Town of Gardel

"Ugh, how much longer is this going to take?!" Blake groaned loudly, from a table inside a small inn of the village of Gardel.

Gardel was a small farming town in the southern part of the Laudonian kingdom, with nothing too surprising about it other than a huge tree named Fowl Foot Tree and the fact that it was plagued with terrible storms for the first half of summer. Blake's party was unfortunately caught in one of these storms which were going on for about three days straight.

"Ugh, we should have just kept going instead of stopping here..." Blake groaned once again, balancing on the back legs of his chair, this pit stop wasn't planned nor was it enjoyable, but most importantly it was adding up more time on the way towards Gorz.

"Blake! Are you crazy!? Didn't you see the size of that storm out there!?" Rena yelled at Blake while she was sitting on Lu's head, who was sitting next to Blake.

On the table over were Risabeel with her hood up and Mari looking out a window at the never-ending stream of rain and wind. Saffire was inside of the cart with no intention of coming out when asked why she only answered, 'Look at me!' in all of her scaly nudity and no one wanted to argue with her.

"If you want to go out there fine! But we're staying in here like smart people!" The Fairy continued as she stomped lightly on Lu's head.

"Oh, come on! It's just a little bit of water and wind nothing dangerous about that," Blake argued back, pointing a thumb at the window just as a large hailstone crashed into it shattering the glass. "!" Both Blake and Lu jumped back as the rain started to pour into the inn, slowly flooding the place. "Holy shit! Those things can get that big?!" Blake yelled, kicking a watermelon-sized hailstone roll across the floor, and his face went blue. "Ugh and there's ice...hah..." He looked at Rena, forgetting about leaving now.

"Dammit! That's the fifth window this month!" Rufus, the barkeep/inn owner, cussed in a low tone, he was a broad man with light brown hair and black eyes, wearing simple clothes made by a dirt brown shirt, pants and shoes with an apron throw on for style points. "Out of the way!" He ran up to the window in a flash to pull down a thick wooden plank over it to prevent more rain from coming through. "Sorry about this blasted weather...haven't seen things this bad in a while, the Ala must be pissed something real mean." He grunted then called over to one of his waiters to fetch a mop. "I hope this doesn't bitter your stay in our town?" He asked, but his tone made it seem like he didn't care much.

"Hmm?" At the sound of 'Ala' Blake's interested was hooked. "Hah, don't worry about the rain, but what's this 'Ala' thing you just mentioned? Is it a rare monster or something?" He asked while he and Lu were pulling back some of the tables and chairs away from the water while someone was mopping up the floor.

"The Ala is one causing all of this fucking bad weather for us here at the moment!" Rufus cussed before walking back behind the counter and poured himself a mug of mead and took a big gulp out of it draining half of the mug. "It's a wind spirit that's suppose to keep the air clear of storms so we can grow crops...but right now it looks like its having a hissy fit." At that remark, another window got smashed in by a hailstone. "Fuck you too! You, bag of air!" Rufus yelled at the raging storm.

"But...ugh...what one creature can cause all of this by itself?" Lu questioned, thinking that something like this was a bit much.

"Well, it isn't all the Ala's fault to be fair, the weather around here has always been shit, but when the Ala gets involved things..." Rufus waved his mug at the broken windows. "...get a lot worse as you can see," He muttered, taking another swig out of his mug to finish it off. "Those damn wind kissers better fix things quickly, or we're done for." He added, pouring himself another mug of mend.

"Wind kissers?" Both Blake and Lu asked, looking confused thanks to Rufus and stared at him as they leaned on the countertop waiting to hear more.

"Hmph! Our town's so-called 'shamans' are going to try and calm the Ala down tomorrow so things should get better either that or the town gets blown away," Rufus answered, throwing his hands into the air then he turned around to a small window peering into the kitchen. "HEY! WHERE'S THE FOOD YOU LAZY COOK?! YOU GOT CUSTOMERS WAITING HERE!" He yelled at a timid looking cook who was trying their best to get some orders done. "Sorry, the service here is shit!" He barked out loud, and clear then took a swig straight from the bottle he was pouring mead out of earlier.

"Yeah...looks like that," Blake muttered dryly and pushed off from the counter but not before grabbing two apples from a bowl. "I'm gonna check on our fiery companion for a bit watch the others for me?" He announced to Lu and with a nod from the Elf he walked out of the bar then into a barn where the cart was parked. "Hey, there bud, how's guard duty been?" He called out to Nash, who was standing next to the cart.

"?" When Nash heard Blake, he ran over to him and rubbed his head against Blake's.

"Hah, aww! Did you mis-" Nash's nose quickly went to one of the apples in Blake's hand as he was talking. "...Of course here." Blake held an apple up of Nash who ate in one go. "Whoa! Watch it! You could take one of my fingers off like that!"

"!" Nash just blew some hot air from his nose into Blake's face at that remark.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny." Blake muttered while fixing his hair a little then after blowing some air back at Nash, he made his way to one of the side doors on the cart and knocked a few times. "~Room service~"

"..." The door cracked open to show Saffire's sapphire eyes peeping out. "!" And at seeing Blake, they went into a glare. "...What are you doing here, Scaleless?" She scowled, opening the door for him then sat down at the table inside.

"Oh? You sure, sound a lot more chipper than usual?" Blake asked in a joking tone and took the seat next to Saffire and held out the other apple he had. "Here, foods not done yet, so I brought a little snack for you, you're welcome."

