Welcome to Gaia! ::

The lettering on the card shimmered and, one by one, they began to shrivel and peel off the card until, finally, they lifted off and sizzled into a thin, iridescent smoke.

The ink took a few seconds to erase itself from the card, but as the card was stripped of detail, Almadel was born of it.

A holographic circle appeared before her, and then–as if constructed of thousands of tiny, iridescent specks, Almadel’s form began to manifest. His feet were first, and then knees, and hips. The process took half a minute, and the whole time it seemed like he was his own light show.

He wore a similar outfit as usual, however he appeared before her now with no draping coat or loose accessories. A satchel hung from one shoulder and he wore form-fitting pants and shirt. His sleeves were rolled up and, judging by the knee-high boots he was wearing that were wet from the calves down, he was probably getting into something. He was wearing tinted sunglasses, and despite not being adorned in gems and accessories like usual, he still had an air of class and poise. He just also seemed like he’d been out adventuring.

When he stood before her in completion, he smoothed both hands over the front of his outfit as if to brush off the last of the glitter he’d first appeared as. The sparkles dissolved off of him as soon as he shook them out.

“You know, when I gave those out, I was expecting a few extra trips to Earth. Perhaps this is better, it’s like a little vacation to somewhere new–”

He paused, seemed to rethink his words, and then turned back to the Senshi when he realized where they were. “Is this Bestla?” he guessed.

She was painfully easy to read, but just because she seemed in a testy mood didn’t mean any of Almadel’s feathers were getting ruffled. He was still a guest on a foreign world and he wasn’t going to have a bad time.

“With pleasure,” he said, as if oblivious to the attitude she was giving him. He adjusted himself and walked proudly as he followed her lead, but his tail danced behind him in something of a coy, interested manner.

Maybe it was just to fill the silence, but it didn’t take him long to comment, “Your world looks much healthier than where I’ve been recently. Senshi have a special sort of magic when it comes to worlds, I’m a bit envious. What have you been doing around here?”

Unspoken questions radiated like a shroud around Bestla, and Almadel most certainly noticed. She was holding back. He was good at reading people–most of the time. Born of Earth, most of us current conversation partners had not had time to develop deception skills enough to fool him.

He kept his thoughts to himself, perhaps to see what topics she would share on his own, or perhaps just to make sure he could absorb as much of her world as possible.

The steps were almost familiar to him. He walked easily, like he knew the place. His tail danced enthusiastically behind him.

“Oh, yes,” he hummed, eyeing the skeletal remains. “You know, I’d meant to come back,” he said, stroking his chin as he observed the nearly complete collection of bones. “The skull was quite enough difficulty on its own. Is this why you’ve been so dour? You musn’t be mad at me,” he said, and patted her arm reassuringly.

“I meant no harm. This world was dead when I was last here. So take my high praise for all you’ve done to bring it back to life. You’ll be raising him from the dead soon enough too, won’t you!” he laughed, friendly, but undoubtedly calculating. The words weren’t empty but they did buy him time.

“Say what you will about ‘not doing anything’, Senshi worlds are strange like that. They’re more in tune with you than you know. But,” he clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and shifted his weight to one foot.

“What do you know about ‘him’, is he important?” he asked, tilting his head curiously and drawing his eyes back to her.

Almadel gave her a side eye but was quick to smile and hold up his hands as if he meant no harm. “It’s not an interrogation! It’s a question, only. I’ve grown fond of the old fellow. We’ve been together for quite some time. He hasn’t been the best conversation partner, I’ll say that, but I’ll miss him very much. I knew there was something special about him, it’s just difficult to get the full story when there’s no one around to tell it. The Lord of the Wild, hm. No, I understand why you’d want him back. It’s quite different when there’s someone here to look after things and when the universe has left them untended. I’ll bring him home to you, of course,” he said, but there was hesitation in his voice as he thought something over.

He planted his hands firmly on his hips and his tail dipped back and forth behind him.

“But, perhaps, if you would be so kind, you could do something for me, too?”

He turned to face her abruptly. “It isn’t that I don’t want to help, it’s just that it is, quite literally, a very big thing to ask of me. I like you, Bestla. And you’ve already done me a great favor by helping at my museum. It’s just, what you’re asking is actually a very difficult thing. To get him here–safely–will take quite a bit of effort, and even more energy. I can do it, of course, but I want it to be done right. And I’m sure you do, too. I couldn’t help but notice, you’ve got a bountiful selection of mushrooms growing around here.”

