Beneath a certain sky, south of a certain mountain and east of a certain forest, there exists a small land. To many this land may have seemed unremarkable, the plains within the same as the plains which bordered it, the view of the sky the same as everywhere else, the same water, the same grass, and the same animals. Indeed they would mostly be correct, but those with a more discerning eye, and those more sensitive to nature, would realize that this place is actually rather special in a few ways.

The first thing that these individuals would realise would be the trees growing in this land. Although it was subtle, in fact the trees in this land grew taller and stronger than their neighbouring brethren. Not only that, the green leaves and brown bark of these trees seemed to have a very small hint of a reddish hue to them, and once again although this was slight enough that if one were to not look for it most would never know, it still seemed to give the trees an appearance of greater vitality, especially when combined with their increased size.

For those who noticed these small abnormalities, there may be a few who seek to understand where these features come from, and some of these few may look down towards the earth. For those with appropriate expertise, they may then discover perhaps the most abnormal thing about this land: its soil.

Indeed the soil here seemed bursting with both the strong energies of the earth and benevolent energies of life, and that it was in fact these energies which had diffused into the local flora, granting them their unique vitality. Traces of these energies could be found in all inhabitants of this land. As for where these energies came from, one might notice that the deeper the soil the stronger they become, and that whatever possible source the energies have was deep, deep beneath the earth. Far too deep for any mortal being to possibly reach, at any rate.

Of course, the energies of this land were not evenly spread out; the further into the land one travelled, the stronger the energies locked in the soil would become. Nearer to the centre of the land the trees would become even larger still, and the tint of red in the trees would become more pronounced. In fact, at a small area near the very centre of the land, the trees seemed like an entirely different species to their family which lived without the sustenance of the unique soil, almost twice the height and the colour was entirely red, like a bloody yet beautiful sunset. Not only this, but the bark of the trees is almost as strong as iron, as are the jaws of the insects and critters living amongst their branches. Even the birds are tougher as result of their diets.

But none of these instances of flora or fauna could hold a candle to the true king of this land, for if one were to locate the exact centre of this land, where the soil was richest and energies strongest, they would find a small hill, on top of which grew only a single tree, but this tree dwarfed all others.

For whilst the largest of the other trees would only reach twenty or twenty five meters at most, this one towered above them , over six times their height, its expansive canopy ensuring that the hill bearing the great tree is shrouded in shade for most of the day. An observer would note that the tree seemed surrounded by an imposing, indestructible aura, giving the feeling that destroying this tree was a task akin to destroying a mountain.

These observations in fact are not far off, for the bark of the tree has long since exceeded the strongest existing steel in terms of toughness. Even siege weapons would be brushed off as if it were only a slightly stronger breeze to this Great Tree.

Because of this immense toughness the critters and insects which live amongst the smaller trees surrounding the hill cannot be found amongst this Great Trees branches. The only life present within its branches are birds which make their nests here and a single species of insects, a cross between a firefly and a wasp, which had always lived amongst its branches. As these insects have always lived off of the great tree grown alongside it, they may well be the only species of insect in the entire continent with jaws strong enough to feed on the great tree. At night the light given off by these insects can be seen flitting to and fro amongst the branches of the Great Tree, glowing like magnificent red stars, painting an ethereal picture which contrasts strongly with domineering appearance of the hill during the day.

But none of this can be said to be the most remarkable aspect of the Great Tree, that would have be the great tree’s mind.

Indeed, unlike its siblings living around it, this tree was unique in its intelligence. This said, saying that the tree is conscious is perhaps incorrect, for although the tree observed, remembered and had some understanding of the land around it, really its experience would be better described as a dream.

From the day it awakened to this intelligence it had observed its siblings living below, the wildlife living amongst their and its own branches, as well the changes from day to night, the cycle of the seasons, yet it did not care. It understood these things to some extent, that day would turn to night, winter to spring, yet it did not care. All that the great tree cared about was basking in the rays of the sun and absorbing the energies in the soil, day after day, year after year.

One day, whilst basking in the suns rays, the Great Tree observed an unusual creature entering its domain. This creature was different from the common inhabitants, not only was it larger, it also walked in an upright posture on two legs, and each movement of the creature’s body was full of strength.

As the great tree was sensitive to the energies in its surroundings, it also noticed that the aura of the creature was tinged brown like the earth, immovable and resilient. This Earthen One, as the Great Tree would have referred to it, if it cared at all, hunted a small animal living within the forest and then, after staying the night, left the next day.

As time passed the Great Tree continued its basking, indifferent to the goings on around it. The Earthen Ones, after the first visit, continued to appear. Sometimes, like the first time, only a single one would appear, other times small groups of them would travel into the Great Trees territory. Their visits also begun to happen more frequently, until there was normally at least some presence of the Earthen Ones in the surrounding woodlands and plains all year long, even if none of them permanently settled there.

