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Description
the third and final chapter in the ERMG MERGICK series

All the bacon to Frostwalker for being a wonderful partner in crime!

Featuring Rhoda | Doe | Renegade and Aneirin|Stag| Renegade and shenanigans
(Very early) Spring, 765
Northern Glenwood, Glenmore

Surprise Trees:

Rhoda

“Time for today’s magic session!” Rhoda chirruped at the crack of dawn. The pale doe bopped her friend on the head with her wildly fluffy tail, wishing he would wake up faster!
“Come on Rin, rise and shine!”
She'd been up all night, bouncing around with restless energy. A thought had occurred to her that now nestled in her brain like a bee. It kept buzzing about!
“I've got just the best idea, and this time neither of us will get stuck in a rock! I promise!”
Rin didn't look particularly pleased for the early morning wake up call. Rhoda skipped away to a precautionary distance, dancing in place with impatience.

Rin

Sneezing oneself awake was not the preferred method of rising in the morning, but there was little else to do when an exceedingly fluffy tail was waved in your face.
Blearily, and a tad grouchily, Rin blinked at his chirpy friend, ears twitching backwards as the cheerful voice reached them.
“It’s so EArly rHo. wHA..” He paused to clear his throat, glaring gummily from one eye at his friend the whole while.
A mix of glee, impatience and a slight wildness around the eyes were written plainly on the bouncing doe; she looked about ready to dance straight out of her own hide.
Sighing mightily, he heaved himself to his feet with a groan, stretching everything and wincing at the creaking noises his joints made.
“Alright, I’m up. What got ants up your backside, dearest of does? If you carry on like that you’re going to fall over before we start whatever mad scheme you’ve dreamed of this time...And there had better not be ANY rocks involved!”

Rhoda

Rin struggled to his feet, looking every bit as sleepy and grumpy as she had expected he would. She knew she was being manic this morning, but after spending hours watching her friend happily snore away, Rhoda couldn’t find it in herself to be too regretful. Instead she tried to gather her thoughts and focus.
“No rocks, I swear!” She promised fervently, “Today is strictly plants, my sweetling stag! Come on, follow me-”
Much as she wanted to dash out of the clearing full speed, Rhoda managed to contain herself. She waited for Rin to fall into step alongside her before picking out a path towards their destination. They weren’t going too far, just a little ways to a grassy rise that poked out from the woodland. Rhoda ignored Rin’s under-breath mumblings about things like ‘a proper night’s rest’, and her being ‘more energetic than a rabid squirrel’, or some such nonsense.
The hill ahead had once hosted a large, gnarled tree, but a storm in the recent past had toppled the ancient giant down. Now, the ground was littered with sapling trees all vying to soak up the clear space of sunlight before their neighbors did the same. Rhoda brought them to one such sapling closer to the top of the hill.
“I’ve been thinking about how when we puzzle about magic as a team, things seem to turn out better,” she began, “So then I thought, well, what if we both try to work the same magic on the same target? What could our combined powers do?”
She gestured to the sapling with her fluffy tail. It wasn’t the biggest or the smallest, but somewhere in between.
“Let’s see if we can make this little tree grow! What do you think?” Rhoda concluded excitedly, turning sparkling eyes at Rin.

Rin

He was aware of Rhoda holding back laughter as he mumbled and grumbled his way along next to her. He was also aware how much of a sour thistle he was being, but as he was vaguely enjoying the sensation of good natured grouchiness, he had no intent to stop any time soon. Although it was hard to stay in too bad a mood with such beautiful scenery, and such an irritating a cheerful companion.
He listened closely as Rho revealed her idea; on the surface of it, it didn’t seem to be inherent of too many dangers. What could go wrong with growing things? Leaves TOO GREEN? Roots TOO DEEP? There couldn’t be that much danger in plants, as long as they weren’t going to try fusing with them, or growing them on themselves like some weird, leafy hedgepig...
He gave his sleepy head a shake, trying to rid himself of such absurd thoughts, and caught sight of Rho wilting slightly as she mistook his focusing for a negative response.
“Well it can’t go much worse than the earthborn mishap…” he said with a snort, trailing off unable to think of that day without shuddering. Heaving a theatrical sigh, he rolled his eyes at the incorrigible doe before finally grinning in response, “alright, you’ve got me interested. Let’s give it a try, where shall we start, oh energetic light of my life?”

