Chapter Text
Julia was still furious with her father. Specifically with his comments about what she did in her free time. She knew that art wasn't a 'respectable profession' in his books, but it made her happy! It was how she made sense of the world!
She'd wandered into a cave when she'd stormed off into the woods to cool off, and at some point, she'd tripped and stumbled into the darkness. And now, she was hopelessly lost. Even now, she was still nursing a bruise. The only reason she wasn’t currently freaking out was the fire of anger that still burned in her chest. She was too angry to be afraid of anything. Too angry to process how far from home she was.
Her phone battery was still full, but she had no reception this far underground. Maybe if she got lucky, she could get some internet or something to use her map app. But for now, she was lost.
What else was there to do but... wander? And wander she did, hand tracing the wall until the stone under her hand crumbled and she stumbled through the opening into-
A beautiful garden .
The space was utterly verdant, walls crawling with moss and white roots tracing delicately between hanging lichens and peeking grasses. Odd green creatures - they looked almost like mayflies - floated lazily in the air like driftwood on the sea, hovering above some odd, wooden orb at the heart of whatever clearing this was, sprouting with more of those massive white roots - or were they branches?
The white roots glowed faintly, providing some light to this deep, dark space. Julia gaped in wonder, feeling like she'd walked right into some underground Shire. Fumbling for her bag at her side, she half tore through her sketchbook for a blank page to hastily pen out the landscape before anything changed like the shifting shadows in what looked like some sort of structure.
Beautiful. This place was beautifully alien to her. It was like nothing she’d ever seen before.
She feared her oil pastels would crumble in her hands with the force of her grip when she felt some sort of shiver down her spine. The air smelled sweet. Saccharine. Oddly so. It left a taste in the back of her throat that she didn't like.
She should... probably try to get out of here. If she'd found greenery, then there was a good chance the surface was nearby. Her desire to further investigate this strange place won out over her desire to go home, however. She hastily finished coloring her sketch of the area and gingerly stuffed her things back into her messenger bag, staring into the green distance warily.
Something was here. She could feel it.
With slow, cautious steps, she approached the great orb of wood - which upon closer inspection, looked like it was made of manicured, curving branches curling in on themselves and sanded to smoothness. It was cool to the touch, comfortingly so as Julia realized that it was surprisingly hot and humid in this veritable greenhouse.
She circled the odd structure, marveling at it with half a mind to get her sketch back out -
And froze at what looked like the remains of a warzone. Creatures bigger than people that looked like almost praying mantises piled up in the form of corpses in a long line leading to that distinctly artificial structure with shadows inside. Next to the orb, a different form leaned against the mass of wood. It looked like it was wearing pristine white armor, just shy of luminescent even under the layer of dust. In its distinctly clawed hands, it held a weapon that Julia recognized as a sword, despite its odd shape.
"What are you?" She found herself muttering. "What were you protecting?"
Because protecting something did seem to be the goal of this beast. None of the monsters had made it past the armored figure, outside splatters of still-vibrant orange. What was this orange stuff anyway? Blood? Was that what the blood of these creatures looked like?
She found herself not wanting those answers that badly. Instead, she investigated the strange wooden sphere again. The smooth grain and cresting shapes gave way to a crevice on the side. Nearly circular, just small enough that she could wedge her way through if she were stubborn enough.
So naturally, she sunk her costs and got on her hands and knees to try crawling into the structure. It was a bit of a tight squeeze, especially when there was a downward drop she had to ease herself down until she reached the bottom. The sickly taste of sugar in the air slowly dispersed as she crawled through the dimly lit tunnel of wood. She half feared splinters, though her arms were covered with her long jacket sleeves so she’d probably be fine. The end of the tunnel was bright, and she saw some humor in its presence as she squirmed her way through the last narrow crease in the wood, and-
There was another creature, completely unlike the others she had seen in here, and at least twice Julia's size. It seemed to be the source of those sprawling white roots, though it was bound in bark and seemed completely immobile.
And whatever this was, whatever this tree creature had going on, it also had a face. A face with bulbous, pale blue eyes shimmering in its branch light.
