Quinn was floating in the blackness. It surrounded him, dark and oppressive.
He didn't, curiously enough, feel any pain. Where was he anyway? He felt tired. Then he remembered. The baboons. They were about to kill him. By now, they probably...
Was this how it was to die? But he still felt so very much alive. No, he wouldn't give up yet.
A light could be seen in the distance, slowly coming towards him, or so it seemed.
"Get to your feet, Quinn!" he commanded himself. "Get up!"
Nina would need his help. He had hoped she would escape, but, most likely, she would try to help him, to the point of putting her own life at risk. He willed himself away from the distant light, hopefully to a conscious state. He had to hurry. It was with great relief he felt the darkness recede.
But just as he was to awaken, he thought he could hear the light far in the distance speak to him in a soft whisper.
"No, wait!"
Ruby and Nall were, once again, heading east.
Ruby looked more determined than angry, as Nall otherwise would have expected. Well, at least he would have expected that before their visit in Nota. It would seem like even after almost a millennia together, he still had problems figuring her out from time to time.
That was why he loved her, he supposed.
He wasn't too concerned about his daughter. Less so after said visit to Nota and a talk they had with a certain priestess there. It had even been very informative, as they knew now where the two were heading and, much to his pleasure, hearing that they had been getting along rather well. With that, Ruby had taken her turn at thanking the priestess for healing their daughter, and then they had left, hoping to catch up to the two before they reached the boys' grandparents, or, at the very least, before they left south for the spires.
He looked at his mate, wondering what she was thinking. Well, there was only one way of finding out.
"Ten silver for your thoughts," he said, looking over at her. She turned her head back at him for a second, before turning it forward again.
"I'm thinking about Nina. I'm thinking about the boy, Quinlan and I'm thinking about the spire," she stated, matter-of-factly, adding, "Not necessarily in that order." She grinned.
"Well, you're certainly chipper," he added dryly, "Although I think it's a nice change compared to the mood you were in when we crossed the sea." He earned himself a glare from that comment. A short one, though.
"Well, I'm not worried anymore, if that's what you're afraid of," she stated, "But I am curious. Mostly about the boy. You heard what that aura photographer in Vane said."
"Yeah, yeah. But if he's not human, what is he?"
"I don't know. What with his hair, I thought he might somehow be related to... uh, Ghaleon." Too late to stop herself from saying it, she remembered about Nall's only sore spot. "...or at least to whatever race he was." She trailed off as she noticed Nall's expression turn sour. She sighed.
"Nall, you have to stop letting that man, or rather, that name get to you like that all the time." She looked back at him. "He helped save our world, you know."
Nall's scowl deepened. "He killed Quark, Ruby. What's worse is that he did it when both me and Alex were watching the whole thing. And even though I didn't know I was a dragon at the time, it felt like a piece of me was torn right out of my heart. Not to mention what he did to Luna...." Nall looked away. "I'm sorry, Ruby, but I don't know if I can ever forgive him for all that."
"I can't say I know how you feel about this, Nall, but you have to put it behind you sometime. You can't live your whole life reacting like this every time you hear the name."
"I know, Ruby. I know." Nall sounded unhappy, "It's just... Every time I hear that name, I think of Alex and Luna, and I think of Quark. And I think of what we went through. And I know that... that Luna never really... was quite the same after that incident. If she didn't have... if she and Alex didn't have each other..." Nall didn't finish the sentence.
Ruby felt really bad about bringing it up, and resolved to take some time to get Nall's mind off the bad memories before finding the hut in the plains' forest.
...which made her think of something.
"Nall, you're not going to... hold any grudge to the boy, considering the heritage he might have."
Nall thought a little about it. "No..." His expression did, much to Ruby's relief, loosen up a little, "He hasn't really done anything wrong, no matter who and what he is." He thought some more about it. "You know..." he added, "...perhaps we should be quiet about what we've heard in Vane, at least until his journey is over, and he's had his cure."
