Mighty Oaks from Little Acorns Grow or من الحبة تنشأ الشجرة

The destroyed dessert stand grew hazy in front of Nym's eyes. Now that the naga was dead, Nym realized what bad shape she was in from the fight. She looked at her hand, which was covered with blood. Is this mine? It must be, she thought. Nym knew she'd been poisoned by the naga.
"You alright Nym?" she heard Illuvaen ask.

"Sure..." Nym replied as she felt herself falling. Where's Pipper?? Nym thought frantically as her world swirled away into darkness.

~~~

Nym was on break from the Lady's College in Siverymoon for the winter solstice. The snow was heavy in the High Forest this year, and the going was slow because of it. She'd stopped by home before setting out toward the Grandfather Oak, though that wasn't her final destination. She'd been traveling for a little over two days now and Nym was enjoying the crisp morning air.

Nym chewed on a bit of mint her father had packed for her and sucked cold air between her teeth. She giggled, enjoying the tingling sensation this caused. The stream she had been following veered to the left and Nym followed a path only visible to her to the right.

After another couple hours, the trees became noticeably larger and oaks were more common. There was less undergrowth for Nym to fight through. There was a light mist swirling among the trees, disturbed only occasionally by a fluttering bird. The air was a bit warmer in this part of the forest, likely because the tree branches overhead were quite dense and seemed to trap the warmth of the earth below.

Nym pulled off her hat and called out, "Grandmother?" A squirrel eating a nut stopped to look at her. Nym giggled at it. She knew she was still rather far away from her grandmother's oak, but she thought she'd give it a try. She continued walking.

Feeling impatient, Nym began to sing a love song she'd heard in Silverymoon:

Come to me, she's calling you

Come to me, come to me
Come to me, I'll break your heart
Come to me, come to me

Like a siren to the sailor moribund
Her song of love will drag you ever down
Her kiss will take you to a fabled sacred land
Her lips will break you and lead you to the dance

Come to me, she's calling you
Come to me, come to me

Nym continued to hum as she walked along toward her grandmother's tree.

"Daughter's daughter, I am pleased to see you," said a voice that sounded like the wind in the leaves.

A large oak stood before Nym, and she smiled running toward it with arms outstreached. "Grandmother!" exclaimed Nym.

An elven-looking woman melted out of the tree to embrace Nym. "By my bark, you've grown taller once again, child," said the woman holding Nym at arm length. Her skin was rough like the tree she'd emerged from and her hair appeared to be made of autumn leaves. A dryad.

Nym chatted with her grandmother all afternoon. She'd brought the dryad a basket filled with dried seeds to plant come summer. Her grandmother was pleased.

Nym couldn't remember the first time she'd met the 400-year-old dryad. Her father had presented Nym to her mother's mother only weeks after her mother abandoned Ollin and her infant girl. The woman was ecstatic to meet her prodigy and gifted Ollin the acorn from which Nym's oak blossomed. She was not physically attached to her tree as her grandmother was, but Nym felt connected to her home through the tree and her life was connected to the tree in many ways. When Nym was ill, so was the tree, and vice versa. Nym's oak was how Ollin knew she had not died on her journey to Thay; it's life meant Nym too lived.

Nym hummed as she danced through the forest back home. Although she had never known her mother, Nym's grandmother had always been a comfort to her.

~~~

Nym felt like she was swimming in a black void. Am I dead? she wondered. Her thoughts were scattered at the moment, but she felt herself waking. Alright, not dead, probably unconcous... what happened? Nym wondered, trying to remember. She opened her eyes to see a white fox face in her own. "Oh!" she exclaimed, surprised to see Pipper up close and personal. "MAMA!" cried Pipper as he began licking her face.

"Glad to see you're awake. I was worried!" said someone to Nym's right. Darvin? she wondered as she sat up. Illuvaen was smiling at her standing in the doorway holding a bowl of water. He still looked rather scorched from their encounter with the naga. Nym smiled back and sat up, which made her realize she was feeling quite ill. "Washroom?" she asked urgently. Illuvaen pointed to it and Nym stumbled in to vomit.