#the dryad's hope

[therealnostalgialover808]

@cali-kabi It's funny that I also imagined Daisy with plant powers, only with a different name and for good reason.

~ so I been seeing a lot of Mario au stuff around Tumblr and Twitter that some of the characters are mages or have/learn new types of magics and I love that idea and I have some au headcanons too 😆🍄💫🌟I actually been having these headcanons for like the past few years now I never talk about it cuz I’m shy, time to share them hehe :) since I played Mario Wonder I added Daisy along on this too, She and Toadette are besties and have the same type of magic, plant <3🌸🌿I call it Flowerbrand, I think that fits well since Mario’s Fire magic is called Firebrand🔥and Luigi’s electric magic Thunderhand ⚡️

There’s a hidden temple palace in Chucklehuck Woods it’s really hard to find unlike the Fire and Thunder Palace on Oho Oasis, the guardian then greets Daisy and Toadette. After they touch the green flower orb they both gain their plant magic <3 The guardian also teaches them some new plant magic techniques :D

[scribbles999]

I saw someone on twitter who drew some very pretty seasonal dryads (@/webbsect to be exact), so I wanted to do that too with the Dryad from Sparks Of Hope.

I made two designs for spring because I'm indecisive-

[pearl-crystals]

Doodle Medley :)

Some doodles I've got! I've been drawing a lot but I never share em on here! I've really gotten into Mario and Rabbids and I mostly cannot stop drawing the rabbids and the wardens (mostly Woodrow.)

Ive got a huge surplus of doodles so I hope you enjoy! I hope to draw a few of these bigger! If not, I'm pretty content on how they've turned out :)

Only two of these pictures are based off a tiktok! I am pretty certain you'll be able to tell which one hahaha.

Im adding a read more just because of how many doodles there are. But I hope you enjoy em as much as I do! C:

This should be end of the doodles for now! Hope you enjoyed em! :)

[randomrabbidramblings]

dear sweetlopek Why do you stay still in T pose?

Sweetlopek: "This is how you chop trees like a man! You have to assert dominance by T-posing in front of trees to make them know you're the boss!"

*Proceeds to T-pose through the forest*

Meanwhile Dryad watching him from her nest: "What a moron, I love him so much."

[alumthedragon]

The best(?) part of doing phylogeny based on looks alone is that I can do whatever I want and it isn't necessarily right or wrong. Sphinxes are mammals. Maren are fish. Dryads are plants. Mimics are a kind of arthropod. The world is my oyster and I am a horrible goose

[jasminebelle096]

Happy Valentines Day 💖

So I made those little sketches a few days ago and I legit forgot to post them

And then yesterday I remembered that tomorrow will be the day of love and I thought "eh, it could actually fit in the theme", so here you go!

I'm sorry but they are SO cute I want more of them 🥰

[sagesariadnd]

Just Rambling About My D&D characters, Part 2: Melanthieae, Dryad Circle of Land Druid

Art by Lyssie-chan https://www.patreon.com/leafsways

Backstory - CW: Chronic illness, environmental destruction

Melanthieae spent the majority of her hundred or more years of life in her forest, next to a small human town. In those hundred years, however, the human settlement grew into a larger city, and industry began to bloom. The dryad saw the danger coming, but her warnings fell on deaf ears until it was too late. Her home was overhunted, deforested, polluted, and almost completely destroyed, forcing Melanthieae to flee.

But the forest wasn't the only thing harmed by the humans' carelessness; after escaping to safety, Melanthieae fell severely ill. She recovered, but was never the same; the toxins that destroyed her home now flowed through her veins. No other forest spirits would take her in, fearing they also contract her pollutants, and so she was forced to wander the world as a nomad, fighting back against injustices against nature so that no more forests die as needlessly and painfully as hers.

Assorted thoughts

Melanthieae is easily one of my favorite characters that I've ever created, and the crux of her entire character more or less a spur of the moment decision. The game she was created for was extremely casual, so there was no pressure to even have a full backstory. The game also encouraged to play races that fell outside of the standard humanoids (humans, dwarves, elves, etc.), so homebrew and expanded books were all over the place. So I went into character creation with nothing but the elevator pitch of "I wanna play a dryad!" But then while I was looking through druid spells, I noticed Poison Spray, and because I'm me, I decided I wanted an in-universe reason for taking it. So I thought of a poisoned dryad, then of a polluted dryad, and next thing I knew I had a whole backstory.

