13. Northward Bound

 

Northward Bound

The group heads north from the River Grove shop into Honeysukle Grove. Vines, ivy, and honeysuckle encircle the homes here. They then pass quickly through Little Hollow Grove–where the ground drops into a small valley–before making their way through the north-most neighborhood of Burrow Grove. Small animals like moles, badgers, and squirrels scurry about.

Zixxes trails behind the group of would-be rescuers, his reclaimed coat wrapped around his waist and his clothing now much cleaner. The bard–who had introduced himself as Maximillian the Magnificent–had done some magic to get the worst of the muck out. 

He clutches his retrieved staff in his hands, needing to feel its solidness in his grip for a while. It had been a foolish thing to throw it after the thief… the girl. Yes, she had stolen something precious from him, but he almost lost something even more important in the pursuit of it.

The staff is taller than Zixxes, meant for a Goliath fully grown, not one still in their youth such as he. It is carved from the wood of a Highland Ash, the pale-brown wood not entirely straight, but sturdy and well polished. Instead of a pummel, the staff is topped with a wide loop, the wood carved into a continuous, unbroken circle. The opening acts as a crook when he is shepherding in his highland home-–though, on more than one occasion, he had used it to reel in one of his younger siblings. 

It had been used much the same by his mother when it had been hers. 

His fingers lightly follow the familiar patterns that whorl down the slightly curved length of the staff. From afar, one could not see just how intricate the carvings are, but Zixxes recognizes every outline of flower, mountain, or animal with a single sweep of his thumb along its length. 

The carvings were done by his mother, a love poem to the Grimshale Highlands that she cherished more than anything in the world. A roadmap home. It had passed to him when he had taken over training the youngest of their clan.

And he had almost forfeited it in that forest. 

He cannot bring himself to blame the girl… Anila. He hopes she is able to get to her brother soon. If anyone could understand the burden of care the girl seems to have on her shoulders, it is Zixxes. 

With a shake of his head, he pulls both his gaze and his thoughts from the staff, reaching around to slide it into its straps along his back. 

Ahead he can see true wilds of the forest open up, the clear delineation of where the city ends. He wonders if they will be able to find the lost family tonight… What were their names? He couldn’t remember if it had been said or not. He knows that it is a few hours’ hike to their last known position, but if luck is with them perhaps they could bring both father and daughter back home tonight. 

Zixxes is brought up short in his thoughts and his steps as he realizes that the search party has stopped suddenly.

Well, that is inaccurate, the only person who seems to have stopped is the Teifling woman called Nessuna. Her eyes are aimed upwards, in wonder at the treeline. Zixxes turns his gaze toward it as well and is confused by the sight that greets him. 

There is a massive oak, large enough to be a home of some sort but clearly uninhabited. Its roots twist up from the ground and spiral in an imitation of a wooden cyclone before consolidating into one thick trunk.The gnarled trunk is covered in a wild bloom of moss and ivy, and it splits itself into many heavy boughs, thick enough to be trunks of their own.The branches rise high above even the other trees in this part of the forest; its great height is somehow both laughably ridiculous and awestricking.

Birds sing in the branches, but that is not the only song happening.

A wood elf woman dressed in the deep-green, gold-hemmed tunic of an Embryveil Druid is nestled cross legged between the heavy roots of the oak, her hands resting gently and lovingly against the bark surrounding her. She chants softly to the tree, speaking words in an old language Zixxes cannot name. 

Above her is another voice. 

A forest gnome sits high up in the branches, his harmony weaving effortless and light around the woman's voice. If Zixxes looks closely, he sees a number of similarly dressed druids in various places around the tree. Some are singing, some are speaking with a rhythmic cadence, but none of them seem to be singing the same words or song. Yet, somehow they blend together effortlessly, creating one single resonating, rhythmic harmony. 

And the very tree sways to the song. 

Not just the leaves, but the body of the tree, as though it were caught up in the harmony of voices and unable to still its roots, truck, or mighty boughs from joining. 

