WRITING
"The mysterious sundrop trillium has specific growing requirements, and as such, is extremely rare. It has only been spotted deep in forests of the Central and Southern countries, where sun-dappled clearings sometimes create the unique mix of light and shade that it requires."
Mitile read the encyclopedia entry and sighed. It didn't sound like it should be all that rare, did it? It just needed a mix of sun and shade… the book did say it was mysterious, though. Maybe there was more to the story than that. There had to be some reason that no matter how hard he looked, he hadn't seen one at the greenhouse they'd gone to.
He wanted to be able to give one to Rutile.
Just as Mitile was about to close the book, he heard footsteps enter the manor library. "Hm? Oh, hello, Shino."
"Hi. Have you seen Heathcliff?"
As straightforward as ever. "He was in here earlier, but I think he took his book to his room," Mitile answered.
"Thanks." Shino glanced at Mitile's book as he turned around, and stopped in his tracks. "That flower…"
"Oh, I was just reading about it." Mitile turned the book towards Shino. "I, um, want to try to find one for my brother…"
"Sundrop… trillium? So that's what it's called, huh."
Huh? "You've seen it before?"
Shino nodded. "It grows in the forest by the manor. Not very many, though. If you want to pick some, I can take you."
"Really?" Mitile couldn't stop himself from grinning. "That would be amazing! Thank you, Shino!"
Shino smirked. "Alright, let's get going." He nodded his head and started out the door.
Mitile scrambled to follow him. "W-wait, right now? Weren't you just looking for Heathcliff?"
"Yeah, but I found him. You said he was in his room, right? I just wanted to know where he was."
He was just keeping tabs on him…? Was that what a retainer did for his lord? Er, wait, Shino was walking way too fast! "Can't I pack a bag!? Or go get Riquet—!"
Shino slowed to a stop and put his hands on his hips. He looked down at Mitile… erp. "Fine, but don't lose too much daylight," Shino said. "Meet me out back."
Losing the daylight… Yeah, he definitely didn't want to go out into the forest at night! Mitile nodded furiously and then dashed off to Riquet's room. He told him about the trip, and then went to his own room to pack a bag!
It was just the forest near the manor, so they'd always be a quick flight back home. He didn't really need to pack much. And Shino had wanted to leave without packing anything… Did that mean Mitile didn't need as much as he thought he did, or that Shino was just that comfortable in the forest? No, of course Shino didn't need anything—he'd practically grown up in a forest! At least that meant Mitile and Riquet were in good hands. He'd bring some first aid supplies just in case, but that was all.
He met Riquet and Shino at the manor's rear entrance, the one facing the forest. "Huh? Riquet, you didn't pack anything?"
Riquet shook his head. "This close to the manor, most anything we want could be achieved with magic," he said.
Well… Now Mitile felt kind of silly. He clutched the strap of his bag. Should he leave it behind…? No, he already had it, might as well bring it along.
"More importantly, Mitile," Riquet said, "Shino was just telling me that he doesn't know where he's taking us."
"Oy." Shino crossed his arms. "Not what I said. I've never seen the flower you're looking for in the same spot twice. But it's always in the same sorts of places, so I'm gonna take you guys to the spots it might be."
That sounded reasonable to Mitile. "It does sound like he knows what he's doing, Riquet. Let's trust the expert!"
Shino preened at being called an expert… And then immediately deflated when Riquet followed up with "Is it the behavior of an expert to not know where things are?"
"Riquet…" Mitile muttered.
Shino scoffed. "Let's just get going." He marched into the woods. Mitile and Riquet followed after him.
Mitile had come to this forest dozens of times in the past, out looking for herbs with his brother, or training with Dr. Figaro, or helping Lennox graze his sheep. It was filled with vibrant green plants of all kinds, and dotted with flowers for most of the year. He was starting to become comfortable in it, and could identify most of the plants. …Even if he still tripped on tree roots sometimes. He just got so caught up in looking around him that he didn't look in front! Even now, he was glancing at all the plants and muttering their names to himself. The other Southerners had taught him a lot. He wouldn't dare forget any of it.
Shino, walking in front, stopped and turned to him. "What're you mumbling about?"
