Chapter Text
Thorn yipped, covering his head as hw curled in on himself. He slowly raised his head, letting his eyes wander if it was safe. The guy blinked for a few seconds, turning to Master Gaharum who had managed to climb into a tree. Which was pretty weird - seeing a plant-associated alien in a tree.
"Ehehe~ Sorry, Master Gaharum!" Duri put his palms together, closing his eyes. The royal cook climbed down the branches pretty easily. The alien dusted himself off, putting his arms behind him.
"A tree's roots must start from somewhere, I suppose." Gaharum breathed out, glancing over to the embarrassed boy.
"I didn't expect to start with wild vines slashing all around." Duri replied, looking at the place that was full with spiky thorns. Some of them somehow deflated like balloons. "Especially with my second-tier powers." The boy added.
"Hey, I wasn’t an amazing cook on my first day either!" The Master tried to reassure his student of about 5 months. "So don’t give up and keep improving. And, you know, our Late King Balakung didn’t learn how to use his powers the same day he got them." The alien put a hand on the small troublemaker. Thorn was looking at his Master with those big pupils of his, and a smile was always with them.
"Well, as you like to say: 'A tree is known by its fruit'." Duri shrugged.
"And your fruits have still quite some time to go before you show any outcome. Don’t rush yourself just yet." Thorn looked to the dark skies with two moons in the night. He wasn’t a fan of night. Well, sure, he was the one with the Element of Timber, and sun was just closer to him, but it just didn’t bring him... 'good vibes'.
It was more because of intuition. Like something bad had happened during this time and he couldn't remember for whatever reason.
...
Eh.
All Duri could remember were those 6 months - 1 wandering in Rimbara and the other 5 training with Master Gaharum. It was good enough.
"Each plant gets the time they need to bloom naturally. Only then can they form anything useful. You aren't even a small bud yet."
Thorn deflated a bit with that, looking at the ground with puffed up cheeks. He reached out to the ground with his hand. A thorny vine rose out of the floor, as if it was thirsty for a single touch from the Elemental Master of Timber. (Don’t tell Gaharum, but Timber sounded kinda stupid, in Duri's opinion.)
Master Gaharum let out a laugh that echoed through the inside of the thick and large tree. "Doesn't mean you won’t grow to be one with the greats." The alien put a hand on Thorn's hat, making the hat on the boy's head slide forward. Duri hurried to fix it, since his outfit was going to go all out of balance like that. The vine almost sighed in sadness and went back into the ground.
"The Sun has been resting longer than us." Gaharum looked to the moons in the sky. He let his hands fall to the front. "It’s best you head back to the Cendawa people you are supposed to be staying with." The alien started walking further into the darkness of the oak. Thorn slightly extended his hand. He then grabbed his arm back, pressing his lips together. The boy turned around and started walking out of the inside of the hollow tree.
Duri stopped and ducked behind its wall. "Leafy cloak." He whispered, just in case.