[Exam] Tending to the Tusks (Lily Ambrosia)

Exam Details:

"So how long ago did the fire happen?" Lily asked the villager. Basin was standing nearby, immobile as the dryad was trying to get a better picture of the situation. The earth guardian wouldn't really help there, as ze wasn't the best conversationalist at the best of times. Lily, on the other hand, was friendly and upbeat, which often made people open up to her despite her unusual appearance.

The situation, as explained to her, was that this village was close to what was believed to be the last habitat of a certain species of boar. Which in itself was fine, since the villagers were quite careful not to hunt the beasts, but at some point in the recent past a fire had swept through the area and driven the boars out of their habitat towards the village. And, worse than them just messing up the crops, it appeared the fire had driven them to behave extremely aggressively, actually attacking the villagers on sight. Granted, boars were quick to resort to their tusks to take care of potential threats anyway, but these were clearly agitated and lashing out.

Lily's job, or rather the test the guild had given her, was to both pacify the boars, restore their habitat, and prevent this incident from happening again. Which she was all too happy to do, and she had set out without hesitation. Basin also seemed eager to help, walking with more enthusiasm than usual. Usually the earth guardian was impassive and difficult to read on the outside, but even ze could not hide zirs desire to make a place ravaged by disaster bloom with life once more.

The villager scratched the back of his head. "I think about three weeks ago. The boars began to cause trouble last full moon, but it probably took them a while to end up here." He shrugged. "We may live close, but there's still quite a bit of wilderness between us and their home."

"I see." Lily frowned before smiling. "Well, I'll make sure they won't bother you any more! Basin and I can restore their home and guide them back, at which point you won't have to worry about them any longer." Basin nodded, the stony figure's movements slow but deliberate.

The man glanced up at Basin, apparently brought off guard by zirs sudden silent involvement in the conversation, before bringing his eyes back to the decidedly shorter plant girl standing in front of him. "Uh, good, that'll be great. Can you also make sure they won't come back here?" He rubbed his nose, looking a bit nervous. "We know that we shouldn't, but we've had to put a few of them down since they kept attacking. It's kept the rest at bay, but only for a day or so before they come back."

The leaf-clad girl nodded. "Sure! Shouldn't be too difficult." Her gaze softened a little as she patted the man on the shoulder. "Don't worry too much about it. If you killed only a few of them there should be enough for them to repopulate, and there's nothing wrong with defending your village." The man blinked, then smiled back and nodded. "...Yes. Thank you, little miss."

"No worries! And you can just call me Lily." Taking a step back Lily clapped her hands. "So! Basin and I will be off then. We'll come back when we've fixed the issue to tell you guys that it's safe again." Turning around she nimbly climbed on Basin's back, the earth guardian lowering zirself to make the task a bit easier. Straightening up once the dryad was in her usual position ze raised a hand towards the man in greeting, Lily waving as well. The man waved back before the stony behemoth turned around and lumbered away from the village and towards the forest. They'd already gotten the directions needed to find the habitat, so now they just needed to get here. Thankfully Basin, for all zirs ponderous movements, actually could traverse terrain quite quickly: zirs steps were large, and whether it was plains, marshes, or foothills, nothing slowed zir down.

Lily made herself comfortable as she enjoyed the ride, thinking of how to best tackle the issue. They should probably first inspect the area they'd have to restore, so she could figure out the best way to treat it. If they needed to terraform the place to make it a better habitat for the boars and prevent a similar issue arising in the future regrowth would have to wait a bit. Neither plants nor animals reacted so well to drastic rearrangements of the terrain they lived in.

It took a full day of travelling before they reached the place which had been ravaged by the wildfire. And it certainly had gone wild: the two of them looked out over a vast expanse of charred wasteland. Where before there must have been a sea of trees there was now a silent graveyard of charred husks, the rare few still showing some brown amidst all the marred black. From what the villagers had told her there was no sign of magical or civilized involvement, so this was nothing less than nature's own fury. As beautiful as the mother of all was, sometimes it could be truly frightening.