"Thanks." Saffire took the apple from Blake then turned her right hand into a scaly claw and started peeling it. "But I not so worried about food it's this weather, it's...unnatural?" She said worried by the tone of her voice, cutting a chuck out the apple and breathed some fire on it before taking a bite. "~Mmm~"

"Yea, from what the barkeep said; some of it is caused by this monster called an Ala. Some kind of wind spirit, I think?" Blake told Saffire as he looked up at the ceiling. "But the good thing is that tomorrow some of the town's shamans are going to try and calm it down a bit, so with luck; we'll be out of here by then."

"Hmm? An Ala? I think I heard that name somewhere before? But if this last much longer I'm going to suffocate in here..." Saffire muttered more to herself than Blake then let out a small puff of smoke.

"~Well~ if you're lonely I am always available to beautiful girls." Blake teased with a smile and held out a hand of Saffire.

"Hah, so sorry, Scaleless, but Nash is all I need to keep me nice and happy." Saffire teased back at Blake, surprising him a little bit from her flirt.

"Aww! Is it his long black hair, or his deep brown eyes, or is it just that handsome looking face of his? Oh? I bet it's that alluring musk he's got? I hear it gets all the mares in the right mood," Blake shot back leaning in on Saffire to take a bite of the apple slice she had just roasted off her claw.

"HEY! GET YOUR OWN!" Saffire growled and tried clawing at Blake's face, but he jumped out of his seat and dashed to the door, all with a smile on his face. "Why you littl-!?"

"Hah, not bad maybe you could make some of these on our first date, laters!" Blake ducked behind the door but gave Saffire a quick wink before leaving.

"Jerk..." Saffire growled again steaming with frustration with most of it coming through her scales and was about to eat another apple slice when remembered it was the same finger Blake ate from. "..."

The next day

"Ok, let's see how much water I'm gonna have to swim through today..." Blake yawned to himself just after getting up from a weird as hell dream where he was in some contest or something, and those bandits guys were in, but he just pushed it back for now. "...Huh?" When he looked out the window the scene was the complete opposite from yesterday, the sky was perfectly calm with a few white clouds lazily going by, and all the water from the rain was all but gone thanks to some bright sunlight and warm breezes with only some puddles here and there. "...Okay? That's just...weird?"

"What is it? Blake?" Lu asked, getting up from his bed at hearing Blake's voice and looked outside as well. "Oh? I guess the shamans did their job and pretty good at that, don't you think?" He asked Blake then went over to his bed, finding Rena on the pillow next to his. "~Wakey~Wakey~Princess~Renaissance~!" Lu whispered to her, shaking the pillow a little.

"AH!" The Fairy suddenly shot up with a start after having a nightmare. "Yooooouu!" She pointed at Blake with hate-filled eyes.

"...Me?" Blake wasn't sure what that was about turning to Lu for his input, but he shook his head. "Alright? Uhm? Go get Risabeel and Mari, and I'll pull the cart out front, we're leaving today," He said then made his way down to the bar seeing Rufus cleaning a few glasses. "Morn'n barman, I was a bit skeptical about your shamans stopping that storm, but I've been proven wrong."

"Hah! I wish I could say it was that easy, but this is just a small break even the Ala gets tired like anyone else," Rufus said done with the glass he was cleaning then set it down next to a small barrel of mead. "So you might have to wait a bit more, boy."

"Ugh, I knew it was too good to be true." Blake groaned loudly and leaned his back against the countertop, noticing some of the town folk gathered around the center of town which had a pile of...something. "Wha?" Blake couldn't tell what it was from where he was, but it was about as tall as a small house. "Hey, barman, what's up with the mini-mountain outside?"

"Hmm?" Rufus looked up from the counter and crossed his arms. "Oh? That's a tribute for the Ala, you know? To keep it happy or it might drop a month of winds, rain, and hail on us, the good thing is our wind spirit isn't all that picky; food, beer, clothing, some coins, toys, Hell one time I think someone threw in a bouquet and things went just fine then again it's a greedy son of a bitch..." He trailed off at the end of his explanation to look into the kitchen window. "...HEY! LAZY COOK! YOU BETTER HAVE MADE THE BEST GODDESS DAMN TURKEY IN YOUR LIFE IN THERE, OR WE WILL GET ANOTHER STORM CAUSE OF YOU USELESS ASS!"

"...Y-y-yes...s-s-sir..." Came the voice of the young cook.

"Heh, sounds intense." Blake chuckled at Rufus.

"By the way, visitors are expected to pay up as well if you had to know, boy," Rufus informed Blake while resting his arms on the counter.

"Yeah, yeah, sure thing, I don't wanna get carried into the sky or some crazy like that just because I didn't pay my toll." Blake humored Rufus with a nod just as Lu came into the bar with Rena, Mari, and Risabeel as the three girls were talking to themselves. "Hey, guys! The weather's cleaned up, but we got one more thing to do first."

"And whatever may that be, Sir Blake?" Risabeel asked, tilting her head to one side while looking at Blake.

"Apparently the Ala likes gifts so it'll back off on the endless storms if the town gets it a pile of goodies," Blake answered while pointing over at the pile outside. "And Mr. Barman over here said it was a good idea for visitors to do the same." He added, turning to Rufus who was drinking on the job for the fifth time Blake saw him do it. "Geez, save some for the customers, will you?"

"Sounds like a scam to me. Let's just get out of here already, Blake." Mari insisted, sounding very skeptical about what Blake said.