"I was actually thinking the same thing." Ruby answered, "Although we should try to get some information out of his grandparents."
"Agreed."
Then, Ruby suddenly remembered something.
"Nall?"
"Yes?"
"You owe me ten silver."
Nina wasn't really sure if the current situation was any improvement.
She was currently standing on top of the half-conscious form of Quinn, who had just experienced another seizure. The increase of its intensity scared the living daylight out of her. He would hopefully come around in a moment, but even so, they might not make it in time.
The recently appearing plantella had turned her attention towards the remaining baboons who fled from the area. But as they disappeared into the forest, she turned back to the traveling duo, ignoring the unmoving baboons. Then, she had started approaching them.
"Quinn! Come on!" Nina nudged him in his face, even though she knew it was no use. Quinn was perhaps regaining his consciousness, but not quickly enough by far. Sheer frustration made her take to her wings, preparing to execute one of her more desperate ideas. If she could just divert the plantella's attention long enough, Quinn might come around. Then, they could deal with the plantella, or at least get away. But, as her plans had taken shape, the plantella did something completely unexpected.
"Please calm down. I'm not going to harm you or your friend in any way."
Nina blinked here eyes. A quite clearly female voice had spoken and it took yet a couple of seconds for Nina's highly agitated mind to apprehend that the one to speak was the plantella herself. But she had halted her approach, and was looking intently at Nina with eyes that evidently showed high amounts of intelligence and awareness. And then she noticed something else.
The plantella woman actually wore clothes. It was not much--a pair of loose-fitting shorts and a top covering her chest, in all not much more than the attendants in Ramus' shop wore, for all it concealed. She had a thick mane of what looked like grass running from her head and down behind her shoulders, looking much like hair, except that the blades of grass were a lot thicker than normal strands of hair. It was a slightly darker shade of green than her skin, that had a light color itself, right down to her bare feet. Nina's thoughts were broken as she saw the plantella folding her arms, giving her an impatient look.
"Look, would you at least talk to me." Her voice bore volumes of irritation, and, Nina noticed, a tiny amount of... offense? Wounded feelings?
"What do you want?" Nina asked, still wary of the strange plant girl.
"I was actually thinking of helping that guy who's lying on the ground and shaking in pain." She added, "He doesn't look like he's doing too well."
"But... you're a plantella, aren't you?" Nina said. The plant girl's face went from hurt and insulted to plain angry.
"And you are completely correct," she almost shouted. "Any other apparently obvious facts you want to share with me?"
"Hey!" Nina yelled back, "From what I know, you plantella's are meat eaters who's been known to take humans at times."
The plantella looked like she had been slapped. With a calm voice, she spoke, "Perhaps... For a wild plantella meat is meat. They don't favor neither humans nor any other kind of species when they hunt..." She shot the young dragon a venomous glare. "But, just for your information, I've never ever killed or eaten a human nor a dragon. Nor anyone from the beast races either, for that matter."
Nina winced at that last comment. She hadn't meant to sound that heartless. But even so...
"And why should I trust you?"
"Because we should leave this area soon. Those baboons will wake up in a short time, and it doesn't look like you have the ability to carry your friend away from here."
Nina opened her eyes wide. "They aren't dead?"
"No." The plant girl arced her eyes, "I don't kill unless I have to. I had no choice as far as the attacking one was concerned; the poison wouldn't have taken effect quickly enough to stop him from taking care of your friend." She refolded her arms. "Look, while I would love to stand here all day and tell you about my homicidal tendencies, we don't have the time for it. Those baboons will wake up in a short while, and, most likely, they will be very upset at anyone they see. And even a sick baboon is a very dangerous baboon, and as I told you, I don't like to kill unless I have to. Now, let me ask you this again: Will you let me help you two away from here?"