"Oh," Mitile said, "I'm just reminding myself of the names of the plants as we go."
"Huh?" Shino's eyes widened. "You know their names?"
Riquet spoke up from where he'd been following behind Mitile. "Mitile's very good at remembering plants and animals! He knows all about how to use them in potions, too!"
"That's cool," Shino said. "Can you teach me?"
"I-I guess…?" Did Mitile know enough to teach someone else? Riquet sang his praises, but he didn't feel all that confident about it… "I'd have thought you knew them already, Shino, since you spend so much time here. You've even taught me things about plants, too."
Shino shook his head. "I can recognize the plants, and I could tell you how they tasted or what they're useful for or what birds nest in them, but I don't always know their names. I just know the ones Faust taught me." He started walking again.
The other two followed. Right… Most of what Shino knew came from experience, and experience didn't teach you names. Mitile pointed out plants as they went. He tried to focus on the less-obvious ones. Maybe Shino wouldn't already know those? "There's a prickly bugloss, that little weed there… That one with the spines is a widow's thistle… Oh, I think that flower is blue amaranth. I'm surprised to see it here. I thought it mostly grew in the South." He pointed at a plant growing tall on a thin stem, with clusters of tiny purple flowers and seeds erupting from the top.
"Oh, you can eat that one," Shino said. "It's called blue amaranth? It definitely turns your mouth blue, so that makes sense."
"I'm curious now," Riquet said. "Does it taste good?"
"Not really." Shino shrugged. "It's kind of dry."
"Well, it is amaranth… it's mostly seeds," Mitile said. "W-wait, Shino, you didn't know what it was, but you know it's edible? So you ate it without knowing…?"
Shino smirked. "Of course I did."
Mitile… didn't know if eating random plants was something to be so proud of. It clearly served Shino well, though. Mitile named a few more as they went. "There's sheep's rue. Although, Mr. Lennox's sheep don't actually seem to like it that much," he said with a laugh. "And that flower's a hoary emilia."
"Hoary…" Riquet said, concerned. "I don't believe we should be insulting a flower like that. It surely doesn't know any better, even if it has engaged in regretful indiscretions."
Eh…? Oh. "It's, um, it's H-O-A-R-Y," Mitile spelled. "It means a grayish white color."
"They should name that color something else," Riquet said definitively.
As they got deeper into the forest, Mitile recognized fewer and fewer of the plants. Had he really only ever been around the edges…? Maybe he'd ask the other Southerners to come further with him someday so that he could learn the plants here, too. At least the trees hadn't changed much. "You probably know it, Shino, but that's an Eastern alder."
Shino hummed, and then stopped, staring at the tree. …Was it that interesting? It was just a tree…
And then Shino dashed towards it, clambering up the trunk.
"Sh-Shino!?" Mitile called.
"Ah! Is there something there? A beast!?" Riquet raced after him, trying to see what Shino was doing. "A magical beast in the tree!?"
"Oh, it's a beast, alright." Shino jumped down from the tree, something in his hands.
Riquet and Mitile came close to see. It was… A stag beetle. And Shino was grinning from ear to ear. "Check it out. Isn't it huge?"
Riquet made a noise of disgust.
Mitile wasn't so affected. "You saw that beetle from that far away? That's really impressive, Shino! And you caught it with your hands… I can only catch bugs with a net."
Shino held it out towards Mitile.
Eh, he was handing him the beetle? Alright. Mitile held it by the back to keep its wings shut, just as Shino had done. It helplessly wiggled its legs. It really was impressive, as far as Mitile knew. "The beetles here get so big," he said. "We didn't have anything like this in the South… Only the scorpions and the digger crickets got anywhere near this size." Riquet was still staring at it… "Do you want to hold it, Riquet?"
Riquet furrowed his brow. "I… I will overcome all trials which God has put in my path," he said. He held out his hands.
Mitile set the beetle in them.
A brown, sticky liquid came out of the beetle's mouth.
Ah…
Shino chuckled. "Aw, it likes you. It just shared its dinner with you."
Riquet did not return the beetle's sentiment. He was completely frozen. "I. I would like it gone. Please."
Shino picked the beetle back up and tossed it into the air—it flew unsteadily off into the woods. They resumed their trek.
