I wake up and I'm still in the crook of the tree, thankfully. Once I did my magic the warriors probably high-tailed it out of here. Hm. What were warriors like them doing so far out here anyways? Definitely not here just to pay respects... actually I couldn't put that too far out of my mind, maybe they were comrades once. But that still didn't sit right.
Passing through? Seemed more likely. Passed by, saw an atrocity, wanted to do something, went on their way. But where could they be going... what was that city... Abaho, that's right. Hm. But that commander of theirs seemed to be pretty anti-slavery. That's why I don't attack after all. And Abaho is where the orc said the slavers would be... well actually I didn't know if that's what he said at all.
Not understanding language was getting to be a really big nuisance. As I have that thought, I feel something. It's not painful, but there's something latching onto my head.
Wait a minute.
"Ahhhh!" My rustling voice erupts as I reach up to try to knock whatever it is off the top of my head.
"Of! Off! Off!" I grunt and groan and smack my head against the tree. I hear something squeal and the feeling finally dislodges. What drops down onto the branch in front of me with a hiss is something like a possum from my world. It's got a much fluffier tale and less feral looking features but it's definitely close enough to be the same sort of species.
And then it points its tail at me and a bunch of spines shoot out of the tip.
Okay so maybe not the same species. I duck quickly, not sure how much damage those spines can do to me but not eager to find out.
In ducking, I lose my balance and begin to plummet to the ground. I cover my head with my arms and brace for impact. A heavy thud erupts as I smack into the hard packed earth below.
I'm totally unharmed! This wood body must come with built-in physical resistance. Being wood rules baby! I look up at the possum-like creature and make a sort of face at it before high tailing it. Probably not a good idea to antagonize it, but after not taking any damage I feel invincible!
CRASH!
Or not. I look around frantically, trying to find out what that sound was. I see the possums scurrying away from the tree heading deeper into the woods. Oh now you don't want the tree? Typical.
CRASH!
It's getting closer, shit shit shit. This isn't good. I'm too small to face anything that big, and the warriors are probably long gone. Fuck! I'm on my own, like always! I kick the dirt in frustration.
CRASH!
I finally see it, cresting over the trees is the top of a massive behemoth. It's like if godzilla and a giant slime had a little baby. It was adorable, which was disconcerting. Big chubby cheeks and big beady eyes. A large mouth that seemed to drip the blue like substance it was made of.
"A-alice what the fuck is that!"
"That is a Baby Slime Kaiju. The lowest level kaiju there is. Only recommended for parties consisting of four or more members!"
F-Four? I don't even have one!
"Treasured for their valuable slime, many believe them to have hidden away, so a sighting of an infant is rare. However, that also means the parent is probably not far behind!
"P-Parent?! There's a bigger one?!"
I don't hear any thunderous crashes besides the slime kaiju, but that doesn't mean the parent isn't nearby anyways.
"Though mostly docile, when angered they can destroy villages, and the parents could take out a fortified city!l
"E-Enough iAlice, I need to think..." Mostly docile, I can work with that. I shadow step and get the hell out of here. There's no way I beat that thing, and there's definitely no way I beat its parents.
But as I'm formulating my plan, it all goes to shit. That animal from before is back, and poised to shoot its spines at the unaware kaiju.
No no no what could that stupid beast possibly be thinking! But then I see. Directly in the path of the baby kaiju is a hollowed out tree trunk. And if I peer hard enough I can see smaller versions of the possum-like creature. Shit that must be its babies!
The beast hisses, the spines rocket into the enormous slime, and it screams. Shit.
The slime thrashes about wildly, slime raining to the ground and the beast takes this moment to rush forward and scoop up its fellow kin. The smaller creatures cling to its back as the possum-like animal starts barreling away, and right towards me.
Oh you piece of shit, I'm bait?! Seriously?!
But before it has time to get me a massive tendril of slime shoots out and sticks to the fantasy/possum. Its eyes go wide and its rockets backwards by the elasticity of the slime, slamming into its torso and sinking into the goop.
Well that's life for you, I guess. I sigh, I mean I feel bad. I realize now why the possum was trying to drive out an unfamiliar creature now. No no stop thinking about it, what are you gonna do against that slime. But...
I can see the possum thrashing and struggling as hard as it can trying to save itself. It rips a tear in the side of the slime! Wow! That's some determination. But instead of immediately pushing out like I thought it would, it begins to push the small possums out one by one. They slide down the face of the baby kaiju totally unnoticed by the baby. After stopping the source of its pain it seems to have gotten rather docile again.
After the last baby possum is through, the tear starts to close up. The older one can't push any more and starts to sink back into the goop.
Before I realize it my feet are moving. Shit shit shit. What am I thinking? What am I gonna do?! Shit shit. I Shadow Step up the shaded branches to the tree nearest the slimes head. The head is still about ten feet up and I jump onto the slimes bulbous and round body.
"Bad!" I rustle, pointing at the slime. It seems to notice me and tilt its head.
"Spit!" I point at the slowly suffocating possum in its torso. The baby kaiju still looks confused, so I use my best authoritative voice.
"I said spit, now!" The baby seems to understand. Maybe since it was so young it still listened to those it viewed as its elders. They did say sightings were rare after all.
The kaiju... pouts? But then the possum gushes out. The baby critters surround their patron and start licking the slime off. That can't taste good.
