Wild Flower

Shion sat on the edge of his bed and watched the tiny grey kitten growling and pawing at the crack under his closed bedroom door.

He had brought it in when he found it yowling plaintively outside the front door, looking scruffy and malnourished. It couldn’t have been older than eight, maybe ten weeks - it was hard to tell when it was so skinny and covered in tangled fur.

Over the last couple of days he had fed, nursed, and groomed it as best he could without proper pet care equipment. It had reminded him pleasantly of the days he had spent caring for that gaggle of dogs back in West Block.

It wasn’t until the kitten was steady enough on its feet to start exploring that the trouble started. The plant in his study had been acting up ever since he’d put up the Halloween decorations (and yet, try as he might, he could not muster the willpower to take them down), but when it met the kitten, things really went to hell.

The kitten had poked its nose at the shoot curiously before leaping back in alarm, hissing and standing its wiry fur up on end until it looked like a ball of steel wool with eyes and teeth. The strange part, though, came when the plant itself did something similar; leaned up out of the soil it was planted in and wiggled its leaves menacingly. Shion didn’t think a plant had the necessary appendages to leer menacingly at a small frightened animal, but it was the only description for what he was looking at that made sense.

Since then, the kitten had stayed shut in the bedroom (it was not a fan of this, one bit) while Shion fretted about what to do. He felt nervous and edgy, more nervous and for less reason than ever before in his life, pacing his small abode and fiddling with his glasses (how long had he been wearing glasses for, again?) while the plant insinuated all kind of horrifying notions about what could be done with the kitten, if only he had the guts to do it.

Eventually, less out of resolve and more out of a lack of any better idea, he had boarded the train and wandered about the city’s various sectors in a panicked frenzy, stapling handmade signs to any post he could find that would accommodate them.

The signs read “FREE TO A GOOD HOME” in shaky lettering at the top, followed by a blurry phone photo of the kitten and a few more scribbled doodles of it in black marker, making a face that Shion hoped communicated “plaintive affection”. At the bottom was his phone number and the words “PLEASE CALL”, underlined. And underlined again. And a couple more times for good measure.

When it was dried to his satisfaction, he took it over to the wall and tacked each corner up, carefully positioning it so the arrow in the bottom-left corner was pointing exactly where he wanted it to.

It had been a long time since he’d seen Little Shop of Horrors, but the sign looked satisfactory relative to the image in his mind’s eye.

He knelt down next to the plant cutting he had taken from District Zeta several months ago, now a healthy little shoot in its pot, positioned directly next to the arrow on the sign. Shion himself was outfitted in a ratty thrift shop vest and a pair of cheap round glasses with thick black frames that he hoped would be an adequate facsimile of Seymour Krelborn, given context by the plant.

He snapped a photo of the two of them together with his cellphone camera before getting to his feet. He was about to get out the tools for pumpkin-carving when he heard a throaty whisper behind him.

The plant made noise all the time, it was something he was used to and delighted by. But it had never sounded like this before. Its little murmurs had never had the shape of words he recognised. The whisper came again, and he listened out for it this time. There was no mistaking it.

Feed me, Shion.

Shion’s patience put a smile on Atlus’ face, and made it a little easier for him to relax. Taking a breath, he composed himself as best he could. How embarrassing… way to make a good first impression.

“Thank you, ah,” he laughed a little, tucking a lock of hair behind one ear. “For all of that. I think you got everything.” Nice. “I’m happy to meet you too, Shion. And I like dandelions for the same reasons, myself… as long as they don’t grow too close to my other flowers, of course.”

“But oh, you live in ‘District Zeta’…?” Fascinating plantlife, oh boy, now that sounded exciting. The words put a spark in Atlus’ eye. Something to look forward to might make the adjustment less… difficult. “I’d love to see those plants, but… I’m not sure I know much of my way around here. I just found my way into the first park I saw. Usually being around flowers helps me relax, so… it seemed like a good plan. But, ah… haha. I think I’ve gotten myself lost,” he admitted, holding his forearm with his opposite hand. “Do you know where we are, exactly? I’m told I should be in District Epsilon, I believe…”

“We’re in Sector Six right now,” said Shion. “District Epsilon is off Sector Five, so you must have overshot it a little... Which wouldn’t be a problem if the trains here ran in two directions.”

He frowned, both dismayed on Atlus’s behalf and simply bemused by the Hive’s unintuitive and unorthodox public transport solutions.

“As it is,” he continued, “ you’re looking at two and a half hours by train or about an hour less than that by foot if you want to get to Sector Five. Or...”

If Nezumi or Inukashi had been here they would have chided him - or worse - for what he was about to suggest, but, well, they weren’t. It might even have delighted him a little to know that there was nobody to stop him from being “reckless” and “irresponsible” in the name of helping a near-stranger. He hoped somewhere, somehow, they could feel his insurrection and despair. It made them feel a little less far away from him.

“Thank you!” she said, beaming at him. She had worked hard on the sandcastle, so it was nice to hear that he thought it impressive. Digging her fingers into the sand, she began working on smoothing out the sides of the moat and the bridge that went over it. 

“Yep. You can make sandcastles, or play volleyball, or find crabs.” She actually loved crabs, a lot. Having grown up on a beach, she’d found a lot of them over the years, usually picking them up to show to her grandfather before putting them back where she’d found them. Growing up on a beach also meant that she knew quite a few things you could do at a beach, especially since the town she’d lived in had had little to do.

