World Tree MUSH

     Another day, another vine explored. This is what has become the norm for this displaced Azerothian Dryad. Without a place to call home, at least, not one she could get back to, she has nothing better to do than to wander. It's not so bad though, and she's no stranger to the nomad life, having wandered her home of Azeroth for many years of her life before settling into staying around northern Kalimdor. 

     She just hopes to soon find a place that she likes, so she can at least have somewhere to fall back on as a home base of sorts, and store her few belongings, which at this point was just her staff which she almost never went anywhere without and a small pack to carry things as she travels. However, tomorrow she was going to be picking up some clothes which a couple of the people she has met in her travels suggested she should wear, and it'd be a bit much to try stuffing even one outfit into the little pack around her waist. 

     Today the vine she tries takes her to a place that predictably is unlike any she's seen before, but this time, a bit more than usual. She finds herself in the middle of a city, which normally would make her very uncomfortable, and still does a little, but this one was different, in a good way. The parts she could see from here were complimented by plenty of flora, and the people, well most of them looked like humanoid animals. She smiles a bit and decides to have a look around, and after passing a sign for Zoo Phoenix Academy, and gazing at the dome for a few moments, she begins heading toward the market in the middle of town.

     Safe Haven! A place where all manner of mystical beasts, creatures, and beings can live in peace and harmony, so long as they follow the rules! Well, really, it's like any modern day city just with more natural touches to the decor and a lot less humans around, but even though she isn't in the actual forest part where she'd likely feel most at home, Diantha attracts little attention from the natives, aside from one asking her if she's related to Autumn (whoever that is).

As she makes her way to the marketplace, however, an anthropomorphic, heavily-scarred young jackal approaches her with a nervous smile, eyes darting around every few seconds. "H-hey there. You new around here? You've got that look in your eyes." he greets Diantha, then adds, "Oh, yeah, my name's Jack by the way. It's short for Jackson, but everyone just calls me Jack."

     Diantha is really just aimlessly wandering as she doesn't know where she's going at this point, which could be dangerous, but fortunately, she is promptly greeted by a local. She smiles and offers a friendly wave to the jackal with her left hand, the one not holding her staff. "Hello nice to meet you, Jack. Yes, I am very new here, just arrived off the vine. I'm Diantha, from a land called Azeroth, though I can't get back there at the moment, and I'm not even sure I want to anymore. This is, an interesting place... I usually don't like cities, but this one isn't so bad, I think maybe I could get used to it with some time."

     "Oh, you're from another world, huh? Heh, I keep meaning to give that a try, but my mom would be worried sick..." Jack responds, blushing a little and glancing aside. "She already worries about me all the time even when I'm in easy reach. A-anyway, you don't care about that. It's nice to meet you, Ms. Diantha." He smiles at her again after that, friendly and inviting. "Uh... yeah, welcome to Safe Haven! It's a pretty great place, if you ignore the seedier parts... and people... Anyway, um, if you don't like cities, what kind of place do you prefer? Safe Haven's very accommodating."

     Diantha chuckles a little at the talk about how much his mother would worry if he went to other worlds. "Well, most other worlds are pretty safe, at least of the ones I've seen so far, but some are more on the dangerous side still. So maybe if you ever do travel to another world, bring a friend or two. I don't worry about it so much because the world I come from is very dangerous so I'm used to it, I also have magic and shapeshifting to help defend myself, and I don't really have a choice since I didn't leave my own world on purpose, it just kind of happened." She explains for Jack's sake, then moves on to answer the question about what she likes. 

     "Well, dryads on my world, myself included, and also those on some other worlds too from what I've read in a few libraries I've visited in my travels, tend to live in forests. I just don't happen to be bound to a tree, which is probably a good thing, pretty sure if I was that kind of dryad and this happened to me, I'd wither and die having lost the connection to my tree." She shudders at that idea. "I would be happy to see more of this place though, especially if you think there are parts I'd like better."

     Jack rubs the back of his neck a little awkwardly, biting his lip as he says, "Well, safety is kind of... arbitrary in my case." He doesn't elaborate on the matter though, instead preferring to listen to Diantha's explanation of her situation. When she agrees to be shown around, he nods and smile again, gesturing to the place around them.

"Well, for starters, this is the marketplace. That's kind of obvious, I know, but you'd be amazed what kind of stuff you can find here. Food, entertainment, necessities of all kinds, you can pretty much find anything here if you look hard enough." he explains, then points toward the glass dome visible over the marketplace's wall a brief distance away. "And that dome there is part of Zoo Phoenix Academy. Since there are a lot of students with very diverse needs, it's a pretty sprawling place. You can't even see the whole thing from the outside, not even from the air. I'm getting close to my last year there."

