Chapter 149: Chapter 148: I am Me

Giggling while frolicking at the trunk of the World Tree, I couldn’t take my eyes off her spirit holding my hands. It didn’t take a genius to understand that her form was a representation of those present. The upper body of a human woman, the lower body and legs of a mossbear, the wings of an eagle, and the tail of a squirrel. What a combo.

But who was I to judge her when I was an even bigger freak than she was. Still, a few things bothered me about her appearance.

Her gender, for example. I mean, why did the spirit take on the form of a female? Was it her actual sex? With that thought, my eyes wandered up to the flowers above me. Seeing them up close, I would be able to tell the gender of the tree for sure. That was if the same rules applied to them as to the plants on Earth. 

This was Eleaden I was on, though. A completely different planet who knows where in the universe and she wasn’t even from here. Hell, she could have come from a world in a faraway galaxy where trees were the rulers and the animals were at their mercy. There was no guarantee that the plants there functioned the way I was familiar with. So, her gender...it could be based on those present as her whole look and not on botanical principles, for all I knew. 

Except even that theory had some holes in it and made little sense. I didn’t think there were more women present than men. Certainly not among the imperial soldiers. On the other hand, I was unable to tell the gender ratio between the mossbears and the other critters around. It could be in favor of the females, or...it might as well have been me. Yeah, I might have been the reason for her female appearance.

If so, the spirit certainly didn’t look like me. She was more slender, her features sharper, her nose more petite, and that wasn’t all. As she was missing my ears and antlers, she appeared more human than me, and with her straight hair reaching down to her hips, where her upper body blended into that of a mossbear, looked quite fetching. Not to mention her boobs. Definitely different. Unlike mine....

Never mind!

Besides her naked upper body, there was her squirrel-like tail. I mean, the first thing that came to my mind was Pip. However, thanks to that little rascal, I knew there were many of those little critters living in the massive antlers of the mossbears. And who knows how many were in the rest of the woods. 

The same case could have been her wings. They might not be just reflections of those northern eagles but of the birds living here in Esulmor in general. Setting their origins aside, her wings looked a lot more flight capable than mine. She had them positioned between the shoulder blades of her front legs, basically on her lower back like me. Only hers were bigger, covering her entire mossbear body.

That in itself was one big mystery to me, robust as that of mossbear, yet she moved with it between the roots as gracefully and skillfully as if it had its origins in a leopard. The only explanation I could come up with was that her ghostly form was not as limited as the ones she drew from.

Not sure where her demeanor was coming from, though.

Her sheer joy at waking up, at life, was incredible and highly contagious. For a moment there, while I was fooling around with her, I completely forgot about where I was, my worries and troubles. Let me just say it was awesome, so liberating.

Though all good things must come to an end, right?

At least, that was my experience, and it was no less true for this moment. Whether the spirit of the World Tree was tired of playing with me and my presence, or she was bothered by the growing curiosity of those present in the expanse, I had no idea. But with a final giggle, she smiled at me, let go of my hands and skipped aside to her trunk, where she looked around. 

Kind of a weird notion I wasn’t sure what to make of. Was that necessary? I mean...didn’t she have the perception of a World Tree reaching through Esulmor? Well, on second thought, it could be the same habit Esu had or even Deckard had. They didn’t really need to see with their eyes either and were doing it, anyway. 

‘Shit!’ I’m so dumb. It must have been a first for her to see through eyes, therefore all the more intriguing. 

Oblivious to her surroundings, the spirit was taking everything in. The expanse, the woods beyond, the night sky hidden behind her canopy. Her eyes shone with the excitement of a small child as she explored the world around her.

Yet her gaze eventually rested back on me. The spirit was studying me with no less curiosity.

“Korra?” she surprised me with her comfortable yet ethereal voice. From her expression and the way she wiggled her tongue in her mouth, trying my name over and over again, she caught even herself off guard. No wonder, though. After all, it was her first word, and in Eleaden Standard, on top of it all.

Leaving aside her knowledge of the language, I had to stop myself from bursting with joy. Whooho! Her first word was my name. So proud.

“Yes, I’m Korra,” I said slowly so she could understand me, using the Standard as she did while I wagged my tail happily. “And you are?”

“Me,” she said, tasting the new word on her tongue. “I am me.”

“Don’t you have a name?”

“Not yet.” She shook her head, looking off into the distance. 

I followed her gaze, but all I could see were the glowing, streaming clusters of violet flowers and the woods behind them. That was most definitely not what she was looking at. Her gaze traveled further than that.

Not yet, huh? What did she mean by that...oh, no. Please, don’t make her ask me to give her a name. Fingers crossed. The last one I named was my ferret, and even though I gave him a cool name, it took me half a month to choose it. Sage, my tail, was a different story, one full of sorrow and suffering and unsuitable for bringing up at the moment.

When the spirit came back from wherever her mind was, she beamed with joy. “Others delighted, welcoming me to this world. Grateful for the warm welcome you gave me, Korra.”

