I rush to the river where Fend and the others are, dodging tent after tent as I run by. Gotta hurry, those wounds looked pretty bad. I’m surprised that she was able to act like they were as mild as she was letting on. You’d think that I would be used to it though, given how often things like this happen. Gosh, though. Sheila. She’s so dang strong. She takes on so much, and she does it all on her own, without being asked, just because she knows it’s what we need from someone. Anytime anyone is feeling down, or is hurt, she’s always the first one there helping them up, always the first one holding out that caring hand. It’s like she knows what we really need and want without even asking. I want to be that kind of person, but I… I don’t have that level of strength, that level of… selflessness, that Sheila has. I admire her so much, I want to be like her. I think, by staying by her side, I can become the person I want to be. I want to be with her as long as I can be. I hope she looks at me as someone special, because I couldn’t stand to see her with someone else…

“Oho, so that’s how you feel. I thought as much… Care if I share…?” An amused voice interrupts my thoughts. Like, literally interrupts my thoughts and jumps into my freaking head.

“Mel???? Where the heck are you?? I thought you couldn’t communicate with us unless you were in eyesight!” I look around for her, but can’t seem to spot her.

“Ha ha, look up. We’re like, where we can see you! And you know what they say, ‘If we can see you, well, then hopefully you ain’t too ugly!’”

“Pff, no way. I’ve been looking all around and still don’t see… Oh.” Duh. They were a stone’s throw away from me this whole time. I see Mel waving to me from a little bit away. “Hey!” I call out as I walk over to my friends who are gathering plants and herbs.

“How’s the hunting going?” They look up and spot me coming over to them, all except for Melody, who knew I was coming, of course.

“Hello, Rex!” A gentle and cheery voice greets me, the voice that belongs to Fend, our Lady of the Garden, as we call her. She can manipulate plant fibers to her will, which allows her to disassemble plants on a molecular level in order to use said fibers as she desires. She is the one in charge of creating things like bandages, clothes, even tents. She’s got a darned useful skill that’s allowed us to live a good life, that’s for sure.

“Hey Rex, how’s it going dude?” My buddy Arick gives me a fist bump. He’s probably got one of the coolest abilities here; he can literally reverse time on objects in order to repair them like the damage was never done. We’ve experimented with it a little bit, and have found out that it can actually cause dead trees to re sprout, which is a really awesome skill to have around. Just make sure you let him know ASAP, because the more time he reverses, the more it causes him to age.

“Yo” Ithin gives me a nod, looking up from the patch of plants he’s at. The dude’s crazy. He can adjust the weight of things so everything is just about weightless. I wish I could tell you how it works, but he hasn’t really shared a whole lot about it. He’s a good guy, plus can breeze through any physical task we give him. He’s a quiet guy, but always willing to support us as best he can.

Alto gives me a wave from the patch of plants he’s hovering around. He’s an interesting one. His voice alone is powerful enough to cause landslides, and because of this, he doesn’t really speak. I think that’s why he spends so much time around…

“Melody here! Aren’t ya glad that I spotted you wandering around like a fish outta water?” Yes, Melody… I was just getting to you…. Lastly, we have Melody, or Mel, for short. She’s our telepath. Her ears work fine, but she can also hear our thoughts. She sustained some major damage to her vocal chords from her parents, and can’t speak verbally because of it. She instead speaks with us telepathically, which is really good for people like Alto, because they can properly communicate without having to say a single word.

“You’re forgetting someone.” Mel interrupts my thoughts. Am I? Oh, wait. I guess I forgot about myself. I’m Rex, one of the people who’s in charge of keeping this thing running, Sheila being another key member there. I can soften or harden densities of inanimate objects, which means I can make weapons out of just about anything. I remember one time where I “borrowed” some of Fend’s leaves she was planning on using in order to try and make ninja stars. The ninja stars turned out great; I found out firsthand just how sharp they were after having them to be thrown at me… Anyways, let’s focus. Back to the task at hand.