     Diantha nods and looks around a bit, wondering if there is anything else she really needs but decides what she before really worrying about getting more stuff of any variety, is to have a place to keep said stuff. When Jack points toward the dome, she turns to look and nods as he explains what it is. 

     "I passed it on my way here from where the vine dropped me off, saw the sign. So you go to learn there? Can't help but be curious, do they allow students from other worlds? I'd ask what they teach too, but from what you just said, I'm going to go out on a limb and guess the answer is lots of different things."

     Jack nods again to confirm. "Yeah, they offer a pretty wide range of subjects, everything from the mundane to the magical. They've also opened up their doors to other worlds, but as far as I know the only non-native student to enroll so far is this girl named Raven. She's pretty nice. Saved me from a falling stage light on her first day." He blushes again at mentioning that, tapping his fingers together and glancing aside.

A moment later though, the scarred-up jackal starts heading off in the opposite direction of the academy, gesturing for Diantha to follow him. "I was actually on my way home when you came by. If you're a dryad, then you'll probably feel most comfortable in that part of the city. It's very natural, lots of trees and stuff. I think they just sectioned off part of the forest around Safe Haven."

     "Hmm, maybe I could enroll and see what sorts of things I could learn there." Diantha ponders, still gazing at the academy. She's jostled from that thought though when she notices Jack walking away and motioning for her to follow. She nods and quickly moves to catch up, coming up to walk alongside the jackal. 

     "That does sound like a place I'd like. Where I come from, most dryads are very peaceful, we just want to enjoy living in the wilds with all its various creatures, but we often have to fight those who don't respect nature. Those who exploit or destroy it without care for what they are doing."

     "Hmm, you look a little old for the classes I'm attending, but maybe..." Jack ponders along with her as they walk, the marketplace giving way to a more urban area for a few blocks, skirting along the edge of the proper 'city' part of Safe Haven. This soon enough thins out into a more suburban part of the city with rows of modern-style houses (and a few less modern ones), the edge of the forest visible at the end. As they pass by one house, Jack waves to an equally nervous-looking blonde human woman, calling a farewell.

"That was our guidance counselor, Ms. Walden. She's helping me with my, uh, issues." he explains, before hurriedly moving on to the previous subject. "Anyway, that sounds pretty stressful. At least you don't have to worry about that here though. We have pretty dedicated protectors of our own, from the police force to certain, er, people, like my friend Zill."

     Diantha laughs when he tells her she looks a little old for the classes he's in. "Do I hmm? Do they have classes for older students? I laugh because I'm a lot older than I look. I spent a few hundred years in a special dream world called the Emerald Dream, and by the time I was awoken due to war having broken out I had pretty well lost track of exactly how old I am, but it's somewhere north of eight hundred years. Some of the first dryads to ever live are still alive and are now thousands of years old." She explains as they walk along, turning to look at Ms. Walden as they pass and offering a friendly wave of her own. 

     She might have asked Jack what his issues were but picks up that he doesn't want to talk about it, so she goes along with the change of subject. "Sounds nice, not that I would really mind lending a hand if it came to it."

     "Heh, wow. Maybe some remedial classes, then?" Jack suggests, then shrugs at her suggestion of helping. "Well, the cops don't like it when civilians put themselves in danger, but if you're capable enough then I don't think they'll mind /too/ much. Zill can be a little stubborn though. He has this weird idea like he has to bear the sole responsibility of protecting this city, like he's some kind of superhero or something. It's cool and all, but I worry about him."

     Diantha grins and nods at Jack's suggestion. "Perhaps, though the closest thing to classes I've had is my druid training. I learned under my father, and the leader of the 'antler' branch of druids who particularly revere Malorne, a great white stag who is actually sort of my great grandfather." She further explains, then nods to the talk about her being capable and Zill's stubbornness. "Well, I definitely think I'm capable. Perhaps I can talk to him sometime.

     Jack nods as he listens, the two of them finally coming upon the edge of the forest. The trees are carefully spread out to allow comfortable movement among them, but otherwise allowed to grow naturally with their branches entangling and creating a pleasant green veil for the sunlight to filter through. A couple of mundane forest animals skitter about here and there among the thicker parts of the brush and fallen branches, hiding as the jackal and his new friend pass.

"Well, here's the forest. My house isn't too much further, and I'm sure Zill is around somewhere if he isn't with his girlfriend. What do you think of it?" Jack asks, carefully climbing over a mossy log.

