Cultivating Plants

Serviceable even to someone who wasn't her mother, Gunseidhr brought an assortment of refreshments and pastries to the couple who sat before the coffee table.

"I have avoided asking this so far," Xochipilli said over his tea, it was ter'nar's. "But why are you here? Especially after this long?"

"I… have always been searching for you, monsieur," the former maid answered.

"You did a horrible job, then," he added with a wry chuckle.

"I did not have… many resources. And now that I am aware of the dryads and her mother, it seems even moronic in retrospect that I did not come sooner, but I barely knew of the go… Mother Nature. My information was very limited, and only after I heard a few months ago that most freed Tecolatans gathered around the World Tree did I connect the dots once I recalled that you are one."

"And even that train of thought is circumstantial at best."

"Indeed," the mature woman chuckled weakly. "I would have found you earlier, monsieur, if I had kept my connections with…" Her eyes quickly darted to Gunseidhr in a panic. The dryad was very quiet, standing next to them unlike a lamp or a potted plant, but no one would voice that out as it was extremely derisive. "Would it be possible if we could have the conversation alone?"

"Gunseidhr, could you leave us a…"

"It is not only her, monsieur," the woman interrupted. "I intend to say things that may be not correct to… say. It is not her presence that unnerves me."

"Ah, I see," Xochipilli raised his head in understanding. "I do want to hear whatever you have to say, so what about if we go to Sadina for a stroll?"

"It would be my pleasure, monsieur."

The Prince of Flowers escorted the aging woman out of the village, though that blossomed a seed of doubt in his mind. "How did you reach the village?"

"I trekked."

"At your age?" Xochipilli asked with his eyes wide open.

"Monsieur!" The former maid exclaimed in half-hearted indignation. "I may not be young, but I am not a crone! I can trek a day through the Evergreen without issues!"

"I guess you are right. My apologies for suggesting otherwise."

The woman chuckled, the gesture accentuating her wrinkles regardless of her words. "Apologies accepted. But it is true that I would rather avoid walking back to Sadina…"

"Who said anything about walking?" The young man said with a smile. "Shinobiyorutsurai?" He silently questioned the air, which got a puzzled look from the woman, but the rustle of leaves was answer enough for him.

From the thick canopy of the trees lingering at the border of the clearing of the World Tree, a shadow dropped before them, which made the mature woman backstep from the surprise. The figure stood on the verge of the light of the bioluminescent fungi and lichen, so it was hard to see her, but with a bit of focus one could see the shifting silhouette of a woman covered in vines.

"My liege," she spoke with a silent and cutting voice as she knelt before the Prince of Flowers with one knee and fist on the ground.

"I intend to go to take a stroll around Sadina, so could you ready the Voyager?"

"At your command." And with that, the figure was jettisoned into the canopies and disappeared from sight.

"What… was that?" The woman said at a loss for words.

"Shinobiyorutsurai, one of Aloe's many daughters. Her name is Infumese."

"I see…" She said in the tone of someone who was completely lost and, clearly, did not 'see it'. "I had heard that dryads were a… peculiar bunch, but the more I see of them, the more that claim falls short."

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"Well yes, they are unique," Xochipilli said as he indicated her with a hand gesture to follow her into the dark forest. "Dryads are a result of their plants. Dryads with similar plants as their foundation will have similar personalities."

"Should that not mean that most dryads should be identical?"

The Prince of Flowers burst out laughing.

"Sorry, sorry," he wiped a tear. "Are you aware of how prolific the vegetable world is? That is without taking into account fungi and algae, and whatnot. There are hundreds of thousands of species of flora out there, and the base of a dryad is not composed of a single species, but several. Trying to find a dryad with the same personality is as unlike as finding a human that shares the same thoughts and beliefs from another."

"I see." Unlike before, the expression she uttered rang veritably. The woman actually comprehended his analogy but, most importantly, the underlying message that was hidden in plain sight. "What about that 'Voyager' you have mentioned?"

"Nothing much," he answered with a coy smile. "You will see it soon."