Zixxes swings his confused gaze to the rest of the party. Nessuna stands under the glory of this thing they are witnessing, a sketching stone in one hand moving furiously over a page of a book clutched desperately in her other. Her eyes jump from the page to the tree, as though trying to get every detail of this strange moment captured. 

Zixxes looks past her to the rest of the party. Though he notes that the bard pauses for a second, humming along with one of the many songs, as though to commit it to memory for later use, he soon moves deeper into the forest with the rest of the group. None of the others even pause, moving past this wonder of magic and nature without so much as a glance in its direction. 

Zixxes does not move to follow the group, but rather positions himself so that he can keep them in view as they quickly move through the woods. He splits his attention between Nessuna and the rest of the group, but holds his ground. 

He does not want to interrupt the Tiefling from her work, he is unsure if it is important or a ritual matter for her. He knows nothing about the nature of Tieflings–perhaps this is an important task that must be done–however he is aware that they are on a timeline. They have a mission to complete and time is something they have very little of. He will not rush her, no, but he keeps an eye on their destination so they can hurry in the right direction once she has finished her task.

It takes some time before Nessuna looks up and away from her book. Miss Noori and Tiffani are out of Zixxes’ sight by then, but he can still clearly see Maximillian’s red jacket in the distance. Zixxes points Nessuna in the right direction and they jog to catch up with the group.

The path they follow becomes less clear after just half an hour. There is more grass and overgrown plants–no lawns or tame gardens, but brambles and brush in their stead.

Noori and Tiffani take the lead position in the group; they seem to have the most knowledge about the forest. Just behind them in a staggered line is Maximillian, then Nessuna, with Zixxes maintaining his spot in the rear. He is more comfortable here, used to holding this position within his own clan. He knows nothing of this land or terrain, and because there is no clear path, he has no choice but to trust the skill of those leading the charge. All of them are united in the goal to help the lost family, so he feels confident in their choice.

After nearly an hour of traveling with little talk amongst themselves, the treetops part, allowing sunlight to shine down, and they find themselves in a large, open meadow. 

The clearing hums with the singing of cicadas and bees and smells sweetly, the air perfumed by the numerous, colorful flowers dotting the field and berry bushes cluttering the meadows edge. Squirrels tumble through the tall grasses, chittering and playing. Miss Noori pauses for a moment, brushing gentle fingers against petals of flowers and murmuring to them. As Zixxes draws nearer to her, he hears her whispering hellos and thank yous to the plants. 

Zixxes can feel his face begin to crease with confusion as he watches Miss Noori straighten from the flowers and move to a tree to continue her greetings. He is glad her back is to him when she begins a conversation because he is sure he does not control his expression readily.

“Hello there, Dear! Don’t you look spry?” Noori says. “You wouldn’t happen to have seen any gnomish folks around here? We are looking for a little girl and her father.”

Zixxes looks around to the others in the party, wondering if anyone is as concerned as he is, but then he hears a chittering sound. He moves a step to the side and sees that Miss Noori is not speaking to a tree, but rather to a chipmunk who clings to the bark of one.

“They would have come through this way a couple of days ago, though they would have had a little boy with them then. We know where the boy is, but the other two are missing. Would you be able to help us, Chipmunk Friend?”

The chipmunk chitters up at the Firbolg, its eyes locked on hers as though it actually understands what Miss Noori is asking. 

“Could you lead us to where they are?” she asks the chipmunk. It chitters again and then jumps off of the tree, scurrying through the grass of the meadow.

“Oh! Not so fast, Friend!” Noori calls as she spins and begins to shuffle after the animal. “We cannot keep up with your grace.”

The chipmunk pauses in the middle of the field, head barely visible over the grass as it waits for Miss Noori.

“You can speak with animals?” Zixxes asks, despite himself.

“No, no, I can only speak to them. I am not skilled enough to hold a conversation, but they can understand me. We are lucky our friend is kind enough to offer their help.” She removes the large sheet that is draped around her shoulders and ties it around her waist like an apron as she continues to scuttle after the chipmunk. “We should do our best to keep up as thanks for our friend so willing to help.”

Zixxes does not know what to say to that so he only nods, a little dumbstruck, and falls back to the end of the line, holding up the rear as before. 

