Dreams Come True

Green Thumbs For Red Flowers

I rolled over in my sleep, my eyes slowly opening as morning light peeked through the tent's thin walls. Quietly sighing, I sat up...

And realised I was alone in the tent.

Cocking an eyebrow in confusion, curious where everyone was. I continued to ponder as I put my shoes on and stepped outside, noticing everyone were gathered around the entrance to the wall of cobblestone. I shook my head when I saw the whole thing was covered in a mass of foreign vines. They were thick, coloured dark green and covered in red spines. With a newfound curiosity, I walked over into the group and stood at the front next to Steve and Jenny.

"Morning, Caleb", the crafter said, not looking away from the vines.

"Yeah..." I said back, tilting my head as I stared at the vines in confusion. "What's this all about?"

"No clue", Jenny answered with a shrug. "Majima was first one up, and as soon as he saw this, he woke the rest of us up."

"And no one woke me up?"

"We tried to", Ralph said with a partial laugh, "You were out like a light."

I blushed a bit in embarrassment as Twig paced in front of the mystery plants, sniffing them carefully. Hilda was the one who was actively investigating the vines, Alfur on the brim of her beret as he shuffled through his notebook.

"What's your book say, Alfur?" The young adventurer asked her tiny friend.

The elf hummed. "It could be- no, no. Maybe it's- that's not right." He sighed. "I have nothing. The most I can assume is that they're some strange sort of rose bush."

Majima, still having bandages wrapping over his chest, squinted at the plants suspiciously. "Yeah, sorry Alfur-Tan, but that is bullshit and you know it. This might be from one of those jackass villains."

Star winced a bit at Goro's vulgar language, but then glanced at the vines. "Maybe something followed us like Galacta." This made the knight's wings ruffle instinctually. "Zomboss did say he saw some yellow thing jump out at him when we were in the portal."

Ruby looked up at the doctor. "Did you see what it was?"

"Well, I saw some yellow", Zomboss explained, "And there maybe a hint of green, but with how frantic we all were I wasn't completely paying attention."

Everyone nodded except me, as what the scientist said made me think back to the flower I saw yesterday. Yellow petals... Green stem... Stark white bud...

Why was that so familiar? I continued to search through my memories, eyeing the vines carefully. They looked almost photorealistic...

Suddenly, I jumped when the sound of a light beam hit my ears, and I looked up to see the girls hovering above us. Their faces were twisted in distraught.

"Hey guys", I greeted, getting over my shock quickly. "What's going on?"

"These vines are spreading all over town", Blossom said, getting down lower and gesturing at the mysterious plants. "We have no clue where they came from, but no matter what we do, we can't get rid of them."

Steve took up the challenge, pulling out a pickaxe and began to smack at the botany. After a few seconds, it fell apart with the same particle effect from his game. The entrance was cleared, but only for a moment, as more vines emerged from the ground. They snaked till everything was just like before.

"What the..." Steve trailed off, looking down at his pickaxe like it was a broken phone.

"Okay, that's super weird", Marco said. Izzy, standing beside him, nodded with a strange look on her face.