"Mari, be nice." Blake patted Mari on the head. "Besides, we get to choose what we give up, which is going to be uhm?" He paused to think for a bit then snapped his fingers. "Coins work right, Mr. Barman?" He asked, and Rufus nodded. "Alright, we'll each put a coin in from that money we got from Tolpeak."

After a quick look in the cart and filling Saffire in on what was going on, Blake, Lu, Rena, Risabeel and Mari each had a copper coin in hand and were standing at the center of town. The town's people were still adding to the towering pile of stuff they were offering to the Ala in hopes that it would be peaceful for a while. "So do we just toss these on it, and we're done?" Blake asked, turning to Rufus who had that barrel of mead he had at the counter.

"Usually but looks like you came a bit late 'cause those wind kissers are here." Rufus motioned over to a group of three individuals all dressed in flowing green robes. The two on the right and left each had fans in both of their hands and wore masks made of green and black feathers, as for the one in the middle they had a staff with a pinwheel on it and wore a big green and black crow mask over their head.

"Hear! Me! Hear! Me! All who are in our town of Gardel! Come! Come! For we must pay our respect to the all-powerful ALA! Whoosh!" The masked one cheered in an almost screaming man's voice. "Now come any of you! Join us for ritual dance!"

"Oh my, Sir Blake, are those by chance street performers?" Risabeel asked, holding back a small giggle at the three robed newcomers.

"Uhm? I think they're supposed to be this place's shamans?" Blake answered, scratching the back of his head as the three started to do a little dance between themselves with the two with fans spinning around the one with the pinwheel staff while he was flapping his arms like a bird and were all chanting 'Windy, Breezy, Gusty, Whoosh!'

"..." Causing pretty much everyone there to look at them like they were idiots.

"...The fuck is wrong with them?" Blake asked after seeing that 'performance?' he'd guess. "Guys?" When no one answered him, he turned to find out that Risabeel, Lu, and Mari had joined in on the dance and Rena was throwing Fairy Dust on them. "Ugh, looks like it's infections."

"Haha! Come on! Blake! It's not as bad as it looks!" Lu offered a hand to Blake to join in on the dance. "There were always rituals like this back in Naworth! Windy, Breezy, Gusty, Whoosh!"

"No..." Blake answered sternly, taking a step away from his friends like he didn't know them and looked upwards. "Hmm?" When he did, he noticed a small green feather floating down and held a hand out. "...Well, you look rare, hmm?" He examined the feather, trying to figure out what kind of bird it came until it got ripped out his hand. "HEY! Give that back!? Huh?" Turning to whoever it was Blake found the masked shaman looking at the feather. "Never mind, you can have it."

"He has been CHOOOOSEN!" Cheered the shaman pointing at Blake with his pinwheel staff which was spinning now and held up the green feather which caused his two assistants to come over and started fanning Blake. "He has been CHOOOOSEN by the winds! Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!" Came from the two other shamans and their backup dancers, in other words, Risabeel, Mari, Lu, and Rena.

"Would you guys knock that off already!?" Blake yelled at them for being idiots then felt some hands grabbing onto his arms. "Wha? HEY! LET ME GO!" He was now yelling at the two other shamans who were dragging him towards the tribute pile. "Whoa! Human sacrifice is not cool!"

"Praise the sky! For this boy! Whoosh! Has been CHOOOSEN as the one who will offer this grand TRRRIBUTE! Whoosh! To our beloved ALA!" The masked one cheered, somehow getting a few small cheers and claps from the crowd of people that had gathered to offer what they had. "NOW! Then all those who have yet add to their TRRRRIBUTE! Please come forward! Whoosh!" And with those words, the last bit of the offerings were added, including the coins that Blake and friends brought.

"And what about me bird brain?" Blake asked after flicking his coin into the pile as well and was handed the green feather back to him. "Ok? Going to need a tiny bit more information, please?"

"Come here, kid." The masked shaman leaned in on Blake and opened his mask's beak to show his face. "Nothing to worry about, all you got to do is just hold up the feather and say; 'To the Ala we give, come back with no bad winds, Whoosh!' Got it, kid?" He whispered in a normal voice before dropping the beak down and turned back to the waiting crowd. "NOW! Have all offerings been given?" He asked, returning to his earlier voice.

"Just get on with it, you damn wind kissers!" Rufus yelled at the shaman, earning some laughs from the town folk.

"Shut it! You blasted bottle sucker!" The shaman yelled back, losing his performance voice for a second then cleaned his throat. "...Then without any more words, let the CHOOOSEN one speak!"

All eyes were now on Blake waiting for him to offer the tribute to the Ala. "Well, looks like I'm doing this." He thought, holding up the feather and the wind picked up a little around him and the tribute as clouds started to gather around Gardel. "To the Ala we give, come back with no bad winds." He repeated the words he was told, but the shamans all stared at with their arms crossed. "What?"

"Whoosh!" They all chanted in unison at Blake.

"No," Blake answered, but they all kept up they're gaze, and now Risabeel, Mari, Lu, and Rena were in on it too. "Oh, come on! Guys! *Stares intensify*...fine, To the Ala we give, come back with no bad winds...Whoosh!" He said reluctantly but still added some life to his voice once he did the clouds around town darken and thunder was heard along with the wind picking up. "Uh, did I piss it off or something?"

"No, no, don't worry; this is standard for the Ala, just keep the feather held up high and stay still, and you'll be fine." The masked shaman assured but backed away as a small tornado came down on Blake and the tribute. "Oh, and don't get too close to the tribute or else!" He yelled just as Blake got covered.

