Crow blinked. Was he hearing that right? A guardian?
"Wh-what's a guardian?" He asked Turaco.
"Here, come sit down with me. I'll explain it all to you." He lead him to a bench with a couple of pillows on it.
Crow sat down next to him, and Dove joined them.
"Alright. I'll start from the beginning. When the world was created, there were gods. Life, Death, the Moon, and the Sun. There is a tale that says there was another god. One of darkness. The tale goes on to say that the god was jealous of Life's powers, and the fact that she was the most worshipped. The god cursed her to sleep for thousands of years at a time. This left her, with her powers stored in the tree, to be vulnerable to the forces of Corruption."
"Corruption?" Crow asked.
"Corruption. It is a force of unknown origins. It has the power to take over people's minds and bodies, stealing magic and securing its grasp on the world. Its most recognizable aspect is its bright pink hue that taints anything that touches it. Other things to note is that it changes attributes- gaining claws, height, sharper teeth- horns and tails are a rarer occurrence. This Corruption is a threat to the goddess and the powers she holds. Thousands of years ago, when she was awake for a brief amount of time, she trained immortal guardians. That is, me and the other three."
"You're immortal?" Crow gasped.
"Yes. Our primary duty is to protect the tree and our goddess from the Corruption, and any others that try to take its power. But, now I see we have the task of training another. You."
"M-me?" He stuttered.
"Yes, you. It seems the tree has deemed you worthy of this task. However, if you choose to accept its offer, you will be giving up your mortality, and your life in this time. You will train, you will fight, and you will defend the tree with everything you have. Do you accept?"
"I- I don't know. This is a lot to take in- I-I..."
"...Take your time. You have plenty." He reassured.
Dove placed a hand on his shoulder, smiling. Crow smiled back.
"Well, now that you know that... what do you plan to do now? Do you plan to stay here, or go home? You can always come back, at least, until you make your decision." Turo said.
"I think... I think I should stay here... at least for the night. It was a long walk here." Crow stated.
"I'll go find some clothes for you to change into, then! I can't imagine those would be comfortable to sleep in." Finch said.
Crow nodded, and Turaco helped set up an area for him to sleep at, on the second floor. He changed into a soft tunic and pants that were blue, with the tree's emblem on the hem. As the sun set, the guardians went up to their rooms, and Crow settled in his pile of blankets and pillows, falling asleep relatively fast.
It was a dreamless sleep, and he woke up the next morning right as the sun was rising. Dove was already sitting at the window, looking out. They had their legs crossed, and they turned around to smile at him.
Crow looked at the sunlight. "I've never woken up to the sunrise before. There's a huge wall and my city and my house is constantly in its shadow."
"Really? That's sad. Waking up with the sun is my favorite part of the day!" Dove said. "At least you get to experience that for a few days."
"Yeah. Although- what do I even do now? Usually I go to work right about now."
"Well- we could climb the tree! Or find something to eat. I'm sure there's a fruit tree here somewhere." Dove hopped out the window and started climbing down. "Follow me!"
Crow peered out the window. He remembered how when the wall collapsed he landed without taking any damage- so maybe he could do it again? Trusting it, he jumped all the way down. He landed with a thump, but lost his balance and fell over, face planting into the moss and vines growing at the base of the structure
"Woah!" Dove said, still climbing down the side of the temple. "I wasn't expecting you to just jump like that! Are you alright?"
"Yeah- yeah I think so- nothing hurts at all." He said, relieved it worked.
"That's a relief." They said, reaching the ground. "Oh! I see some fruit there!" They pointed to a tree.
"I think those are some kind of apple." Crow said.
The two walked over, and picked some apples off of the tree. They were a very pale red, and almost slippery smooth.
When they had eaten a few of the apples, they went back up to the top of the temple. Dove laid down, looking up at the tree, and Crow followed.
"So... what is the world like now? Has... everyone forgotten?" Dove asked. "What do people believe now?"
"Well, uhm." He paused, and looked back up at the leaves. "Well, it's. Bad now. Someone made a mistake and made monsters which destroyed our cities and wreaked havoc upon the people. We lost a lot of history and culture and people during that time. Now the world is wild and our cities are closed off from the outside. The Monsters are the Pale and the Warnters. The pale... they were created in an experiment to see if we could create life, and a group of people decided to make an intelligent species. They became violent, not intelligent, and they hate sunlight, or light of any kind. They also reproduce like crazy."
"The Warnters were supposed to be helpers. They were designed to be able to digest anything and adapt quickly- and also be friendly and trainable. But... they got a taste for flesh, and went out of control. Both the Warnters and the Pale combined caused entire countries and empires to fall. I was born... a hundred or so? Years after the fall of civilization. I live in a little city with high walls and a pretty messed up form of government."
"Really? How did you get here then?" Dove asked.