Over time, the details of her condition have altered slightly. Initially, I put it as the pollution from the forest getting destroyed infecting her permanently, but after a while I started to get attached to the idea of her conditioning worsening in more polluted environments. Part of the inspiration from the start was the toxic trees from Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, which were toxic because their environment was toxic. So, it felt natural to take even further inspiration - the trees were absorbing the toxins from the earth and water and filtering them, leaving them cleaner than they were, and so that's what Melanthieae is doing. I started treating it more like a chronic illness - there are good days and bad days, heavily affected by her environment, she's always in some level of pain even on the good days, there's no cure, and it was always there. She just never realized she had this condition until her home was destroyed and she was forced to venture out into the world more tainted by humans. I've also expanded the concept of pollution to not just mean man-made; evil energy and toxic oozes also qualify.

Despite her circumstances, Mela pretty much immediately got the nickname 'tree mom' in the game I played her in; she is incredibly gentle and nurturing to her party, and a soft-spoken, calming presence. Somewhere along the way her character voice ended up adopting the verbal tick of calling everyone 'dear.' Or 'darling' in the case of the cleric she ended up developing a romance with. It's cute. But she can also be pretty brutal when the need comes for it. I try to think of it like nature itself; it can be beautiful and comforting, but it can also call down the freaking thunder and wreck your shit.

One of the really fun house rules of that game, was every character had a Limit Break - basically, you were permitted to pool up to four points of inspiration instead of one, and there were additional rules that gave you points (such as getting a point if you go unconscious or are hit for half your HP). Once you had four, you could blow them all for a special effect that lasted 1d4+proficiency rounds. Melanthieae's Limit Break created a 30 foot cube of polluted forest that destroyed any structure it had to grow through, did small amounts of poison damage to hostile creatures, and best of all, allowed Mela to use her Tree Stride ability to move anywhere in that cube, with no attacks of opportunity from enemies. She could Tree Stride twice per turn (each time cost 15 feet of movement) so I would often use this to zoop over to an enemy, attack, and zoop back to safety. Apparently this was the gateway to my addiction to teleportation powers, since now I also abuse Shadow Step as a Way of Shadow monk in my current Friday game

We also ended up in an unspoken tradition of naming our Limit Breaks after songs. Apparently it's a Jojo's thing? Anyway, Melanthieae's Limit Break is named Resonance of the Earth, a famously awesome Yoko Kanno song from an anime I otherwise don't care for; Earth Maiden Arjuna. ...come to think of it, I think the 'you feel the pollutants in your environment' thing probably came from Arjuna too. Though in my defense, I hadn't watched the anime in a long time when I made Mela and only recently rewatched it. Anyway, listen to the track here, it kicks ass and I think embodies the spirit I want to invoke when I play Mela in combat.

I've made a few cameos in my mom's Tuesday game with Melanthieae, before I ended up joining her game long term, and I think she's my mom's favorite too. She sometimes found excuses to mention her or have me read Sendings in-character. I'd love another chance to play her, especially in a long-form game when I can put more focus on the pollution angle - her first game was more episodic with not much downtime roleplay, and in mom's game she was a guest, so I didn't have too much chance.

[anulithots]

So that could've been a mini-spiral, here's a thing that helped.

Uhmm... I'm going to tag @holdmyteaplease and @dancinginsepia, you all may like this <3

Context is that the others are in the "news watching phase" and I don't like my existence being political. (But sarcasm is great, that was the moral of the story.)

ANYWHO-

Specifically make a playlist to songs you've had the "nirvana lots of stimming" thing for. The ones that you've played over and over again for days and hummed along and danced to in the closet. Just those ones. Not any of the "good vibes ones" or even the "ooh character daydreams ones" just the ones you've actively felt the uber-happy-serotonin to. (Although in mine I added a few more melancholy ones that still give me happy chemicals, just make sure the most jammie jam ones are first.)

Mine's here because why not:

Okie dokie, that's part one.

The second part is the assigning a thought process the role of "caretaker". I story-fied this so that there are pixies that take residence in Anuli's head because of mycorrhizal symbiosis and only Naegi (the language processing, presentable one) can speak, so fae tells Anuli to use faer thoughts to give Squioo (the caretaker) a voice, and I really really want to include snippets of on-the-spot prose but maybe at the end.

Anywho, this "caretaker" thought process is there to soothe you whenever you need them. Mine calls me "bean" and says a lot of "I know, it's okay" and any help I need with doing the next task and not holding onto the spiral thoughts.

