Immortal Druid

[POV: Roo]

Roo eventually sat down beside a patch of grass, his back resting against a tree as he stared blankly into the distance. His training had left him exhausted, and the grief weighing upon his heart had not disappeared simply because his body was tired.

The little girl sat beside him, holding out the pouch of roasted nuts and offering it to him. "Want some nuts?"

Roo glanced at the pouch. He took one, chewed, and His expression immediately twisted. Ptooey! He spat the nut onto the grass. "They don't taste very good."

The little girl stared at him as though he had just committed an unforgivable crime. "Whu...?"

She snatched the pouch back, took one of the nuts herself, and bit into it. Crunch. Her eyes brightened. "They taste perfect to me."

Roo shrugged. "Your tongue might be undeveloped. You're so small that you're basically a baby."

The little girl froze. Her brows slowly furrowed. "Baby?" She pointed at herself. "Me?"

Roo nodded solemnly. "Yes. You."

The girl's cheeks puffed up. "Not baby!"

Roo looked at her for a moment before deciding that arguing with a child was beneath his dignity. Instead, he reached down and plucked a fresh stalk of grass from beside him.

"Here. Now this is the good stuff."

He held the grass toward her.

"Have some."

The little girl stared suspiciously at the stalk before taking a small bite. She chewed slowly.

Roo watched her with great interest. "How is it?"

She swallowed and shrugged. "Dunno."

Roo's ears twitched. At least she had stopped arguing with him. For some reason, he found her company a little less irritating than he had expected. He glanced at her leafy green hair and small body, then narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.

Hm.

Judging by her hair and what she looked like, the Sage and Lady Mab must have already done the deed!

Roo's eyes widened.

What were they thinking, not telling him?

Hadn't the Sage promised that his firstborn would become Roo's lifelong rival? (No, the Sage had never promised that.) But Roo distinctly remembered being the one who had insisted that the Sage should procreate and leave behind his glorious bloodline. (Actually, he had practically forced the idea upon the Sage.)

Regardless, the important matter was that Roo's future rival had finally appeared!

His fighting spirit immediately surged. He should stand up, point toward the heavens, and grandstand before the little girl and declare their rivalry! Unfortunately, his body refused to cooperate.

Roo remained seated. His muscles felt like they had been beaten into paste. Perhaps tomorrow. Yes. Tomorrow, he would announce their glorious rivalry. For now, he was too tired to move.

The little girl suddenly looked at him. "Why sad?"

"..."

"You cry?"

She pointed at his face.

"Hurt boo boo."

Roo stared at her. There was clearly something wrong with this child. She was not speaking any sense at all. And Roo was supposed to be the beast here. He sighed. "Do you have a name?"

The little girl shook her head. She looked down at her hands, her expression becoming uncertain. "Dunno."

Roo did not press her further.

Instead, he lifted his head and stared at the clear blue sky above the forest. The vastness of it reminded him of something he had always desired.

Freedom.

The sky stretched endlessly beyond the trees, untouched by walls, mountains, borders, or the troubles of the earth. Roo had always wondered what it would feel like to ascend into those boundless heavens and soar without anything holding him back.

Unfortunately, he was not a bird. He was a kangaroo or whatever that was. A martial artist kangaroo if anything. There was a world of difference. That had been why he created the Way of the Bound Sky Strider, a martial art born from his own obsession with reaching the heavens. It was his answer to the limitations of his species, a way for a creature without wings to chase the freedom of the sky.

Roo's eyes softened. He had once thought there would always be time to pursue that dream. Then he remembered the gallows. The smile disappeared from his face. "Yes," Roo finally said. "I'm sad."

The little girl looked at him.

"I lost friends, and I don't think I will see them again." His voice was quieter than usual as he explained absentmindedly. "This world really has bad people in it, little one. So you must be strong. Even if you're weak, you must find strength in the living. Otherwise, your fighting spirit will dwindle when you face the most terrible adversities."

The words surprised even Roo. He was not usually the type to give advice. He was more accustomed to shouting about martial arts, challenging people to fights, declaring his future greatness, and kicking trees until his legs hurt. Yet pain had a way of forcing even the most stubborn creatures to grow.

