Salix

Prologue

9 years ago

I first met Xander when we were eight years old.

My parents had forced me to go to a superhero training camp to cultivate my talents. However, all I wanted to do was cultivate my plants.

The other kids avoided me because I preferred to spend my company among the trees and the flowers. They thought I was weird because I spoke to the plants, and refused to believe me when I told them the plants could speak back.

Xander never thought I was weird.

He was a bright boy with long blonde hair that looked like spun gold. He smiled often, and each time it was more and more dazzling. He and the other boys would play tag in the forest, and Xander always won.

He was fast.

Strong.

Smart.

Where most of us were still growing into our powers, Xander seemed accomplished in a way we'd never seen before. However, he wasn't stuck-up about it. In fact, he was the kindest boy I'd ever met. Any chance he got, he would help people, whether it be from a kite stuck in a tree, or a boy about to be eaten by a bear, Xander would help.

We first met when I was comforting a black birch tree after one of the boys had used its trunk as a toilet. The tree felt pretty violated.

"Shhhh. Betula Lenta, please pay them no mind. They don't understand." I said as I stroked its green leaves. It swayed and rustled in the wind before it replied.

The trees did not have a voice, but they could be heard if one decided to listen closely to the wind whistling through their branches.

"Salix... Salix..." whispered the birch tree. I smiled in response to its use of my plant given name. My parents had called me Kamille, but the trees had named me Salix. I loved both names, but out here among the foliage, Salix was more fitting.

"What's it saying?"

I startled out of my thoughts when a voice chimed from across the damp leaves of the forest floor. It was a little high, like most little boy's voices, but it was not condescending or mocking. Just curious.

The question belonged to none other than Xander. He stood next to a cherry birch tree, hand resting lightly on its trunk, hair blowing in the wind. His hair sparkled radiantly in the sunshine and seemed to leave traces of luminosity behind in the air.

My voice stuck in my throat, but after a comforting whistle from Betula Lenta I calmed enough to answer him.

"It was just... calling my name..." I squeaked, trailing off at the end of the sentence.

Xander bounded forward in excitement. His hand left the cherry birch, and I could hear its mournful whimper at the loss. I supposed even the trees liked him. It figured.

He stopped directly in front of me, and smiled, dazzling me for a moment. I noticed that the smile didn't quite reach his eyes, but after I responded in turn, his eyes shone with happiness. He reached over and placed his palm on Betula Lenta. It swayed in the wind, releasing a doleful whistle. Xander looked up at it thoughtfully.

"Why's it sad?"

My breath caught. How did he know it was sad? Could he hear them too? I ached to ask, but my throat was dry of words. All that came out was a wheeze. Xander gave me a questioning look, and I buried my head in Betula's tree trunk in mortification. Xander probably thought I was a spazz.

When I lifted my head from its self-imposed confinement, I braced myself for an impatient look on Xander's face. After all, he had asked a question that I had yet to answer. Yet, when I took in Xander's expression, it remained one of curiosity and amusement. His lips twitched slightly upwards, and his eyes twinkled.