And with a pale grey hole that opened in its face, it spoke. "Who are you? And what may you be? I do not recall anything like you within my root system," it called in a voice that Julia distinctly categorized as that of a woman.
"I-I-" Julia tried to stammer, tongue-tying herself on the way. "I'm Julia. I'm... a human?"
The bound tree creature leaned forward as if to inspect Julia, though she got the impression those eyes were unseeing. "I am afraid I know not what a human is, though I can tell whatever shell you might have is meager and soft. Do you seek to explore this dying kingdom, Human Julia?"
The way the tree (lady?) said her name was odd, almost accented. Julia was amazed that it (she?) spoke English at all.
"Um. I might have to. I'm trying to get to the surface."
The sparkle intensified a bit, almost grimly. "Then a body as soft as yours will not last in the harsh wilds this kingdom has become since it fell. Please, allow me to offer a bit of aid to a traveler such as yourself.”
“Um... Okay? That’s... very nice of you?” Julia couldn’t help but feel like there was something she was missing here. Some danger she wasn’t aware of that was causing the icy tendrils of fear to wrap around her heart.
“I do not wish to see harm come to you if I am able to prevent it somehow,” the tree lady replied. “Will you accept my aid?”
“Sure?” Julia said slowly. “That would be... Nice?”
“Thank you.” The tree lady seemed to let out a sigh of relief.
One of her branches reached up, plucking a twig from another. More branches converged upon the first, wrapping around the twig until it was covered in a knot of writhing wood, glowing with an almost blinding light. The wood shaped itself deftly, the light within dimming and dying slowly into a darker grey like a cooling star after being disconnected until an odd, vaguely humanoid form glistening with white motes of light like drops of dew was presented to her.
"It may not look like much at the moment, but this shell is infused with soul magic," the tree woman explained. "It will conform to your shape better than any armor smith's work."
"How... do I put it on?" Julia asked, eyeing it critically. It didn't look like there were any openings for her to squeeze into.
"Approach, and I will show you."
Julia shuffled closer, eyeing the wood, and when she reached out to touch it, the wood unraveled its winding corkscrews, changing to look like an elaborately shaped rapier guard. "Woah..."
When she stuck her arm through the opened spiral, it abruptly closed itself again like a sprung mousetrap and caused her to squeak in alarm. She felt it squeeze against her skin, with just enough pressure to be too much for comfort. Where the wood would peel apart were smooth, just barely perceptible grooves.
It looked like she was wearing a sleeve made of a cinnamon roll can.
She laughed a little deliriously, reeling madly and feeling like the protagonist of one of her favorite books. She wondered vaguely if she’d hit her head or something. This felt too real to be a dream but... what else could it be? It was too close to her frequent fantasies of escape to be anything but a dream. Things like this didn’t just happen.
She felt the wood clicking against itself as she flexed her hand around, curious about the sensation.
And then something occurred to her.
"... Why are you helping me?" She asked, looking up at the woman(?).
“As I said, I do not wish for harm to come to you if I can prevent it.” The tree lady’s voice seemed to soften. “I have failed to save so many... I would like to save just one.”
“...Okay,” Julia squeaked. That was incredibly scary and ominous and she did not like it.
Julia set her bag to the side just in case, and the rest of the wood armor went on like the first arm had, clinging to her down to her bones almost.
The way it seemed to clamp down on her ribs made her breath catch in surprise, startled by the sensation of wood crawling down her back, feeling as if she were being submerged in tar from the pressure. And the branches crawled up too, curling around her neck and cresting her jawbone as she clenched her teeth in panic, trying to regulate her breathing so she didn't panic. Her feet were forced up onto tiptoe as the wood supported her feet digitigrade rather than the more comfortable plantigrade. She sucked in a breath and held it, squeezing her eyes shut as she felt wood crawling across her face, smooth and cool like some kind of worm. Or tentacle.
Don't think about tentacles right now!
