“How’s your time with the human?” Ajalla asked. She stroked the stem of the lionade flower that grew at the base of the pimello tree. The flower rocked, gently hissing its approval. “I saw you two by the pond.”

“The poooooond,” the grass sang in unison.

“He’s so loud in his movements.” Kiri chuckled. She reflected on the image of the man she saw in the sky and her heart lurched against her chest at the confirmation. “I’m surprised he hasn’t drawn in the entire forest on himself yet.”

“He isn’t accustomed to our way of life,” Ajalla said as she added a pinch of water to the soil.

“When I saw you two together … I felt something stir inside me. It angered me.” Kiri rubbed her stomach. “Perhaps I am no longer Alseid.”

“Scary Erythrai,” the lionade flower whispered.

“Oh, don’t be afraid of the Erythrai. They won’t do you any harm.” Ajalla shifted and pressed her legs against her chest. “You were angry with me or is it Yohanshmitt?”

Kiri remained silent for a moment, sucking in her lips as she weighed her words. Dozens of Alseid were returning from their daily service in the lots. She’d neglected hers for the day to look after the human and make sure he didn’t kill himself. She promised herself to visit the lot after her service in the Grove. The Elders should have postponed her punishment until after the human was gone instead of having her take him along.

Why does he have to be so dim?

“The foreigner. I could never be angry with you.”

Ajalla crawled forward, their faces coming within half an inch of each other. She stared with slitted eyes into Kiri’s. Her lips pressed into a thin line, she leaned in and kissed her. “The light shines bright. You’re Alseid through and through. Zafira and Yohannshmitt aren’t going to change that.”

“Thanks.”

“That’s what seedlings are for,” Ajalla said with a grin.

Kiri perked up and glanced around, making sure the human wasn’t close enough to hear. The children were busy climbing around on him. “He asked about us being seedlings. I think he likes you.”

“He seems nice. Like a child. If you need help looking after him, just let me know.”

“You want to be around him, even after I told you what his tribe are doing to their world?”

“Well,” Ajalla began and laid her head on Kiri’s lap to gaze up into the setting sun. “It’s still different. So new and exciting and did you see his eyes? They were blue like the sky. Besides, Zafira might be wrong and they will change.”

“Let’s see if this one is capable of change. That will give us an idea whether the rest might.” Kiri stood up and whistled at the group of children tackling Johann to the ground. They jumped off giggling and scampered away.

“They sure are energetic. What did you give them?”

“A simple quartz. Nothing special,” Kiri remarked. “It’s getting late and I have a lot to do tomorrow. I just need some sleep and time to get over what I saw.”

“Sleep now,” the grass chanted in unison and yawned. They receded until only their tips still poked out of the soil.

“Should I come with?” Ajalla offered as she stood.

Kiri gave her a flat stare. “I can get him to fall asleep without your help and if I have to knock him unconscious to do so.”

“I’m still here,” Johann said. “Just so you know.”

“You don’t need to know,” Kiri snapped. She turned away as her gut wrenched again. Johann proved to be a nuisance above all else.

Ajalla walked over and embraced Johann. “Woha! You’re so warm, Yohanshmitt Like a rock bathing in the midday sun.”

“Johann is fine. You don’t actually have to say all of it.” He laid his hand on her back, sparking a new wave to rage within Kiri.

“Very well, Johann. Rest well. Let’s speak again tomorrow.”

“Come now, we rest,” Kiri said. She marched off without him. He caught up to her by the time she began climbing the tree.

It took Johann three attempts until he was able to scale the tree, albeit slowly. Painfully so.

Kiri swung onto her home branch, twenty-five feet in the air from where she waited and watched the human climb. No wonder the Elders had forced her to look after him, he was incapable of survival on his own. It eluded her how the humans on their homeworld managed to become the dominant species, yet still be so infantile.

With Kiri’s instructions, and a quarter hour, he reached her level. He hesitated, placing one foot after the other on the branch. It was only two feet wide so that didn’t give him much space to get a bearing.

He really is good for nothing, she noted as he waned over to the side.

She lunged forward, grabbing him under the shoulders and holding him firm until he got a sense of balance.

His gaze dropped, likely taking in the sight of his last pre-death moments. She could hear his rapid beating heart in his chest. Smell the faint aroma of fear wafting from him.

“Look to me,” she barked. The only way for her to get him finally moving was by proving to be a bigger threat than falling.

Johann eased forward into her arms, their eyes searching and finding each other. At least he listened to what she had to say.

“I’m fine-fine,” he said, risking a brief glance at his feet and placed them behind one another.

Kiri let go and stepped back, but still focused on him. When she felt confident enough he wouldn’t slip again, she pivoted.

A cluster of flowers grew on the branches and were easily thrice the size of an Alseid. A short stem extended five feet from the branch to where the bud rested.

“You don’t have any beds,” Johann remarked from behind. A breeze came through and silenced his rambling as he struggled to keep his balance.

“You sleep here,” Kiri said. With a simple touch against the fibers of the flower, the petals fell outward. She crossed over to the second flower and opened it. The tear shaped ovary in the center gave off a soft luminescent.

He heaved himself up to the pollen bed that sank a notch under his steps. “You expect me to sleep inside a plant?”

Kiri stepped inside the bed of the ralu flower and began removing her top. “You can sleep where you choose. You’ll be warm in there and I don’t recommend you leaving the village at night.”

“This is something else. The doctors are going to send me with a one-way ticket to the mental hospital when they hear me recalling how I slept inside a giant flower.” Johann sat down and crossed his legs. His mouth fell open at the sight of her removing her top.

Kiri stimulated the flower, and the petals whisked up, cutting off Johann’s endless talking.