Rhoda

Rin was quiet for a long moment after Rhoda spoke. He seemed completely drawn inwards. Rho felt some of her eagerness bleed away as the silence stretched. Was her friend actually upset with her for the early morning awakening? Usually they carried one with so much friendly sniping that she hadn’t thought anything of his grouchiness today. Maybe… maybe she had gotten too-
Rin seemed to come out from under whatever cloud was hanging over him and finally responded. Rho let out a small breath of relief when she recognized the shake of his head. He usually did that when he wasn’t totally awake yet!
“Yes, let’s NOT talk about that unfortunate incident! This will go so much better than that!” Rhoda agreed fervently. She cast a critical glance at the tree again. “I think we should work our way up? Let’s start by seeing if we can expand the root structure, so it doesn’t fall over when it starts to grow bigger branches and leaves. Then once the roots are solid, we can make it shoot upwards!”
Rhoda gathered her magic to her, and let her senses sink into the earth around the sapling. It had the framework already set in place, it just hadn’t had enough time and energy to expand yet. And they’d see to that! Carefully, Rhoda began to pour her magic along the paths of the roots, strengthening and encouraging the sapling into growth. She could feel Rin’s power alongside hers, working in a similar fashion. It was working! Rhoda forced more of her power into the plant. The sapling was eagerly gobbling up her offered power in its excitement to grow.
Maybe it was working a little too well! Rhoda heard a startled yelp from Rin.

Rin

He could feel Rho’s magic start to swell, it wasn’t an obvious sensation, he likened it to having your eyes closed but still knowing the sun was coming up. Reaching for his own magic was becoming easier and easier, he no longer suffered strain headaches unless he overexerted himself.
Standing on the opposite side of the sapling, he gently he added his strength to hers, following her lead and supporting the path her magic laid; if he closed his eyes and extended his senses slightly he could start to feel their chosen sapling start to respond!
It was a heady sensation, this magic using, and one that Rin wasn’t sure he’d ever really get used to. He could feel the sapling drawing their power in, it was surprising just how much energy it required to be a tree. With his eyes closed it was far easier to follow Rho’s magic, focusing on this ethereal sense rather than complicating things with sight.
So intent was he on the feeling, that it took a while for him to notice that, not only had he managed to place himself over the object of their intense scrutiny, but that his hooves did not seem as solidly connected to the earth as they were before, and something was definitely prickling his belly…
Snapping his eyes open with a yelp he glanced down just as the tree, and it was definitely becoming a rather solid tree, lifted him completely off the ground.
Was it just him or was this tree growing even quicker now? It felt like it was growing faster..he tried to slide backwards but somehow managed to get himself stuck in the growing branches.
“Uhh, Rhoda..?” His voice squeaked a little before he coughed to clear his throat, “what is happening? Why am I IN a tree?” He flailed a little bit, a helpless wriggle that did nothing to help his situation.
He turned his glare towards the doe beneath him, trying very hard to formulate some sort of articulate sentence. “Oh it’s just plants Rin, nothing like rocks. Just a simple experiment” he mimicked her voice. “Tell me, Rho, does this not seem a little familiar? THIS SEEMS A LOT LIKE THE ROCK THING BUT WITH TREES! TREES THAT WON’T STOP GROWING! How does this keep happening...”

This was not what he’d expected.

