Ball of Nothing

Zero knew that the trees were tall. He just didn't know how tall or huge they were until Clowis showed him. The warrior jumped from branch to branch with Zero behind him and they didn't seem to get any closer to the top. Yet, the ground became further and further away until all that is left was a bed of leaves.

"Are you sure this is a shortcut?"

Clowis didn't slow down. "Vertically up is still the fastest way to get to the Sky Bridge. If it weren't for the rocky hill earlier, we might have reached it already."

Zero nodded. The cliff was really steep and difficult to climb. Clowis didn't have time to take breaks while climbing up the side. His sharp talons played a huge part in their ascend. Without those strong feet, they would've fallen. Zero saw how Clowis clawed into the sides of the rock firmly, leaving cracks behind. Now he knew why the rocks on the cliff looked a little strange. One might think that climbing it and leaving cracks would make it easier for scaling up the cliff wall in future, given the many potential footholds. Zero knew better now after he saw how the cracks weakened the firm rocks. The marks left behind seemed convenient to use but it was dangerous. Any wrong weight or pressure applied to them for the second time would cause the entire rock to break from the wall. It happened a few times and Zero thought that they would fall. Thankfully, Clowis had feathers to slow their fall, giving him time to recover and climb again.

"Does the climbing of cliff walls happen often?"

Clowis grinned. "No, it's not normally done as it is dangerous. However, it is my secret training ground. In order to surpass my uncle, I've trained myself to climb the cliff several times a day."

"Several times a day... is that why the cliff side looked so defaced?"

Clowis looked proud. "That's the proof of my training. If I can climb the cliff in less than ten minutes, I will challenge my uncle for the position of the head warrior again."

"Is your uncle really strong?" Zero asked and ducked to avoid getting slapped in the face by a stray branch.

Clowis hummed. "I don't know about strong. Nobody here can win Camie in terms of strength in the village."

Zero blinked. "Not even Lady Zenobia? Even if she is the Chieftess?"

Clowis chuckled. "Chieftess is respected not only because she is a strong and skilful warrior. She is respected as the leader of our village because she is the only person capable of ensuring the survival of this village. Lady Zenobia has a good eye for people and a great heart. She has good foresight and is very wise."

Zero didn't quite understand what Clowis meant. He thought that Zenobia was the Chieftess due to her strength. "If that is so, how come the head warrior is your uncle and not Camie?"

Clowis hummed and landed on another branch. "Camie is strong because she is a quarter giant. However, compared to my uncle's battle experience, combat skills and the ability to lead the village in a battle, she is severely lacking. Becoming the head warrior is more than just being able to fight or being strong. If you're talking about great fighters, Gerald and Vrald can win anyone. They were ex-adventurers after all. The head warrior is an important person in the village who will bring victory in our battles and protect the villagers who cannot. Think of it this way, in case of an attack the head warrior is the first to lead the attack. He will be the first to lay his life on the battlefield."

Zero nodded. It was a noble aspiration and Zero wished Clowis all the best.

"I've been curious for a while and don't mean to be rude. What exactly are you? You have eyes like a snake and feathers on your arm with bird feet but can't fly... you're also super strong even though you are really skinny. Amaraline and Lowis are the same too but I've never seen anyone with appearances so unique. Are you like a mix of a snake and a bird?"

Clowis paused and decided to take a short break on one of the branches. Zero got down carefully and peered down. They were a long way up and now that they've stopped, he could see that the sunlight is getting through a little more. The must be close to the top.

"You're not wrong there. Legend has it that this creature was born from a snake and a bird. To be more precise, a chicken. However, it's known to be very scary and deadly. Have you heard of a cockatrice? Some people call it Basilisk but it's almost the same thing."

Zero shook his head. "What's that? Why is it deadly?"

Clowis smiled. Zero seemed different from other humans. "The Cockatrice or Basilisk is said to be born from Dragon and Phoenix blood. Snakes are considered a very distant cousin of dragons and they often do not possess magic. However, sometimes, they do. The same can be said about chickens who are distant cousins of the Phoenix. Once in a very long time when a snake with awakened Dragon blood and a chicken with awakened Phoenix blood come together to create a child, their hatchling would either become a Basilisk or a Cockatrice. Cockatrices have a chicken head and a snake tail while Basilisks have a snake's head and a bird's feet with wings. It is said that due to the strong magic in their blood, they can kill anyone by looking at them."

Zero listened with interest As Clowis continued. Apparently, Lowis, Amaraline and Clowis were descendants of the Cockatrice. They had snake eyes, talons and wings that couldn't really fly. Although they had very watered down blood, they were still able to use some magic. Naturally, they weren't able to kill just by looking. However, Clowis admitted that Lowis was able to paralyse the enemy by looking at them. The magic broke when he blinked so Lowis didn't use it too often. Clowis couldn't paralyse anyone by looking but he could turn small items into rocks.

"See this?" Clowis held out a leaf he'd plucked from a nearby twig.

Zero nodded and Clowis looked at it with a frown of concentration on his face. The apprentice doctor gaped in amazement as the leaf slowly but surely turned into stone. The whole process took about twenty seconds but when Clowis passed the leaf to Zero, the brunet had to say, it was a really neat ability.