In fact! Thoughts become most damaging when they are OUR thoughts. They aren't! Most of the time, they are offered from that collection of subconscious childhood sponge stuff. You collected that, yes, but not by choice, so none of that is yours, they are only meant to help you when you need it.

And there was this one podcast my parents listened to in the car (long drives <3) and it talked about the four parts of the brain (Theoretically, they are nice guides, not foolproof, but nice. It makes me feel less alone - that was cheesy - in my head). They go like this:

The presentable one. Think "masking". This is your presentably and plan-making part of your brain that likes to analyze things (for the sake of future things, I think hyperfixations are more of a "three" part of the brain... more on that later.) Very future focused and will try to keep you out of trouble in society. You can call upon this one for any logic things for the future.

The Danger one. The one that probably got you in that spiral. They are that scared child that needs to hide and protect themselves and get away from the danger. They are only a scared little one, so it's best to call upon the Caretaker at that point to calm them down.

The inner child. Hyperfixations and the present moment has all these wonderful things and let's have some fun and oooh squirrel and this one lives off dopamine and having fun and stimulation every second of the day. Can get in trouble though. And this one will probably use jokes to make you feel better. Also a little one.

Then there's the caretaker.

I sttttoorrryyyfiiiieeeddd them! (They used to be one being and before they split and Floa got in trouble and now they are banished and Naegi is working on a plan to get unbanished and I don't even know if they will be cannon yet but like... I love them and they are the roles that I use.)

----

SNIPPETS

TW for the idea that certain minorities/other groups can be "parasites" and harm the majority. (Sorry, don't know what the term for this would be.)

"I don't want to think about that fallen fairy nonsense. In fact, say another word about them and I'll find one... I'll rip it;s eyes out so it can see what horror its bringing to all of my innocent dryads. "

Maidoe nodded. Nodded. Not a single shift in faer behavior. Did fae- was Maidoe like that too?

Does fae think that of me?

The container shattered. Static latched along my neck, tightening. My breath caught in the fibers. Perhaps my heart burst, it's sticky web spun around my head. Blood trickled from my ears. It exposed me to everyone, my eyes would fall into the puddles, warm and sticky and my sight fell beneath the pools of blood sinking beneath all the horrors I've ever-

"You okay? You went..." Maidoe tilted faer head, "Well, you're staring at your feet like they've wronged you."

I'm a fallen fairy. I'm a fallen fairy. I'm a fallen fairy. I'm a fallen fairy I'm drowning I'm drowning

dying.

dying.

dying.

"F-fine" I breathed.

"You sure?"

Just that word was an arc, a million stories, all that I had left, any more and I would burst at the seams.

I nodded.

Maidoe smiled and turned back to the Mother Fairy, the one who- and fae was -

How could fae be two things? That's not moral ambiguity, that's a juxtaposition and a dichotomy and tonal dissonance and it didn't add anything it didn't make narrative sense-

'You're spiraling.'

I growled. I know that Naegi, I know, I'm sorry, I know, and it's not-

'Squioo could help. Fae's done so before, and we can have us fumbling in front of important figures, just think of what that would do to our reputation-'

Fibers wormed around my spine, snaked around my neck, pulled until it bled, swelled-

Squioo could fix it?

What do I do? How do I do it? Is it difficult because I can't, I'm sorry, it's not- but I'll try to- I can't promise-

My scalp throbbed. I would've pressed my hands to my head and tugged at roots and yet my fingertips remained by my sides.

'Just give faer access to your thoughts so fae can speak to you, since you think in... word-ish pictures?'

Stories. I'm sorry. Did I mess it up already? Predestined fate of the villain and I will burst and that will mess everything up and this is nothing I haven't heard before and it was so small what do I do what do I do-

'Just imagine one of those... how would you phrase it? Mentor figures? Except more of the subtle sort. A caretaker. Someone who will soothe you from this spiral, imagine a few words and Squioo will gain access from there.'

I stiffened. The whispers of a forgotten lullaby ringing in my ears, of broken windchimes and fae was hurt and angry and does Kamari think like that now-

'Try a sentence to start with.'

You're okay, little on- oh I- what if it doesn't work? Am I doing it right? What if it's- I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

'Continue.'

You'll be okay, Anuli, I promise. We'll have a happy ending where we sing to the stars that we are free. It will be wonderous. Are you cold? Does that feel better?

