[Chr24] A Royal Mission

The day had come.

It was time to bring the Sweei to the spirit tree.  It wasn't the most "flashy" of jobs, but it was important and a true honor to hold.  The Royal Family themselves had approached the two of them, at first.  Moonie and Luna.  And of course, with them, Shuu.  Shuu had been a big part of Moonie's life since they had come across one another, and the two found a certain comfort in each other.

The three of them went to leave at Sunrise when they came across Zana.  "It's the day, is it?" Zana inquired as she walked over to the two 'bucks.  "Yeah," Luna was unsure if she should invite the other, since Zana wasn't always in the best of health.  "I'll come with you.  I've been meaning to go to the Spirit Tree anyway," She offered herself.  "If you think so," Luna said before Zana gave a small nod and walked over, taking note of the Gingerbread Shoon resting in Moonie's fur on top of it's cloud.  There was one more Moonie and Luna had wanted to see before they fully made their way to the tree, and that was Aeris.  She lived more on the outskirts, though somehow the outskirts of the outskirts, so it was still a walk before they would make it.  Still, they walked through, acknowledging the other 'bucks out early while making chatter amongst themselves spread throughout.

Aeris was the first to find them, showing up behind them.  "Where are you guys going?" Aeris tilted her head, though startled the sleeping Shoon.  "Oops," She gave a small laugh as she stepped closer to see the pet, "I didn't mean to startle you."  She apologized before looking at the others "We're going to the spirit tree," Zana began to explain before Aeris' eyes lit up "Oh, I haven't been in too long!  I'm going too!" She insisted.  "We did come looking for you, after all," Zana gave a lighthearted chuckle.  Moonie and Luna knew Aeris would be excited to go, and take the opportunity.  "Good.  Well, what are we waiting for?" She smiled as she now took the lead.

It wasn't until dusk that they had finally arrived at the forest the spirit tree resided.  The four of them took a small break to rest and stretch, they'd been walking for a long time, with little breaks between.  They soon began the trek into the forest, though they couldn't help but feel a certain.. unease at the silence of the forest.  It wasn't normally like this.  The large trees loomed overhead, the moonlight barely making its way through their dense leaves.  Roots were tangled within the pathways, almost seemingly connecting the trees to one another.  The air had a certain cold to it that almost felt unnatural.  It was winter, and the winter was normally harsh, but there was a certain stillness in the air.  It was simply cold.  No wind.  No nothing.  As the group continued on, the unease began to grow as they could almost feel eyes bearing down into the back of their heads.  They didn't dare speak of it.  Whatever it was, they still came for a reason.  The Sweei.  They were soon able to see the glow of the Spirit tree.  Once they reached the clearing Aeris wasted no time going to look over the different plants that had found their home on the edges of the pond surrounding the spirit tree.  Zana took the chance to take in the view: the light blue glow radiating from the tree, you could feel the magic, even if you weren't as inclined to it yourself.  It was a certain type of beautiful.  As Moonie and Luna approached the pond themselves they finally heard the rustle of an unknown presence.  They all stopped what they were separately doing and froze.

Another rustle.  This time, it sounded even closer.

They began to look around, and eventually, laid their eyes on something.  It stood there, staring.  Watching.  In silence.  Whatever it was, it knew it had been spotted.  And they, too, knew they were being watched.  It didn't move.  It didn't make a noise.  It didn't show any indication of what it was there for, it simply was.  None of them were sure how long they stood there, completely frozen.  Almost in a match to see who would move first. 

"We should go" Zana finally spoke up.  They began to walk toward the pond once more, backing up as they kept their eyes on the creature.  Suddenly, it jolted, and the four of them let out a scream as they began to run.  They weren't sure how they were able to get around the creature, or if it was following them, but they weren't going to look back to check.  The four of them continued to run, Shuu holding onto Moonie's fur as she did so.  All they could hear seemingly were their hearts racing.  The blood coursing through their veins providing the ability to do so.  They kept running.  Making their way back through the dark forest, they had to make sure and avoid any of the mangled roots that they had been able to so carefully avoid on their way in.  It felt like forever until they were finally able to see the moonlight outside of the forest.  They were finally out.

Unsure if it was safe, and against everything in them telling them to get as far away as possible, they stopped.  They looked at each other, just glad that they had been able to get out of the forest together.  "Is everyone okay?" Zana asked between pants, the others simply giving a nod in response.  A certain relief fell over the group before they finally looked into the dense trees, looking to see if it was there, coming to chase them.  They waited, when they likely should have simply kept running.  Nothing came, and they didn't even hear the rustling of leaves they had expected to.  They seemed to be in the clear.  "We should go." Luna said after some time with no sign of the creature.  "Were you able to get.." Aeris started but trailed off as the others looked at her.  "Not that it's more important!  I was just wondering!" She said as she shook her head and gave a slightly nervous laugh.  "Let's just go" Luna said before they began to make their way back.