The Fruits of Friendship
A whimsical tale of the budding relationship between a wiseman of an older kingdom and an adventurous young courier…
The thing about hunger is that it doesn't ever completely go away, it just wanes.
“Here he comes,” Lord Mangrove states, an apple dangling from his leafy branches.
A large buck saunters up to the immense trunk of the Lord and snorts as a greeting between friends. His mouth cannot quite reach the ripe fruit. This is not a problem, though, as the grandfather of the forest is quite gregarious.
“Another apple, Francis?” the ancient, yet still flexible arboreal being asks playfully.
Francis’ antlers nod profusely, and he stands on his hind legs to accept yet another token of their friendship. Lord Mangrove bends his branch just enough to reach the hungry stag, and with his mouth open, the deer gladly accepts it. His teeth sink into the flesh of the fruit, and he returns to the ground. Theirs was a mutually beneficial relationship. When Francis needed to sate his hunger for knowledge, he would saunter over and take a bite from the tree, who greatly enjoyed the camaraderie and conversations.
“I should’ve come back here sooner,” Francis states, the apple now taking its effect on him, “I was in the middle of making a new trade agreement to supply your roots with magic that will enable me to speak for much longer, but ironically, that’s exactly when the fruit wore off.”
“For longer?” Mangrove asks, a curious look on his barky face, “How much longer?”
Francis’s hooves dance around in excitement, “Well, the wizard told me that it could even make the effects permanent! I would finally be able to travel the world, surely there must be a whole community of talking deer somewhere, and–”
“Permanent?” the tree muses aloud, interrupting his hyperactive friend, “That sounds wonderful! Where is he, how far from my door is this man?”
“It was about a full night’s journey, but it’s hard to say. I had a few different things to take care of around town, and on the way back to my resting spot, I just happened to meet with him, he must be able to know where I am with the magic he says he can do–”
“Ah, so it must be near the well you always stop by!”
Francis’ hooves dance even more frantically, “That’s the one! I’m actually very thirsty, now that you mention it… But, yes, maybe he’ll be there again, I should leave now!”
Changing directions, his hooves move like the wind, clip-clopping across the pebble-laden path back to his realm, and through a ring of sparkling orbs of light. Lord Mangrove watches as patiently as a tree can as his friend disappears from sight, and back into the parallel reality in which he lives.
“I wonder when he’ll get back… I haven’t spoken to a wizard in centuries,” Mangrove yawns as he falls into his fruit-generating slumber.
His rest is cut short by the sound of snapping fingers.
“Ahhh!” Mangrove yells, his eyes shooting open, and his canopy shaking, “Who goes the– Oh! Hello, Mildred!” he greets the leafy-caped woman, catching an apple in one of his dextrous branches before it lands on her, “Forgive me for shouting, I don’t know what has me so alert.”
She laughs with a wide-toothed grin as the branch moves to hand her a fruit, “No worries at all,” Mildred assures the old tree as she bites into the delectable morsel, “What has you so stressed, nightmares again?”
He nods in affirmation, “Yes… and it’s the same one, too… I feel something is coming for me, to change my wooden fibers for ones of flesh,” he sighs, “I fear that a wizard is going to turn me into a human, and then no one will visit me… I’ll just be an old man in a strange world, I’ll stick out like a cactus!”
“Aww, there there, old friend, that’s why I’m here,” she confidently states with another crunch, “No one will turn you into anything else, you’ll stay a tree.”
“But what about what Francis said? Isn’t it suspicious that a mortal man is making deals with a talking deer? What could be in it for him?” the anxious elder asks, “And if Francis is able to speak permanently, surely he won’t come back to talk with me…”
“Nonsense!” she interrupts, “You forget who you are. No man, animal, or creature of any kind would give up the opportunity to have a friendship such as the one you offer, that would be a waste!”
With a nod, “Well if you’re sure, I’ll accept it. You’ve been right more times than I can remember at this point… Anyways, what brings you here?”
“Well… I heard the deer’s story from behind your neighbor’s trunk. If he’s rightabout the mage's intent, I plan to give him some guidance on reaching Antlerion. Their council has been eyeing him, it may be time for him to finally meet with them, as an opportunity to be an emissary of the forest realms just opened up. With the retirement of Johan and his partner, Yennifier, they require an advocate to uphold their dealings between realms,” she explains.
Mangrove’s leaves jostle about with enthusiasm, “Oh! How exciting!”
“...and that’s not even the best part. This would lead to you having many, many more friends!”
Leaning in, “What do you mean?” he questions with a raised barky brow.
“Well…” she begins, sitting upon a bench of live root, “If the wizard is who I suspect, Francis could be changing your life with this agreement he’s making. With your fruit making permanent the speech of animals, the council of Antlerion, as well as many others, will take great interest in these apples,” continues the sorceress as she takes the last bite.
The old soul’s face wrinkles with a heartfelt smile and a tear of sap runs down his face, “That sounds… amazing… I don’t know what to say,” he mumbles, “And here I was thinking that I was about to lose everything I cherished…”
With tearful eyes, Mildred’s mouth curls into a grin, and she pats his trunk, “You’ll never hunger for friendship again…”