The trip to the thorn forest was more action-packed than they had hoped.

It should have taken only a day to reach the forest, but the blockades and checkpoints forced them to circle around. It took them three days to find an opening, but in those days they had been attacked by amateur bounty hunters or unknown hunting guilds that hoped to boost their reputation. The locals also got word of the bounty, which meant more roadblocks and ambushes in towns and villages.

Rumor's got around to be on the lookout for a massive land engine because it carried the bounty of a lifetime. Nonetheless, they were fortunate because all attempts were so poorly organized that they were more of a nuisance than a threat. But as they checked their supplies, they knew that they had to stop somewhere soon and timely for them, they were now at the foot of the thorn forest.

The thorn forest was visible for miles, with its outer border walled by towering evergreens that were as high as small skyscrapers. Elizabeth saw that the trees were so close and dense that it almost seemed like there was a literal wall of trees. Before they got to the treeline, they passed through thick and high grass that was as tall as a man.

They stopped in front of the wall of trees and all of them stepped down from the landraider while Annie held onto Elizabeth.

“You sure this is the entrance?” Max fought the tall grass that kept getting in the way. “Hang on let me cut this so we can-”

“Don't!” Luna and Baldric yelled together.

“Don’t cut anything! Don’t pluck anything! Don’t touch anything! That goes for you as well Sunny.” Baldric then grabbed Willow from the ground as the cub sniffed the grass and looked like it wanted to take a bite. “Make sure he doesn’t eat the grass.” Baldric handed Willow to Elizabeth.

Luna got a barrel and garden sprayers from the storage. As she opened the barrel, a sweet smell came out. The smell was a mixture of fragrant flowers and sweet fruits, but it intensified to the point that it caused Elizabeth to sneeze uncontrollably. While Luna filled the garden sprayers with the sweet chemical, Annie gave the child a cloth mask.

She then handed the sprayers to Baldric and Max, who sprayed the landraider. As the smell dominated the air, Annie and Elizabeth felt the tall grass slowly beginning to crawl away. The tall grass distanced itself from them very slowly until they formed a clearing around them and the landraider.

“Alright, everyone line up for the spray.” Luna said.

{I think Elizabeth can’t handle the chemical} Annie gestured at them as Elizabeth kept sneezing.

Luna then reached into the storage compartment and got out a copper diving helmet. Luna and Annie then put it on the child.

“How is it, Ely?” Luna asked her. “Can you still smell the chemical?”

From inside the helmet, Elizabeth spoke, but they couldn’t hear anything. Annie got a piece of paper and wrote down the question and also for her to nod or shake. Inside, Elizabeth shook her head. Her sneezing seemed to have stopped as well.

Luna then began spraying everyone with the chemical until they were all drenched in the syrup like substance.

“This is disgusting.” Max said as he and Baldric put away the barrel and the sprayers. “I smell like a damn strawberry.”

“Relax, lefty. All I smell is body odor with a hint of apples.” Baldric then saw Willow licking itself as it tried to eat the syrup.

“This is the best way to get ants in the landraider. I guarantee you we will get ants.” Max said as everyone began to climb aboard. As the landraider now approached the wall of trees, the evergreens slowly began to move aside.

The thick trees blocked the sunlight from above, causing the forest to have an eternal night. The child looked at the trees and felt like they were looking at them. In fact, Elizabeth was sure the trees were indeed looking at them. One of the trees bent over as if looking inside the landraider.

She lost track of time for how long they went through the trees, and she grew bored of looking at them. Since she wore her large helmet, she couldn’t hear anything, so everyone communicated to her with notes.

She sat down next to Luna on the couch. She drank wine from a bottle while she read a book. Elizabeth tapped her and asked if she could read it as well, but with the large helmet being a hindrance, she just gave up and lied down. Looking out the window, all she could see was trees and even more trees, so she dozed off to sleep.

=0o0=

Elizabeth woke up when Luna nudged her gently after she removed her helmet.

“Dinner time.”

When they got down, the child was in awe when she saw that they were in the middle of a vast meadow with the cloudless night sky shining on top of them. In the distance, she could see the outline of a towering mountain that was visible even in the dark.

Everyone was already sitting around the campfire, and there was a delicious smell of roasting meat that made Elizabeth’s stomach growl. The sweet smell of the chemical was also gone, aside from the one coming from her, but it seems to have faded over time.