"This is… Very sticky…" Riquet groaned, poking at the mess on his hands. It stuck to his fingers every time he poked. "I'd like to wash it off…"
"Wash it off?" Shino scoffed. "We're in the forest. Wipe it on a leaf."
Riquet looked like he could cry. Mitile couldn't stand to see him like that… "Um, Riquet, here. It's not really what it's for, but I've got some antiseptic and swabs in my bag. Let me see if I can clean you up a bit." They stopped, and Riquet let Mitile wipe the gunk off his hands. It was probably the sap the beetle had been eating from the tree. If Mitile had to guess, throwing it back up was a way for the beetle to deter predators.
Riquet returned to much better spirits once his hands were clean. "I believe we've missed Nero's afternoon snack," Riquet said as they walked. "…I shoud've packed a bag, after all."
"Are you hungry?" Mitile asked. "Maybe we can find an edible plant." Mitile had been pointing out plants the whole time, and even if the makeup of the forest was changing as they got deeper, he'd surely recognize something… Ah! There! A dark green bush with oval leaves, full of bright orange berries. "Here, Riquet, I know these. I'm pretty sure they're troutberries. You can eat them."
"They don't taste like fish, do they?" Riquet said, looking at the bush skeptically.
Mitile laughed. "No, it's just because of the color. This orange is like trout before you cook it, right? They taste sour and sweet."
That was enough for Riquet to give them a try.
But just as he was about to put the berries in his mouth, Shino knocked them out of his hand. He huffed a sigh of relief. "Glad I turned around to see what you guys were talking about. Don't eat those unless you want to die."
"Wh—!? I've had them before!" Mitile looked again at the berries on the bush. They looked exactly like he remembered, so what was Shino doing?
Shino pushed the leaves of the plant aside to reveal the stem. "See how there's no spines? Real troutberries have spines. I dunno what these ones are, exactly, but they're no good."
"O-oh…" Mitile did distinctly remember scratching his hand on the spines of a troutberry bush before, when picking them with Rutile. "Oh my gosh. Thank you. That's scary…"
Riquet had gone pale. "That such a simple mixup could lead to death… Shino, how could you possibly notice such a small difference?"
Shino chuckled. "Experience, of course." They got back to walking. Shino said as he went, "I tried them myself, and was bedridden for two days."
That… didn't sound like the kind of thing he should be chuckling about. But now it definitely made sense that Shino was so serious about them not eating those, if he knew firsthand how dangerous they were. "At least you didn't die," Mitile said.
"Well, I'm strong," Shino said simply. He stopped on top of a slope, looking down at a stream flowing at the bottom of a valley. "We ought to get down there and follow that stream. That valley's where the clearings with the trillium are." He didn't make a move to do that, though… This hill was covered in some kind of brush, but it didn't look any worse than what they'd been walking through the whole time.
Riquet forged ahead. "It seems the best path is forward, then." The plants rustled under his feet.
Until Shino grabbed his scruff and stopped him in his tracks. Riquet let out an undignified squawk.
"Are you crazy?" Shino said. "That's the lee side of the hill."
Riquet furrowed his brow, frustrated. (Mitile had to admit that he looked kind of like a kitten, being held by the back of his shirt like that.) "I don't know what that means," he said.
"It means it's sheltered from the wind," Mitile explained. "Uh, but I don't know why that's important, either…"
Shino let go of Riquet and explained, "No wind plus a stream means a bunch of bugs and animals would come here to eat. So the plants have to defend themselves from being eaten in other ways." He kneeled down to look at the thicket they'd have to walk through, careful not to touch it.
Mitile would've never thought of that… There was Shino's experience again, huh. Leaning down with Shino, he checked out the plant. It grew in repeating bursts—was it propagating with runners?—of straight, bladelike leaves that popped up vertically before spreading out. The leaves were green on top and red on the bottom, with tiny, transparent hairs lining the underside. Oh… Even if he didn't know what this was, those little hairs were never a good thing to see on a plant. "It probably stings," Mitile suggested. "I brought a salve for rashes, but it's best to avoid it altogether…"
Shino hummed in agreement. "And on a slope like this, it'd be easy to trip over the runners and get stung all over."