"What did you say?!" Bake tried yelling to the shaman but walls of wind were blocking him out, and surprisingly Blake wasn't sucked up into the tornado which was keeping him calm for the moment. "Huh? This pretty cool, I wonder what this Ala thing looks li-!" When He looked up to check Blake's words were cut short as a giant raven's head made of green wind came out from the top of the tornado with a pair hunger looking golden eyes.

"?" It looked right down at Blake, forcing him to look it in the eyes.

"Oooh, that's something, haha..." Blake nervously laughed out and backed up into the tribute.

"!" As soon as he did the raven noticed the feather in his hand and descended on him with its mouth opening wide as the thunderous roar of wild winds came from its beak.

"No! No! No! NOOOOOO!" Blake screamed out as he and the tribute were swallowed up by the raven and got carried up into the air.

On the other side of the tornado, everyone was waiting for the winds to clean up and show Blake standing perfectly fine...but instead, there was nothing but an open area where Blake and the tribute were a moment ago.

"Sir Blake?" Risabeel questioned worryingly, as she looked around for any sign of Blake along with Mari and Lu. "Excuse me, wise shaman, but what has befallen, Sir Blake?" She asked the masked shaman.

"..." The shaman was silent of a bit looking up at the tornado waiting for something to happen when nothing did he looked back down at Risabeel. "...I am sorry to say, but it appears that your friend has been taken away by the Ala." He stated with a stern voice, unlike his performance voice.

"What!?" Lu and Risabeel yelled while Mari and Rena had shocked looks on their faces. "How could such a thing happen to Sir Blake?" Risabeel asked with a hand to her chest.

"It's simple he must have gotten in the way of the Ala when it picked up the tribute and went up with it which has happened before...usually the Ala just drops that person back, but this time it went with him..." The shaman answered then he whispered to his assistants nodding to them after some words were exchanged. "The last time something like this took place was about ten years ago if the stories are correct that is, a young man was picked up by the Ala and never seen again..." He explained ominously to the smith's party.

"That doesn't matter is the Ala's home close to town?" Lu questioned the shaman giving him a serious look.

"What?! Are you planning on going after him!? You can't the Ala rules the sky! It's pointless!" The shaman warned, striking his staff down at Lu's feet, but a glare from the Elf weaken his resolve. "Ugh."

"If you want to find that friend of yours that big fucking tree is a good place to start." Rufus came up behind the shaman putting an arm around the other man's shoulder, and with his free hand, he pointed at a tall tree maybe around a mile away from town. "That's Fowl Foot Tree, and since I was a boy the elders kept saying never go there 'cause that's where the Ala lives, and it will eat you if it finds you there but who knows?"

"Is he right?" Lu asked, looking back at the shaman.

"...Yes, it is, but I'll warn you again; it is pointless to face the Ala!" The shaman warned the Elf again, holding up his staff to the sky but when he looked back at Lu and the others, they were already walking off to the cart. "H-h-hey at least listen to the warning!" He yelled at them, waving his staff around.

"Hmm, hey, where's Scaleless?" Saffire asked once Risabeel, and Mari came into the cart and saw that Lu was the only one at the reins.

"Well, you see Saffire, Sir Blake has been taken away, mistakenly I hope by the town's Ala to a large tree in the area," Risabeel answered, leaving Saffire confused and somewhat worried for the smith's safety.

"Yea, and we're gonna get him before anything bad happens to him!" Mari put in just as the cart started to move off.

Blake inside the storm cloud

"I'm going to be sick, ugh!" Blake groaned sickly while getting tossed around in a storm cloud going to...he didn't know where he just hoped that he got there fast before he let his stomach out. "WAAH!" Luckily for him, the cloud shot him out onto a flat surface. "Sweet mother earth! I have missed you so!" He laid flat on his stomach and kissed the floor then pushed up from it. "Huh? Wood?" Blake landed on a floor made of wood and had the rings of a tree in it. "A Tree?" Then looked around and found himself inside a hollowed out tree which had piles of different things stacked around the inside. Some were fruits, others were barrels, and there was even one made out of toys. "I'm inside a tree of all things?"

"Hey, are you okay, cutie?" A bored female voice came from behind Blake, making him tense up and slowly turn around to find a young girl maybe about 14 or 15 from Blake's guess standing behind him.

She had bright golden eyes and dark, unkempt green hair with a few curly bangs over her youthful face while the rest of it was tired into four long but thin braids that went down to her back and ended in green feathers. She wore a light green dress with two leg slits starting at her thighs to show off her legs over it was a black corset with green feathers coming out of the top and bottom, as for shoes she didn't have any.

"Cute but a little seductive?" Blake thought while staring up at the girl with his mouth open in an 'oh' shape until he remembered she asked him something. "Oh! Uhm? I'm fine! Just got swallowed up by a giant bird made of wind nothing too big, haha!" He answered, laughing a little at the end but still felt a wave of nausea coming over him holding his stomach. "Ugh, I take that back!"

When the girl heard Blake's answer, she let out a long sigh. "...Sorry about being so rough, it's tough to make a smooth ride on the spot like that." She apologized in a deadpan then looked Blake over. "Hmm? You don't look like you're from Gardel? But I don't really mind since you are rather handsome." She said, winking at Blake.

"T-t-thanks? You're not bad yourself, and no, I'm just passing through town." Blake said a little weirded out and embarrassed by the way this girl was acting but brushed it off for now. "So could I get your name, little lady?" He asked with a smile, standing up from the floor, and now the difference in their heights was showed fully with the girl only getting up to Blake's chest.

