Pruned Trees Re-Sprout!! ~ Ragazza Volpe Magica ~

“What are we even supposed to be doing?” Rebecca questioned her Maestro as they stood at the hunter base camp. They had already signed up for the evening’s festivities, now they just had to wait for Colette.

“Good fucking question. My brain turned off after seeing how much we’d make for helping out,” Shouri replied.

“How much was it?” Pacifica asked.

“We’d basically double our nightly earnings,” he replied.

“It’s like doing two nights of work for one night!” The otter’s eyes began to sparkle. “Imagine the cruise we could go on,” she plotted.

“Or the cakes we could buy.” Taika also was preemptively spending their future wages, mouth-watering.

Shouri shook his head, smiling. They were consistent if nothing else.

Pacifica suddenly squeaked and trembled, holding herself. Her eyes were locked on the dirt path leading up to the hunter camp.

Amongst the groups walking up, the awaiting quartet spotted Colette with two Resonators in tow. Kaira was her typical, strong but silent presence behind her Maestro. The other Resonator was a new addition.

He was a small boy, probably three or four years younger than the rest of the group. Atop his head were long ears with thin, fine, sand-colored fur. He held his thin tail out in front of him, looking around uneasily. To note his tail was quite long, almost as long as he was tall, covered in the same fine fur as his ears. Though the tip of his tail had a cluster of longer fur that jutted out.

Colette waved as she walked up. “Hey Shouri, here’s our patient today!” she called out to the other Maestro.

The male Maestro studied the much younger rodent boy before looking at his otter. Taking in a breath, Pacifica dismissed the uncomfortable feeling she had come to associate with the Feroce phenomenon. She regarded her Maestro with a short nod, a smirk, and a thumbs up.

Turning on the charm, she smiled at the afflicted Resonator. “What’s your name?” the otter greeted the rodent boy. He shirked a bit, trembling upon being called upon.

“Fischer…” he squeaked. His eyes darted around, looking at all the older, stronger Resonators that now surrounded him.

Pacifica leaned forward, bending her knees a bit to appear smaller. “I’m Pacifica, this is Taika, and she’s Rebecca. He’s our Maestro, Shouri.” She sweetened her voice a bit, speaking slowly so as not to stress the boy out any further than he already was.

And it worked, Fischer calmed down ever so slightly but still held onto his tail as if it would protect him from a sudden attack.

Colette meanwhile, spoke with Shouri about what his role was in all of this.

“Feroce Resonators heal from the condition by being in environments with healthy Resonators. As a reminder, powerful etude like yours will quickly show results,” she explained. From her side, she produced a green tuner and offered it to the other Maestro. “Here’s his tuner.”

Shouri stared at the device being extended to him. “Why?” he asked, making no effort to accept it.

“Being around healthy Resonators is one thing, channeling the rhythm of Maestros with strong etude very rapidly cures the condition. Fischer here is just about cured, just needs that last push,” the redhead revealed.

“Where’s his Maestro?” Shouri questioned more pointedly.

Colette raised a brow, lowering her arm. “He doesn’t have one?” she said as if it should have been obvious. Kaira tapped her Maestro’s shoulder. “Ah.” Colette jumped at the touch. “None of the Resonators in the program do. Once they’ve been cured of their affliction, they will go into foster care at which point a permanent Maestro may be found,” she detailed out for the newly initiated Maestro.

“Hmmm… What kind of success rate are we looking at?” Shouri inquired.

“One hundred percent!” Colette beamed. “Feroce only gets worse if the spells are used. As long as you stay within the program’s parameters, Fischer will be cured and be able to move to the foster phase and a forever home after that.” The scholar explained with pride.

“Hrm.” Shouri’s eyes drifted to the green tuner Colette was still holding. “Fine. Hand it over,” he acquiesced. Colette grinned toothily and once more held out the device for him. This time he took it. Four Resonators would be tough but looking at the spell list, it was all the most basic Nature element spells. That would be nothing compared to what he usually cast with his Resonators.

Shouri

Resonator: Fischer

Species: Demi-Human (Jerboa)

Element: Nature

Attribute: Piercing (Feroce)

Rhythm: 100%

“Hrm,” Shouri hummed again, regarding the status screen with some trepidation. He didn’t see any of those Feroce spells in Fischer’s list.

“It’s a special spell that only shows up whenever I’m in trouble.”

He recalled Vince’s experience with the Feroce spells. They only seemed to show up in a pinch or something. As long as they kept control of the situation, the spells wouldn’t show up. Even if they did though, the consequences for using them were too great to ever consider them a viable option in battle.

BANG

The sound of a sniper round echoed in Shouri's mind, causing him to shudder. He shook his head, trying to dismiss the unpleasant memory. His eyes fell on Fischer, who was now laughing at something Pacifica had said.

