John travelled with Benjamin the mouse and the rabbits all day. They followed Benjamin’s directions, which were supposed to bring them closer to the land of the fairies. But by the end of the day, they had to admit they were lost.
The rabbits were getting more and more upset all the time, but they still stayed with them. John did not know what they were going to do next, and he was beginning to get frustrated. “I wish Midor were here,” he said. “Or Robert. I don’t know how to find my way around this forest.”
“Perhaps we can help,” said a voice. John looked around to see who had said it. “Who’s there?” he asked.
“It’s just us,” said a voice again. “The leaf people.”
And then, one of the leaves got up and started walking. John looked in amazement. “What a forest this is!’ he said. “Even the leaves are alive here.”
“Not every leaf,” the green leaf responded. “Only the leaves of the magical trees. Many years ago, the fairies made some of the trees magic, and those that had the magic grew magical leaves. And we magical leaves can talk and walk just like any other creature.”
The leaf was a dark green tree leaf, but it had two tiny little legs sprouting out of it, which it walked around on. And it had a small little face in the center of it. And two thin arms that came out from it. It was like a little person, almost, but it was a leaf. Several of the leaves on the forest floor stood up, and began walking around, and John saw many leaf people.
John didn’t know what to make of it. “Surely, I have seen a lot of strange things since I came into this forest,” he said. “But I never thought that I’d see leaf people. Is everything alive in this forest? What about the rocks?”
“Some of us are,” answered a nearby rock, much to John’s surprise. John practically fell over at this point, so the rock explained, “We rocks were also made magical many centuries ago by the fairies. Not all rocks can talk, but the rocks near the land of the fairies can.”
John, Benjamin the mouse, and the rabbits now found themselves surrounded by the leaf people, who were standing up and coming from piles all over the forest floor.
“Who are you people?” asked John. “How is it that leaves can be alive after they’ve left the tree?”
“Again, we’re not ordinary leaves,” explained the leader patiently. “Centuries ago, the trees around this area were given a special gift by the fairies. The leaves on their branches are all alive. And because of this gift, we stay alive, and we stay green, even after we fall off the trees’ branches.”
“But then the tree must just grow new leaves next spring,” said John.
“Indeed, they do,” said the leader of the leaf people.
“But then… then what happens to the new leaves?”
“In the autumn, they fall down. But they still stay alive.”
“But if there are new leaves being born every year, then the forest must be full of leaf people. How long do you live?”
“The fairies gifted us with long life-spans. If nothing happens to us, we can live for a hundred years. But few of us ever make it that long. We are thin and fragile, and often killed by the other creatures of the forest. It is a violation of the forest law, of course, but…”
“Yes, I’ve discovered,” said John. “The forest law is not always followed in the remote parts of the forest.”
“Yes, exactly. But also we lose thousands of our number every year to war.”
“War?”
“The leaf wars. Among the leaf-people. The house of maple has been trying to expand its territory, but the oaks are fighting back against it. We birch leaves, for as you can clearly see, we are birch, have formed an alliance with the Elm leaves, but the house of Elm has recently fallen into civil war, and they have started fighting among themselves.”
“And how do leaves fight amongst themselves?” asked John.
“We have weapons that we manufacture, or that we buy from those that sell to us. Such, at least, that that our small hands can hold. The dwarves can make tiny little metal swords and spears, and some wooden bows and arrows as well are given to us by the elves.”
“But why do you fight?” said Benjamin. “Surely it would be much better to all live in the forest in peace.”
“Sometimes it is necessary to fight to protect our freedom,” said the leaf.
“What does that mean?” asked John.
“The other leaves would seek to subjugate us and make us their slave,” said the leaf. “We must fight for our freedom.”
“Will you join us?” another one asked John.
“Most assuredly I will not,” said John. “For surely this sounds like the most foolish war that I have ever heard of, and I will not take part in it.”
“But with your human body, you are much stronger than a leaf,” said the elm leaf. “You could tear up many of our enemies.”
“But I have no desire to tear up anyone,” said John. “Does Midor know about this little war of yours?”
“Midor? Why yes, he helped negotiate our last peace,” said the birch leaf. “Of course, the peace fell apart shortly after he left us. The King of the Leaves was assassinated, and the various houses of the leaves took to warring again.”
“Midor has not been back here for many months,” said another birch leaf. “So there has been no one to negotiate a peace.”
“Very well,” said John. “I will negotiate the peace for you.”
“John, this is not wise,” said Benjamin. “Midor was an expert at negotiating these things. He knew intimately all the politics of the forest. You may try to imitate him, but maybe you will only make things worse.”
“We shall see,” said John. “Are you going into battle soon?”
“Yes, we are marching against the maple leaves this afternoon.”
“Let me go with you,” said John. “I will make an alliance between you and the maple leaves.”
Meanwhile the two rabbits, Klangor and Starrof, thought the whole thing was very funny, and kept laughing the whole time.
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