Heart of the Forest (Dryad TF/TG)

Damian walked a lonely road. He didn’t have a destination in mind. No physical goal animated him, no desire to go anywhere in particular. But he had to keep moving, anywhere. If the man stopped for longer than it took to eat, drink, and sleep, he would have to attend to his duties as a cleric, and in all candor, he didn’t know what he’d do if he had the time to think.

He wasn’t walking completely without purpose. He walked in search of answers to questions he’d never had to ask before. Questions he didn’t want to ask. He was walking somewhere. He didn’t know where. But he felt… drawn, in this way. Drawn to wander off the maps, drawn to leave the civilized world behind him. He hadn’t stopped walking since that day… weeks ago? Months? It was impossible to tell, and he cursed himself for forgetting to keep track. It was a disservice to her.

Damian walked, and walked, and walked some more. He wondered, idly, how the others were doing. Leon had been the first to storm off, and Damian doubted he’d returned. He hoped he’d found some time to calm down. The other two… the gods only knew where they’d gone. He winced at that phrase. He’d stayed for a while. Too long. Unable to reconcile reality with what he’d wholeheartedly believed, he’d been paralyzed for hours and hours, and by the time he was able to force himself to stand, he was alone.

Trees loomed over him as he walked into the forest, hardly paying attention. He was lost in the physical act of travelling. One step in front of the other. Trying not to trip over divots in the road or roots that lay atop it. He didn’t stop even as the road faded into the brush, indistinguishable from the dirt around it. He just kept going and going.

He stopped in his tracks. What was that distant tune? A song, weaving it’s way through the boughs and branches. It was soft and quiet, at this distance, but it’s beauty was still breathtaking. He shifted his direction slightly, trudging through the undergrowth towards the source of the song - not realizing it was the distant tune that had driven him to the forest in the first place.

Through the trees he ran, until he stumbled across the source of the song. Sitting on a rock by the pool was a shapely elven woman wearing only a thin white shift. She sang a beautiful, wordless song that practically entranced the cleric, and her beauty certainly didn’t help snap him out of it.

Damian had no idea how long he stared, but eventually she finished, opening forest-green eyes to look at him and smiling. “Oh! I see I had an audience!” she said, smiling brightly. Even when she wasn’t singing, her voice was melodic and entrancing. “Why are you standing all the way over there? I don’t bite, silly!”

The cleric worked his mouth for a few moments, but no sounds came out. Then he coughed, blushing a bit, and stepped forward and walked towards her. “My apologies for intruding, madam. I heard your song while I was walking and simply couldn’t believe it’s beauty…”

“Thaaaanks~” The elf girl said, giggling at the man’s clear embarrassment. “Oh, I almost forgot! My name is Leona. Nice to meet you!”

“Ah, I should have introduced myself. My name is Damian. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, Leona.” What a coincidence. “That name is a tad unusual, for an Elf…”

“Well your name doesn’t sound quite right either, does it?” Leona said, a smile on her face despite her contrition. “Anyway, I guess I should officially welcome you to my home~ I hope you enjoy your stay.” she continued, arms outstretched to either side.

“Your home? Where…?” Damian looked around, looking for some hidden house or even tent.

“Everywhere. This forest is my home. The grass is my bed, the trees are my walls, the bushes and streams are where I get my food. Who could ask for more?” As if to demonstrate, Leona lay back in the grass spread-eagle, a contented grin on her face. Damian hurriedly averted his gaze to avoid getting an eyeful of anything he shouldn’t.

“I know some people who wouldn’t be satisfied…” The mage Damian knew certainly wouldn’t - he’d never been an outdoorsy type.

“They just convinced themselves of it. I’m sure if they gave it a chance, they’d come to love it.” Leona said confidently. She sat up again, now sitting cross legged on the grass. “So, mister ‘Damian’,” she said the name in a way that Damian found a bit odd, as if she were pronouncing a made up word. “You got something about me, what about something for you? You know I’m a simple, forest-living elf; what about you? What do you do?”

“I’m an adventurer, and a cleric.” he said, then grimaced. “...Or, I was. I don’t know what I am, anymore.”

“You seem a bit young to retire.” Leona said. Did you get hurt? Did you just get enough money to retire? Did… something happen…?”

Damian didn’t know why he felt like speaking to her. He had never met this elf in his life, and he hadn’t talked about it to anyone. “...My party broke up. I don’t think I can continue adventuring.”

Leona nodded, following along. “I see… yeah, that sounds sad, like it’d make you stop… but what about the cleric thing? Isn’t that supposed to be a for life thing?”

“When I left my town, I was brimming with faith.” he said. “The God of Justice has seen me through countless battles, saving many lives. Or at least, that’s what I thought. But…” he swallowed hard, trying to put it into words. “...When I needed him most, he wasn’t there. My healing failed me. It failed…” he couldn’t bring himself to say it. So he moved on. “Ever since then… I haven’t been so sure. I haven’t been able to pray since then. I haven’t been able to access my powers. A cleric with their faith shattered is no cleric at all.”

He’d closed his eyes, trying to fight back his tears. He felt a hand on his shoulder. “There, there… let it out.” Leona said softly. “I can understand, somewhat… I’ve had that kind of break up happen to me, too. Coming here really helped, though.” she said.

For a while, they just sat there, letting Damian cry. But eventually, Leona spoke again. “Do you mind if I show you something? I don’t know that it’ll help… but there’s something here that might help you get a new perspective on your crisis of faith.” She had seemed friendly, if a bit ditzy, before. But now she spoke solemnly, respectfully.