Still eyeing the plant girl, she had to agree on that statement. Quinn would still take a moment to get his consciousness back, and she had actually registered faint movement from the poisoned baboons. She sighed and flew aside, giving the plantella a clear path to Quinn. In doing so, she also sent a prayer to the goddess, hoping she hadn't made a mistake. The plantella didn't waste time. She went straight over to Quinn and, much to the surprise of Nina, took his sack, hefting it over her shoulder with one hand with no apparent strain and then she picked up Quinn, hefting him over her other shoulder. Nina just gaped, shocked from the plain sight of it. When the plantella girl picked up his sword, putting it back into its scabbard, she turned towards the dragon, saying, "Well? Shall we go?"
The dragon followed the plant girl, silently, into the woods.
The plantella turned and looked behind her. Then, she put the still shivering and unconscious Quinn to the ground.
"We should be far enough away," she stated. "They won't track us down now."
"No kidding," Nina added annoyingly. "We've been blasting through this forest for what? Several hours? It'd be a miracle if they found us now."
"Don't you ever underestimate the animals of this forest, and especially the baboons," she replied angrily, again almost shouting. Then, she looked down at the dragon's body, her angry visage turning smug. "You should probably know already. Mind telling me how you got that scar? Was it an insect or a plant monster? Or perhaps a wyvern. It does bear all the marks of a claw-inflicted wound, after all." At Nina's wince, she nodded knowingly, but didn't say anything. Nina felt embarrassed and ashamed. The plantella were far more perceptive than she accounted for and annoyingly blunt as well. She sighed, and looked away.
At that, the plantella put down all their gear, and sat down, moving the unconscious Quinn's head into her lap. Then, she put her hands to his forehead.
"What are you doing?" the young dragon inquired, walking up towards them both. She hadn't sounded angry now, the plantella noted, as she looked at her.
"I was thinking of healing the boy. He looks like he needs it."
Nina looked thoughtful for a moment. "Don't waste your energy," she stated. "You can't cure it."
"What are you talking about?" the plantella replied, disbelief coloring her expression as her hands lit up in a greenish-blue light. "Look, my healing powers are very strong, so..." She didn't get to say any more, as the dragon cut her off.
"No, that's not what I'm talking about," she sighed, looking down, trying to decide how much she should tell the strange girl. "It's just... it can't be cured. Not here, at least. Why do you think we have traveled all the way down here anyway, instead of going by boat? "
The plantella didn't have any answer. And, as she put her glowing hands to the young boy's forehead, she found out that the little dragon was indeed right. He was shaking in what appeared to be fever, but his skin was cold to the touch, and there was not a trace of any bacteria infection or anything else, for that matter. His aura was flaring like crazy, though, but what that had to do with his seizure, she was unable to find out. Oh well, nothing to do but wait it out, she supposed.
"Mind if I ask you a question?" Nina said, cautiously. The plantella looked right back at her, puzzled by the little creature's sudden meekness.
"Sure."
"How is it that you can speak?" she asked, nervously, obviously not wanting to start another fight. "I mean, that's not exactly something you learn all by yourself. Not Lunarian, at least."
"Well..." she looked away, and adapted a thoughtful expression. "Grandpa taught me. And before you ask; no, he isn't my real grandfather, as he's a human. The wild plantellas aren't concerned with heritage and the likes. Each newly created plantella has to be able to take care of herself from the start, hunting and all." She looked like she was about to say more, but she didn't.
As the silence stretched on, Nina cleared her throat.
"And..."
The plantella looked back at her, puzzled.
"About your language abilities..." Nina prodded.
"Oh, yes..." the plantella said, flustered. "Sorry. Well, as I said, my grandpa taught me. He is a botanist that moved to the area I now live in many years ago. He told me he found my... pod. It was almost dead, and so was I. I won't go into that now, but let's just say that it was my grandpa that nurtured me back to health. Later, he taught me your language after he found out that I could speak a few words, much like you humans do when you're babies. Don't ask me when he got the title of grandpa, because I honestly don't know when I started referring to him as that. I've become so humanized in his care, which is, yes, the reason I don't hunt, kill and eat humans, any of the beast races or dragons. Not that we'd have much chance against a dragon anyway." She grinned. "But now it's my turn..."
