After lunch and still no Blink, I headed up top. I was fooling myself, and I knew it. To think that I would outlast Blink and avoid talking with Kasidy again. I might have been a little harsh with her, but she clunked me over the head with a piece of firewood.

I said under my breath. “I’m going to have to head up there. Checking for orcs and hunting up food for the trip is more important than not dealing with that lady.”

It was still my thicket, so I wasn’t going to even knock when I went up. That would make it seem like she had a right to be here. The only right she had was that Bartholomew sent her. That meant she was a guest, not that she owned it, and Kasidy hadn’t even asked if she could stay. She just sent me out.

“If she does that again I might make the thicket recognize her as an enemy and turn its fear on for her.”

I smiled at that idea. “I got a ring to protect me this time. So I might turn around but I won’t make it all the way out. I hope.”

Like all good plans, this one fell apart when meeting the enemy. As I came out of the dungeon, Kasidy was there. It was almost like she was waiting for me. An ambush like last time, perhaps. Yet, she didn’t have firewood. She had the front apron of her dress pulled up to work as a basket, and she had filled it with fresh fruit from the area around.

“What do you want?” Kasidy asked in a clipped voice.

“I was coming up to check to see if this area was safe from orcs that I’m back.” I replied as I closed the entrance to the dungeon.

I stepped around her and started towards the stairs of the thicket.

“Where do you think you’re going?” She snapped at me.

Clearly, this lady didn’t get it. This thicket was mine; this area was mine. Perhaps I needed to claim it all so that she would understand. She was a guest and needed to behave as one. I got that I was the host and should be nice too, but honestly, she was pushing every button that I had.

“Up top to check on things. It has the best view around.”

I kept walking and went up the steps without stopping. She was right behind me at this point. Her footfalls were heavy and quick. I could tell she was mad at me just for being here.

Kasidy yelled from behind me. “Stop going up there it is my home and you have no business going in there!”

When I got to the top, I opened the trapdoor and walked in. The place was a mess. It had been yesterday, and it still was today. The pile of wood near the fireplace was just that a pile. There was dirt on the floor like it hadn’t been swept, and there were cracked shells on the table. A complete mess of a place. On the hammock was the traitor. Blink was asleep in the sunlight.

I looked around and gaped. “This place is a mess. I have only been gone a few days, and look at how messed up you have made it.”

She pushed passed me to dump her fruit on the table. Then she turned towards me and put her hands on her hips. “You shouldn’t be in here! You didn’t ask, I didn’t invite you and you need to go,” she yelled at me.

“No Kasidy, this is my place. First you have been here for several days without permission. I can come and go anytime I want since this is mine. You are in my place, it’s not yours and your not even taking care of the place. Next you need to quite down until I have had a chance to see if there are any orcs around. I don’t want to get into a fight that we can’t win.”

She just fumed at me as I headed to the window. If looks could kill, she would be stabbing me in the kidneys as I turned my back. Yes, I was being overly direct, but I was still kind of mad with being knocked out and then being kicked out of my own place.

I started to pull myself through the window when Blink chose to move. She came up and grabbed my foot, and pulled me back in the window. She looked at me with her great big eyes and then gave me a slow, slow blink followed by a low whine.

I shot Blink a look and then sent her a thought, “What?”

Blink thought back, “Girl nice. She worry make Daddy mad.”

I sighed and let the tension slide out of me. I might not trust Kasidy because of how we met, but I did trust Blink.

I sent back to Blink. “She used magic on me and made me leave are you sure she can be trusted and she isn’t using it on you?”

Blink gave me a toothy lizard smile, “Chaos likes girl.”

I shook my head. While I was Chaos’ shaman, I also wasn’t entirely a fan. I never liked being told what to do. I might go along with things because I couldn’t change them, but that didn’t mean I liked them. Which meant that I couldn’t fully trust Blink right now because she was trying to use Chaos as a reason I should trust Kasidy.

I sent back over the bond, “Chaos liking her doesn’t make me trust her anymore.”

Kasidy broke my conversation with Blink by yelling, “Can’t you just leave me be right now? I.”

I cut her off mid-sentence. “Hush!”

I turned to face her. I was angry hopping mad. I had just told her what I was doing, and now she was still yelling. I wasn’t sure what the god was playing at sending someone like this out into this place, but her yelling needed to end.

I growled at Kasidy, “Stop, just stop! Look I know that you were sent here I get that and I know that you want my home as yours because I wasn’t here to run you off when you got here but neither of us should be yelling right now! There are orcs at that are within a day’s hike of here and I have fought goblins even closer. Just a few days ago I had a fight with them not far from here. They know there are people near and I don’t need you yelling with your shrill voice letting them know we are here!”

Then I looked down at Blink and kept at it. It hurt that Blink hadn’t come back and stayed with Kasidy. “And and you! Stayed up here with the squatter last night who kicked me out of my own home with her mind magic!” I growled down at Blink.

