✎ eternity:013 [Spirit]

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====== 013 ======

==== Lucky Escape ====

Mackarie hopped across the undergrowth as fast as their leg would carry them, but the wolves were catching up. The creatures' behaviour had changed so much in recent weeks - they used to be much more docile. Mackarie suspected an infection of some sort, but until they could take some samples, there was no way to know for sure. The trouble was, that needed them to get close to the wolves, which was a risky strategy - as their current predicament illustrated well.

Despite their best evasive manoeuvres between the trees, Mackarie was still being hunted. Hardly designed for tree-climbing nor fighting, it didn't look like there was any way out of this one. They braced themselves for the inevitable...

//*crash*// Impact! Going... upwards? Several moments passed. Mackarie opened their eyes. They weren't being savaged by wolves at all. Instead, they found themselves in the embrace of an unfamiliar humanoid figure, swinging from a grappling hook lodged in the treetops above. Their skin was battered and torn where visible, but for the most part hidden under a wide assortment of clothing - or, at least, a wide assortment of scavenged items that the figure was adorned with.

At the apex of their swing, the stranger deposited Mackarie upon a sturdy tree branch, before wordlessly diving back down into the fray. Landing amongst the now somewhat confused pack of wolves, the stranger produced a small, cylindrical object from one of their kit's many pouches, and threw it into the group, whereupon it began to pulse bright light at a high but irregular frequency. In response, the wolves quickly became very still, transfixed by the repeating patterns, leaving the stranger able to walk amongst them and tie their limbs such that they would be unable to cause any further harm. This done, they retrieved their flash grenade, before returning to the treetops to collect a somewhat taken-aback Mackarie.

Returned to the ground, Mackarie stared in awe at the subdued creatures, which were in perfect health besides being restrained. This would certainly make studying them much easier!

"Who... who are you?" they ventured, looking up from the wolves.

But the stranger was nowhere to be found.

==== The Wishing Tree ====

It is a grand tree - perhaps the grandest in all the forest. Its roots spread wide. Its branches hang high. And all around the broad base of its trunk lie offerings, brought by Sentiences from far and wide for as long as anyone can remember.

Some say that to pay tribute to the tree will see your greatest wish come true. Others say that offerings will confer protection from future harm. Still others claim that by bringing your current woes to the tree, it will see that help comes your way to resolve them. And there are those, of course, who say it's just a tree like any other.

Some legends say that these wishes are personally granted by an ancient hero from a forgotten age. Other legends have it that the hero met their end in this very forest, and became the tree itself. There are claims made by some who claim to have met this mythical figure, stepping forth from nowhere to answer their needs, but in truth there is no real evidence that they ever existed.

In spite of all this uncertainty, the Wishing Tree sees no shortage of visitors. Even its doubters would never dare to remove even the smallest offering from its side, for fear of the gaze of its legendary patron.

And after all, if you ever find yourself troubled, you have nothing to lose by at least trying to seek the Tree's aid. Who knows what might happen...
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