"Your turn? To what?"
"To ask you a question. That's only fair, isn't it?" Her grin widened, and Nina wondered whether deviousness was the norm as far as plantella's were concerned.
"All right," she sighed. "Ask away."
"Now, let's see..." she said, grinning yet again. "Why don't you tell me about your scar there."
Nina groaned.
Gowan sat inside his home, looking at his two guests, not quite sure what to say.
The man was sitting, grinning and enjoying the opportunity he had to relax for a bit. He'd taken great interest in their home, looking around at the well kept room they occupied. The woman, however, would on occasion look out the windows to the south, as she had done on more or less regular intervals since the came to the cabin about an hour ago. Gowan was willing to bet a modest amount of silver that she wasn't looking at the trees.
Apparently, they would leave soon.
They had suddenly appeared outside the cabin, knocking on the door, an action that hadn't been done since... well, Gowan didn't remember that far back in time. Visitors were rare in these parts, which suited Gowan just fine. Mostly. Besides, they usually met all their friends and associates when they left for Nota on their business trips, or when the carnival was in the area. But for someone to actually come here, much less find the place...
Not to mention who the guests themselves were.
Nall and Ruby, the white and the red dragon of Althena. In his living room, no less, hence his loss for words. He could guess what they wanted, now that he knew who they were. After all, their own daughter had just been by a couple of days ago. Nall looked a little amazed at the fact that their daughter and his grandson had been by that shortly after leaving Vane. To tell the truth, so was Gowan.
He had offered them to stay the night, like their daughter had done before them, when she had arrived together with Quinn. They thanked him for the offer, but declined. They were going to take their chances on catching up to the travelling two before they went into the forest. Gowan couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was something the tetriarch was holding back. That worried him a bit.
"Well," Nall said, rising up. Ruby quickly followed suit. "I guess we should be on our way. Thank you for your hospitality, as well as the one you gave our daughter."
"Yes." Ruby added, "And don't worry about your... grandson. When we meet him, we'll help him on the last stretch of his journey. It's the least we can do."
"Oh, it was nothing. We could hardly turn away Althena's guardians now, could we." Gowan cleared his throat. Nall looked away at that, frowning for just a second, but long enough for Gowan to notice. "Is... is something wrong?"
"No," Nall sighed. "It's nothing." He looked straight at Gowan. "Just call me Nall. There is no need to hold us in such high regard."
Gowan thought it over. Then, he stretched out his hand. "Very well, then. A safe journey to you both."
Nall and Ruby both smiled. Nall accepted the hand, shaking it. "Thank you."
With that, Nall and Ruby left. As Gowan sat himself down in his favorite chair, he swore he could see a red light from the large clearing in direction of the window he was turned against. It was quickly followed by a white one. He smiled. With their help, Quinn would stand a much better chance of making it.
Quinn's head moved slightly, indicating his return to consciousness.
The plantella girl looked down at him, his head still in her lap, and moved one of her hands to his forehead. She didn't feel anything out of the ordinary, but she guessed he would have one major case of headache when he woke up, so she applied a little healing magic in order to lessen it.
At that moment Quinn's eyes opened.
He just stared at first, blinking from time to time, as if he didn't see very well at that moment. But as he did, his eyes widened, and he tried to rise up.
"Nina," he said, failing to get up to his feet as his strength had not been restored yet, not by far. "Where are you?"
"I'm here, Quinn," she replied, jumping up on his chest. "Please, just relax. We're safe. At least for now."
"But..." Quinn's protests was silenced as the plantella's healing magic relieved Quinn of most of his pain, which left him with just questions. "What's going on? Who is this?" The last question was directed, along with his eyes, towards the green skinned girl.
