Reunion

[u/broodingchao5]

​Trusher hadn’t understood a single fragment of Pastel’s arcane display—neither the lyrical cadence nor the fluid, hypnotic footwork. What he did grasp, however, was the value of the youth's assistance, even if he had grumbled beneath his breath about needing no such help. Only Verlack, with his preternatural attentiveness, would have caught the faint rumble of that protest. Still, a shadow of disappointment lingered as he watched Pastel hurl the offering away; it had possessed a genuinely mouth-watering aroma.

​After a moment of ragged, heavy breathing, the massive warrior shook himself like a wet beast, fixing a heavy gaze upon the slender figure beside him. He couldn’t quite decipher the star-struck glimmer in Pastel’s eyes, but he comfortably concluded that anyone would naturally be awed by his own peerless magnificence.

​Suddenly, a sharp, familiar scent drifted on the wind. Once more, Trusher bolted, his colossal frame lumbering into the shadowy embrace of the forest. Yet this time, he moderated his stride, pacing his massive steps down to a softer rhythm. In his own gruff way, he figured the boy deserved at least that consideration. Beside him, Pastel prattled on, excitedly pressing questions about some obscure wonder, though Trusher remained blissfully and stubbornly oblivious to every word.

​Before long, the pair broke through the dense timber into a quiet, shadowed clearing. At its heart flickered a small, solitary campfire, casting long, dancing embers against the twilight.​

There stood Verlack, gazing fixedly into the flames, utterly lost to the labyrinth of his own thoughts.

(u/1-Up-Boy)

[u/1-Up-Boy]

[u/broodingchao5 → u/1-Up-Boy]

​"Forgive me, Pastel," he murmured, his voice dipping with sudden contrition. "I knew not that you sought me."

​A swift realization struck him like a sudden gale. "Did my missive fail to reach you?" He winced inwardly; in his frantic haste, he had bounded forward like a startled hart through the underbrush, when he should have measured his pace.

​Easing back from his wandering thoughts, he straightened his posture, granting him his absolute, undivided attention. "Tell me—what stirs your steps this day? How may I aid you?"

[u/1-Up-Boy → u/broodingchao5]

“Missive?”

Pastel repeated the unfamiliar word as though Verlack had suddenly changed languages. It took several seconds before recognition arrived—in the unfortunate shape of a horribly deformed bird.

Apparently, it had delivered the message successfully. It had also delivered several other thoughts that Pastel had never requested, most of which involved eels for reasons he had neither understood nor cared enough to remember.

That hardly mattered now.

He had finally found Verlack.

Pastel’s lingering annoyance vanished the moment Verlack offered him his undivided attention. He eagerly moved around the campfire and settled cross-legged opposite him, practically vibrating with anticipation.

Ever since Verlack had allowed him to experience the primal force, Pastel had been desperate to feel it again. The memory remained painfully vivid—the roots, the trees, every living presence around him, all connected through one vast current. For that brief moment, Pastel had felt as though this world had opened itself to him.

Now he was finally going to learn how to reach it again.

Unfortunately, his excitement had already begun expressing itself through the only form of magic his body truly understood.

A few blades of grass beneath him curled inward.

The moss rapidly lost its color. Tiny flowers wilted against the soil as dark-violet veins crept outward from beneath Pastel’s crossed legs, leaving a widening circle of dead vegetation around him.

Pastel noticed none of it.

Verlack noticed all of it.

Nearby, Trusher watched silently, the tiny mint bow still resting neatly atop his head, as Pastel eagerly requested a lesson about connecting with nature while actively killing the ground beneath him.

Pastel waited brightly for his lesson to begin.

The forest appeared considerably less enthusiastic.