It’s a beautiful day, with the sun shining, as the episode begins. The scene is an island where the Wraith is docked; Ren is working on the sail and comments on how it’s good they stopped to repair and clean because they could use the break. Ioz gets a little annoyed, since he’s the one scrubbing the deck, and grumbles about how he’d rather fight a pack of pirates. Teron comments to Ren that this is a beautiful spot Ren’s chosen to dock and how much like Andorus it is, adding that Andorus is just over the horizon. Ren remarks that he’d like to see it and climbs a rope to do more repairs, and under his breath Teron replies that he will see it very soon.
Ioz stands up, finished and satisfied that the deck is spotless. Suddenly Niddler flies overhead, carrying a large sack and calling out to Tula that he has the dirt she’d asked him for. He spills dirt all over the deck, making Ioz pretty pissed off, and drops the sack before Tula, who is doing some planting. Ioz grumbles some more, plunking himself back down on the deck to reclean it, and Tula tells him that he won’t be complaining when he wants fresh spices (which is what she’s planting). Suddenly she gasps—her hand is glowing with a blue light! Teron hears her gasp and comes to check on her; she quickly hides it, escaping by insisting that she needs to change because her clothes are covered in dirt. Teron suspects something but doesn’t say anything about it.
Nearby, three dagrons are sitting in the water, out of sight from the Wraith; astride these dagrons are Konk, Mantus, and another pirate (Joat, I believe, though he isn’t mentioned by name until later in the series). Konk’s going on about how proud Bloth will be of him when he captures the crew (maybe he’ll even get his own ship...? Not likely, but wishful thinking’s always nice ;o) ), and leads the others away to plan a master attack.
Commercial break.
Ren’s pulling the sail up with the others standing around him; as he finishes, he comments that they’re ready to go. Suddenly Tula’s voice calls out in protest that she hasn’t gotten water for her spice plants yet, and she runs onto the deck to catch up with them.
You can hear a pin drop in the next several seconds as they take in her new outfit. It’s not drastically different, but still...she’s wearing a pink off-the-shoulder sleeveless shirt that falls to just above her stomach. It’s got some red, green, and gold embroidery across the top. Her pants aren’t that different, but the green wrap around her stomach is gone and instead she has a green scarf tied around her hips. She’s showing off more skin than she was before, and she’s got everybody’s mouth hanging open (okay, maybe except for Teron’s). Ren manages to stammer, "Uh—Tula, your clothes—" and the girl stammers something out about finding a trunk of silks below and needing a change.
"I guess it’s not fit for a warrior," she adds sheepishly.
Ioz replies, "None that I’ve ever seen." Under his breath, he elbows Ren and comments, "Looks nice, huh, Ren?" (He’s such a chauvinist...) Ren’s broken out of his trance long enough to stammer something back in agreement.
Niddler comes out (he doesn’t seem that surprised), wearing a scarf around his shoulders and asks if she can find something for a "world-traveling monkey-bird." Predictably, he trips on the scarf and falls face-first onto the deck. Tula laughs and helps him up, saying, "Come, silly bird. Feathers are clothes enough for you." They walk off the deck. After a few seconds of silence, Ioz asks the other two if Tula seems different. Ren and Teron both agree, though in different ways—Ren about her appearance, Teron about the suspicions he’s been harboring about her.
Some distance away, Tula’s filling up water bottles tied to ropes so Niddler can carry them back around his neck. She’s filling up her fourth or fifth one and Niddler demands to know how thirsty her plants are, because the bottles are getting pretty heavy. She insists she has just one more and dips her hand below the water—just as it starts to glow again, and fish start to flock around it, smiling up at her. (Don’t ask; that’s exactly what happened.) She’s startled and stares at the light in surprise as Niddler comments, "You’re pretty popular with the tadpoles, Tula." She picks up her hand, letting the bottle drop into the water, and stares at it in wonder. Suddenly, Teron appears behind her, startling her.
"Just as I suspected," he marvels. "You have the elemental touch—the power of an ecomancer!"
"Impossible!" Tula shoots back. "I’m no ecomancer!"
Teron takes her glowing hand in both of his. "Can you not feel it, child?" he asks her. "The ecomancer’s fire grows strong within you! It’s the power to control nature."
She yanks her hand from his and stands up, facing away from him. "Stop!" she cries. "I’m not an ecomancer! I’m a warrior—I was raised for battle."
Teron stands as well to try and calm her down. "Sometimes a person’s true calling comes when she least expects it," he informs her.
Nearby, Bloth’s pirates are watching, but Konk’s dagron makes some noise and Tula finds them, ordering Niddler to carry Teron to safety. Konk orders the other two to take care of Tula while he goes after Teron. The two dagrons and their riders start charging the girl; she looks down at her hand uncertainly, then suddenly reaches it out, palm facing the animals, and shouts, "Back, you worms!" Just feet away from her, the dagrons land and obediently put their heads on the ground, surrounded by the blue glow emanating from her hand. She’s surprised that they actually listen to her.
