Ritz bounced herself, running after Rift. She caught up with him, occasionally bouncing instead of running. His enthusiasm and happiness was contagious.

"I can't wait to see!" Nai giggled, bouncing once more before deciding to just run. She wished she could use her magic here too, but she would kill all the stuff. It was a saddening thought. But instead of thinking about that, Nai thought about how happy Rift was, and how cool his house was gonna be.

@Rift

Rift all of a sudden halted, realizing that he had left his herbs back at where he had hid from Ritonai. He quickly spun around and touched the ground, letting his magic seep forward, back to the meeting place and into the tree nearby. "Hold on a second." The vines from the tree immediately came to life and gingerly picked up the bundle and began to hand them off, similar to how they had done with the flower. He directed it slowly, his body starting to feel exhausted, until it was just above them. He had the vines carefully set it down in front of him. He picked them up and nodded to Ritonai before leading the way back to his home.

The trees were growing closer together until they stopped and opened to a clearing. In the middle of the clearing was an ancient oak, twisted and beautiful. Fungus and flowers dotted the field while a soft glow came from within a gap between a couple of the roots. He motioned for Nai to follow, unable to speak over the herbs in his mouth. He led into the roots, where he set the plants down and turned towards her, his tail twitching with excitement. The inside was dark, but lit enough by glowing mosses. "This is my home! What do you think?"


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"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags:
notes: here

Happily Nai watched as the plants brought Rift his stuff. Man that was cool. Following him all the way to a huge tree, Nai gasped.

"This is your home? It's so cool! I wish I could live in a place like this!" She exclaimed quietly, just then remembering that Rift's gem ear was sensitive.

"Sorry for being so loud."

@Rift

Rift looked at Nai with surprise. He hadn't realized that she had been loud. Then again, there was a thin wrapping of leaves around his ear, so perhaps it was muffled enough. But when he thought about it, sound seemed to get louder in his ear again. Was he getting used to it?

"That's okay, I'm getting used to loud things. Also, I cover my ear with plants so it gets quieter." He showed her the leaf-wrapped ear before sitting down on the soft earth. "You can stay here for a while, if you like. I could grow you a bed. It can get lonely sometimes, only surrounded by plants. Company would be very welcome!"


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"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Ritonai
notes: here

Nai nodded. Wow, Rift was super good with plants! He proposed the idea of her living with him, and Nai nodded at his offer.

"I'd love to stay. That's very nice of you to offer, Rift." Ritonai dipped her head graciously. She felt happy at the newfound friendship that sprouted from the ashes that she had made. Speaking of which.

"Rift, I really wanna practice my fire magic. But I don't wanna hurt your plants. Is there any place I can practice it?"

@Rift

Rift felt a twinge of fear at the mention of Nai's fire magic. He looked out through the gap in the roots and shivered. He wondered if there was, in fact, a place. But he couldn't think of one, not one around that would be safe from the grasses and the plants. He frowned, trying to think if there was a sandy hollow or a pool nearby, but he hadn't explored the area around properly yet. He had been too busy tending his garden.

"I-I don't know. If you want, you can look around for a bare clearing or a pool to practice around. I would clear an area for you, but my magic is running a little thin right now. If you give me some time to rest, I might be able to clear you a space."


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"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Ritonai
notes: here

Nai noticed his shiver. He was still scared. Oh no. He was scared of her. And now he was frowning. Oh nononono. SHe made her only friend upset.

"No, it's okay Rift. I can just not practice it. I'll be fine." Nai told her newfound pal. She didn't want to make him uncomfortable or anything. She just wanted to make friends, and she wanted to practice her magic too. But she guessed she couldn't yet.

@Rift

He snapped his head over, realizing that he had been insensitive. He had offered Nai to stay. She should be able to practice her magic if she wanted to. Besides, Rift doubted that she could do a ton of magic yet. Then again, he had advanced so much since their last meeting. He shook his head at her, wanting her to know that he hadn't meant to be upset.

"No, it's okay! We'll find a place for you to practice your magic, I promise. We can find a nice patch and I'll ask all the plants to move out of the way so you can practice safely. I'm just worried about the plants is all and I'd like it to be safe for everyone."


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"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Ritonai
notes: here

Ritz nodded. She was honestly just happy that she could practice. Though, she hadn't really learned anything new since she fought him. Except for those wings she never tried out. Oh yeah! Those wings!

"Lemme show you something super cooolll!!!!!" SHe squealed. COncentrating, she felt a change. Opening her eyes, she looked behind her to see pretty red wings. They were so cool.

"They don't hurt anything, but they look sooooo cool!"

@Rift

At first, Rift leaned eagerly in to watch. He knew that the magic wouldn't be flame, as he knew, at this point, she would no better. But then he froze, images from the past barging into his mind. Those same wing, spread open, making the goose's wings glimmer. The wings flashing as they fought, the wings beating at his body, bruising him as they tore at his skin. And the blood painted the ground.

It was too soon. He was still recovering from the ordeal. There were still scars that needed healing. He flinched and moved back a little bit, turning away to keep them out of his sight. He felt bad, because he knew she would be hurt, but he couldn't stand to look at them. "Y-yes, they're very pretty, but I've seen them before and I thought..." he took a shaky breath as he trailed off. "Sorry. I know I keep reacting bad to your magic but the wings I've seen before on someone I don't like."


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"Speech looks like this."
Thoughts look like this.

tags: @Ritonai
notes: here