If you wanted to stay you wouldn't have broken-

'Hello love. We'll take this one note at a time, okay?'

I bit the inside of my mouth, the sobs scratching at the confines. Okay

'Can you focus on the insides of your nose for me? And when you're ready, take a deep breath, whenever you're ready. Okay?'

I'll burst.

'That's okay. Do you want to try your palms instead? Can you watch those?'

My fingers twitched at my sides. Like this?

'Yes, very good love. Do your palms feel cold, hot?'

Hot and twitchy.

'That's alright love. Just watch it for now, any sensations?'

Yes.

'Can you tell me about them?'

I breathed out, hitched and shaky. They have... sparkles? Waves of almost wind but thicker, soft and... bouncy... like moss? But clouds?

'Cloudy moss must be very soft.'

A spurt of laughter mixed with swollen sobs. It's floaty.

'That's wonderous love. We'll watch it together, okay?'

Okay.

The fibers and blood fell though my fingertips, leaving me a washed-out cloth, left in the rain for moons, and oh how hollow and wonderous the sunlight was.

Squioo?

'Yes?'

... You're wonderous. Thank you.

'Aw. Thank you love.'

[pastelprince18]

Okay if you're doing drawing requests, can you at least draw my Maiden for for Dryad-?/nf

Hope ya didn’t mind I gave her leaf sleeves <:3

[newtsinboots]

Sun-cursed dryad

[tvrningout-a]

when i finally have some free time, it’s over for y’all 🔪

[cyberneticdryad]

another year of no decorating for christmas, but in my heart i have decorated for every holiday i celebrate

[scribbles999]

🤲🧚‍♀️

[pearl-crystals]

Doodles Dump Cake

Another compiled post of doodles! These are ones I want to either make into big pictures or just had tons of fun doing.

There is a ton and my phone was acting weird trying to upload these. So heads up if you are having any trouble. If you are let me know!

I hope you enjoy em!!

[randomrabbidramblings]

Dryad giving kisses to Sweetlopek in her pixie form:

I had to lol.

[hostess-of-horror]

Blooms in the Frost

A Sweetleaves Fanfic by @monsterbride99 and @minnesotamedic186

​Medic’s note: This takes place before our first Sweetleaves fanfic Fallen Leaves, so it’s basically a prequel or prologue to all the lovey stuff(Also I wanted to get this out while there was still snow on the ground so it’d be more, relatable, I guess-?)  Dryad will spend this story in her Monster Form as well.

He could feel the winds biting his skin. His face burned from the piercing chill of the winter storm, his cheeks and ears flushed into blotches of red. He thought that the spiked eggnog at the local bar would warm him up, but once the weather became a blizzard, he realized his underestimation. 

Sweetlopek marched through the thick white snow with stubborn determination. There were many places for him to take shelter for the night, but he refused and took his chances. But the chances of him getting to his home safely were extremely slim. This Sweetlopek found out as he felt his legs slowly begin to give in. His knees buckled under the weight. His back ached and his eyes could barely make out the usual pathway before him. Not even his freshest memory of his homeland helped him through the blizzard. As Sweetlopek took another step, he collapsed on his knees, his breathing sharp and short, and everything went black.

—

As the Spellbound Beast, storms like these were perfect for Dryad to stalk outside, just around the perimeter of Spellbound Woods. It was the closest she could get to the mortals of Palette Prime without causing any panic. Her massive form slowly prowled through the winds, almost invisible, camouflaged against the opaque sheets of white surrounding her. It was also the only form that can truly withstand the bitter cold as if it were just a small breeze. 

Dryad let out a short exhale. A scent had caught her senses. With a grunt, she followed it, tracing it to an area a bit further away than where she normally stays in. The scent grew thicker, more prominent, as she drew closer. Soon, Dryad recognized it. 

Oak… Steel… Wool…

A slight tinge of herbs…

She knew this odor all too well. A whimper escaped her throat as she picked up speed. A few steps forward and there before her, almost shrouded in snow, laid an unconscious lumberjack. Dryad lowered her head down and nudged him gently, lifting him from the pile accumulated from the weather. Still, he remained unmoving. She pressed against him again. A small shiver ran through her fur, making her twitch. He was breathing. It was shallow, but breathing nonetheless.

