Wilona woke up with her head being assaulted by the mother of all headaches. She grasped her forehead and gagged—she had definitely drunk way too much last night. That was a stupid move on her part, but come on, can't a girl indulge in a little bit of material pleasure without suffering any kind of health-based consequences the day after?

  "Complete and utter bullshit." Wilona cupped her surroundings in search of water. She greedily drank from the first canteen she got and finished it in mere seconds.

  As her mind began to snap back into place, Wilona sat on her bed. The darkness was a welcome addition to this little moping session of hers; it helped keep her headache at bay, but she knew her eyes would have to confront the sun eventually.

  For now, she sat down, elbows on her thighs, back bent, and both hands grabbing the sides of her head. A distressed pose, some might call it, but that kind of reputation was wrong because the positioning made it so that her entire body was recovering while in this pose.

  Her blood was making rounds across her body, her head wasn't giving up on her because she was sitting upright, and she was leaning on her limbs without putting pressure on her back, so she didn’t get tired. It was bliss.

  Naturally, the moment got broken by the door to her home opening. Sunlight filtered through the entrance and struck Wilona's eyes, and she hissed, "Damn it!"

  "Wake up, Wilona. The day will not wait for you to get going," Fuzz's voice rang into the room. "I believe it is best we start improving the surrounding area as early as possible. You still need more storage units, and your magic is lacking. This will not do."

  "I get it!" Wilona stood up angrily. What the hell was this stupid mushroom even talking about?! Who cared if everything she mentioned wasn’t done immediately? They were the only ones in this swamp!

  "Why are you in such a rush anyway?! It's not like something bad will happen—" Wilona's words got caught in her throat as she laid her eyes on the being standing at the center of her swamp. "I'm sorry, did the canteen I emptied earlier have more alcohol in it, or did I drink so much last night that I got brain damage?"

  Fuzz weirdly turned silently, in a smug kind of way. It pissed Wilona off.

  "Fuzz, what the hell is that?!"

  And by "that," Wilona meant the tree thing next to her fire pit. It was at least ten feet tall, probably more, had bark for skin, and leaves for... pimples? Hair. Leaves for hair. It also had sharp branches for its fingers and two thick logs serving as its goddamn legs!

  "Fuzz?!"

  "I'm sorry, Wilona, it's just that I assumed you would have known what this thing is." Did the mushroom sound like she was holding back laughter? "I'm sorry, Ent, I couldn't help it. I didn't mean to insult you." The tree thing nodded. "Anyway, Wilona, she is an Ent—a type of forest creature that exists to protect large groups of trees."

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  "Yeah, I figured." Wilona had heard its—her?—name the first time. "And why did it relocate over here? This is a swamp, not a forest."

  "She is here not because she left her home, but rather, you grew her."

  Fuzz’s explanation caused something in Wilona's mind to click, and she quickly turned to the pile of branches she had made last night.

  "It's gone," Wilona muttered.

  "Indeed it is," Fuzz confirmed. "This is our newest resident. She does not have a name yet and has told me that she will wait for you to wake up so that you can give her one."

  "This is too much for me." Wilona felt her headache getting worse. Was Fuzz telling her she had a kid? Well, no—not a kid. She didn't give birth to this thing. More like... she grew a kid? That was fucking new.

  "I—I can't—wait, no."

  Wilona raised her hand in a "stop" gesture like the Ent was a car and she was a cop about to be run over.

  "I need to get this over with," she said to herself, unsure if she was hearing the words right. "Okay, you want a name?" The Ent nodded. "I'll give you one. Let me see..."

  How does someone give a name? Wilona wasn’t experienced with this, so she decided to find something in her memories that would help her decide. She remembered how this thing came to be last night.

  "You are now called Moss... Heart."

  The Ent nodded—well, her name was Mossheart now, Wilona chided herself. She had just named another living being like it was her kid or something! That was one hell of an emotional whiplash. Actually, it was so strong that she was now sober.

  "What... Why are you staring at me?" she asked Mossheart. "What do you want?"

  "A command," Fuzz said from somewhere. "She is an Ent, after all, and a newly grown one at that."

  "Fine." Wilona looked around. Now, what could she say to make a giant tree thing work without marking her as an enemy? Wilona didn't want to make it work so hard that she became a tyrant in Mossheart's eyes, so...

  "Dig me a few holes to burn pottery in and also to collect a few trees. I'll, uh, check on the pottery I left behind last night."

  Wilona made sure to act casual around the giant Mossheart as she scurried along her camp. She checked her pottery and saw that they were now finished. She opened her quest tab to get the shovel and then sat in place for the next few minutes, contemplating.

  She now had a shovel. What did this mean? Who fucking knew.

  "I'm gonna explore, I think," Wilona blurted. She carried her shovel back to her tree. "I'll be back later, I swear."

  Wilona threw on a new set of clothes—one of the weaved shirts she had made for herself—as well as emptied her survival kit of most of its contents. She left behind the water canteen as well as some jerky so she had something to eat. Oh, and jars too, just in case she found something interesting while exploring.

  Last but not least, Wilona grabbed her dagger.

  "I want to clear my head," she said to both the unseen Fuzz and the way-too-noticeable Mossheart. "I'll be back. Uh, work on whatever it is you're working on, Mossheart. I'll just explore the swamp for a bit."

  Wilona didn’t wait for any kind of reply and swiftly made her way out of her swamp, shovel in hand and confusion eating away at her thoughts.

  Focusing on the swamp—or, more accurately, trying to survive some unseen danger—led her to a clearer mind. She actually got to focus more on the layout of the area as she trudged along, passing by extremely wild undergrowth that hindered not just her movements but also her line of sight.

  Too many plants blocked the way, and Wilona wasn't sure where to go as she moved around. A while later, she found herself standing in front of an open bog. It was pretty shallow, judging by the creatures walking around it, but Wilona didn't want to risk anything, so she stayed on dry land.

  The ecosystem ahead was pretty neat, though. There was, like, a group of animals in the distance. A herd of cows, from what she could gather. They had the horns of a ram and the bulkiness of a hippo. All around them were birds that stood amidst floating plant life and countless bugs flying around. A frog occasionally jumped out of the water to try and nip one of these bugs.

  Wilona had assumed that the swamp was mainly dry, with the occasional break from land in the form of large water channels, but no—she was wrong. The actual swamp was around here, while her camp was in some kind of rainforest. Good to know, really.

  Maybe if she got strong enough, she could explore this place one day without feeling like she was going to get killed.

  Wilona walked along the water's edge, making sure to keep her distance. Something had to be hiding underneath the surface, waiting for the right time to lunge at an unsuspecting prey.

  Everything got stale after a while, but that all changed when Wilona spotted a village of... creatures? They lived in large piles of sticks, so she thought they were beavers, but nope—they stood on two legs and were clearly talking to each other.

  She naturally assumed that they would attack and kill her, so she left.

  Maybe Mossheart wasn't so bad. At least she knew the Ent was harmless.