William
She waved a hand in front of, a sheepish grin forming on her face. "Oh, don't worry about needing to pay me back! We're even! You gave me the gift of knowledge, and I gave you the gift of seeds." In fact, when she put it that way, its gift sounded way more valuable than hers. Its gift would help her to do her job, to fulfil the purpose that she had been given, while hers would only be able to save lives, which would only serve to stoke further conflict. Wasn't that, like, the exact opposite thing that the other demigod might have wanted? She wasn't sure, but the Peacekeeper name wasn't exactly subtle about what it was meant to do.

She tilted her head curiously as the older demigod had a sudden change in demeanour, though it quickly morphed into mildly disappointed understanding as it explained that it had to go. "Well, alright. If you're insistent on getting me a gift... " Her face scrunched up in concentration as she pondered what she might want if she had to take something. "Ooh, how about more knowledge? I've got sisters back home now, so I need to know some good games to play with them!" She clapped her hands together, excited at the prospect of playing around with her new Ceres siblings. It wasn't like there were a lot of invaders entering the Valley, so she didn't have much to do anyhow.

Once they had said their goodbyes, her gaze drifted further away, to the rest of the Tree. The sheer vastness of it was beyond anything that she might be able to comprehend, but that only intensified the feelings of anticipation that were swelling up in her. Fragarie, the Strawberry Maiden and soon to be World Explorer! She waved her new friend goodbye, then fluttered away, using her leaf wings to jump and glide between the roots of the tree, searching for other realms that might populate this area. She could have asked him if there was anywhere like that nearby, but discovering them herself was half of the fun! She couldn't just throw the exploration it away like that.
John
**SKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERRRR!**

*Like nails on a chalkboard, the terrible cries of __something__ scraping against Yggdrasil's mighty roots bellowed for as far as the eye could see, and furthermore still for whatever ears were made to endure it. These ghastly shrieks were accompanied by gnashing metal scraps and wood whose agonized moans made certain how they were brought to the brink of breaking. Brief intermittent pauses followed each terrible push forward but it was of little consolation for anyone misfortunate enough to be subjected to all this commotion. Yet now you must fathom, how anyone might fancy anything in all these terrible cries?*

"...-Da-da-da-da-da! Da-da-da-da-da-da-da! Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-daaa~!"

*By now we're sure you aren't too terribly surprised, but the question was not who- but how?*

"Before the boat had hit the water! The whale's tail came up and caught her! All hands to the side, harpooned and fought her! When she dived down low- huh? Ehm- Soon may the Nacheran come! To bring us sugar and tea and rum! One day, when the tonguing is done! We'll take our leave and goooo~!"

*Our beloved Nach sat within a cobbled together canoe, who looked about as ghastly as the ghastly shrieks it eeked aloud with every scrape against Yggdrasil's roots. Amidst her singing, she ushered this "Mighty" Vessel on with a pair of sticks- which nearly appeared like oars of a kind.*

"No line was cut, no whale was freed! The captain's mind was not of greed! And he belonged to the Nacheran's creed! She took that ship in tow- huh? Soon may the Nacheran come! To bring us sugar and tea and rum! One day, when the tonguing is done! We'll take our leave and goooo~!"
William
The roots of the World Tree were usually a quiet place. That was what Fragarie had learned over the past few days of travel along the roots, searching for new realms to explore. As such, the little demigod was startled out of her sleep by the sudden cacophony. She had been sleeping under one of the roots, clinging to the bottom in her waspish form. Upon hearing the cacophony, she lost her grip on the root, her wings beginning to instinctively flutter as she turned back upright and crawled up to the upper side of the roots. As she did so, she assumed a more humanoid form, her leafy wings occasionally buzzing to help her get her footing on the tree.

The Strawberry Maiden glanced around, searching for the source of all the noise. It wasn't hard to spot the god in the boat. Normally, she wouldn't be able to recognise a deity, especially one that her mother hadn't met for very long, but given that the goddess was screaming her own name, Fragarie was able to conclude who this was pretty easily. Though the demigod's heart swelled with excitement upon meeting someone else after so long, it was quickly overwhelmed by the terrible screechy nature of the song sparking genuine annoyance in her. It wasn't a new feeling by any means, but that just meant that she very much recognised what the emotion forming in her gut was.