Grabbing him by the collar of his coat, Dryad carefully lifted him up by her teeth and walked back into the woods. As the winds died down within the trees, she held him in her paw and placed him on top of her mane. He would be more comfortable and far warmer there. What was Sweetlopek doing out in this storm, Dryad thought. She had yet to see a mortal who could handle such temperatures without succumbing to illness. She huffed. Of course, it just had to be him of all the inhabitants of Palette Prime. But she could not bring herself to be angry at him. She was scared. Mortals are fragile, and Sweetlopek was no exception.

Now deep into her sanctuary within the Spellbound Woods, Dryad kneeled and laid down near her nest. She lifted Sweetlopek up again and looked at him. He was still unconscious, still breathing, and so much warmer. He would be warmer still if she placed him within her nest. After all, to her it was the perfect place for warmth after all these centuries. But perhaps he needed more than just that. Dryad could feel the coldness emitting from Sweetlopek and, as gently as she could, she laid him down within the nest with just enough space for her to sleep in.

Like a dragon with its horde of treasure, Dryad, the Spellbound Beast, crawled over and laid down beside him, her paws just barely wrapped around him.

—

Sweetlopek suddenly woke up to him falling into a thick blanket of snow. The icy chill made him spring up, fully awake. He slowly rose, patting down his coat to clean off the frost. Letting out an irritated harrumph, Sweetlopek then looked around. The last thing he remembered was leaving the bar, after celebrating Shiverfest with the locals down at Paletteville. How did he manage to end up here of all places? Suddenly, a strong gust of hot air interrupted Sweetlopek's thoughts from behind. A low, rumbling yawn shook him to the core. He cautiously turned around.

He covered his mouth, catching himself from screaming, and fell backwards from the sight before him. His eyes widened in fear. Sweetlopek remained still, not just out of pure shock but as to not wake the giant creature from its slumber. He considered his chances: make his attempt to escape or be at the mercy of this great beast. But as he thought, he realized where he was at and what it truly was. He was in the Spellbound Woods, and the giant before him was the infamous Spellbound Beast.

Sweetlopek slowly lifted himself up, his eyes locked on the Spellbound Beast. Inch by inch, he carefully rose, hoping to not make much noise. The snow crunched underneath him. He continued even slower, but the crunching was too loud for his liking. He pressed on anyway. The Spellbound Beast snorted. He froze. Just a few more moves, he thought to himself, just a few more. After a few seconds, he continued until he was finally standing. 

So far, so good.

As he went to turn around, he couldn't bring himself to look away. The last thing he needed was the Beast to awake and chase him down. Sweetlopek took a deep breath and held it, making his next first step away. He paused again. He slowly exhaled and looked away, taking another step.

Another gust of hot breath blew behind him, followed by another rumbling yawn. The Spellbound Beast shifted, its limbs moving to make room for a big stretch. Its paws reached out forwards, cornering the panicked lumberjack, until it finally curled up again, taking him with it. Sweetlopek, caught within its paws, was met with a face full of warm fur. He turned away as much as he possibly could, giving himself air to breath. "Is this you keeping me warm…" Sweetlopek huffed, "or your attempt to kill me?" He felt it shift again, its fur brushing against him as it rose its head up. Sweetlopek could not do anything but watch helplessly as the Spellbound Beast let out a huge yawn and slowly peer down at him. 

Sweetlopek gulped. The beast had no eyes, but somehow, it could sense him. He could not tell if having eyes or not made it scarier. The Spellbound Beast "stared" back and licked its chomps. Sweetlopek's heart jumped and tensed up with frightened anticipation. But then, instead of taking a bite out of the lumberjack, the beast stuck out its tongue into a tiny "blep." Sweetlopek slumped back into the snow as he was finally released from its grip. He watched as it stood straight up, stretching its body from sleep. It then shook the snow off its fur. Sweetlopek was not quick enough to miss the falling snow and ended up, once again, covered in it.

Sweetlopek grunted in annoyance as he patted himself down again. The Spellbound Beast sat down and tilted its head in curiosity. He looked up and down at the massive creature. He has encountered it before - mostly seen it - and it had given him trouble for quite some time. But now, here it is, sitting before him like a friendly dog. Sweetlopek did not understand, nor could he, how such an legendary monster of his planet's folklore became docile towards him. "I, uh… I suppose this is your way of… apologizing?" he spoke to it.