Riquet huffed. "Such a simple task turned into a difficulty. Nevertheless, let's continue." He summoned his broom and hopped on.
Eh…? "R-Riquet, wait, is it safe to fly through the woods? And right over a patch of poisonous plants? Don't hurt yourself!" Mitile called.
"Oh, I guess there aren't too many trees here," Shino said before following. "C'mon." He cocked his head towards the stream.
Augh… Mitile didn't want to be left behind! He summoned his broom, intending to follow. There were fewer trees here, but… It still wasn't safe! Too low and he'd be sticking his feet into the stinging plants, too high and he'd be hitting his head on branches… He tried to weave underneath, but… Eep! His hair brushed against a branch, and the surprise almost made him swoop low. That was just as dangerous! Oh, no, Riquet and Shino were already down at the creek, watching him.
Riquet flew back up to meet him. "Are you okay, Mitile? You can ride on my broom if you'd like."
Mitile usually didn't mind getting help, but this was really something he should be able to do on his own… At the rate he was going, though… Maybe he'd let himself take advantage of Riquet's more confident flying just this once. "Yeah," he sighed. Riquet sidled up next to him and Mitile hoisted his leg over, transferring to Riquet's broom. He kept his head low and held onto Riquet's back as they flew down past the thicket and to the bank of the stream.
Down here in the valley, the forest seemed even denser than before. All the trees from the hills above towered over the ones growing by the stream. Earlier, the sun coming through the leaves had been patchy, sure, but it was still always there. Down here, only the rare clearing had any sun to be seen. That was just what Mitile had read the trillium liked, but seeing it himself was eerie.
As they kept walking, it got darker and darker. It was still the afternoon, wasn't it? And were the trees around them really getting that much thicker?
"I… I don't like this," Mitile eventually said. "I've got a bad feeling."
Shino kept looking around them, even as he answered. "Yeah. I can't see very far in this darkness."
"Sunrotea edif," Riquet chanted. He summoned his lantern and cast its light into the forest. Oh… "It appears we've wandered into a fog," he said. "A very dark black one…"
"This can't be natural," Shino said. "Stay close to me."
Mitile didn't need to be told more than that. He huddled close to Shino, tugging Riquet closer, too. Riquet held his lantern up as they continued to follow the stream. In this dark fog, would they be able to tell where the clearings were…? Heck, would they even be able to see the trillium?
Everything that had happened as they got deeper into the forest… Mitile wasn't feeling nearly as confident as he had been earlier. Shino had experience to guide him, so he always knew what to do. Riquet might've been closer to Mitile's position, but it seemed like no matter what happened to him, he just picked up and kept going. Mitile, though… After having nearly fed Riquet poison, and having needed help just to get down a hill, Mitile was already feeling discouraged. He wished he could run back to the manor and ask Dr. Figaro for help…
Something rustled in the trees.
Shino held his arm out in front of Mitile and Riquet.
The fog shifted.
"Matztzah sudipas," Shino chanted. He held his scythe towards… whatever it was behind the fog.
Then he dashed towards it.
"Shino!" Mitile cried.
A great shape came from the trees, cloaked in fog. Shino slashed. It reformed. Again and again, Shino cut it down, only for the hulking form to put itself together. What was this fog—!? Why was it attacking them!?
More importantly, what could Mitile do?
He felt stuck in place, trying to put the pieces of the situation together. Before Mitile could react, Riquet did—he held his lantern aloft, casting with a prayer and shining its light as brightly as he could.
The fog dissipated.
Shino didn't stop, though—he jumped into a bush. It shook and rustled. Then he popped out with a tiny, fluffy creature in his hands.
"Here's the culprit," Shino announced. "An illusory skunk. Thanks for dealing with that fog, Riquet."
"It is my duty," Riquet nodded. "But… what is an 'illusory skunk'?" Riquet asked.
"A magical beast. It makes that fog with its tail and casts illusions," Shino said. He was holding the point of his scythe against its neck.
"Wait a second, don't kill it!" Mitile said. "It… it's a skunk, so isn't that just a defense mechanism!? Can it actually hurt us?" Mitile looked at the animal, held docile by Shino's grip. Wait, what was up with its leg…? It was bleeding. Had Shino done that? "It's hurt, anyways…"
"It was like that before. It's because it's hurt that it's defending. If we let it go like this it'll just keep making that fog, and we won't be able to find anything."
