A large pile of bronzed foliage lay discarded next to the trunk of a humble tree. Some disturbance underneath set the pile to shiver, and then it started to rustle; the whole thing shook more and more until, in a grand crescendo, the natural abode trembled itself apart as a little round head popped out from underneath. Little furry mitts wiped at the crust gathered by the edges of large beady eyes, and rotund ears wiggled off any few clinging leaves.


    The little creature stretched its tiny limbs high and released a listless yawn that showcased a row of pearly teeth. As it worked the kinks out of its neck, the long, darkened fur on its head curtained over its face, causing an annoyed huff to escape its lips. It reached into its sleeping bed of leaves to pull out a small white thorn with two lush red berries skewered upon it and tied its mussy fur back with the odd implement.


    With its tired eyes still half closed, the creature hefted its tiny body up and out of its leafy home. It tried another set of stretches in a failing attempt to wake its protesting body but soon gave up. The little beast held back a yawn and squinted up past the barren tree branches to the faint blue sky slowly brightening with morning light. The creature grumbled at how much time it had missed and reached back into the foliage to pull out a small wicker basket filled with minuscule beads of water. One last farewell yawn to its bed, and the creature was off to work, artfully decorating the greenery in morning dew.


    The day star had just begun to peak over the horizon while the creature laboured over a blooming daisy. It stepped back and proudly looked at its work. The daisy glistened in morning shine; a perfectly emphasized contour of water caught the rays of daylight in just the right way to show off the humid serenity of the forest. Something still wasn''t quite right, and the creature returned to add one final accent of dew before moving on to its next work.


    The little artist always knew that its peaceful morning ritual could never go uninterrupted for long. As expected, this day''s disturbance occurred not even a mere hour into the meditative routine.


    A large horned bird circled overhead the tiny creature, stalking as the small beast worked distractedly. The bird did not hide for long as nerves quickly took hold. It swooped down, crashing right before the artist and bared its massive sharp beak as it shrieked, "Egg! Egg!" The bird then pranced impatiently from side to side and preened itself in stress.


    The creature hugged its basket of dew close, protecting it from the flailing wings of the panicked avian and looked up at the bothersome bird with glazed eyes while drowsily smacking its lips. The creature wordlessly turned in the direction the bird had come from and commenced walking while the bird anxiously followed.


    "She''s gone! I don''t know where she went! Cat is going to eat her I just know it! My baby! My poor baby was stolen by that vile cat! This wouldn''t happen if we had better trees! If I could collect better twigs and detritus to make my nest! This never happened in the old forest!"


    The creature did not deign to respond to their chatty companion as they approached a gloomy, spiralling tree. An unsteady nest rested precariously over a coiling branch near the top of the canopy where colour faded, and leaves died. It fought back another yawn in front of its feathered companion and commenced searching through the knotted roots of the maligned tree. Within an embarrassingly short time, it had found and subsequently pointed to a gargantuan blue egg lodged awkwardly under the rotted trunk.


    "Egg! Egg! Oh, thank you, thank you so much, Copse. What would I do without you?" The horned bird happily scooped up her egg and immediately flew away to place its child back in the unstable nest. Copse swayed unbalanced, similar to that egg ever so high up, and finally let out the yawn it was holding back. The lethargic artist glanced between the half-full basket and the burrow under that rotted tree still warmed by the egg. It barely had time to entertain the temptation before a fat caterpillar crawled over. The uncharacteristically massive insect towered over Copse, and it spoke with a deep baritone that shook in its chest, "Pupa! Pupa!"


    Copse disappointedly tore its glazed eyes away from that comfortable nook and toward the whining bug. It hardly lent half an ear as it wordlessly turned in the direction the caterpillar had come from and commenced walking while the bug anxiously followed.


    "The branch where he chose to cocoon himself broke off! His cocoon is damaged; if nothing is done, he won''t be able to metamorphose properly! My brother! My poor brother will live his life as a cripple! This wouldn''t happen if we had better branches! He would have never fallen if he could form his chrysalis on a firmer branch! This never happened in the old forest!"


    Copse did not deign to respond to their chatty companion as they made their way to a thin, crooked fir with many broken limbs climbing up its fungal-dressed stump. The cocoon was easy to find, its giant silken cage crumpled and peeling in the broken shade. Copse put down their basket of morning dew and pulled the white thorn loose from the clump of fur on its head, causing the knotted locks to chaotically explode into a large tangle of haphazard hair slumping over its face.


    Copse gingerly removed the berries from the thorn and placed one into their mouth, crunching down and relishing in the sweet tang that burst free. It offered the other berry to the caterpillar, who graciously accepted the gift and nervously nibbled on it in worried anticipation for their brother.