The beast tilted its head the other way. Sweetlopek tilted his, and as he did so, it tilted the other way again. "I'm not sure… if that's you saying 'yes'... Heck, I bet you can’t even understand me." Sweetlopek pondered. It then perked up and made a huff as if to say, "Excuse me?" He stopped at its reaction, "Oh, you can understand me?" The Spellbound Beast huffed again and nodded. Sweetlopek blinked in surprise; it shook its head! It then stood up, strolled around him, and went to a large, dying tree. Near the roots of the dying tree, it picked up a large branch, which compared to her size is a measly stick, and carried it over near Sweetlopek. With a slight struggle, the beast adjusted the branch in its jaws, the pointed end facing downwards into the snow. It began to drag the branch and Sweetlopek looked on until he realized that the drawn symbols were letters.

D  R  Y  A  D

He gasped and spun around. He looked up at the giant, intelligent creature. "Dryad?" He muttered, his mind completely blown. The beast then responded by drawing another sign into the snow: a simple, smiley face. The lumberjack looked at the smiley face, then back at Dryad, and then back at the smiley face again. He paused. "That was YOU?!" he finally bursted out loud, "YOU were the one who was trying to scare me away?! To keep me from lumbering, my livelihood?" Dryad nodded again. Sweetlopek groaned, "Okay, so you want me to stop doing my job because you're a… tree spirit and all that. But here's the thing, I can't. I can't do that. You know why? Because I need to survive in a society that runs on money. And lumbering makes money." She tilted its head. 

"Okay, maybe you don't understand the basics of economics…" he sighed wearily, "But you do understand survival, right? Isn't survival a part of life? That sometimes some living things take other living things to survive? And being able to live… Well, isn't that what everyone wants?" Dryad stood silently, although Sweetlopek could not decipher whether she was contemplating or simply not comprehending anything. She then turned and looked at her surroundings. A low hum emitted from her chest as she looked back at the lumberjack. With an exhale, Dryad lowered herself, lying on her side with her head towards him. Sweetlopek approached Dryad cautiously. "Are we… Are we good? Do we have a deal? For right now at least?" he asked as he knelt down to where her nose would be.

Dryad rolled over a bit and nodded. The lumberjack sighed with relief. No more scares. No more chasing. "Okay, good." Sweetlopek said as let out another sigh, "Do you, mind if I can…?" He raises his hand, slowly and gently, as he inches towards Dryad's snout. He then carefully placed his mitten upon her, petting the smooth and warm fur. She paused for a moment, letting him touch her, and finally relaxed with a loud purr. "Heh. You know, for the Spellbound Beast, you're awfully adorable like this." Sweetlopek chucked, "Makes me almost forget that you tried to eat me a few times." Dryad huffed, and he laughed. 

He could not believe it. The Spellbound Beast, lying before him, and there he was… petting it! Or, rather, her. Despite learning of the beast's true identity, being with her was a moment only found in fantasy tales. "Okay…" he sighed with a slight grin, "Can you take me home, then?" Dryad shifted forward and her snout pressed underneath his body, lifting him all the way up in the air. Sweetlopek let out a yelp as he tumbled onto her face and down into her mane. She then let out an odd sound - he assumed it was laughter. The lumberjack clutched onto her mane by the thick strands of hair as Dryad finally stood up on all fours and marched out of the woods.

The morning sun shone over the crystal-like trees. The frost glistened as they ventured like diamonds on a chandelier. Sweetlopek took the view in as his eyes began to close from exhaustion. He could have stayed up, but the slow, swaying motion of Dryad's walking and the warmth emitting from her fur made it impossible. Soon enough, he was fast asleep again

.…Why would she save him?

…Why did she save him?

After all, he's a lumberjack. Like all the others before him.

Was it his determination? His bravery?

His stubbornness?

Dryad is stubborn as well. Perhaps she recognized that.

He should probably thank her soon. But maybe, he'll have to thank her through some… offering or ancient ritual or some-

Sweetlopek felt himself suddenly drop down. In a matter of seconds, he fell from Dryad's mane and landed right on top of a giant snow pile. The sheer coldness shook him to the core, causing him to jolt up to his feet. "Agh!" Sweetlopek groaned, "Are you kidding me?" Dryad "laughed" again. He looked up to see a smile on her face. A mischievous spirit, even as the Spellbound Beast. The lumberjack looked over to his house, then back at Dryad, as he brushed the snow off himself again. "Thank you, Dryad. I mean it." He spoke sincerely. Dryad lowered her head, as if to say "You're welcome", and began marching back. Sweetlopek watched the massive creature return to her home as his heart began to swell with warmth.

Oh, what a beauty she is.