Almadel gestured vaguely but without looking, he held an open palm in the direction of a cluster of notably distinct mushrooms. They weren’t quite plentiful but it couldn’t be said that there was a shortage of them.

“Let me collect a few first and I’ll bring your Lord of the Wild back home, safe and sound. I won’t make you lift a finger, except to shake on it.”

His arm dropped to his side and then he offered her his hand. “Deal?”

Almadel brightened immediately. He’d have been happy with the trade he proposed but he wasn’t going to complain at all with her amended offer. If he’d had any hurt feelings about her attitude, they’d have been immediately lost.

Of course, he wouldn’t tell Bestla that she’d never left his good graces; he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. He hadn’t even had to pull out the sad eyes.

“Oh, you spoil me. Have no fear, Bestla. I’m a conservationist. A preserver of species. I’d never do something so barbaric. When it comes to the ecology of worlds, I never take what can’t be replaced.”

Artifacts, not so much. But this was a simple correction.

“Shall I show you how to harvest these mushrooms?” he asked, already rolling up his sleeves. “I don’t know if they’ll be as of use to you as I might find them, but I’m something of an expert on the matter. It would be remiss of me not to impart such information while we’re on the subject.”

The Lord of the Wild was not forgotten.

With a bounce in his step, he made his way over to the nearest cluster of mushrooms and crouched. “It is the same on Earth, isn’t it? Some mushrooms are good and some are dangerous? These are a bit of both.”

He placed his hands atop the cap of the mushroom and at first looked as though he were giving it a bit of a massage. “These are nice and healthy. Oh, good little batteries. They’re a bit bitter. Very acidic. So you shouldn’t eat them. I can, but I think it might hurt you.”

He worked his fingers down the stalk, and then into the dirt. His gentle ministrations helped him find where the mushroom grew beneath the ground, and after a few more seconds of this he was carefully uprooting it.

“Ah, perfect! Yes, you have a very healthy species. Look, the roots are all intact,” he said, admiring the tangle of bulbous mycelium that tapered into a thin weave. “This is a good specimen, too. See how this part has crystallized? I’ll break that off and grind it up. It’s energy is stored there. If you don’t prune them, it blocks and the mushroom wil die. Just a little snip, take off the hard parts, and the soft parts will grow. Do you care about this? You don’t have to,” he laughed, but he seemed too excited not to ramble about this.

She’d already shaken, it was too late for her to renege.

“If you do nothing, it’ll eventually just die and regrow from the spores. It processes nutrients into energy. You’ll find this soil is very healthy. Just in case you ever need fertilizer,” he pointed to the nearest cluster of mushrooms with the one he held in his hand. “Look no further. I’ll just grab a few, what I can fit in my bag.”

He unbuckled the satchel and carefully deposited the mushroom in but it didn’t seem like it filled at all. He began to dig out a second one shortly after.

Never one to refuse a snack, his eyes flashed eagerly and he traded her a smile. “Oh, you’re very sweet. I don’t think there’s anything you could find that I couldn’t eat. But I’ll try anything once.”

He’d collected a few mushrooms–no more than he’d said, and not enough to leave her with a sparse collection of her own, and brushed his hands together before standing.

“But yes, you should most definitely set aside any interesting things you find! You’ll make my job much easier if you keep a little collection." He was a collector but he seemed amused by any sort of interesting finds, even if they weren't for him. Although, Bestla was rather reasonable. He could probably get a few good trades out of her.

He closed up his bag and gave it an affectionate pat. "All right, Bestla. Give me," he paused briefly, nodding his head back and forth as he looked upwards for a second, "Fifteen minutes. Make a space, do whatever you need to prepare the area. I'll fetch your Lord."

Almadel wasn’t so fast that he missed her enthusiastic flapping. He’d given her a thumbs up just before flickering out of sight, as if sunbeams and starlight had swallowed him up.

It was the shortest ‘fifteen minutes’ he’d ever taken, because by the time she made her way back to the clearing, he was already standing back to admire his handiwork. He’d returned the skull exactly as he’d taken it, and now that it was returned it looked as though it was precisely where it was meant to be.

Despite the initial theft, Almadel had undeniably taken very good care of the skull. He didn’t look as if he’d even broken a sweat in the process. His back was to Bestla and he had his hands on his hips as he tilted his head upwards to admire his handiwork. When she was close, he half turned to greet her, tail dancing pleasantly behind him.

“Oh, there you are. Good, you’re right on time. Here, right? This is good?”