This new voice was clear and completely understandable, using a language even the Great Tree was strangely able to understand. At the same moment this voice was heard, the Bright One’s physical body spoke out in a very similar sounding voice but using different words, words which were still unknown to the Great Tree, and although the mental one mostly drowned out the physical, there was still a strange, almost paradoxical feeling when the two voices overlapped.

What!?

The Great Tree was completely not expecting to hear something which it could actually understand when the Bright One spoke, and especially not hear the words within its own mind, instead expecting the same unintelligible words as previously. The shock felt at this revelation was actually so powerful that it exclaimed to itself mentally in a fairly alarmed manner, so far as a mental voice would allow anyway. But the surprise was not yet over, as incredibly enough there was a reply.

“What!?”

…

This short exchange was full of obvious and intense confusion on both sides, but this only remained for an instant. The Great Tree swiftly realised that this strange new voice was in fact the voice of the Bright One’s mind, and also realised that its own thoughts were actually being heard! For obvious reasons this caused the Great Tree to panic, immediately trying to shrink its mind away, targeting thoughts inwards in an attempt to hide them from its newfound conversation partner. After all, if the Bright One could truly know everything it was thinking and at the same time had malicious intent, then that really wouldn’t be good. Fortunately there were no further reactions to the Great Tree’s thoughts; it seems that the thoughts had to be directed outwards towards the other mind in order to communicate, with the previous exchange simply being an unlucky accident. It took several more probing experiments before the Great Tree calmed somewhat though.

At least my thoughts are safe for now…

Whilst the Great Tree was desperately trying to protect its thoughts, the Bright One was plainly very confused, his expression plastered with shock. His exclamation occurred not only in the Great Tree’s mind, but was also a physical one, and some of the other Green Ones behind him showed concern on their faces. One, the female holding the Green Child, called out something unknown and was about to move forward, but the Bright One urgently made a small gesture with his hand which caused her to remain where she was. He seemed to be deep in thought.

The Great Tree had organised and protected its thoughts at this point but, whilst silently observing the Bright One with no small amount of caution, was simply waiting to see how the situation would develop. It itself really didn’t know how else to handle this; the situation was simply too far out of its expectations.

After a few more seconds, the elderly man calmed himself and an odd expression appeared on his face. It seemed to the Great Tree to be a mixture between determination, curiosity and… respect? Or perhaps humility would be a better description? After a moment, the Bright One spoke.

“This humble druid asks if there might be some great elder present? If we have offended you, we sincerely apologise.”

The Great Tree knew that this was obviously directed towards itself. It seemed that this Bright One refers to itself as a druid, and strangely some of the meaning even seemed to be transmitted, enough at least for the Great Tree to know druid was more of a profession as opposed to a race. Luckily this first contact was rather civil so far, but whether this was because of a wish to befriend or genuine respect as opposed to fear had yet to be seen. This needed to be determined; if this was simply fear then the Green One’s could quickly turn against it, and although the Great Tree doubted they would be a real threat, it would be disruptive and the full capabilities of the Bright One were still unknown. Who knows what he could be capable of after what had been showed so far.

Furthermore the Great Tree felt from the quick reaction of the Bright One that this situation wasn’t completely unknown to him; it was a real possibility that in this case the Green Ones held the advantage in terms of information, which meant simply playing dumb might not work. Communication seemed like a better option, who knows the Great Tree might even gain from this. The decision was swiftly made that a cautious reply was the safest route, do not lie or attempt to trick the Green Ones and at least a bad relationship developing would be unlikely. Hence, directing its mind towards the Bright One, a short reply was mentally sent.

“I am here.”

Short, seemingly uninterested and unconcerned, but also without any maliciousness or unnecessary grandeur, this was the most cautious option and as far as the Great Tree knew the reply with the lowest chance of angering the other party. After all nothing was known in terms of the temperament, beliefs or etiquette of the Green Ones; they were timid now but that could quickly change. Sensing danger or weakness were both common reasons for attacking after all, but a dangerous yet apathetic being was something most would choose to leave alone.