Resonators were people; to subject them to such a fate was beyond cruel. That’s why he was even entertaining this task in the first place.

“There’s nothing you could have done!”

Not true. There’s something he can do here and now.

“Alright.” Shouri finally left his head to address the situation at hand. “Let’s get moving,” he spoke to the now four Resonators under his command.

“Yes, let’s!” Colette helpfully chimed in.

The side eye was cast in the young woman’s direction. “You didn’t even register.” He pointed towards the rapidly ballooning line.

“No need. Since I’m Fischer’s handler, I’m already pre-registered,” the student boasted proudly.

“Goody,” Shouri grumbled. To be honest, she hadn’t gotten weird about his rhythm since their meeting this morning, so hopefully she’d continue the streak of good behavior and be a normal person for the time being.

“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Colette whispered to Shouri. They were crouched behind some bushes in the woods. In a nearby clearing, there was a small herd of Scherzando milling about harmlessly. The two Maestros were the closest to the action, though their little detachment of Resonators stood close to the pair, ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice.

“Why not?” Shouri asked, studying the movements of the beasts. “These ones look pretty weak.” He frowned, ignorant of the issue at hand.

“Look at how many there are!” she hissed, thrusting her index finger towards the cluster of Scherzando.

“Pacifica, Loro Formato Lunare Lago, Legato,” Shouri offhandedly cast.

“Wha-?!” the water otter yelped, suddenly brimming with her Maestro’s rhythm. She was wholly unprepared as her arm jerked skyward out of her control.

Colette watched in horror as a massive ball of ice rapidly formed just overhead, blotting out the light of the moon. Kaira grabbed her Maestro’s shoulders from behind, pressing down hard on the earth ready to escape at a moment’s notice.

Poor Pacifica threw her arm forward, directing the massive ice ball towards the herd of Scherzando.

“Oh right, Fischer should be doing something.” Shouri drew the green tuner from his side. “Uhhh, Rullante di Radice, Rubato – stop them from fleeing,” he directed the jerboa.

“Me?!” the boy yelped suddenly finding himself having access to Shouri’s rhythm. He did as instructed and held out both of his hands, focusing on trying to ensnare some of the fleeing Scherzando. He wasn’t as quick on the draw as the other Resonators present and missed a lot of his shots, with roots erupting from the ground and grabbing a whole lot of air. However, he did manage to catch some of them and held on long enough for the next phase of the operation:

BOOOM!!!

The huge ice-rock made impact, exploding into a storm of dirt and ice, wiping out the Scherzando who couldn’t clear ground zero, and sending Shouri’s group a distance away.

After the chaos had settled, a ball of sand stood firm near the site of the devastating attack. The particles fell away, returning to the satchel at Kaira’s side. The jackal-girl breathed hard wiping some sweat from her brow. Colette sat on her rear, flabbergasted at the gall of the other Maestro. The trees that did weather the storm had been stripped bare of their leaves and there was a lovely indent in the earth where the artificial meteor had made its impact. Shaking her head, she hopped to her feet, quickly locating Shouri and his Resonators who were all sprawled out a distance away, not having braced for the storm they wrought.

The red-haired Maestro ground her teeth, brows descending into a harsh glare. She stomped over and grabbed Shouri by the scruff of his shirt.

“WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” the woman shrieked whilst shaking the dirt-covered Maestro in a justified rage.

“There are many things wrong with me, Colette, being shaken like a mix-drink being one of them,” the accused managed to get out.

Releasing Shouri and letting gravity deal with him, the other Maestro ground her foot into the dirt. “I can’t believe you,” came the grumble. “Dropping a spell like that on us.” She turned her head away in a huff.

Rebecca rolled Fischer off of her, having grabbed the younger Resonator at the point of impact to shield him from the blast. “I’m sure Sho had good a good reason,” Rebecca groaned as she sat up and dusted herself off.

“There was.” Pacifica chimed in. “I dunno what it was, but there was intent,” the otter added.

“Are you okay Sho?” Taika asked, helping her Maestro up and brushing the twigs and leaves out of his hair.

“There was a point,” Shouri groaned, shaking his head. He could feel the dirt clinging to his face. There would be a fight for the shower when they got back to their room for sure. “Come on Fischer.” The Maestro motioned to the rodent boy currently in his care.

“M-me sir?” The nature-element looked around.

“You’re the only one named Fischer here,” Shouri chuckled.

Hopping to his feet, Fischer hesitantly made his way over to the Maestro who currently held his tuner. “Pollice Verde, Rubato,” Shouri read out.

Fischer found himself linked with this new Maestro once again. The rhythm flowed so easily into him, calming his frazzled nerves and providing direction. Stepping towards the ruined clearing, the jerboa boy fell to his knees and placed his hands on the upturned soil. A green glow began to emanate from his palms, and within a couple of seconds, new grass and flowers began to sprout from the destroyed earth.