"You can call me, Baba." The girl gave out her name then started to float in the air to match Blake's height. "Your turn."

"It's Blake and looks like you're the Ala of Gardel," Blake said and took another look around the tree house. "Nice place you've got, but what's with the piles of goodies?"

Weather Monster, Ala: Ale(plural) are a classification of wind spirits who have the ability to control wind and the movement of clouds and usually live inside giant trees or clouds. When treated by the settlements near their homes they bring peaceful rain showers, light snowfall, and clear skies, however, they can also bring about thunder, lightning, rain, and hail down on the whose who would mistreat them.

The appearance of Ale is something not set in stone as they are often described in many shapes and sizes from giant snakes, ravens or merely a gust of wind, but one characteristic of the Ala that is always constant is that they are all female.

Items that are usually made using Ala Ore are daggers, bows, sickles, and whips, all of which are imbued with the power of the wind.

"Why not learn a bit more about me, cutie?" Baba asked in return and floated in the air like she was laying on her stomach and placed her hands under her chin, which allowed Blake to notice that she had an extra pinkie on each hand. "But I wanna get on your good side so I'll humor you, after collecting my gifts from the good people of Gardel I like to put them into piles so I can get what I want when I want it." She answered, waving a hand at one of the piles, then pointed at Blake. "And since you're here then I guess you caught one of my feathers right?" She asked, pointing at the feather in Blake's hand

To which Blake held up the feather to Baba's face. "Yep! And I did the whole offering thing for you but why did you take me too? That was very rude of you, could've just asked? I can't say no to a cute face like yours." He asked Baba while twisting the feather around between his fingers a few times.

Baba smiled and floated closer to Blake. "~Oh~ that's easy, cutie, you're part of my gift, in other words, you're all mine, and I think you belong over...there!" She answered, suddenly snapping her finger at Blake.

"Whoa!" Without getting any time to react, Blake was tossed across the room by a gust of wind and landed in a large pile of big fluffy pillows. "HEY! What was that for!?" Blake yelled over at Baba only for the small girl to let out a giggle as she floated over to Blake, hanging in the air above him. "Do you treat all your guests like this, Baba?" He asked playfully while looking up at her.

"Hmm? Usually not, most of the time, I just drop them back, I guess that makes you special, cutie." Baba answered, then put on a thoughtful look while playing with one of her braids. "Now, let's get down to business, shall we?" Her lips curled into a cute yet devious smile as she slowly lowered herself onto Blake's stomach with her legs on his sides.

"Uhm? What kind of business would that be, haha?" Blake asked while laughing and tried to get Baba off him, but she kept her place right there.

"I'm sure from what you've seen of my little nest that you've come to the fact that I'm all alone up here and sometimes it's nice to have some company don't you think?" Baba purred out in a cute tone then placed her hands on Blake's chest. "And when a woman brings such a handsome young man home, she can't help but get a little excited, hehe." She added with a giggle at the end as she watched Blake's turn red.

"Uhm! Don't you think you're a bit too young to think about that kind of thing, Baba, haha..." Blake tried laughing things off, but his statement only made Baba's smile wider. "...haha, I don't like that smile."

Baba leaned in to look Blake in his eyes to show that she was completely serious right now. "Listen, cutie; I'm going to be straight with you right now because you're a lot better looking than those boys in that town over there..." She started in a far more matured tone than Blake could ever think of a 14-year-old girl would have. "...I am 46 and single, so guess what we're going to do?"

"..." Blake went silent at that statement, seemingly trying to internalize it before he said anything in response. "...Hmm! You, uhm? Don't show at all! I'm kind of impressed?" He said rather awkwardly because at this very moment he has an amazingly cute and young looking 46-year-old woman on top of him, who by the look in her eyes she wanted to... "Fuck me? Of all the things that could've happened to me in my life, this is not something I planned on!"

"~Oooh~ Why thank you for the compliment you're too kind," Baba smirked then pulled away from Blake while tracing one of her fingers down from Blake's chest to his stomach making him twitch and twist. "I think you deserve a reward, no?" She asked in a seductive tone.

"Well, uhm? That sounds nice and all but I kind of need to get a move on since you stopped that storm from yesterday and I'm on a tight time frame, so I need to go now, Baba?" Blake turned down Baba's offer, but instead of getting off of him Baba just smirked at him. "Crap."

At the bottom of Fowl Foot Tree

Blake's rescue party had just arrived at the base of Fowl Foot Tree where the Ala took Blake. True to its name it looked like a giant chicken foot made of wood from the way its roots went into the ground, the rest of the tree reached up into the sky.

"Geez, this thing is a lot bigger up close," Rena said in amazement at seeing the tree then took a quick fly around its base. "Doesn't look like there's a way inside from here."

"Then I guess we'll have to climb from the outside," Lu muttered, jumping off the cart and looked up at the massive tree unable to see its top and the closest branch was about 100 feet away. "If we can even do that, think you can fly up there?" He asked Rena as she came to sit on his shoulder.

Rena thought it over then stuck out her tongue. "Nope! Not happening. Up that high; I'd get tossed around by the wind, but Saffire can get up easy." She babbled out in a playful tone while kicking the air a few times.

While Lu and Rena were talking Risabeel, Saffire and Mari decided to come out of the cart. "Sir Lutwig, have you discovered any way of scaling this massive tree?" Risabeel asked, coming to Lu's side and looked up at Fowl Foot Tree with some amazement and curiosity in her eyes if Blake wasn't being held prisoner as far as she thought then Risabeel would have a field day learning about the tree.

