Fall 75, 124
Travelling through the forests was not very eventful for a long while. Kage didn't recognize any of the paths, having not explored the area in literally thousands of years. No, he'd previously been content to keep his visits to his 'meet up' clearing short and brief. Even the treants he'd sometimes send to the area would keep to a relatively small radius and their only purpose was to pass along messages.
White had been helping direct Kage as to where to go. They had taken a detour to follow some interesting looking tracks which White thought might lead to a faster route. Unfortunately, this led to some unexpected trouble.
So, when his fifteen foot tall treant was attacked from behind by a twenty foot tall tiger, he was taken completely by surprise.
"Of course there's tigers around here," he growled under his breath as his treant fell onto its hands and knees. Kage and his minions were somewhat safe and protected inside of it, but they probably wouldn't be for long. The tiger dug its fangs into the neck of the treant that rolled on the ground, trying to shake off its attacker.
The good news was that the treant was no pushover. It had been modified by a master druid and it was quite powerful, even if it did lack any real combat skill. It managed to elbow the tiger with a wooden spike that caused it considerable pain.
Kage and his faelnir were jolted back and forth as the fight continued, until suddenly he started to hear a strange noise in the distance.
The noise was without words, but it was soothing in its own odd way. It didn't take long for him to realize that it was beast tongue, not that he understood any of it. His animism was piss poor in comparison to those who could calm a tiger of this size. He could barely handle a house cat and he had no patience for disobedience. It was one of his weaknesses as an aelf.
The tiger released its grasp on the treant and let it fall to the ground. Kage let out a grunt of pain as he tumbled to the other side of his safe enclosure. He poked his head out to see that a woman was standing not too far away. She continued to talk to the tiger, who laid down on the ground submissively and showed its underbelly.
The woman put a hand on its head and continued talking, chanting. Kage then noticed that there was something familiar about the woman. Not in her appearance, but the way she talked and moved. He blinked, and then he realized that this was fluffy in the form of a faelnir he didn't recognize.
He exited his treant and walked over, leaving the green creation to heal using the regenerative properties of the pseudowisp that it contained.
"Fluffy? You came right on time."
She gave him a submissive nod, but she maintained her focus on the tiger. She closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them she finally stopped speaking.
"It's my familiar now," she told Kage with a smile.
"Good, good," Kage said with a nod, "you should imprint on it too. The only thing better than one tiger would be two." He grabbed her chin and pulled it so that she would look him right in the eyes. He had missed her more than he cared to admit, and seeing her in a healthy state made him happy.
"This form," he continued, "I don't like it."
Fluffy blushed. She was wearing the body of a faelnir in her forties. It was not attractive, but it belonged to someone she had killed not too long ago. Better to be in a body native to the area, was her thought. She said, "some of my other forms are not in good shape," she said.
"Then let me heal them."
She took time shifting between the bodies that had gotten injured in the leviathan's innards. Kage kept a hand on her forehead and healed her burn injuries until all of her forms, save the leviathan, was in good shape. Fluffy returned to her natural form, the one modified by malediction, and finally Kage felt as though he was looking at his pet again.
He lifted her off the ground and gave her a strong hug that she cherished dearly. Then, he gave her a kiss on the lips and set her down. There was much more he wanted to do, but it was highly likely that they were still in danger. Other activities would have to wait.
Kage took a knife and chopped off a piece of the tiger to feed to Fluffy, who took the time to imprint on the tiger. In the meantime, Kage healed the tiger's injuries and walked back to check up on the faelnir who'd come. He doubted they had injuries, but he decided to check anyways.
White was unconscious but otherwise fine and Sylvia had actually blinked away into the trees during the fight. She looked embarrassed but Kage couldn't blame her for using her instincts to get to safety.
"Now, what to do about this tiger," Kage said as he rested against a cherry blossom tree. "It'd do well to protect us, but I wonder…"
"Master," Fluffy said, interrupting his thoughts.