"Well..." the plantella replied, earning herself yet another surprised look, but this time from Quinn. "I guess you can consider yourselves very lucky that I decided to follow you." This earned her a reaction from Nina.
"You followed us? Why?"
"I was just curious. I just wanted to know why you were travelling in this area, and more importantly, what you were doing in my home."
"Your home?" Nina spoke. Quinn just stared at the plant girl.
"The mansion," the plantella answered, "Surely you noticed its condition before entering it. I spent a lot of time and energy restoring it, you know." Noticing Quinn's stare, she added, "Are you feeling okay?"
"You can speak," Quinn stated, sounding very surprised. The plantella rolled her eyes.
"Indeed I do," she said, heavy on the sarcastic tone, "Please do me a favor and ask your little friend about the 'why' later, as I don't like having to repeat myself." Quinn didn't reply, as he still had that shocked look in his face. But he did try to get to his feet. And with the help of the plant girl, he rose up, although he was shaking badly.
"You should rest," the plantella added, walking to pick up Quinn's travelling gear. She lifted it up on her shoulders with no apparent strain, despite her slender build, surprising Quinn in much the same way as she had surprised Nina earlier. Walking over to Quinn, she dropped the sack, unpacking Quinn's sleeping bag and rolled it out over a layer of leaves lying on the ground. She then lead the shivering Quinn to it, so that he could lie down. "I'm not sure what's wrong with you, but I guess all I can do for you is to allow you to rest for a while. I'll keep watch over you." The plant girl had worn mostly angry--or at least irritated--expressions on her face from the moment she had met and saved them, but now it had loosened up a little, making her look compassionate... almost human. And Nina felt a little bad about it, because she hadn't actually given her any reason to do anything else. But as she watched the plant girl care for Quinn as if he was a patient in a hospital or a temple, she saw the necessity to think a little about... things.
But, most of all, she was worried about Quinn.
He had been unconscious a very long time. Far longer than she had expected. And not only that, but when the seizures were raging at its worst, she could swear she had seen him glow, if just a little. Why was this happening? And to Quinn, of all people. He was the kindest person she had ever had the pleasure of meeting, and just the thought of him... Nina could feel her sight blurring. She closed her eyes, and lowered her head. He had survived this one too, but it was just about fifteen days since the last one in Meribia. They were, as Quinn had told her, appearing with shorter frequencies. How long, or rather, how short a time it would be until the next one? They just had to reach the spire before that happened. They just had to.
"Are you alright?" the female voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Nina collected herself as best she could before answering, but even so, her voice was a little shaky.
"I've felt... better."
"Well, I could use your help with something," the plantella spoke, indicating something in the direction of Quinn's sleeping form. As Nina looked, it appeared to be a small pile of wood, encircled with stone, in what so familiarly looked like a campfire.
"Would you be so kind as to light it up for me?" the plantella asked, indicating the pile. "Your friend could use the warmth, and I am a bit... sensitive to fire."
Nina smiled at the logic of it. "Sure."
Nall was looking around what was left of Takkar.
They had both arrived there late in the evening and were now looking for signs of Quinn and Nina, or whether they had been there already. As neither Nall or Ruby had seen them as they were flying south, the probability was pretty high. Even so, Nall was impressed. To reach this place after such a short time...
"I found something," Ruby called from over at what had been a temple. Nall quickly went over.
"What did you find?"
"Well, they've built a fire over there..." she said, indicating a circle of stone with ash lying inside of it on the ground outside the old temple, "...and they have swept a little of the floor inside the temple, so it's my guess they spent the night there. From the remains of the campfire, I'd say that they spent the night before yesterday here."
"Then they are in the middle of the forest right now." Nall mused, more to himself, even though Ruby heard it as well.
"I guess we'll just fly over it, and meet them as they emerge to the south."
