The Lunation Trilogy: Winters End

Berry

He was right, she knew why he brought her here again. She slid off of his back and stepped to the door. He wanted her to grow another plant; but did she?

Asari eyed the door handle, her hand hesitant to touch the cold metal. She could see the flower closed up in the daylight, the white tube pinched shut.

She opened the door quickly, allowing her and Maxilar through it, letting it slam shut behind them. Her footsteps were light against the stone floor as she stepped closer to the soil bed. Asari's hands hesitantly lifted from her sides to encase the outside of the flower.

"What are you doing?"

She gave Maxilar a stern look, then turned back to the plant. Closing her eyes, she focused on the area. Slowly, the same swirling light from before formed on the black canvas of her mind. The flower was vibrant and alive, though the swirls were slower than before.

"I'm... getting a feel of the flower. It's slower than before, maybe because it's a night flower closed up in the day?"

Maxilar chuffed next to her in agreement. He pushed into her body, making her take a step to the left to keep her balance.

"Try to make another one."

She opened her eyes and took another step to the left, giving the flower plenty of space. Her heart raced, scared it was a coincidence but knowing deep down it couldn't be. She placed her hands over the dirt, slowly digging deeper as she had last night, trying to get a reading of any spark.

A blue one this time, a little bit to the left of her view. Asari moved her hands closer, gradually pulling at the spark in her mind and her hands out of the dirt.

Opening her eyes, she watched in awe as a green stem slowly grew out of the dirt with the help of her hands. Little buds formed as the bush grew larger, eventually turning from flowers to green berries that slowly turned to a deep blue as they got bigger.

"Blueberries!" Asari exclaimed aloud.

It had been many moons since she last had the taste of blueberries grace her tongue. She looked between the plant and Maxilar, as if asking for permission. Without waiting for his comment, she picked the biggest one she could find, struggling through to the middle of the bush.

The berry's explosion of flavor burst along her tongue as her canines bit into its flesh. She rocked back on her heels as she moaned, it being the best thing she has tasted in years. The fruits and nuts that continued to grow through the winters were tart and unflavored, drastically different than what she had just put in her mouth.

Asari picked another, this time flicking towards Max.

"Here. Taste this."

Doing as he was told, she could see him thoroughly enjoying the snack. His tail began to wag, causing her to laugh. She picked a few more, dropping then to the floor so he could eat them as she smacked away.

Her boots met the wall as she backed up, finally full. She slid down the cold glass, her knees meeting her chest. She laid her arms out across them as her head leaned back.

"That was delicious."

Maxilar was once again silent, not having much to say today. Though, that was typical recently. She wondered if his time was coming but shook that disastrous thought out of her head. He walked over to her and licked her hands.

"You will need to speak with your mother, Asari. No more hiding this."

Palms up, the blueberries had stained her hands. Although her wearing gloves continuously until the staining wore off was a possibility, it wasn't something she really wanted to have to watch for and explain.

Nodding, she spoke through their link again.

"We need to speak with your pack. My Mama is getting tired of not having meat for the people."

"You know speaking with Duran is not going to change that."

"I know. But she will know if I lie. Liviana tells her everything, even if it mistakenly gets me in trouble."

The room felt colder after their conversation. The berry bush still had a few blueberries left. Deciding to pack them for Liviana, she pulled out the small sack from earlier and dumped out the old nasty fruit from this morning, replacing them with what was left on the bush. She then retied it to the side of her belt.

Once again on top of Maxilar, they strode off to meet with Duran and the rest of the Grey Wolf pack.