Roo glanced at the little girl beside him. "Don't let yourself be defeated just because you don't remember who you are."

The girl stared at him blankly.

Roo smiled, and then his usual confidence returned. "As for me, I am going to become the strongest martial master under the heavens." He clenched a fist. "Just wait and see."

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The little girl looked at his fist, then she looked at the sky, and then she looked back at Roo. "Strong?"

"Very strong."

She nodded thoughtfully. "Baby?"

Roo's face darkened. "Don't call me a baby."

…

..

.

[POV: Wo Li]

I listened idly to the conversation between the little girl and Roo from the tallest tree in the vicinity. The branches swayed gently beneath me as I sat there, quietly observing the two of them. My memories of the actual resurrection I had performed on Roo and the others were little more than fragmented images. I could remember pieces of what happened, but whenever I tried to reconstruct the entire process, my thoughts dissolved into a blur.

At least I had gotten off lightly this time.

The last time I had attempted a questionable resurrection, I had practically died from it. My body had been reborn as a tree, and I had spent several hundred years rooted in the earth before my bloodlust toward the undead finally awakened me. Compared to that disaster, this resurrection had been remarkably painless.

According to what I could glean from Druidic Insight, there was a simple reason for it. I had grown stronger since then, but more importantly, I had developed resistance to the effects of Heavenly Tribulation. My body and soul had already been tempered by the destructive force several times, allowing me to endure the backlash that would have once torn me apart.

That was probably why I could still sit here and think normally.

I glanced down at Roo.

The kangaroo was sitting beneath the tree with the little girl beside him, apparently giving her some profound speech about fighting spirit and becoming the strongest martial master under the heavens. It was a strange sight, especially considering Roo had been crying while training against a tree not long ago.

Perhaps he really had grown a little.

I smiled faintly while I leaped from the branch. My robes fluttered as I descended, and I landed softly beside them without disturbing the grass beneath my feet.

Roo immediately turned toward me. His eyes widened. His entire body tensed. As though someone had flipped a switch inside his head, he dropped into a fighting stance. "Hah~! Sage! So, you've appeared before me! The long-awaited spar—"

"Calm down. I just came for her."

I turned toward the little girl.

"Hey there."

The moment she saw me, she froze. Her expression became frightened. Then she quickly shuffled behind Roo and hid beneath his arm, peeking at me with wide eyes.

"Scawy."

I froze. What? I pointed at myself.

"It's me, Wo Li."

Roo looked between us, and then his mouth slowly curled into a grin. "Oho! Looks like someone's been a bad daddy."

I stared at him. Roo could have the strangest choice of words ever. I doubted it was intentional. Where did he even pick up words like that?

Roo suddenly threw his arm into the air. "Our fight will be legen—"

I waved my staff. "Entanglement."

Roots erupted from the earth. They wrapped around Roo's legs, waist, and arms before binding him firmly against the trunk of the nearby tree.

"Hey!"

I ignored him.

The little girl continued hiding behind him. I studied her carefully. She had the appearance of a child, but I could still tell who she was underneath.

I waved my staff.

"Cleanse Spirits."

A gentle green light descended upon the little girl.

I had no idea whether the spell would work. Cleanse Spirits was primarily meant to remove curses, debuffs, spiritual contamination, and other harmful effects. Whatever had happened to the girl's memories was not something I had encountered before, so I was taking a shot in the dark.

The green light gradually faded.

The girl stared at me.

I narrowed my eyes and spoke carefully.

"Mab, it's me."

Her face crumpled.

"Waaaaah~!"

I flinched.

Before I could react, something collided softly with my legs. I looked down. The little girl had somehow slipped away from Roo and was now hugging me tightly around the legs. She looked up at me with tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Daaaaad~!"

I stared at her. My expression went completely blank.

Oh, come on. What now?

…

..

.

[POV: Mab]

Mab had a very long dream.

In it, she was small again.

She wandered through a forest with her father, her tiny hand held within his enormous palm. His silhouette was tall and imposing, just as she remembered him, yet something about him was different. Instead of the cold, calculating presence she had known throughout her life, he seemed almost gentle.

Mab knew it was a dream.

Her father had never been like this.

