Aimee Marseille knows something is wrong when she is summoned quickly to return home. Upon her father's death, she finds startling news about the family's secret. Mechanical knights walk the countryside, an odd woman who seems to know more than she...
The trio meandered through the woods, Narit pausing every so often to admire a flower she spied which also provided them with brief moments of repose to collect themselves. As she spotted a small blue gathering of flowers which immediately drew her attention, Aimee sat upon a nearby gray shaded rock, placing her rucksack with Muzay in it on the ground near her feet.
"We're never finding that tree," she remarked aloud as she sighed. Perhaps Grint was wrong when he gave them directions. Perhap she never ventured this far and only gave her vague directions so he wouldn't draw attention to his lack of worldliness.
"I could've told you that hours ago," Muzay stated. He ruffled himself as he leaped from the sack. He strutted about for a moment, taking in his surroundings with his golden eyes.
She looked around the vicinity as well, taking in any clues which may offer insight into where they were. The trees began growing sparser as they walked along, a good sign they were heading at least in some direction away from the center of the woods. As for signs of the river, there were none. Everything seemed green and lush though so they hadn't ventured into some sort of desert.
With four flowers in her hand, Narit rejoined them. She sported a wide grin. "I think I found the tree."
Aimee stood. "Where? Near here?" She turned her sack to the side as Muzay entered without words being exchanged.
Narit nodded. "I see a massive tree about half a mile from here. If I had wheels I could get us there quicker but again, not part of my upgrade." She almost seemed sad at not having them.
"It's fine. We can walk there. Did you spot the river as well?"
"I didn't look for it. Oh, do you want me to show you the tree?"
"Please." Perhaps if she saw where they were headed, she could determine their proximity to the river. The river remained key to reaching the Glass Star.
Following Narit as she dashed to the location she spied the tree from, Aimee felt her breath catch. They stood on a high hill, far higher than she imagined from their walks. Below a valley spread out in front of them, giant flowers which seemed to be nearly her height or taller, dazzling arrangement of bright colors. The tree Grint referenced stood in the center of the patch, a dull gray color which set it apart from everything around it.
From this distance, she was unable to see if there were people milling about in the area. She didn't wish to get into another scenario like the one she entered into with the Visgins. "Do you know if anyone lives down there?"
Narit shook her head. "No one lives there. I haven't checked though. I'd say no." She nodded as if affirming to herself the truth of her statement.
"I see." She looked further to the east in the direction Grint indicated the river would be. It flowed in a steady rhythm, the blue reflecting the sky above with clarity. There appeared to be a small shack near it, puffs of differently colored smoke rising in regular intervals: reds, greens, blues, and purples. "Someone lives there."
"I remember him," Narit stated with excitement. "I almost forgot. He was so nice. He gave me something to eat when I passed through."
"Wonderful. We can rest there and continue on in the morning." She assumed if the man was nice to Narit when she passed through earlier, his disposition couldn't have changed much in such a short amount of time.
With one last look to remember what direction they needed to head, Aimee nodded and continued moving further down the small hill into the valley.
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As they passed beneath the first of several large flowers in the area, Aimee stared upwards in a mixture of confusion and awe. While they were stunning and beautiful, she knew without a doubt she never spotted these before. The leaves were large enough to be considered blankets upon her bed. Many stood taller than her, their delicate petals effectively shielding them as they moved. Others remained eye level while still some only rose to her knees.
Narit nearly lost herself in the flowers, moving from one to another and gingerly touching the petals as she did so. "This place is beautiful. Why did I never come here before?" She moved on to the next one and handled it with the same grace as before.
"No idea. I'd spend days here." Aimee wasn't a fan of flowers, never having grown them herself, yet even she admitted when things were beautiful. Whoever grew these, likely whoever lived in the shack by the river, had quite a green thumb. She tilted downwards, smelling one of the fragrant flowers, before moving on.
Muzay's head peered out from the corner of the ruck sack,supported by the long rod affixed from his body to his head. "Did anyone hear that?"
She turned her head to the right slightly, looking over at him. "I didn't hear anything."
"I hear it," Narit said as she moved in closer towards them. "It's sort of like a... buzzing sound. Weird." She wrinkled her nose as she spoke.
Aimee's eyes grew wide. A daunting fact crossed her mind, something she should've pieced together earlier. "Bees. We need to get out of here."
The buzzing sounded louder. She turned her head to look around. There was no apparent sign of the creatures yet she knew they were around. She turned once again for this time to be confronted with one of the bees in front of her face. Its eyes stared into hers and the rumbling set against her body. She found her legs unable to move at the moment.
A flash of green crossed her vision, knocking into the bee and causing it to tumble backwards. She spun towards the attacker and saw Narit standing with a stalk of a flower in her hand, the purple petals barely hanging on. "We need to get away from these bees," she said as she handed Aimee the weapon and plucked another one. "I don't like bees."