"Or..." Nall stated, looking at her. "How about this: You track the two of them down inside the forest, and I'll wait on the other side for all of you."
"And why should it be me who has to find them?" Ruby gave Nall a slightly sardonic look.
"Because I thought you would like to see your daughter again as soon as possible," he said, the smugness Ruby had seen so many times before on his face. "Besides, they could use your help to cross the forest as quickly as possible. Then, when you arrive, we'll fly them to the Star Spire." Nall crossed his arms, looking at her with the look that said, "I'm right and you know it." Ruby had to suppress the urge to slap him a few times. Instead she sighed and started to glow with a bright, red light. A little while later, Nall was looking at a little, winged, red cat he hadn't seen for a long time.
"It's been a while since I wore this form," she said. "I hope I haven't forgotten how to fly with it." As she tested out her wings, Nall spoke up.
"Don't forget, it is probably for the best if you don't mention the non-human... stuff... to the boy when you find him." She nodded as he continued, "Those grandparents of his were keeping something secret, that I know. They might not have told him anything either."
"Don't worry," she replied, flying up in front of his face. "Well, I'm off. Wish me luck!"
It had to be early, Nina thought as she awoke from her sleep.
The trees didn't let much of the sunlight, if any, through to the ground, so it was pretty much a guess. But considering how early they had gone to rest--not particularly strange, since Quinn wasn't in any form to travel anyway--the day had probably just about started. After blinking the tiredness away from her eyes, so that she could get a glimpse of her surroundings, she stood up, shaking off the tiny blanket she had been covered with. The fire had, obviously, died out long ago and the morning air was slightly chilly.
But not too bad.
As she looked around, her eyes fell upon the plantella, who was sitting on a rock, apparently watching something, a curious expression covering her face. Turning her head in the direction of the plant girl's stare, she saw Quinn engaging in a martial arts kata, much like the one she had witnessed in Nota. He looked like he was straining, though, his face forming itself into a frown most of the time, and his eyes were closed. And was he trembling? She didn't know very much about Quinn's abilities, but she was sure his movements had been smooth and sure the few times she had seen him train. Now, his movement had a faint, but still existent jerkiness to them.
But even so, it was probably not prudent to disturb him, so she decided to ask the plant girl instead. A little bit surprised herself by the sudden trust she had placed in the plant girl, she flew over to her.
"What in the world is he doing?" Nina was surprised at the sudden question, as it had appeared right before she had managed to ask any of her own.
"Uh... what?"
"He is moving his hands and feet in a rather strange manner. Is there any particular purpose to it?"
"Well, yeah, it's called a 'kata'. It's part of his martial arts training."
"Martial ... arts? He doesn't exactly strike me as an aggressive person. Does he fight a lot?"
"No... er, it's kind of hard to explain. You should probably ask him about it." Then Nina remember she had her own question. "Say, have you two been up very long? Did he talk to you before he started training?"
"Well," the plantella looked away for a second, then she looked directly at Nina, "...he just asked me whether it was me that saved the both of you yesterday. When I answered, he just said 'I see' and 'thank you'. Then he went over there and started doing this... 'kata'." Her eyes went back to watching Quinn. "He doesn't look very well, even after a full nights sleep. What's wrong with him?"
"We don't really know." Nina looked at the ground for a while, "That's why we're going to the Star Spire, so that we can go to the Blue Star and find out."
The plant girl seemed to accept that story, something which surprised Nina a bit. Most people would have asked more questions--especially humans--but the plantella didn't appear inclined to do so. She had just returned to watching Quinn practice with an almost childlike curiosity. Considering how Nina had reacted herself the first time she had seen him practice, it was only to be expected from one who hadn't even heard about martial arts before. Having nothing else to do, Nina joined in on watching the performance.
Ruby looked at the body of the dead albino baboon with trepidation.
