Roses & Ferns (An OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes Love Story)

Chapter 17: Fern's Past (Part 5)

By Jen Joyce

On the last chapter of; "Roses and Ferns"

Burney takes Burney to an old and abandoned Rosa-Tracheophyta Manor, they stay for a moment before deciding to come back the next day with the proper equipment to explore the manor. Before they leave, Burney questions Fern about her family and necklace, leaving Fern somewhat snappy and -- seemingly -- emotionless before going to Rosa-Tracheophyta Manor. Once there, they decide on exploring the basement first and find a locked door. Burney opens it up and the duo saw something incredible.

Find out what that is in this chapter of "Roses and Ferns"

   Fern and Burney looked out of the doorway, amazed at what they saw. "Whoa..." Said an astounded Burney, mouth slightly agape. "We're in a forest," Fern said, taking in their surroundings. "We're in an overgrown forest..." Fern said, stepping out of the manor, down the stone staircase, and into the forest.

   She was right about said forest being overgrown, there were dead weeds, flowers, and leaves that made a crunching noise when someone or something were to apply pressure on them. Some debris like old cans, bottles, and papers were scattered about the clearing that the manor was in. Some of the trees were in rough condition due to how the branches were tangled with each other. The sky was clear with only a few clouds scattered here and there, despite the gloomy and eerie scene the clearing set to others.

   "This is just...sad, to say the least," Fern said, looking around the clearing before noticing the state of the manor. " *gasp* Oh Cob..." Burney looked confused before deciding to join Fern and see what she was looking at. "What're you looking a-" Burney stopped himself once he saw where Fern was looking. "Oh..." If they thought that the forest's state was bad, then when they saw the manor, it got even worse.

   The house itself was old, gray, and wooden, old paint visibly flaking off of the planks, 2 pointed roofs with a semicircle connecting the opposing roofs; it looked to be about 2 stories high with what looked to be the basement being exposed at the bottom, moss growing on both the staircase and the walls of the basement that were exposed. Almost all of the windows on the building were gone, and the ones that did remain were all cracked. Some of the boards and roof tiles on the house threatened to fall off of it if even a mild breeze were to blow on by. The house was surrounded by trees that were on the path of death, likely because the amount of sun was greater than the amount of water the trees would get.

   Fern and Burney were both shocked at just how old and horribly kept the Manor was in; though Burney had been there before, he only ever saw the inside because he fell through one of the empty windows when trying to see the place prior to now. "W-Wow. I-I don't think I've e-ever seen a place that rundown before..." Fern said, getting out of her initial shock. Burney was second, only having come out of it due to Fern's voice. "W-Well, I-I guess that's what happens when the cleaning maid is on vacation for a couple hundred decades. Heh-heh..." Burney said, trying to lighten up the dreary mood; Fern only looked at Burney, a serious look on her face.

   "Burney, that wasn't funny." Fern coldly stated, facing the red cat properly. "I get what you're trying to do, but right now's not the time. If we're going to be visiting here and probably spending the night every now and then, we should probably try fixing it up so it'll be suitable for us." Fern turned her head, observing the manor closely to take note of all of the things that would need to be done. "Hmm...looks like we're going to need some way of keeping the cold out, the heat in, the electricity working, someplace to store food, replace the glass in the windows, and also make sure to check everywhere for any type of creatures that could possibly be hiding in the building."