"Where are we going Vim? Shouldn't we be heading around that mountain instead?" I asked as I stared up at the looming peak. It was covered in white, and looked even more snow covered than it had last ti we had co this way.
"We should be, yes. Your mory scares . We're making a small detour," he said.
"Oh…? Another hidden ho?" I asked, becoming a little excited.
Maybe this ti it'd not sll like that pit.
But even if it did I was going to do everything I could to ignore it. To not let him notice.
So that hopefully…
"No. Just a small piece of nature I wanted to share with you," he said as he glanced at .
Frowning at him, and what he'd said, I wondered what he planned on showing in this dense forest.
A piece of nature…? Maybe it was sothing interesting like that cave, then.
Although I enjoyed being alone with him, and even more so was interested in all he had to show … I honestly wanted to get to Lellip's as soon as possible. Not only did I want to see my friend, and Vim's friend, I also wanted to see their new baby. Plus, I wanted to see if Lilly was still there. I wanted to talk to her about sothing and…
"Hm…?" I slowed as we neared a strange looking plant.
Or…
Vim slowed as well, turning to watch as I walked up to the thing. "Is it a flower…?" I asked as I stared at the thing that was nearly as tall as .
It had a thick, but in comparison to other things its height, thin stalk. It looked slightly prickly, and had leaves and other stuff upon it… but the thing that drew the eye was what it was blossoming at the top of it. The flower itself.
A ring of golden yellow, larger than my head.
"It's called a sunflower. For many reasons. They're why we're coming this way," Vim said as I studied the thing.
"Because it looks like the sun?" I asked. It had a center spot of darkness, but the rest of its pretty flower part was a large circle of yellow. Though so of the tips of its outer petals were greenish, maybe this one was still growing? Or wilting already?
"And because they usually face the sun. Or at least, so they are rumored to… but they do not. They beco fixed after a certain point," Vim said.
"Fixed…?" I asked. Did… did he an they moved? Like, got up and walked around or sothing?
"The head, this part. When they're young, growing, they sotis turn towards the sun throughout the day. But it's only a little bit, and doesn't last long," he explained with a point at the large yellow flower at top.
Oh. That made a lot more sense. I felt a little silly for thinking they'd have actually moved.
Stepping back a bit from it, as to get a look at the whole thing… I felt slightly awed again.
The world really did have lots of things, didn't it?
I an, it was just a flower. One of countless. But it was so different than usual ones. So big, and oddly shaped…
"Co on. The field should be near," he said.
Field…? "Of these things?" I asked as I went to follow him. I kept my eyes on the sunflower as we left it behind, and I wondered if I could take it and plant it sowhere else.
That thing near a ho, or rather near a window of said ho, would be wonderful. It'd be pretty to look at while sitting at a table drinking tea, or from my bed.
"You know Vim I think that's the biggest flower I've ever seen. I didn't even know they could get that big," I said as I followed him far enough that the sunflower left our sight, getting hidden by trees.
Before I could feel bad about it, another ca into view. This one was half the size of the other.
I hurried past Vim to go up to it, and smiled at the smaller version of the other one. It was…
"It looks almost exactly the sa, Vim," I said as I stared at it. Other than so of the petals being a little different in size and their locations…
"Hm?" Vim stepped up next to as I studied the thing. I compared it to the one I'd just seen, in my mories.
"It's the sa shape and style. I think it even has the sa number of petals, though they're slightly different in size and also not in the exact sa locations. Though that might just be because it's not as fully grown," I said, pointing at it as I concluded such a thing.
"Well… aren't all flowers practically the sa?" he asked.
"Hm… I guess. Maybe I just figured they'd be different, being so big," I said.
He was right. Most did grow rather similarly, at least of the sa types. Why had I found it so odd, I wonder?
What had I noticed? Why had my first instinct upon seeing this one been of comparing the differences, and thus notice the lack of them?
I pondered it for a bit, but decided there was no point to it. I must have just seen sothing that piqued my interest.
"Are there a lot of them here, Vim?" I asked.
"Yes. You'll see."
Good. Maybe I can find a few that are about to wilt, or have fallen over or sothing. I'd like to carry them around for a bit, I kind of liked their sll. It wasn't anywhere as strong as most flowers, even though so big, and it was kind of soothing. It was an earthy scent, which sowhat reminded of ho.
Vim stepped away, and I followed him. It didn't take long for more of the yellow flowers to appear, of varying sizes. I noticed that most of them did seem to face one direction, but there were slight differences to the exact angle. That angle wasn't towards the sun though.
"Why aren't they everywhere Vim? I've never even seen them at any of the markets or anything. Sothing so big would sell well there," I said.
