If there's one thing I'm sure about, it's that I was too tired for this shit. I'd been traveling for over a day straight at that point, tired as hell and not to mention hungry, and I just happened to find a lovely little spot near a lake that seemed perfect for fishing. So I set up camp, broke off a branch off a nearby tree, whittled and fashioned myself an impromptu fishing rod—not my best work, but it would have done fine for the moment—and got to work. I still had some stuff that would work as bait in my bag and also managed to find some grubs nearby, so a good, if fish-heavy, meal seemed to be in my future.
That was, until a yell from above caused me to jolt up. "Stop! You've violated the law!" it rang out, and after looking around for a moment, I managed to locate the source—two elves, standing in the crown of one of the trees, bows drawn and pointed directly at me. "You have desecrated the holy groves with your meddling! Come along quietly, or we will take measures to remove you from this forest permanently!" the elf then ordered, and upon closer inspection, four additional elves with very pointy spears had joined him on the ground while I wasn't looking. Now, I've been in scrapes before where I got out of this sort of situation without being apprehended, but in those, I was armed with a sword and not a fishing rod.
So while my adventurer soul ached to simply acquiesce with the law, the part of my brain that liked the whole "being alive" part of life won out and I went along with them to their small commune. It couldn't have been much larger than about fifty people, but apparently that's enough to have a whole squad out doing nature law enforcement, and they had a judge ready to go as well. In a quick trial, I was sentenced to "repay my debt tenfold", something that meant nothing to me, but since I was the only one that seemed confused, I just went along with that as well.
In the end, it brings me to here, a small patch of land on the outskirts of the commune, sectioned off as some sort of designated zone, with another elf standing beside me. "So, um... can you tell me what I'm doing here? All I got is some sort of thing about repaying debt tenfold," I ask him.
The elf brushes some of his long hair out of his face and looks over at me, wearing a somewhat shy expression. "Well, it's kind of complicated, but basically, your contributions towards nature are currently negative thanks to your trespassing and interference. So before you can leave, you have to get that positive again, by a lot. And to do that, you're going to help me! Oh, I'm Elaran, by the way," he says, reaching out for a handshake, which I somewhat reluctantly accept, still pretty confused. But he seems to recognize the confusion and continues, "Basically, we've parceled this spot out for a little natural garden, and we're going to plant it and take care of it together. Oh, I've got so much planned, wonderful flowers, some nice trees for shade, and of course, Mother Nature will contribute plenty of her own as well, we'll take some spots and just fertilize them a bit with some magic, and all sorts of beautiful chaos will grow, it's going to be great!" he explains, a giddy tone in his voice.
But one question still remains. "OK, but, how long is this going to take?" I ask, almost afraid of the answer.
"Oh, not long at all! Our magic can help the natural growth along, so we're looking at a year or so. Not a lot at all!" he says, like it's nothing. Right, he's an elf. Of course a whole year won't mean much to him, but that's a whole lot to me!
With a bit of trepidation, I find myself asking, "Um... is there some sort of faster alternative? A year is a really long time for me..."
But that was the wrong thing to say, and it's clear very quickly. Elaran looks away, his hair falling back over his face, and I can hear his breathing getting rougher. "Well, t-there's a s-shorter prison sentence you... you could do... if you h-hate me t-that much..." he mutters, stability of his voice rapidly degrading and hitching with sobs. He's crying, and he's crying hard, too, like I've just shattered his self-esteem with a simple question. Now, a more logical, cynical me would maybe consider just taking the prison sentence and leaving this elf to cry, figuring the trade-off is very much worth it. But with how quick this situation developed, logical, cynical me is not in right now, all that I've got is snap-decision, panicking me, and he's seeing this poor guy crying and being sad and doesn't want him to be sad.
Immediately, I move in front of him, moving his hair away from his face and seeing those teary eyes. "Hey, hey... don't cry. I... I'm sorry. I'll help you with the garden, OK? So please don't cry..." I plead with him, completely helpless before his sadness. He looks at me a bit, the slightest bit of hope in his gaze. "C'mon... do you want a hug?" I offer, half unable to believe what I'm saying. Offering hugs, bah, how inappropriate for an adventurer like me. And yet, that's what I'm doing. In response, he gives me a slight nod, and I wrap my arms around him, gently rubbing his back and trying to comfort him. It takes several minutes for him to calm back down, and while part of me was wondering if these were just crocodile tears on his part, it's pretty clear to me now that this is all very real. A master manipulator couldn't have put on a better show, and now I'm hooked. "Better?" I ask him, my voice as soft and gentle as I can muster.
The last few sobs and sniffles leave Elaran, and then, he puts on a brave face and nods once more. "Yeah... better," he replies, a little smile returning to his expression. Gods, this is just unfair, there's no way you can say no to that face.
Breaking the embrace, I take his hand, now reluctantly, yet firmly committed to my new year-long life as an elf gardener's apprentice. "Alright, now tell me about this garden,"