“Hey, so I was wondering if you had any more bandages. Sheila’s wounds opened up again.”

“Oh gosh, is she ok? What happened?” Fend’s eyes open wide with concern. I can see that the others are worried as well.

“It wasn’t actually anything too serious.” I let out a chuckle. “She just reopened her injuries from last night, due to a large amount of excitement.”

“Huh?” I can see that those words weren’t what they were expecting at all.

“What do you mean? From excitement..?” Arick looks confused as he tries to make sense of what I just said.

“Yeah. Ya see, someone gave her her favorite leaf, which caused her to jump up and…”

“Wait, are you saying..?” Grins start popping up on the faces of the group.

“Yes. Sheila was so excited about her MINT LEAVES that she jumped up and injured herself.” I say, the ridiculousness of the situation hitting me. The tension eases out of their faces, and, all of a sudden, they can see why I was having a hard time holding in laughter.

“Ohh my. Sheila is…” Fend chokes out beneath her laughter.

“Haha, man, that’s just like her. She’s such a goof sometimes!” Arick chuckles.

It gets good smiles even out of Ithin and Alto. and Mel… She’s cracking up too, if silently. I let their laughter dissipate a little bit before saying,

“In all seriousness, though” I chuckle. “She does need some more bandages now. Fend do you think you could..?”

“Of course” She says. “Give me a few moments to get things all set up.” She starts looking for her bag, then realizes that it’s sitting in the grass closest to Ithin.

“Hey Ithin, could you hand me my stuff please? Time to get serious!” He nods and hands her her bag with her cloths and paraphernalia in it. “Thanks a bunch!” She starts unpacking her things and gets to work. First the cloths, then the dandelions, then the aloe plant, and, of course, the mint leaves.

“Can’t forget those with Sheila” I think quietly to myself, chuckling. Watching Fend is incredible, so I sit back and watch the show begin. She begins by passing her hands over the dandelions and the chickweed, causing the fibers to unravel, her mouth moving as she communicates with the plant. They unravel and pull apart from each other, wriggling like worms as they separate. She then places them inside her bowl. She then pours some aloe sap from the plant into the bowl, coating the fibers. She proceeds to do the same disassembling method with the mint leaves, and drops them into the bowl, getting them soaked in the sap. Afterwards, once they’re covered, she places them on a cloth in preparation for assembly of the bandages, which she begins swiftly and with precision. She’s truly a master of her work, everyone is gathered around her, watching in awe. She then proceeds to speak to the fibers, then, waving her hands over them, causes the fibers to weave themselves into thin cloths, which will serve as Sheila’s bandages. Having finished her job, she looks up, realizing that we’re all watching her work closely.

“What..?” She says self-consciously. Her voice breaks us out of our trance. “It’s always so cool to watch you do your thing” I say. “It’s so… mysterious how it works. But it does! And it’s like, really bleeping cool!” So cool I can’t find the words to describe it apparently. The rest of the group nods in agreement, chuckling a bit at my slip of the tongue.

“Well, thanks a bunch!” Fend smiles at me. I can tell she means it. “It’s nothing special. It requires a lot of previous knowledge, plus it took a lot of polishing to get it right. It is really fun to do though, plus it’s useful, I think!” She quickly adds, seeing the look of doubt on my face.

“Ah, have more confidence.” I say. “We wouldn’t be living half as nice as we are now if it weren’t for you and your vast knowledge of the plant kingdom!” I reassure her. The others show their support as well. Fend is probably one of the hardest workers we have, and I think she needs to acknowledge that herself.

“Mmm. Thank you…” She stands up and hands me the bandages. “Take these to Sheila ok? And tell her to cool it a bit when it comes to this obsession with mint.” She chuckles.

“Will do! Thanks a bunch for your help!” I take the bandages from her and start to head off. “Alright y’all!” I wave to the group.

“Bye!” “See ya at supper time!” Nods. I get a mix of farewells, which cause me to laugh. We got such a mix of people here. I’m glad we can find ways to work together like this.