One-Shots [Boboiboy]

Of Petals and Spirits

"After all, what can you do?" The Queen of Flowers whispered in his ears. "You're just a Dandelion."

Thorn bowed his head, his fists clenching as the ground around him withered.

"Yes," he agreed, head shooting up to face her. "I'm just a Dandelion."

The earth beneath the Queen hollowed into a dark, withering pit, and she fell to her doom. Roots of nearby trees quickly grew over the hole, intertwining with one another as the grass stretched over to hide the pit.

"And I can make a stand."

***

Thorn was born a Dandelion. One of the lowest flower caste there was, because they were common and simply not special. He was also the youngest of them all, only alive for seventy-three years or so.

Dandelions were made for servants for the middle-class. They had next to no ability, with rare occasions they had the ability of agility. Thorn did not have this power, nor had he wittnessed another with it.

Thorn was assigned to serve Ice, who was from the Bluebell caste. Bluebells were uncommon, but they weren't considered upper-class. Every Bluebell had the ability to see into the future, or peer into the past. Ice was able to see into the past, which made him a lower rank than the other Bluebells.

Serving Ice was bland, which meant there wasn't much entertainment. It didn't matter, for he was created only to serve. Ice would request dew collected from the morning sun; or a fragment of sunlight, carried by the oldest leaf on a mossy tree.

Ice treated him well, and Thorn was grateful for it. He would mess up occasionally, but Ice always overlooked it. Sometimes he would tell Thorn to play chess with him (which Ice would win by miles) and teach him how to draw a bow made of bark and vines.

When Thorn failed to draw the bowstring, Ice would take the bow from him and shake his head. "It's alright. You're just a Dandelion."

Just a Dandelion. Thorn remembered those words. He was just a Dandelion, and he couldn't achieve what the others would. He was a mere servant.

After five decades, Ice was promoted to one of the Upper-class castes. He was given the promotion by the Queen herself-with the reason that Ice's abilities were useful to solve the latest withers and uprooting.

They were immortal spirits, no doubt about it. However, their life forces are dependant on their original flowers, which were planted within the Garden of Souls. If their flowers were to be tampered with, their physical form would suffer the same consequences.

As of late, there was an unknown culprit known to mutilate the flowers, which caused sudden deaths of random spirits around the country. A messenger from the Crystal Kingdom arrived just yesterday, claiming that the Flower ambassador, a Saguaro Cactus Flower, had dropped dead at a random time. With investigation, they discovered that his flower had been uprooted and no traces of the culprit were left behind.

Rumors circled the kingdom, and soon every upper-class caste had guards surrounding their residences; employing Roses for their daytime watch and Nightshades for the night. Since Ice was now considered an upper-class, he was granted a new servant and two guards, each for the night and day. Thorn was still Ice's personal servant though, since Ice preferred him by his side.

The new servant was a Lilac, a servant for the upper-class. Their breed was purely man-made, moulded to serve their masters only. Unlike the Dandelions, they were rare and only given to the most potent spirits. The guards were a pink Rose and a Nightshade, both obeying without question.

At first, Thorn enjoyed the new company. The house wouldn't be as silent as before, but it was simply wishful thinking. The Lilac would hover over him with a lecturing tone, snapping at his hands and saying, "That's not how you collect nectar, child." And forcing him to start over.

Unlike Thorn, they didn't have names either. Thorn's name was given by Ice, and he didn't bother to name his new help. They hated nicknames too, so Thorn noted to steer clear of them whenever they were around.

He hadn't met any other flowers until Ice was called for a meeting to discuss the latest uprootings. There, Thorn waited in a small room with the other guards and servants for Ice to finish his meeting. Lilac was there too, but they were standing by the door with the other Lilacs, waiting faithfully for their master.

At first, he was getting lonely as he was the only Dandelion here, but then a friendly white Lily came up to him, their arm linked with an orange Rose. Lilies were jesters and Roses were guards, so their grouping was somewhat odd.

"Hello!" The Lily beamed. "Are you a Dandelion? You sure look like one! You know, with your green eyes and all."

Subconsciously, Thorn's hand reached up to his eye. Flower Spirits often told each other apart according to their eyes and skin colour. Thorn had bright green eyes and white skin, so it was obvious that he was of the lower caste.

"Oh, yes." Thorn nodded. "I am. You're a Lily and a Rose, aren't you?"

"Just call me Blaze." The Rose smirked. "My pronouns are she, so you better not mix it up! My master gave me that name."

"Your master gave you names too?"

"Of course! I'm Cyclone," said the Lily. "I'm a he. Me and Blaze are from different masters, but they come and go a lot! And you are?"

"O-oh," Thorn stammered. He hadn't expected anyone else to mingle with him; a Dandelion, nonetheless! He was relieved that they didn't chide him of his lower caste. "I'm Thorn, a he."

Cyclone winked at him. "That's great!" He patted Thorn's shoulder. "I've never talked to a Dandelion, but I guess you're a fine spirit. Not every spirit gets the honor to serve one of the Queen's court!"

They were nice, and soon the meeting adjourned. They parted ways and they were much more spontaneous than Lilac and any of the guards Ice had. When they left, Blaze called him their new friend, and that was enough for Thorn to be happy for the next few hours.

When they were back in their humble abode, Ice noticed him giddy and giggling out the window.

"You met some friends, didn't you?" Ice patted his head.

Thorn turned to him, surprised. "How did you know?"

Ice smiled faintly. "I just do."

***

It turned out that Cyclone's master was one of the most powerful people that existed. A Hyacinth, the only one ever made. By his side was a red Rose, the highest line of Fighters which caste surpassed even some of the middle-class spirits. The only spirit that could survive in both day and night with no consequences.

-unfinished-