She had to release her breath, right as the wood was beginning to settle, and the feeling of the wood readjusting itself to let her open her mouth as she gasped was nightmarish. Something was odd about her vision, almost an inch or two out of place - did she get shorter? Or was this like a periscope to the eyes of the mask? Whatever mechanism powered this, it seemed to make her peripheral vision slightly wider than it should have been, which was disorienting.
Hesitantly, she felt her face with blunt wooden fingertips to assess. The sensation was only a bit dulled, but she still felt distinct crests of horns. It seemed that from the base of the head-mask-thing sprouted several leaves the texture of mothwings. Julia rubbed one of the velveteen leaves between her fingers and marveled at actually being able to feel some of the softness through the wood.
How odd, that she could feel through wood at all short of sensing vibrations through it. Was that... part of the magic?
It was claustrophobic. Like how she imagined a less-stabby iron maiden would feel.
"This is-" She paused, feeling how the wood oh so slightly readjusted itself again to allow her to talk through the mask with its skin-tight cling. " This is so strange... "
"Is it painful at all?" The tree asked nervously. "My eyes are not what they once were."
"It's admittedly a bit tight, but I'll manage." Julia smiled nervously under the mask. "Thank you for your help."
"I do have another boon I can share. May I see your hand?"
Julia offered one hand, and the lady(?) gingerly took it, feeling out the joints with light fingers Julia felt as if on her actual skin. The tree then pressed a palm to Julia's wrist, leaving a pale white indent in the wood almost like a tattoo shaped like a curling tree. "This is my brand," she explained. "There are those that will assist you if they know of your affiliation with me. It can grant you safe passage. You may also press on it to remove this shell, in part or whole."
Julia felt her heart clench in her chest. "T-thank you. I'll... be sure to pay you back."
"The only repayment I shall need from you is your safe journey to the surface. In these plagued halls, it will be arduous." The tree retreated. "You may see if Dryya can lend you a nail. She is diligent in that regard, always having spare weapons around."
Dryya? Was that the figure in white outside?
... Nobody tell her.
"I'll be sure to ask." she instead reassured the woman. She slung her bag over her now caped shoulder, feeling the way it rested at her side a little oddly.
The tree woman seemed to smile at this. “I wish you a safe journey, Human Julia.”
“Thank you.” Julia smiled back. Or tried to. It was hard to do with the mask in the way. “I really appreciate it.”
“You are most welcome.” A branch came down to pat Julia on the head.
With that, Julia exited the strange orb. It was simultaneously easier and harder for her to climb out through the tunnels. Her frame was narrower with the armor compressing her, but the slick exterior made getting a grip on the walls hard, and apparent horns on the headpiece kept catching and scraping on the wall and sending shivers through her from the awful stim. But her adrenaline was pumping, and nothing could stop her escape. There was a giddiness in her chest as she stumbled out. A part of her was definitely freaking out a little about this situation, but more of her was so excited she could barely keep calm.
She felt like she’d stepped into one of her daydreams. She was finally going on an epic adventure!
No, wait, she had to calm down. If this place was as dangerous as the tree lady had suggested it was, she needed to keep her wits about her. This reminder of danger served to dampen her spirits a bit as the reality of the situation seemed to finally dawn on her, fear and anxiety beginning to take root.
With a sad little sigh, she turned to the corpse of what was presumably Dryya. She slowly crouched down to examine the corpse more closely, along with the sword in its hands.
There were fine, filigree embossments on the armor. Dusty, shallow patterns swirled and folded in on themselves like a maze on a restaurant's child placemat. But that comparison really didn't do the fine work any justice. The subtle added surface area caught the light much more effectively, she noticed, reflecting more of it through the channels to make the edges of the form nearly glow.
It was beautiful craftsmanship.
Carefully, she reached out for the blade, half expecting ghostly hands or claws to smack her hand away admonishingly.
No scolding hand of fate came , however . Dryya's ghost had no rebuttal.
The cool metal was slick against her hand; the grooves caught on the joints of her armor in a likely intentional manner for a surprisingly comfortable grip as she pulled it gently off the dead guard's lap.
“I'll be sure to put it to great use..." she promised quietly.
