The Fox's Test

With a sudden movement, Earth's hand went down to the floor... And for a moment, nothing happened. We started to get confused about what the god was intending to do and apparently failed.

Just as I was about to ask, however, the ground started to tremble beneath us and in the following instant, the floor fell, creating a deep hole in the middle of the temple, with us three and the god inside it. The other animals that were in the temple only watched us from above.

"May your test begin, Whi- I mean, Beech", he said and small platforms started to appear on the wall. It looked like a climbing challenge.

The fox, without hesitation, started to jump on the platforms one by one. I wanted to watch and cheer him on during the test, to be honest... But after some time, I realized there were way too many platforms and I was already getting bored from watching it doing the same thing over and over again...

In an attempt to escape the boredom, I filled myself with thoughts. There was a question, in particular, that has been bothering me after having met with Earth... I couldn't answer the question myself, however. The only way to find an answer was directly asking Earth...

"Earth... May I ask you a question?"

"Yes, yes... go ahead", he said, with an annoyed tone of voice.

"Uh... Why do you hate humans?", I simply asked him. For a moment, he stared in silence at the fox and it even looked like he was too distracted to answer me... But then, he sighed.

"It's not your fault. I just can't help but blame all humans for everything a few did to the outskirts of my forest... 'A few' is actually too low, a few hundred or maybe thousand would be more accurate...", he said and I started to think what he could be speaking of... Logging and hunting were the only things that came to my mind.

"You filthy humans don't give valor to other lives anymore. If it was for survival, I would understand, but everything you do is get profit from the things you hunt and collect. Isn't that amazing? The lives of the animals and trees have become nothing more than just numbers for you, even when it's a life we're talking about. What if I killed you just for profit, would you be happy? I guess humans wouldn't be happy with dying either way, given how selfish you are. Argh, I simply can't stand you humans!", he simply blurted out, with all his rage on it.

"Well, not all humans are like that", Jeffrey simply started to say. "Look at Dagger, she's very loyal to her own principles and people. She's going after the four elements to save the dreams of her lover, saved me from criminals, ventured on fire to save a single girl... It's impressive how the list increases as we continue our journey".

"Not really... It's just... my duty as knightess", I said, a little bit embarrassed and trying to hide myself in modesty... Though modesty is actually almost like actually asking for being praised more.

"Well. One human doesn't change what the other hundreds did and continue to do even today", Earth argued angrily. Well, his rage because of that wasn't going to be easy to let aside, it's understandable... I am just glad we got to know his motives, at least, and with that in mind, I decided to look to see the fox's progress.

"Well, impressive. But that wasn't a hard task... The next one is truly challenging to be done alone", Earth said and raised his hands to the sky. With that, the ground quickly started to rise to the surface and soon we were back with the floor with the other animals.

"Stand aside, Dagger and Jeffrey... It shall now face my loyal soldiers of earth!", he said and closed his eyes.

Humanoid figures, similar to the purple fog of the Skytouch Mountain and the frozen knights of the Underground Lake, started to from the bricks of the wall and the soil of the floor. They were four, wielding sharp weapons made entirely of rocks and were ready to strike the fox as soon s they were created

They attacked the fox all at the same time, in a way to make this hard to dodge, but the fox only jumped over, dodging them all while a cloud of strange dust was lifted from the floor and prevented us from seeing what was happening...

"Dagger...", Earth suddenly called me. "Since you asked a question, I would like to ask you one as well"

"Uh... Yes... it's only fair"

"It's true... About what you did out there? You're in this for your love for someone, you saved this fox, you fought criminals, ventured in the fire..."

"It's true... I saw it myself, and the fox did too", Jeffrey answered the god first, while I could only sigh and add something after.

"Well... It's as he says, I did all of that... But I don't think you would trust the word of humans for that, would you?"

"Yes... I don't trust you..."., he said, but somehow... He sounded like he was conflicted about that matter. It was a good sign, I suppose.

As we finished talking, the dust finally came down, revealing the fox quickly dashing against one of the enemies and biting it right on the crystal that held the earth enemy together. That enemy just fell as if they were only debris of the temple... Quickly, the other enemies fell too, the agility and precision on the Beech's strike made this battle much easier and quicker, apparently.

"Very well... For the last test and the most important one, Whi-... I mean, Beech, come closer", he said and the animal approached close to the god's feet. Earth then put his hand on the head of the animal and closed his own eyes while the fox did the same. What was happening there, I couldn't understand at all...

"I see... I see... So many things happened... A family killed... Anger... Sorrow... And then the hope of living is lost because of a trap that caught you...", the god started to say.

Was he looking into the memories of the fox? If so, I was getting kind of anxious, waiting for him to mention the fox's memories with me... But all that remained was a long silence. When done, the god took his hand out of the fox's head and looked at it. The fox also looked at Earth in the eyes after the test had been completed.

"Okay. Beech... Your memory shows what changed and what you're right now. You have passed the test of kindness...", the god said, apparently proud of it. But then he looked at me, pain in his expression

"Also... It's embarrassing to do this as a god... But because of what the humans have been doing to my forest, I tend to judge them at first glance. Seeing the memories of the fox and the journey you walked together, however... I can see I have misjudged you. For that, I am sorry, Dagger and Jeffrey... I hope I can find a way to redeem myself...", he said and I only smiled at him

"Well, if you may... I need the earth element", I asked him at the same time I took the bottle of elements out of the bag, handing it to him

"Ah, of course, the element...", he said, grabbing the bottle and placing something inside it. Quickly, he handed it back to me and then gave me a small stone too.

"Thank you very much... But why the stone?", I asked him while he started to pet one of the many animals that were in the temple.

"Air asked me to give you this, she forgot to give it you... It will help in your journey, it will help you deal with the last of the four elements... You will understand it when the time comes", he explained to me and I made sure to take good care of the stone, if it was all that important.

"If you don't mind, Earth. Perhaps we, or at least me, can come back and talk? There are many questions I would like to ask...", Jeffrey said to the god and he smiled sweetly at him.

"Of course", Earth said. "If you have time, please do come by. I would be more than glad to talk get to know more about humans who I discovered to be actually kind. But for now, I think you should hurry up with your journey. I am sure the Dagger's princess is waiting excitedly for her to come back to her"

"Ah yes... I will come back, then!", Jeffrey said while we walked out of the temple, with three elements out of the four... The end seemed to be very close now.