Once more, time passed, and although the Great Tree didn’t notice it, in fact many lifetimes went by for the Earthen Ones, until one day, another strange creature entered into the Great Trees senses.

This new being was rather similar to the Earthen Ones, but its body was smaller and did not seem to contain nearly as much power. The aura of this new creature was also different from the Earthen Ones, although the size of the aura was about the same, it did not have the brown, earthly hue of the Earthen Ones, indeed, its rather plain aura did not seem to lean towards any particular property at all except a small sliver of light circulating within its body. These Plain Ones also generally travelled exclusively in small groups of around a dozen individuals, whereas for the Earthen Ones, although similar sized groups could be seen on occasion, most of the time they were in groups of three or four.

Upon the initial appearance of the plain ones, very quickly they also came to be found frequently in the forests and plains surrounding the Great Tree, although they never reached the numbers of the Earthen Ones.

Soon after the arrival of the Plain Ones, there was another presence that could be found exclusively in the woodlands surrounding the Great Tree, shying away from the open plains. These new entrants were much rarer than either the Plain Ones or the Earthen Ones; sometimes none would not enter the domain of the Great Tree for months at a time.

The bodies of these new entrants were similar to the Plain Ones, but somewhat leaner and lighter. Their most significant feature however was their aura, which was tinged a vibrant green, giving the feeling of being full of life. These Green Ones moved stealthily in small groups of two or three, seeming far more at home amongst the trees, and were able to consistently avoid both the Plain Ones and Earthen Ones. Of course, they were unable to hide their auras from the acute senses of the Great Tree.

As time passed, a common scene in the plains and forests surrounding the Great Tree was groups of Earthen Ones and Plain Ones encountered one another, which would often end violently. Although the Earthen Ones were on average physically stronger, to such an extent that it would take several Plain Ones to defeat one, they usually also had far fewer numbers in each battle so more often than not victory would go to the Plain Ones, at a price. Of course to the Great Tree these battles only amounted to a few auras flickering out of existence, and as always it showed no interest.

After some time the Earthen Ones set up a few settlements on the outskirts of the Great Trees domain, where it could barely sense them. The skirmishes continued as usual, but Plain ones didn’t dare attack these settlements where many Earthen Ones dwelled.

But then one day, a very unusual sight could be seen travelling from the west, towards the Great Tree.

A large group of Green Ones, almost a hundred of them in fact, could be seen travelling through the woodlands. Such a large number did not go unnoticed, but the Earthen Ones let them be, and the Plain ones were unable to threaten them, so they continued their journey.

The path these travellers took coincidently led them straight towards the Great Tree, and upon finding themselves within a clearing from which they could see the Great Tree, they stopped their journey.

A dozen or so Green Ones broke off from the main group and journeyed up the hill, seeming to want to investigate first-hand the immense tree. One of their number, a male with a particularly bright aura, laid his hands upon the Great Tree, sending some of his aura into his trunk. Although previously sometimes Plain Ones would make direct contact, sometimes even attempt to cut its bark, the Great Tree had never felt these interactions different to the perching of birds upon its branches, or the buzzing of insects among its leaves, but it had never experienced anything like this.

The aura of the Green One caused ripples within the Great Trees own aura. It was strange, but not uncomfortable or painful, and stopped after only a few seconds. The Green One then retracted its touch, and, seemingly deciding that there was no danger, the group shortly returned to their companions.

After a couple of hours, the large group of Green Ones settled down and seemed to begin constructing a settlement in the clearing, using their aura to change the surrounding otherwise sturdy trees to suit their needs. As for the strange experience with the Green Ones aura, like with all things, the Great Tree held no interest for the event and continued its leisurely existence.

Once more time passed, and the group of Green Ones soon grew used to their new home. Soon after they were joined by other, smaller groups, also travelling form the west. Soon enough, there were almost 200 of them in their small colony, with some much smaller auras appearing, which usually denoted younglings if the wildlife the Great Tree had observed was anything to go by.

Of course these numbers were not without issues; they soon became victims of attacks from Plain Ones, and occasionally Earthen Ones too. The main colony was safe from these, but when smaller groups of them left they made far easier targets.

One day one such group of about half a dozen Green Ones left their colony and started travelling through the forest. Although the Great Tree did not know their destination, it did observe that further up their path, amongst the trees was a well hidden yet particularly large group of Plain Ones lying in wait.

The travellers walked straight into the ambush, and one of their auras winked out almost immediately. Certainly the Great Tree realised that, based on its past observations of similar events, soon all of the Green Ones would be killed or subdued by their attackers, but during the fighting one particularly small green aura seemed to escape into the forest, chased close behind by a large plain aura.

