//------------------------------//
// Observations 2 and kindred spirits. 
// Story: Hunters of the forest. 
// by Sylif Daring Doo 
//------------------------------//

______*a few minutes later, outside of the Everfree Forest.*______

Fluttershy walked with Jod'ka, Barry and the raccoons through her garden outside of her house, the troll looked around as he walked, now that he was in the light of day, he didn't seem as threatening as he was while in the forest, he held the mother raccoon in his arms while the babies were held by Fluttershy, the other two raccoons raced ahead to the door and Barry followed them to the door.

It had been a silent trip, aside from Jod'ka quietly speaking to the raccoon, golden light flowed across the small creatures body and its pain seemed to fade, Fluttershy would have asked what exactly he was doing but decided against interrupting him, in the off chance that it would cause a problem.

They reached the front door and Fluttershy opened it, she walked inside and allowed the troll to walk in, he had to bend down quite a bit to come inside but he managed, he was able to stand up without much issue and he followed the Pegasus as she directed him to a table. "Set her down here." Fluttershy said, clearing most of the table quickly.

Jod'ka gently set the wounded raccoon down on the table and stopped speaking, he stepped back as Fluttershy immediately began to tend to the raccoons wounds, the Pegasus heard him walk over to her couch and sit down, the small couch creaked but didn't break thankfully.

The house was silent as Fluttershy worked hard to heal the mother raccoon, she applied disinfectant and then a healing salve which took a little while, then she bandaged her up carefully while the other raccoons and critters watched, all the while Angel Bunny stared warily at Jod'ka, not taking his eyes off the troll for anything.

After a few more minutes Fluttershy sighed in relief, she turned and looked at Jod'ka. "She'll live, now let's take a look at your wound." She stated, walking over with a small amount of dread in her heart, when she got close she flew up a little to more easily examine him, the troll made no movement aside from revealing his wounds, they cut deep and covered his shoulders in blood.

The meek Pegasus inwardly cringed at the sight, but she didn't shy away, she started by examining it and noticed that there was cold mist flowing from the wound for some reason. "Ok, I'll need water and my equipment." She said, as if on cue, four birds of varying species flew over a large bowl of water, and many other critters brought over a medical kit along with a bunch of medical supplies.

Much to his credit, Jod'ka made no sudden movements aside from his breathing and his eyes, he watched with interest as the normally meek mare cleaned his wounds and washed off the blood, she was gentle and thorough but not slow, the Pegasus placed a hoof on his chest for better leverage as she grabbed a bottle of liquid, the troll suddenly grabbed her hoof and stared at her intently, making her freeze.

______*Jod'ka's point of view.*______

It was not often that Jod'last was impressed, but it happened every now and then, and now was one of those times, he heard from Scootaloo that her mother was a shy and timid person, but she did not flee or faint at the sight of his wounds, she cleaned them calmly and with the care of a professional healer, she even knew enough to clean the rest of the blood to prevent contamination, but when she grabbed a bottle of clear liquid, something within him snapped.

His hand swiftly grabbed the mares hoof holding the bottle and he stared intensely at the mare. "What is that?" He asked cautiously.

Fluttershy gulped, the motion did not ease the trolls mind and she seemed to be more tense than she was in the forest, probably because he was now close enough to do something if it came to that...and he really didn't want it to.

"I um...I need to sterilize the wound, this is disinfectant, it prevents infection." She answered in a shaky voice.

Jod'ka thought on it for a few moments before nodding, he released his grip on the mares hoof. "My apologies." He stated.

Fluttershy poured some liquid on his wounds and seemed to pause for a moment, she held still for a few moments before turning to his other wound and pouring more on it, she paused again but she didn't say why, she looked at him. "Ok, your wounds are clean, now I need to heal them." She stated.

Jod'ka was about to protest but the Pegasus was already at work, he stopped himself and simply allowed her to work as he watched, observing her methods with a critical eye, he remained silent as the Pegasus worked.

Fluttershy gently applied what Jod'ka recognized as a healing salve to his wounds, she was precise and methodical, not missing anything as she worked, he was about to speak when she finished applying the salve but he was beaten to it. "You're a healer aren't you?" Fluttershy asked as she flew to a cabinet.

Jod'ka watched the Pegasus as she grabbed a few rolls of bandages and flew them over. "Why do you say that?" He asked, genuinely curious as to how she came to that conclusion.