     Diantha was already looking around and taking in the forest as soon as they were close enough to see it fairly clearly. She smiles as she sees the animals run and hide as they pass, thinking if she stays around she'll make it a personal challenge to get them to warm up to her. She leaps over the mossy log and nods to Jack. 

     "So far I like it a lot. I'm curious to see your house wonder if there is such a house that I could get used to. I've never really had a house, just tending to live out in the forest, and I don't really like small spaces. I also wouldn't mind meeting Zill though."

     "That's good to hear! I like it too, it's very... comfortable." Jack agrees, doing a little twirl as he skips along in joy... only to trip over a rock and fall right onto a jagged old branch sticking up from another fallen log. It pierces straight through his chest, punching out his back and leaving him gasping and gurgling in agony.

A moment later, a voice rings out in a sing-songy tone from above. "Oooh Jaaaack, bestest cousin of mine~" And down floats a red-furred jackal with black eyes, strumming on a banjo. "You're not gonna believe what I came up with. Okay, so, get thi- oh come on, not /again/."

This last bit is followed by the red jackal heaving an exasperated sigh and dispelling his banjo in a puff of smoke as he drops unceremoniously to the springy grass next to Jack. Pulling a disgusted face, he gingerly reaches out to take the other jackal's shoulders and start yanking on him, trying to pull him off the stump. "You gotta stop doing this, man, come on." Upon noticing Diantha, he waves her over and adds, "Hey, you! Get a grip on his legs or something and help me pull here."

     Diantha smiles as Jack agrees and is looking around the forest some more when she suddenly hears him fall and the sickening sound of that jagged branch piercing through the poor jackal's chest. She looks back at him and her eyes widen. "By Elune! That looks bad... Fortunately, I'm a healer..." She trails off as Damian comes on the scene and begins trying to pull his apparent cousin free of the branch. 

     "Hope this doesn't kill him I can't bring back the dead, unfortunately." She offers as she indeed grabs Jack's legs and tries to help Damian pull him free of the branch. If they manage it, she will immediately attempt to heal him, pointing her staff at him and channeling a powerful healing spell. Her staff will begin to glow with a bright green aura, which flows into Jack's chest, beginning to slowly mend the hole in his chest.

     Jack comes free with a loud SPLORCH sound, blood splattering onto the green grass. As Diantha starts weaving her healing magics, Damian waves a dismissive hand. "Pssh, 'kill' him, right. Don't waste your magic, sweetheart. He'll be fine on his own."

However, as Jack's wound mends and he finds himself able to speak again, he coughs a few times, blood staining his fur, and says, "Ugh... This is a lot faster than usual though... Th-thanks, ma'am. Damian's right though, I uh... can't actually die." Taking a moment to prop himself up against the side of the log and take a few deep breaths, he traces the fresh new scar on his chest with a finger before continuing. "My... issues, that I mentioned earlier? They're related to this curse."

"Oh come on, do you know how many people literally sell their souls for eternal life, Jack?" Damian teases with a fangy grin, punching his cousin's arm playfully. "You didn't even have to do that much! Heck, you didn't have to do anything at all, just have the good luck of being born my cousin."

Shooting the red-furred jackal an annoyed glare, Jack continues. "In short, my dad died before I was born, so my mom made a deal with the devil so I would live forever. Since my aunt is married to the guy, they let her off easier than most. Instead, I just suffer from the worst string of luck on the planet, and it hurts every single time. I've lost count of how many times I've 'died' up to now."

Damian's grin falters. "Yeah, that does suck, can't argue there..."

     Diantha boggles with surprise when Damian mentions that Jack can't die, and she can only nod in agreement about it being something many would do almost anything for. "Indeed, that is pretty amazing. I may never grow old, but stab me through the heart, I'll still die just as much as anyone else." She adds to what Damian says, only to wince a bit at Jack's explanation of how he has the worst luck and has died countless times, painfully. 

     "Eugh, yeah, that does sound like it would get old fast..." She says as she reaches over to gently pat Jack if allowed. But wait, you got this through a deal with the devil? Who's the devil and why would he curse you?"

     Jack flinches at first, but sighs and allows Diantha to pat him, relaxing a little. "Stab me, poison me, cut my head off, burn me alive, I'll just come back again and again, but it means I'm constantly in pain. Most nights I just cry myself to sleep."