"Ugh. Aunt Nach, this song is terrible." She grumbled under her breath, sticking her fingers into her ears. It had been mostly meant for herself, rather than for the chaotic deity's ears, but it wouldn't be tough for the goddess to hear what she had said, especially since she had invoked the divinity's name. She decided to just take a seat on the root that she was at present perched upon, using her wings as support as she waited for the god to pass. She didn't fear her aunts and uncles, despite them being a lot more powerful than her, but she was a little worried that the god would start singing louder if she tried to approach and ask her to knock it off.
John
*What followed Fragarie's wrong opinion must've come as rather a shock, for in the middle of rowing forward our Nach came to an abrupt stop after she voiced her complaint. The mad god's curious stare swiftly turned unto the Strawberry Maiden, blinking once, then twice, before a broad smile crossed that sickly face of hers. She arose from within her canoe, scrambling off to the side in an apparent rush to grip onto the edge.* "Berry overboard! All hands to stations, ready the ropes- bring er aboard! Ehehehehee..."

*Alas Nach's cries were the unfortunate Fragarie's only warning, before the mad god unfurled a rope from within her pocket! Continuously pulling what'd appear a seemingly endless rope from unfathomable deep pockets, by the time she was finished it occupied about a quarter of the canoe's floor space. With little skill nor finesse, she swung the rope madly through the air before casting her line forth to the Strawberry Maiden. Miraculously, as though the rope moved of its own volition- it began wrapping around the demigod and sought to pull her away and onto the canoe. She could of course resist, but there'd be no telling how a creature such as Nach might react to that.* "Heave! HO! Heave and away, bring forth our berry!"

*As though that weren't enough, another Nach was conjured perched onto the bow of their canoe. She however wore a tricorn hat, and peered through an impractically long looking glass.* "Aye! This berry be ours, best pull er aboard in before these tides CRUSH its body against our here hull!"

*Not long thereafter, Hat Nach's looking glass shifted onto another startling sight. Emerging over the horizon were a foreboding silhouette of a shark's fin, tied onto the back of yet another Nach conjured out of thin hair! This Nach however hastily sprinted for Fragarie on all fours, gnashing rows of sharpened teeth together.* "Aahhhh~! CROMCH!" 

"GAH!" *Cried Hat Nach.* "Blighted shark on our starboard side! Ready our death-killers, real our berry in!"
William
"Yagh!" The Strawberry Maiden let out a cry of surprise as the sudden yoink, flapping her wings on instinct to stop herself from falling into the gaping maw of the Void below. She wasn't even that afraid, to be honest, just surprised and disoriented by the sudden movement. Fearing death would make it easier to threaten her, and so her mom hadn't included that in her when making a Guardian. No, what she felt was the world whirling around her as she was dizzily tossed around by the goddess. That, of course, and confusion, because she had *No idea* What Nach was saying. All she'd ever known were fields of endless wheats, so certain key words that the goddess of chaos was yammering about meant nothing to her, which just made the whole situation even less comprehensible to the already bewildered demigod.

"What are you even talking about?" She screamed as she was flung around like a fish resisting the pull of a rod. "What are tides! What's a hull? WHAT'S A BLIGHTED SHARK?!" She complained, her vision beginning to change into a swirl of colours as her body seemed to be ragdolled around. Well, not quite, given that she continued to windmill her arms and legs rapidly as she flew through the air, but she couldn't really do much to resist the pull of a full deity. After a moment, though, she figured that this might be some game that her aunt was trying to play with her, and so she decided to play along.

Uh, the silhouette with thin hair was supposed to be the bad guy, right? She blew a raspberry at shark-fin Nach, deciding to try and act along with whatever cringey roleplay that her aunt was trying to pull off. Her leaf wings fluttered rapidly as she tried to gain some sense of stability, but it didn't work all that well, not with the power of a god tossing her around. Still, she reassured herself that it had been a valiant effort as the goddess continued to use her as some sort of action figure. What even *Was* An action figure? How did she know that word?
John
"Aye-aye!" *Fortunately Hat Nach's command of the situation proved decisive, for yet another Nach was conjured by the starboard side of their canoe.* "Death-killers armed, steadying aim, preparing to fire!" 

*...Unfortunately, this Nach wore two eyepatches, one for each eye. This supposed death-killer was just another stick, it however looked a lot like a gun! Wait, what is a gun?* "FIRE!" *With a wave of her hand, Hat Nach beckoned for Blind Nach to fire and so she did. Her supposed death-killer was quite the apt name, for a shake of that stick cast a wild surge of fire swooping right past the Strawberry Maiden and unto their dreaded opposition. In an instant their mortality was clarified within a scenario too absurd to believe, an explosion ripped through space where that surge of fire met its mark. Casting an inferno of shimmering colours, swallowing whole that blighted shark and distorting the very in its wake.*

"**AHAHAHAHAAAA!**" *But as though in defiance of this raw power, Shark Nach leaped ahead right through these flames- the shark's fin she wore now aflame as was some of her hair.* "CROMCH!"