    Copse focused on the thorn in its hand, compelling a soft, lightless glow to emanate from it. The faint colourless energy glistened off some seemingly invisible somethings, revealing a complex web of ethereal strings that floated out from Copse''s body and away until the faint thorn glow could not reach them anymore. The intangible strings each reflected off different shades, from the most brilliant whites to the deepest swallowing blacks. A single thick red cord extruded from the left of Copse''s chest and into the sky, out of the reach of the thorn''s glow, where it faded back to invisibility.


    Copse took a single dark grey thread that flowed between itself and the bruised cocoon, tying the thread around the white thorn and beginning to sew the silk wounds shut. As Copse diligently worked on the incubating swaddle, the thread slowly paled, its grey colouration lifting to an ever brighter white until the final lesion was closed, and the thread shined a brilliant white indiscernible from the healthy silk it held closed. The tired artist loosened its grip on the thorn, causing the faint glow to dissipate, and with it, too, did the plethora of ethereal threads disappear.


    The caterpillar gurgled excitedly through its mandibles, "Pupa! Pupa! Oh, thank you, thank you so much, Copse; what would I do without you?" The caterpillar happily scooped up the pupa and carried it away. Once left alone, Copse let another strained yawn escape and approached a nearby plant. It wrapped a tiny hand around the plant stem, and as Copse did so, a bud miraculously grew out from its side; and the bud then blossomed into a beautiful white flower; and from the center of the flower two lush, plump, red berries sprouted. Copse skewered the two berries with the white thorn and retied its fur out of its face.


    Copse picked up the dew basket and returned to its long-delayed duty. An irritating glare of light flared in Copse''s eyes, reminding it that the day star had nearly fully risen, and it would soon be time to remove all the carefully arranged drops. Of course, before it could even finish with the next set of plants, a massive feline beast with sharp piercing fangs and rough-bristled fur leaped from behind a bush and charged towards Copse, yowling, "Mother! Mother!"


    Copse looked up to the monstrously massive feline with glazed eyes while it tiredly smacked its lips. A forlorn look at the incomplete flower forced Copse to choke down a bothered growl. Instead, it wordlessly turned in the direction the feline had come from and commenced walking while the feline anxiously followed.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "By the edge of the forest where the trees thin! She was protecting the forest from some evil humans that were coming. She was spotted because the forest was too thin! This wouldn''t happen if the woods were denser! This wouldn''t happen in the old forest!"


    The two made their way through the budding forest until they reached near the outer perimeter where the trees began to thin. Copse signalled to the worrying feline to stay behind and then pointed to their own lips as if informing the feline to wait until it was called over. The Feline weakly nodded its head in affirmation while its body continued to vibrate in anxious fear. After a brief silence, Copse''s body grew ever more transparent until it completely faded out of perceivable existence as it sank deep into the soul sea.


    To the feline''s eyes, Copse had merely disappeared, gone without a trace, the forest suddenly a little more empty. To Copse''s eyes, the forest was anything but empty; the entire ecosystem exploded with life as Copse could now see the spirits of vitality, present and past, swimming wistfully through the dense life energy of the soul sea. Still, even those placid spirits could not notice Copse''s presence as it had nestled far deeper into the ethereal ocean than even those wandering souls.


    Copse waded deeper into the spiritual waters of the soul sea, the energy of life growing heavier and denser the deeper it went. There were next to no spirits this deep in the sea, as few souls had the vital presence to push back against the pressure. In the empty darkness this low, the colourless glow of that white thorn appeared near blinding, and an uncountable number of strings made themselves known, the strings, so many and so compacted that they appeared as a single block that wholly enveloped the minuscule Copse. The strings did not overwhelm, and Copse was able to quickly sieve through to a particular blackening string. Copse didn''t take hold of that fragile cord and rather found an adequately close white thread. With a slight force of will, Copse merged its body into the white string and rode along to its final destination.


    The other end of the string was latched within a young cherry tree and Copse leaped out of the string and inside the tree. It stayed nestled deep in the soul sea out of sight, and watched from below as tangible silhouettes danced about on the surface.


    A giant feline monstrosity lay on the cold forest floor, slow, heavy breaths wheezing out of its bloody mouth. Standing before the dying creature were three humans well-dressed in battered armour and bearing frightening tools. One of the humans had a limp arm covered in vibrant crimson, exhausted from some strenuous activity barely accomplished moments ago. One of the humans pulled out a ragged scroll containing a drawing of the dying feline posed in a ferocious stance, much to the dissonance of the creature''s current state. The scroll contained some scribbled text that Copse couldn''t quite decipher from its hiding spot, but there was also a number on that page that made the three humans quite pleased to see. While one human admired the numbers on the page, another pulled out a skinning knife and began limping toward the dying feline. Copse kicked off and rose from the depths of the soul sea.


