From a top the canopy, Troy could attempt to judge the distance to the clearing, but how far it seemed to be and how far it was in reality was quite different. The trees were a mix of thick and thin, tall and somewhat less so. Their trunks varied mostly in shades of rich and ash browns with the occasional oddity thrown in, such as the tree with lurid green bark. Saplings of many varieties attempted to climb to reach the canopy, but it was likely only a few could manage to do so. Due to the mostly green ceiling, the sky could not be seen, just that it was bright enough to be considered day. Troy claimed that the suns were quite high in the sky, so a night period was still somewhat distant.That was right, plural. There was more than one sun. Troy had only quickly glanced, for the two stars were extremely bright, but he mentioned that the smallest of the two seemed more orange than white and currently, they shared a similar s.p.a.ce above them.
Pike planned for them to reach the clearing, scope out the area and consider its potential as a temporary camp. There were currently no other islands to explore, so it wouldn"t be in error to camp in the same spot for the next few nights if the place chosen was the right one. He also would like for them to camp sooner rather than later on this first day to discuss strategy, however, he did not hurry forward.
For one thing, although they were somewhat shielded from the view of most of the flying menaces this realm was known to breed, there were still plenty of dangerous beasts and even some plants to be found at ground level. In fact, less than five minutes into their journey as they traipsed through the foliage, a crowned serpent that was as thick as Leon"s thigh and five times in length against Pike"s height dropped from an overhead branch, looking for a quick takeaway. Unfortunately, all it gained was a quick death; Pike smashed it"s jaw with his hammer, nearly removing the bone from its attachment to the creature"s skull completely and Troy leapt forward with a long knife and cut off its head.
Leon"s heart beat like thunder within his chest and his fists curled until they turned bone white. He took several deep breaths as the two martial artists claimed their trophy. This type of serpent, while it looked frightening, was the opportunist type and a scavenger, also quite lazy, slow and without poison, so it wouldn"t gain them a great deal of points as a kill, but its skin was iridescent, popular amongst the n.o.bles in the form of belts or decorative boots so worth money. It would be a waste to leave it behind, but the whole ambush had still scared him. He also struggled to look at the b.l.o.o.d.y mess the two martial artists left behind and could only aside his eyes in the end.
Continuing on, they came across a swarm of dire-hornets, but as they left the nest alone, the insects which were the size of Leon"s palm with stingers the length of his thumb, also let them be. Later, they came across two large felines fighting for territories. This time, Troy gestured in question, his face excited and hungry to test his abilities, but Pike shook his head; not worth the effort. The beasts were left to battle without interference.
"Oh," Leon voiced in sudden surprise, causing the others to pause to glance at him. His face reddened as he raised a finger to point out a thick patch of herbs nestled beneath the exposed root crop of a tree. The branches seemed to lean over the herbs protectively and even their leaves somewhat hid them from sight. If not for fuchsia pink blossoms adorning them currently, Leon would never have noticed them.
Caelus frowned, looking at the variegated, moon shaped leaves before recognising it; "Just some common Twice Crescent Elderwort. What"s their to be excited about?"
"Ah, well," Leon mentioned as he cautiously crept closer, overly wary of danger that could be lurking. It was well known that beasts would seek out or even claim the herbs in their territory to use as medicines or aids to enhance their cultivation. Just because this herb was common, did not mean it had no uses. So it could be said that it was no surprise that an ordinary centipede crawling over one of the thick roots of the tree gave him a start, his tension drawn so tight. He took a deep breath to calm himself once more before explaining; "You see, this pl-plant only flowers when Celestial T-Tear herb b-begins t-to g-grow and flower amongst it." Leon gently swept the vine like foliage of the tree to one side and pointed towards a vine like plant with small, lilac coloured spots upon its leaves, which wound itself around the stems of the larger herb. Its flower had no petals, just a sticky teardrop shaped bud upon the tips of its off-shoot stem, which were coated in a silvery powder. "The Twice Crescent Elderwort seeds attach t-to the Celestial T-Tear"s seeds, which f-float to other pl-places to g-germinate." Leon recalled this herb as he"d found this symbiotic relationship interesting.
Pike smiled. Unlike the Twice Crescent Elderwort herb which grew quickly and abundantly, spreading over its chosen bed like a weed, the Celestial Tear herb was slow to germinate and even slower to grow. Certain conditions need to be met or it would not grow at all. Therefore, it could be considered quite rare. Leon was clever to understand that the former was flowering only because of its presence, otherwise they would have walked straight pa.s.sed this small treasure. On Leon"s request, not only did they harvested several whole Celestial Tear herbs including the intact roots, despite the difficulty of unwinding the vines, but also both herbs" seed heads. Leon hoped to be able to grow both together in the future.
Not long after a quick skirmish with a flock of red sparrows, the bold, powerless creatures attempting to channel the pride of their Phoenix ancestors and causing nothing more than an inconvenience before they fled, the six humans and one fox arrived at the clearing that had only been seen from a far. The trees parted to reveal both a pale, aquamarine sky and a large, still lake. Naturally, where there was water, there were beasts of all shapes and sizes, thus despite arriving, the team still had to remain beneath the shelter of the tree landscape bordering the clearing.
From the shadow of one tree, Leon"s eyes gazed curiously over the diving flocks, the lounging packs and herds that gathered about the lake. There seemed to be what could only be described as a tentative ceasefire between the mult.i.tudes of herbivores and the carnivores close by, the former with nervous posture and eyes as they approached the waters" edge, while the latter were as vigilant, seeking an opportunity but not being so bold as to try their luck as scavengers and other opportunists might steal away their prey if they moved too soon or too late. Of course the situation also was not ideal for the team; they could not hunt for the same reasons as the predators, worse, they could easily become the prey.
Pike indicated for them to retreat slowly and carefully, before pointing upwards indicating the generous thick and level branches of one nearby tree. Leon felt arms reach about his waist, just as the shadows surrounding the tree seemed to lengthen, darken and solidify. His body was lifted off of the ground and he grabbed Pike"s strong forearm in surprise before landing in the tree. In the other arm, the martial artist held Roman who looked equally taken aback. Velana leapt up without aid, the fox scampering up easily along side her.
The shadows then moved abnormally until they formed the shape of a doorway. Caelus was unceremoniously spat out of this s.p.a.ce, followed by Troy, who complained as he strode out of the shadows. "How are you so heavy?"
Caelus sat upright and crossed his arms about his chest. "I could have made my own way up," he muttered. Troy raised an eyebrow but added nothing to refute him and the shadows returned to normal with a silent tw.a.n.g. He then glanced at Pike before asking;
"What should we do now?"