[COMPLETED] Poppies and Roses: A Flower Husbands Fanfiction

Chapter 4 - Introductions

The Fairy Fort turns out to be a ring of trees that have grown so close together they create an impenetrable wall. Grian leads us through the only entrance, guarded by a simple wooden gate.

The Fairy Fort is filled with even more flowers than the river canyon, but all of these flowers are roses. Cotton-candy pink, sunshine yellow, snow white, and blood-red blossoms, everywhere.

"Look at how cute this place is," Scott says with a smile. "All these roses!"

"You can pick some of them if you want," Grian calls over his shoulder. "The Shadow Queen won't mind."

Upon hearing this, Scott picks a large white rose and holds it out to me. I immediately feel myself blush as I take the rose from him, and I look down at the rose in an effort to hide my face. After a moment, I decide to tuck the rose behind my ear.

"Are you two dating?" The question startles both me and Scott. Grian has turned around and is staring at us, arms folded. "No," both of us say in unison. Scott's cheeks are also tinged pink now, and I feel a small rush of giddiness.

Before Grian can say anything else, a girl suddenly drops from the branches above us. I jump back and instinctively grab Scott's hand.

"Grian, stop teasing them," the girl says, straightening up and brushing leaves off her bright red cloak.

"I'm not teasing them," Grian argues. "I'm asking a question. I'm allowed to ask questions."

The girl rolls her eyes before turning to face me and Scott. "Nice to meet you two. I'm Pearl, Grian's older sister." Pearl has light brown hair and eyes so brown they're almost scarlet. She also has an axe strapped to her back, which doesn't make me feel any better.

"I'm Scott, and this is Jimmy," Scott replies. I'm still reeling from Pearl's sudden entrance, so I can barely process the introductions, let alone speak. I realize I'm still holding Scott's hand and quickly pull away.

"Pearl's power is eavesdropping on conversations," Grian says, smirking.

"No it's not! Stop telling people that!" Pearl shouts, whirling on her younger brother.

"Well, what is your power?" Scott asks, clearly trying to stop a full-blown argument from happening.

Pearl takes a breath before turning to face us again. "I have enhanced senses of sight and hearing," she says. "My hearing is about twice as good as a normal human's and my sight is probably about three and half times better."

"And you only use it for eavesdropping," Grian mutters.

Pearl tenses, but apparently she decides to not get into a fight in front of me and Scott because she ignores him.

"Why don't we introduce you to everyone else?" Pearl says, gesturing to the rest of the Fairy Fort.

Looking around, I notice the Fairy Fort is bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside. And not just slightly bigger. It's about 10 times bigger with enough room for multiple houses, a small castle, and even a watchtower.

Pearl and Grian lead us over to a zombie with red hair and a flower crown. "Cleo, we have visitors," Pearl calls.

The zombie turns around and smiles. "Hi, I'm Cleo," she says, shaking both mine and Scott's hands. We introduce ourselves and Cleo looks like she's about to say something else when her eye catches on something behind us. "Scar, get down from there!" she shouts.

Turning around, I see two boys about Grian's age. One of them is standing on a tree branch and is holding a rope tied to another, higher branch. The other boy is on the ground, staring up at the boy in the tree.

"Excuse me one moment," Cleo says before walking over to the two boys.

"Scar, come down right now!" She yells, looking at the boy in the tree.

"Aw, but mom, I was gonna swing on the rope," Scar responds, pouting.

"You do know that rope is tied to a dead branch, right?" Pearl says. "It would snap as soon as you jumped.

"Really?" Scar asks, looking up at the branch.

"I don't care if the branch can hold you, you are not swinging on that rope," Cleo says firmly.

"I tried to stop him mom," the other boy pipes in.

"No you didn't Bdubs," Scar says as he climbs down the tree. "You were complaining about not being able to swing first."

Cleo sighs, and its clear this is pretty much a daily occurrence. "Boys, we have some visitors," she breaks in before they can start arguing.

The boys both turn to face us. Scar's face immediately lights up with a smile. "Well hello there," he says. "Nice to meet you."

Bdubs seems more guarded around me and Scott, staying silent and watching both of us.

"Nice to meet you too," Scott replies.

"Are you both unnaturals? What are your powers?" Scar's excitement makes me wonder if he's human. An unnatural wouldn't be this excited over powers. At least, I don't think so.

"I can manipulate plants," Scott answers. "And I have healing powers," I say.

"Healing powers?" A voice behind me asks. I turn around and see a man with a green streak in his hair watching me.

"Can you heal animals?" he asks, keeping his expression unreadable. I nod, and he gives a small smile. "Follow me," he says, turning around and walking towards one of the houses.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Scott asks quietly. I shake my head. "I'll be alright," I say, trying to calm my own nerves as much as Scott's.

The first thing I notice when I enter the house is how many wolves there are. I freeze when I see all those pairs of eyes watching me.

Looking around, I see the man kneeling next to a wolf that's lying down. I start to move forward when the wolf growls at me. "It's alright Geraldine," the man says, gently petting the wolf. "He's here to help you."

I kneel down beside him. As I do so, I notice the wolf has a cut on her leg that's clearly infected. I take a deep breath to prepare myself.

"You can heal her, right?" he asks. "Yeah I can heal her," I say. Then I put my hands on the wolf's leg.

By the time I'm done, I can barely sit up. The man catches me as I start to tip over. "Are you ok?" he asks, concerned. I'm too exhausted to answer.

I hear the door open behind me. "Jimmy?" Scott calls. "He's right here," the man says. Moments later, I feel Scott's arm around me. I gratefully rest my head on his shoulder.

"What's wrong with him?" the man asks. "He's just tired," Scott replies. "Healing can take a lot out of him."

"I have some strength potions," the man says, going into another room. "I'm fine," I insist, although my voice is barely more than a whisper. Both of them ignore me. As Scott and I wait for him to return, the wolf lifts her head and licks my hand.

"She must really like you," the man says, returning from the other room. "Geraldine usually takes a while to warm up to people." He hands me a bottle with a red liquid inside. As soon as I start to drink it, I feel energy course through me.

"It'll wear off in a few minutes, but the worst of your exhaustion will have passed by then. I'm Joel, by the way."

"Nice to meet you," I reply. Even though I feel fine now, I'm still resting my head on Scott's shoulder.

There's a knock at the door and Grian peeks his head in. "Jimmy? Scott? You ready?"

At first I'm confused by what he means until I remember the reason we came here in the first place.

"The Shadow Queen's ready to meet you."