…      It was rather difficult NOT to notice a large tree out of its place.     Even more so when said tree seemed to be SMILING AT HER.     A wary glance was cast back towards the direction where she’d     left Snow and her merry band of followers. As if someone there     suddenly was capable of such trickry. And yet, she knew in her     aching heart that whatever this was, she’d just have to face it.                                                                                          Alone.                   Just like always.     What should be familiar to her laid deeply buried under scars     and callouses that thickly encased her heart. A practiced sort     of indifference that seemed to accompany  her  more…  regal     persona giving way to her chin tilting up  and  her gaze going     cold. She had business in the forest, and no fairy tree would     be allowed to get in her way. She’d have her heart out if it was     the last thing she did. And perhaps, if she was lucky, it would     be.                                                              ”Get out of my way,” she commanded                                                      of the creature, a sneer curling up her lips                                                      when she spoke.

                “I am Groot?”                                Groot remembered a time when, once, he had befriended                                a young, lonely girl.  And she had been kind to him, a small,                                sprouting tree that was basically alone in the world.  So far,                                he’d yet to find any like him, and the forest was a lonely place.                                 For so long, he’d been entirely alone.                  “I am Groot.”                                Would she remember him?  It seemed as though not.                                Even if the communication barrier seemed to be there                               before, it wasn’t the biggest obstacle in their way.  Even                               in a forest full of magical creatures, Groot stood out.  He                                was the only of his species here.  As far as he knew, anywhere.                  “I am Groot?”

              Curiosity, wonder at what (or who) was in front of him.                It was, more of less, a different creature than he’d seen               in a while.  Staring forward, not approaching in case of               it being a threat.  “I am Groot?” 

         ”Did you —- ” Regina paused, the crystals she’d been levitating crashing to          the ground as her concentration was shattered. Her gaze settled on the source   of the voice that she was certain hadn’t been imagined. Yet, seeing the creature,   she couldn’t be so certain any longer. Surely she’d heard tales of trees in far off   distant lands who walked and spoke, shepherding the forests, but that was lore.   Myths. And if the stories held any weight at all, certainly there would be no such   creature here in Mist Haven…    Frowning at the sapling, the young queen glanced about herself, ensuring no   other was nearby to witness the scene as she slowly crouched down to poke a   slender finger into the svelte body of the… thing.                                                     

             "I am Groot !"                                   Explaining how he got here would likely be impossible, as                                  he didn't know how he was rooted into this ground as opposed                                  to any other.  There was a lot of traveling involved, but that didn't                                  give him any clues.  The flora collosus was here now, and                                  few ever grew to understand him.                The finger causes him to move slightly, but he isn't afraid of her.                In a few years, he's going to be much, much bigger than she is.                Almost as big as some of the trees surrounding them.  And a threat               in and of himself.  It's part of his species. 

       ”n-n-no. put that down         — put that down right now.”

              He's fairly certain this was his, after all the trouble he'd               gone to obtain it at least.  It was a criminalistic lifestyle               he lived, and though his partner in crime was likely detained               (meaning he might be soon as well), he still had gotten               what they'd come for.  Right?                                      "I am Groot ?"