The Bright One did not have as large a reaction as the previous time it heard the Great Tree’s mind speak, but there was undeniably an excited glimmer which appeared in his eyes. A slight smile spread over his face before continuing to speak.

“Many thanks elder, this druid name is Neltu Shiveru, just Neltu will do if it pleases you. How may we address exalted one?”

Name huh?

The Great Tree had never needed such a thing before, and ‘Great Tree’ itself was more of a description than anything. In the past few days when it referred to itself it still saw no need for such a thing, but now it realised that wasn’t realistic; the beings in front of it clearly used names and so having one would likely help to calm their concerns, as well as assist in building trust. So, with this in mind, it was decided that a name for itself was required. That said, it had no idea what sort of a name it wanted; something as permanent as this couldn’t be thought up on a whim.

The Great Tree was silent for a few moments before a thought came to it. In the first place one of the reasons for getting a name would be to comfort the Green Ones, so wasn’t it safe to leave the naming up to them? It would also result in a name which is more relatable to them, which would be a good benefit. Plus the Great Tree wasn’t particularly bothered about what to call itself, so it didn’t mind.

This sounds the most reliable, and I feel we will be stuck here for hours if I must think up a name for myself.

The decision made the Great Tree extended its mind towards the mind of the Bright One, or Neltu, as he was supposedly called, sending a reply.

“This one has never had need of a name; you may grant me one as you will.”

Neltu seemed to not expect this reply and for a moment looked stumped, but then sunk into thought. The Great Tree waited anxiously; hopefully this wouldn’t backfire. After a few moments had passed, Neltu glanced back thoughtfully at the Green Child, then turned again towards the Great Tree to reply.

“Before that, this one has a question if I may?”

After Neltu spoke he waited, seemingly for permission to continue. They came here to investigate, and the Great Tree didn’t want to antagonise the Green Ones, so he saw no reason not to give it.

“You may.”

“Thank you elder. I wonder if it is true that you acted to save my grand-daughter, Sera, three days ago?”

Ah, the cause of this.

In the end the Great Tree knew that this was coming, this was after all likely the reason the Green Ones came here in the first place. Also of note was the name of the girl, Sera, it was unknown why but this was something the Great Tree endeavoured to remember. This special treatment was something even it itself didn’t realise

In the end, it’s highly unlikely the Green Ones would find fault in the Great Tree interfering that day. It’s not like they would be angry about the death of the Plain One; many occasions in which Green Ones had killed Plain Ones in self-defence had been observed in the past, and the voluntary nature of the event without any seeking of reparations or payment of some kind made the Great Tree seem all the more benevolent. Claiming it was a coincidence that the branch fell and denying anything about the attack of the thread-like roots which not only littered the hill, but also may have been spoken of by the Green Child, no, by Sera, would in the end only seem suspicious. Telling the truth not only had the least risk, but also the highest potential reward; it was the obvious choice. Hopefully they wouldn’t ask why the Great Tree decided to help though, as truthfully, even it itself didn’t know why, just that it felt it absolutely had to at the time. Of course it didn’t regret its actions.

“It is true. I saw her fleeing and decided to help.”

The face of the elderly Neltu very visibly eased up after hearing this, the way he looked up at the tree he was speaking to changed to have more warmth in it, but there was still a hint of suspicion present. Likely, he was thinking of why the being in front of him would bother to help his grandchild, but in the end it had and so not being thankful would be rather difficult.

“This old elf is eternally grateful for exalted elder’s assistance and I will do all that I can to repay this debt. Also, this one has thought up an appropriate name for elder, if elder is willing to hear it.”

Elf huh? Sounds like the name of his race. Well let’s hear the name then.

Storing away this small piece of information in a corner of its mind, the Great Tree replied.

“Go on.”

“Yes, after some thought, this one thinks that Vrasus is a very appropriate name for elder. I wonder how elder feels about it?”