Mister Blue the glowing blue pixie was a good travelling companion. Sure, I couldn’t understand what he was saying unless he pantomimed it for me with many ‘chips’ and the occasional ‘bleek,’ but we made do.

We kept to the road, travelling at a much slower pace than I was used to even though Mister Blue was much faster than I was and would likely outpace me even at my best. Truth was, I was enjoying the company a little too much to want to hurry towards our inevitable departure.

“And then what happened?” I asked.

Mister Blue had been telling me of some great, ferocious monster that had invaded his forest and that he had single handedly defeated. He gestured grandly, both arms before him scissoring up and down to mimic the jaws of the great beast. “Chirrrrr!” he roared savagely, as if someone had stepped on a squeaky toy.

Mister Blue flew around and faced where he had been, hands on his hips and body straight as if imitating a real life Superman. The floating certainly helped the look. The lack of clothes did not. He waved his hand in a banishing gesture, and a crack of lightning shot from his fingers to the ground with a firecracker pop.

Orange jumped within the pocket of my bandoleer, the noise enough to awaken her and drag unamused eyes over to Mister Blue, who was now pretending to be the great beast scampering away.

I watched, a hand pressed over my mouth as Orange floated up behind Mister Blue and started stalking him through the air. Mister Blue was orating his victory with many a chirp when he turned around and froze in mid-flight.

Orange wiggled her little kitty bum, then pounced.

What followed was a chase scene out of a cartoon, with Orange darting this way and that through the air, her little paw-paws running as fast as they could while Mister Blue flew circles around me.

The tables turned when Mister Blue spun around and started flying after Orange while static shocks ran across his body with little Geiger-counter-like tics.

Giggling, I put an end to the game by snatching Orange out of the air by the scruff of her neck and sliding her back into her spot in my bandoleer. She glared at Mister Blue, who preened in the air--quite proud of himself--but at least the fight was over.

“So, Mister Blue,” I said some little time later. “I’ve been looking for rare and valuable plants. Mostly for making tea, but I wouldn’t mind finding flowers that I could sell later, or that might be helpful. Since this is your territory, do you happen to know of anything like that?”

The pixie tapped at his chin and floated alongside me while making a strange humming noise. Then he nodded and zipped ahead. I lost sight of him almost as soon as he dipped into the forest, and chose not to try and follow.

Instead I slowed my walk down a little, but kept moving.

My patience was rewarded when Mister Blue came chittering back while pointing at something I couldn’t see.

Grinning, I followed after him as he flew at a much more sedate pace through the woods and over thick brambles. The woods grew darker as he led me away from the road, then up a fairly steep hill that would have been impossible to travel without Jumping from big rock to big rock.

I tried to keep an eye on more or less the direction the road was in, in case I got lost. But that soon faded away when Mister Blue chirped in victory and circled around a bush. It was growing on a patch of healthy looking dirt under a rocky overhang. Its vines were a deep, wine red and its leaves were a faded crimson. Each flower had seven large petals around a waxy stem in the middle. And atop of that was a faint, flickering blue flame.

“Whoa,” I said as I watched the three dozen or so burning flowers lighting up the rocky alcove. “So pretty,” I said.

The air smelled like the sulfur of a recently struck match, but also like... oatmeal. It was a distinct scent that took me a while to place, though it certainly wasn’t bad.

I lowered my pack and pulled out my book. Pages flew by as I searched for the plant that I was certain I had seen illustrated already. Mister Blue hovered over my shoulder and ‘bleeked’ appreciatively at all the pretty pictures.

“Ah hah,” I said as I landed on the right page.

Seven-Petal Candle Flower

An exceptionally rare find across most lands. The seven-petal candle flower is actually a flowering bush, one most commonly found in areas that have had a recent influx of mana. They only grow in secluded, darkened areas and can be exceptionally difficult to reach when found. However, finding them is made easy by the faint blue glow given off by the flame atop their flowers.

I was getting excited, especially as I read on.

This plant has numerous uses, though many of them are niche at best. The leaves make for a tea prized by some tribes for its ability to temporarily make one immune to fire. The stem of the flower can be used in a multitude of fire-resistance potions of various strengths, as well as tinctures to heal burn wounds. The stems can be chewed to heighten one’s awareness of fire-attuned mana. The flame, if frozen through magical means, can be used to create a catalyst called the Flaming Tongue which allows the user to commune with fire elementals and may be the most valuable part of the plant.

“Whoa.”

When gathering, start from the flower and work down. The flame is easily snuffed out by feeding it non fire-attuned mana. Care must be taken with the main stem of the flower which is highly flammable, though difficult to light. Store the clipped parts of the plant in a dark, humid location.