But that was already a thing of the past, and the two of them were here to bring this place back to life. It wouldn't be the same as before, but with some effort it could be even better. Lily stood up on Basin's back, the earth guardian helpfully offering a giant hand for the dryad to stand on so she could gaze out even further. With all the green having been swept away by the hungry blaze she got a good idea of what this place looked like: mostly flat terrain, a slight slope with the occasional incline where creeks might have flowed before, evaporated by the wildfire. The water would return eventually, but it would take too long without some assistance

"What do you think, Basin?" Lily turned her attention to her partner, who was also studying the land before them. Of course, ze mostly felt it through the earth, feeling every slope and crevice like it was a part of zirs own body. To make this once again a place for the boars to live without disturbances... The conversation between Lily and Basin was silent, unheard by anyone, but it ended with the dryad laughing. "Sounds good! I'll go find one of the boars while you start working, okay?" As usual, Basin had a good idea: it was a shame nobody else could hear zir.

Sliding down Basin's back the plant girl left the wasteland in Basin's hands as she herself went to search for one of their wards. They'd have a better idea whether the animals would appreciate their work if she studied their physique beforehand. Fortunately they weren't hard to find: she only had to step into one tree and exit another, and there was one grazing away peacefully. Being one with nature made certain tasks very easy for Lily, and locating mundane lifeforms was one of them.

The boar snorted when the dryad suddenly appeared, but before it could decide to become aggressive Lily called out to it. "Calm down, I'm not here to hurt you." Her voice resonated through the boar, her peaceful intent penetrating its skull. With a snort the beast lowered its tusks, allowing the green-haired figure to approach without challenge. Kneeling down next to the boar Lily carefully studied it, stroking its bristly flank and looking closely at its feet. It was hooved, of course, but its hooves were flatter and broader than usual. Its fur was thick enough for what they had in mind as well...

"We'll be helping you guys get your home back, so just hold on for a bit longer. Although it won't be the same as before, I think you'll like it." Giving her new friend a pat on the flank Lily stood up, the boar snorting again before returning to its task of foraging mushrooms to eat. The dryad walked back into the tree, sensing that Basin had already gotten to work. As quickly as she'd left she returned, travelling through the roots of the earth to step out close to Basin's location and walk the rest of the way towards her partner. She wanted to see what ze had done so far.

Basin might appear slow and passive to others, but the work ze had done here showed that ze was perfectly capable of decisive action when needed: where before the land had been mostly flat with only shallow curves, now the huge area had been given a vaguely bowl-like shape. Around the edge of the ravaged territory, the ground now sloped downwards, with distinct ridges forming a half-moon that effectively separated the area from the direction in which the village lay. While there were a few gaps in the ridges that would allow creatures to pass through if they really wanted to it was unlikely that they'd take that option, as the other side was wide open.

Basin had also dug some trenches throughout the area, the biggest leading towards a higher altitude area further away which had also been hollowed out. Smaller trenches branched out to spread out throughout the area, thinner and thinner until the edges were barely discernible. Of course, once they were done here nobody would be able to appreciate Basin's artwork anyway: all the plants would get in the way.

"Good work!" Lily was quick to praise Basin for zirs work, the earth guardian nodding and giving her a thumbs up. Giving a small giggle at the unusual gesture the dryad stepped forward. "Now that you've prepared the place it's our turn." Placing her hands together she called out to her other companions, who weren't present yet but who knew to come out when she asked for their aid. A nearby tree rustled as it suddenly sprouted a new branch, which quickly took on the shape of a small dragon which detached itself and flew towards Lily. The ground around Lily darkened as it grew damp, moisture gathering itself until a figure as clear as the river waters shot up and landed on Lily's shoulder.

