83. Big Turtle

The Pendant of Elune clicked against my chest plate, one of several magical items and artifacts placed on me. It was for my continent; the reality of the matter was I couldn't twirl my claws.

And there had been something–perhaps remnants or echoes–now thoroughly purged, but I had wounded myself in forcing my failed escape.

I was on my way to full recovery, but that left cracks in my defense. Cracks that the Void had immediately begun to exploit, no matter how swiftly they were expunged.

Paranoia wasn't irrational when the Nightmare wanted me, especially me. I was a threat, a potential slave. Once I was back in top shape, I still had to be careful.

I should never have tried to use the Dreaming, but I did.

I fucked up and was now with a target painted on my head. Not that I could have foreseen it, I could only plan so far and have a fraction even bear fruit.

I wasn't compromised, far from it, but as a furbolg, or well, something along the line, midway between spirit of nature and beyond. I was susceptible.

There were reasons Wild Gods didn't directly fight the Nightmare despite everything seemingly motivating them to do so. They couldn't, not without immense risk and inevitable loss.

It wasn't a matter of strength, skill, or willpower. The Emerald Nightmare exploited the Dream's inner workings to entrap and control us at any opportunity.

It was akin to expect liquid water to be anything but wet. Stupid allegory aside, I was decked in shiny things I normally would never wear.

I looked ridiculous, like some godking with an inflated ego who was only kept from popping by the amount of gold, silver, and any precise metals and stone on his person.

I must add that it was, aside from arrogance–because it was arrogance–that I seriously lacked equipment that wasn't an extension of me. I hadn't seen the necessity.

Hilarious as that sounded, I was as naked as could be; everything was hidden, but I was naked. It was because clothes and actual armor were a pain, and I never thought them necessary.

At best, they were destroyed and were an overall nuisance to my shapeshifting.

This extended to ‘trinkets.’

I was too dependent on my body and creations, my strength and weakness warped into one. I had become rigid, predictable.

I could and should have done better, but what unfolded, unfolded.

However, saying that I would have preferred it if Chen hadn't seen me like this would be an understatement.

It wasn't shame, but I knew him; he would bring it up at the worst moment.

I suppose it was also suboptimal for his niece, even if she looked downright shocked. I tilted my head, ears flicking innocently as I lowered my stance a little.

She was an itty-bitty tiny cub, even if I could calculate her age to around mid eleven by her smell and life force. I knew how every day counted, even at that age.

“Hello, I'm Ohto of the Greenweald, Representative of all Furbolg, and Bear of Resilience at your service. You may skip any titles, I only bite who deserves it.” I said, my eyes locked onto her green ones, and she kept eye contact.

Well, for the most part, I wasn't trying to intimidate Li Li, but that type of thing always gave a relatively accurate way to gauge someone's character.

Pressure tends to break any false facade.

“Depends on what he means by deserve.” Chen hummed, his eyes going over me and the many pieces of jewelry decorating me like one of those trees with presents under, “Have you started to worship Elune and the Light in the short time I was gone?”

I didn't laugh at his attempt at humor, but half-smiled all the same, “From the war, complications with collapsing tunnels and traps in the Dreaming.”

“I heard about this war from almost everyone. Is it that bad? We can help! We need help too! A trade…” The pandaren cub's voice grew quieter as both our focus went to her.

“Interesting.” I rumbled, my tone serious. There was no point in playing around with her. If Chen had brought her, then I trusted his judgment on the reasons behind this choice.

“Yes, the Second War of the Shifting Sands is… bad. To say the least. The Wild, Horde, and multiple dragonflights are fighting it together. Right now it has slowed down, but that won't be for long, and what help?” I asked.

It wasn't Li Li who answered that, which seemed to annoy her that she wasn't first. Eh, cute. Cubs will be cubs. Oh, I wish I had that in my cubhood. Let the spirits be clement for her to have hers.

This was the best part of one's life.

“Shen-zin Su was grievously wounded by a rising reef following the eruption of Mount Kajaro. Our healers are insufficient, the injuries worsen each day, and you… You are you. Death has lost its claws and fangs to you.” My panda friend said with a particularly ugly frown.

An expression that was extremely rare on the jolly monk.

“I don't see a problem… my timetable can be shifted, but I can't move wherever, whenever. This is a trip and a half, and unpleasant as it is to say, would the Wild benefit?” I stated calmly.

It was the harsh truth.

Friend or not, bonus benefits or not, this type of favor was beyond immense. That was asking me to save their country. I wished to do it, as would the Council, some not of genuine kindness, still decisions like this were better voted on.

If every Representative decided to do an affair of that scale and be sneaky, no matter the intention, it would not be good. Trust was hard to earn, easy to break, and impossible to repair.

Of course, it was more rhetorical than anything, but Li Li seemed to have missed that part. Not that I blamed her, I was hard to read and didn't convey much in my neutral tone.

“Why?! We can go right now! Aren't you the greatest healer to walk Azeroth? It shouldn't be a problem!” The youngest in the room clamored with disbelief and irritation.

I didn't deign to react aggressively. Her home was on the line, and I didn't care about what amounted to a heatless tantrum.

“Li Li…” I heard Chen say slowly, and he sounded unsure of what to do. And I didn't know if he was amused, exasperated, embarrassed, or all three.