"GAH! Brace yourselves! Here comes the counterattack..."

*Shark Nach's broad toothy grin was cracked open, and within their accursed maw an ominous glow illuminated their many jagged teeth, teeth like knives. Fortunately, after only a little resistance on her part the Strawberry Maiden was pulled aboard our many Nachs cobbled together canoe. But alas none of them bothered getting that rope around her off, instead the many Nachs clasped their hands together in anticipation for the Shark's assault.*

"Welcome aboard our berry! Do try not to die, our voyage shall soon have some ehm... Turbulence!" 

"Ahahahaaaa! We suppose you're in greater danger here aboard then adrift at sea! Woops."

"Ah! A trick perhaps, do a little trick for us! If it's most pleasurable, then perhaps our shark me will miss. So terribly-terribly distracted they'll be, they won't aim at all and shall instead enjoy your trick!" 

*There wasn't much time for consideration however, for soon thereafter Shark Nach cast their accursed breath of tumultuous flame and dreadful light which ebbed around the surging fire. If however this surge was anything like the previous, then if it met their mark- the consequences could be quite frightening.*
William
She continued to flail around in the air, doing her best to remain out of the way of the fight... If you could even call it that. With a flap of her wings, she pushed herself out of the way of the fireball, knowing that unlike a mortal attack, a fireball from a god could very much kill her in a single shot. Having spent most of her life knowing her mother, she was less in awe at the display of power and more trying not to get obliterated in this childish aunt's playtime. Fortunately for her, it seemed like the goddess of chaos didn't intend to harm her, but it didn't stop her from instinctively trying to get out of the way of any danger right now. Eventually, she was pulled on to the ship, where she took a moment to stop the world from spinning and to regain her bearings. This gave her a few moments to decide what to do, and...

You know what? Screw it! If her aunt wanted her to play along, she didn't see any harm in doing so. She shot to her feet, pointing a finger at the shark-Nach."The, uh, blighted shark is... Starboard?" She cried. This direction was, rather definitively, not starboard, but she did her best to appear confident as she summoned her own little hat, based off of the one that Hat Nach was wearing. As the shark-Nach roared and jumped at them, though, she let out a little yelp and jumped away from it onto the ship. The sheer speed at which events were happening were less scary and more disorienting.

She'd have undoubtedly fallen off if not for her wings, which she flapped to regain her balance after the shark-Nach rammed the boat. Her leafy wings unfurled to try and stabilise her stumbling form as more and more impact shook the fragile surface she was standing upon. Still, her aunt had demanded a trick, and so she quickly forced her own arm open with her shapeshifting powers and tossed some of the strawberry juice into the shark-Nach's eyes. "Take this! Strawberry Splash!" She cried at the top of her lungs, hoping she was playing along well.
John
"**RAAGHHH-**... Mehehm...?"

*A marvelous trick, and a brilliant distraction to boot! For though this cobbled together canoe was beginning to crumble, and the enemy's accursed fury was soon to be upon them. None could've anticipated the Strawberry Maiden's confluence of skill and purpose, to muster a devastating blow into that blighted shark which assailed them! At first our Shark Nach was confused when she felt suddenly felt like her eyes were burning, yet confusion was soon followed by splendor! Blinking once to have her eyes turn into little mouths, made for the explicit purpose of catching whatever strawberry juice she could.*

*This was quite fortunate, for without eyes a shark couldn't aim their dreadful fire breath and in an effort to catch all the juice she could Shark Nach tipped her head this way and that- completely missing the Strawberry Maiden! And only some of their fair ship caught aflame! Thus the maiden survives our Nach's nachinations still, much to everyone's delight.*

"Ahaha! Most marvelous, most marvelous indeedly! We've even a little light for our ship now, we do suppose it was getting quite chill-chilly around here.."

"Now! For OUR counter-counter attack, cast this blighted shark away we say-we say!"

"Aye-aye!" *Blind Nach saluted in the wrong direction, aiming their stick backwards toward themselves instead of Shark Nach and instead of firing it at all she swung it straight into the shark's skull.* "BONK!"

"GAAHHH!" *Cried Shark Nach, who after being knocked back from the "Ship" Was sent blasting off into the heavens. Wildly flailing around, breathing fire everywhere, and soon disappearing from view.*