Danger Magellan's Invasion of Earth

Chapter 29

Chapter 29

The next day, we began our search for the potion ingredients. "How are we going to do this?" Tanaquil asked over breakfast.

"I think we should split up," Danger said. "We'll cover more ground that way."

"That makes sense," Arthur said. "Can I be with you, Danger?"

"Sure," Danger said. "We'll bring Raquel too, and Nora and Tanaquil will be on their own." My heart fell when Danger said that Raquel wouldn't be with me. Already, I couldn't spend more than a few minutes away from her. "Don't worry," Danger said when he saw my face. "Blaze will come with you two."

"You're only doing that because neither of us speak Yellow Common Language," I said.

"No, this makes it fair," Raquel said. "We'll have three in each group."

"Blaze doesn't count as a person," I said.

"Sure she does," Danger said.

"I'm not a person," Blaze said. "I'm a hedgehog."

"Same difference," Danger said. "Anyways, how about Arthur, Raquel, and I look for a mahati plant, albole, and someone with Yellow blood, and Tanaquil and Nora look for xiangitz bark, fruguos, and someone with Orange blood? Does that sound good?"

"That works," Raquel said.

"I don't know what any of the things that we're looking for look like," Tanaquil said.

"Me neither," I said. "How are we supposed to look for those ingredients when we don't even know what they look like?"

"Cerise gave me a picture of a xiangitz tree and a fruguo," Danger said. "Oranges aren't too hard to find here. Just explain the situation to a few people in the Orange Quarter, and I'm sure you'll find someone."

"Are you sure it's safe to have us walking around in the Orange Quarter?" I asked. "We could get kidnapped like Arthur did back on Fei Lian."

"First of all, it would just be you," Danger said. "Oranges don't have any need for a Blue like Tanaquil. Second, most Oranges aren't like that. Most areas with significant Orange populations have made an agreement to supply them with blood in exchange for peace and loyalty to their government. The Oranges on Fei Lian were the exception, and not the rule."

I was still a little bit nervous about going into the Orange Quarter, but Danger had washed most of my fears away. "We should figure out which one of us is going to donate a drop of Red blood before we split up," I told Arthur and Raquel.

"I'd rather not do it," Arthur said.

"That's fine," Raquel said. "I'll do it."

"I'm glad that's settled," Tanaquil said.

"Me too," Danger said. "Come on, everyone. Let's go."

All of us walked out the door, but as soon as we did, we split up. Raquel, Arthur, and Danger walked up to a vendor near our hotel, while Tanaquil, Blaze, and I headed into the woods. As we walked, Tanaquil handed me a picture of a tree with a thin trunk and fan-shaped leaves. "This is what we're looking for," she told me.

Blaze crawled alongside us, but when Tanaquil mentioned the picture, she began to climb up my leg. I laughed and placed her on my shoulder to give her a better view. "I have now placed this image on my memory card," Blaze said. "I will assist you in looking for trees that appear to be similar to this one."

"Thanks Blaze," I said.

"You're welcome, Nora," Blaze said. We entered the woods, and almost immediately, Blaze identified what she thought was a xiangitz tree. She began to climb up a tree with narrow leaves and red bark before saying, "This tree has similar characteristics to the tree in my memory card."