The father of the Sisters of Destiny was many things, but affectionate was not one of them. He was cold, calculating, and chaos incarnate. To him, his daughters were pieces upon a board, useful so long as they fulfilled their purpose.

Yet this dream presented her with a father she had never possessed.

A father who played with her.

She remembered running through the woods while his enormous silhouette chased after her. She laughed as she hid behind trees, only for him to deliberately pretend that he could not find her.

"Where did my little Mab go?"

She giggled from behind the tree.

He looked directly at her hiding place.

"I wonder where she could be."

Mab covered her mouth, trying desperately not to laugh.

The dream changed.

Now they were camping beneath the stars.

A small campfire burned between them, its warm light illuminating the surrounding darkness. Her father sat beside the flames, preparing food while Mab watched with fascination. The scent of roasted meat filled the air.

She remembered sitting beside him, waiting impatiently.

"Is it ready yet?"

"Not yet."

"Now?"

"Still not."

"What about now?"

He finally handed her a piece. Mab eagerly took it, and then something moved behind her. She turned around, only to see a kangaroo sitting beside the campfire. Mab stared, and the kangaroo stared back. She blinked.

Wait.

What?

Why was there a kangaroo in her dream?

The strange creature calmly roasted something over the fire as though this were the most ordinary thing in existence. Mab's confusion grew. Slowly, the entire dream began to dissolve. However, the campfire and kangaroo remained. Everything else faded into darkness. Mab opened her eyes. She stared directly at the campfire. Just ahead of her, a kangaroo was peacefully snoozing.

Her gaze slowly descended toward her hands.

They were far too tiny. Her fingers were short and delicate, her arms thin and childlike.

Mab's eyes widened.

"Ah."

Not again.

This was not the first time she had died and been forced to remake herself from the ground up. She had experienced the sensation before, yet knowing what had happened did not make the realization any less humiliating. She looked around. She was in the forest. There was a campfire. There was a sleeping Roo. And then she felt something warm supporting her body.

Mab slowly turned her head.

Wo Li was holding her. He had her in his arms as though she were a baby. His arms supported her tiny body while he gently swayed from side to side.

"Wha..."

Mab's mind went blank.

Wo Li continued rocking her without the slightest hint of shame.

Worse, he was singing.

"Sleep, little beast, beneath the moonlight bright. Rest your weary paws until the morning light. Dream of green fields and rivers clear, for the forest shall keep you safe and near..."

Mab stared at him. Something clicked inside her mind.

The dream, campfire, her father, and the kangaroo. It had not been a dream. Her memories came crashing back. The little girl. The bamboo. The resurrection. Wo Li. And then the horrifying realization that she had apparently been crying and calling him... dad.

Mab's face turned crimson.

"Wa!"

Wo Li continued swaying.

"Wa! Wa! Wa! Wa!"

Her cheeks burned hotter.

"WA! WA! WA!"

She began flailing wildly in his arms.

"PUT ME DOWN!"

Wo Li stopped singing. He looked down at her.

Mab kicked furiously.

"PUT ME DOWN! NOW!"

With a tremendous amount of dignity that was completely undermined by her tiny body, Mab twisted herself out of his embrace and landed on the ground. She immediately scrambled backward.

Her face was bright red.

"You!"

Wo Li looked mildly annoyed.

"You wanted this."

"I did not!"

"You did."

"I absolutely did not!"

Wo Li stared at her.

"You were the one who decided to be reborn as a child."

"That isn't the same thing!"

"Isn't it?"

"No!"

Mab's face became even redder. She pointed accusingly at him. "You cannot just carry me around like that!"

Wo Li sighed. "Fine."

Mab folded her arms. "Good."

He nodded. "No more upsies."

Mab's eye twitched. "Don't call it that."

Wo Li looked at her tiny body. "Then no more carrying."

"That's better."

A brief silence followed.

Wo Li glanced at her. "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"No more upsies?"

Mab's face instantly flushed again. "I said yes!"

She turned away and covered her burning cheeks.

Behind her, she could hear Roo snoring peacefully beside the campfire. Mab clenched her tiny fists. Of all the humiliations she had endured throughout her existence, this one might have been the worst.

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