Blink, for her part, looked at least somewhat penitent for the scolding that I gave her. She lowered her head and whined a little bit more. Then she scooted herself over to me and laid her head on my feet, whining again.

Blink sent through the bond, “Sorryies Daddy. Thought shes needed friend.”

I stared at Blink and thought back, “You hate Lannah but you call the girl who knocked me out a friend?”

Blink nipped a bit at my foot.

Kasidy, however, wasn’t one that would so easily accept that they were wrong, especially if being yelled at. “Now you listen to me MISTER! I don’t care if you think this tree house is yours or not, I’m staying here and you can’t just barge in here. And if you thought that orcs were close enough that my yelling would attract them then why would you not tell me about them till now!” She steamed at me.

I held up a hand and said. “Kasidy, I don’t know what type of mind magic you used on me yesterday, but you need to never do that again if you hope to stay here or work with me. I would have told you about the orcs, but you never let me. You just wanted to fight about this house. You know that the note was mine and was to me, you know that it wasn’t giving you the house, you should understand that this is my place and if you want to stay here, then you need to start acting like it. The first thing you’re going to do is stop yelling and let me check on the area. Then we can figure out what is going on and if you’re staying or going.”

“Fine, go check, and then when you think it is safe, we can talk.” She said almost defeatedly.”

I reached down and petted Blink, making sure to scratch behind her eyes where she liked it. “Okay, Girl, I’m going up to have a look to start with, and then we are going to do a walk around to check on everything.” I softly spoke to her.

Blink sent with more cheer than I thought was right, “Hunts!”

I went out the window and up to the top of the thicket. I took a look around from on top, looking to see if I could see any smoke or big movements other than herd animals. After looking around it for about ten minutes, trying to see if there was any movement, I headed back in. The inside of the thicket looked just as bad as before, but at least Kasidy wasn’t inside. I took a few steps to the middle and pulled up the thicket interface to see what level it had gotten to.

World’s first

Thicket Core (Cluster)

General

Showing up in all gold.

Arn’s Thicket

Level 15

Type Natural Building Core

Class Ultra Rare

Durability 1500/1500

This Thicket is both a tree house and a fort. Through its design it will provide a place to rest and recover while being secure. As the designer of this Thicket is risk adverse this Thicket excels at being hidden. This is not just a single core but is a cluster of cores working in harmony. The designer of this Cluster also felt that giving a powerful magical item the desire and ability to self grow a good thing as it would reduce the overall time he needed to work on making it better.

*This Thicket is the first Thicket core and so is uncapped in level. As such the normal termination for leveling which is 15 is when it can create new Thicket cores.

>Growth

>Traits

>Creation

>Growth

To level your building core you must provide for it items needed to move to the next level of the building type.

Wood 100% Mana 0% Magical Items 15% Nuts 75% Inhabitants 100% (Kasidy) Fruit 100% Colored fabric 0% Dishes 50% Art work 25% 15 Thicket seeds

>Traits

These are the abilities or traits that your house has.

Dry: your Thicket keeps all things in it dry from weather Comfort: your Thicket room provides you with a up to a 15 degree change in temperature towards your preferred level Furniture: Your Thicket provides basic Furniture which will repair itself. (Bed, Table, Chair) These items can not be removed however, they can move inside now. Defense: Vines, provide the base for poison delivery and binding toward all listed enemies. (orcs, goblins, gremlins, wild dogs, snakes, undead) Bushes, provide slowing effects to all who are not welcomed in. Stone projectile: All who are listed as enemies will be attacked on sight by stone projectiles. One per tree at a rate of 1 every 30 seconds. Lay To Rest: Inside the Thicket canopy all dead are laid to rest. Improvement: Will draw what is needed to level. Shroud of confusion: 1 mile only those who are marked as friendly can remember how to get here. Others can be led to location or wander in but can not find it without being added. Inside the shroud the effects don’t take place it is once leaving that the last mile becomes confusing. Abundance: The plants in and near the Thicket all produce 50% more produce Expansion: Thicket can now expand and claim other trees, bushes and vines near by adding to the size of the thicket. Lightning: The Mother Thicket is large enough to attract lightning in most storms. She stores this for use latter. She can store up to 100 lightning bolts this can increase Spreading seeds: The Mother Thicket has reached the level high enough to create daughter Thickets seeds. They may be planted to grow new Thickets that will connect to the Mother Thicket in ways the others can not. Blending: The Thicket now doesn't stand out when people look at it. No matter how tall it gets the it will appear to be no larger then any other tree. Retracting step: Steps now retract Murder holes: When in danger murder holes can open up for the occupants to defend with

>Creation

Through the use of seeds this Cluster can create new ones which are tied to it in a close link. These additional Thickets will start at level 1 yet will take 1 month to grow. Each use of creation requires

Mana 250 Life blood of designer or occupant Nuts or fruit of trees from Thicket

* * *