In His Name

Chapter 47 - On the way

Birds chirp happily overhead as they begin to make their descent from Dora's Mountain. Warm sunlight spills down through the leaves of the trees, drying the wet earth. There is evidence of the storm to be found everywhere. Streams filled well past their banks, broken trees and beaten plants, rainwater had washed away the dirt around rocks and roots making the path a mine field of trip hazards.

"Ya know," Rosco begins, skipping over an uncovered root, "Warm weather rainstorms is like my favorite smell." Looking back to flash the god a smile, "but after rain is a really close second." Closing his eyes to breathe in deeply, basking in the scent. "It's so fresh and clean. Like everything has forgotten the past and is ready for whatever comes next."

"Is that so?" Hayden asks, raising an eyebrow at him, "Odd. I always thought it smelled like a particular type of fungus." Amusement lighting in his eyes.

Rosco's face falls, looking to Tansy on his shoulder for verification. Grinning, Tansy shrugs, consenting to the truth of Hayden's words.

"Way to ruin it for me." Rosco pouts, crossing his arms, and glaring at his companions.

The wildflower snickers and Hayden laughs, ruffling the boy's curls, "Does knowing the cause make the scent any less enjoyable?"

Rosco ducks away from Hayden's hand, "It might," winkling his nose, "All I can think about now is fungus."

"Not all fungus is bad." The god points out, venturing on ahead, "You very happily ate grilled mushrooms for breakfast."

"Still not usually what I think of when I want to picture something nice."

Hayden pauses, turning back around slowly with a wide grin on his face, "Ah, but it could be." Tansy snickers again, hopping down to check on some flowers.

Rosco rolls his eyes, "How much further is it?" changing the subject and jogging to catch back up, "walking down a mountain is harder than I expected." Eyes wandering to watch Tansy inspect a patch of wildflowers. Hayden answers but already distracted, Rosco doesn't catch any of it, "Hayden?" grabbing a pinch of the god's sleeve, affectively halting them both, "Why does Tansy tend to all the flowers and not just the," wrinkling his nose, "Well the tansy?"

Hayden's eyes lift off Rosco's hand to find the Wildflower working just off the path, "Ah, well Wildflower spirits are not the souls of individual flowers but more like their caretakers. Tansy grows all over the continent, it would be difficult for Tansy to be solely responsible to care for them all. Instead, they roam around, taking turns caring for different patches of land." Tansy looks up to see the boys staring at them, shouting something while they shrug. "Rosco was just asking about your work." the god calls back. Grinning, Tansy plucks a sprig of small purple flowers and dashes over, setting the clipping in the boy's hands.

"Oh," Looking over the single blossom, "Is this for me?" Rosco asks, letting his smile widen, "It's so pretty Tansy, Thank you!" The Wildflower's innate light brightens slightly, literally glowing with pride.

"Tansy is one of the Wildflowers currently responsible for this land." Hayden clues him in. "But come on you two," nudging them back in the right direction, "Keep walking or we won't make it down before nightfall."

Of course, they don't make it down before nightfall. Rosco would distract Tansy, Tansy would distract Rosco. Rosco even managed to get Hayden very distracted several times and set them back significantly.

"I wish I still had my lamp." The boy grumbles, "Would make this so much easier." Squinting at the ground, doing his best to avoid falling in the decaying light. Tansy helps by pointing out a safe route through the underbrush from their perch on the boy's shoulder. "What in god's name?!" Rosco yelps as his hand suddenly becomes heavier, pulling him and the unsuspecting spirit to the ground. Hayden clears his throat. Chuckling sheepishly, "Uh, I mean, what on earth?" the boy corrects, glancing back at the god before inspecting his hand. "My lamp?!" Scrutinizing the object. "But I could have sworn I left it-"