The Maze of Trees(OLD)

Chapter 7

Disclaimer: this chapter is longer than the rest SO BUCKLE UP
——————————-
Leo pounced back out onto Trevors shoulder, seemingly shocked, while Flo's petals grew so far as to go up to my own shoulder.
    "You want us to go there? But the location moves everytime new people come!" Leo roared, most likely making Trevor lose his voice for a while.
    "But I have found it Lion! And I can give you all directions! Flower, use your power to show I speak truth!" Lefu barked, sitting down and staring pointedly at the massive flower.
Flo instantly showed me the new vision but this time there were other colours inside the figures. Inside Lefu, a sea of blue, the colour of truth, seemed to float around where the wolf's heart would be. The vision faded away as I nodded approvingly.
    "What does this tree do?" Trevor asked, his voice hardly a whisper after Leo roared, which was not something a human voice box should do.
    "It turns you partly into an animal of your own choice. Usually you turn partly into your Guide," he looked at Flo and me, "But unless you want to be part of a flower, I would suggest doing some kind of animal."
I chuckled slightly, a grin grabbing my face.
    "Where is it?" I asked.
    "If you are all ready to go, then I can show you. Maybe even help you for the rest of your trip." Lefu answered, showing a sly smile that showed his jagged teeth.
I looked at the others. We had been able to find more rope, so we had made the jocks weapons, although they didn't need them, and my group still had all their stuff. Leo had also stored Trevor's teams stuff with him, but we didn't know where. Over the course of time we've been inside the forest, everyone in my group had used our phones to take pictures of things, like tiny streams and interesting trees, but they were all still charged, not that it mattered. Leo seems to be hoarding all of the other stuff. I raised a questioning eyebrow at the other teens, who all shrugged and cast suspicion filled eyes at Lefu. I went to stand by Lefu, turning to the others to wave a hand.
    "Come on then."
They started to slowly followed after Trevor and I, who followed after Lefu. On the way to the 'Ashen Tree', Flo, Leo, and Lefu chatted like old friends, Leo and Flo using our voices, but only after Leo promised not to roar again. A huge bear staggered towards us, but retreated as soon as it saw Lefu, who growled in it's direction.
    As we continued, the normal trees started to disappear, being replaced by dead trees with no leaves. The trees here were taller too, reaching up like they were trying to go into space. After a while, even those left. Soon there were no trees at all, the blank canvas only being occasionally covered in small dead bushes, where creatures that looked like mice shivered, glaring up at us as we passed, seeming to not be scared of Lefu. If anything, Lefu looked scared of them.
    We passed a huge slumbering beast. It's ears looked like they had been ripped apart, but still managed to look fluffy.
We finally showed up at a huge tree, its sharp diamond leaves the colour of old ash being a light gray, making the pale white trunk stand out. It's leaves seemed to whisper, but only at the edge of our hearing, like it was being muffled by a mattress.
"I can't believe they put the Ashen Tree all the way out here. How did you even find it Lefu?" Leo spoke, his voice seeming to slice away the silence like a blade.
"I was trying to get the three Lost to go to the portal so they wouldn't be stuck here anymore." Lefu responded, his voice sounding dry, most likely from the lack of water. "Well hurry up, go get powered up!"
"What if it goes wrong again, like the Lost?" Flo asked, holding back my group in caution, unlike Trevor's, who practically sprinted to the delicate tree.
"It won't. We don't have three."
"We have you."
Lefu seemed to grow still, staring at Flo in terrible realization. He seemed to growl at himself before getting an idea.
    "We can be away while one changes, then switch out."
    "Can you tell us what is going on?" I interrupted, not letting Flo say whatever she was about to say.
    "Yeah! You dragged us out here with no food or water, and it doesn't look like there's any of that for miles!" Bendis hissed, stepping up beside me, glaring at the wolf. It seemed like Emily and Darian agreed, but they said nothing.
    "Because the process only takes a few clockworks!" Lefu growled, his jagged wolf teeth sparkling into view.
    "Clockworks?" Darian asked, his small voice squeaking up from behind Emily while he still hid from Cayden.
    "Let's just say time here is... different... from normal time." Flo responded, before yelling at Leo to keep his group safe while she made me move away from the tree. My group followed, but not before looking back at the tree, wondering what Lost are.

    "What was that?" Emily asked as an explosion ratted the ground beneath us.
    "See, he's already done. Flo, you and your boy are next. Try to calm down Leo and his kid while your at it."
Calm him down? I thought.
When someone gets...leveled up... by the tree, they go crazy unless someone calms them down. Flo responded.
Oh.
I walked back to the Ashen Tree, hesitating as I saw a huge flaming lion growling and roaring at the rest of the jocks.
Leave this to me.
Flo sent gladiolus flowers, or sword lilies, to calm down the lion. It worked, but only enough to shrink the size of Leo.
    "Calm down, you don't want to become Lost do you?" Flo chimed, her voice hollow.
Leo stopped and stared at us, his flaming orange eyes seeming to grow huge in terror and anxiety. Instantly, Leo retreated back to being a tattoo, his painted form seeming apologetic. I looked in surprise at the lion's tail and ears that seemed to have sprouted from Trevor.. I went and sat down under the tree, following Flo's instructions again as I closed my eyes and leaned my back against the trunk. Trevor and his jocks ran away, going to probably show off everything.
    At first nothing happened. I only saw the back of my eyelids until a pale light seemed to drip down, up, and to the sides of my vision, eventually swirling together in what seemed like stars. Then black and white patterns appeared behind them, making it a void of stars and illusions.
This reminds me of when I rub my eyes to hard.
Flo's laughter echoed in my head at my thoughts, but she stayed silent still. Then, a small raccoon tumbled into view, its light form almost blending in with the stars and other shapes. It's fur seemed to glow a pale white, and it had white eyes. It was about the same size as me, maybe even taller.
Why did you choose me? It asked, it's hollow voice seeming to echo just like Flo's had, but it was duller and quieter. It also didn't sound like it belonged to one gender or the other.
I figured raccoon's would be good at sneaking around and hiding. I'm no fighter. I responded.
The raccoon seemed to think about this before responding with a nod of it's furry head.
These are wise choices. It chimed. But it won't be easy for you to harness my power. You are a flower, not a raccoon.
We don't want him to have petals all over him though. Flo added, causing the raccoon to chuckled, or try to. It sounded more like low growling than laughter.
That is true Flower. I will accept your request, but I won't be able to help guide you. You will have to teach yourself. Only some of my powers relate to Flower's. Do you accept?
Yes.