Suikoden VII

Chapter Five: Part Five

Note: I lost a quarter of this chapter after my web browser crashed. So I had to rewrite it and hit save line by line. Well, it could've been worse.

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Chapter Five: Part Five

The Ruhiges Woodland was not as dense as Zwielichtshain. The trees were vibrant and the sky was visible; making the paths easy to navigate. But it was an also a very quiet forest. Unsurprising due to its name, but at times they didn't hear enemies approach through the brush. And the enemies were tough in there.

"So what will we find in here?" Arin asked as they traveled east for a bit of time.

"Two groups live in the Ruhiges Woodland," Sigrun told him. "The Elves of Zelant and the Forest Pixies of Zelant. But while it's generally known that the elf village is located in the northern part of the forest, it's not known where the Forest Pixies are located."

"So what exactly is the difference between Forest Pixies and House Pixies?" Viktor asked. "That little guy Brownie got drunk with the guys a few nights ago and went on a rant that Forest Pixies were a bunch of assholes."

"Watch your mouth," Dawa said.

"That's the word he used; "assholes"," Viktor said defensively.

"They are similar to each other," Astraea said. "They are small in stature and can cast magic through Pixie Dust without the use of a rune. But as you can imagine from their names, Forest Pixies thrive in the forest and House Pixie thrive in a home. As we saw from Donauwelle's condition when we first found her, if a House Pixie doesn't have a home then they will not survive. But it also sounds like House Pixies could survive in a Forest Pixie community if the need arose, but...it didn't sound like Donauwelle had much luck. Brownie feels that Forest Pixies look down on House Pixies."

"So that's why Brownie called them "assholes"," Arin said in a thoughtfully innocent tone.

"But Forest Pixies do not generally make themselves known to others," Sigrun said. "I do know though that when a new monarch is crowned in Zelant, the Forest Pixies will send a representative to Blutkrieger to meet the new monarch, and the new monarch will be spirited away to their village to meet their chief once. I know this happened with the current monarch when he became king; I overheard him tell Mother once about meeting a Forest Pixie named—ah—Wisp, I believe."

"So we will probably not meet any Forest Pixies here unless we stumble upon their hovel," Ferdinand said.

There was a short path off the main trail that led to a dead end with two chests. Astraea opened one to find a Sound Set 01–"Conall can use this!" Astraea declared—and a Clay Guardian rune scroll. Astraea looked at it peculiarly before tucking it into her back.

After walking for another hour, they came across a distinctive fork in the road. One path continued straight, and the other deviated at an angle to the northwest of their position. "So, which way should we go?" Viktor wondered, rubbing his chin.

Astraea glanced down both paths. After a moment she pointed to the one that turned northwest. "Let's go this way. The Elf village is in the northern part of the Woodland, right? We'll have a higher chance of finding it this way."

"That's a good idea," Sigrun said. "But are we seeking an alliance with the Elves as well?"

"I would tread with caution, Your Majesty," Ferdinand said. "We nonhumans are naturally wary of humans, but Elves are especially wary of humans."

"We have Elves within Nagarea," Arin said. "The government we overthrew committed genocide against them. It took a lot for Big Brother to convince them to join us. Now that have their own autonomous nation within Nagarea's borders."