By his best calculation, a week had passed, and in that time, Ouzin had made much progress as an underbelly dweller. He learned how to bait small animals with his light spheres and berries, which he’d discovered were, in fact, not poisonous. He’d eventually given in to the urge to taste one. It was surprisingly sweet, and seeing no adverse symptoms, he ate a handful, waited for some hours, and as he still felt fine, he concluded they were safe to eat. He’s also found some roots and legumes he recognized, as well as herbs that added some flavor to his meals. He was happy that his clothes were holding up, which was expected as they were rilcon fabric, which was as premium as you could find in Nol, with silky comfort and ultimate durability. Of course, premium or not, after about twenty days of not being washed properly, both he and the clothes smelled pretty bad. He’d tried cleaning them in streams he’d found, but not much could be done without soap. Still, he was thankful for how thoroughly his mother, or her secretary, had prepared for his Trigalan. 

He sighed as he pushed through the bush. His fear of the forest had diminished greatly, and now he truly felt like an adventurer, treading unexplored lands, but none of that could cover up the fact that he was just a runaway. At the ripe age of 120, acting up like a child and running away from home. The shame and guilt dampened the joy of every new discovery that sparked his interest. There were so many other ways he could have handled things. Granted, his family’s attitude towards him did not make it easy. On the other hand, he did feel like this adventure was changing something in him. For the better, he hopped. 

As he’d walked, he made sure to occasionally let his lights go dark, so he could immerse himself in the glow of the plants and animals. He stopped moving, and after a few seconds, his eyes adjusted to the dark, and the little galaxies made themselves known. Glowing bugs flew in swirling patterns, and the moss’s blue light began to show. The scent of the forest relaxed him, and Ouzin smiled and sat on a log to take it all in. His eyes followed the flight of a small bird. It leaped from its perch on one of the logs, its wings lit in a soft pink light which created a trail as it swooped through the bugs, catching a couple in its mouth. Ouzin watched the bird land and devour its prey. All the while, he kept alert for the distinct grunting of the gugalan. He hadn’t had any confrontations with them since that night, but he wasn’t taking any chances. 

He carefully scanned his surroundings, then stopped. “What’s that?” He stood up. 

In the distance, he could see some light through the leaves and bushes. It wasn’t the usual light from the flora and fauna. He walked towards it and became more certain. It was sunlight. Somehow, warm yellow sunlight had breached through the dense canopy. Ouzin sped up, almost starting to run. In the week he’d been wandering through the forest, he hadn’t seen a hint of sun or moonlight. He pushed through the foliage in the dark, so he wouldn’t lose sight of the faint light. As he passed through more of the bushes and tall grass in his way, the light became more apparent, and even the temperature was starting to feel warmer.

The warm glow of sunlight engulfed Ouzin as he burst through the clearing. He looked up immediately and was met with the glorious sight of a clear blue sky silhouetted by the giant leaves of the canopy of the world-trees. Dust motes danced in the rays of light. Four gray trunks stretched thousands of meters into the air, and the dark blue leaves seemed lit from within as light passed through them. The width of each of the world-trees was at least 2 miles in diameter, and while Ouzin had been among their roots, their immensity didn’t fully dawn on him, but now it did. The space felt sacred, and the trees seemed like immovable gods gazing down upon the earth. Ouzin took a shaking breath, then looked down into the clearing, and he was shaken up even more by what he saw.

There, at the center of the short blue grass and flowers of various colors, stood a sapling. Ouzin’s breath caught in his throat as he stumbled towards it. The baby world-tree was only small in comparison to the ancient trees. Already it was taller than him by a meter, and its canopy, instead of being spread out for acres, was only a couple meters across. Its leaves were only as large as his palms. Ouzin closed his eyes and placed his hands upon the sapling trunk. For a moment, it felt like he was back in the Hiskar again, reliving the moment his soul was pulled from his body. The magnitude of the moment could not be missed. This sapling, perhaps thousands of years from now, would hold in its branches, buildings, towns, and cities. Upon its branches, generations of bistians would be born, experience life, die, and be entombed in. The sheer amount of potential held within this one sapling was so astronomical that it made all his worries seem insignificant. 

When compared to these trees, the dynasty and reputation of his family were so flimsy that he almost laughed aloud. He slowly walked around the tree, allowing one hand to trace along the trunk. He glanced down to see its already prominent surface roots…

“No!” he crouched down. “Oh no, what is this?” He couldn’t comprehend what he saw for a moment, but soon understanding dawned on him.

On a few of the gray roots, and starting to extend up the base of the trunk, was a red moss called filen. Rather than the softness or mushiness of regular moss, this grew hard and brittle, and whatever it grew on, it made the same. Everyone learned about filen as early as possible because if even a hint of it was spotted, it had to be reported immediately. Even if it was a questionable sighting, and that was because the thing the fast-growing red moss was most attracted to was the world-trees. During growth seasons, they were most active. Ouzin’s heart began to race. One of the most important duties of his mother’s job was ensuring that filen was properly managed, as an unchecked outbreak had the potential to destroy whole branches of world-trees.