Rhoda

Rins voice came from somewhere above her, in a tone she wasn't used to hearing. Something was very wrong. Rhoda’s eyes flew open and she jerked her magic away from the tree immediately. She lurched backwards in alarm as the sapling sent out another branch that fairly exploded into bloom.
The sapling was a sapling no more, though. Instead it was towering above her and throwing out a full crown of leaves even as she blinked in surprise. It must be using up the last of their magic coursing through its veins. And there was Rin, nestled among the branches. He had the strangest mix of expressions twisting across his face. Then he started shouting.
“Wh-why did you stand OVER the tree?!” Rhoda blurted out in response to Rin’s growing tirade. He was bringing up the cave misadventure again. Of course. She suppressed a giggle and shook out her mane.
“Hey! Easy, Rin! just breathe. I'll get you down from there.” She assured him, When have I ever left you...hanging?”
Rhoda stepped up to the tree and craned her neck back to inspect her friend’s leafy prison. If she stood on her hind legs and braced against the tree, she could just reach the bottoms of his feet.
“Alright, yeah this does seem normal for us.” She muttered, peering closely at the cage of branches keeping Rin in place.
“At least you haven't gotten your antlers in yet!” She joked, “Then I'd just have to leave you here until Spring, hopelessly tangled, feeding you apples on a stick every day!”
“Hmmm!” She said with mock enthusiasm as she dropped back down to the ground, “Now there's an idea! Maybe I'll do that anyways!”
Catching sight of Rins face, half glare and half panic that she might actually do such a thing, Rhoda took pity on her friend. She closed her eyes again and drew forth the wellspring of energy left in her frame. She focused it into the tip of her muzzle, and then carefully reached out to touch the branches she wanted to move with her nose.
‘BEND’ she commanded them silently, forcefully, ‘RELEASE’
The branches didn't want to be shaped. They'd just grown and they seemed to like the way things were. Rhoda refused to let them get their way. It would be a shame to break something that she just helped create, so she tried to get them to rearrange instead. She bore down with her will, not realizing that her face had taken on a thunderous, dangerous expression as she concentrated.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the twigs and leaves rustled, and begrudgingly the branches began to shift. Slowly, a hairs breadth at a time, they lowered and loosened. Rin was able to wriggle free a little ways above the ground. Once he'd made contact with the earth, Rhoda let her magic slide away. The branches snapped back into place like a fawn sticking out its tongue. She didn't really care. She only had eyes for Rin.
“All better?” She asked, her voice slurring a little as a wave of exhaustion rushed through her. “I think you had the right idea earlier,” she yawned, “because now I'm ready to sleep for the rest of the day!”

Rin

“Nooo…” he whined softly at Rho’s joking, “I’m too handsome to be a fruit…”
He held his breath as Rhoda concentrated beneath him, not wanting to disturb her even a little. He could feel how grudgingly the tree was giving him up, almost like not wanting to give over a favoured possession; but slowly he could the branches beneath him giving way slightly.
He shimmied himself around, trying to keep his balance and making sure that his feet would be the first things to touch ground. Not very graceful or dignified, but when needs must...now he knew how Rho must have felt being stuck in the rocks.
Just about managing to scramble his legs beneath him, he slid to the ground in a flutter of small twigs and branches.
Four legs? Check.
One tail? Check.
Bruised ego? Double check.
Yep, everything was where it should be.
“Well,” he exhaled, glancing back up at the gently waving branches, how could a tree look smug? “That was certainly interesting. I’m glad you got me down before I adapted to life among the foliage. I would make a fantastic squirrel, although I’d have to be picky about the strength of the tree…” He trailed off, noticing how tired, but pleased, Rhoda looked. For that matter, he was feeling pretty wiped out himself. Using his tail, he swatted at the soft grass surrounding the base of the newest tree in the forest, chasing away any biting critters, before laying himself down with a groan.
“Let’s just rest here a while, enjoy the fruits of our labours and gather some energy for the big sleep tonight. I refuse to even consider walking another step right now.”
He watched Rhoda begin drifting off almost as soon as her legs buckled, dropping her to the forest floor, before he followed her lead into an exhausted sleep.