"Of course, this cannot be used in battle. It is far too slow," Clowis grinned. Zero smiled and tried hitting the stone leaf on the hard trunk. Nothing happened. The leaf had really turned into stone.

"Can you turn it back or will it be stone forever?"

Clowis grimaced. "It's permanent so while it is slow to take effect and not practical for battle, it is still terrifying to normal humans. It's not just a leaf. I can turn anything into stone if I activate the magic in my blood. It's part of the reason why we were chased away. Humans don't like us very much especially when we have powers strong enough to annihilate them."

"But you wouldn't hurt them..."

With a sad smile, Clowis shrugged. "Who knows? We're monsters after all. It's hard to trust a monster."

Zero frowned. "It's ok. I trust you."

Unprepared to hear Zero's confident reply, Clowis almost fell off the tree but quickly righted himself. "You're strange for a human."

Zero shrugged. "If you say so... I'm not really human actually so I don't mind. However, I'm sure there will be some humans who will feel the same way. Karris and Wiser are humans, they don't hate anyone in the village."

Clowis snorted at that. "I don't know about Karris but Wiser is a nut case. Don't believe everything he says, he's a broken human. As brilliant as some of his ideas are, most of them are plain ridiculous. I've never heard of a human who hates humans until I met him. He doesn't like Karris but he's only sticking around to record his observations about her halfling."

Zero grinned as he climbed onto Clowis' back once more to resume their journey to the Sky Bridge. Clowis shared a few more amusing tales about Wiser and Zero decided that he wanted to meet the man someday.

Ten minutes later, Clowis let Zero down. "Here we are, the Sky Bridge."

The brunet took the time to observe his surroundings. The Sky Bridge was everything he imagined it be and more. They didn't break through the top of the tree but now, the sun could be seen from the foliage. The branches weren't as gnarly anymore and the vines less mossy. Encompassed by these was a bridge. No, not a bridge... numerous bridges, almost like a network of sorts. Zero was standing on one of the tiny wooden platforms connecting two of these bridges.

Clowis didn't hurry the brunet. He allowed Zero as much time as he needed to take in the breath-robbing scenery. The bridge wasn't here when Clowis first arrived at the village. It was only after Wiser entered the village and suggested building some sort of natural defence tower that it got constructed. The Sky Bridge was Half Moon's village's proudest accomplishment. It was built with the blood, sweat, tears and magic of the villagers.

Hesitantly, Zero took his first step across the bridge. The bridge was made of wood and held together by vines. Zero didn't know how steady it was seeing that it swayed in the strong breeze. He held onto the side of the bridge to stabilise himself as he walked.

Clowis followed not too far behind, amused by the brunet's behaviour. The bridge was sturdy enough to hold even Camie's weight, it wouldn't break that easily. Besides, it was enchanted with magic to detect enemies and the living vines will cut them off by detaching the bridge. Zero didn't have to know that last part. He didn't want to frighten the boy too much.

Gaining some confidence after a while, Zero finally released the side of the bridge and walked normally. Clowis then talked a little about the history of the bridge.

"Raj built this?"

The cockatrice descendant nodded. "He didn't build it alone but he definitely designed this with Wiser and Tambolt. The rest of us pitched in with the labour although Lovina was the only one capable of enchanting it."

"The bridge is enchanted?!" Zero's eyes were positively sparkling and Clowis had to look away for a bit.

"Yes, it is. We're now going to visit the watchtower. I think Roovan is on duty now. You're in luck if he's there."

Zero cocked his head to a side. What did Clowis mean by in luck? His silent question was soon answered.

The watchtower was very similar to the apartment in the trees. However, it was a lot smaller and had windows in every direction. Zero didn't know if they could spot enemies from the watchtower with all the leaves obscuring the view but didn't ask. Magic was usually the answer to such things.

"Roovan, are you in?"

Clowis didn't see anyone in the watchtower but he'd be a fool to assume it was abandoned. Zero blinked when Clowis called out to the empty building. However, he soon understood why.

A huge bird, no, bird-man swooped down from above. He had huge black wings and a crow's head but a human body. After a glance at Zero, the crow head transformed into a handsome human face. "Hello there, I didn't think there would be guests."

Clowis grinned. "Chieftess told me to take him around the village yesterday but after eating her cakes, he had to rest so we're here today."

Roovan grimaced and gave Zero an apologetic look. "I apologise on behalf of the village for what you've gone through. Chieftess can be a rather passionate person although said passion does not always have the intended good results."

Zero gave a weak smile. "It's alright, I'll just be more cautious about eating anything she offers from now on. Also, my name is Zero. I'm training to become a doctor."

Roovan flashed him a bright smile. "My name is Roovan. Clowis mentioned something about a village tour. Perhaps I can help with that? Although the Sky Bridge is the fastest way to get around besides the underground network, it still takes a while. Say, are you afraid of heights?"

Zero shook his head and Roovan grinned. "I think I like this boy already. Clowis, do you mind if I brought him back for lunch with Coux?"