"Hmm?"
"I think you should take the form of another race. I haven't seen any aelves here at all… it might be best, for your safety."
Kage snorted but nodded, allowing Fluffy to transfigure him into the body of a human male. He did think it would be easier to blend in once they got to civilization, though the simple fact that they were walking around with a massive treant was probably a big giveaway that there was something special about their little group. Though he supposed most probably didn't even know vitae was a thing – perhaps he could play the treant off as some sort of advanced form of druidism. He typically did get transfigured before travelling… the only trouble this time around was that his changeling had been unavailable.
The feeling of getting transfigured was never pleasant, but he was somewhat pleased with the outcome. The faelnir he resembled was one he found attractive in a traditional sense, which was why he'd had Fluffy imprint on him to begin with. He was much shorter than his aelven form – that would take some getting used to.
"Alright, let's get moving," he said, waiving everyone to get back into the treant. "Fluffy, tell your tiger to walk ahead of us and to clear a path. We will look for the nearest city and go to it. From there, I will try to find out where we are and how to best reach my contacts. Our trip will last… perhaps a week or two to give Sylvia enough time to restore her reserves. From there, we will likely return to aelheim." He spoke to everyone so that they would all be on the same page. He had other things he wanted to do, but he'd only do them if he got the chance to.
Their group travelled in peace over the next several hours. The tiger carved a path and they followed from the comfort of the treant. Only the most vicious of creatures would try making trouble with a 20' tall tiger and a slightly shorter humanoid. The only thing they really had to worry about was those with intelligence. Kage assumed that their presence would have been noticed by now, and he spent his time thinking about how he would handle meeting people from one of Jian's clans. He also got the feeling that there might be bandits around looking to make a quick buck.
There was once time that an arrow flew from the trees and stuck in the side of the treant, but there was no follow up to the attack. That was the only time they were stopped until they came unto a road that was blocked off by several very large looking men. They bravely stared down the foreigners and their tiger with their weapons drawn.
Kage raised an eyebrow – were these men really brave enough to take them on? He could tell that Fluffy was just itching to command the tiger to attack, but he held up a hand and hopped out of the treant.
"Hello there," he called out when he landed.
"Who are you and why are you travelling this way?" asked one of the Futo clansmen.
"I come from a land far away from Jian," Kage explained, "me and my… friends here are mages who seek to provide services. We can offer you our strength in battle and I know several craftsmen who may be able to provide you with equipment."
"You walk with one of the tigers in the forest. You can command it?"
"Well, one of us can. I travel with an inari," Kage explained, waving a hand for Fluffy to reveal herself. She hopped down as well and came up to them. She probably looked unlike any inari they'd ever seen before, though any inari with a human form could probably mimic the appearance if they wanted to.
The Futo members exchanged a few quiet words and then said, "you definitely don't look like you're from Jian, nor do you appear to be associated with a rival clan… but how do we know this isn't some sort of ruse?"
"Well," Kage said, stroking his nonexistent beard because he forgot he didn't have one anymore. He awkwardly stopped then put his hand back down to his side, "we could have just attacked you if we wanted to cause trouble. I don't know how strong you lot are, but I have a hard time believing you could easily handle this tiger let alone the rest we have to offer." He could see that the futo members were full of saol, making him think they had some sort of dominion that offered enhanced strength. That would check out with his generic knowledge of Jian and how they relied on dominions for the most part.
"Very well. Two of us will escort you to Moonshadow Glen. There you can meet with those who may be able to put your skillsets to better use. Twas nice meeting you."
Kage nodded then returned to his treant, happy that they could continue on without bloodshed. It was still quite a long travel to get to the Glen. They had to have similar conversations with many other people who guarded the safer areas of the forest, but it was easier now that they had some locals who could help vouch for their authenticity.
Magic used:
Fluffy: Master to imprint on the tiger, novicex4 shifting between forms
Kage: Journeyman healing x3
