Sunflower - Chapter 26 (Patreon)

A great nothing surrounds us on all sides.

Fine, smooth sand blows past our faces, carried by the hot winds of the desert.

My friend walks as best as she can, her face obscured by loose fabric.

At first, I did not understand her reasoning for covering herself.

After all, why would you want to hide your face from the sun?

- But now I understand.

[Sunflower]

You bask in the light of the sun

+ 1 EXP

EXP: 261/450

Here, in this place, the sun is far more than overly generous.

The only plants which we see, if any, are dried out and dead shrubs. I do not know how they managed to grow here to begin with, let alone move through life towards death, but it seems that they have.

It is very hot.

It is far hotter than it was in the dry wild-lands, back on the side of the world, from which Burch and I stem from, back across the great-water.

[You will die in {9} hours if you do not find water]

Hmm.

This is troublesome indeed.

I would quite enjoy a drink of water soon.

But there is no water to be seen.

I turn my head towards the left and see nothing but sand.

I turn my head towards the right and see nothing but sand.

Oh well.

It can’t be helped.

I tuck in my petals and my leaves, hiding them behind Burch’s head.

For a moment, I consider digging into her body, to drink of her wet blood.

But I decide against it.

She is surely thirsty too and it would be most unkind of me to drink of the waters of her body.

_______________________________________________________

We hide.

There are others ahead of us.

They are five in number.

They are of her ilk and they wander in the same direction in which we too wander.

Yet they have not seen us.

I wonder for a time if Burch will try to get their attention.

But she doesn’t.

This, I understand.

Her encounters with her own kind have not gone well in the past.

I wonder why?

They seem to be social creatures, no?

But Burch is always apart from them.

My friend is like a bird without a flock.

Sad.

Don’t worry, Burch.

You’ll always have me.

(Sunflower) activated: [Photosynthebiosis]

[Sunflower]

You bask in the light of the sun

+ 1 EXP

EXP: 263/450

(Burch) EXP: 06/310

_______________________________________________________

We have survived the first day of the great-desert.

‘Survived’ is an applicable term, in this situation.

I would wish to say that we had ‘thrived’.

- But we have not.

[You will die in {2} hours if you do not find water]

The sunset here is one of the most beautiful that I have ever seen.

Yet, in a way that makes me most uncomfortable, I am glad when the sun has left for the day.

- It was too much of a good thing.

There is a lesson to be learned here.

I am a developing sunflower.

[Sunflower]

You bask in the light of the sun

+ 1 EXP

EXP: 268/450

(Burch) EXP: 11/310

“Hey, look,” mutters Burch, staring at an oddity, which lies ahead of us.

A plant.

It is large and unusually green and sticks out of the desert landscape.

Burch slides down the large dune of soft sand and then makes her way up the next one, towards it.

What an odd looking plant it is.

It is green and tall and has two arms, like my friend. It has hairs, like my friend.

She pokes it.

It pokes her back.

- Not literally, of course.

[Cactus Stechitus]

A cactus. An unusually hardy plant that has managed to thrive in the arid landscapes of the world. Its roots dig down very deep into the soil to pull in and store extremely large amounts of water into itself.

Ah.

This is a most fortunate turn of events for a clever sunflower, such as myself.

Burch grabs her knife.

It seems that once again, our hunt has been successful.

She stabs into the flesh of the thing, cutting out large chunks of its body. Water drips from its flesh like blood.

Life is a gift.

_______________________________________________________

The desert is a most beautiful place.

Yet it is deadly.

It is far more deadly than any place that we have been before.

There are no monsters who would hunt us.

There are no predators who would seek us as nourishment.

There are no external threats, which we have encountered.

It is just the land itself.

[Sunflower]

You bask in the light of the sun

+ 1 EXP

EXP: 269/450

(Burch) EXP: 12/310

The desert is as if the great entity that is the world itself had decided that it had enough of life and had made a choice to snuff it out entirely.

- And yet.

Burch watches, hunkered down as a lizard scoots across the landscape.