Julia took a moment to examine the sword she now owned by the law of Finders Keepers. Like the armor, it was beautifully intricate. It seemed like it was constructed from one solid piece of metal, molded into the required shape, then had designs carved in. The designs were eye-catching, spinning whorls and knots like a fractal made of unwinding snail shells. The edges of the metalwork gleamed with wicked sharpness.
And most of all, the thing was heavy. It had clearly been balanced and weighted for someone much stronger than the noodle arms of an out-of-shape human, the sword had to weigh at least twenty pounds wholesale and was all solid metal. To her untrained eye, it looked like the sword might be made of platinum. It had that silvery white sheen she'd seen on platinum jewelry like the charm bracelet she'd gotten from her mother when she turned eighteen.
She held the blade up and pointed straight, seeing how well she held it up and what exactly she'd be working with strength-wise.
The tip drooped its way to level with her knees. Not great for obvious reasons. She could still swing it around two-handed, thankfully, but she wasn’t going to be performing any precise maneuvers anytime soon. Even swinging it around was difficult.
She let out a long exhale and let the sword fully drop. Was she really going to be able to carry this thing around the whole time? It seemed cumbersome and counterintuitive.
She groaned quietly and sank to the ground to lay face down. "Why does metal need to be so heavyyyy..." She whined to herself.
She spent a while facedown, in part because she was unsure where exactly to go until she suddenly heard the distant sounds of fighting. Gross squelching noises, mainly, and frankly she didn't want to get in the way of that.
But someone fighting meant someone with directions to the surface. She managed to push herself up . She was about to follow the source of the sound, only for her attention to return to the sword. She needed some way to carry it. It seemed important.
"Guess it's time to loot more corpses," she muttered glumly. "Like a fuckin'... horror protagonist or something."
Unfortunately, none of the dead creatures had anything that could be used as a belt or sheathe. So, it seemed like she was just carrying it for now. Somewhat frustrated, she scooted toward the source of the sounds. A creature the size of a child in what looked to be a Halloween costume bounced around the room of the structure with the shadows, artfully dodging around...
It looked like a giant mantis. It filled the room, bulbous and overgrown, with orange eyes blazing like suns as it gnashed its mandibles rabidly and swung massive claws for the small creature.
And for all its unassuming appearance, the short stack was nimble and equally as brutal, slashing opportunistically at the legs and lower abdomen of the beast.
Julia could only watch, transfixed by the spectacle of the battle from the relatively safe distance she was behind a metal gate.
And the small creature won . Whether from blood loss or simply being cut to ribbons, the massive mantis finally collapsed dead and the smaller beetle-like creature stood ominously for a few moments before it sat on the ground and started using the grey cape it was wearing to wipe off its sword.
As if by magic, the gate blocking off the room pulled itself open. Julia suddenly felt exposed to the small beast slayer and felt her grip on the well-honed piece of junk metal tighten. The horned little guy hardly seemed to take notice of her.
... So here was her chance. Slowly, she scooted into the room while hugging the sword to her chest like an awkward umbrella and cleared her throat nervously.
The child-sized being looked up at her with a shallow head tilt and blank eyes, and she found herself thankful that she couldn't lock eyes with the mask over her or their faces. The mercies from social conventions her beloved.
"Hi there, uh…” She felt so awkward. "I'm a bit lost, and was wondering if you could point me to the surface?"
They tilted their head to the other side briefly, and she took a moment to examine them.
Their head-mask-thing was large and bone-white with a faint shimmer of iridescent color, two narrow horns cresting up from the marshmallow-shaped base and sporting even notches at the ends. It took up almost half of their height. Their cloak was simple, a dusty blue-grey that segmented and looked slightly fuzzy like moth wings. The body was a vantablack, seeming to absorb the light and reflect nothing outwards. They were short, with a pudgy torso and stocky limbs that reminded her of how kids tended to start out a little soft and round.
The stare between them was held before the fighter started pulling out a map and laying it on the ground. Then they pulled out another. And another. And another . More and more maps until the ground before them was littered with them. Julia gazed in awe at the sprawling locales presented in the sheer number of maps. The person tapped out a route and pointed it out to her eagerly.