Fluttershy grabbed one of his hands and then looked at him. "Your hands for one, compared to the damage the rest of your body took from what I can see, your hands are in near perfect condition, a healer knows that their hands or in my case hooves, are the most important tool they have." She stated, she then began to cover his wounds with the bandages. "Your grip also wasn't very tight, which means that either you didn't want to hurt me, or you didn't want to rob either of us of the ability to heal with efficiency." She explained.

Jod'ka smiled inwardly, but maintained his calm expression on the outside. "You are not entirely wrong, i am trained in medicine and healing magic, the trolls of Azeroth regenerate naturally which is why I was not concerned with my wounds." He replied, feeling a small amount of joy in the conversation.

Fluttershy finished bandaged his left shoulder and started to work on the right. "Doesn't this hurt? you haven't flinched once and you didn't even seem to be in pain in the forest." She asked with concern and curiosity.

"I do feel it, but in a fight I cannot allow myself to feel or react to pain, that in itself can get one killed, but it has died down since, so I don't feel it very much right now, and speaking of the forest, I wanted to tell you something." He replied, he waited until Fluttershy secured the first layer of bandages before speaking. "I was perfectly aware of the fifth Timberwolf, I stopped moving to bait them, to lure them into a trap." He stated calmly.

Fluttershy paused and didn't say anything for a while, instead she focused on wrapping the bandages, she got through a good amount of the roll before speaking. "I'm sorry I got you hurt." She said quietly.

"Don't worry about it, you had reason to believe i was unaware of its presence, you did what you thought was right and I commend you for that." The troll stated.

Jod'ka's words seemed to help calm Fluttershy and she soon finished with the bandages. "So Scootaloo told you I was a healer?" The mare asked.

"Yes, she is very proud of you, you have a very special daughter Fluttershy." The troll stated.

Fluttershy smiled at that, and she started to fly her medical equipment back to certain cabinets. "Thank you, she brought a lot of life to this place, her energetic attitude reminds me of Rainbow Dash most days." She replied, she then looked at the troll. "Your daughter, Shanda...Scootaloo is very fond of her." She said, her voice held a slight envy in it.

Jod'ka noticed this immediately. "She is quite fond of the little Pegasus as well..." He paused and then spoke. "You don't like my daughter do you?" He asked somberly.

"What? no no no! it's not that I-" Jod'ka held a hand up to silence the now worried Pegasus. 

"Please, it's obvious you don't like her...it's because of what she did isn't it? keeping you from seeing your daughter when you were so obviously distraught." He asked, the tone in his voice made it sound like he already knew the answer. 

Fluttershy sighed and nodded as she closed a drawer. "It is, I understand why she did it, and I know it was for the best but I can't let it go." She replied, she was silent for a while before speaking. "You're a single parent too aren't you?" She asked quietly. 

Jod'ka nodded in grim remembrance, he thought back to that day when he found Shanda, but he found himself pulled away from his thoughts. "Who was her mother? if you don't mind my asking." Fluttershy asked, her tone indicated a lot of curiosity while being kind.

"A Night Elf woman, she died in a fire that consumed an entire town, she gave me Shanda in the hopes that I would save her, and I did...I swore to myself I would raise her, and I did." The troll replied, his voice was level and calm as usual, which served to unnerve Fluttershy a little. "And Scootaloo's father? who was he?" He asked.

Fluttershy paused and after a moment she sighed sadly, she looked over at the troll. "He died when I was pregnant with her, he was a field medic in the Equestrian army." She motioned her head to a picture frame, Jod'ka stood up and walked over, he picked up the picture frame and examined the photo.

It was a photo of Fluttershy and a stallion in the house, the stallion was a Pegasus with orange fur and white hair, he had brown eyes and was about the same age as the mare if he wasn't mistaken, the mark on his flank was hidden due to the angle. "His name was Herbal Cure, he was a good man and would have been a great father." Fluttershy said as the troll set the picture frame down and looked at the Pegasus. "How long do you think you will be in Equestria?" She asked.

"I do not know." Jod'ka stated calmly. "We are not here intentionally, all we have is what we had on us when we were sent here." He added.

Fluttershy finished putting away her supplies and turned to face Jod'ka. "You should heal easy now." She said.

