Nature, Groves & Gods

In a distant place far from the mortal realm, a large grove Ulma was concentrating her best to make plants grow as part of her training. Sweat was appearing all over her body as she strained herself to complete the task.

It was to the point of exhaustion, so much energy used that she didn't even notice anything else. But as always there were plenty of guardians and other beings of nature watching her.

From her long stay here she had gotten to meet all the gods that were connected to nature, each holding a piece of nature, all of them serving Revana The Goddess of All Nature.

But just like nature itself, all the gods worked in harmony under Revana's jurisdiction. If someone had told Ulma when she was a child that she would meet so many gods as an adult, then she never would have believed them. But the first thing she made sure of was to get to know them by name, even if she had heard their names she never knew them as personal beings.

But they did treat her with a sense of familliarity, much like family would. The first one she met was; Pelt'Han The Goddess of Hunt, whom represented the way nature always culled itself in an endless cycle. The ecosystem of predators eating prey. Many mortal hunters would pray to her for good hunts as well.

The second she met was a Goddess as well, Sharnak The Goddess of Earth. She was mostly there to visit - as her realm was intertwined with that of Nature she still stood as more of an equal to Revana.

The third one she met was a Mortal that had become a lesser god ages ago. Woedan The God of the Wood Elves, most wood elves already lived in groves and villages in large forests, so they didn't solely worship their own god, but followed all forms of nature.

Woedan had become a funny uncle figure to Ulma while she was there, unlike Jhanzi The God of Beasts & Animals, whom was a lot more strict and less talkative. Jhanzi was a gold hearted caretaker of all animals and beasts of nature however.

There was also Riva, the child of Revana. But she was just a young child no more than eight years of age. Other than her there was the Arch Fey Mother and the Arch Fairy whom represented all things of Fey Nature and Origin.

The Feyland was another separate plane of existence but it was filled with nature of its own that intertwined with that of the mortal plane. As such it was a bridge between nature and a different nature.

Several times there had been large tables set where they all ate and conversed together. For a long time Revana had been happier than usual, she seemed overjoyed over many things but every time Ulma asked she never got a clear answer.

"Enough Girl!" Jhanzi spoke harshly and Ulma broke out of her concentration and fell to her knees, she hadn't even noticed that she had expended so much energy. Thankfully there was always someone keeping an eye out.

"I know I can do it! Just a little more time!" Ulma managed to huff out amid rasping for air. "There is no more time... We are expecting a visitor any moment now. You need to quickly go wash yourself."

Jhanzi then stood there watching her to make the point clear, where many might walk away he just waited for her to leave first. She tiredly nodded before dragging herself back on her feet and walking off to the best pools.

It was a bit of a walk but when she got there, it was the perfect cooling water that reinvigorated her energy. She had learned pretty quickly to make clothing out of flowers and other plants, with magic she could easily make a dress or clothing and dress herself really fast.

The same went with undressing, which is why she didn't even need to bother as her dress was swept away when she walked into the pool. She was left alone to some quiet and couldn't help but imagine to herself, being wrapped in two strong and kind arms.

She stood there for a while, stuck in her daydreaming before a sudden small moo came from an Elk that had walked around the corner of some trees, with a blush on her face Ulma quickly slapped both her cheeks and shook off her imagination.

When she walked out of the pool it was as if a magical dress appeared for each step she took, and by the time she was fully out she was also fully dressed and dry.

She made her way to the usual place where dinner was always shared and like usual there was plenty of food, but a lot more quiet, there were not many people present. Just a few animals helping to set the table.

"Where is everyone?" She asked the nearest Silver Unicorn that was relaxing under a tree. The Unicorn just shook its head and the mane flew wildly in the air as if saying "I dunno."

Ulma sighed before conjuring an apple and handing it to the Unicorn that gladly took the whole apple in one bite. There was a sudden feeling, an indescribable comfort yet powerful presence seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at the same time.

It made all the animals suddenly run away, leaving Ulma almost entirely alone. The Unicorn didn't seem to mind whatever was happening, but there was a sudden large white wolf with tops of bluish white that came slowly strutting into the dinner grove.

It looked around slowly before locking eyes with Ulma and slowly approaching her. "Hmm, Wood Elf, Moon Elf, Human" It spoke in a very deep voice while baring its fangs in almost what could be described as a smile and licking its teeth.

"Unusual combination, most unusual." The wolf walked several paces around her, it was at least the same height as her. Ulma just stood still, a bit scared but still felt like everything would be alright.

The wolf came to a stop and sat down in front of her before giving her a massive tounge lick that covered her entire face, she blinked a few times after the short experience ended and slowly tried to wipe off the saliva with a pained expression.

"I apologize, but I don't know who you are sir?" Ulma tried to say as casually as possible. The wolf just chuckled, "I am-" The wolf started to reply before being cut off by a shriek.

"You finally came! Brightie!" Revana's yell was heard far and wide as her green hair flashed into sight and before anyone could react she had tossed herself into the large white blue wolf.

The wolf staggered a step or two but remained solid, while Revana had her arms around his neck and was giggling like a little girl. Which was a very unbecoming sight of the goddess that no one had really seen before, except for the wolf that remained still.

