Blake's smithy

"Well!?" Rena smugly asked while floating above Blake, Saffire, and Bread after finishing her story of how she and Lu met. "Come on! Come on! I ~know~ I'm amazing! So take your time!"

"Hey, did you believe any of that?" Saffire asked, moving her head over to Blake. Despite how genuine Rena was when telling them her past. "Hmm?" The Dragon didn't quite take all of it as fact just yet. "I got shocked at first, but that story was pretty far-fetched to me."

"HEY!" Rena yelled at the Dragon from the other side of the room in case a fireball got spat at her.

"Kind of? I mean if I told someone I can turn monst-uh? Magical races..." Blake corrected himself when Saffire glared at him with fire coming out of her mouth. "...into Ore then make a living item out of 'em, soooo?"

"Dammit, you're weird is just as bad as hers," Saffire muttered, coming to terms on Rena's status as a Fairy Princess with Lu a once Dark Elf being her Spriggan.

"HEY! I AM NOT WEIRD! BUT HE IS" Rean yelled while pointing at Blake from under an iron bucket.

"At least I can do my weird pretty well unlike some Nature's Princess who can't grow a random tree." Blake shrugged about to get back to work with his hammer raised high. "Huh?" But when he tried to bring it down, a vine held his hand in place. "Please don't put m-UPSIDE DOWN!" He screamed as he got pulled off his feet and into the air.

"Don't bring that stupid tree into this!" Rena whined with vines wiggling out of the bucket she was in. "I wasted a whole morning trying to grow that thing, but it doesn't know who's boss around here!" Some of her vines made a fist that it waved in the air.

"It sure ain't y-Mmh!" Blake got gagged by some of the vines while speaking.

"Don't you dare! Smith-knight!" Rena shot out of her protection bucket and right into Blake's face, nearly put to tears by mentioning the Naworth's Pride.

"Why are you getting so mad about not growing a tree?" Bread asked the Fairy while Blake was being used as a cat toy by Saffire.

"Cause, Lu asked me to grow one..." Rena whispered, tugging at her dress and sat on one of her vines. "...it's for a new bow after he broke his old one and I promised to grow the best tree for the wood but...it...it just wouldn't grow no matter what..." She tossed some Fairy Dust to the floor, making a small patch of grass like nothing with a sickly sapling trying to grow out of it. "..."

"Hey? Aren't you Nature's Princess like you keep yapping about?' Saffire asked, slowly twisting Blake around a few times then let him spin out like a top. "Like you said in your story; you made a whole giant forest bend to your whim, right?"

"Yea, but that time I pretty much let loose a few hundred years of saved up Fairy Dust, parts of Naworth still listen to me even now," Rena muttered, looking at the now dying sapling that was mocking her inability to make it grow. "But this tree is different, and I don't get it! It's like something is telling it not to grow for me..." She explained, playing around with her hair, trying to guess what that something could be. "...That Elf King never liked me making stuff for fun, but he's too far from here...the only other thing would b-!" She thoughts were cut short when Blake finally got out of her vines.

"AHH!" And dropped down right on top of the sapling flatten it before the Fairy's eyes. "Eh?" Which were nothing but pools of emptiness after Blake crushed her latest attempt at helping her best friend. "Hey, don't give me that. Like you said; this tree doesn't want to grow..." Blake started out while Rena slowly brought a hand up as the vines followed it. "...I mean can't you just grow a new tree that's better than this one?"

"Huh?" Rena stopped herself with her vines, all having grown thorns. "Grow...a...new...tree...?" She ever so slowly repeated what Blake said. "..." Then thought silently to herself while her vines replaced their thorns with flower buds. "Why didn't I think of that!" She cheered as the buds bloomed into different colorful flowers. "This is gonna be easy! Just watch me work my magic!" Rena pumped her arms a few times and got down to work.

"Heh, for someone who calls her annoying you sure know how to help." Saffire swung her head at Blake currently smiling at Rena as she went off sprouting different kinds of trees around his smithy as a reference for her own.

"I'm just helping Lu, that's all," Blake muttered, leaving Rena be for now and went back to his own work. "Eh?" Which was currently being overtaken by Rena's trees. "Hey! Watch it! This is still my pl-OW!" He tried yelling at the Fairy Princess only to get whacked by some bamboo. "What kind of tree is that thing!?"

"It's not a tree! Its a type of grass that grows up north! Still good for bows though!" Rena cheered from somewhere inside Blake's now greenhouse of a smithy. "Oh, maybe some Red Oak, Ash, and Cader...Walnut!" The Fairy went wild with excitement, fast-balling dust around the place.

"Lu's gonna owe me for this..." Blake groaned, hiding out under Saffire's head along with Bread, the one place Rena didn't dump dust on.