Damian, in the meantime, is more interested in answering the dryad's question. "My dad, duh. He's the ultimate source of all evil or whatever, but he's really just a big softie. I heard he used to be a lot worse before he met my mom. Always wants me to be more evil though, something about getting me ready to be the next ruler of Hell and rally the armies against Heaven or something. Sounds like way too much trouble to me." As he says this, he summons his banjo again and starts plucking out a little tune on it, leaning with his elbow on Jack's head.

     Diantha blinks, her mouth hanging open for a moment of shock as she stares at Damian, the fairly harmless looking jackal, which looked kinda cute in a way she had to admit, before she seems to remember how to speak again. 

     "Wait, if I'm not hearing you wrong, your dad is this devil, the ultimate evil in this world, but he's not so bad lately? Did he turn over a new leaf or something? On my world, the ultimate evil would... well there could be debate on that, but Sargaras, leader of the Burning Legion, an endless army of demons, would be high up there. He turned over a leaf in the other direction actually. Once he was 'The Defender.' defending the universe from corruption, but after an encounter with some old gods of the void, he decided that even a world without life would be better than one in the grips of the void, and so he came to begin his crusade to wipe out all life." 

     Diantha pauses, looking back at Damian with a more serious expression. "If you were a son of Sargaras, hypothetically speaking, even as a dryad who carries herself as a pacifist, I would not spare a moment to strike you down where you stand. I have seen a lot of evil in my long life, but this place is peaceful, and from what Jack has told me, also has laws and those that uphold them. Surely if you were truly that evil, they wouldn't allow you to walk freely among the city?" She asks, sounding rather confused by the concept.

     Damian shrugs at Diantha, still playing that little tune. "Nah, he's still evil. Just doing less about it than he used to, I hear. Being a dad and a husband probably eats into his time." he further explains, then listens to the doe exposit about her world's rough equivalent. "There are laws here against demons entering the city, but I'm kind of a special case. My family's known for following rules, and apparently General Styx made a /very/ strong case."

At this, a third arm sprouts from Damian's back with a puppet of some blue furry creature on the hand, miming exaggerated bowing and pleading. "Probably something like that. He's kind of a suckup. Anyway, a deal was struck and now I get to study at Zoo Phoenix Academy with my friends as long as I don't make any trouble. Well, more than any other student anyway, heheh."

     "You're a demon, but you follow the rules and go to school like any other child in town? I can't believe what I'm hearing. You're not like any demon I've ever met, or even heard of... Though to be honest, I doubt anyone would even give a demon on Azeroth a chance if they claimed to be trying to be good even as far as following the rules of society." Diantha says with a shake of her head, still having a look of disbelief painted on her face. 

     "I think I need to lie down, or have a strong drink, maybe both. This is just too much for me to take."

     "My dad has had thousands of years to practice honoring the letter of the law. Actually, to be honest, he was furious when he found out we'd made that deal behind his back, but my mom talked him down and convinced him to let me keep coming here. Like I said, big softy behind that scary face." Damian continues, that third hand retracting back into his body as if it was never there. As he speaks, Jack squirms out from under his elbow, but Damian just stays in the same position, leaning on air.

"I'm going home. It was nice to meet you, ma'am, but my mom's going to start harassing the school to find out where I am at this rate." Jack speaks up, waving to the dryad as he walks off. "I hope you enjoy your stay here."

"Later, cuz!" Damian responds with a wave as well.

     Diantha turns to Jack as he squirms free of Damian and says he's heading home before his mother starts to worry. The look in her eyes almost spells out 'Don't leave me with this demon!' but she still doesn't say anything to stop him. Instead nods in understanding and says in parting. "May Elune guide your path." Surely neither of them knew who or what Elune was, but with his bad luck, she felt it couldn't help to wish him some good fortune from her patron goddess. 

     Finally turning back to Damian, she takes a deep breath, trying to stay calm. "So, you're a demon/jackal, who goes to school, tries not to cause trouble, and in fact feels that being evil is too much of a hassle? Did I basically get all that right? What do you do when you're not in school?"

     Jack turns around to smile and nod in thanks to Diantha before resuming his walk home. Damian, in the meantime, switches tunes on his banjo and answers, "Yeah, basically. I like to cause a little mischief now and again, but nothing /really/ harmful. No worse than any other student, like I said before. Getting kicked out would mean no more school, no more friends, no more freedom."

Floating around in circles, turning upside down and right side up again slowly as he goes, Dame thinks about that last question for a second before he adds, "Oh, you know, explore and hang out with friends and stuff. I gotta check in with my dad to let him know I'm alright, but he's been giving me a lot of slack lately."

