"So, when you were still an ivy-mother. What settlements did you normally go to?" I ask her as she plays with my hat. Her idle boredom inspiring me to take action against the quiet that has occupied us so far. Though, I have to admit, that quiet is still preferable to the complaints of sore legs. Popped her on our bag of supplies and she's been thoroughly zipped since.

"Well, I never went into any of them, as is our typical custom. For all the comfort they receive within the flower, the men are expected to handle such interactions. With the petals and stems, anyway. The rules were always lighter when it came to the roots being entranced by the males of other species. Not because they were exempt, but because... Well..." she explains, her sneer visible even out of sight.

"So, where did you actually go?" I ask, repeating my not really answered question.

"The flower itself usually went to trading towns or well-established settlements down here in the valleys. Maybe to the periphery of a mountain of the wind-people but never up it. Often times, we would follow the towns built on top of the cavern entrances to the Water-Veins so we could trade for more exotic, foreign goods. My personal favourite, however, is all the farms aligned with and or dependent on us. Most of our wine came from them, the wine I even have is theirs, in fact. One from quite close to my home garden-mont, even."

Nodding along, I try to process what information I can with two bits sticking out to me. I'm pretty sure I've heard her talk about this 'Garden-Mont' before, but 'Water-Veins' is a new one. Guess it won't hurt to ask. Not like anything else is out here?

"Garden-Mont? What is that, exactly?" I ask and she lingers an arm just into the edge of my eyesight. I follow it to the nearby mountain and then onto the next one as I walk past the last. My brow cocks up and I focus on the greenery instead.

"A garden-mont is the name for an aelenvari... What is the human term...? Lots of people live in one."

"City?"

"City, yes. Thank you. A garden-mont is an aelenvari city, to put it simply. One built within a hollowed out mountain whose interior is, for all intents and purposes, a garden." she explains, but the way her voice is giving way to a sigh...

"There's more to it?" I go and the bag wobbles slightly because of what must be happy movements.

"It's where we take our seeds to be planted. When a flower returns to the Garden-Mont, it truly becomes a place of natural beauty and wonder as we fill the soil with our unborn young. Thankfully, only the petals, stems and thorns are allowed anywhere near those parts at the core. Roots stay at the edges where the rock remains hard and strong. Better that than allowing them to corrupt the young with infertility and filth." she elaborates, her tone taking on its usual hostility at the mention of people like Dandelion. Or, rather, not like her as Dandelion had a child?

I want to ask about the Water-Veins, but thinking of Dandelion's seed got me remembering what I had to do back...

"So... Before what happened... Happened... You and I would have gone to your flower's Garden-Mont to plant the seed I would've given you?" I ask, my face burning up with shyness as I come to terms with the theoretical. My child, it would've been my child we- she would've ended up planting. A little boy or girl to call my own. Honestly, it's a detail that possibly makes wasting my chastity worth it.

But, still, I am somewhat glad it never came to pass.

Rose'lhia's hand gently brushes along the top of my mask and she sighs dreamily, "Yes, that is where we would have taken it. You would have helped me lay our precious seed into the very soil that once housed everyone in my flower. Me included. And, as time passed, we would see what flower or tree they would be born under. I hope, when we do finally consummate our love, my precious love... I hope it's the latter."

Her voice is rather sweet, and the giggles carry on even now.

"And, if it is alright with you. I would like to be putting my seeds in such a place when you finally do start putting them inside of me," she tacks on, her lustful joy breaking up just enough. My jaw flexes open, bafflement silencing all but the chokiest of noises.

"Them? You want more than one!?" I ask, twisting my neck to its limits so I could stare back at her blushing cheeks and wide smile.

"Of course, I want as many as my body can take. I may have left my flower for you, my precious love, but I still have a duty to my species. To give them as many males as I can so they can live on and you will grant me many... I want you to keep filling me with them until my hips can no longer take it and they just break." she tells me, her hand tightly squeezing my head full of that seemingly warped sense of pride.

I feel like with each press of those soft fingers of hers, my ears are venting hot air. All over the mere thought of a woman who wants to cripple herself with pregnancy. So many babies she can no longer walk and move half her body. Not that, that is much of an improvement to her current body.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"How would you even name them...? If you want that many, surely you'll run out of names to think of." I point out, already running short of names to the point I'm slapping numbers on the thought-bound words.

"Think of? Their names will be determined by where they are born." she reminds me and my mouth quietly 'ah's' at it. Nature will do it. Pluuit's got it handled. But, even then, what happens when the gods give us repeating names of Daisy or something?

"Right, right. I know that. But, as I am not an aelenvari and you are no longer part of a flower... Would that not...? Surely how the child would be named would change?" I try to get out of my mess of thoughts, and she squeaks.

"You want to name our children with me!?" she demands to know, her voice breaking in a rather cute way. Seeing her like this is nice, hearing, rather. Normally, there's so much pride that it's arrogant and conceited. Narcissistic, even. So, hearing her be like this, it's nice.

It's a good distraction from my current issues.