Eye Of Blood's Guild House

"AHAHAHA! All that hard work for nothing!? HAHAHAHA!" Dreroot laughed his head off at Dewran after hearing the steps he had taken to ensure Rena was not only kept safe but gathered up Elves he thought she would pick. "Hehehe! Okay! Okay! Before I have to toss Voltar out for glaring at me like that, I need to know what she said about your 'elite Elves?'" He asked, shooting a thumb at Voltar only kept at bay by Dewran holding a hand to his knight.

"She took one look at them and said, and I quote; 'You guys are trying too hard, so you're useless, go away'..." Dewran answered, somehow keeping that soft kindhearted smile on his face despite his inner feelings on the matter.

"AHAHAHA! Goddess be damned! I want to meet the little princess now! And here I thought only us Dark Elves could tell you off like that...hehehe!" Dreroot could barely keep his laughter inside at this point. "...Ah..." He calmed after a few more chuckles then turned to Lu. "...but it is good to see you, brother."

"Same here, Dre," Lu nodded over to Dreroot and shared a smile with him. "..." Until he felt a gaze cast on him by Dewran. "Now that stories have been told is there anything else you wish to discuss between us?"

"Not anything, in particular, I merely wished to see how you and the princess were adjusting to your new way of life...away from the safety of my castle's walls," Dewran answered, eyeing Lu as if examining him. "Has there been any events that you would deem overly dangerous to the princess?"

"I will not lie to you, King Dewran..." Lu started to answer looking Dewran right in his eyes as the Elf King watched his every action. "...there have been times where be it myself, my companions or her own doing; the princess has been put into dangerous situations. However, I have done my very best to ensure that she has gotten out of them safely even at the cost of my own body...as per your orders..." The last part was held off a bit as Lu's eyes went to Dreroot, who was giving Dewran his own examining stare.

"Good, good, excellently worded Spriggan Lutwig, I am glad that my words have affected you that much and along with the many other lessons I gave during your stay at my castle all these years..." Dewran's gaze went to Dreroot for a moment, then returned to Lu. "...although, I am disappointed in not being able to see the princess at this time I do hope she is doing well?"

"She is, my king..." Lu answered then thought about how Rena was having trouble growing a Naworth's Pride. "...if you would allow it? I have a question I would like to ask dealing with the princess' power..." He asked and after a nod from Dewran Lu continued. "...Thank you, my king. You see earlier today the princess was trying to grow a Naworth's Pride and failed despite her full focus on the task. Is there any reason why such a thing would happen?"

"Curious?" For the first time, Dewran's face was one of shock as he held a hand to his chin. "It may very well not wish to bend to her will."

"Huh? Then what's the point of being called Nature's Princess?" Dreroot asked, jumping into the conversation. "Even when she was just a day old, she could make your pearly whites back down with one word."

"That may be true, but Naworth's Pride is a different story altogether," Dewran waved a hand at Dreroot. "It is not only the sacred tree of our people it also happens to be a much smaller part of the Great Tree Naworth which we all know was grown by the current Fairy Queen Antiquity herself and acts as her avatar." He finished, looking pleased himself.

"Annnddd?" Dreroot rolled some of his branches around for Dewran to continue.

"If what you say is true, then does that mean the Fairy Queen doesn't wish for her daughter to command her greatest work?" Lu asked, piecing together what Dewran meant.

Dewran nodded at Lu's guess. "I have no reason why that maybe, but only someone of greater power could deny one so in tune with nature such as the princess the act of growing a certain plant..." He paused to think to himself, waving Voltar over to speak with him in a whisper. "...if I recall from the teachings of my elders, I believe there was a time when Queen Antiquity also faced such a problem...it was with a type of ash tree created by the former Fairy Queen thousands of years ago."

"What did Queen Antiquity do then?" Lu asked after listing to Dewran.

"The answer is our very home, Spriggan Lutwig. Queen Antiquity created the Great Tree Naworth and from it came Naworth's Pride," Dewran answered then clasped his hands together in deep thought "...What reason does the princess have in growing a Naworth's Pride of all things?"

"She did not tell me why, and I had no reason to ask..." Lu answered with a lie, not wanting to find out what Dewran would say if he said that Rena was trying her hardest to make a piece of wood for a new bow. "...and that is the last of what I have to tell you, my king."

"..." Dewran kept looking at Lu for a few moments before dropping his gaze to the table. "Well, then I believe there is nothing more to discuss, come Voltar..." He rose from his seat with Voltar following him to the door where he stopped and turned to Dreroot. "Ah, yes? There is something more to handle is there not Dark Elf?"