Despite the fact that Miss Noori says they should hurry, she is not very fast. The chipmunk keeps pace with her more than she keeps pace with it. It is slower than what Zixxes wishes they would go, but if this is their strongest lead, they should take it. 

Tiffani and Maximillain keep pace with the Firbolg woman, but he notices that Nessuna weaves in and out of the meadow and the trees, taking advantage of the slow pace to forage in these wilds. Zixxes watches her as she finds chicory, elderflowers, and a beautiful-looking red flower with gold edging around it.

Finally the chipmunk reaches the far edge of the meadow, climbs a tree, and begins to run in circles on the bark. 

Zixxes looks around, confused by the chipmunks' antics. But then Maximilian is pointing up at something in the branches of the tree. 

“There’s a cloth on one of the branches. Do you see it?”

Zixxes sees nothing as he looks up following the bard's pointing finger. But then a slight wind blows through the trees, and a dark strip of cloth lifts and waves. The color is so close to that of the tree that it is practically invisible without the wind. 

Zixxes looks at the human man, impressed by his sharp eye. 

“I’ll get it,” Tiffani says, moving to stand at the foot of the tree. He jumps gracefully into the air, catching one of the branches hanging about five feet above their heads. But then he hesitates, looking from left to right, but no other branches are within range for him to swing to. He begins to shuffle himself forward on the branch, trying to get himself in range of another.

“Are you good there?” Nessuna asks. She hardly needs to look up as she is nearly eye level with the Elven boy. 

“I’m fine,” Tiffani snaps as he makes it close enough to another branch to continue his climb. Tiffani doesn’t blush, but Zixxes is well acquainted with what embarrassment looks like on brown skin. He feels his mouth twitch with a smile and turns away to control himself. 

Soon the sound of feet hitting the packed dirt of the forest floor reaches his ears and he sees Tiffani with the scrap of cloth in his hands. The boy hands it to Noori.

“Thank you,” the Firbolg says brightly. 

The cloth is a brown sleeve with little embroidered flowers along its edge. It is small, and definitely a child’s. Frowns carve themselves into the face of each member of the group as they each take this in.

“This looks like it could be Bitsy’s for sure.” Noori’s gaze wanders back up to the branches above them and her eyes seem to lock on something, her expression tightening with worry. She raises a hand to point and Zixxes’ eyes follow her finger just a bit higher in the tree. 

There are broken branches.

It is clear that a body fell from higher up, crashing through the lower parts of the tree.

“That poor little girl,” Noori whispers, there is a tremor in her voice that rubs roughly against his skin and fills him with a sick worry of his own. 

“I don’t think following the map is going to be enough,” the elderly Firbolg says softly, eyes trained once more on the ripped sleeve in her hand.. “Does anyone have experience tracking?”

“I can track,” Nessuna offers. “But I am not used to this area. I need a little more time to familiarize myself with this forest. If we keep following the map I can begin to figure out what is natural and what is unnatural for this forest. But I cannot give more helpful information than that at the moment. I’m sorry.”

“Not a thing to be sorry about,” Noori says kindly. “It is the most helpful thing we have at the moment. If you need us to keep going, then we shall.” She looks around at the group and everyone is nodding along in agreement with her.

Noori turns back to her chipmunk guide, where it stands perched on a branch only a little above her head. 

“Thank you, Little Friend.” 

She rummages around in her pouches and pulls out a small handful of nuts, handing one to the creature and placing the rest in the nook of the branch that it stands on. “We are grateful for your help. We would not have found this clue without you.”

The chipmunk chitters and packs the nuts away in its cheeks.

Suddenly Tiffani’s hand shoots out and lands on Noori’s arm, pulling the older woman around as he points to a grassy area just a little further in the forest. He presses a long, slender finger to his mouth in a hush and then moves that finger to the tip of his tapered ear in a clear command to listen.

The party falls silent. Zixxes listens, but hears nothing. 

Tiffani lowers himself into a crouch, almost disappearing under the tall grass, and moves quietly and slowly toward whatever it is he hears.

{Part Fourteen: Asp in the Grass}