Lu rubbed the back of his head in defeat. "Well, climbing it is out of the question for us, but Saffire should be able to get up there no problem." He answered, pointing over to said Dragon girl who was already in the middle of transforming, surrounded by large flames coming off of her.

Within seconds Saffire was standing tall over everyone in her Dragon form then stretched out her wings and tail. "~Ooooh~ It's so good to be back in my real body after so long ~ah~!" She moaned out like she was kept in a straight jacket for days. "So? I just to need to fly up there a get that Scaleless idiot back right?"

"That's the plan unless the Ala has something to say about it," Lu answered then took some time to think. "Maybe I should go with you just in case?" He offered, but Saffire let out a puff of smoke from her nose that stayed in the air for a bit.

"Hmph! Don't think I'm going up there asking all nicely now, got that Elf boy?" Saffire growled lightly, leaning down to glare at Lu with her big blue reptilian eyes making him back away nodding nervously. "Besides some little wind spirit can't handle all of this!" She stood back up with her head held high, then ready herself to take off. "Be back in a flash!" She grinned, and with a single flap of her wings, she shot up into the air.

"Alright, Scaleless, you better have not ticked off that Ala into killing you." Saffire thought while soaring higher and higher alongside the tree. "Hmm?" until she saw an opening a couple of feet ahead of her. "There!" Digging her claws into the bark of the tree. "Just like back home!" From there, Saffire started to climb up to the opening and poked her head to look for Blake. "Wha?" and found him with what looked like a small girl saddling him and Blake had his hands all over her.

"You rotten little pervert! What are you doing now!?" Saffire growled louder than she wanted to, as it caused Baba's home to shake a bit. "Whoops, there goes trying to be sneaky." Thought the giant fire-breathing dragon that can talks.

"Huh? Oh? Saffire! What's up? You know, besides us?" Blake jokingly asked once he saw Saffire's big scaly head after hearing and feeling her earlier outburst, but unfortunately for Blake, the Dragon didn't answer him with words; instead she shot him an intense glare making him sweat under it. "Now, Saffire I just need you to take a deep breath and calm down for me because this is not what it looks like ok."

"AS IF! NOW BURN!" Saffire roared out with embers starting up in her mouth before she let out a large stream of red-hot flames aimed at Blake.

"Oh, sweet Goddess on high! WHY ME!?" Blake cried like a baby as Saffire's fire blast came rushing towards him and Baba with nothing he could do about it.

"..." Baba on the other hand simply held out her hands and formed a sphere of wind around herself and Blake just as the fire blast got close to hitting them causing it to blow around them and hit the other side of Baba's home leaving a sizable hole behind. "Aww, I really liked that wall..." Baba muttered to herself with a hand rubbing the side of her face until she looked at the hole with her head tilted to one side. "...Hmm? But I kind of like the view I got out of it? What do you think, Cutie?" She asked, turning to Blake for his input on the matter.

"I don't care about your home improvements! I'm just happy that didn't hit me! Seriously Saffire! That would've done a lot more than cover my face in smoke, you know!" Blake walked over to Saffire as he said that and crossed his arms. "Well?"

"Well, what? I came up here to get you back after you got carried off by her, but it looks like you were having some 'fun'!" Saffire growled, striking down with one of her claws right next to Blake making him jump back, losing his serious stance and flinched out of fear of being crushed while whispering 'sorry' under his breath. "That's better." She puffed out some smoke from her nose.

"Oh dear me, she's exactly like you described Cutie; hot-headed, proud and her main method of working things out is setting something on fire usually you, I wonder how accurate your other friends are from what you told me about them?" Baba cooed, taking a rather afloat outlook on the current situation despite just having to defend herself. "But more importantly, shouldn't you tell her about 'us,' sweetheart?" She asked, floating over to Blake and held onto his left arm with her head resting on his shoulder and smiled when Saffire glared at her.

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Saffire growled even louder than she usually does, getting closer to the two of them and leaned down to look at Blake. "Well? Go on explain yourself and it better not give me a reason to toss you out of the tree, 'sweetheart.'"

"Wait! Hold on! She's just messing with you Saffire! Calm down, please!" Blake yelled at Saffire, waving his arms around in the air as the Dragon looked down at him. "We were just talking to each other that's all nothing else!"

"Hmm, is that true?" Saffire turned her head to Baba as she was floating around in the air like a feather coming up to Saffire's nose. "Buzz off!"

"Mostly, I don't get that many visitors up here, so when one comes around I like to have a chat with them," Baba answered, winking at Blake making him smiled at her then she moved around to the side of Saffire's head. "And if a certain Dragon didn't show up we might have gotten a little 'closer' hehe." She giggled quietly to Saffire.

"HUH!?" Saffire snapped her head towards Baba, who just floated away from her. "Keep that kind of thing to yourself!"

"What did you tell her?" Blake asked, giving the Ala a questioning look since he didn't hear a thing.

"~Oh~ just some girl talk nothing you need to worry about, Cutie," Baba answered then she looked around her home which was in a state of disarray with a large burning hole put in the back end and her piles of stuff were scattered around all thanks to Saffire bursting in. "All that time and hard work for nothing...I think someone owes me a sorry." She hummed in a bored tone while giving a sideways glance to Blake.

Picking up on that Blake looked at her a bit confused. "Hey! Why are you looking at me? She's the one who crashed into here!" He pointed up at Saffire, making her growl at him. "I'm not lying about that."

