Roots of the Heart

527 words (excluding headlines)

Whatever happened here

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"Dear Petal, today I wanted to bring you so much joy, but I've received an assignment from a figure of much importance. You see, some people really value plants, and while I am not one of those people by a long margin, I must respect these types of people. I love you so much my sweet daughter, please understand, I never mean to make you feel abandoned like I had all these years..."

Underneath a hefty body clothed with a pelt made of gold and silver fur, an undelivered message hid. Whether or not it would make it to the receiver could not be determined in the moment, but the shaky writing denoted it was hesitantly yet sincerely written by whoever was laying on top of this note.

Not a soul could tell

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Quietly sniffing the unconscious guard, an extensive snout from beyond the pine tree covering directed its attention to a point of interest. It was frigid and the air was dry, and these conditions were not suitable for an empty stomach. As such, the investigating tall pouflon ate up the whole basket of bread laying beside the inattentive subject.

There was nothing but the thickening silence of an empty forest, and that afternoon, no one else was around to tell what happened to the guard on the ground. Neptune, quite satisfied with his borrowed meal, surveyed the area for any clues of what had occurred. It was there, a few inches from what was left of a torn coat, a letter fluttered in the wind held down only by a broken pocket watch. With his interest now focused on this piece of paper, Neptune retrieved the letter to read the contents.

"Heartwood...?" Neptune read aloud.

He would've turned his head to the trunks of the surrounding trees to see which tree was this species of "heartwood", but a strange fragment of bark stopped him. Why... what is this important valuable I have found? Could it be... something to change this world? Neptune then wondered what convinced someone to foolishly leave such a rare item in the hands of this pouflon that found himself trouble to knock him out?

And yet conclusions were drawn

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Without any bit of guilt, Neptune dragged the useless guard into a nearby cave. To "rid" of this fool, and he merely threw the guard into a shallow pool of water to satisfy his need to punish the incompetent creature. The guard's head buried itself in a collection of glowing mushrooms outside the pool. Perhaps this guard would not be able to tell the difference from pain from his previous attacker and the tail tugging from Neptune being disgusted once he got up.

This exceedingly precious treasure that was a fragment of bark with a heart was to never leave Neptune's possession. Surely it was to look beautiful next to his 236th carved crystal heart in his treasure trove.

As this individual left, Neptune did not notice the other letter that was hidden under that guard. It was now stuck between two rocks, and while this guard might have not been fit to keep the heartwood safe, perhaps he was more fit to secure much needed communication to someone that depended on him.