Her daughter and the boy had passed through here, of that she was sure. Their scent, the only thing she had to go on, were still strong, which meant that they had passed through here in about one third of a day, or perhaps even less. What worried her was the hole not far from the dead baboon, plus the rather obvious tracks of a scuffle a little farther away. Ruby knew that albino baboons always traveled in packs of at least three, though rarely under five. What, she wondered, had taken on such a number of albino baboons and lived to tell about it.
And then there were the third scent she picked up.
Everything gives off a very distinct smell, something she had a lot easier time in picking up in any of her dragon forms, and this was certainly not different. The two stronger ones belonged to her daughter and her travelling companion, she guessed. But the third... It was almost nonexistent, and that just wasn't possible. Not unless it was several days old. But then, that didn't explain why they all followed the same path, more or less. As coincidences go, that would make it one of the biggest ones ever, and Ruby just didn't believe in coincidences like that. Which meant that someone--or something--was following them.
She took to the air, and headed south as fast as her little wings were able to carry her.
"How do you feel now?" the plantella asked, the greenish light on her left hand diminishing. She removed it from Quinn's forehead. Quinn, his eyes closed, still shivered, but a little less so.
"A little better." He sighed, opening his eyes. "But all in all; bad. I need to get to the Star Spire. And fast." He touched his forehead. "Thank you anyway, though."
"Oh, it was nothing. And I mean that literally. I just can't figure out what's ailing you." The plantella sounded a little frustrated as well as apologetic. She closed her eyes. "I'm not used to..."
"Watch out!"
"What?" The plant girl opened her eyes again and was just able to catch the sight of Quinn grabbing her before pulling her away. She let out a surprised yelp as Quinn all but threw her further back. As she turned towards him again, she saw him exchanging punches with a woman she hadn't seen earlier. A woman with bright red hair.
And, just then, Nina came over, wondering what the commotion was about. As soon as she saw who Quinn was fighting, she yelled out...
"MOM!"
Distracted, the red haired woman looked towards her, recognition showing in her face. Unfortunately, this took her attention away from the fight and Quinn's punch, albeit a little pulled, as he, too, were distracted a little from the yell, sent her reeling backwards. Getting a little breather, Quinn jumped back, preparing an attack spell, the only one he knew. He felt an enormous power emanating from this woman, so he charged the spell with all he could muster, lessened some because of his current state. He didn't want to kill anyone, but in this case he seriously doubted he had the powers to do so anyway, even though the spell had been surprisingly effective against the wyvern.
The woman had, by now, regained her footing. Looking straight back at him, she paled...
"WHO TAUGHT YOU THE DRAGON CANNON?" she roared. Quinn looked puzzled, but didn't take his eyes off the woman, nor did he dissipate the spell.
"The what?"
"Would someone please tell me what is going on?" the plantella added. This surprised the woman even more.
"STOP IT, BOTH OF YOU!" Nina shouted at the top of her lungs. "Mom... what are you doing?"
"Mom?" both Quinn and the plantella exclaimed, both their eyes widening.
"Nina?" The woman, upon seeing the little dragon, promptly forgot all about the boy and the plantella, and went straight over to the hovering and steaming Nina. "There you are. For a second there, I thought..."
"What are you doing?" Nina had lost little of her anger. "Is there any reason you come here attacking us all of a sudden?"
"Well... no, but I saw the plantella, and I thought you were in trouble." Ruby actually sounded embarrassed, earning her an exasperated sigh from Nina.
"Well, as you can see..." Nina said, giving her mother a steady look, "...we're just fine. And, more than anything, it's because of the plantella."
"What? How..."
"Just forget about it," the plantella said, although she didn't sound like she had forgiven the unprovoked attack yet. "We should go. If you need to get through the forest in a hurry, I'll lead you through it." She looked at Quinn, giving him a faint smile. "It's the least I can do, I guess."
Ruby were, at this point, too surprised and confused to think of something to say. Quinn nodded his agreement, so he and the plantella collected their travelling gear and left southwards.