"I'm... not sure. I saw the forest for the first time and... all of a sudden I could hear... songs. Like Agrobacter, Close to me, and Strike the Earth. I didn't really feel completely compelled to come here until..." His expression turned somber. "I'm not sure what happened, but something by the wall exploded, and then there was a hole in it. The Warnters stormed the city, so I hid in the flowers by the wall to hide my scent. When the siren stopped and the Warnters had been killed, I felt safe to return into the city. Most of my friends were fine, and my uncle. But... my Aunt, Judy. She-" He started to tear up, hesitating to finish the sentence.
"You don't have to finish that sentence. I'm sorry that it happened, though. It sounds traumatic." Dove said, putting their hand on his shoulder while he cried.
Crow wiped the tears off his face and took a deep breath. "Thanks..." He took a minute to calm himself, looking up at the tree again. Since his mind was on the topic of the city, he remembered something. "Oh!" He sat up quickly. "I need to go back to the city! My family's probably wondering where I am right now- oh, they must be worried sick!"
"Oh! Really? Will your parents be looking for you?" They said, worriedly.
He stopped. "No, no they won't. They've been missing for years. I- Aunt Judy was the only family I had besides uncle Anni. But he's definitely worrying about me. And my friends. I have to go—!" He stood up.
"Go..?" Turo said, emerging from the temple.
"I-I have to go home and tell my uncle and my friends that I'm okay-!" He paused, looking at the forest around him. "I- I don't know how to get back home."
Turo walked over and pulled him into a loose hug. "Calm yourself. I'll help you, but I need your help to determine where your home is. Which side of the clearing did you come from?"
Crow pointed east. Turo nodded. "Wait here for a moment."
Turaco disappeared for a moment, into the temple. It took him a few minutes, but he eventually came back with a glowing white triangle. "This is a piece of the tree. Power is embedded in it, and with it we can do extraordinary things. Things previously impossible. This triangle I will turn into a pendant. That pendant shall act as a direct connection to the tree. You will be able to teleport to and from the tree. You can teleport to the tree from anywhere, but to teleport anywhere else you must set up a teleport location. You can have up to fifteen, but it will be hard to keep track of, so limit yourself to four or five."
As he says it, the triangle transforms into a little purple pendant- a circle with a hole in the center. Turaco ties it to a leather string, and solemnly places it around Crow's neck. "If you choose not to become a guardian, you should return the pendant. Once the pendant is returned, we will have to go back to our long sleep- as there is no reason for us to be awake other than to train you, and you will also be unable to find the tree again. We're setting up a cloaking spell, and once your bond with the tree is severed you will no longer be able to locate it."
Crow nodded in understanding.
With Turaco's help, the two ventured through the thick woods, and eventually, after hours of walking, they made it back to the city walls. Crow put a teleport place in the field of strange flowers outside the wall, and slipped through the hole. They had already started repairing it, but nobody saw him slip back in. He tucked the pendant under his shirt, and made his way through the streets. The first place he went was to Melody and Bonbon's workplace.
As soon as he came into sight, Bonbon ran towards him and scooped him into a big, tight hug. He wasn't usually one for words, but his voice soon filled Crow's ears with questions.
"Where have you been? Are you okay!? Have you talked to Anni?" Bonbon said. "We've been looking everywhere for you!"
"I was uh- outside the wall. I saw the hole in the wall, and... well." He looked down. "Since Judy..." Tears formed in his eyes. Bonbon's expression turned soft. "I didn't know what to do— I saw her cold, dead eyes and- I just ran. As far as I could go, deep into the woods outside the walls. I met some people there, and... they helped me calm down and made sure I got home safely."
"Hey, it's okay. You panicked. I'm just glad you're safe. Mel is at her lunch break right now, I'll tell her to get Anni. Come sit down, we'll talk about it more when you're ready." Bonbon reassured.
Melody arrived with Anni a few minutes later. Anni came in first, bursting in the room rather suddenly. He ran straight to Crow and hugged him tightly.
"I'm so glad you're safe, kid- I was worried you'd le- ...disappeared, like your parents.." he stumbled over his words.
"I'm sorry I ran off-" Crow started to speak.
"No, it's okay, it's okay. You don't have to justify yourself." He hugged Crow tighter. "Let's just go home and- ah, have you eaten?"
"Not since this morning." He replied, sheepishly. "And even then I only had an apple."
"Alright- let's get you something to eat, then. I'm sure we can find something substantial." Anni said. He turned to Bonbon and Melody, saying "Feel free to come by when your shifts are over."
They made their way over to Anni's house, as Crow didn't feel like venturing inside Judy's house. He sat down, and put the thoughts of his aunt in the back of his mind so he could focus on answering the many questions Anni was asking him- like if he'd received any cuts or bruises that needed to be treated, and other general well-being questions. Eventually, after Anni made him eat something, he fell asleep.