“I...” I was lost for words. The others? Was she talking about the other World Trees? She was, wasn’t she? Shit! What should I do? “Ehm...I am humbled to hear that. I j-just did what felt right....” I did, whether it was pouring my heart out, which I’ve needed for a long time, or the lighthearted play.

The spirit grinned and drifted away like the morning mist with the rising sun. I didn’t even have time to freak out and wonder whether I had done something wrong when something poked me in the side.

She giggled with my yelp. “Way too serious, Korra.”

Who wouldn’t be when there was a possibility of everything I did being seen by entities thousands of years old somewhere on the other side of the world. I felt like I was talking to a messenger of the Gods who closely watched my every move. The first time I’d ever felt that way.

“Sorry.” I attempted to hide the uneasiness welling at the pit of my stomach with a light chuckle, something that hasn’t fooled anyone, let alone the spirit. 

She moved behind me and stroked my tail. While that itself was pleasant, a feeling of joy and playfulness washed over me, just like when she held my hands and frolicked with me. So liberating. When the hearty chuckle left my throat, it was free of those worries. 

“Better?”

“Thank you,....” I said, pausing for a moment on what I should call her. The ethereal spirit didn’t make me think that through, though. She grabbed my hand and pulled me along. 

Where? It turned out to be to Esu.

“Hello,” she greeted, guileless as she was, eyeing him with curiosity. To my surprise, the massive mossbear lowered his head and expressed his respect without hiding his joy and awe. “Esu, greets you.”

Turning uncharacteristically serious, the spirit returned his greeting with a bow of her head and growled in the language of mossbears. “Thank you for your care, Esu. It was wonderful to grow up in your company.”

“Great to be in yours, spirit of tree,” he growled back.

She let go of my hand, vanished, and appeared next to him in size, rivaling his. Like me, Esu was poked in the side by the spirit while she giggled. “Too serious, too.”

Although he was a massive beast that remembered times long forgotten by many and had experiences far beyond my own, it was not hard to read his expression. Esu was lost as to what he should do and how to react. This playful behavior of the spirit was outside his comfort zone.

“That is me, spirit of tree. No longer young and unwise,” he grumbled respectfully, referring to the young and adult mossbears who often behaved recklessly.

“You like the others. They also remember too many cycles,” she frowned and grinned right back. “My awakening rattled their old branches, though. They were in quite a shock when my mind touched theirs.” 

“Other trees like you?” Esu growled the question that was bothering me too.

The spirit mused. “Not the same. Older, much older than me. Lost hope of any more growing up. Found joy when I showed up. I laughed at their silliness, and as old as they are, they laughed with me. So, you laugh too, Esu.”

“He was laughing, rejoicing when you woke up.” I rushed to his aid. “He’s not the grumpy guy he makes himself out to be.”

Of course, I didn’t mean it as a tease and said it with as much respect as I could find amongst the playfulness that still presided over my body.

“I know,” cheerfully chirped the spirit towering over me and poked Esu in the side with her elbow again like he was her best pal. Her size and reckless behavior towards a beast over level nine hundred only reminded me that behind the young creature’s façade was a mighty old tree.

[World Tree: lvl ????]

Huh? I’ll be damned. When I first approached the tree, I looked, but the system showed me nothing. I mean nothing at all, not even the name of the tree or the kind of species, as was the case with any other plant. If I had to guess, the system only worked on creatures with sentience. But it was something I would have to check with others later.

In fact, even my beast instincts didn’t work properly, failing to tell me roughly what level the tree was, unlike in the case of Esu. Was she that much stronger than him? Or did my instincts just struggle with plants? In the end, it didn’t matter. Whether the World Tree was level 600 or over a thousand didn’t change the fact that she was at a strength beyond my grasp.

‘Never. Fucking never forget that Korra,’ I reminded myself sternly. Behind the shell of an innocent-looking spirit and somewhat childish demeanor lay an immensely powerful creature. 

Actually, what abilities the World Tree usually possessed? I knew about their fruit, but could a tree this ‘young’ bear one? Then there was her presence, which proved to be very oppressive if the tree chose to do so. And last but not least, the spirit. Was it just a manifestation of the tree, or could it do more than just hop around and interact with others? Well, she was able to both speak Eleaden Standard and communicate by growling with Esu. So...

“The fuck...!” I blurted out a slur as the spirit appeared back in my size right in front of me, her nose almost touching mine. She immediately burst out laughing when I tried to jump back in fright and tripped over a root. My balance was too good to fall on my ass for something like that, but the way I stayed on my feet was far from graceful.

“That wasn’t nice.”

“Funny, though,” the spirit noted, amused, as she straightened up to her centaur-like height. “Your fault, too thoughtful.”

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What the....? “True,” I conceded, returning her smile. There was no point in denying that or arguing about it, I was lost in thoughts. “So what now?” I asked, seeing that her interest in Esu had already left her.

The spirit’s eyes lit up. “I want to see more. Come on,” she said, grabbing my hand again. Luckily, keeping up with her while she was jumping across the roots wasn’t that hard for me, and before I knew it, we landed in front of the humans.