Ulma was about to open her mouth but before she could, Revana's happiness had turned into tears and the Goddess was now bawling her eyes out. "Big brother! *sniff* Never leave me alone like that again!"

All the gods of nature had arrived as well as Sharnak of Earth, but they all looked at eachother to see if anyone knew about a big brother to Revana that was a wolf.

A white haired Moon Elven man came running, "My Lord! You cannot just take off like that!" The man was panting and crouched down completely exhausted on the ground. He fashioned the typical white hair with those standard long ears, with an extremely sharp face, but his eyes were mismatched because they were kinder than one could think from his facial structure.

"Do not worry Vacaz, this place is safe from danger. There is nothing to worry about here but tears." The wolf replied while gently hugging Revana with his head.

Revana calmed herself quite quickly and let her grip around the wolfs neck go, but she didn't let him go completely as if making sure he wouldn't disappear. The wolf was quick to gently lick away her tears.

Revana then turned to everyone and introduced the wolf, "This is the oldest brother of my entire family! Bright!"

"About two thousand years ago, he split his powers away to seal away some ancient evils, which caused him to fall into an eternal sleep. We didn't think we would ever see him again." Revana turned to Bright and squeesed his fur as if to double check.

"He is also the strongest guardian of the white moon!" She happily added as if to brag about her cool older brother.

"Wait I thought Luna Celesia was the guardian of the white moon?" Ulma curiously asked, and Bright nodded his head.

"Luna Celesia is my younger sister and she indeed represents the White Moon, she is the White Moon Goddess. Keeper of Balance and all that stuff, I am what you refer to as a Guardian God, I am one of few allowed to interact and push things in certain directions."

"All other gods are not really allowed to interfere, at least not directly. But I am technically a god at the same time that I am not." The wolf sighed and sat himself down by the table.

"Let's just say that I didn't receive my powers from the same beings as my younger brothers and sisters, I received one from a powerful being. One more powerful than any of the gods we know of. He can only be referred to as the God of all moons, all across the stars."

Bright looked at the sky filled with stars as if wondering where he was now. "He is the one that tasked me with my duty, and not even The Sentinel of Balance can interfere with me by godly law." Bright quickly looked around the table and saw that everyone else seemed confused except Revana who was just happily humming.

"Anyway enough about that, I came here to eat and visit my sisters domain!" With those words the feasting began. It was more lively than usual as animals and denizens of the God Grove started arriving. All attracted to the weird presence.

Eventually the lively tone of feast died down and many left, which gave way for the more serious questions to be asked.

"So... How much longer will you be keeping the lass here?" Bright turned to Revana who suddenly seemed to remember a lot of things. She looked at Ulma and gave a small smile. Ulma of course was listening closely.

"Until she is ready!" Revana vaguely answered. Bright scoffed, "How will she ever be ready if you are keeping such deep truths from her." It made everyone suddenly freeze up and look at Revana, whom completely froze as she felt her heart sink like a rock.

"What is he talking about?" Ulma asked amid the silence. Revana turned more pale and looked away. "I don't know where to begin... Perhaps it is better if I show you!" She stood facing away and Ulma quietly got up and walked closer.

Ulma also felt like her heart was stuck in her throat as she started wondering what it could be about. Revana suddenly turned with determined eyes, "If you wish to hate me for keeping this from you, then I will not blame you. But know that there is nothing you could have done to prevent what happened, do not blame yourself. All I wanted was to finish your training so I could have let you go back knowing you would be strong and safe!"

She then stretched out a hand that Ulma slowly reached for, all the while she could only hear her own heavy heartbeat. The moment she touched her hand she could see everything that Revana had seen.

She saw two bodies lying on a beach, one a humanoid dragon, the other a young human woman whose hair she would have recognized anywhere. She saw a half dragon half devilkin walk away with nothing short of pain and misery.

She saw a young human man left all alone in a dark and empty house. As her own choice of words echoed in her head when they had departed from one another.

She wanted to scream, she wanted to cry out for help, she wanted to... Before long she started convulsing as she fell backwards, she felt something catching her before everything went dark.

As time seemed to stand still, she woke once more with a massive headache, there was a large campfire under the nightsky and opposite her sat a human looking man, he had long white hair and when their eyes met she realized it was the same eyes of the wolf, Bright.

He stood up and all it took was a blink and the wolf was in front of her once more, laying down in the grass with crossed legs. She slowly sat up while grabbing her head, the moment she sat up down she felt something coming.

She got on all fours and threw up on the ground as she felt sickness deeply rooted in her stomach as the imagery flashed in her head. "It's true isn't it?" She asked once she had finished.

"Yes, she wouldn't lie to you about that. Which leaves you with a few options, I can take you back home, or you can stay here and make sure to become strong enough to prevent such things from happening to people you know."

Bright lowered his head. "I apologize if I am blunt, but just like my sister said, there is nothing you could have known or done. Take your time, decide what you want to do. If you wish to leave at a later date then just tell my sister to fetch me."

"But if you allow me some harsh bluntness, you should stay here and grow strong, the world is going to need it. That is the only reason I can think of why I would suddenly wake up from my deep slumber."

Ulma started considering her options as she watched the fire, but she was not a god like them, she couldn't help but cry for a long time. Bright allowed her to lean on him until she was too tired to cry anymore and fell asleep.