"They're not native to this land. This area used to be where a monarch lived, one that had cultivated them. Its creator, the god that made it, had liked them," Vim said.
Oh…?
"Wait… so they're only here? Nowhere else?" I asked. Surely not, right?
Vim though nodded. "Yes. At least on this continent, as far as I'm aware."
A little stunned at that, I slowed as we passed a grouping of them. Most were my height, but a few were half the size and only ca up to Vim's knee. I studied them for a mont, wondering how it was they all still existed.
If a monarch had tended them… then they surviving for a long ti made sense. No one would be able to have cut them down or anything with such a monster defending them, but… that had to have been years ago! Maybe even decades or centuries.
They were far too interesting to have avoided human's attention. Or anyone's, really.
"How are they all still left alone, Vim?" I asked carefully as I picked up my pace. He had gotten a bit ahead of since I had slowed to study the things again.
"This area is not one traveled often, Renn. It's near a ravine, and then that mountain range. Most people who traverse this way use the bridge and path north of the Smithy, it's the safest way… and really the fastest too. There's not much south of here for a long ways, so no point to co this way. Basically it's still sowhat uncharted land, for humans at least," Vim said.
Was it…? It had only taken us a few days to get here from the small village that Planci and her husband lived in. And from what I could tell we were only two or so days from Lellip's ho from here too. Which ant Lun was only a few days over those mountains, from what I could tell.
"Humans of this era don't really rember our kind, or monarchs. But they do still have the stories and legends. Look at what happened in Lun. That will spark generational legends and tales, to foster fear and carefulness. Humans used to not venture too deep into forests or mountains, out of fear of what they'd find in them. They feared encountering those like yourself, or your ancestors I guess," Vim explained.
Slowing a little, my ears twitched a little wildly as I realized how right he was.
"You're right…! Humans are like that…! So still don't even go out in the dark, because they're scared," I said. I've t many who were like that. I couldn't count how many villages and small farm towns I'd passed through when younger, doing so during the night because no one had been willing to dare the darkness. It was how I sotis was able to find clothes and stuff, because I'd steal them from forgotten baskets or drying lines.
Thinking of those mories hurt, since it made feel horrible. I quickly decided to spend a mont later to rember each house I'd stolen from during that ti of my life, and see if I could sohow repay them. It has been so long they were likely long dead, the ones I'd stolen from, but their descendants wouldn't be. Maybe I could leave a few coins on their door-front's or sothing.
"Indeed. Haven't you noticed while we travel how quiet the roads get? Look at all the people we pass at night on the main roads, what with them setting up camp and stuff," Vim said.
I nodded quickly as I did indeed rember the many we've passed. He was right. And he was likely also correct that it was because they feared the dark… or at least, what they'd find within it.
This book's true ho is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
To them we were monsters. And in a sense our ancestors, the monarchs especially, were! So of course they'd be hesitant to venture into places that might hide those such as we!
It was so obvious. How had I never really realized it before…? Was it because I was one of those said monsters? Because I wasn't scared of the dark? Because I knew there weren't actually monsters such as that?
Or well… no. I couldn't say that. There were monsters out there. Like those things in Lun. Or monarchs… or…
Glancing at Vim, I frowned at him.
"Here we are," Vim then said, before I could talk more about this odd revelation I was having.
The trees thinned, but the greenery didn't. Rather it did, but it had simply made way for the yellow.
I slowed a little as I took in the sight of not just hundreds, if not thousands, of sunflowers… but one that towered over all the rest.
In the center of the field of sunflowers, was a tree. A tree that had a huge circle of yellow on top of it.
"Um…" I wasn't sure what to say as I stared up at the huge sunflower. It was as tall as so of the trees nearby, and they were huge. Old. Towering.
But its height wasn't what made it seem truly huge. It was the massive flower. The orb of yellow was so big it made feel a little unsure of myself. It looked big enough that if it collapsed and fell upon , it'd squish without question. It was so big it was casting a deep shadow over most of the field, as if a giant umbrella.
"Neat isn't it? They can grow massive, naturally, but this one is an anomaly," Vim said next to .
I nodded. "Anomaly?" I asked. I figured the aning ant unique, thanks to how he had said it, but I wanted to be sure.
"In this case the word ant irregular. An oddity or rarity. The thing is non-standard, it shouldn't be possible for such a flower to grow to such height and size. It is likely the only of its kind and the only one that ever will be," he explained.
I nodded again, glad that I had basically understood his aning just from hearing it.
"Basically all the little sunflowers you see here, the normal ones, are its children. Every so often I co here and find them all dead and withered, from either weather or disease, then I co back and it's like this. The huge one isn't just big, it's sturdy. They usually need supports to grow big. But it's to be expected from a god's creation, they break the rules of normalcy," Vim said with a sigh.