"Heh," Dreroot smirked at the Elf King as he leaned in on Lu to wrap an arm and some of his branches around his brother's shoulder. "I almost forgot about that! Say Lutwig, do you remember what we were up to before you got carried away to the Horny-king's place?" He pointed a thumb at Dewran or in this case Voltar standing in front of the Elf King.

"Huh?" Lu stared at his brother with a confused look as he as was pulling Dreroot's branches off with each one feeling like they were trying to dig into his skin. "Uh? I think you were training me for something, right?" He was unsure of himself and the creepy smile Dreroot had on made it worse for the poor Elf.

"That's right! Training, for your Rite Of The Dark Wood! Where all young Dark Elves who reach the age of 50 are tested by one of their elders to awaken their inner powers," Dreroot helped Lu remember what he was talking about then brought his branches back in to show off the wounds on his back where they were coming from. "And I do believe you're over 50, right?" The branches all grew maws along their lengths and snapped at the air as Lu nodded in silences. "Well, let's get this started shall we brother!"

"Ngh!" Lu gritted his teeth as Dreroot's branches wrapped around him with some of the maws biting into him and lifted him out of his seat. "AHHH!" Then tossed him through a stain glass window and caused some people on the outside to jump out of the way. "Already!" He flipped around in the air to land on the ground. "!" Only to roll out of the way as snapping jaws tried to take a bite out of him.

"You're pretty good at dodging aren't you, Twiggy?" Dreroot came out of the broken window by riding on a wave of his branches. "Let's see how long you can keep up!" He dug his hand into his pants pockets as all of his branches dived on Lu from all directions.

"My king!" The Horns Of Naworth on the outside of the meeting room all burst into the room once they heard the sound of glass breaking and all of them formed a circle around Dewran.

"Huh? Is Lord Dreroot pulling another joke?" As for the group of Dark Elves, a few of them just popped their heads in to see what was going on.

"It is alright. It appears that Dark Elf wishes to see how strong the Spriggan is. Now go forth and make sure the people are not caught between them then inform the City Watch that this is merely an event for my entertainment and that I will pay for any damages," Dewran ordered, and without a second thought, the Horns Of Naworth were on the move with Voltar staying behind. "..." Then he looked at the Dark Elves standing at the broken window while watching Dreroot trying to catch Lu.

"We don't listen to you Horny-king." One of them keeping an eye on the pair of king and bodyguard spat out.

"Yo-!" Voltar moved in on the Dark Elves but white saplings appearing around his feet stopped him. "..." And fell back to Dewran's side.

"In time, for now, watch those two fight eachother." Dewran lightly patted Voltar's arm then turned to the fight outside which had gone to the rooftops as Lu was chased after by living trees of fangs and eyes.

"Man, I forgot how good you are at running away...I never could catch you..." Dreroot muttered while still standing on a mass of his tree branches as Lu jumped and flipped around his whipping attacks. "But you still don't have the guts to come at someone!" His sped up their attacks, tearing through the air as they went for Lu.

"Well, I just like waiting from my opponent to drop their guard!" Lu shot back as he slid under the swiping branches that smashed through a chimney then jumped forward as snapping tendrils rained down him. "AH!" To roll right up to Dreroot as his trees raced back to him. "Like this!" Lu threw his cape at his brother then went for the dagger on his back to swing at Dreroot.

"So, that's how it's done!" Dreroot smirked, and from under their feet, a fist made of wood hit Lu with an uppercut that launched him upwards. "Too bad! I taught you everything you know! HAH!" He shot his leg forward to kick Lu in his stomach and knocked him back.

"ARGHHH!" Right into a barrage of biting trees that sent Lu back at his brother.

"Oh? Back for more are we!" From there Dreroot sent 3 branches at Lu. The first rammed into Lu's chest making him kill over, the next whipped him across his face knocking his head back and the last wrapped around his neck then strung him up high.

"Now come on? Show your dear older brother something neat, hmm!?" Dreroot pulled one of his hands out of his pants and slowly closed it into a fist as the branch around Lu's neck got tighter and tighter while the rest of them wrapped around Lu's body. "Don't worry I not gonna kill you but if you fail, you better be sure to say to goodbye to your friends here."

"Ngh!?" Lu clawed at snake-like branch around his neck while swinging his dagger at the ones trying to wrap around him.

"Oh? If you're wondering I made a deal with the Horny-king! If you fail this rite, then you and the princess get brought back to Naworth and never leave again..." Dreroot started to explain his words to the nearly out of breath, Lu. "...now you probably think that's bad for me, but it's not! The rest of the deal allows me to go out, set up my own kingdom of Dark Elves! Now, I am not trying to take over this place mind you. I just want somewhere for my...our people away from Dewran's rule..." He held his fist to Lu's chest and stopped trying to squeeze the life out of him. "...so brother?How about giving up your freedom for your people's freedom, eh?"

To Be Continued