The troll nodded and walked to the door. "Then I won't take any more of your time." He said, he walked up to the door and opened it, he kept his hand on the door and looked back at Fluttershy. "If you are worried about your daughter getting attached to Shanda, I am worried about the same thing, I will do whatever I must to protect my daughter, even if I have to break her heart to do it...I just hope It doesn't come to that." He stated before leaving.

Fluttershy was still for a minute before she felt Angel tapping her leg, she looked down at him and saw that he was holding something, she knelt down and the bunny showed her what it was, the object was small, about the size of a large coin, it had an engraving on it that Fluttershy could not read, the other side of the object had a lion head with a shield behind it. "What...is this?" She asked herself quietly, she quickly got up and hurried to the door, she opened it to try and return the object to Jod'ka but the troll was nowhere in sight.

'He's gone...why would he leave this behind?' She asked herself.

______*Elsewhere.*______

Jod'ka walked back to his hut in the forest from Fluttershy's home, he kept his guard up because of the forest as he walked, he placed his hand in his pocket and closed his eyes. 'I have grown complacent, it's time to revive our search in full force, if I don't get us home...she may never want to leave.' He told himself.

Jod'ka opened his eyes and spotted Shard approaching him from behind the trees, he smiled and walked up to his old friend. "How do you feel about going back to the hut?" He asked.

The raptor screeched quietly and lowered his head, Jod'ka placed his hand on the raptors head and rubbed a little, he then climbed on and Shard turned around to head back to the hut. "Go however fast you wish old friend, I am in no hurry right now." The troll said.

With that said, the raptor moved swiftly through the forest, easily moving around and over roots, plants, trees and critters, the speed gave Jod'ka little time to think and for once, the troll was happy about it.

______*Later, Jod'ka and Shanda's hut.*______

Jod'ka looked over from his bed and saw Shanda fast asleep in he bed, with Rock asleep at the steps and Shade downstairs in the main room, he could hear Shard shuffling around in his built in nest outside.

The troll sat up in his bed and lit a single candle, he then opened his backpack and pulled out a thick book and quill, while he would commonly say to his friends that he loathed using quills, he would rather use one to write instead of pigments or chalk for tablets, and he absolutely refused to use magic writing, so a quill was his best bet.

With his dim light burning away slowly, Jod'ka opened the book and began to write.

'Equestrian Log, entry three.

I have observed these...ponies for some time, and I have discovered many things about both them and their culture, there are three primary species of pony, Pegasi, they are ponies who have wings and can manipulate the weather as well as walk on clouds, many of them seem to live in a city of clouds that moves across the country, managing the weather and housing the largest Pegasus population in the world.

Earth Ponies, they have no wings or easily discernible talents from a first glance, but they are easily the most versatile of the three main races, as well as the most eccentric and hardy, they naturally send magic into the earth that rejuvenates and brings life, this makes them apt farmers and I imagine they would make fine Druids in their own right, another theory I have that I cannot confirm yet is that they are physically stronger than the others, not to an incredible degree, but noticeable nonetheless.

Unicorns, this species of pony have horns on their heads, which allows them to channel magic with ease to wield it, the most common use of magic in this world seems to be levitation that allows for great finesse and control of whatever they are holding in their magic, because of this however, much like the magic wielders of Azeroth, unicorns tend to lack on the physical side of things, but seem to try and make up for it in magical prowess, it seems that they all learn from a young age to control their magic if my observations are correct, why this is is beyond me, as none of the unicorns I can see have any combat experience.

There is a fourth race of pony from what I have heard, Alicorns, which combine the traits of all three races into one, I am unable to observe any of them however, as the only known members of this species are the rulers of the nation, however from what I have heard they are powerful and radiate magic like a beacon, and wield tremendous powers that few can comprehend.

I have also learned about many creatures of the forest in my time here, I will include them in the following pages, but I will get back to the point of this page.

We have had no luck in finding the Core in all of this time, we have explored so many lands in this world and found nothing, from common homes to the vaults of kings to the hoards of dragons, nothing has been found yet, not one single clue as to its whereabouts, and while Shanda has found possible assistance in this search, I will not rest until we have found the Core, it is here in Equestria, it must be as we have searched everywhere else, and now that we have a stable place to prepare ourselves, our search will be more efficient and swift, and that much closer to going home.

Tomorrow our search continues for the first time in a long while, hopefully we find the Core soon, so we can return to Sen'Jin village and our life, I only hope Shanda will not grow too attached to the natives, they have their own lives to live and will not be joining us.'