The temperature had, in the course of the last hour, risen quickly.
They had been travelling for three days, which, in its course, Ruby and the plantella had come to a grudgingly understanding. Ruby had told the plantella about the trouble they had encountered with one of her wild sisters and the plantella had offered in return a tale about her life with the human biologist in the area she lived in now, adding small tidbits about how she learned to talk and behave more human through his parenting. She did, as Ruby noticed, show no particular pride nor any shame in it. It made her wonder if she had encountered any humans before Quinn and her daughter came along. Not that Quinn was a human, she reminded herself.
But she had promised Nall to be quiet about that for now.
She did, however, inquire about his ability to use the Dragon Cannon spell. Quinn had no answer to give her, as he had no knowledge about what the spell's name was, or how he came around to learning it. He had, as he told her, more or less accidentally encountered it. The fact that it had been known as one of the most powerful attack spells in known history came much as a surprise to Quinn, not to mention the fact that the only person known to have been able to cast the spell was Ghaleon. Ruby explained that she had seen him use that particular spell against her friends once before, which was why she reacted so strongly when she noticed its magical energy build. They had barely made it through that time.
But that was all in the past, and Ruby said that it didn't matter now, anyway. She also asked Quinn not to mention the old magician's name ever in Nall's presence. Not unless absolutely necessary.
As for the plantella, they noticed her color had actually changed a little in the last couple of hours of travel. While she had been a deep, green color before, she now looked more yellowish green. She was also frowning a lot. Then, she turned.
"The Salyan desert is only a few hours travel from here. Just follow this path south, and you should make it just fine."
Nina flew over, looking concerned. "Are you okay?"
"Yes. I just can't go any further." She smiled, apologetically. "I'm afraid we plantellas can't handle the scorching heat of the desert very well. You'll have to make the rest of the journey yourselves."
"That's okay," Quinn stated. "You've helped us very much already. Thank you."
"Any time," the plantella answered. Turning to Ruby, she asked, "Would you be so kind as to carry this from here?" She held Quinn's sack out to the red dragon, currently in human form. Quinn protested at this point, but was quickly silenced with a stare from the plantella. Ruby, surprising herself, agreed.
"You need to conserve what little energy you have left for the Star Spire, Quinn," she said with a knowing look. Then, she turned to the plantella. "Well, I guess I should thank you as well. And..." she sighed, "...you have my apologies. I have been a bit judgmental lately, concerning you. Just because we've had some bad experience with one plantella..." Ruby didn't get to finish, as the plantella cut her off.
"It's okay. I'm not angry about that anymore. After all, you were protecting your daughter. Just forget about it."
Satisfied with that, Ruby took Quinn's sack and said her farewells to the plantella. Then, Quinn came over, Nina sitting on his shoulder.
"Well, I guess this is it," Quinn said. "After I have gotten my cure, we might come to see you again sometime, if you'd like."
"I... would like that," she said no more, and the following silence lasted for a while. Nina was the first to break it.
"Do you have a name?" she asked. "Your grandfather had to have given you one."
Apparently surprised at the question, the plantella looked at her. Quinn nodded his head in approval.
"Jenna," the plantella finally said. "My name is Jenna."
"Well, thank you, Jenna, for all your help." Quinn held out his hand. The plantella--Jenna, Quinn amended--just stared at it.
"You're supposed to take it," Nina giggled. "It's called a handshake."
"A handshake?" Jenna said. "My grandfather didn't tell me about anything like that." She looked a bit sheepish, "I guess there's a lot of things I don't know about." Hesitantly, she held out her own hand, prompting Quinn to grab it, shaking it gently. While Jenna looked a little bewildered at first, she seemed to understand the meaning behind it. As Quinn let go of her hand, she seemed almost regretful.
And they parted ways, Quinn, with Nina and Ruby heading towards the desert, leaving the green skinned girl to her thoughts.
Then, she headed back into the forest.