Moogle Forest

This is a scene from my FFVII rpg, "The Quest for the Shards." It was made in Photoshop. I tried to get the whole light coming through the trees effect, but I'm not sure if it worked entirely. *shrug*

Here's a little excerpt so you know what's going on. If you want to know more about the storyline you can note me:

“Well, here goes nothing.” Aerith made her way toward the center of the forest clearing and stepped into the yellow patch. The earth here was softer than the rest of places they had walked. It felt good to give her legs some shock resistance. She’d probably need it if anything in the clearing were indeed worse than the dragon. After letting out an audible, exasperated sigh, she called out like she was instructed. “Is there anyone here named Modeen?! I’ve come for the black materia shard! I was sent here by the Ruby Dragon.”

The bushes around the clearing began to rustle, and soon tiny, red noses and little, beady eyes emerged from the brush. The beings were mostly white furred and had ears like a cat’s. From their backs sprouted small, purple wings, which hardly looked like they would create much lift for flight. But what were the most curious things were their various colored pompoms that protruded from their heads. They came closer and huddled around the group; their number far exceeding the party’s. Though the sheer mass of them would be enough to frighten off most predators, they were too cute to be all that intimidating.

“They’re moogles!” Aerith exclaimed, and watched as the crowd of fuzzy beings split apart for a larger one of their kind to step through the opening. From the look of it, he was the leader. He carried a long spear, (well, long in comparison to their height) and had a rough tuft of fur around his neck. His slitted eyes glared at Aerith and company with suspicion, and he grabbed his spear with both hands. “I am Modeen, Kupo. If you seek the blessed crystal, you must first prove yourselves worthy, kupo!”

The female Jenova clone gave a reverent bow. “Name your test, and I shall pass it with flying colors.”

“Very well…” The creature rubbed the scruff of his neck with his blunt claws. “We moogles haven’t had many humans venture into this part of the forest, and the ones we’ve encountered were bad seeds, kupo…”

The moogle would’ve continued, but Link’s curiosity got the best of him. He let out a loud, “Wark!” while inching closer to get a better look at the moogles. He’d never seen one up close before. The crowd of white shifted back, startled by the sudden outburst. Modeen, however, remained calm. In fact, he seemed most pleased about the new chain of events. “Is that a chocobo?”

“Yes… If he bothers you, I can tie him up outside the cle--“

“Nonsense, kupo!” Modeen’s small eyes wrinkled up in a smile. He let out a soft moogle noise, which Aerith interpreted to be laughter, and drove the head of his spear into the ground. “People who travel with curious chocobos are good people. There will be no tests necessary, kupo!”

“You-you mean that!?” Aerith’s excitement could not be contained. They were now inches away from having the materia shard in their grasp. She could almost feel its smooth texture and smell the mako emanating from it.

“Of course… Kumop, fetch the water crystal.” With the wave of a chubby white paw, Modeen sent a smaller moogle to go get the shard. His stubby legs moved fast to carry his wide frame through the crowd and into the forest again.

It didn’t take long for him to return, but it also didn’t take long for Aerith to explain their plight to the moogles. “So you see,” She concluded, fidgeting with the edge of her hood. “We have to keep the shards away from the ShinRa.” Kumop rushed over to Aerith’s side and slipped the large stone into her hand. It felt cool, like there was a river running inside of it. “The Water Shard…” Aerith blinked, watching the core of the blue stone swirl around like a whirlpool.

“I see… So your cause is just.” Modeen reached for his pompom in thought before there was a static noise coming from Aerith’s cloak. The Jenova clone reluctantly reached into the fabric and pulled out a communicator. It seemed “Great One” was trying to contact her. “Aerith here… what’s the problem?”

There was some more static, then a voice picked up on the other line. It was unmistakably Sephiroth’s. His deep voice echoed throughout the forest. “I was just wondering what’s taking you so long. Have you found the trap yet?”

“Yes… that’s been taken care of. And we’ve discovered something I think you’ll be quite pleased about. Do you remember the rumors of a shard on Mideel?”

“Of course… We looked almost everywhere on the island and found nothing.”

“Yes, but the rumors are true! …We’ve found the Water Shard, and we’re heading back now.” She let go of the button, waiting patiently for him to answer.

“Wonderful! …I’ll send Cid to pick you up…”

Aerith slipped the communicator back into her cloak, then turned toward the others, a huge grin draped on her face. “Well, our transportation is all set. We should head out so we don’t keep Cid waiting too long.”

“Wait.” Modeen’s grip was still firm on his spear, and he leaned against it, determination filling his black eyes. “I have a request.”

“Sure!” Aerith gave the moogle her trademark warm smile. Seymour was beginning to get suspicious; as if they would take back the shard at any moment, but he said nothing and let Aerith do the talking. “Anything for the ones who gave us the shard,” she said.

With one great pull, Modeen ripped the spear out of the ground, dirt flying everywhere. He shook the remaining mess off the tip, then shouldered it in almost a fighting stance. “I want to go with you…”