    The human reading from the scroll was the first to notice Copse surfacing. The human dropped the scroll, poising its frightening tool before themselves and shouted, "A forest spirit is coming. Get ready!" The two other humans quickly readied themselves, glancing back and forth toward their companion, unsure of where to aim. Copse burst through the surface of the soul sea, their corporeal form vaulting out of the cherry tree and landing directly before the humans. The human who was previously holding the scroll was unfazed by the bodily appearance, but the others jumped slightly, readjusting their tools to more accurately point towards Copse.


    The human who previously held onto the scroll began focusing the essence from within themselves into their tool, causing it to vibrate and glow angrily. The human then spoke, "Forest spirit, we mean no ill against your woods. This creature has harassed the denizens of a local town and so we had to fell it for the greater of the whole. This death was not purposeless. We will use the body to dress and feed many people in need."


    Copse carefully watched the three humans; their sharp tools pointed toward Copse''s face couldn''t help but accentuate their dishonesty. It had been tricked by humans before; they were not creatures to be so carelessly trusted. Copse pulled the white thorn with the two berries out from the clump of fur on their head, and the three humans quickly readied themselves for a brawl, fear frantically jolting between fight or flight as they beheld the fastest-growing forest spirit of Trammel.


    A soft colourless glow emitted from the thorn, and once again, the numerous ethereal strings connected to Copse''s body revealed themselves. No strings connected Copse to the three humans, but there was a single near-blackened thread that stretched out from its chest and to the heart of the dying feline. Ignoring the aggressive humans bearing their inconsequential tools, the forest spirit walked to the fallen predator. It smoothly dislodged the two red berries from the skewer and placed one in the feline''s mouth. The plump fruit sat unperturbed as the massive beast sucked in a few straining breaths. The beast glanced past Copse toward something further in the woods and then, with a heartbroken resolution, let out a huff of acceptance.


    Copse placed a tender paw on the beast''s snout and stared into the dying creature''s eyes as it nodded. One last pat and Copse turned toward the human magician, ignoring how they flinched under the scrutiny and tightened their grip on their weapon. Copse walked over until the spirit was nearly impaled by the human''s weapon and extended its arm, displaying to the aggressor a single red berry.


    In their confusion, the human''s guard fell, and when Copse didn''t jump to steal the advantage, the human tested further by cautiously grabbing the offered fruit. The human looked uncertainly between the sweet berry and the tiny spirit. Copse nodded at them and mimed chewing.


    The dying feline was the first to obey, crunching down on the juicy berry and closing its eyes for the last time. The human grimaced unsure but withered under Copse''s expected gaze. They warily placed the berry in their mouth and then, half-expecting the violent bitterness of poison, crunched down with a jeer.


    There was no bitterness nor rancid assault. Instead, the black thread that bound the spirit and cat slowly unlatched from the mammal''s heart, its chest deflating with its final breath, and floated over to the human magician, phasing through their own chest. The human winced as a sudden tug pulled on their heart, and then the black string was flooded with light, turning to a brilliant white. Copse looked at the human straight in the eyes and whistled. The four of them stood still in silence, unsure of what was to happen, until they could faintly hear the approaching patter of another beast.


    "Mother! Mother!" A smaller feline ran towards the larger lifeless corpse, a thick red cord binding the two animals together. The young feline haplessly pawed at their mother in a pitiful attempt at waking her from her slumber. "Why Copse? This isn''t fair! You helped everyone else. Why didn''t you save Mother? You''ve become weak! This wouldn''t happen in the old forest!"


    Copse glanced at the young feline apologetically and then turned back to the human. "Child needs mother."


    The human was taken aback by the suddenly speaking spirit before them. "You want us to take on this monster as a familiar? We couldn''t possi-"


    Copse interrupted the human, uninterested in their excuses. "Take and give. You take, now you give."


    Copse then turned over to the feline, who stared back at Copse in wide-eyed terror. "No, you can''t! I can take care of myself. I won''t leave the forest; I won''t leave Mother! This is my home; I don''t want to go!"


    Copse absentmindedly mulled over the young feline''s words while scratching an itch on its furry stomach. Coming to a decision, it returned its attention to the human and spoke. "You come every two days and care for child until child no longer child."


    "We-we couldn''t possibly, we''d have to abandon our entire lives! We''re adventurers, we just came across this village by chance, we didn''t-"


    "A life from the forest, a life to the forest. You are forest now." The human magician turned to their two companions in search of some form of aid.


    One of their companions asked in puzzled hesitation. "Think we can fight it?"


    "Not a chan-"


    The humans were interrupted by the loud chime of a bell. In between the magician and Copse was what seemed to be a small pink rhombus, or it was a rhombus, but its body would reject any stable state. It would shift and transform, shrink and grow, continuously morphing into other shapes. The pink shape finally locked into a form resembling that of a featureless human with only one limb. The arm was outstretched towards Copse, holding a glowing parchment: It read.


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    <tbody>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">You have been invited to</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">The Tournamen</td>


    </tr>


    <tr>


    <td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">You are The Bud</td>


    </tr>


    </tbody>


    </table>