Whilst the former maid wore an attire worthy of those explorers and cartographers that the newspapers loved so much, Xochipilli waltzed half-naked through the Evergreen. He wore an attire composed of only three items: a cloak, a loincloth, and golden accessories. Whilst they sounded primitive, these three elements were of considerable craftsmanship and Tecolatan tradition – so far as to call the attire one of royalty – so the textiles were vibrant with their colors; a considerable difference as the Ydazi fashion tended to favor muted colors, especially as of late according to Aloe.

The druid had no problem traversing the thick forest even when barefoot, though the mature woman suffered from a constant rugged breath even when donning the pill-based recovery that presented no downsides to other physical attributes like the actual internal infusion.

It took them a handful of minutes to reach a clearing away from the World Tree, one that was no longer covered by its massive blue canopy.

"Oh," she let out in bewilderment as she saw the Voyager. "Do they get that small?"

"It's a prototype from a friend, they are not available yet as they are rather dangerous at the moment," he explained. "Oh, but don't worry, if something does happen, I can guarantee your security."

The woman just nodded casually as her eyes were fixated on the Voyager. The item in question was, of course, an airship. Not one of the massive sizes that could be found in airports – though those had become smaller as of late – but a far reduced and more agile version.

"Does it genuinely fly? It is only as big as a train car…" The mature woman expressed her doubt as she slowly closed onto the aircraft.

"Yes, and quite fast at that," Xochipilli answered. "They are calling them 'airclippers' for their speed and size. I am not particularly enthusiastic about the name, but they are quite the gay ride."

"I must say I am highly tempted to ride it, no matter how dangerous it might be."

"Oh, don't linger on that fact. It's not that unstable, I just wanted to warn you just in case. But yes, let us board it. The Voyager should be ready to take off by now." The druid guided the woman inside the wagon-sized aircraft as he held the door open for her. Inside, someone waited for them. "Shinobiyorutsurai, can we take off?"

The dryad that was tending the engine turned to face him in an unnatural way by only turning her head. Such gestures were typical of dryads as their movements weren't constrained by the limitations of the muscles and skeletons of humans.

"All systems nominal, my liege. We can take off," the vegetal woman informed calmly.

"Superlative," he nodded. "We want to go somewhere… away, but we shouldn't fly the airclipper just yet over civilian airspace, so how about you take us a bit west?"

"On it." As soon as Shinobiyorutsurai spoke those words, the door of the Voyager closed behind them. The woman was jolted by the scare, only to notice that it had been the dryad who had closed the door as a handful of vines were still latched on the doorknob and crept back to her body.

"Please, take a seat, uh… I'm sorry, I kind of forgot your name, miss," Xochipilli rubbed the back of his head with a slight hint of a blush.

"Oh, fret not, Prince of Flowers. I understand we only met for a handful of days many years ago when you were just a child. My name is Josephine, monsieur."

"Xochipilli," the druid replied with a warm smile bound by scarlet orbs. "But yes, take a seat, the journey can get quite rickety, especially at the start."

Josephine had been right in her early appraisal of the Voyager as the aircraft was just a prototype patched up together with standardized pieces, one of which was the discarded seats of a train. Whilst not exactly tidy, they were serviceable and comfortable, and that was what mattered.

The dryad, the druid, and the woman stood in silence for a few seconds on the only compartment of the miniaturized aircraft until its engine started whistling. It took only a breath for the airclipper to detach itself from the ground.

"Oh, how queer!" Josephine mused. "The aircraft is going up! How is it possible?"

Modern aeronautics were based on the fact that Cottonpull could negate the weight of existing materials, so without the intake of more Cottonpull or the loss of weight, it was impossible to increase the aircraft's height. That was why the airports were built so high up. But that train of thought was also wrong.

"It's a bit complicated to explain – I mostly don't understand it myself – but because the Voyager has a very low weight even with passengers inside it and a larger surface area, it's possible to create a potent enough upwards stream to move it from a landed position into the air. We call that 'take off'."

"How marvelous!" She said with the eyes of someone who hadn't even bothered to understand the words and just marveled at the facts. Which was a valid reaction.

"Well, then. As Pincerareans like you would say, Josephine, let us take on a voyage."