At first the distance between the little aura and its pursuer was increasing, but soon after the little green aura began to slow down, presumably due to growing tired, whilst the plain aura maintained its speed. Coincidently, they seemed to be heading towards the Great Tree, and after some time the little green aura reached the base of the hill upon which it stood.

Although the Great Tree was capable of sensing energies and auras for a great distance around it, mainly due to the auras of the trees acting as a sort of shroud, it was only upon reaching this close a distance that its senses would be precise enough to get a direct picture of something; to ‘see’ something, and so it was only upon the small Green One emerging from the thicket of trees and bushes surrounding the hill that the Great Tree was able to get a good view of it.

Its physical size was barely half the height and much less the mass of other Green Ones which the Great Tree had seen. A large gash could be seen on its left arm, as a result of which its entire arm was bloody and hung to its side, with each step blood dripped from the arm onto the floor, leaving a trail for her pursuer.

Because its body was not as developed as other Green Ones it had seen, it was difficult for the Great Tree to determine the gender of the being before it. Glancing at the small creature’s face which appeared more feminine, it was concluded that it was likely a female, but the oddest thing the tree felt was that the pale face with its bright green eyes, despite much being covered by pale blond, almost white hair, seemed familiar.

This was a completely new feeling for the Great Tree, and was made especially strange by the fact that it had never had any reaction whatsoever from observing the faces of other Green Ones.

As the small being continued moving forward, it could be plainly seen that the small girl was exhausted and weak from the long chase. This was further complicated from her wound; she would not be able to carry on much longer.

…save her…

Just as, the Great Tree was about to retract its focus from the small girl, it both heard and felt a strange voice within its mind. This voice was only but a whisper, many would question whether they heard anything at all, but for the Great Tree, this was a hugely startling event. Never in its long life had it felt or heard another being truly communicate with it in such a personal way. For the first time the tree was truly curious, and utilizing its powerful senses, searched throughout the entirety of its domain for the source; yet it could find nothing. For the first time it felt another emotion: confusion.

Whilst the great tree was confused, the small girl continued. At first it seemed she wanted to go around the hill, as the colony of other Green Ones was waiting in the clearing on the other side. Yet she realised she was close reaching her limit and would be incapable of finishing the journey between the hill and the colony, so desperately begun to climb up the small hill. As she came closer, tears could be seen on her face, unknown as to how long ago it was that they began flowing.

Just as the small girl reached the top of the hill, rustling could be heard from the thicket behind, and her pursuer exited the forest. It was a male, seeming little different from other Plain Ones the Great Tree had observed in the past, and apart from slightly heavier breathing than usual seemed none the worse after the chase. As it looked up the hill and saw the small girl in her weakened state, struggling forward, a smile appeared on its face, and it yelled something unknown before leisurely walking up the hill.

Save her.

Once again the voice resounded in the mind of the Great Tree, but this time it was far clearer, with a hint of urgency in it. The voice, no longer a whisper, could be made out as that belonging to an adult male. It was deep and gave the feeling of the owner being reliable, completely free of malice yet at the same time ready for violence should the need arise. Indeed the myriad of feelings the voice was capable of evoking was surprising just by itself.

Once more the Great Tree expanded its mind outward, trying to sense who or what was speaking to it. It concentrated, exercising its mind more strongly than it ever had before in its efforts, yet as before, it found nothing. Frustrated, the Great Tree tried something new, fusing its mind with the earth through its roots; its senses expanded further than they ever had before at the sacrifice of the precision of its senses above ground. Like this it once again looked for the owner of the voice, but soon realised there was nothing to be found. Depressed, it extracted its mind from the earth and returned to its common state.

At this time the small girl had reached the base of the Great Tree, and was trying to squeeze into a hole formed from the Great Trees roots. It had just managed to enter the hole when its pursuer reached the top of the hill and began walking towards it. Although the hole was too small for the man to enter, it would take only a short time to get a good grip on the child and pull her out. Just as it once more began to move towards the girl and the Great Tree…

SAVE HER NOW!

The voice boomed throughout the mind of the Great Tree, and as it did so the very earth itself began to shake. Although it was only for a moment, the man still almost tripped as a result, but after a short pause ignored the strange occurrence and continued towards the girl.

As for the Great Tree, its mind continued to rattle and the voice continued to echo. Never before had it felt urgency like it did now. For a moment it was confused, then angry, then scared. Then, suddenly, something seemed to shatter, a haze lifted from the Great Trees mind, as if this was the first that it was truly awake in its whole life.

Ah, the Great Tree thought. That’s my voice.