Places you can find me!Before I paste's amazing backstory for this piece, I would like to thank everyone who joined me in this stream, and supported me through these hard times. It means the absolute world to me that people will still support me, even when I'm at my worst.“So what do you think? More branches or less branches?” Zagiir asked as she extended her head outside the stream of a waterfall. She looked over at Valkoor as he sat in the river stream, slightly angled away with his back facing the waterfall. “You can look now” she instructed.Valkoor turned his head back to face the waterfall. Zagiir was completely hidden as a silhouette behind the stream of cascading waters, with only her head now exposed for her to get an opinion on her new form. “You look fine, dear. We go through this every time. You know I always say that you look beautiful no matter what!”Zagiir puffed her cheeks in a pouting smirk. “Yeah well...what if the one time I don’t ask, you really don’t like a change and now hate me until I change again?” She swung her head back into the waterfall, splashing droplets of water far enough to reach Kubii sitting patiently on Valkoor’s back spikes. Kubii ruffled his feathers with a quick shake and whistled a short chirp to Zagiir. “THANK YOU, Kubii” she exclaimed loudly. “At least one man around here knows how to give an opinion.” Valkoor craned his neck to look at Kubii behind him, and stuck his tongue out at the little bird.“Alright, alright. If it means so much to you, I’ll comment on your changes.” Valkoor sighed with reluctance. Well, at least I know not to comment on her nose being too big like the last time. I sure learned my lesson on that! Valkoor thought in contented chuckle. “Show me another change, I’ll give an honest and helpful opinion this time.”Zagiir side stepped into the stream to show her shoulder and front leg. “So what do you think? Too flashy? Too earthy? Not enough earthy?” She flexed her leg, rotating back and forth to give a full view of each angle.“Erm...are the elbow branches necessary? I can predict some uncomfortable snuggling with those in the way.” Valkoor said hesitantly.“Hm...very true. I’ll shorten them!” Zagiir pulled her leg back in, much to Valkoor’s relief. Zagiir poked her head back through the waterfall after making more adjustments. “Now what do you think of the horns? Too much foliage?” Her head now was a medium brown color with a smooth but dense texture, like that of a darkened beech tree. Her horns had shifted to include a large bundle of branches, intertwined between themselves. A few branches wrapped forward, creating two goat horn looking swirls.“That looks fantastic! I really think you did a good job. It’s the right balance of majestic and simplistic!” Valkoor said as enthusiastically as possible. He genuinely meant it but...he foresaw many dreadful mornings or terrifying bedhead.Zagiir paused and squinted at Valkoor for a second “......too much foliage, got it.” She disappeared again behind the waterfall.“That’s not what I saaaaaid” Valkoor sang mockingly. “What’s the point of me telling you my opinion if it doesn't matter anyways?”“Oh hush, you. I need to bounce ideas off someone. Besides, I value your opinion...regardless if I listen to it.” Zagiir said rather smugly. “Okay, I think I’m done now! Close your eyes.”“Why do I need to close my eyes? I haven’t been able to see you anywa---” Valkoor trailed off as Zagiir emerged through the white roaring water. It blanketed her and flowed around her as she walked slowly through the waterfall. She was much taller than her previous Sakura form of 15 feet, standing roughly at 21 feet tall, being taller than Valkoor’s 17 feet. Her whole body was the same smooth bark texture with small, green, vein-like etchings stretching across the darker colors of her now merged scales. Her wings were longer than before, with the dorsal side being covered in a dense overgrowth, but with small patches of thinner leaves that allowed rays of sunshine to pass through, much like a forest canopy. The ventral side revealed an arrangement of long branches that began from the arm of the wings. Each branch seemed delicately placed to not overlap or make contact to impede flight. The foliage from the dorsal side of the wings extended down to her shoulders, then ran along the spine to her tail. Her tail had small branches reaching upwards that were tipped with a bioluminescent crystal, as were many ends to branches spread around her body. The dew from the waterfall clung to her leaves, creating an iridescent aura of glimmer.“Wow...you look absolutely stunning! You sure went out on a limb with this design, and I can’t beleaf how well it’s working for you!” Valkoor said with a toothy grin, as he always does after finding his puns to be funnier than they are. Kubii flew down from Valkoor’s back and fluttered around Zagiir, hovering around all her new features. He perched on the branch horn near the side of her head and stared happily at her. He tweeted with acceptance and content.Zagiir blushed with a light green glow on her cheeks, a seemingly new feature due to her vein-like etchings. “Thanks, I really like how it turned out. There’s a lot of new details I added! Although, this form does have a few drawba--” Zagiir was cut off by a loud rumbling coming from the forest just above the waterfall. Kubii darted away in the opposite direction while Zagiir and Valkoor stood to attention. “That didn’t sound good” Zagiir said worriedly.“Come on, lets go check it out. There may be danger so stay cautious.” Valkoor said while flaring his wings to take off. He beat his wings steadily to raise in the air above the waterfall to view what was happening. In the distance, smoke arose from on outcropping of dense trees. “There’s a fire! Let’s hurry over there!”As Valkoor flew away, Zagiir called to him “Wait! I can’t--” but he was already out of ear shot. “--fly yet…”. “grrr, I need to figure that out later. I’ll just run there” she said in a huff. Her movements were slowed as she climbed the hill aside the waterfall, the weight of her form being greater than her previous. It took her time to adjust to the longer stride she had from making herself taller, and she soon realized she was more top-heavy than before, having to take greater care when traversing rocky terrain. Nevertheless, she staggered her way to the clearing to find a large, decaying, tangled mound of roots and plant matter. Ensnared within the mass were bones and carcasses of dead or dying animals, trapped by the oozing pile of organic