“If you want to help; Colette,” Shouri spoke up, causing the other Maestro to jump to attention. “Have Kaira patch up the hole we left and I can have Fischer fix that too.”

It clicked at that moment for the scholar. It wasn’t just a spur-of-the-moment bout of wanton destruction. He purposefully crafted a scenario where he could spam a low-cost spell to get his rhythm flowing through Fischer.

“You mad man…” she muttered, impressed. “Come on Kaira - La forma della terra, Moderato; let’s go fill the hole he left.” Colette waved for her Resonator to follow.

Shouri nodded as he watched the other Maestro walk away. His gaze slowly shifted to the jerboa who was humming to himself as he began to put a bit more rhythm into his work. His long tail swished above him, staying out of the dirt, but carrying a bit of joy to it.

“Having fun?” Shouri asked.

The boy squeaked, ceasing his spell.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” the Maestro mumbled.

A moment of silence passed before the boy focused his spell on growing a small patch of flowers. “I am,” Fischer spoke quietly, but loud enough for Shouri to hear.

The Maestro’s lips rose. “Good.” Looking around, there was a lot of devastation he had wrought that needed to be fixed. Either way, he’d get plenty of rhythm through the afflicted Resonator tonight.

“Wanna try fixing one of these trees?” Shouri offered.

The jerboa spun around, up on his feet in an instant. “Can we?!”

“Go ahead, give it a shot,” Shouri chuckled, motioning to the bald tree.

Fischer stepped forward and placed both hands on the trunk, hands glowing green. It took a good minute or two, but leaves began to rapidly sprout from the branches once more and within a couple of minutes it was like the violent meteor strike had never occurred.

“I’ve never been able to grow a tree out like that before.” The younger boy’s eyes sparkled as he gazed upon his own handiwork.

“Do another if you want.” Shouri pointed to another of the stripped bare trees.

“Thank you Shouri!” The nature element rushed over to another tree and began the healing process for that one.

“He really likes plants,” Shouri mumbled to himself.

“Nature Resonators are just like that,” Pacifica commented, standing next to her Maestro.

“Like you and water?” He smirked at her.

“Or Rebby with fire.” She grinned toothily back at him.

They watched Fischer for a moment in silence, once more getting the pleasure of watching a tree speedrun re-growing its entire stock of foliage.

“We’re doing a good thing,” Pacifica whispered.

“Yeah,” Shouri agreed, a warmth to his voice.

“I understand now,” Colette groaned, allowing herself a moment of respite on the newly grown grass. The previous devastation had been entirely repaired thanks to the combined efforts of Fischer and Kaira.

Shouri took a seat next to Colette. Shouri’s trio of Resonators, Fischer, and even the normally stoic Kaira were playing a game of tag in the newly repaired clearing.

“Understand what?” he questioned with a side-eye.

“Your unbelievable growth,” Colette replied, leaning back. “Your rhythm is incredibly open towards Resonators.” She paused. “I don't think it's a special skill or trait you have, but a mentality.” Another pause.

The scholar rose to her feet with some difficulty. Dusting off her skirt, her gaze locked on to Fischer as he was laughing and genuinely enjoying himself. “Can I have his tuner back?” she requested. With a shrug, Shouri stood up, reached to his side, and relinquished the device back to the other Maestro.

Colette accepted the device and looked it over for a moment. A warm smile graced her lips. “Ah, I was right, you really are unbelievable,” the woman whispered. “Thank you for tonight, Shouri. I’ll be sure Fischer finds a good home.”

“Hm?” Shouri raised a brow.

“Do you want to do this again tomorrow?” Colette spoke up louder.

“Uhh, maybe. Probably. I don’t think we have anything better to do here,” he mumbled.

“If you’re looking for touristy stuff to do, consider visiting the Allo River. It’s on the south side of town and if you want to swim, you can head north and the waters are pretty clear,” Colette suggested.

Pacifica appeared out of nowhere between the two Maestros. “RIVER?!” Her tail wagged so hard it seemed like it would snap from the force.

Shouri sighed with a smile. “Yes yes, we can go to the river.”

“Yippie!” The otter jumped in delight, while Rebecca grimaced in the background.

Colette giggled to herself. “Come on Fischer, let’s head back.”

“Okay!” the boy shouted.

Once they were left alone, Shouri allowed himself to slump back to the ground. “Need to take a little breather though.” He exhaled sharply. It was at that moment Pacifica noticed the smallest bit of white creeping up into her Maestro’s hair.

With a smile, she joined him on the ground. “You did good,” she whispered, pulling him close so he could rest his head on her shoulder. Taika sat on Pacifica’s opposite, leaning on him. Lastly, Rebecca positioned herself behind him, offering her own back for the weary Maestro to rest on.

“I really don’t deserve you all,” Shouri let out, closing his eyes to rest.