Rin Wordcount + Skills: 1,104 (+7)
Rhoda Wordcount + Skills: 1,246 (+5)

Description
the third and final chapter in the ERMG MERGICK series

All the bacon to Frostwalker for being a wonderful partner in crime!

Featuring Rhoda | Doe | Renegade and Aneirin|Stag| Renegade and shenanigans
(Very early) Spring, 765
Northern Glenwood, Glenmore

Surprise Trees:

Rhoda

“Time for today’s magic session!” Rhoda chirruped at the crack of dawn. The pale doe bopped her friend on the head with her wildly fluffy tail, wishing he would wake up faster!
“Come on Rin, rise and shine!”
She'd been up all night, bouncing around with restless energy. A thought had occurred to her that now nestled in her brain like a bee. It kept buzzing about!
“I've got just the best idea, and this time neither of us will get stuck in a rock! I promise!”
Rin didn't look particularly pleased for the early morning wake up call. Rhoda skipped away to a precautionary distance, dancing in place with impatience.

Rin

Sneezing oneself awake was not the preferred method of rising in the morning, but there was little else to do when an exceedingly fluffy tail was waved in your face.
Blearily, and a tad grouchily, Rin blinked at his chirpy friend, ears twitching backwards as the cheerful voice reached them.
“It’s so EArly rHo. wHA..” He paused to clear his throat, glaring gummily from one eye at his friend the whole while.
A mix of glee, impatience and a slight wildness around the eyes were written plainly on the bouncing doe; she looked about ready to dance straight out of her own hide.
Sighing mightily, he heaved himself to his feet with a groan, stretching everything and wincing at the creaking noises his joints made.
“Alright, I’m up. What got ants up your backside, dearest of does? If you carry on like that you’re going to fall over before we start whatever mad scheme you’ve dreamed of this time...And there had better not be ANY rocks involved!”

Rhoda

Rin struggled to his feet, looking every bit as sleepy and grumpy as she had expected he would. She knew she was being manic this morning, but after spending hours watching her friend happily snore away, Rhoda couldn’t find it in herself to be too regretful. Instead she tried to gather her thoughts and focus.
“No rocks, I swear!” She promised fervently, “Today is strictly plants, my sweetling stag! Come on, follow me-”
Much as she wanted to dash out of the clearing full speed, Rhoda managed to contain herself. She waited for Rin to fall into step alongside her before picking out a path towards their destination. They weren’t going too far, just a little ways to a grassy rise that poked out from the woodland. Rhoda ignored Rin’s under-breath mumblings about things like ‘a proper night’s rest’, and her being ‘more energetic than a rabid squirrel’, or some such nonsense.
The hill ahead had once hosted a large, gnarled tree, but a storm in the recent past had toppled the ancient giant down. Now, the ground was littered with sapling trees all vying to soak up the clear space of sunlight before their neighbors did the same. Rhoda brought them to one such sapling closer to the top of the hill.
“I’ve been thinking about how when we puzzle about magic as a team, things seem to turn out better,” she began, “So then I thought, well, what if we both try to work the same magic on the same target? What could our combined powers do?”
She gestured to the sapling with her fluffy tail. It wasn’t the biggest or the smallest, but somewhere in between.
“Let’s see if we can make this little tree grow! What do you think?” Rhoda concluded excitedly, turning sparkling eyes at Rin.

Rin

He was aware of Rhoda holding back laughter as he mumbled and grumbled his way along next to her. He was also aware how much of a sour thistle he was being, but as he was vaguely enjoying the sensation of good natured grouchiness, he had no intent to stop any time soon. Although it was hard to stay in too bad a mood with such beautiful scenery, and such an irritating a cheerful companion.
He listened closely as Rho revealed her idea; on the surface of it, it didn’t seem to be inherent of too many dangers. What could go wrong with growing things? Leaves TOO GREEN? Roots TOO DEEP? There couldn’t be that much danger in plants, as long as they weren’t going to try fusing with them, or growing them on themselves like some weird, leafy hedgepig...
He gave his sleepy head a shake, trying to rid himself of such absurd thoughts, and caught sight of Rho wilting slightly as she mistook his focusing for a negative response.
“Well it can’t go much worse than the earthborn mishap…” he said with a snort, trailing off unable to think of that day without shuddering. Heaving a theatrical sigh, he rolled his eyes at the incorrigible doe before finally grinning in response, “alright, you’ve got me interested. Let’s give it a try, where shall we start, oh energetic light of my life?”