matter. This mound lay motionless, as if the life was recently drained from this amalgamation of matter. When Zagiir approached closer, she noticed a glowing light under the mound, and to her surprise, she saw the face of a treant. It looked to be the most recent victim of the mound, having been entangled before the rotting vegetation perished. Zagiir looked around to see Valkoor trying to extinguish flames that had been left in the trail of this creature. Zagiir found a small torch towards the rear of the creature that had been kept burning from the supply of ooze and oils that seeped from the mound. She doused the torch and returned to examine the treant who she assumed killed this creature.His breathing, if any that could be done by a living tree, seemed laboured. He wheezed with the imminent sounds of death, grasping to life only with small flickers of vitality that remained in his wispy eyes. He turned his head to view Zagiir, only now realizing her presence. He spoke with a coarse, raspy voice that was muffled by the moss beard hanging over his mouth. “Oh my ...you- you are a child of The Molders. I can see it in you…” he strained to exclaim with great awe.“W-who? The Molders? I don’t know what that means. Mister, let me help you out of there!” Zagiir grasped the vines that seized hold of the treant and tried pulling them off to no avail.The treant gingerly placed his thin branchy hand that was free on Zagiir’s paw, “dear child,” he said with sincerity, “do not struggle for me, I will live on from this day. For you see, I am one of the many protectors of the forest.” He paused to collect his breathe, his life still fading. His time was short, but appeared determined to convey something. “One day you will know more, but for now, I ask but one favor.” He reached down towards his chest, and with a startling crack and snapping of branches, a cavity in his chest appeared to expose a knot of roots, shaped eerily like a heart. He removed the knot from the cavity and placed it in Zagiir’s paw. “Take this seed, shape it anew so that it may grow to your will. Child of The Molders, you hold the secrets of life in your palms.” And with his final breath passing, the wisps in his eyes faded and the bark of his form began to shrivel and retreat from Zagiir’s paw.Zagiir clutched the seed in her paws and examined it. It didn’t seem anything more than it appeared; a knot of tangled roots. By now, Valkoor had returned and was examining the mound of vegetation more closely now. “What is this thing, Valk?” She asked in a quiet voice, as if she was afraid the mound would spring to life.“I’ve heard stories of these things, but haven’t ever seen one. It appears to be what’s commonly known as a Shambling Mound. Even then, I don’t even know if it is the same thing! From what it looks like, the description matches, but why is it out here in the forest? And how did it get here? These things are supposed to be in swamps and usually don’t travel. But...this thing has traversed pretty far from the nearest swamp.” Valkoor began muttering theories and explanations while Zagiir stared blankly at the knot of roots she held, mostly ignoring Valkoor’s rambling. Valkoor noticed after some time what Zagiir was holding. “What is that?” He asked as he walked closer to inspect it.“I… don’t really know. This dying treant gave it to me and said something about me being a child of The Molders...or something.” Zagiir looked back to the treant only to find his body had entirely disappeared. “He said I need to shape this thing to my will” Zagiir said as she extended her hand to show Valkoor the root cluster.Valkoor examined the roots closely and came to no better conclusion than Zagiir on what it was, or what it was meant to do. “Well...have you tried to do anything with it? Have to talked to it?” Valkoor said with a puzzled expression trying to figure out the secret of these roots.“Talk to it? What’s that supposed to do? You think it’s actually going to respond in some way?” Zagiir said sceptically. “Come on little root, do something! Show me you understand momma!” Zagiir said in a mockingly cute high-pitched voice, as if speaking to a pet. As she spoke, to her astonishment she saw the ends of the roots respond with small waving motions, much like a worm freshly pulled from the ground. “It-it’s moving.” Zagiir managed to spit out through her baffled expression.Valkoor stared at it, just as bewildered as Zagiir by the sudden response. “The treant said you can shape this to your will, right? And if it responds by voice…” Valkoor began to say before Zagiir finished his sentence.“Then maybe I really can shape this thing.” Zagiir held the roots outstretched in her paws and concentrated. She put both paws around the root and squeezed tightly while envisioning a form of a creature in her mind. If this thing responded like a pet, then maybe I can make it a pet, she thought to herself. Within a few minutes of thinking, she opened her paws and in them she saw the roots had taken on a new shape. It was an egg that was encased in hard bark that grew from the base of the egg and created a swirl almost like that of a seashell. In the center of the egg was a hollowed section that glowed with a bright blue essence. From the bottom of the egg sprouted small roots. Zagiir galloped off some distance from the decaying mound and set the egg on a patch of grass. Immediately, the egg took root in the ground, fixing itself firmly in place with new roots growing to encapsulate it.Over the course of the next few days, Valkoor and Zagiir were able to separate the remains of the shambling mound and disperse it or burned it to prevent further growth of the creature. As the days went by, the egg that had been planted began to sprout, but in a very odd way like no other plant. From the egg emerged thick branches that spread and grew to about 7 feet tall. As the branches grew, they vaguely took the form of a quadrupedal creature, almost resembling a deer. Over time, the branches entwined to become dense, creating a body of similar appearance to Zagiir’s new form. After a long week of waiting, the egg had sprouted into a full sized deer-like tree.Valkoor and Zagiir watched the creature as it began to break free of the roots it had grown on. It struggled and kicked at the branches that held it in place until it was able to fall to the ground. “So what are we gunna call this one?” Valkoor turned to ask Zagiir.Zagiir smiled and lowered her head to meet her newly made friend “I think we’ll call him…”“Haseki”Story - Haseki's design - Story art -