     Diantha watches as Damian plays as he answers her questions. She had to admit, he was pretty good at playing that... whatever it was. "You sound like any other child that just wants to make friends and have fun... I may have been centuries since I was a child, but we dryads tend to stay young at heart, well some of us more than others. If I was Lunara I'd have already tried to kill you, while I bet Mylune would be giving you a hug as her love for animals seems to outweigh just about everything." She says with a laugh. 

     "I guess I'm somewhere in the middle. What you're saying is turning my whole perception of demons upside down, but a part of me still wonders if this is all just a trick to make me lower my guard, and then you do something horrible to me."

     Those names don't mean anything to Damian, but he smiles and shrugs, appreciative of the sentiment all the same. "Hey, I wouldn't turn down hugs from a cute girl~" he says, then flashes a toothier grin at Diantha's last statement. "I /could/. But if I did, then we'd run into that little problem of getting kicked out... or worse, hunted down. There are a lot more police than there are of me."

     Diantha mirrors that grin. "Just like if I unleashed my magical fury on you, they'd come after me. She says as she looks back at Damian, gauging his reaction, but after a moment her expression softens again and she smiles. 

     "So you think I'm cute huh? I suppose you are too, once you get past the fact that you're a demon and I should despise you just for that alone... But I guess you aren't as awful as the demons on my world, either that or you're a lot better at being deceptive than any I've had the displeasure of meeting."

     Damian gives Diantha a cheeky grin. "I'd be a lot more worried about Raven's wrath if she thought I was cheating on her. Hell, fury, woman scorned, all that fun stuff." Finally putting away his banjo, he takes up a more relaxed posture as he levitates slowly through the air, tail idly flicking to and fro. "Might wanna tone down the racism while you're here though. Some people might agree with you, but I'm not a fan of people hating me for what I can't control. You're new around here, and you seem pretty nice, so I'm letting it go."

He gives her a deadly serious look then, eyes flashing with hellfire. "Pick a fight though, and I will *ruin your day*."

     Diantha is clearly taken aback when Damian calls her out for being racist, but she has to admit once she thinks about it, that the jackal demon has a point. "You're right, I'm sorry. I haven't exactly had the best experience with demons where I come from, what with them being on a mission to wipe out all life that doesn't submit to their corruption." She pauses a moment, smiling a little. 

     "But this is just another example of different worlds being incredibly different, and I should try my best not to let the reputation of demons from my world color my view of you. I mean, I've already read about dryads on one world, which live their lives bound to a single tree, and not only can they never leave the forest of their tree, if the tree is destroyed, they die." She can't help but shudder at the concept. 

     "They are similar in some ways to my kind but vastly different in others, so I guess I can accept that the same goes for you."

     Damian keeps up his glare a little bit longer as Diantha speaks, staying completely still save for his waving tail and eyes searching for signs of aggression. However, as she finishes speaking, he turns himself right side up and grins happily. "Great! We have an understanding, then. I hope we can continue to get along in the future, and maybe even become fully fledged friends. I'll definitely have to introduce you to some of the others sometime!"

     Diantha nods and gives a laugh that along with her expression seems to tell that she still can't quite believe this is happening. Her sister dryads back home will certainly never believe it. 

     "Sure, I may be staying around here for a while, so more friends would be nice. Was even pondering seeing if Zoo Phoenix would take me in for classes. Besides my druid training, never really been to school before. Just... promise you'll give me some time to prepare myself if you ever try taking me to meet your dad."

     "That could be neat. Definitely helps with making friends, even with the adults. There are lots of wacky people there, I'm sure you'll find someone to hang out with!" Damian cheerily declares, then chuckles a little and adds, "I think I'll hold off on introducing you to my parents. Somehow I don't think you'd react well to Hell. Speaking of which, though..."

Glancing up at the sky, the demon jackal takes note of its darkening color and the first few stars poking through. "I should probably be getting home too. Dunno where you plan on staying, but this forest's pretty safe. The worst you'll run into is a territorial bunny. Good luck!"

     "I'm sure it'll be great for me to learn some new things, and as dryads go, I'm still fairly young, as some of us are thousands of years old. So I'm sure I'll fit right in." Diantha says with a laugh. She then gives a more serious nod as Damian says he has to go. 

     "Right, wouldn't want the lord of the underworld to be worried where you are... As for the bunnies, I think I can handle them. Back home we have wolves, bears, and giant man-eating spiders." She says in all seriousness as she heads over to a spot under the shelter of a few trees and lays down in the grass. "Goodnight."