Rhoda

Rin was quiet for a long moment after Rhoda spoke. He seemed completely drawn inwards. Rho felt some of her eagerness bleed away as the silence stretched. Was her friend actually upset with her for the early morning awakening? Usually they carried one with so much friendly sniping that she hadn’t thought anything of his grouchiness today. Maybe… maybe she had gotten too-
Rin seemed to come out from under whatever cloud was hanging over him and finally responded. Rho let out a small breath of relief when she recognized the shake of his head. He usually did that when he wasn’t totally awake yet!
“Yes, let’s NOT talk about that unfortunate incident! This will go so much better than that!” Rhoda agreed fervently. She cast a critical glance at the tree again. “I think we should work our way up? Let’s start by seeing if we can expand the root structure, so it doesn’t fall over when it starts to grow bigger branches and leaves. Then once the roots are solid, we can make it shoot upwards!”
Rhoda gathered her magic to her, and let her senses sink into the earth around the sapling. It had the framework already set in place, it just hadn’t had enough time and energy to expand yet. And they’d see to that! Carefully, Rhoda began to pour her magic along the paths of the roots, strengthening and encouraging the sapling into growth. She could feel Rin’s power alongside hers, working in a similar fashion. It was working! Rhoda forced more of her power into the plant. The sapling was eagerly gobbling up her offered power in its excitement to grow.
Maybe it was working a little too well! Rhoda heard a startled yelp from Rin.

Rin

He could feel Rho’s magic start to swell, it wasn’t an obvious sensation, he likened it to having your eyes closed but still knowing the sun was coming up. Reaching for his own magic was becoming easier and easier, he no longer suffered strain headaches unless he overexerted himself.
Standing on the opposite side of the sapling, he gently he added his strength to hers, following her lead and supporting the path her magic laid; if he closed his eyes and extended his senses slightly he could start to feel their chosen sapling start to respond!
It was a heady sensation, this magic using, and one that Rin wasn’t sure he’d ever really get used to. He could feel the sapling drawing their power in, it was surprising just how much energy it required to be a tree. With his eyes closed it was far easier to follow Rho’s magic, focusing on this ethereal sense rather than complicating things with sight.
So intent was he on the feeling, that it took a while for him to notice that, not only had he managed to place himself over the object of their intense scrutiny, but that his hooves did not seem as solidly connected to the earth as they were before, and something was definitely prickling his belly…
Snapping his eyes open with a yelp he glanced down just as the tree, and it was definitely becoming a rather solid tree, lifted him completely off the ground.
Was it just him or was this tree growing even quicker now? It felt like it was growing faster..he tried to slide backwards but somehow managed to get himself stuck in the growing branches.
“Uhh, Rhoda..?” His voice squeaked a little before he coughed to clear his throat, “what is happening? Why am I IN a tree?” He flailed a little bit, a helpless wriggle that did nothing to help his situation.
He turned his glare towards the doe beneath him, trying very hard to formulate some sort of articulate sentence. “Oh it’s just plants Rin, nothing like rocks. Just a simple experiment” he mimicked her voice. “Tell me, Rho, does this not seem a little familiar? THIS SEEMS A LOT LIKE THE ROCK THING BUT WITH TREES! TREES THAT WON’T STOP GROWING! How does this keep happening...”

This was not what he’d expected.