Some distance away, Konk is closing in on Niddler and Teron; Konk’s dagron nearly grabs Teron, but Niddler pulls him away to safety, flying as fast as he can, but to no avail, because Konk’s right behind him. The two pass the Wraith, not wanting to risk landing. Bloth is watching, surprised at Konk’s success, but gleeful as well. The Wraith takes off in pursuit of Niddler and Teron; Ioz, in the crow’s nest, shouts down to Ren that he thinks he can see Niddler, when suddenly overhead, a dagron flies by, glowing with blue lightning, with none other than Tula on its back! She shouts for them to follow her and flies off. Startled, Ioz comes back down to the deck, where Ren’s equally amazed. "First it’s new clothes—now she’s riding dagrons!" he exclaims.
Konk pulls out a lavender creature resembling a small octopus and throws it at Niddler; it hooks its suction cups onto the monkey-bird’s shoulders, and Konk, who’s holding onto the largest of the octopus’s tentacles, starts pulling with all his might to get Niddler down. He almost succeeds, but Tula catches up with them (much to Bloth’s dismay), kicks Konk off his dagron’s back so he’s only hanging on by the tentacle, and reaches out a blue-glowing hand to touch the tentacle Konk’s holding. "Release!" she cries, her powers flowing up to the octopus and down to Konk, making him and the octopus let go. He falls to the ocean below, surfacing just as the octopus hits him in the face, clinging to him. As he fights to get it off, the Wraith sails by.
"Cheer up, Konk!" Ren calls. "Help is on the way!"
Meanwhile, Teron’s shouting to Tula to land on the bleak, lifeless island that is rapidly approaching as they fly on. Tula comments that it’s very familiar to her.
"Don’t you recognize your homeland?" Teron calls back.
Tula’s stunned. "Andorus?" she whispers.
As the Wraith sails off, the Maelstrom appears, closing in on Konk, with a very disappointed Bloth aboard.
Tula, Teron, and Niddler land on Andorus; once dismounting, Tula sends the dagron on its way, and Niddler collapses, moaning, "Oh, my aching wings, and my empty stomach!" He suddenly looks hopefully, his tone begging. "You don’t suppose I could find any minga-melons, do you?" Teron has to let him down, telling him that Andorus has been completely ravaged by the Dark Water. Niddler starts panicking. "I’m gonna die—I’m gonna die!" he cries. "And what’s worse—I’m gonna starve first!" He squawks in dismay.
Tula, meanwhile, is going through a completely different type of dismay. In a daze, she looks around. "I can’t believe this is the same place I grew up," she whispers, seeing all the dead and grey trees and plants looming from the dull soil.
Teron steps beside her. "But it is, child," he replies, pointing. "Look—there grow the Andorian orchards. I can still smell their delectable fruit." He points at a gurgling, black river. "And down that gorge flowed the River of Randor, lifespring to our people. Now it’s a trickle of poison." He points again, at a looming colossus of an ancient but dead tree before them. "And our poor hometree—it sheltered so many families, including your own, if I remember."
"Oh, Teron," Tula whispers, obviously dismayed, as she sinks down on a large boulder. "Why did we bother to come back? There’s nothing to save anymore. The Dark Water has won."
"No, my child," Teron quickly replies encouragingly. "You can find life in the coldest tundra, or the deepest sea—" He reaches down and touches the girl’s cheek. "And we will find it here, too." He turns to Niddler, asking him to watch for the Wraith while he shows something to Tula. As the two leave, Niddler picks a leaf off a bush and nibbles at it but spits it out disgustedly.
"Oh, they’d better get here soon," the monkey-bird whines, "or all they’re going to find is the beak and bones of a starved monkey-bird!"
On the Maelstrom, the pirates retrieve Konk and the octopus from the water. Bloth gives his usual "I’m disappointed in you" spiel, giving Konk one last chance to find Teron. He grabs the tentacles of the octopus and throws Konk at a sitting dagron, making the pirate fly off the tentacles. Konk lands backwards on the dagron and it takes off before he can turn around.
In another part of the forest, Teron and Tula reach their destination—it’s a large tree with two bough-covered hollows at the foot of the trunk; it’s dead now, however. This is the Viva-tree. Teron informs Tula that this is the remedy to cure Andorus, as it has saved them before, even during the days of the Blight (an evil creature that destroys all life). She’s hesitant to go in, protesting that only Supreme Ecomancers are allowed to touch the tree, but Teron assures her that it’s all right, and that her powers are stronger than she thinks. The two step into the hollows in the trunk, the boughs sliding forward to cover the openings.
