"...Well this isn't horrifying at all."
Mary raised one of his eyebrows and lowered his head, eyeing the numerous flowers in front of him as if they would jump him at any given moment. He narrowed his vivid pink eyes - the setting sun of Ahza reflecting from the shining sand underneath his paws and blinding him a little, even though he was standing in the long shadows of a big skeleton. The vast sand dunes shimmered in a fierce red while the sun was slowly vanishing behind the sandy hills, and a soft breeze swirled sand particles up in the air as they danced and sparkled all around him and the flower field.
“Don’t worry, I heard they don’t bite.”
Greywinds voice was dripping with glee and sarcasm - the older one enjoyed Mary's aversion towards the plant in front of them a little too much.
“Are you sure? It has friggin teeth-! What the heck is this thing-!?”
The dark Elnin backed up a little from the flowers and leaves covering the ground in front of him and then jumped when he stepped on the roots. He turned around and saw that the dark roots climbed out of the sand and over the side of the skeleton, digging deeply into the bones and leaving fine cracks all over the side of the skull.
“It’s fine, don’t worry about it. Those are just calcium deposits that resemble teeth. They are not actual teeth. This is what makes this plant so special. They only grow in the shadows of big skeletons, like this one, where the plants can find calcium resources big enough for its needs. Over a long period of time, the plants begin to break down the calcium of the bones and use it to form the protective deposits. See?" Greywind pointed at the petals of the flowers in front of them. The petals were different shades of yellow and orange, with fine white veins throughout, and they all had various sized teeth-like structures at the edge of the petals. “They use those teeth to tightly interlock with each other and to shut the petals during the hot hours of the day and strong sand storms. The bottom side actually has a thin wax coating as well, which prevents the flowers from getting shredded into tiny pieces and to help with keeping the moisture.”
Greywind fondly walked among the flowers beneath his paws, carefully watching his steps so he wouldn’t break them, while his long strands of dark hair flowed over the teeth of the flowers. He lowered his head and closed his eyes, while sniffing the air around the flowers. It smelled slightly sweet and earthy, and for once the white Elnin didn’t mind it.
“They open up in the afternoon and release their scent, and then stay open during the night. It’s the best time to pick them, honestly. Here-”
The older nin tossed a little bag to Mary, who reluctantly caught it.
“Make sure to only collect the open ones. When they are closed, you won’t be able to open them without destroying the whole flower, which would render them useless for us. So be careful, and also don’t destroy the leaves or roots. We don’t want to disrupt the plant too much.”
Collecting only the flowers was harder than expected. Mary struggled to avoid the dark green leaves of the plant, which had tiny barbed hooks along the edges, which constantly got caught on his hair or pricked his paws.
“Why is this plant so hostile…”, he growled under his breath and was close to using his sharp teeth for help. Every aspect of this plant made it clear that it was forged in a very hostile environment; which the desert of Ahza sure was.
“You could’ve just learned to grow near the waterfalls or in the oasis, but no, of course that would’ve been too convenient now, wouldn’t it…”
Mary let out a sigh and was relieved when he realized that he had filled up the bag Greywind had given him. “Finally…”, he muttered, while the sky above them slowly turned different shades of lavender and blue - nighttime was coming, and with it cooler air. Exhausted from the long journey during the day and the constant bullying of the plant, he slumped to the ground away from the flowers and rolled on his back; discovering the first stars slowly appearing in the incoming night sky.
Greywind quietly chuckled while he watched Mary battle with the bothersome plant, the irony of the situation only an amusement to himself. After all; there was a reason the plant was commonly known as ‘ankle chomper’ and there was a reason why he had chosen Mary to accompany him on this run.
Karma was a funny thing.