Rhoda

Rins voice came from somewhere above her, in a tone she wasn't used to hearing. Something was very wrong. Rhoda’s eyes flew open and she jerked her magic away from the tree immediately. She lurched backwards in alarm as the sapling sent out another branch that fairly exploded into bloom.
The sapling was a sapling no more, though. Instead it was towering above her and throwing out a full crown of leaves even as she blinked in surprise. It must be using up the last of their magic coursing through its veins. And there was Rin, nestled among the branches. He had the strangest mix of expressions twisting across his face. Then he started shouting.
“Wh-why did you stand OVER the tree?!” Rhoda blurted out in response to Rin’s growing tirade. He was bringing up the cave misadventure again. Of course. She suppressed a giggle and shook out her mane.
“Hey! Easy, Rin! just breathe. I'll get you down from there.” She assured him, When have I ever left you...hanging?”
Rhoda stepped up to the tree and craned her neck back to inspect her friend’s leafy prison. If she stood on her hind legs and braced against the tree, she could just reach the bottoms of his feet.
“Alright, yeah this does seem normal for us.” She muttered, peering closely at the cage of branches keeping Rin in place.
“At least you haven't gotten your antlers in yet!” She joked, “Then I'd just have to leave you here until Spring, hopelessly tangled, feeding you apples on a stick every day!”
“Hmmm!” She said with mock enthusiasm as she dropped back down to the ground, “Now there's an idea! Maybe I'll do that anyways!”
Catching sight of Rins face, half glare and half panic that she might actually do such a thing, Rhoda took pity on her friend. She closed her eyes again and drew forth the wellspring of energy left in her frame. She focused it into the tip of her muzzle, and then carefully reached out to touch the branches she wanted to move with her nose.
‘BEND’ she commanded them silently, forcefully, ‘RELEASE’
The branches didn't want to be shaped. They'd just grown and they seemed to like the way things were. Rhoda refused to let them get their way. It would be a shame to break something that she just helped create, so she tried to get them to rearrange instead. She bore down with her will, not realizing that her face had taken on a thunderous, dangerous expression as she concentrated.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the twigs and leaves rustled, and begrudgingly the branches began to shift. Slowly, a hairs breadth at a time, they lowered and loosened. Rin was able to wriggle free a little ways above the ground. Once he'd made contact with the earth, Rhoda let her magic slide away. The branches snapped back into place like a fawn sticking out its tongue. She didn't really care. She only had eyes for Rin.
“All better?” She asked, her voice slurring a little as a wave of exhaustion rushed through her. “I think you had the right idea earlier,” she yawned, “because now I'm ready to sleep for the rest of the day!”

Rin

“Nooo…” he whined softly at Rho’s joking, “I’m too handsome to be a fruit…”
He held his breath as Rhoda concentrated beneath him, not wanting to disturb her even a little. He could feel how grudgingly the tree was giving him up, almost like not wanting to give over a favoured possession; but slowly he could the branches beneath him giving way slightly.
He shimmied himself around, trying to keep his balance and making sure that his feet would be the first things to touch ground. Not very graceful or dignified, but when needs must...now he knew how Rho must have felt being stuck in the rocks.
Just about managing to scramble his legs beneath him, he slid to the ground in a flutter of small twigs and branches.
Four legs? Check.
One tail? Check.
Bruised ego? Double check.
Yep, everything was where it should be.
“Well,” he exhaled, glancing back up at the gently waving branches, how could a tree look smug? “That was certainly interesting. I’m glad you got me down before I adapted to life among the foliage. I would make a fantastic squirrel, although I’d have to be picky about the strength of the tree…” He trailed off, noticing how tired, but pleased, Rhoda looked. For that matter, he was feeling pretty wiped out himself. Using his tail, he swatted at the soft grass surrounding the base of the newest tree in the forest, chasing away any biting critters, before laying himself down with a groan.
“Let’s just rest here a while, enjoy the fruits of our labours and gather some energy for the big sleep tonight. I refuse to even consider walking another step right now.”
He watched Rhoda begin drifting off almost as soon as her legs buckled, dropping her to the forest floor, before he followed her lead into an exhausted sleep.

Rin Wordcount + Skills: 1,104 (+7)
Rhoda Wordcount + Skills: 1,246 (+5)