99 Romantic Debacle (1/2)
Laurel's POV
I needed to find ways to protect my forest. I had this feeling Maximus would come again. For some reason he was after spirits. I spent the next few days bouncing ideas off of Ivy and Mist. Literally. Since there were so many apples leftover from the ending autumn, we had lots of ideas that we practiced with apples. I was using our brainstorming session as another way to help Ivy and Mist with their training. And sometimes the results were... very messy.
”Mist, if you let the bubble have a little more give to it you should be able to get it to make this bounce back.” I tossed an over ripe, power loaded apple toward the pond. Mist popped above the surface and with a shimmer of energy formed a bubble around herself. The apple looked like it met some resistance as it slowed ever so slightly when it touched the bubble. But in the end it still passed right through, popping the bubble before exploding.
”Still gross!” Mist yelled, disappearing below the water. ”Why did I let you talk me into trying that again?”
I chuckled as I turned to Ivy.
”Now you try loading an apple, Ivy,” I said. Ivy now held a rotten apple in one hand and tried to charge it with spiritual energy. She was getting pretty close, too, when she lost control. Apple mush flew everywhere as the overripe fruit exploded in her hand.
”You know, I think that one was better than last time!” Mist called from the pond. She sounded a little too cheerful about it. I think she was happy about not being the only one covered in applesauce.
”But still pretty messy,” Ivy replied, wiping apple guts off her face. ”Does it have to be apples again?”
”What if you try it this way?” I asked, taking one of the apples and charging it with energy. I then threw it as hard as I could, watching it make a clean arc across the water. The apple was loaded with enough energy that its explosion sounded like a small thunderclap. There was a small scream from across the water.
”You nearly killed me!” Rine squawked as he flew across the pond.
”Ah. Sorry, Rine,” I said. ”I didn't notice you there.”
”That's not even the worst of it! Did you make that monster bush I passed on the way here?”
”Oh! You mean the ivy-hedge!” Ivy suddenly lit up with excitement. ”It's my first try combining plants on my own, how did it work? Laurel showed me sundews and I wanted to see what I could do with them.”
Rine gave Ivy a hard look, which was odd coming from someone so small. ”I was trying to hide from a raven and I found a bush with your power signature. I figured I would be safe in something that Ivy made. But as soon as I landed in it, the bush started to try curling around me. I had to fly out of the bush or risk being stuck there!” Rine hrmphed. (Can you turn a hrmph into a full sentence or two? I was not sure, but that is what it felt like.)
Ivy's face turned the vibrant green only a young dryad can manage. ”I did encourage the ivy to grow fast, and to respond to movement…. Maybe I overdid it? Sorry, Rine.”
I sighed. One more thing to fix before I left.
Rine nodded at Ivy, not willing to stay angry with her for long. He clearly had a soft spot for the young dryad. Faun would say he was like a mother hen watching over a chick. I had a pang of loneliness for Faun as the fairy flew up and landed on Ivy's shoulder, now one of his favorite perches.
”Laurel, I have a message for you from the elves and the prince of the Franelkin Dukedom.”