Despite himself, Damian nodded slightly. “I don’t know that anything can help. But there’s no harm in looking, is there?”

“Of course not.” Leona said, offering him a hand to help him to his feet.

She guided him through the woods at a leisurely pace, not going too fast. He didn’t know why he kept following this stranger who-knew-where - for all he knew, it was some monster in disguise. But her voice was so relaxing, so comforting. It was like he’d known her forever.

He began to feel strange as they walked. Like something was ahead of them. “This is what I wanted to show you…” Leona said, pointing to a break in the trees not far in front. “For someone in a crisis of faith, a sign of the divine…”

As they left the tree line, Damian gasped softly. In front of them was a huge tree. It was as big as any castle he’d ever seen - bigger, even. It’s trunk alone was like a castle’s citadel, it’s roots as big as houses. Those roots snaked their way into the ground, and he somehow knew they spread through the forest. He could feel some kind of power radiating from the tree, more and more strongly as he approached.

“The Earth Mother, the goddess of life, planted this tree herself.” Leona said, although Damian was too busy stumbling towards the tree in a daze to pay attention. Still, her words penetrated deep, bouncing around his mind. “She doesn’t much like the objects that other gods use for their worship… These trees are her temples, her representation in this world. The surest sign of a deity’s presence that you can find, these days. It’s roots are everywhere. It isn’t just the heart of the forest - it is the forest.”

Damian sank to his knees. He had never seen such divinity in person.. Never experienced this kind of… presence. It was like the Earth Mother was right there next to him, caressing him. It was the kind of feeling that could restore a broken faith. It was the kind of feeling that wrapped around him, seeping into his mind through the openings made by Leona’s song, her words, her magic.

For the first time in a long time, he prayed. Not to his old god. Such a distant deity, one that would allow that event to transpire, wasn’t worthy of devotion. He prayed to the Earth Mother, the goddess whose presence could be felt easily and clearly.

Leona knelt beside him, leaning against him and speaking softly in his ear. “She will hear you. Say whatever you wish. Listen close to the whispers of the forest. Renew your vows, not to the gods of man, but to the goddess of nature… Pledge yourself to the Earth Mother…”

Damian couldn’t help himself. He was too close to divinity to deny it now. Words came to his mind, whispered from beyond. “I… I swear myself to the Earth Mother… to be her representative in this mortal realm… to protect her and her children, and bring her love to as many as I can… I pledge myself to her, casting off all others…”

As he prayed, he felt something grip his feet from below. Not opening his eyes, he somehow knew it was the roots of the tree, the Earth Mother accepting his vows… and offering her power.

The magic filled him, and as it did, he changed. His legs grew long and lithe, and he gained several inches of height - he hadn’t been a short man, but now he was nearly seven feet tall. At the same time, his legs lost their hair, becoming smooth and flawless, while his bottom started to swell. His hips and waist came next, as his masculinity faded into deep curves, and a certain amount of weight to lend him a bit more of a full figured body.

His chest came next, his shirt straining to contain the budding bosom beneath, as it swelled to an even bigger size than Leona’s. He groaned but grit his teeth, as while his arms followed the path of his legs, his insides changed as well. Down around his groin, a certain something pulled into him, leaving a feminine crevasse as his reproductive system rearranged itself.

She could feel the changes happening, and even to a degree understood them. But Damian didn’t care. He embraced them wholeheartedly. This was what her beloved goddess desired her to be, and who was she to disagree? She was eager as her face rearranged itself, becoming distinctly feminine. Her dark hair grew out and out and out in cascading tangles, splaying out on the ground behind her.

Damian had, in the space of less than two minutes, gone from man to woman. A matronly woman, statuesque and motherly. But that wasn’t the end of her changes.

Damian’s legs vanished, becoming indistinguishable from the roots. She moaned with ecstasy. She was one with the tree. She was one with her Goddess. Her humanity began to slip away from her, taking her memory with it. But she didn’t mind, if it was what her Goddess desired. She was hers, body, mind, and soul.

Her skin began to darken, becoming a deep, rich brown like the bark of the great tree. Vines climbed her body, her clothes fading away and being replaced. The vines, flowers blooming along them, emphasized her figure, allowing only a modicum of modesty, which she found was just the way she liked it. Her long hair rapidly brightened to a leafy green - which was appropriate, seeing as a large portion of it had sprouted leaves. Her eyes matched it’s color when she opened them.

Danai knew what she was, now. She was a dryad of the enchanted forest. The representative of the Earth Mother and her great tree, a physical embodiment of the forest’s will. She was content, happy, even. The roots pulled away, returning her legs to her. As much as she’d like to remain with her tree, she had other things to do.

“Welcome back, Danai~” Leona said, leaping into a hug with the motherly woman.

“My my, someone’s enthusiastic…” Danai said, as she returned the elven maiden’s hug, stroking her blonde hair gently. “I missed you very much, Leona… although I can’t say I remember where I was.”

She had the faintest of memories of what she was before. She remembered Leona, and others… others who weren’t their real selves, now. Others she had to help Leona bring back.

“Can you help? It’s so hard to do it alone…” Leona asked, knowing that Danai would understand her request.

Danai smiled serenely. She could feel her Goddess’ answer. She wanted to help. She wanted to bring them back. “The Earth Mother says I should help. And I agree. Come, sing your beautiful song once more…”

Flowers bloomed across Danai’s body as Leona began to sing. She offered Leona a hand, and the dryad and elf danced together beneath the great tree, flowers growing wherever they stepped. Danai added her sweet-scented magic to the elven maiden’s beckoning melody, reaching out across the world beyond to draw their third lost friend and ally to the forest...