"Well! The only reason why I'm here is because 'someone' got carried up into the sky by some random wind spirit!" Saffire shot back, bringing her head to Blake's height to blow hot smoke on him from her nose.

"Yea *Coughs* thanks for *coughs* that I didn't think you cared that much," Blake muttered while wiping soot out of his face. "Sorry about her; she can't get over that Dragon pride of hers." He said to Baba earning him a giggle from her and a low growl from Saffire. "Sorry, no fire, please!"

"Oh that's okay I'm sure we'll get along at some point on our trip together," Baba said, flying around her home to a pile of bags taking a brown sling bag then moved to a collection of clothes.

"Our trip?" Saffire questioned, looking at Blake and he just nodded. "Really? You're just going to take some wired girl who lives in a tree that you just met?" She asked, looking at Baba as she continued to pack clothes into her bag.

"Says the Dragon who lived inside caves and tried to light me on fire at her 1st chance." Blake shot back at Saffire crossing his arms to make his point clear but to his surprise and worry Saffire just turned around to the hole she came in. "Uhm? Aren't you forgetting something or more importantly, someone?" He asked nervously with a finger held up.

Saffire turned around with a smile on her scaly face that scared Blake. "~Sorry~ I wouldn't want to burn you by mistake have fun getting down, Scaleless." She told Blake right before jumping out of the tree and diving down back to earth.

"WAIT!? Hold on, please..." Blake tried running after her but only caught the sight of her tail as she went down, leaving him to stare down and he finally realized just how high up he was. "Oh, that's a long way down, haha." He laughed awkwardly and backed up into a pair of small arms, one of which was holding a packed sling bag turning to his right Blake found Baba looking around curiously.

"Hmm? Did the Hot-head leave without you, Cutie?" Baba asked, putting her head to rest on top of Blake's. "I guess you need help getting down now?"

"N-n-no! That's not needed at all Baba! J-j-just give me a second to think, I'm sure there's another way down." Blake insisted nervously, not wanting to take another ride inside a tornado today but once Baba's arms wrapped around his neck, his face went blue. "Uhhhh." He whimpered out quietly, then closed his eyes.

"Don't worry. I'll be a lot more gentle this time around..." Baba whispered deeply into Blake's ear, even giving it a nibble. "...but just this once."

At the bottom of Fowl Foot Tree

"Hmm.." Currently, Lu was collecting some of the herbs around the area for either medicine or some new arrows. Rena and Mari were playing around with each other. Nash was grazing on some grass.

"..." And finally, Risabeel was the only one who had their eyes up to the sky waiting patiently for Saffire to come back down with Blake safe and sound so when she saw a Dragon's silhouette coming down her face lit up. "Ah! Saffire has returned...but without Sir Blake?" She tilted her head to one side at what she saw or didn't.

"Hmm? Was Rufus wrong about this place, Saffire?" Lu asked, walking up to the Dragon.

"No, he's up there I just left him for pissing me off," Saffire answered, holding up her head proudly just as some strong winds went by. "But looks like he found a way down." She groaned, looking up as did everyone else all of them seeing a green tornado coming down from the tree.

The tornado touched down a few moments later kicking up some leaves, dust and almost Rena if it wasn't for Mari catching her then the winds fanned out showing Blake standing wobbly with a sickly look on his face. "Ugh, I hate spinning." He groaned, bringing a hand to his mouth, hoping to keep something other than air and words from leaving his body.

"I'm sorry, Cutie, I thought it'd go ok, but then again this is just your second ride," Baba said, floating up in the air around the group. "Hello, I'm Baba, The Ala, sorry about taking your friend by mistake." She waved over to the group.

"That is alright as long you did not mean to cause any harm to Sir Blake, and I am thankful that you returned him to us." Risabeel thanked Baba, bowing her head to Baba.

"You're a lot nicer than the Hot-head over there, Risabeel." Baba mused, laying down in the air watching Risabeel's surprised when Baba said her name. "Oh, don't worry about that, Cutie, here told me a bit about all of you." She said, going back to Blake's side and poked his head.

"Hey, could you stop calling me 'Cutie' since we're going to be traveling together from now on." Blake muttered, after continually getting called 'Cutie' by a much older woman, was starting to get weird even for Blake's standards.

"Well, then how about ~Hubby~?" Baba asked, putting a finger under her chin, both Mari and oddly Saffire glared at Baba while Lu's cheek got a little red with Rena giggling at him, Risabeel just thought Baba was being playful, and Nash raised an eyebrow.

"Uhm? How about Blake. That works fine, you know?" Blake offered, but Baba frowned at the suggestion.

"~Oh~ that's too intimate for my liking but I'll do it if you call me, ~Mama~" Baba augured, putting her hands on her hips.

"Hubby, it is then." Blake groaned in defeat then put on a smile holding out his hand. "Welcome to the group, Baba!" He declared officially added Baba to the gang.

"Thank you for having me." Baba took Blake's hand in hers, once they did a small green light came from their hands that covered Baba, and in the next moment, she was turned into a piece of dark green Ore that had four light green lines spiraling around each other.

"Annnd there we go," Blake muttered, holding up the Ore to his face and moved it around in his hand sure enough it looked and felt like any kind of Ore, if it weren't for the fact that Blake was the one who turned Baba into it, he'd just think it was any random Ore. "This is such a weird ass power."

"But it is a mighty one, Sir Blake," Risabeel said, coming up to Blake. "If it were not for you having this power, then I would have been left inside that ruined castle with no way out."