"I mean, yeah, why not? Surely I have the right as the father in this -hypothetical- situation to have a say? The seeds wouldn't just be yours, they'd be mine too." I point out, not sure if she's going to take this the wrong way or even get it at all. Gods above, I didn't even know magic was a thing until what must be within a couple of months now. Our cultures are so very different.

I honestly cannot grasp leaving a child alone until it sprouts out of the ground.

"I do not know if that is wise. It's possibly even dangerous. We aelenvari have worked on these rituals for thousands of years. It's always how it has been done. Never mind any of that either, the sentimental value it holds for me as someone who was raised in the Ahnelges Garden-Mont is... It's immeasurable. "

"Dangerous?" I let out, clinging onto that word for some reason as a strange noise fills our ears. It's coming from the sky by the sounds of it, but it's almost mechanical. A mixture of an animal roaring, gears moving and whipping sheets of cloth. Is there an aircraft flying nearby with a farm animal among its cargo?

"Let me down!" Rose-sweerui goes, her voice instantly on edge while I simply look around cluelessly.

"Hm?" I go.

"Let me down!" she repeats, the erraticism growing. Minding her behaviour, I get down on my forward knees and start taking the bag off. A shadow flashes overhead and I move back slightly, my hands empty and body lighter. Snapping around, I watch an animal fly away, screams on the disturbed wind.

"ROSE!" I shout, her terror filling the valley. Not lingering a moment, a growl bursts from my throat. Running after them, all the control I've been trying to keep vanishes. My strides turn into leaps. Grass flattens. Dirt explodes up, a rain of little stones and foliage.

The gap closes between us.

I can barely think of what to do. I can't keep running after this creature. It's rising too quickly. I need to get to its level before it flies too high!

My head snaps about the edges of the valley. My mind locks onto where I can leap from. It will be my only chance. It's the only place lacking stump!

"There!" I let out as I rush for the jagged rock. Rose is what matters. The bag is secondary. Kill the creature if I have to, just save Rose!

Forcing myself to slow down and panicking all the while, I turn to the mountain's part. Climbing up on top of it, I launch at the creature as it nearly breaks the valley top. Barely, just barely. My claws dig into the back leg of the creature.

Its roar becomes a cry and my grip turns slippery.

"NIN!" Rose calls out, her fear clear as the bag shakes in the turbulent grip. She's barely holding on right now. I need to hurry. Hurry, hurry. As if I need the reminder!

"LAND ALREADY YOU SHIT!" I snap down at the creature as I finish climbing onto its back. Minding the gap between its two wing joints, I slip a foot in, scraping the skin apart. I secure myself against the other crescent-shaped wing and force my foot through. The blood splatters across the wind as does the creature's howl. It veers onto an uncontrolled, leftward descent. Same side wing flapping out of control on a single joint.

A small clearing comes into view, and we hit it. I fly off and hit the rocks without an injury to me. The creature is still sliding further along while an empty-topped bag comes to a halt. Snapping to my feet, I try to spot Rose. My worries turn to hope and I face the creature as it rolls around onto its six legs. Its serpentine body contorts and wiggles to its highest extent.

Its mouth opens, and that mechanical noise becomes clear again. Something moves in the dark. I am able to catch the noises of Rose just in time. The creature lunges for me, its jaws moving as an industrial saw might.

Catching onto the creature's neck, I try to force it up away from me. I might be walking off a cracked shale-making crash, but I am not testing my claws near saw-jaws. Gods above, even sparks are coming out of its slobbering mouth! How does that even happen!?

Throwing the beast aside, it hobbles onwards towards a small tree. Before it can run through it, its jaws snap, sawing right on through. I blink the wide eyes away and gulp. My claws near that... No.

Rose-red hair comes at the edge of my eyes.

"BAH! I don't have time to be dealing with you!" I spit at the creature as it charges once again. A sloppy punch meets it and the lower jaw snaps with a resounding crack. My eyes widen again as the beast rears back, flailing lower jaw, drooling all kinds of crimson. Realising my strength, I put my feet at an angle and leap-charge.

My arms catch onto its neck, and it goes over its back and right onto a boulder!

Snap.

Shaking my head at the dead thing, I give it one more kick to knock it away. Moving to the clearing's edge, I spot her again. Rose... She's alright. Alive.

"Rose!" I call out, leaving the elongated, six-limbed flyer behind. Jumping down to her and rolling through some thankfully soft dirt, I arrive. She watches me, face red with terror. She reaches for me with a scraped up arm as her eyes start to break.

"NIN!" she screams once as the tears come out in force. She latches onto me with all she has and her face buries itself between my shoulder and neck. I rest a palm on the back of her head and let out a sigh of relief. I'm glad she's ok.

"It's alright, it's alright..." I repeat again and again as I check her body over. Sighs of joy leave me at how it just seems to be that she's simply shaken up. Her old injuries are obviously provoked, but nothing new has sprung up. She must've got lucky and hit all those soft clothes in that massive bag of hers. Oh, to think her choice was retroactively justified like this... Oh, to know that now.

"Th-Thank you..." she whimpers, clutching me tighter.