There was no way I could freeze the flames off the tips. Which was too bad, but the rest sounded simple enough. A careful jolt of cleaning magic made the flames on one flower sputter away, releasing a refreshing burnt-breakfast scent in the air. Then, with my knife held by the back of the blade, I snipped off the flower and placed everything on a clean patch of rock.

Orange batted one of the stems around playfully, and I let her as I focused on my work. Soon I had harvested a quarter of the plant and decided that I had taken my share.

Congratulations! Through repeated actions your Gardening skill has improved and is now eligible for rank up!

Rank E is a free rank!

“I’ll take that,” I said with a delighted giggle.

Gardening

Rank E - 00%

The ability to find and cultivate plantlife. Your instincts for dealing with plants have sharpened.

I thanked the plant, then Mister Blue for helping me find it, and packed everything up as quickly as I could without losing anything. A bit of cleaning my hands later and replacing Orange onto my shoulder, and I was ready to move again.

Mister Blue was kind enough to lead me all the way back to the road, but soon he stopped and spun around me a few times, ‘bleeking’ and ‘chirping’ sadly.

“Oh,” I said as I realized what he was trying to say. “Is this the end of the road for us?” I asked.

Mister Blue stopped before me and nodded.

I... didn’t want to go back to being alone. But I knew it wouldn’t be forever. And I had Orange now, even though we had yet to really bond. “Okay,” I said as I lowered my backpack. I fished around for one of the filled jars of honey at the bottom, then placed it on the road next to me. That left me with one and a half jars, more than enough to last me a long while. “I wish I could hug you goodbye,” I said.

“Bleek!” Mister Blue said before he blinked to stand right before me and wrapped his arms across my chest. He couldn’t even reach from one side to the other, but the gesture was heartwarming all the same. I patted him on his head with two fingers and held back a sniffle.

“Chii, chirup!” He said as he backed away. He gave one last glare to Orange, then waved at me before darting away. His prize bobbed in the air behind him as he disappeared into the woods.

I wiped my eyes, licked my lips, and kept on walking.

Nothing kept Broccoli Bunch down, not even losing a fun new friend that she had just made! I would find more friends along the way, I just knew it.

At least the parting had only been bittersweet. I could visit Mister Blue again in the future, maybe with even more honey. I laughed and imagined how heroic he would look coming to all of his friends with a second full jar of honey behind him. Unless he snuck it away to enjoy it all for himself, the little ruffian!

The woods started to change as I moved through them. The air wasn’t quite as vibrant and the trees weren’t as brilliantly green and full of life, even the birdsong wasn’t quite as chirpy and happy.

I hopped up to the branches of a nearby tree to be higher, and took in the world around me as far as I could see. That wasn’t very much, as it turned out. I was in something of a dip in the landscape with hills all around. The distant rumble of a river or stream sounding just a few hundred meters away.

Looking up, I caught sight of a plume of smoke, then realized that it was a few of them meeting together to form one column, but it was still far away. Too far to reach before the sun set.

I hopped over to the next tree, then the next, aiming for the top of the hill where my line of sight wouldn’t be nearly as obstructed. Maybe there was a town like Threewells out there, but inhabited?

I paused between one jump and the next when I heard something below. At first I thought it was some creature moving through the woods, but creatures didn’t swear so much.

“Why am I always ze one sent out to clear ze path?” someone said after saying some words that were very impolite.

“Ze question ought to be why I got picked to babysit you,” another, deeper voice said.

People! Close enough for their voices to carry even. I jumped in their direction a few times, aware that I was moving back towards the road and the river at the bottom of the hill.

“Zere’s a nettle bush over zere,” the gruffer voice said. It was clearer now that I was closer. It definitely sounded like a man.

“Zut. Could have told me earlier, I’ve got some of zose ball zings stuck to my pants.” The other voice was also distinctly male, though it sounded a few years younger.

I was getting so excited I almost missed my next jump.

“Good luck removing zem. Zey’re a right pain to get out. Also, zey’re called ‘burrs’, not ‘ball zings.’”

Grinning from ear to ear, I dropped down first one branch, then another, until I could see my new potential friends. They had long knives that were flashing out as they cut through the branches and brambles across the road. One of them was focused on chopping while the other tossed the branches to the side.

At first I thought they were human, but a look at their smooth, greenish skin, thick legs and squat features revealed otherwise. Their clothes had strange cuts to fit their strange proportions, but looked fine otherwise, the sort of thick robust clothing you would want to wear for trekking through the woods. One--the older, I guessed by the better quality of his equipment--had articulated leather and metal armour over his legs and shoulders and a breastplate gleamed under his jacket.

A bored Grenoil Swamp Ranger, (level ?).

A nervous Grenoil Fencer, (level 9).

I had just met a pair of frog people!

With one last hop, I landed on the road before the two wide-eyed adventurers and grinned.

***