"Just clear your mind," Teron instructs softly. "Become one with Andorus."
Both start concentrating; Teron’s legs from the knees down branch out like tree roots, and the same blue lightning-like glow surrounds Tula. The Viva-tree starts changing colors as it is brought back to life; soon it is its usual golden-brown color. The ecomancers’ energy spreads out across Andorus, giving life to everything it touches; grass sprouts from the ground, leaves grow on trees, flowers bloom, a butterfly bursts from an ancient cocoon, and even a waterfall begins to fall again, water running over it instead of Dark Water.
Niddler, some distance away, is sitting on a tree’s protruding root, watching for the Wraith and whining to himself about his hunger. Suddenly he hears a strange noise—he doesn’t notice, but it turns out he’s sitting at the foot of a minga-melon tree that’s just been brought back to life by the ecomancers. The noise is a minga-melon growing in about two seconds’ time—he mistakes it for his stomach. Suddenly it breaks off and hits his head hard, knocking him to the ground and cracking open. Niddler looks at it in wonder, picking up a half and taking a bite. "A minga-melon!" he proclaims happily. "Oh, thank you thank you thank you thank you—" He’s cut off as at least a dozen more minga-melons fall from the branches on top of him.
Meanwhile, Ren and Ioz are pulling the Wraith in toward Andorus and looking around at the still-unhealed, dead vegetation around them and pondering it gravely. Suddenly, Niddler flies overhead cheerfully, holding an armful of minga-melons and going on about what a wonderful place the island is. He lets his armful drop onto the deck and the humans disembark, Niddler telling them everything that happened. (Note: I know I’m getting a little mixed up; this doesn’t follow exactly with the episode, but it’s close.) Ren’s in disbelief that Tula’s an ecomancer; the group passes a tree where a dead leaf blossoms and springs to life before their eyes. Ioz comments on the powerful forces at work, and Niddler proclaims them powerful and delicious. (Figures.)
Back at the Viva-tree, Tula’s whispering that she can feel the very treetops and that it’s all so beautiful. Teron suggests that she go to the deepest roots to heal those, and Tula agrees, touching her hands to her temples to concentrate harder. "Down...down..." she mutters, but suddenly breaks off with a terrified gasp.
"What’s the matter, my child?" Teron asks her, concerned.
She manages to catch her breath, but just barely. "A—a presence," she whispers. "Evil—sm-smothering me! T-Teron—" A look of terror crosses her face, and for a second there’s an image of an evil black creature hovering over her, cackling. "No," she whispers. "No! NOOOO!" She’s practically clutching her temples; as Teron watches, she ages in seconds and becomes an old woman, gasping harshly for breath.
"Tula!" Ren shouts, breaking ahead of Niddler and Ioz and running to catch Tula as she collapses. He looks down at her in concern; her eyes flutter open and then shut once more.
Commercial break.
"Teron, what’s happened to Tula?" Ren demands a little shakily.
"She was using her powers when she was attacked," Teron replies. "It could only have been one thing: the Blight." He then orders Ren to hold Tula still and touches his hands to the girl’s temples, concentrating. After a few seconds, she de-ages and becomes an 18-year-old again; she slowly comes to. Ren’s hovering over her in concern and asks her how she feels, and she admits she’s never felt anything like that before, letting out a groan. Teron explains that the ecomancers had thought they had completely done away with the Blight, but the scourge of Dark Water must have revived it. He then mentions that it is guarding the Third Treasure (I think? I don’t remember this part), which surprises them all. Ren asks how he knows about the Third Treasure, and Teron replies that he hid it; he was one of Primus’s seven captains.
"Well, well, this is a day for surprises," Ioz muses.
Teron leads them to a huge, bottomless pit and informs them that the Treasure is inside. Ioz starts to pull vines down from a nearby tree to make a rope. Teron stops him from climbing down into the pit by saying only Ren can retrieve the Treasure, because only a member of the House of Primus can retrieve it and only if he is alone. Tula asks if there’s any way to help, and Teron suggests the Viva-tree. Ioz warns Tula against it, and she refuses, reasoning that it’s to help Ren. They all go their separate ways, none of them noticing Konk on his dagron, hovering overhead, having heard it all.
Ren climbs down into the pit, and makes his way toward the Third Treasure. Up on the surface, Ioz and Niddler are waiting at the edge of the pit.
"Do you hear anything yet?" Niddler asks between noisy bites of minga-melon.
"Just your infernal munching," Ioz snaps back.
"Oh, sorry," Niddler apologizes. He thrusts the melon at Ioz. "Would you like a bite?"
Ioz’s temper snaps and he whips out his sword, slicing the melon piece in half. "How can you even think about food?" he demands angrily.
"I can’t help it!" Niddler protests. "The more I worry, the bigger my appetite!" He whips around at a sound. "What was that?"