"A god made it?" I asked, glancing at him as I did.
He nodded. "Yes. As I said. A monarch used to protect it. Yes, I killed it. Yes, I leave the sunflower alone and yes I know my rules contradict themselves you need not say it," Vim said.
I smiled at him. "I was indeed going to ask why you'd kill the monarch but not destroy the flower, if you hate the creations of gods so much why is it you let so be, Vim?" I asked.
"Because the flower doesn't harm anything. One could argue it affects the forest around it, absorbing nutrients and whatnot, but to that's not a justifiable reason to destroy it. The monarch however had been. It killed anything that ca close to the flower. And it was not willing to join the Society and abide by the rules so I ended it," Vim said.
Hm… I wonder what kind of monarch it had been. Must have been able to communicate at least, from the way Vim was talking about it.
Stepping forward, I hesitated a mont as I neared the first batch of sunflowers in the field.
They were taller than .
"It's safe Renn," Vim said next to , he had kept pace with .
"I'm sure… I was going to go up to the big one, but now I wonder if there's any point. They're so big they'll block the view, and even when I get up near it… it'll just be like looking up a huge tree, won't it?" I asked as I studied its… what? Stalk? Trunk?
It looked like a giant tree. Though it had what looked like fuzz or sothing all over it. Plus it had giant leaves up and down it, not actual branches… though so of the leave's stems looked huge enough to be branches.
Vim chuckled at . "Would you like to carry you to its top? It's sturdy enough we can go on top of it if you'd like," Vim offered.
Although the offer was lovely, and a part of wanted to accept… I slowly shook my head. "No… let's leave it be. Can I pluck one, Vim?" I asked as I stepped over to the closest one. One that looked fully grown, without any green on its petals.
"Take as many as you like. I planned to gather so up anyway," he said.
"Hm…? What for?" I asked. He wanted so of these flowers…?
"Couple reasons. Firstly, I figured a batch would be a good gift to Pram, they're unique and their ho is close enough that if planted properly they might just grow and thrive as they do here," he said as he went to undoing one of the bags he carried.
My eyes went wide as I turned to look at him. "Right! Yes! They would be lovely gifts!" I said happily.
Why hadn't I thought of that! He was right, he had ntioned it before! That it was common for a newlywed couple to give gifts to those who had supported them!
Plus it would be nice to give gifts anyway… I rarely got to do such a thing…!
"Have you given her so before?" I asked as I watched Vim put the bag he had just taken off down to the ground and open it. He rummaged in it for a mont before pulling out a large cloth, one I didn't recognize. When'd he get it? It almost looked like a thin brown blanket. I didn't rember such a thing in his bag, which was funny since I had packed it for him.
"I've given gifts over the years, yes. But not these. I've never given anyone sunflowers before. Like I said they're not natural here. I try not to… ss with anything that's not natural. I may be a hypocrite but I try not to be such a brazen one as that. Here, let's dig up a few," Vim said as he laid the cloth down on the ground, flat.
Ah. He wanted to put them in the cloth so he could wrap them. To keep them safe and easy to carry.
"Yeah!" I happily agreed as I pulled out one of the little knives Vim had given a long ti ago. I joined Vim, digging into the ground with the knife as we gathered up half a dozen of the huge flowers.
As I dug at the roots though, even while being very careful to not harm the plant too much, I found it was likely not going to go well.
"Vim… their roots are deep," I said worriedly. It made sense, with the flowers being so huge, but even when I dug what I assud was deep enough I still didn't find the typical bundle of roots one found when digging up such plants. The lack of them right beneath the flower told it was deeper, deeper than I was digging for.
"Yes. Odds are they won't survive. It's fine, it's the thought that counts. Plus, as I said, it's just the first reason we're gathering them up," he said.
"Hm? You have another plan for them? Are they good for tea or sothing?" I asked as I placed one of the flowers I'd uprooted onto the cloth, joining the three others Vim had already placed there.
He chuckled at . "I honestly don't know if they make decent tea or not. No. We're after their seeds. These," Vim said as he pointed to the center of one of the flowers with his knife.
"Ah… those are the seeds?" I asked as I stepped up to one that was just the height for to draw close to it.
Sure enough I could see what he ant. I touched them, finding them hard.
"We're lucky. They're about to wither. They make a good snack, you'll see," he said with a nod.
Studying the flower, I wonder how he could tell. Was it just the colors of the petals around the dark center? The tint of yellow? Or maybe it was the seeds themselves… so were really dark, while others were starting to yellow themselves. Or maybe they were yellow before they beca darker in color?