Maybe it was just Mitile being too soft, or inexperienced, or something, but… he didn't want to kill an animal just because it was in pain and acting out. He opened his bag. "Let me fix its leg. If it's not hurt, then it won't do anything, right?"
Shino looked at the creature. It really was helpless like this. It wasn't even struggling against him. "Fine," he said.
"Hold it while I clean its wound," Mitile asked.
Shino held the skunk on the ground while Mitile sanitized and dressed its wound. The skin was red and bumpy, covered in a rash… it might've tripped on those very same stinging weeds that they'd seen earlier, and sliced its leg on the sharp leaves. It probably really hurt. Thank goodness he had some salve for it. "You're really good at that," Shino admitted as he watched.
"Dr. Figaro taught me the basics." He finished up by putting a bandage around the skunk's leg.
Riquet watched, too. He nodded. "It's a laudable endeavor for a wizard skilled in the healing arts to help all of God's creatures." Yeah, Mitile didn't know if he deserved that much praise… Riquet continued, "What do we do with the beast now?"
"I dunno if it's up for walking on its own," Mitile said. The skunk had been still the whole time he dressed it. Shino barely had to hold it. "Maybe we should carry it with us until we're done…"
Shino shrugged. "As long as it doesn't slow us down too much. And I guess we can keep it from making that fog again."
Mitile cradled the skunk in his arms as they continued. Without the fog, they could again see the sun coming down through the trees, shining in glittering patches on the forest floor. The flat valley around the stream was easy to walk through, mostly covered in dirt and stones and without any plants bigger than grass. It must've flooded in the spring, when the snow melted down from the hills.
As they entered one clearing that spread out around them, the skunk started to stir in Mitile's arms. Was it feeling better…?
"There," Shino said. "That's the flower, right?"
Hm…? Oh! Those three mottled yellow petals sitting atop three leaves! Yes, that was the sundrop trillium! "It is! Wow! Thank you for bringing us here, Shino!"
Except, as Mitile ran to the flower to pick it, the creature in his arms only wriggled more and more. It leapt out of his arms and jumped to the flower, curling its long body and fluffy tail around it. It looked up at them.
The dark fog set in again.
Shino looked around, watching the fog surround them in every direction. "I knew we should've killed that thing," he spat.
Riquet readied his lantern.
"W-wait," Mitile said. "I don't think it wants to hurt us. Just wait a second."
Shino and Riquet were still on edge, but they listened to Mitile. Shapes came out of the fog, but they weren't the hulking, threatening beasts from before. There were three of them, about their heights, and… familiar.
"Is that… us?" Riquet muttered.
They watched their fog doppelgangers walk into the clearing, coming to stand by the flower just as they were doing. The shortest fog creature—Mitile's copy, it seemed—reached down to pick the flower. He only picked an illusory copy, shimmering with just a hint of the original's color. But even then… the copy wilted in a puff of smoke as soon as it was plucked. The fog creatures coughed and threw the bloom away. The fog—all the fog—disappeared.
The creature… it was warning them. Mitile leaned down to look at it. "You were showing us what would happen if we picked it, right? The trillium will wilt right away… that's why nobody can cultivate it, why we couldn't find it at the florist…"
The creature looked into his eyes, still unmoving from its protective stance around the flower.
"So…" Riquet said, "this journey was for nothing? We can't bring the flower back for Rutile."
Shino sighed. "I should've guessed why I never found the blooms in one place twice… if they're that delicate, they probably don't last long."
What now? The whole point of today's trip was to bring a flower back for Rutile, but they couldn't.
But… but they could bring Rutile here. "Shino," Mitile asked, "would you be able to lead us here again? With Rutile, this time."
Shino smirked. "Of course. I'm the expert, after all." And then his smirk turned into a grin. "And if this flower's really that rare, then I wanna show Heath, too."
Riquet clapped his hands. "And Arthur! He helped us so much yesterday in the city, I'd love to bring him here to see such a bloom!"
Maybe they couldn't bring the flower back, but today wasn't for nothing. They could still share this moment with everyone else.