The Gardenkeeper's Daughters

Natrina- 2

Lotus doesn't wake me up in the morning, which is kind of a welcome change, though it feels oddly empty. I look at her and prod her awake myself, and she looks up at me with startled eyes.

"Lotus, you really do need to get up... and this is me saying that, so you know it has to be true." I laugh halfheartedly at my own joke but she just gazes at me with bloodshot eyes. She groans quietly and rolls onto her stomach to get up.

As we leave the den, both of us still half asleep, the sun shines down on us harshly, as if trying to compensate for how cold yesterday was. "What should we do today?" I ask my sister, but someone else answers first.

I recognize Tansy, the golden-furred and savage looking beta of the pack, who snaps, "You could make yourselves useful for once. We need..."
"Extra flankers on the hunting patrol?" I ask, waving my tail like I'm interested.

She casts me a look that absolutely screams loathing. "If you two are willing to comply."

I can already tell my sister is happy about this. Lotus is filled with genuine enthusiasm at the mere suggestion that she is wanted for anything.

"Come on, then." Tansy says, and we follow her quietly to where the rest of the hunting party waits. It's about ten Canii, all of them quiet but tense with anticipation. They stare up at us with disinterest on their faces, but it changes to quiet respect when they see Tansy, who takes her place at the front. Her golden fur is made even brighter by the sunlight, making her look almost like the sun itself.

Quietly, she takes off, breaking into a quick gait. Lotus and I are flanking, so we're on opposite sides, but there's still a silent connection between us. We follow the group seamlessly, the whole group moving as one body. The unity of the hunt is almost sacred, and it keeps the tension high. If I stumble and fall, it would be as bad as disrupting a holy ritual. Tansy slows down, checking the air, and I hear her say, "Blast! Canira got here first."

"Lousy pack rats." snarls a Canis close to me.

"Thought we told them to back off." calls someone on Lotus's side.

"We did. Unfortunately, we need to hunt now, but I'll tell the alpha that we might need to remind them who's in charge here."

As our name would indicate, the 'Wildflower Pack' is generally very friendly towards outsiders. We take off again as if nothing happened, and Tansy picks up a scent. Soon, all of us are bounding after her, and my nose gets a whiff of elk. It's a good quarry for sure, and though something bigger (we've seen herds of jackalope dashing about recently, as well as enormous devil rams chased down from the mountains), it's still a sizeable catch. Tansy is viciously thorough, jumping across a river which I have to wade through after her and leaving the rest of the party to swing around the trees instead of taking broader, more open routes.

Eventually, I hear her baying call, and I know she's found something. The rest of the party slows down just a bit, indicating for us to rush forwards. My paws burn as I jump at the elk, getting a firm bite on the neck, and I notice my sister hesitant to make a blow. Tansy ducks under the elk, an incredibly risky move, and a vine erupts from the ground, tripping it. As it tries to get away, the grass holds it still as the two Canii to either side of her join in with their own spells. A single, clean bite to the neck ends its life and we sit in silent respect as it breathes its last.

The rest of the hunting party moves in quickly to carry the large animal back, Lotus and I both grabbing a hoof. As I bite, I can feel the blood welling beneath my teeth. It's an almost unpleasant sensation but I know that I'll be eating it tonight, even if it was just alive. Tansy is grasping it by the horns, a position of honor reserved solely for the leader of the hunt.

"Ay!" Tansy says, dropping the kill.

"What is it?"

"Is something wrong?"

"What's that smell?"

The whole party follows suit, quickly dropping the prey, but all of them look apprehensive. Tansy is snarling up at the sky and as my gaze follows hers, I see smoke rising overhead.

"Forest fire. We need to find the source before anyone gets hurt." she snaps, and her incredible nose leads her off again. Before exiting the clearing, she yells, "Aloe, Blue, guard the prey! Everyone else, to me, now!"

I follow her, my heart beating fast, and I can feel the dread emanating from Lotus like electric smoke.

"L-Lotus? Are you..." I'm panting too hard to finish my sentence, but her eyes catch mine and I can see her contracted pupils.

"Natrina..." she whimpers, "I think I know where the source is."

Tansy yelps with surprise as we draw nearer to the camp and the smoke grows thicker. There's an ominous, pulsing heat to the whole place, as if the smoke itself was glowing. I cough several times, tears leaking from my eyes as the smoke burns them. My whole body is screaming go back go back go back but I keep stepping forwards, fear for my mother taking over my mind.

I need her to be safe. She can't be hurt. She's all we have left.

My eyes are greeted by a scene of pure panic when I enter camp. Canii are teleporting water through portals as fast as they can, but the fire only hisses angrily and produces more smoke. The fire seemingly refuses to die, flaring up again anywhere where the flow of water has stopped, and it carries a multitude of hues that are vividly different from normal fire. Branches rain down, covered in flames, and one hits me in the back. I drop to the ground, praying to find mercy in the ground, but as my back sizzles out, the fire draws nearer to me, feeding hungrily on the grass.

Lotus, standing by my side, is shaking. "I guess my visions really are real." she says quietly.

I realize with a jolt of unadulterated hate that she has been having the dreams again and she didn't tell me. "You knew?"

Lotus is still paralyzed by the flames. Water streams down her muzzle as her dry eyes try to save themselves from the wrath of the inferno, but I watch as she steps back. "Of course I didn't know! I would have... I would have... Natrina, I..."

A pale shape approaches us, and I see my mother, carrying a bouquet of flowers through the smoke.
"Mother!"
She doesn't look at me. She drops the flowers, which shrivel painfully in the blasting heat, catching ablaze and wilting slowly. Each individual petal curls in one by one until the entire bouquet has turned to ash.

I watch her take a step towards the flames, and then another. "My garden."
"Mother, can't you hear me? Look at us! Please!" I cry.

She takes another step forwards.

"Alstroemeria?" asks Lotus, imitating Fen again. "You can't do this."

"My love," she says, and I am unsure if she's talking to us or Fen, "I'll see you very soon."

She jumps in the flames. My instincts kick in a moment too slow and I dive for her, landing in the grass with a sickening skid into the dirt. I feel the fire tingling around my snout but some part of me refuses to care. I get up, staggering forwards, and this time I'm stopped by something far more powerful than the dirt. Tansy stands in my way, glowering. "What are you trying to do, gardener?"

"I have to go after her."

"You will do no such thing." Tansy is practically spitting in my face at this point, her fury unmistakable. "That's hellfire. Magical flame. The most we can do is drive it back. If you go in there, you'll die."

"She's going to die if I don't help her!" I wail, looking past her at the flames.

"She made her choice." Tansy growls. "Just go!"

I take one look back before Tansy rams into me, pushing me forwards. My legs refuse to move, but Lotus leads me on as we stumble through the smoke together.

"It'll be okay. Everything's going to be okay. It's just another bad dream." she whispers, and I wish I could believe her, but these tears are real. The pain is real. The beating of my heart is unmistakable. I can see her dirty fur, covered in ash, and I know that I don't dream in color like she does.

I don't know how long we walk for before the smoke gets into my lungs, and I fall into a hacking fit. There's golden, blinding light all around me, and as I reach out to it, I pass out.