To his horror, several of Bloth’s pirates, headed by Konk, are running towards them. "Thought you lost Konk, eh, scumbucket bird?" Konk sneers.
Ioz pulls out his sword to attack, but it’s knocked out of his hand from behind. He turns and sees Bloth in his face. "Don’t even think about escape," Bloth orders Ioz.
In the midst of it all, Niddler can’t help but whine, "Now I’m really getting hungry!"
Meanwhile, after having dodged MANY obstacles (none of which I remember; sorry!!), some with Tula’s help, Ren reaches a doorway with a keyhole in it. He pulls out his sword, steps forward, and pushes the sword into the hole. The door slides away, revealing a room with a circular platform in the center; at first Ren doesn’t see anything, but suddenly the center starts glowing and the Third Treasure appears. Tula exclaims joyously, "He’s found it!" but in the chamber next to her, Teron is trying to calm himself and mentally fight something away.
"The Blight," he whispers. "Very near."
"What is it, Teron?" Tula cries, just as Teron collapses. "Teron—REN!! Quick! Get out!"
Ren hears Tula’s warning just as he sees something big, black, and evil-looking emerge from the corner of the chamber and come after him. The Blight grabs onto him with one arm, but he cuts himself free and turns to run as it grabs his legs and then his sword-arm to keep him from fighting it back.
In the Viva-tree, Tula’s trying to channel her energies. "By the gods," she whispers. "I must find the strength—I must!" A wave of very powerful, very bright blue energy flashes out from the tree, across the land, down the pit, and into the chamber where Ren and the Blight are fighting. The Blight looks up, sees the energy (and accompanying vines) coming at it, and lets out a terrible shriek. The vines and energy wrap around it just as the ceiling starts to cave in; Ren starts looking for a way out but a vine grabs him around the waist and lifts him through the opening in the ceiling and onto the grass at the surface.
"Noy Jitat! What a ride!" he gasps, on his knees, and lifts his head, only to see Bloth and his pirates standing before him, smirking.
Back at the Viva-tree, Tula goes to check on Teron, who’s coming to. She asks him how he is, and he replies, "Weak but fine. And Ren?"
"I’m afraid he’s still in danger," she replies quietly, guilt on her face. "And I put him there."
A short distance away, Ren, Niddler, and Ioz are hanging in a wooden cage over a cliff that overlooks the sea. Bloth, holding their weapons, demands to know where Teron is and Ren refuses to reply; Bloth directs Konk to cut one of the vines holding the cage up.
"M-maybe if you give him a general location?" Niddler squeaks.
"We will not betray our friends," Ren shoots back angrily.
Bloth grabs onto the last thick vine himself with one hand, yanking out his sword with the other. "Then farewell, you impudent—" he begins.
"Hold it!" a high voice cuts him off. From a nearby tree, Tula jumps down, sword in hand, and challenges Bloth and his pirates. Bloth shrugs, tells her it’ll be the end of her life, and sends his pirates to attack her.
"She cannot hope to win!" Ioz hisses.
Ren, meanwhile, is yanking on the wooden bars of the cage. "At least she’ll keep them busy!" he hisses back, yanking hard enough and breaking the bars.
Back at the fight scene, Tula’s holding her own very well, but suddenly she delivers two huge swipes and knocks the pirates’ swords from their hands. She does a backflip and lands some distance away, planting her sword in the grass at her feet. "Enough," she whispers.
"Ha! The wench gives up!" Konk cheers; Bloth’s also grinning in victory.
Tula merely laughs. "Guess again, piglet!" she replies, and holds her hands out before her. The blue energy streams from her hands to the ground, making it crack and making the cracks run toward and around the pirates.
"What trickery is this?" Bloth gasps, only to realize as the rock starts to crumble, "She’s an ecomancer!" The ground gives way under them and they fall, accidentally letting go of the heroes’ swords and the Third Treasure. Niddler catches them before they fall after the pirates, who land in the water below, splashing around noisily.
Ren and Ioz climb down from the tree the cage was attached to. "Great work, Tula!" Ren greets her.
"Yes, not bad for a beginner," Ioz adds nonchalantly.
Tula laughs. "Coming from you, Ioz," she replies, "I’ll take that as a compliment."
Later, as the crew boards the Wraith, they exchange their farewells with Teron.
"Are you sure you won’t come with us, Teron?" Ren asks the older man.
"No, my work is here," Teron replies. "Besides, you already have your own ecomancer." He picks a flower from a nearby plant and puts it in Tula’s hair. "And with practice, she’ll only get stronger."
"Thank you, Teron," Tula says gratefully, giving him a hug.
Ioz, not one for big mushy scenes, quickly announces that it’s time to go. Ren and Tula get on board and they take off.
"Farewell, my children!" Teron shouts after them. They all wave back, Tula’s hand glowing a light blue.