I smiled as we finished gathering up the flowers, Vim began to gather up so of the flowers themselves. He cut the giant orbs of yellow off from the top, about a hand's width below at the stalk, and tossed them onto the pile of other flowers.
While he did so I went ahead and cut one as he had. Instead of putting it onto the cloth though I kept it, as to sll and hold it for a while.
After slling it for a mont… I went ahead and a took a bite of one of the golden petals.
Vim had said these things were a snack, so I was sure it was fine to eat. But as I chewed it, I realized it tasted just like most other flower petals I'd eaten before.
Once finished Vim tied up the cloth, carefully. He picked the bag he had gotten the cloth from back up, putting it on his back, and then lifted the bundle of flowers to his shoulder. As if it was a great burden to carry.
Vim turned to look at , and I smiled at the way he frowned at . "Are you… chewing a flower?" Vim asked.
I nodded as I grinned. "It's not very tasty, but it's not gross either," I told him in-between chews.
He sighed softly at . "If you try to take a bite of the seeds, be careful. They're in shells, and they're not dried out yet properly. So they likely won't be tasty or even easy to eat," he warned .
"Ah… m'kay," I nodded quickly, since I had indeed been about to take a bite of that stuff too.
"Hm. Well? Would you like to sit here for a bit or shall we continue?" he asked.
Oh.
I glanced at the field of gold, and then looked up to the giant flower looming over it all. As if it was a sun.
Dedicating them all to mory, I slowly nodded. "We can go. We really shouldn't linger, Vim. We have things to do," I said.
"Okay that's just creepy. How co you know I'm trying to waste ti?" he asked.
Giggling at him, I went ahead and took another bite of a petal. I chewed on it for a mont as I nodded and went to step towards him, so he could lead us back onto our proper path. "I noticed it while in Telmik. You wanted to hurry, to rush to Lun and confront Light… yet didn't. And you kept making excuses, in a way, to not do so. We spent over a week there after the monarch died, waiting for sothing to happen. I think you knew we could have left not long after, but didn't want to admit it," I told him.
Vim had also seed to build that dock for the quails rather slowly too. He had added a bunch of other stuff, like a small boat, for them as well. Even though that had not been a request of theirs. Vim was a good man, and gentle in many ways, but even he usually didn't go that far for people. Which only further told that he was trying to not rush us to confront Light.
He didn't want to confront her. Even though he knew he had to.
It was… Very Vim. A man of rules, who was usually swift to act… but also gentle beyond belief.
I knew that Vim likely didn't want to hurt, let alone kill, Light. Celine's daughter. She was soone he had promised to protect, after all. And not just because she was a mber of the Society.
Vim turned, leading around the field of sunflowers as we started to head towards the mountain in the distance. Almost the sa direction we'd just co from, nearly.
"Am I that easy for you to read now, Renn?" Vim asked gently.
I shrugged at him. "Kind of, Vim. For so things, at least," I told him honestly.
He humd at that.
Taking another bite of a petal, I tilted my head a mont as I realized sothing important.
"Vim," I got his attention.
He glanced at , raising an eyebrow as he waited for what I had to ask.
"The flowers. Will you ruin their sll? While carrying them?" I asked.
His raised eyebrow lowered as he frowned… and then he sighed and nodded. "Yes. Since we're about a day and a half away," he admitted as he slowed.
I smiled as I gestured for him to give them. "I'll carry them, then. Trust , giving a woman a bunch of flowers that don't have a sll won't go well," I said.
"No doubt…" Vim agreed as he took the sunflower I carried from , and then handed the bundle he had been carrying. He did so by putting it on my shoulder for , and holding it there until I got it situated properly.
Smiling a little as I steadied the bundle, I was glad to find it wasn't too heavy. I'd not be bothered by it… though…
Glancing behind , at the spear that was pushing harshly into the bundle, I worried for it. Its tip, though wrapped in a small cloth, wasn't far from the bundle. If I wasn't careful…
Then the spear shifted, slipping away as Vim took it from .
"Hey…" I complained as Vim undid the wrap on the spear, freeing it from the holster it sat in.
"Just while you carry those, Renn. I'm not taking it from you, I promise," he said.
"You better not be."
He nodded… as I noticed the way he shifted the spear, holding it in his left hand next to him.
Studying him for a mont, I dedicated the way he held it to mory.
He suddenly looked like a soldier.
"What?" he asked, noticing my look.
"Nothing… let's go then, before I eat them all," I said as I turned as to return to walking.
He chuckled at , and then suddenly was offering sothing. Sothing yellow.
Smiling at the petal he had plucked and proffered, I went ahead and ate it from his hand.
While chewing on it, I happily humd as we left the field of golden flowers behind.
Reviews
All reviews (0)