As Ralir and his father made their way back into the edges of the Homewood, Ralir gained for the first time an appreciation of how much life it held. He'd grown up surrounded by these lush green environs, and while he'd peeked out at the Barrens before, and knew generally in which direction the Ruins and the Bog each lay, he'd never stepped out in recent memory. Could hearing about it really compare to living through that taxing journey? Certainly, he and Father had come prepared, but that didn't mean it had been an easy task. It had been harder on the way back, too. He'd made the trek supporting Father, thinking it would be nice to get home on their own pace instead of rushing him to match with some caravan of travelers.Instead, it'd been a grueling journey, and they'd been fortunate that they'd packed water and seeds to replenish their energy, and that the gentle warmth of Ralir's new gift had proved useful in easing Father's pain for one last burst of strength on their way back into shade. Remember, use it carefully, Father had said, though he seemed to approve. He'd always been a proponent of using your strengths cleverly for better effect.
He felt revitalized upon entering the Homewood again. It smelled alive, Ralir was surprised to discover. The bright, soothing freshness of leaf-scent and the welcoming cries of the local fauna - the fauna he'd grown up immersed in - were such a jarring difference from the stark plateau he'd been pacing through just an hour ago. How could he have known, though? Vykeli had always been this living green place, for Ralir. Though he'd traveled to the edges of the Homewood, and some fawns did accompany their elders out, sometimes, that'd never been the case for Ralir. He and Father didn't have anyone else, and neither of them forgot that easily.
He could see some kind of relief coming over his father's face, too. There was still a ways to go before they made it back to their den again, but now that they were in the Homewood, they weren't likely to be beset by some predator, and though some random noul might be a stranger, they were still probably a friend.
Ralir had heard, once, that it was nouls who had made the Homewood what it was. The Others had stolen the life from all of Vykeli, and it was the efforts of the nouls who were now ascended that had coaxed it back. He couldn't imagine that. Who could have grown up in an environment like the Barrens? Even if they'd clung to the roots of the Grandfather Tree, where the magic reverberating through that ancient-souled being could promise some semblance of safety, it couldn't be much of a life at all. What did those first noul eat? How did they leaf through the shattered remnants of the home they'd been born to and create a safe haven?
Ralir could never know for sure. As he paced through the forest, feeling glad for the cool soil underneath his feet, he couldn't help but marvel. "Father, when we're back you'll need to tell me, again, about the - ah."
He'd stopped short because he'd seen something unfamiliar: a patch of carefully-tended plants, with fresh shoots. Someone's garden? No, that wasn't the issue: there were gardens all over the Homewood, tended carefully by nouls interested in preserving Vykeli's life, or cultivating new specimen for sustenance. This plant looked unfamiliar entirely. Ralir approached carefully, careful as always to tread only on soil, so that the roots of the plant were not too disturbed by his presence. "Father, look!"
The plant had dense, desaturated leaves, with ends that were a little brighter and a little more saturated than the rest. There was some light mottling, though it was unclear whether the color variation was a characteristic of the plant or something that existed because it was still growing. In the center of each cluster of leaves was a tiny, dark arrangement of petals - or perhaps seeds. They were so small that it was difficult to distinguish between them carefully. Most importantly, though, it was alive, and it was new.
Father had told Ralir before, of course, that even jackhops had been new to the Homewood once. That sounded unbelievable; Ralir could not imagine an environment without them. But, apparently, some brave, clever noulicorn, one who'd long since become ascended, had discovered their remains and painstakingly pieced them together again to let them live again. That was unbelievable.
Father's approach was slower, though now that they were in the woods he no longer needed to rely on Ralir so heavily. "It's a new plant," said Father quietly. "I imagine we'll hear about its story soon enough."
"But - how?" Ralir asked, though he knew well enough that the Grandfather Tree's gifts were intended to, someday, breathe life back into all of Vykeli. Now, though, there was undeniable proof. He looked from the plant back to Father's face. If they as a species could find this entire species of plants when it'd been gone since probably before the Others had left Vykeli for dead, then certainly they could find one party of nouls that had set off many moons before Ralir's conscious memory began, right?
[ ooc @ bug - i know there is a mention of using ralir's ability in the text, but given that a) the homewood doesn't need healing lmao and b) i don't feel like it's really described, i'm not going to personally count it as a use of his powers for the purpose of adept requirements
wc: 884 ]
