the plant she was tending to. It only needed a stick support on one of the branches, something Xayah was able to get sorted really easily before calling it good. At the very worst, it would lose a branch if her support didn't last.

Standing up was enough for Cailu to gesture for her to follow him, the haedian giving her a friendly smile before they started their walk further into the clan territory. Like previous times, Xayah passed by Cislunar as he was working alongside some others to move some dirt as needed. Heavy lifting type things that Xayah wasn't particularly fond of herself, if she were honest. Nothing that would be surprising to learn for those around her.

"So... What exactly am I going to be doing?" Xayah asked, looking around at the various haedians she could see moving about more and more the further into the territory they went. However, Cailu didn't give her a response. Not a true one, at least. A simple hum of acknowledgement was all she got, something that was oh so enlightening to what she had in store. 

Xayah spotted a tan, fluffy haedian with blue markings as he puttered about. Visibly helping some of the haedians around him with their chosen tasks before he spotted Cailu and herself and started to make his way over. Xayah tried to spot more of what she may be doing, briefly wondering if she would be working on healing others again. Maybe her gifted crystal from the Tranquil would come in handy once more!

"Ah, Cailu. It is good to see you again. I assume this is Xayah that the plants spoke of. I am Auris, the leader of this clan. It's nice to meet you. If you are willing, I have a task for you to complete." Auris asked, tilting his head at Xayah before giving Cailu a nod in parting when the other haedian took his leave. 

"A task?" Xayah asked with a furrowed brow, unwilling to blindly agree to something before she knew the details of what exactly she was doing. "What kind of task? Nothing related to trials of strength or battle I assume."

Auris simply shook his head, giving Xayah a small but amused smile as he led her down a well worn but thin path. It was quieter through here, only the soft sounds of general wildlife and low speaking between haedians and their plants or animals. 

"Hardly. In fact, it involves tending to and nurturing a very important part of our clan." Auris said as he continued to lead her deeper and deeper within the forest, slowing to a stop only after they reached a clearing of sorts with a large, clearly ancient tree in the center. "This is the Oracle. It holds the collective wisdom of all of the woodland creatures. You will tend to it, but you will not be alone. The Guardians will aid you, should you need it."

Xayah looked around, spotting some of the Guardians that Auris mentioned. They were busy working on roots of the trees leading towards the Oracle, but it was clear they had still noticed the pair when they arrived. While not surprised thanks to learning of the approach via their link with the plants, they were still surprised to see it was a topsider. The tree, however... drew her attention. Kept her focus, made her want to document everything she could. It was like she could feel a hum of sorts from it.

"... Thank you for the honor. I'll do my best." Xayah agreed, giving Auris an incline of her head before approaching the Oracle. The magical hum made her beyond curious, Xayah settling in to start the process of tending to the ancient tree.

While yes, she did actually work on nurturing the tree and ensuring its health with general maintenance, her focus very much swayed to the ancient runes upon the bark. The glowing, ancient runes. Xayah was hunched over part of it, brow furrowed as she traced the shapes of the runes. Muttered to herself about where she'd seen this before, what it could potentially be related to. What it could say- what it could mean. The back and forth in her mind on if she'd seen this language before ended up making her question if it was instead a sister language of some kind. A different dialect, and that being why she couldn't read it. Hell- could the haedians even read it?

Either way, Xayah was doing her best to commit the runes to memory. She wanted nothing more than to understand what it said and why.

"What do these mean?" Xayah murmured to herself quietly as she moved along the ancient bark to continue trying to memorize the glowing runes. Maybe she would be able to ask Auris later on. "Fascinating..."