Weak Nature - Chapter 5

Let’s talk about biomes. Biomes are, in a very basic description, an area of land that has similar terrain features, plants, and animals. to use an example, a forest will have a couple different species of trees, some grasses, mushrooms, and plants that do not need a massive amount of sun or can grow on the trees themselves. The animals that reside there are usually things that can either dig or climb. Squirrels are able to climb and they make their home in the trees, along with the birds. Boars, on the other hand, dig under the trees and use them as roofs for their little homes. when everything is working towards an equilibrium, is when a biome is healthy and working properly.

Biomes are important because they both limit the amount of things that can live there, and also limit the different types of things that can live there. Can’t be having a cattail grow in the middle of a desert. This also lets people know that in certain biomes they can expect certain things. In a forested biome, flowers and trees are going to be common. In much darker biomes, there will most likely be ambush predators that live there. This is a kind of rule of thumb that can be developed.

In the forest below the mountain that Fae lives, the most important things that grow there is different types of flowers that benefit them, some spices, wood, and creatures that are used for food. For the flowers, some already known ones are Vis and Essentia flowers. There are a variety of creatures that are hunted, but there is definitely some specific creatures that the hunters go after.

Fae, wanting for the life of her to go exploring into the forest, feeling the draw of her adventurous side as well as her bloodline, is using the new mushrooms to at least know more about it. The person she finally guilt tripped into teaching her more about the forest and how to survive there is an Aether man by the name of Aero.

Aero, using the mushrooms as the reason he is teaching Fae, tells her to show up next to her willow every morning. When the next day rolls around and Aero is meandering over to the willow, he spots Fae actually sleeping in the tree, as well as what seem as if the tree is protecting her, covering her with branches and pointing sharp twigs and branches at things that come close. Amused, Aero calls out to Fae, shouting,”You’re late Fae!”

Scared out of her rest, Fae almost fell out of the tree, with the tree itself flexing it’s branches a bit to keep Fae safe. “Don’t do that!”

Jumping down from the tree, Fae walked over and oh so graciously allowed Aero to prepare what he was about to say. “Since I have agreed to teach you some of my skills, we need to be sure of some basic things first. Could you do a run from here to Odo’s and back?” With no hesitation, Fae nodding, thinking, ‘I must learn as much as I can!’

Starting with a walk, then warming up to a jog then run, Fae was off. Aero, watching behind, kept an ‘eye’ on her using the wind. Being a stronger Aether did have its perks. Around the quarter point did Aero start to get a slight frown. Although not strange, he noticed that Fae’s eyes still glowed, and was maintaining a pace that seemed closer to a desperate dash with ease. His frown deepened when her pace was the same for the entirety of the run, like she was undead and never tired.

When she was back he decided to ask. “Do you run out of stamina girl? You ran for your life and back like it was nothing.”

Not quite sure what he was asking, eyes still glowing, she said,” I don’t really know what you mean. I just kept a pace and kept going, not really knowing how fast I was going.”

With a questioning look on his face, he started with the basics. “I noticed your form when running. We are going to have to fix that first. Not only to be able to run with less stamina,” looking at her with a pointed look when mentioning stamina,” but also to reduce noise and make it easier to go over obstacles.” While having her jog around her little yard he pointed out things she needed to fix, with a constant wind surrounding him. When the sun was about a quarter of the way up, he called time and said,” Practice what I have pointed out before tomorrow. You will be doing the same test. Running is the most important thing to keep your hide safe and in one piece.”

Spending the midday tending her plants, Fae continued to spend the rest of the day after that running around, eyes blazing, fixing the things that he pointed out. Not wanting to waste any chance, she even did the run twice before calling it a night, trying her hardest to perfect it. With the encouragement of the willow, flowers, and mushrooms, Fae managed to get a small, albeit very small, understanding of what he pointed out.

Climbing up into the willow, Fae started to converse with the tree, braking down her day to help glean any more information and understanding from it. This has become a nightly routine for her as everything seems to go by so fast, and allows her to really relax. What struck her as strange however was the comment Aero made about her stamina. Asking the willow, she soon understood why. The tree sent images of plants, the sun, and an overwhelming feeling of wanting to help and give.

Understanding slightly, Fae only said one thing before nodding off to a restful sleep.

“Thank you.”