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Part Two- Alstroemeria, Begonia, Cyclamen

Leaving the woods behind them, Clara and Vivet made their way across the dark, overgrown forest floor in the opposite direction of the village. This was the fastest way to Moonlight River, the strip of water bordering the Water Elemental territory. Occasionally willing the branches to bend away to clear the path ahead of them, Vivet stayed close to the tiny sun Clara had forged for her. As much as she detested it, she wouldn't be running out of power any time soon.

At what Vivet guessed was twilight, the pair brushed aside a thick branch to face a wide, shimmering lake lined in tall trees. The lake thinned out into a broad river that stretched over the mountains and into the horizon- it had been there for as long as she had been created. On the dock closest to them sat a figure enshrined in the darkness of the night, barely visible aside from an ivory colored braid.

"Sylvia!" Clara suddenly burst into a run, her cedar brown boots pounding into the pebbled shore. Clara always had a stamina Vivet could never fathom, like her lungs never had to constrict and her heart never had to stop pumping.

"Clara, slow down! I don't have night vision like you!" At last Vivet made it to the shore, where Clara sat on the jet black sand, desperately trying to pull her boots off without untying the laces.

Clara held up a hand before going back to tugging. "I know what you're going to say, and yes my boots are still tied in the same bow from the time we went to the Cedar Stones. You just tied them so well and they've never stayed tied this long." Finally barefoot, Clara placed her boots and socks onto a small wooden crate at the water's edge. Sylvia and the others had finally given in and made it after Clara had complained about her shoes getting soggy. For good measure, Vivet had looked up a water resistance charm for the crate.

Vivet stifled a laugh, shielding her face with her hand. "I wasn't saying anything." She cleared her throat and slid off her slippers, turning back to the water. "Do you want to do the usual?"

"You know I do!" Clara's eyes lit up in anticipation as Vivet retrieved a pouch of bark from her pocket. Taking a shard, she broke it into two and pinched each piece between her thumb and index fingers. Closing her eyes, Vivet placed her hands on the shore and drew in as large of a breath as she could muster. She willed the bark to grow, feeling as the weight of the bark in her hands grew immensely. When she opened her eyes again, a long board of bark sat on the sand before her.

Clara took the board gingerly and trotted back to the grass. "You're the best, Viv!" With a running start, Clara raced toward the water and jumped onto the board, skating across the surface of the water and into the darkness, taking the orb of light with her.

Vivet, now alone on the dark shore, stood from the sand and brushed her hands on her berry colored overalls. Taking a deep breath, she steadied herself. "That took a lot more out of me than I expected...there's no way I'm trying that again," she muttered under her short breaths. One by one, she lifted each foot and tapped the bottom, a thin layer of lily pad padding wrapping around the bottom of her feet. She drew a thick stem from the bottom of each and leapt for the water.

She bounded across the surface, forming lily pads in her wake as she ran. The shape of the dock grew closer and closer before she saw Clara sitting on the edge, a faint glow coming from her.

As she approached the dock, Vivet slowed, and with one final step created a large pad to fit both feet on. She stood bent over, breathing heavily at the edge of the dock.

"I see you didn't make a bridge this time." Clara said nonchalantly.

Vivet stood again. "Are you ever going to let me live that down? It was one time-"

Before she could utter another word, Vivet felt the pad beneath her slip from under her feet, and as she lost her footing, the water beneath her caved in. At once, she was falling, surrounded by a towering wave of water on every side.