“Really?” She didn’t know what he was talking about with “technology to simulate one”, but she understood that it meant he hadn’t been somewhere like this before. “This is all new to you then.”

“Of course!” She was more than happy to show him, especially since it meant she’d get to make another sand castle. “It’s really easy once you learn the basics.”

Shion nodded. “Textbooks don’t really cover things like sandcastles or volleyball, and all I know about crabs is to do with their life cycles, their habitats, things like that.”

Crustacean biology was fascinating in its own way, but it was very dry and clinical compared to the physical reality of this beach. None of his books could have described the salty tang in the air around him, or the warm sand shifting under his weight.

...Speaking of which. He lifted and released a few handfuls of sand, letting it clump densely in his closed palm then trickle loosely over his fingers. He turned to the girl beside him.

“Really? That’s wonderful.”

Instant relief. Now they had something to talk about. Phew… 

“I was a Botany major, when I graduated. It’s not too far off from Ecology, though I guess a little more specific.” Atlus laughed a little. “But I can’t say I was named after a flower. I’m Atlus,” he tucked some hair behind his ear, “Atlus Trudeau.

“Oh, asters are actually my favorite genus!” What a nerd. “And Shion is a beautiful name, too… does it refer to a specific species?” Was he being too nice? Maybe that was weird. Uh-oh. Think fast. “Sunflowers are my favorite flower though, specifically.” He paused, then quickly, “ah, what about you, though? Do you have a favorite?

“… sorry,” he laughed slightly, adjusting the strap of one of his suspenders. “I just asked you three different questions, didn’t I? I don’t mean to overwhelm you, ah, I’m just… a little nervous. I just got here, so… I’m sure you can imagine. Have you been here a while?

“… that was a fourth question, oops.” He laughed again, this time with dread and apology in its tone. “Sorry about that.”

Shion looked skyward, and you could almost see the gears in his head turning as he processed Atlus’s barrage of questions and information. He was dellghted; it had been too long since he’d had the chance to pick someone’s brains so openly.

He clapped his hands together gleefully and ran through everything... in order? In order was probably the way to go.

“Botany! You probably know a lot more about flower care than I do, then. I can name and classify most of them, but learning to actually care for them has been a matter of trial and error so far.” What next? “And thank you! Shion refers to the genus, same as the English word. 

“My favourite flowers are dandelions; they’re often treated as weeds but I admire them for their resilience, and I think they look beautiful when the wind catches them.

“And, finally, I’ve been here for one or two months now. They have me housed underground in District Zeta. I don’t know if you’ve been there yet, but the plant life there is fascinating and... unusual.

『➵ Looking on it now, Dark Pit wasn’t sure what possessed him to go through with journeying to this library. The idea had been solid in theory- go to the library to find books that taught one how to read and write. And just as quickly he’d remembered one must know how to read to in turn find said books, and Dark Pit was back at square one. And still his legs took him there unbidden, leaving him staring at the grand building and rocking on his heels, torn between retreating back the way he’d come or taking his chances inside. He felt foolish, standing there as if lost.

Dark Pit cast the city behind him another glance, and his wings ached to fill with power and take him away from there as fast as he’d come. Before he could even give idea more thought, a soft voice behind the divine being caught his attention. He could just hear the words the other was speaking, his attention piqued. 

‘I know this tale.’ But just as he turned to investigate, he was greeted with a shock of white before nearly colliding with another person. He just managed to leap back before impact.  Dark Pit’s wings flared involuntarily, sending a few pitch feathers fluttering  to the floor. 

“You should really watch where you’re going,” the dark angel grumbled, shaking his wings out before folding them taut against him. Scarlet eyes gave the other a quick once over. The same voice that had been reading from that book- his eyes flickered to it. 

“That book,” he said simply, pointing to it. “That’s a A Tale of Two Cites. Right?” For all his inability to read, Dark Pit never forgot a story once told to him. 』

“You’re right, I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying atten...” Shion trailed off, his eye momentarily caught by the black feathers trailing through the air. 

The stranger before him was adorned with impressive black plumage, and Shion only just caught himself from craning to peer over his shoulder to get a better look. The city had shown him plenty of strangers who stood out as interesting or odd, but each new one continued to pique his curiosity.

Questions like Where are you from? and Does everyone have wings there? and How do they work? flooded his mind, but his manners were at least good enough now that he knew not to interrogate people he’d just met for information.

He shook his head to clear it. 

      Shion walked carefully out through the library doors, balancing a stack of books in his hands. He should have brought a bag with him, but he hadn’t planned ahead at all. He hadn’t even come to the library for anything in particular, which had of course lead to him wandering the shelves and borrowing everything that caught his eye.

One-by-one, he slipped a half-dozen books into his coat pockets; various works of classic theatre and literature, mostly by authors whose names he recognised from his time in West Block. He stopped at the last book left in his hands - A Tale of Two Cities - and flipped it open.

He read while he walked, moving his gaze from the page to his feet and back to make sure he didn’t trip. Semi-consciously, he read the words aloud to himself. He had always preferred to hear stories than to read them.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair...”

Shion trailed off as he nearly ran smack-bang into another person. He hadn’t been paying nearly enough attention to his surroundings.