The leafclad girl patted both Saku and Nepo on their heads, the two smaller companions rubbing against her cheeks. "Sorry I didn't bring you two immediately! I should've known you two would be able to help." The spring dragon and the hippocamp perked up at that, Saku spreading his wings and flapping them twice. "We'll be returning life to this place, and I want you two to help. Nepo?" The hippocamp nodded. Lily smiled and pointed towards the location all the trenches led back to. [/color=#228b22]"Basin has prepared for water to flow from the mountains towards a new lake there, from where it will flow into this valley to turn it into a marsh."[/color] The lower altitude, combined with the increase in humidity, should ensure that any future wildfire wouldn't be able to wreck as much damage. Especially with a nearby lake for the boars to hide at. "But it will take a while for the lake to fill up, so can you make sure there's enough water for us to work with?"

Nepo let out a warble before nuzzling Lily's cheek and jumping off. Skidding across the ground as if sliding down a slippery slope the tiny water creature quickly disappeared into the distance, heading for the lakebed that Basin had prepared. The trenches would be turned into rivers and creaks to bring water to every corner of the valley.

Lily then turned to Saku, who already nodded before she even spoke. "And can you help us turn this place green?" The spring dragon needed no persuasion. An opportunity to freely use his abilities? It was almost a present for him. Spreading his wings again the small, verdant dragon launching himself from Lily's shoulder, soaring into the sky.

Basin offered zirs hand once more, and the dryad stepped onto it so her eternal companion could bring her to the middle of the area. Saku first flew a giant circle around the affected area, exploring the edge, before circling above the head of the dryad and the guardian.

Reaching the middle of the devastated, but already partially reformed, zone, Basin placed Lily down before stepping away. While ze could do many things when it came to dirt and stone, actual plantlife was Lily's field of expertise, together with the spring dragon who often accompanied them.

Closing her eyes Lily dug into the dirt with her feet, her toes extending into roots that quickly expanded and branched out as if she was planning to settle down in this place. She could feel how the earth itself was largely unharmed despite of the disaster that had occurred above. It would respond well to their attempts to reinvigorate the valley.

Far above them Saku was flapping his wings as he slowly widened his circling, spiralling outwards. Every time he flapped his wings countless seeds from various plants would fall from his leaf-clad wings, floating, drifting, and falling through the air to settle down into the soot-covered dirt. Where they fell they quickly sprouted, small green tendrils breaking through the hard casing to both burrow into the ground and reach out towards the sun.

Feeling Saku's work begin Lily used her magic to bolster the life force of the countless plants that were all at once beginning to grow, strengthening them and making them grow even faster and more vibrant. While it still took some time, as plants weren't known to do anything quickly, what otherwise might have taken years was instead accomplished within less than an hour: flowers bloomed, trees formed wooden pillars and hid the ground with a thick foliage of green. Bushes grew wherever there was place between the trees, and various other forms of green competed viciously for their own spots as well. Saku had been very generously, and most of the seeds would starve as the winners took all the available sun, water, and nutrients. But that was life, and the surviving plants would create a thriving ecosystem for the animals to return to, including the boars.

In the time that it took for Lily and Saku to regrow the forest, Nepo had finished filling up and overflowing the lake. The dryad had closed her green eyes as she focused on her work, but she opened again as she heard the rushing of water, the life-giving streams flowing into the trenches, gravity guiding them onwards until the valley was covered in an expanding network of nourishment.

They'd have to come back later to make sure the system was working properly: there wasn't any nearby sea to lead the water into, so hopefully Basin's design allowed for enough water to turn the valley into a marsh for the boars to live in without flooding the place entirely.

For the moment, however, their task had been accomplished. Reaching out an arm Lily waited for Saku to burst through the foliage and land on in, after which she climbed onto Basin's back so ze could lead them towards Nepo was swimming in the lake. The little guy had certainly deserved it, given the effort he'd put into providing enough water for the valley.

The four of them would have to find all the boars and guide them back to the valley, but that would be an easy task, barely worth mentioning.

WC: 2,597/2,000 (Completed)