“Did we leave the forest?” Elizabeth asked as they joined everyone around the campfire.

“No. This is still part of the forest.” Luna said as both of them sat down and Baldric handed them both some meat. Willow leapt up to sit on Elizabeth’s lap. “The thorn forest is actually a giant area that the plantir banded together to protect. The wall of evergreens is like their giant wall and nothing that has the blessing of the plantir can go through it. The wall cannot be burned, cut, and not even airships can fly over it.”

“Really? How come?” Elizabeth took a bite and found the meat incredibly soft and tender.

“They throw sharp boulders and pointy, massive logs at anything they do not like.” Baldric answered her. “And their range and aim is incredible.”

“What’s the blessing of the plantir? Is that the thing we sprayed on everyone?”

“Well, no, but a lot of people do think that. And many of them died because of it.” Luna took a bite out of her meal. “The chemical was just to get their attention and signal that we are friends, but if you use the chemical without a blessing, then it’s useless and they will still attack you on sight. The blessing is given on how you treat plantir or plants whenever there are plantir around. We had worked with some a while back and they liked us, so they gave us their blessing. And once one plantir gives you their blessing, all of them will welcome you into their territories.”

“So anyone can get a blessing if they are nice to plants or the plantir?”

Baldric laughed. “But you have to maintain it, that’s the hard part. You see, all the plants in the whole world are connected, either by the dirt, or pollen, or roots, or whatever. Anyway, if one of them sees you being cruel to a plant or a plantir for no reason after they give you their blessing, well, you are not welcome anymore and the next time they see you, Bam!” Baldric punched his other hand.

Max stopped eating a slice of apple. He quickly threw it away.

“So we shouldn’t eat fruits or veggies if you have the blessing?” Elizabeth asked them. “Is that being cruel to them?”

“No cruelty to plants means destroying forests for no reason, or polluting the ground or the waters, or taking more than needed and not replacing them.” Luna assured her. “They know that most creatures eat plants or use wood for a lot of things and they are more than happy to share, but if you upset the balance, or you just do it out of greed, then they remove their blessing, and once it’s gone, sometimes they never give it back.”

“That is why we should be safe here. Blessings of the plantir are incredibly rare.” Baldric adjusted himself so he was comfortable. “The other good thing about the blessing is that once you have it, they treat you as one of their own and fight to the death to protect you. I’ll tell you this, sunny, nothing is more terrifying when the grass underneath your feet is your enemy as well.”

=0o0=

They camped in the lush meadow overnight, and when they awoke the next morning, Elizabeth discovered that people were watching them.

They were a group of humans with enormous bright flowers sprouting from their eyes, noses, and mouths. They carried fruits, mushrooms, and vegetables, which they placed nearby.

“The plantir are the plants on their faces.” Luna said, softly next to her. “Those they are growing out of are those who abused nature most likely loggers or polluters who became too greedy. They are now puppets used by the plantir to move around.”

The plantirs turned and walked away.

“Does it hurt?” Elizabeth innocently asked. “Having the plantir on their faces?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure. But trust me, the plantirs do not attack unless they are attacked first.”

“Is it even safe to eat those?” Max asked Luna, referring to the fruits left for them.

“You know what I learned from the plants, Max? They taught us that no plant or animal ever plots, lies, schemes, or torments others for the fun of it.” Baldric grabbed some and gave them all one each. “We always think we are better than they are, and yet we are the only ones who torments others just because we can. Sadly, that is why we will always be worse than them.”

=0o0=

After breakfast, the rest of the day was spent going through the forest at an incredibly slow pace. Luna, Baldric, and Max had to step down as they were using handheld devices to find something, so the landraider had to match their pace.

Two days passed of them doing the same thing, and they hadn’t found what they were looking for. “You sure we can find him here?” Max said as he smacked his device to see if it was actually working. “This forest is huge and we could be here for weeks. Maybe he moved on?”

“Nope. G is too lazy to do that.” Luna said as she continued to scan the area.

=0o0=

By noon on the third day of their search, they decided to rest near a river. While Annie maintained the landraider, Luna taught Elizabeth some defensive fighting techniques as they stood in the middle of the calm river. Willow watched them as it lazily soaked its whole body in the water.

“Higher. Stretch your legs like this.” Luna kicked the air and Elizabeth tried to follow but almost lost her footing. Luna held on to her to prevent her from falling.

