Flowers and Weeds (LGBTQ+ One Shots)

Agony of Trees

CW: Mild Blood

---

Blood and acid.

That was all he could taste as sobs tore through his throat, violently displacing the pin drop silence amidst the phantom rustling of viridescent green. Knees pressed against the ashen ground, his fingers scrabbled against the topsoil, sand embedding his skin, rather than wormly flesh and grainy minerals. The dull ache at the base of his neck jaggedly spiked to the soft of his skull, a muffled pressure rising as steadily as the receding shorelines. Tears ran fast, watering the barren forest floor. The echoes of screaming and shrill chirps, resounding through the smell of char and stale smoke.

The one Redwood standing tall and strong, a protector among the other dryads, was nothing more than a stump. Synth was the only one cut down, his affinity for fire shielding the others and most likely in the way of the purposeful razing. Even as a mere hump in the ground, Castor has never felt safer with him.

Castor draped himself over what little was left of his lover, cheek pressed against the soft cork. "I'm sorry," he whispered hoarsely, "so sorry." It was a useless thing, his apology. It did not help with the bitter rage or the persistent woes in his bones.

He blinked blearily when something like velvet brushed against his fingers. He looked down, a small sapling curling their leaves in the crook of his finger. A wondrous awe sprouted in his chest.

"It's ok," he said softly to the sapling. "He'll come back. And until then, I'll be here." They curled tighter, before easing away, the equivalent of a head pat.

With the gentle encouragement of the foliage spirit, Castor knew what he had to do.

---

The blade sliced deep on his skin, but shallow on his soul, a bare murmur compared to the thorn of grief pricking at his heart. The offering of sanguine ichor from his veins stained the clear cerulean of the lake, small ripples percolating from each drop of bleeding sorrow. He grunted, squeezing his wrist, forcing the blood to run faster, a frantic sort of impatience taking lodge in him.

"One drop is enough," A clean garbled voice said, interrupting Castor's hyperfocus. He flinched, withdrawing his tight grip on his skin. Apprehensively eyeing the silver haired naiad, he crawled closer to the edge of the lake, soaking up the warmth in her honey eyes.

"He's gone."

"Yes, we've all felt it. There was no need for you to come all the way over here to tell us the news."

Castor frowned. "The saplings are in bloom. We need someone to protect the forest. Use me." Castor dipped his hands in the water. "Please. At least until Synth comes back again."

Mari raised a brow. "You do realize that he's not like other dryads, he might not come back. Those with more than one affinity have a limit on their reincarnation."

"But... his stump is still there. He only needs a partial reincarnation. Right?"

An unreadable look crossed her eyes. "Believe what you want. Just don't get your hopes up, not that it matters since you'll forget all about him if you go through with the transformation."

Castor sighed, submerging his arm deeper into the water, up to his forearm. "We can't leave them unprotected. I'll do whatever needs to be done and Synth will come back."

"Good." She reached her hand out. "Now, come in."

Castor took her hand, wading after, a cooling chill sliding up his body. For the first time since the fire, a smile settled on his lips, sweet and righteous, like his mind and body were in agreement that this was the right thing to do.

Mari took one look at his smile and shook her head. "To protect all of them, you'll be taking the pain of the earth. It hurts. Badly. Trust me."

His eyes widened slightly. "You were human too?"

She looked away. "No. My beloved was. I was the medium." She snorted. "Too bad I didn't know about the memory thing at the time, maybe I would have left them with a token or something."

"Shit. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too. It's going to hurt a lot worse, and I can't take some of it off because the pain acts as the conductor for the exchange. And, for the amount of power you're asking for, you'll need every bit of it you can get."

Castor laughed dryly. "Maybe the pain will fill the hole in my heart." Mari snorted. Castor's chest lightened a fraction. "Hey, what was their name?" he asked.

"Reno." Mari smiled sadly. "A dryad in the redwood forest. And if by some chance their memory is restored, then this disgusting feeling of hope, in the aftermath of tragedy, can be my evil awakening."

Castor nodded, giving into the slow pressure of Mari's hand at the back of his neck. Then all at once, she shoved his head under the water.

Castor thought it wasn't too bad at first, then dark tendrils flashed in the corner of his and before he could move, they fastened tightly around his ankles and wrists. Without much forethought, a gasp escaped his mouth leaving a wide opening for the shadowed snares to enter. It was a surprisingly slimy feeling, and despite how thin the tendrils looked, they filled him, wretched dry heaves convulsing through his throat, effectively suffocating him. And that wasn't even the worst of it. Once they reached his stomach, a full-bodied spasm wracked his core as the dark snares compressed his internal organs. His mind was full of nothing but agony, so much fire that he almost forgot that fire could do so much more damage than this.

A pinch at the back of his neck saved him. A hint of sun peeking through the fog in his head. Eyes as dark as night and as kind as the soft patter of rain against the window. The familiar comfort flickered under the rush of painless ecstasy after the tendrils subsided their grasp on his nerve endings. His was floating, numb and content with aimlessly drifting, no particular end in mind. The water urged his eyes shut, warmth blowing through him like a gentle breeze and sweeping the pollinated flowers away.

---

Silk woven strands of sun filtered through the lush canopy of chartreuse. The golden warmth made Castor want to bask in laziness, but all of the dryads seemed to be on edge, a frenetic undercurrent of excitement thrumming along the earth.

"The guardian is coming back," a voice said from beside him. Reno, the only pine dryad living in this forest. They rolled their eyes. "Everyone will be fawning over him."

"And you're not included in that group activity?"

They scoffed. "Shut up." Castor grinned at them. "I'm going to visit Mari." They eyed him for a moment, before continuing, "I think you should talk to him," they said, nodding towards the newly arrived dryad.

"Ok? I'll let the others get their fill first," he said, watching the dryads primping their leaves and smoothing out the soil, laughing and dancing. "Wow, they really missed him."

They shrugged. "I guess." Castor saw the flush of anticipation on their face and smiled softly. Synth must be an amazing dryad. "Don't forget to see Mari soon. It's been a while since you resurged."

"Yeah, alright. Have fun." Castor winked, laughing at the heated glare he received in return.

---

Castor was going to introduce himself to the redwood dryad, but Synth was pretty much swamped with the other dryads, and he figured he could get a quick nap in. He sunk down onto his favorite patch of moss, hidden away in the perfect intersection of sun and shade. He nestled his head comfortably on the billowy pillow, sighing as the sun hit his back just right, eyes muting their strain in favor of darkness.

It could have been a few minutes or a few hours before he startled awake, the regal redwood dryad perched on a rock just a few feet away from him, dark eyes a permafrost on Castor's sprawled out body.

"Sleep well?" Synth's voice was slow and unwavering, setting alight the sleeping butterflies in Castor's stomach.