“Ignoring the Dragon Queen, yes, I'm among the best, but to your query. I'm anything but free to do everything. What if I'm away without planning, and a catastrophe requiring my attendance happens? The Might of Kalimdor is a tenuous alliance, and I'm one of the leaders of the Wild. My wants are secondary, as are wider problems, and I have other tasks.” I explained without going over responsibilities and tangents, as I could feel how it wouldn't work.

It seldom did, backfiring spectacularly most of the time. It wasn't a problem of intelligence, age wasn't the end and be all, but experience.

“It's not that I refuse, but that I can't go on the flip of a coin. This is no small task, doable without difficulty, but the organization is… complicated. Who would go? Me to the island or the opposite? And the timeline?” I continued, and she calmed down, shame flickering through her big green eyes.

And compared to her head, they were. An interesting feature, if ultimately passed along, in my mind, eyes grew a little, creating that effect on cubs.

“It's always complicated, isn't it?” Chen murmured, “That's the beauty of this world. I will send a crane to Master Shang Xi after you have debated it out in the Council. And to the benefits… You know we pandaren aren't one to be ungrateful, my large friend. For all my people, isolationism would open their eyes. We cannot ignore the wider world.”

“Then I won't waste time, Liande? Write a letter to the Representatives and Wild Gods regarding this subject. Allies are always lacking nowadays.” I smirked.

I adored this Ancient of Lore, and our connection to our roots made such communication instinctual. Nullifying her irritable sluggishness when speaking.

As much as the word instinct applies to plant life.

After that, things moved rather quickly. As said, the utter annihilation of close to nine out of ten of the tunnels put the war efforts on a standstill, well, about the ones leading to the Scarab Wall.

Battles hadn't stopped in the least; the efforts were just moved elsewhere. Fundamentally, not of my direct concern as I wasn't one of the two Co-supreme Commanders.

I was the head researcher with a sprinkling of politics here and there, and that was what I did. It remained troubling; Ahn'Qiraj would lose; there was no if or but unless Old God directly manifested.

They couldn't, not in any way that would flip the board. This wasn't self-sabotage; it was to regain the tempo, or try to. We weren't going to let them.

We hadn't used our best creations and troops till now, well, not en masse. The Horde wasn't the only one with machines of war. Now that the ground was in ruin, let us continue to force it down.

Treant-infused constructs combined with the wisdom of the Wild led to potent results. It might be a nascent path born of the symbiotes, but it spread and advanced fast.

We needed to keep up. We were versatile, but outside the Light, elemental shamanism, and enchantments, it was only a variant of Nature magic, no matter how intricate and advanced.

A certain interplanetary portal would soon light up if my memories were correct, and we weren't as ready as I wanted.

That had been one of the subjects of the last Council. Notably, to find more fragments of that primordial life form, find Illidan, Maev, Vandel, and the alien races there.

As soon as it opens, we will be the first there. Regardless, there was one great, not extraordinary, piece of good news: an egg of Aviana blessed by her was found in Mount Hyjal.

Everyone in that mission was heavily rewarded. The rewards in question depend entirely on the person in question, within reason.

The process of getting the cells for the Mother of Birds’ new body was well on its way. All that was left was convincing her, which wouldn't be hard with the number of demi-gods my floral wombs revived supporting it.

As always, more subjects were spoken about, and the Wandering Island ultimately came up. The predicted agreement on what I wanted did too.

I would have skewed the vote in my favor if it somehow didn't. Not that I needed to, my influence was sufficient.

It took a surprisingly short time for Shen-zin Su to swim to the Darkshore. Injured or not, he was a sea turtle and, barring immorality, a Wild God. No, beyond even the vast majority in sheer energy.

This was the largest life force outside of flora, such as World Trees and the Goldilocks, with only Alexstrasza, for animal life, comparable.

Wild Gods had virtually infinite life force, but that wasn't at once; it was a trickle.

Here, it was an inferno, yet one slowly on its way to being extinguished.

Fitting for a creature with more surface area than most islands.

Still, having an advanced civilization on his shell was only possible through careful monitoring and continuous balance, given their total isolation.

Overpopulation and limited resources would have been their end or loss of any development if the inhabitants weren't pandaren.

And it appeared almost out of thin air, the fog that had gathered along the coast parting away to reveal approaching hills, farmlands, forests, and an inhabited city.

“At a loss for words?” Chen said, amusedly to my right, the seawater seemingly having risen by the Wandering Island's presence. There was more than us currently staring at the titan of a turtle.

“What can I add, truly? This is a marvel, plain and simple. Can you imagine how such an organism's heart provides oxygenated blood? Or is there more than one heart, multiple aortic arches? Size decides everything! Imagine the strength of the skeleton, its composition-” I rambled like an excited cub.

“I understand, no, but I get it. You will have every opportunity to test those… terminologies and theorems. Whatever they may be.” The brewmaster cut me, and I glared mildly, only for him to snort. A faint smile played over the edge of his muzzle.

‘You'll regret this. Prepare to limp.’ I thought before refocusing on Shen-zin Su, and I waited for the signal.

However, I didn't have to do so for long; a green firework was the signal to go. I did, turning into a bloodwing bat with Chen and his niece right under in a basket of vines.

I took off.