"Oh, let-let me get that."
She took a photo of the maps with some difficulty using her phone. The touch screen did not like her new wooden costume, and she had to gingerly juggle the sword to carry it one-handed awkwardly. This earned her another head tilt from the stranger.
“Thank you.” Julia gave them a polite nod before moving to the side to study the presented route.
The stranger watched her, slowly packing away their maps before meandering over to gaze intently at her phone.
“Can… Can I help you?” Julia asked, looking down at the stranger.
The stranger pointed at Julia’s phone, head tilted to the side.
“Do you… need to use my phone?”
The stranger neither responded nor moved, continuing to point. Slowly, she turned back to the creature in full.
"... D'you wanna see it, then, little buddy?" She asked tentatively, adopting her Babysitter Voice just a bit.
A firm nod in response, and she crouched down to show the short warrior her device. She was just going to assume they didn’t know what a phone was. That seemed like a fair assumption.
"This is my cell phone," she explained. "It can do a lot, like capture images and videos and do math and call people from a ways away as long as I have the right number to give my phone directions to theirs.” Although she was using her Babysitter's v oice, she felt like, due to the defeat of that bigass bug, she was talking with a very capable child.
The little warrior patted at the screen idly now that it was in reach, and it reacted surprisingly well with the touch, opening Instagram on her which managed to load with whatever connectivity managed to sneak down here with her. Something something salinity? She had no clue.
The warrior looked between Julia and her phone almost curiously. They pointed at the photos, most of which were pieces of art from various artists she followed, along with a few cute animal pictures.
“Oh, uh, these are some artists I follow.” Julia opened one of the pages. “I really like the way this one does poses. They’re so dynamic. I’ve been trying to copy the poses in my drawings but I can never get it right…” She let out a small sigh.
The person seemed to perk up a bit at the mention of drawing, patting Julia’s arm with an alarming frequency.
“What? What is it?” Julia asked.
Her new friend mimed what she thought was drawing before returning to the patting.
“Do you…want to see my sketchbook?”
The patting became enthusiastic nodding.
Under the mask, she pursed her lips. Usually, she kept her sketchbook private for various reasons, but this time...
It felt different to her.
After some deliberation, she carefully propped the tip of the sword into the ground like she was breaking ground with a shovel and pulled out her sketchbook, revealing the quick sketch from earlier she had done.
Her new companion peered at the drawing in what seemed to be fascination. They also seemed to recognize the location she’d drawn, excitedly patting the page.
“Do you know this place?” Julia asked.
The strange warrior nodded enthusiastically again.
"Could you tell me the name of it, then?"
The little warrior paused for a moment, tapping their mask before shaking their head slowly.
Julia shrugged in response. "It's okay if you can't, I was just curious." She looked around the space they were in more closely as she continued, "I've never seen a place quite like this before..."
There was a soft patting sound, and she looked back to the small fighter in time to see them trying to mime out something that looked like drawing.
Or writing.
"Oh! Do you want to write something for me?"
Nod nod.
Wordlessly, she dug into her bag and pulled out some pencils to hand off to the warrior. They boggled over the implement for a moment before getting a good grip on it and trying out some writing.
A few swooping symbols that Julia watched them make later aaaand-
"I'm sorry, I don't understand any of that."
They paused, glancing between Julia and their handwriting. Something about the gesture seemed... perplexed almost.
Julia pulled back her sketchbook. The warrior seemed a bit surprised at that.
"Here, let me show you how the alphabet my... people use," she explained, grabbing another pencil to start carefully writing down the letters of the English alphabet as neatly as possible. She presented the page to the little knight when she was finished.
They tilted their head to the side, visibly boggled by the letters. Silence fell over them, permuting awkwardly as a response was increasingly lacking.
“I guess you can’t read my writing either, huh?” Julia couldn’t help but laugh.
Her laugh quickly died out, though, when she felt a blade rest against the back of her head.
An unfamiliar voice spoke from behind her. “Who are you? And what are you doing here?”