(Burch) has used: [Ambient Energy Wave]

(Burch) has killed: (Desert Spineback Lizard)

Nature provides.

_______________________________________________________

Another cactus.

We are grateful.

The lizard provided meat for my friend and its blood provided moisture and minerals for myself.

But Burch and I are growing creatures.

I am growing into a mature sunflower, large and beautiful.

She is growing into an adult female of her kind, large and beautiful.

These things require nutrition.

These things require moisture.

Thank you, cactus.

I will remember the taste of your precious waters for the rest of my life.

_______________________________________________________

Another day has passed, as has yet another cactus.

If our luck continues, we will make it across the desert with ease.

Well…

‘Ease’ is a relative term.

Burch fights for every step and the desert fights her to stop her from taking them.

Her body, light as it is, sinks still into the cotton-soft sands.

The wind presses against her, as if it too wanted none to cross the desert.

The sun burns us, punishing us for our hubris, for wanting to seek the place where it sleeps.

[Sunflower]

You bask in the light of the sun

+ 1 EXP

EXP: 277/450

(Burch) EXP: 20/310

Nature fights us in a way it has never done before.

But I, myself, cross the desert with ease.

- After all, I just have to sit here.

Burch does all of the work.

What a life.

_______________________________________________________

Our third day in the desert comes to an end, with us making camp near our fourth cactus.

We have yet to harvest its bounty of water and flesh and are saving it for the day to come.

The nights are cold.

Colder than anywhere else that we have been.

They are even colder than they were on the boat, on the great-water.

Burch has no way to make fire here and instead lies huddled at my stem, wrapped in her many layers of clothing, that she has removed from her face and bag and returned to her body, after the setting of the sun.

I try my best to wrap my roots around her.

But they do little to keep her warm.

And I can not grasp the sand here, to compact it into clumps.

It is too fine and silty for that.

Oh well.

I look at the cactus, extending my roots out to meet its.

Us three will make do, right?

- The cactus screams.

How unusual.

Burch does not hear it and I retract my roots, not interested in anyone breaking the quiet of the night.

What a rude thing it is.

Please do not wake up my friend.

_______________________________________________________

Burch munches on the juicy flesh of the cactus from the night before as we walk, having come to our fourth day in the barren wastes.

It seems like it ought to be a place that nobody should be able to survive in for this long, but here we are.

Fortunate has guided us well.

We have crossed many dunes and hills, as we have done for the days before. We always head towards the west, towards paradise.

[Sunflower]

You bask in the light of the sun

+ 1 EXP

EXP: 279/450

(Burch) EXP: 22/310

Something comes into our vision in the distance.

A cactus.

- Or, well, a ‘cactus’.

She and I wander towards it and we find ourselves staring at the man, who simply stands there, his arms outstretched and held up towards the sky, as if in prayer.

He is one of the five of her ilk, who we had seen upon entering the desert.

He stands there, burnt by the sun, dried out by the heat, his breath stolen by the fine, scorching sands of the wasteland.

Like the other four of his troop, his body has been overtaken by death.

His remains, which ought to have fallen to the sands many hours ago, instead stay standing upright, perfectly motionless.

He almost looks like a cactus.

- Haha.

Burch looks down at the lump of red, wet flesh in her hands, as she chews and then lifts her gaze back up towards the man, who she does not see is a man.

My roots, pressed in through the base of her neck, entering into her skull, into her eyes and senses, do not let her perceive it as such.

For Burch, my dearest friend, he just looks like a cactus.

She lifts the knife, getting ready to get us some more water.

I am a supportive sunflower.

_______________________________________________________

A day has passed and we have come to the end of the desert. Just in time.

We have run out of cactuses.

Burch falls to her knees at the oasis which we have reached.

Green, lush, fertile grasses spread out in many directions. Thin, but tall and strong trees dot the lush, wet, landscape.

There is water here and fruit.

I think we will stay here for a time and nourish ourselves of its moist treasures, before we continue our journey.

I would say that Burch has earned a rest in the shade.