We stepped out of the door and made our way into the park. A fresh burst of air, filled with a sweet, flowery scent replaced the dry scent of disinfectant lingering everywhere inside the building. Slowly we walked towards the tree standing in midst the park, Flora matching my speed without me having to ask her.
As we walked there silently, the chatter of the people around made its way towards us, questions like ‘How long they’ll have to stay here?’ or simple statements reaching from ‘I hope you get better soon’ to ‘We miss you’.
All of it just drove my mind further into the abyss of unknowingness. But as I stopped in thought I felt Flora’s touch once more. “Come with me for now.”
Eventually we stopped near the tree, the people around staying clear of it for some reason, making us two stand alone besides it. As she stopped there, I looked around, but found nothing that caught my interest. Then Flora crouched downward, resting her hand on the grass.
For the first time I saw her speak, though her voice sounded nothing like when she used telepathy, instead taking on an ethereal sound as if nature itself spoke. And as her voice fell silent the world became silent with her.
Nothing dared to disturb the ambience around us, even though I saw people speaking nearby. But quickly my attention was grabbed by something else, as plants began to grow in front of Flora, two small buds quickly growing upwards. When they were at a knee’s height they branched out, two branches growing towards each other, splitting more and more, while the others tilted gently behind them.
Their speedy growth didn’t make me wait for long as I realized that she created a bench for us to sit at, the once green plant fiber quickly turning into strong wood. When she was done, she gestured towards the bench, compelling me to sit at the netting of plants, small buds still growing here and there, forming new leaves and small flowers.
As we sat down, I was surprised at the unexpected comfort the bench offered opposed to its hard appearance, but my thoughts quickly went elsewhere when Flora sat down besides me, resting her hand on mine.
“You always make it seem like you’re all alone out here.” She spoke softly.
Isn’t it that way? Just take a look around. Everyone around has someone they care about and that cares about them. My thoughts said what my mouth couldn’t.
“Did I ever tell you why dryads use telepathy instead of our tongue like other species.”
Her sudden change in topic confused me, but that didn’t stop her from continuing.
“When we grow old, we slowly turn into trees. The lignification stops us from ever moving again, just like this tree, but it isn’t the end of our life, as eventually we grow fruit, birthing new dryads, though only one every few decades. These new dryads grow up without anyone.”
She paused for a moment, making a bitter smile. “Even though we can speak to the tree, the dryad that birthed us, we soon have to leave as the trees take far to much nutrition from the earth, leaving the young buds with nothing to grow from.
But while these small buds may only start with a single leaf they soon start to grow, as every passing moment, every new meeting, turns into a new branch filled with dozens of new leaves. Just like this one we may lose some of these leaves to time or an unknown incident but as long as we live we will spring forth new leaves, maybe from new branches, maybe from ones long forgotten, until we stand tall like the tree we were birthed from.”
When she finished what she wanted to say she stood up, leaving me without waiting for an answer. Watching the people passing by I thought about what Flora told me. Eventually I looked away, instead gazing upon the foliage above me, where I saw a lone branch sticking out of the crown, a single leaf at its top.
With each passing day I regained more of my strength and was soon able to talk short walks outside of the hospital. Where my previous surrounding was filled with white a wall of green bushes separated it from streets filled with grey stone buildings leading towards a market.
There were no signs of any transports, the street filled with pedestrians while avid species flew through the sky. Here and there stood fountains, allowing aquatic creatures to have a fast path to travel through, as they seemingly connected underneath.
But when one reached the market, they all had to walk atop the floor, any other route strictly forbidden. The market itself was filled with a myriad of creatures offering an even more copious collection of wares, seemingly matching their general outlook.
Walking over it recognized a few races Flora told me about, raging from mixtures of man and beast, to more unique creatures. The beast-kin were, different to most expectations, not one species, with each one having their own name, though they were mostly used by their own species.
There were the ones like rabbit-kin, selling vegetables farmed in their districts, along with wolf-kin, which wares ranged from animal products to whole animals ready for slaughter.
Aside from foodstuff the stands’ products diverted even further if one went deeper into the market, with sheep or goat-kin selling woolen clothing or orcs selling self-smithed weapons. One look at them however showed their flaws, made with a miserable technique or inferior resources. The works of higher artisans, like dwarves or arachne would never make their way to a lowly street stall, instead they were shown in the higher-class shops surrounding the market plaza.
But not all races were gifted with a special commerce product or even interested in selling their art. Instead they stayed with their species, shutting themselves of from others, or tried to sell their labor for a small amount of money. And if that didn’t help there were always those looking for one to bear their children to further their species as they were a few unisexual ones, opening a market for those who had nothing else left.
Sitting down on a bench near the plaza I thought about my own future, what I should do from here on. Soon I would be released from the hospital, left with no place to stay at and no money on me. At least I didn’t have to worry about the hospital bills, as those were taken care off by the arena as they seemingly took over every bill to keep their fighters with them.
When I asked Flora about it however, she just made a bitter expression, unwilling to further talk about it.