Clowis shook his head. "He has a lunch appointment with Zoe and the kids. I think they made a promise to play tag today. Perhaps another day. I'm sure Coux would be delighted to indulge him with stories about her travels."

Roovan exchanged a few more words with Clowis and passed something to the warrior before carrying Zero in his arms.

"Are you ready, young Zero?"

The brunet grinned. "Always ready!"

With that, the raven beastmen took off into a sharp nose-dive, eliciting squeals from the brunet. Clowis watched them go in the distance and assumed guard duty he exchanged with the village scout. Lovina's intruder detection magic didn't pick up anything so Clowis could afford to kick back and relax a little until the next guard came to relieve him from his duty.

***

They were now above the clouds and Zero held onto Roovan's neck tighter. Roovan proved to be rather strong and Zero was impressed by how his wings could carry both their weight.

"Over there you can see the farm you came from. The cliff beside it is where the cave is inside. Our village reaches all the way across the river. You can see that tree with the weird metal on the top... that's the apartment that Wiser lives in along with Lovina, Cleo, the fox demoness whose name I can't pronounce, Moona and Latitia."

Zero didn't know who the fox demoness was but didn't think Roovan was insulting her by saying so.

"Across it near the roads is where most of the warriors live. The kids like to play tag there too as there is a huge open area. Soon and his zombies, Vishnu, Gweshr, Titor and Crudgel live in that tree. Of course, it's best to stay clear of that apartment at night. Some of them can become really wild especially during a full moon."

Zero had lots of questions to ask but nodded anyway. He figured he would find out when he met them. But zombies? That got Zero's interest. Soon must be some sort of necromancer and Zero had never met a necromancer before. He was also curious to know if zombies fell ill.

"I think you've seen it before but over there is the Chieftess' tree and the heart of our village. You can tell it apart easily because some of the tree leaves have turned purple-brown from her cooking experiments. Although the tree is still well and alive, the leaves often absorb the poison so they've mutated a little."

Zero squinted. True enough, there were purple-brown leaves on the tree. Not all the leaves were purple-brown but it seemed to be spreading. Zero pitied the tree.

"And there nearer to the farm and clearing is where I live with Coux. Lowis lives on the top floor. Gerald and Vrald live there too. The guest room that you stay in is there too so if you'd like, you could drop by anytime. I'm sure my wife would be pleased to meet you."

"Wife? Oh, you mean Coux..."

Roovan blushed a little. "Yes. Coux is my wife. Not to brag or anything but she's the most beautiful woman in this village. I'm really lucky she's willing to put up with my lame personality."

Zero giggled and looked over to where Roovan was pointing. "Over there is where the kids live with the village guardian. Douglas and the giantess live there too. They're the closest to the river because that selkie needs water. Also, Camie takes up two apartments in that tree alone because of her height. You should meet her, she's a really gentle person despite her size."

Zero nodded and Roovan flew by to see the workshop. It is a little far out into the forest and Zero could hardly see anything apart from trees.

"Believe it or not, below these trees is a stone workshop where Tambolt and Raj work on new inventions. They live near the swamps with the magician twins, the yeti, Raj's apprentice and the other couple in the village."

"What is a yeti?"

Roovan shrugged. "From what I see, Chowkah something like a giant but hairier and unable to speak. He likes the winter a lot but is very skilful when it comes to gardening."

Zero nodded. He learnt a lot about the village in their short flight. So far, there were five tree apartments, the Sky Bridge, the farms, Raj and Tambolt's workshop, the feast cave and Zenobia's tree which was the heart of the village. It wasn't a huge place but it wasn't small either.

"I have a question. Do you know who built the underground passageway?"

Roovan smiled. "That happened during Grandma Moppo's time. The village didn't exist back then. From what I heard, it was Grandma Moppo's ancestors who designed and built this village. The tree houses were built by the faes and the underground network built by the dwarves. They lived in harmony together. However, a terrible disease struck about a hundred years back. Grandma Moppo lost most of her family. The remaining survivors left the village for a better place but many things happened and only Grandma Moppo was left. With nobody left and nowhere else to go, she returned to this village alone and lived for decades until the fox demoness came. One by one, we discovered this village and Grandma Moppo welcomed all of us. We slowly became a village together but it wasn't a true village until the stupid Count of Carrabas started attacking us about ten years back. Chieftess was the first person to fight for us and pull the village together. Half Moon Village was founded soon after when Hua Tuo chanced across it during his long trip back from the human town. He agreed to be our doctor on the condition that we will trade on his behalf for the supplies he required and that we kept his identity a secret."

Zero was deep in thoughts after hearing it. Ten years... Half Moon village was considered newly founded and Grandma Moppo had suffered a lot. He was sure everyone in this village had their unique story to tell. For example, why would a yeti who loved snow travel so far away from snow? Why would the fox demoness decide to settle down in an abandoned village with a stranger? Why did Lady Zenobia fight so hard for this village when they were just strangers? How did she become the Chieftess and why was the Count of Carrabas attacking Half Moon village?

Then, his stomach protested loudly, startling both of them.

"I guess it is time for lunch. What do you say we head over to Zoe's now?"

Zero blushed and nodded. What a way to ruin the moment, stomach... what a way...