Honestly, I was more worried about their reaction than the beasts’. To my relief, none of the Imperial troops were dumb enough to draw their weapons. Instead, they surprised me when they knelt before the spirit. Even Colonel Gill, Lightfeather, and Lord Wigram. So, odd.

Seriously, I’ve never seen anyone do that outside of movies, and it was so surreal.

The only one left standing was Deckard, but even he took his hands out of his pockets, letting one hand rest by his side and the other at his heart while he bowed his head.

None of them, however, said a word, apparently unaware of how to act before the spirit as I was. Not even her giggle made them raise their heads.

“So different,” she marveled at the people in front of her. “Yet so much alike.”

“Way too serious?” I tried.

The spirit laughed. “You get it, Korra. Heavy, grave, sober,” she said, searching for words in her memory. “Why be like that when you can laugh? So much better to be happy. Or be like him,” she said, pointing at Deckard.

“Little Beast?” he asked what she meant even though she spoke Standard.

“I think...” I said, pausing to look at the spirit who was studying the humans with curious eyes. “I think she likes your laid-back attitude.”

“Oh, at least someone does...” he remarked, easing his hands back into his pockets.

“Isn’t it better?” the spirit asked, her attention back on him as she moved closer. “Still tense, though,” she said as she circled around him.

“I don’t like not knowing what I’m dealing with.”

She gave him a puzzled look. “I am me.”

“So am I...”

“You are,” nodded the spirit, satisfied with his answer. By contrast, Deckard was giving me a what-the-fuck look. I felt for him, unsure myself what the World Tree meant.

“That’s Deckard, my mentor.”

“Deckard,” she tasted his name on her tongue. “I like the name. Do they all have names?”

“Yes, they do,” I nodded, chuckling as she pointed to the still kneeling humans. Her eyes lit up at the revelation. “Do you know all the names?”

The names of all the imperial soldiers? Hell no. “Just a few.”

“Too bad, names matter.”

“You don’t have one.”

“Yet,” she pointed out a fact I had no idea about. How did such a World Tree get its name? Beats me.

“What’s your name?” she asked the soldier she sidled up to. 

The poor man, despite his level being more than twice mine, gave me a questioning look, asking for my help. “Just be yourself. Treat her like a stranger on the street.” Telling him to consider her his pal was too much. 

“I am no stranger,” objected the spirit pouting. “I am me.”

“I know, he doesn’t.”

“Oh,...” a realization came over the spirit. As she ran it through her head, her eyes lit up even more. “I am me. Who are you?”

Not sure I would have answered if a stranger had asked me that.

“C-Connor May, ma’am,” stammered the man, and the spirit squealed with delight, only to leap to the next soldier.

“Hi, I am me. Who are you?”

“Hannah, Hannah Sharp...ma’am.”

She danced around among the soldiers asking their names, excited, as if she had discovered tricks to get it out of them. I was forced to explain to them not to be afraid of her and not to be too distant while she was enjoying herself. 

“That goes for you too, my lord.”

Standing with knees already dusted, he gave me an amused look of disbelief. “I’m not quite sure you’re getting the severity of what you’ve accomplished, Miss Grey.”

“She doesn’t,” Deckard said with absolute certainty.

Pretty rude, if I may say, but the truth nonetheless. “And now you know why...”

The Imperial Chief Healer laughed. “I still can’t believe I didn’t consider the possibility. It’s so obvious now, glaring even. I have so many questions...”

“Oh, I like you,” cut in the spirit that appeared between us. “Old, wise, deliberate, yet happy.”

“I am. I’m delighted to meet you,” the Imperial Chief Healer said, glancing behind her to where the young World Tree herself stood. “My name is Edwin Alistair Wigram.”

“Strong name,” said the spirit, pouting a bit that she didn’t get a chance to use her trick. “I am me.”

“Do names hold power?” I couldn’t help but ask. You know, real names. That shit, if someone else finds out, they’ll be able to control you and whatnot.

“Names matter.”

“Not the way you think, Little Beast.”

“With humans, it’s a little complicated, but with beasts, they reflect their power. They don’t give it to them,” Lord Wigram explained while he watched the spirit with as much curiosity as she observed him.

“As I said, Korra. Names matter.” Spirit pointed out and shifted over to where Lightfeather stood silently by. “Hi, I am me. You?”

“...Wren Lightfeather,” introduced herself to her a tad warily, but then she pointed to her head and smiled. “This little one sleeping is Pip.”

Spirit frowned. “That’s not her name.”

“Oh, no, t-that’s short for Pipsqueak.”

“A strong name for someone so small,” said the spirit and tried to repeat her name a few times before she grinned and shifted, turning into an ethereal little squirrel with wings. She then flew to the top of Lightfeather’s head, where she poked the sleeping Pip impishly.

The poor little creature wearily opened her eyes and stretched before letting out a squeak of horror upon seeing a ghostly apparition. “Dead squirrel!”

“I am not dead. I am me. You Pipsqueak.”

That frightened her even more. “H-how do you...did I s-steal your nuts?”

That got me and made me chuckle. And Lightfeather, uncomfortable as she was in the presence of the spirit of the World Tree, even worse with her on top of her head, burst out laughing.

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