"True but it took a Smith-Knight to do that, and they got rid of your memories the bastard! If we ever meet up with that guy, I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind and maybe a taste of my knuckle!" Blake promised, striking a fist into the air, causing Risabeel to do the same with a small giggle. "Hah! Now, let's get Baba out of this thing."

"I say you toss her into those bushes over there and leave her." Saffire offered, monitoring over to some around the tree.

"I second that." Mari agreed, holding up her hand.

"Denied," Blake told the both of them shaking his head at them before walking over to the furnace throwing Baba's Ore into it and then turned it on pumping out smoke from the chimney.

After some time Blake was hammering away at Baba's Ore over the avail until a green glow came from it and Blake held his hammer up high. "A STRIKE TO FREE YOUR POWER!" He swung the hammer down, causing the Ore to glow brighter. "ANOTHER STRIKE TO GIVE YOU SHAPE!" The next hit turned it into a small glowing green disk. "AND A FINAL STRIKE TO FORGE YOUR NEW LIFE!" Blake yelled out, throwing down his hammer one last time unleashing a powerful tornado on impact covering Blake on all sides and quickly disappeared. "Ugh, that's the third time of today." He groaned with his eyes spinning in their sockets.

"You sure know how to show a girl a wild time, Hubby," Baba cooed, sitting on top of the avail with Blake's hand on her head. "But mind asking me first next time."

"Hah, sorry about that, like I told you up there, I don't know how half of this work." Blake joked, rubbing Baba's head, feeling her soft locks through his fingers but stopped when she smirked at him, and he pulled away. "Yikes! She doesn't get embarrassed easily that might be bad for me later."

"~Aww~ Hubby, why'd you stop I was just getting into it." Baba teased, winking at Blake making him take a step back. "Hehe, so tell me what can I turn into?" She asked, floating off the avail and span around to look herself over. "Huh, nothing feels too different?"

"Well, you see; Risabeel's sword and Saffire's armor so I made you into a shield to round everything off," Blake answered, crossing his arms and smirked to himself.

"You're so smart ~Hubby~! So all I need to do is think about turning into a shield?" Baba hummed out while closing her eyes and she turned into a small whirlwind that twisted around becoming a small silver shield that was shaped like a hurricane with a green gem at the center of the eye.

Blake reached out to catch the shield when it stopped floating in front of him. "Oh, it's a buckler small and quick nice!" He looked the buckler over flipping it around to find a bar to hold onto. "Hmm?" He looked at his hand, noticing that he had grown an extra pinkie. "Couldn't I have gotten some feathers instead?"

"Well, Hubby, from what you said, it looks like that kind of thing is random." Baba's afloat voice came through the gem on the buckler. "But at least now you can control wind just like me."

"Yea, you're right. Let's try it out!" Blake smirked, holding Baba up, ready to block something and turned to Lu. "Hey, Lu, mind taking a shot at me?"

Rena smiled at the idea. "Hah! You asked for it now! Lu! Turn him into a porcupine! Bahaha!" She ordered, standing tall on Lu's head with her arms crossed and threw back her head in mad laughter.

"...Rena, it's not like he just challenged me to a fight to the death, please stop that," Lu sighed to his Fairy partner shaking his head making her topple over then he grabbed his bow and pulled an arrow back aiming at Blake and with a nod from him Lu let the arrow fly speeding towards Blake.

"Alright, if it works with Saffire I just have to focus..." Blake thought, gripping the shield tighter and emitted a gust of wind from itself that defected Lu's shot with ease, making the arrow dig into a tree on the sidelines. "Cool, I can't wait to see what else you can do Baba?" He asked, and instead of answering him, Baba turned back.

"All kinds of things, Hubby, if you're interested, I could teach you privately?" Baba seductively offered floating up to Blake's face with a finger poking into his chest.

"*Ahem*" Saffire back in her human form butt in on their conversation making the two turn to her. "Don't you have a job as the Ala for that town over there?" She asked Baba, pointing a thumb towards Gardel.

"~Oh~ you're right about that, but if someone didn't destroy my home then I won't have a problem staying behind, thank you for that, Saffire," Baba answered, winking at Saffire making her blow out some smoke. "Besides, Hubby, here needs me to protect him from all kinds of bad things now isn't that right?" She asked, looking up at Blake as she spoke to him like he was a baby.

"I'm sure you'll do a good job, now let go please," Blake told her and with a small frown and a roll of her eyes, Baba let go of him. "Alright, let's get a move out before anything else stops us."

"Oh? Would a storm be a bad thing to happen right now?" Baba asked, laying on her back in the air.

"Yes?" Blake answered, unsure if he wanted to do that before he could ask Baba why a bone-chilling wind went by followed by black clouds appearing in the sky. "Baba! What are you doing!?"

"I'm sorry, but this isn't me, I can only move around storm clouds not stop them outright and talking to you might have gotten me a little bit distracted ~sooooo~ now there's no way to stop this baby," Baba explained rather casually as the wind got stronger and a bolt of lightning flashed through the sky. "But don't worry Baba's gonna keep you nice and warm through it all."

"Oh, Goddess on high! Help me! Quick! Everyone get back in the cart we're getting out of here! Now!" Blake yelled, and no one complained as everyone jumped into the cart. "NASH! MOVE!" Blake grabbed onto Nash's reins and gave them a wild crack trying his hardest to get out of there before things got worse with Baba floating lazily behind the cart as it sped off.

Chapter End