“Again.” Luna helped her adjust her stance so she had more balance. After a few tries, Elizabeth managed to copy Luna’s kick.

“Wow! Luna did you see?! I did it!” Elizabeth tried again, and Luna couldn’t help but be proud.

“Alright, come on break time.” While Elizabeth showed Willow her new kicks, Luna sat by the riverbank and started to cut some apples. Annie joined in, and the four of them ate as they soaked their feet in the cold water. Afterwards, both of them watched Elizabeth give Willow a bath in the river when Max and Baldric returned to their campsite.

“Anything?” Luna offered them some apples.

“Nothing.” Baldric took a slice. “We checked to the north and to the east and we couldn’t find him.” Luna then got a map from her satchel bag that had a grid on it. She then crossed out the areas where Baldric pointed out.

“Alright. You two take a break to cool your heads. I’ll try my luck looking to the south. Try dipping in the water. It’s nice and cool.”

“That sounds so tempting, I might just do that.” Max sat down on the stones.

As Luna wiped her feet, Elizabeth and Willow joined her. “Can we come?” she asked.

“Sure, The walking will do us good.” Luna packed some snacks and a canteen of water for the three of them and then they headed into the forest.

An hour into their walk and they still found nothing, Luna checked every bush, rock and high grass and the device barely made a sound. The only ones that enjoyed the walk were Elizabeth and Willow, as they skipped on rocks, or watched some other small critters scuttle across the forest floor. They even snacked on edible berries that the plantir were leaving for them to find. They even brightened their path with flowers that bloomed as they passed, which Elizabeth was tempted to pick up but hesitated to do so.

There were so many animals that Elizabeth had seen for the first time. Giant fuzzy bumblebees lazily floated above while thrumpers, giant furry four legged grass eaters with a thick shell, grazed on the grass below. Horned rabbits popped from their dens and snifters walked around with their long tongues out, searching for bugs.

“I give up.” Luna stopped and turned off the device.

“What are we looking for? Maybe we can help.”

“I don’t think we will see him in this thick undergrowth. But what we are really looking for is a small person made of metal. He is as big as my hand, like a doll.”

“Maybe we can call out to him?”

“That won’t work. He’s short of hearing.”

Luna then found a place for them to take a break as they sat on some large rocks. After they had a quick snack break, Luna started to look at the device again while Elizabeth fed some chipmunks that were nearby. Then she saw something shiny in the bushes. Willow saw it too and leapt in to come back with a small mechanical mouse in its mouth.

“Luna! Luna! Look what we found!” Elizabeth and Willow ran up to her, and when Luna saw the small copper mouse, she gave Elizabeth a hug. The mechanical mouse wiggled and squirmed in Willow’s mouth. Luna grabbed the mouse and held it by its tail.

“Tinkerton.” Luna called it, but the mouse tried to escape. “Tinkerton-G, come on, answer me. Don’t be like that, we need your help.”

“Well well, look who comes crawling back after not paying their debt.” A metallic voice came from somewhere around them. “You have a lot of nerve showing up here.”

“G I don’t know what this is about, but I paid you in full.”

“Really now? Because according to my invoice here... you still have two unpaid services. And I waive my right to refuse customers, especially deadbeats!”

“Hey, don’t make up fake debts G. I paid in full.” Luna shook the mouse. “Baldric has all the proof.”

“Does he know? Why don’t you show me all the proof you have? Go on, I can wait.”

When they made their way back to the campsite, Luna showed the mouse to Baldric. "Tell G what you told me."

Baldric raised his hands in defeat when he realized he was caught. “I’m not going to lie to you. I didn’t pay him.”

“What happened?!” Luna snapped at him. “Baldric I gave you two contracts' worth of money to pay G back!”

“Alright fine, you two deserve the truth.” Baldric looked at Luna and the mouse in the eye. “I lost a card game-”

“Oh, for crying out loud!”

“Let me explain! I lost a card game, but I was doing it so I could win back incriminating evidence of me selling defective weapons to Archibald-”

“Give me your Cha ingot.” "Luna said with a cold stare. “Now.”

“What?! Oh come on, there has to be another way.” She did not budge, so Baldric handed her his ingot. “Here happy?”

Luna then showed the ingot to the mouse. “G, is this good enough for you?” A mechanical bird landed on her shoulder. It was also made of copper, just like the mouse, and it was where the voice was coming from.

“Fair enough, follow the drone back to the lab.”