Adventure Forward : Feel-good Fantasies

Nature

They opened their eyes to see they had returned to the entrance of Frozen Wasteland.
With Signol and Compale's symbols gathered, they approached the door, which glowed before giving them access to the next room.

Walking in, they noticed Cyalm resting inside a gazebo, reading a book and having a cup of what they assumed was tea.
They rushed over to greet him, the sudden taps of rapid footsteps alerting the Point.
"Oh, Tailor! Quite the outside area, don't you think? Ploque has truly outdone herself this time."

They tilted their head in confusion. "Who are they?"

"Ploque is the Point of the next world you'll be going to, Wooden Wilderness."
Cyalm turned his head to look and Tailor followed his gaze, to an area near overgrown vegetation, almost looking like it pooled out of the nearby portal.

They gasped, looking at him again.
"I'm going in there?"

He nodded, giving them a slight smile before going back to his book.
"You best be off now, you wouldn't want to keep her waiting, yes?"

Nodding, they exited the gazebo and walked over to the portal, hesitant to enter due to being slightly intimidated by the amount of plants near its entrance.
They shrugged it off, and eagerly wandered into the portal.

What they didn't expect to see was more overgrown vegetation, but this time, it was covering an area they assumed was important for getting out of where they stood.

Looking around, they saw a cleverly hidden blue button, they shucked the vines off of it, and pressed it.
The sound of rustling vines behind them caught their attention, and they looked back to see that the plants had parted, granting them the ability to walk to the other side, which they did.

From there, they climbed a few vines to reach the top, and when they did so, they saw a wide expanse of land covered in plants, trees, and flowers.
They stood there for a while, admiring the rows of flowers that looked as if they shifted colors every few seconds.
"How am I supposed to find threads here? It looks like it stretches out forever.."

They got down from where they were and walked north until they could hopefully find something.
Lo and behold, there laid a giant tree. So giant, they couldn't even see the top of it, only seeing large branches that looked like it could house several hundred people.

"So.. Big! So cool!"

They circled the tree and counted the seconds it took them to finish fully going around the tree, before they realized they were going in circles because they forgot to set a mark on where the circle would end.

"Okay! Focus, let's look for threads!"

They slowly turned to the tree.. They did recall seeing a hole in it, so there must be a thread in there, right?

After spending a few minutes climbing it, they got their answer. Yes, there was indeed a thread up in the tree.

Tailor then moved to the flower fields, finding a random ditch on accident by falling face first into it, but it wasn't a serious issue.

Exiting and climbing out of the narrow tunnel, a few flower petals had found their way to their clothes which they dusted off.

Looking up into the sky, it reminded them of the cozy view they saw on Shallare's ship, warmth came to their cheeks remembering the fond memory.

They marched back to the tree, hoping to find Ploque as they had gathered all the threads they could find, counting and recounting to make sure they were the same amount of threads they found in previous worlds.

Thankfully, they did indeed find who they assumed was Ploque, as they hadn't seen anyone else but stray wildlife, who had a brown gradient that faded into a sandy yellow at her feet.
A flower crown was on her head, and she was canopied by vines that broke free from the ground.

She looked distracted, so they took the time to make sure they were confident and they had every thread her world had to offer, because they could never live with themselves if they had to give her an excuse for getting more threads when they had plenty of time to do so when she wasn't around.

Taking a deep breath, they approached her cautiously, threads coiled around their arms.
"Hello?" They said to garner her attention, which they successfully did.

A smile bloomed on her face as she stood, walking towards the Tailor with grace.
"Greetings, little one. Are you the new Tailor I was informed about?"

They nodded, presenting her the threads on their arms with a large grin.

"I got all the threads!"

They didn't know what made her feel so motherly, but beneath her warm gaze, they felt like a child.

She gasped softly and laughed at the display, bending down to their level.
"How wonderful! Tell me, what's your name, treasure?"

Their smile fell, and they pursed their lips in thought.
"I.. I don't know."

She kept her expression, yet something about it felt slightly solemn.

A flower sprouted from her hand, tucking it behind their ear.
"That's okay, but you'll figure it out one day, yes?"

They nodded, but soon switched the topic.
"I think I need to get your symbol, would you please take me to your challenge course?"

"Of course treasure, watch your step during my course though. Thorns can get quite sharp."
With that, they were carried away by vines, some reaching up to cover their eyes to conceal the changes in their surroundings.

They tried to pry off the vines, to no avail. It took them a few minutes but eventually the vines fell from their eyes, revealing that most of the areas they had explored were blocked off by her symbol.

The challenge course itself was fairly easy, almost like a combination of Shallare and Signol's.
They just hoped they didn't have to prove themselves in combat like they did with Compale, but that seemed highly unlikely with Ploque.

Once they reached the end of the course, she was in the same position she sat in when they saw her for the first time, canopied by vines near the large tree.
Except, the large tree's stump seemed carved out, revealing her symbol.

"Well done, Tailor. I knew you could do it."

She gave them a smile and waited for them to come to her.
"If you ever need any sort of advice, you can come to me. I'll do my best to help."

They felt a grin grow on their face and hugged her, and she reciprocated.
"Feel no pressure, defeating Celesteal will come naturally to you if this is the pace you're going at, little one."

They nodded and headed for her symbol, the heat no longer bothering them as much.

"I'll transport you back to the emporium now. Stay safe, Tailor."