The Lone Kirin

The woods of Fieri

One of the few obstacles on our way north is what we about to enter. The Fieri woods. Val told me on our way here that this forest is famous for all the popular cooking ingredients found under its blue-tinged canopies. A wild mix of mushrooms, flowers, and animals that are base ingredients for a lot of the more exquisite dishes within the Fey kingdom.

As a lot of the Fey kingdoms inhabitants are vegetarian by nature, as their bond with both flora as well as the fauna, that keeps them alive and well is too precious to them, they harvest a lot of these materials, to cook meat-flavored dishes, that are entirely vegetarian.

"Hey, Prophet. You surely wouldn't mind if we stopped along the way to pick up some sausage-flavored mushrooms? They would work well with what I have in mind for dinner."

[Not at all. I'd really like to eat some of everything around here.
By the way, do you know why these woods carry so much plant life, that tastes like meat? There must be some reason for such a dramatic shift in... I don't actually know what makes things taste the way they do.]

"There are some stories that claim an ancient Fey dabbled in the art of transmutation to such a degree, that he managed to change the whole ecosystem around these parts, to live the culinary life, he always envisioned. But historians doubt that was the actual cause. Sometimes, things are just the way they are, because some gods were drunk or had a bad day."

[Is there such a thing? Drunk gods, I mean.]

"It is quite common, I believe. A lot of stories tell about how even gods need some time off. Watching over creation must be a hard job. And if you consider them nothing more than overseers like the Aranids do, then It isn't that far fetched, that they would indulge in all sorts of little helpers, to make them feel relaxed."

[What sort of alcohol would be strong enough to make a god feel intoxicated?]

"Don't ask me. I've slept through most history lessons I took. I am no that interested in listening or knowing about authorities if you've noticed."

[Fair enough.]

Sometimes I feel like Val is even more rebellious than I am.
Where this hatred towards authorities comes from, she never explained in greater detail, but it must've been some sort of event that changed her whole view on things. Maybe.

As we ride into the forest, the climate suddenly changes after the first few steps. It was a good idea to slow down to walking speed, as even here, the roots are quite impracticable to walk over. These must be quite healthy trees if they have roots as thick as my neck.

As we enter deeper into the forest, the temperature drops even further, and the singing of birds around us slowly fades. Val told me to keep it down while we are here.
This forest is protected and named after the current head chef of the kingdom.
An ancient Treant named Fieri. I feel it must be pretty unwieldy if you have to rename a place every so often, but considering that Treants probably live for several hundred years, at least, that might not be the case.

This ancient tree is one of the most successful contractors around the world, she told me, which means that we should be watched over by now. So no mindless killing. Being attacked only means that we have crossed a line, we shouldn't have.

With a slow but steady pace, we come to a small river that is mostly overgrown with roots. The dense canopy over us makes this place eerily quiet, but in my humble opinion, it makes the whole atmosphere a lot more "magical".
I am not just saying that because it sprouts different feelings like mystery and such in me, but I can definitely feel like my whole being is a lot more at ease.
Instead of this massive potential between ambient mana and my own making me constantly aware of my individual horn nubs, this doesn't feel like being a firefly in the night, but rather like I am a firefly at dawn.

I am fitting in if only a little. I know that we shouldn't stay for too long, as Fieri seemingly is a pretty overprotective guy, but I'd really relish this experience a bit longer.

After jumping across the river and Val calming down a few pixies, that were scared shitless by us randomly showing up behind them, we reached a little valley, where a see of mushrooms greeted us. Despite there being no trees in the there, the surrounding trees grew to an enormous degree, which seemed almost unnatural.
If this was Fieri's doing, wouldn't that clash with his very purist view of nature?
Meh. Sometimes, the end justifies the hypocrisy.

"It'll only take a minute. I will have to do a little prayer to the protector, but after that, we will be able to both traverse the woods, as well as pick some mushrooms. Just don't randomly snack on everything you see."

[Never would I have thought about such a thing.]

"Why are you drooling, then?"

[For no particular reason, really. I just felt like it.]

Damn. These mushrooms give off a genuinely heavenly smell. Show a little compassion, Val!

But I guess even a little nibble wouldn't go unseen. Since we entered the woods, I could faintly feel a presence at the edge of my consciousness.
The precision of it always staying on the rim of it truly intimidates me. What sort of creature can either sense me sensing it or knows from experience, that this is where it can tread, without being fully detected?
A scary one! And me just drooling about the place surely doesn't give of the best impression I could make. As I just stand here, slowly rotating, taking in the view, I can feel how our little spy-friend slowly moves with me, to stay out of sight. If I had to guess, it would stay out of sight either way, as the trees are great at obstructing the view, but it seems to prefer staying behind me. Which worries me even more. If it can keep up with me turning, then it must have excellent speed and the means of traversing the terrain easily. It being at the edge of my senses, I can't really say if it may be underground or up in the trees. I'd like to learn some things from this creature if possible, but it's probably some sort of beast. Everything else wouldn't make sense. If only lesser Fey are allowed to live here as gardeners, then surely everyone else must be either a beast or... maybe a slave? Either way, Val told me not to provoke anything. That's why even this much might not be too smart if it knows that I know that it's there.

I would at least have the moral high ground this time. Not that it would amount to much, but after we went out of here, I would have an easier time explaining it to Valeria.

Speaking of my glittering companion, she just finished picking on the local biota and slowly walks back to me.
Hmm... It doesn't seem like she collected a lot. But that is probably for the best. Wouldn't want to anger the big guy right behind me, Right?

Wait.

Eh?