"Good baby." I pet the slime and it seems to like that. Have I just made my first friend? And it's a giant kaiju slime! My over-powered dreams may come true just yet.
CRASH!
Oh shit. There's the parents. I don't wanna turn around. There was only one crash but it was right behind us. The slime turns its head around in a full one 180 without moving its body, which kinda grosses me out. Like I get you're a slime but yeesh... Anyways I don't have time to worry about that as I turn. I'm expecting another massive kaiju, but it's not that.
"Hey you! Tree spirit! Get off my baby brother! He's annoying but only I mess with him !" The voice belongs to what appears to a a woman in her twenties. She has blue hair, the same color as the baby kaiju, and her bottom half is also the same blue slime material. She seems to have the top half of a human woman, adorned in a simple white dress with gold accents. She's still large, though not as gangantuan as the baby kaiju. Maybe they traded power for dexterity as they evolved?
I look down in amazement, and then slide down the back of the baby kaiju, something tells me she could have made me do it easily.
"S-Sorry, there was a misunderstanding...." I bow my head to her, using my rustling voice. She seemed to be a type of monster too after all, probably not scared of a little tree spirit rustling. But why was I bowing, what was with this green-knight shtick I was doing?
"Wow, not just any tree spirit. You're a Treechild. I thought you all had died?" She doesn't say it in a mean way, merely like a question. Ouch. Well, I didn't really know anything about what sorta creature I was but clearly I was an endangered species.
"I am the last of my kind..." I say, which might be the truth. I have no clue, I didn't even know I was so rare until a second ago. It also sounds more in line with the character of green-knight i'm going for.
This is troubling though, if there's no one like me it's gonna be hard to figure out how to use my skills and evolutions all on my own. Wait... is this because I had chosen the Treechild evolution, maybe most seeds went for the Great Tree to Gaia Knight route.
"Well whatever, you're like the guardian of the forest or whatever so I won't pick a fight." She yawns and picks her ear carelessly. She seems to know she could take me but doesn't feel like it.
"I-I appreciate it... May I ask your name?"
"M... My name...?" The slime seems taken aback by that, maybe manners weren't very common among giant monsters. Behind me, the baby kaiju picks up a fruit tree and stuffs it into its abdomen.
"Y-Yes... I don't have one myself yet..." Looking for ideas... I keep the last bit to myself.
"I am Geliina!" The slime says haughtily, seemingly enjoying the fact that i'm asking about her. "I am the highest ranking slime in this whole mountain range! I've fought dragons and heroes alike!" She grins, probably imaging the battle field. Ah, a battle junkie. Definitely didn't want to be on her bad side, she'd probably fight anyone even if it meant she'd die.
"T-That is truly impressive Miss Gelina." I say, my voice babbling like a brook. Now that I think about it, she doesn't have any trouble at all understanding me, even when I can barely understand myself. Maybe it was a monster thing.
"Thank you, young Treechild! I'm on my way to demolish the city of Abaho, in retaliation for what they did to the villages here!" A woman after my own heart, it seemed.
"I will swallow them all!" Or maybe not quite.
"S-Swallow them, miss Geline?" I ask, keeping my head bowed.
"Yes they will suffer in the acid guts of me and my brother before their demise!"
"Oh uh... well, I was uh, already planning on doing that." I say, which is beyond me. Why would Is at anything like that to this clearly crazy slime woman?
"Oh! Of course! You are a guardian of the forest of course, Treechild. Hm... No name... huh... I can't just call you Treechild."
"I-I don't seem to be able to myself." I had tried to name myself all sorts of cool things, but Unnamed Treechild had stayed the same every time.
"Then I shall give you a name!" Can she do that? She's a super high level monster, shit she probably can. Oh no, I don't want this battle crazy lady to name me!
"Th-That's alright, really, I-"
"Nonsense, when you get a name your stats will increase as well! Especially if one as powerful as myself names you!" S-Stat boost.. That sounded very appealing... I mean, I had no idea what my actual stats were since I couldn't read the language yet, but they were still there.
"So what will it be, guardian of the forest!"
"Uh... Sure..." Oh man what am I getting myself into.
"Hmm... Let's see... You are small... And round ish... And made of wood... perhaps we could call you Club?"
"Uh no, that's not really the peaceful guardian thing I have going on..." I say quietly.
"Peaceful... haha you sure are a funny one, Treechild. Well... I heard tales of a special tree from a far off land once. With a strong sounding name."
"A special tree... okay... " A cool magical tree has to have a cool magical name, and maybe it will even influence my future evolutions!
"In that case, Treechild, I, Geline of the Slimes, name you Cedar!" Cedar... but that's just an Earth Tree!
There's a faint blue glow not unlike the color of Geline and her brother, a few of my leaves even turn that very color of blue, maybe that denotes who I had been named by. Although, I really hoped I had inherited the slime and form-changing traits and nothing in regards to the kaiju aspect.
"Now shall we depart Cedar?" I look back one last time at the village that had been turned to flowers. I'll come back, I promise. I'll do whatever I can to become so powerful I can change the world.
Or I'll get turned into mulch, really only two options.
"I'm ready." I follow the two. A massive slime lizard, and his slime-naga sister that craved battle. Well, at least they're friendly with me.
Sure hope we don't encounter any ballsy travelers.