Spirit of the Forest

A few days later after Cyri made his promise to himself, Ordello stopped by Romelia’s tree home to visit her and check on the blonde teen’s condition. He arrived as Romelia was tending to her garden near the small pond while Cyri walked around doing his exercises. The teen looked up at the sound of her father’s familiar huff. She grinned wide before running to him.

Ordello rested his head on Romelia’s back as she hugged him tight. “Papa!”

“Hello Romelia,” he said humming happily. The silver haired teen let out a small, carefree giggle, as the vibrations ran down her back, tickling her.

After a few, blissful filled moments for the two of them, Romelia finally pulled back.

“What brings you here, father?” she asked with a delightful tone.

“What? I can’t just visit my own daughter without a reason?” He nipped at her hair lightly.

She giggled again. “Of course not!” she said, “It’s just you haven’t been around in awhile and Tanisha’s been busy this last week. so it’s just been a bit lonely with just Cyri here.”

Ordello became serious at the mention of her friend’s name. “That human,” he said, “should be going soon. If he can walk then he should be going.”

Romelia’s smile dropped. She had forgotten about the promise she made to her father. “Father, he isn’t well enough to travel safely,” she said. “His can walk, but his legs give out after awhile. Just a few more days and-”

“Romelia. You know the rules of forest.” Ordello gently said, “The Tallwalker has to go.”

“But-”

“Hey! Romelia!” Cyri’s voice interrupted the both of them. Father and daughter turned in time to see him fall down, face first, into a small puddle of water. Romelia covered her mouth in an attempt to stop herself from giggling. Ordello, however, scoffed in disgust at the sight.

Brushing himself off, Cyri stood back up. The new clothes that Romelia had made for him were now covered in muddy water. His blonde hair had dark mud stains on it, turning it into dirty blonde. When he stood up, his legs shuddered every once in awhile from the effort to support his weight and keep him upright.

“You know,” he finally said, “why do you have me do these exercises? They seem pointless to me.”

Romelia put her hand on her hip. “These exercises are not pointless, Cyri. They help your legs get stronger. I’ve told you this before.”

“I know, I know,” he said. Cyri blinked in surprise when he finally saw Ordello standing next to her. “It’s a deer!”

Ordello scoffed. “I,” he said in a harsh tone, “am not just a deer.”

Cyri let out a startled cry as he stepped backwards. He fell backwards when he tripped. He then scrambled backwards with round eyes filled with fear. He pointed a finger at Ordello accusingly when he was a few feet back. “Y-you just spoke!!”

The large, white furred deer rolled his amber eyes in annoyance. “Of course I spoke, human,” he answered coldly. “I am a white deer. I can speak all languages.”

Cyri’s hand slowly lowered as he blinked again. “That… Makes a lot of sense…”

Once again, the deer rolled his eyes while Romelia chuckled quietly to herself.

“Cyri, this is Ordello,” she introduced. “Father, this is Cyri.”

Cyri held out his hand politely. “Hello sir.”

Giving an annoyed huff, Ordello lifted his hoof and shook Cyri’s hand. “Human.” Romelia looked at him with a pleading look. “Fine,” he mumbled his ears folding back in annoyment, “Hello Cyri…”

As they put their hands down, Ordello spoke again. “I see you’re able to walk, human.”

Cyri nodded politely. “Yes sir. But it’s only for a few minutes. Then they give way. But with Romelia’s exercises they’re getting better.”

Ordello sniffed. “Hmmm…” He moved his head so he could look into Cyri’s eyes with one of his. Romelia stiffened, realizing what her father was doing. As a white deer and king of the forest, he was able to look into the others minds through their eyes to see if they meant harm.

After a few moments of staring, Ordello snorted and took a few steps back. Cyri relaxed, as well as Romelia, when he did. Turning to Romelia, he placed his head back on her head.

“I will most likely be back tomorrow,” he said gently, “We can go riding then.”

Romelia smiled and hugged him. “Thank you papa!”

“No problem.” He nipped lightly at her hair. “Stay well Kikol.”

“You too, Dudhol.” She released Ordello from her hug. He nipped at her hair again, making her giggle, before disappearing into the tall oak trees.

Noticing it was starting to get dark, Romelia started to walk towards her home. She just got to the base of the ladder before she realized that Cyri was not following her. Instead, he was standing where he was when Ordello walked into the forest.

“Cyri?” She called quietly. “Are you coming?”

He didn’t turn around to face her when he answered. “You go ahead, Romelia. I’ll be there soon. I just need to do something first.” Before she could ask what he was doing, the teen walked off into the forest.

Shrugging off Cyri’s strange attitude, Romelia started up the ladder to her tree-top home, wanting to get some sleep.