Seed Of Speed

Zedava gave a mischievous chuckle as she disappeared through one of the teleportation gates. Although she believed she was sneaking out without anyone knowing, Rozama sat up in the silver branches of the Zivot Tree watching her pseudo-child with an amused expression on her face.

"Celita, would you keep an eye on her?" Rozama asked with a chuckle.

"Shouldn't I just bring her back?" Celita asked.

"Let her have her fun. There is little here that would actually oppose her, so just ensure her safety."

"As you command, Grand Mother," Celita replied with a bow then meddled with the shadows and disappeared.

Zedava appeared on one of the branches of the Zivot tree that dipped lower, near the coast, she let out a giggle and jumped from the Hutia treetops. Branches moved out of her way under the power of her natural aura. As she quickly sped towards the ground, she reached out a hand and a vine made its way over, so she could grab it and swing through the air.

The Evernight Obor Jungle was covered by a canopy of branches so densely packed that the jungle was cast in an eternal shade. Despite the lack of sunlight, the jungle was lit with the hanging fruits of the Zivot tree which glowed with various shades of neon green, blue, and purple. There were other plants and animals with similar bioluminescence, but nothing could match the brightness of the fruits.

Although Zedava was a still a child, she was the size of a sparrow in comparison to this outrageously oversized jungle. Trees were dozens of meters apart, but she easily swung between them, the plants bending to her will to ease her passage. Due to the nature of her unique birth, only the greatest dangers of the jungle could pose any risk to her, but that was not enough for the curious young girl.

She loved traveling to the coast since the other two borders were strictly forbidden to her by Rozama. She had tried to sneak off a few times, but every time she approached the gate to the grassland border or the border to the Fractured Lands, the gates would spontaneously shut down before she could set through. Although this meant that Rozama was allowing her to travel to the coast, Zedava preferred to think she had snuck out under her nose.

The trees began to grow smaller the further out she traveled, but even when she reached the edge of the sea, the branches she was climbing on were still thicker than she was tall. There was no sandy beach below, just a tangled mess of roots and water. Zedava always enjoyed combing through the roots in hopes of finding some washed-up treasure, even if it was usually fishing nets or chucks of wooden crates. It turned out that today she would find something particularly special.

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Diego felt something grab and pull him up onto something solid which rose him from his unconscious state. After getting tossed about in the storm and losing the ship, he nearly decided to try and fly out of his golem, but Katalina convinced him otherwise.

He coughed and ġrȯȧnėd as he rolled onto his face to hide from the finger poking his face. His eyes slowly blinked opened and he took in his surroundings, including the adorable, young monkey-girl looking down at him. She looked mostly human except for being a little too slender, having long green hair with monkey ears poking out and a white flower bud, and a long green tail that curled with her mood. Her clothes were made from a type of silk and were beautifully dyed in greens and browns.

"Ooo... are you alive?" she asked with a smile.

Diego could not help but be put at ease around the young girl whose aura was pure and full of vitality, just like a spring day. "Thanks for helping me," Diego coughed as he pushed himself into a seated position.

"You can speak our language?!?" she asked excitedly, her tail curling left then right.

::Auto-translate, you're welcome::

(Thank you, Kat,) he silently chimed then gave the girl a nod and said, "It seems so. My name is Diego, thank you for saving me."

"I'm Zedava! Where are you from?"

"I'm from the Teoran Desert, but I was heading to the Grassland Nation when my ship got hit by a storm and I was knocked overboard. Could you tell me if I am close?"

"Not really... If you followed the coast, you'd have to travel over a thousand kilometers to reach the jungle border and another five hundred before you get to the region claimed by other humans," she replied with a frown.

"That's okay. I've got a golem, so I can fly and make my way there."

"What's a golem?" she asked with an adorable tilt of her head.

Diego chuckled and pulled out his stone griffin from his storage space. "Let's climb a little higher before I wake it up. I don't want find out that the sea leeches can reach here too."

Zedava nimbly climbed up the giant spiderweb of roots while Diego followed her with considerably less grace. When they had reached the top of the roots, about ten meters above the water, Diego poured his mana into the golem and it grew to its travel size. Her eyes grew wide with excitement as she rushed over to the stone griffin's side and patted its rock feathers.

"How can stone fly?" she asked with wonder.

"Magic, of course. There are spells and special ingredients layered within its body which allows it to fly through the air at my command," Diego chuckled.

"Can I try?"

"Well, it's bound to me, but I can fly you around, if you want," Diego offered.

"Ooo!" she exclaimed in a very monkey-like fashion.

She immediately hopped up on the griffin's eagle head and clung to the back of its neck while her tail almost seemed to be vibrating as it wriggled side to side so quickly. Diego could not help but chuckle at Zedava cuteness and pulled him onto the griffin's back. The violet reins appeared and poked out from her sides as he raised his hands.

"Hold on!" Diego said before Tadrith jumped into the air.