Rose Petals

Hard Day at Work

Racing across the rooftops of tall buildings, soft pink hair flapping behind me, I silently make my way through the Human Clan city.

I'm Rose Petals, a dryad. I belong to the Plant Clan, and while I don't know my real parents, my foster mom, Mother Maple Syrup, taught me how to shift and tried to keep me peaceful, though I am very reckless. I often caused fights in Academy, a place where everybody is shipped to when their first born. In Academy, children are taught about each Clan (Animal, Plant, Fire, Water, and Human) and forced to decide on one on the day they turn twelve.

The Animal Clan is where everybody gets meat. Animal Clan members live in burrows and nests. If somebody picks the Animal Clan on their twelfth birthday, they promise not to kill without reason. They also promise to learn how to hunt and breed.

The Plant Clan is where everybody gets any other type of food (fruits, vegetables, etc.) along with wood. Members of Plant sleep as their plant forms. If they pick Plant, the twelve-year-old promises not to be lazy. They promise to learn to plant and harvest different crops.

The Fire Clan are the bakers. They also produce the money, along with types of rocks and minerals. They usually house in volcanoes and beds of coal. This clan promises not to burn anything. They learn how to bake and make rocks.

The Water Clan clean the streets and supply everybody with water. They sleep in rivers and lakes. The promise of the Water Clan are not to be dirty, and to not be wasteful. They learn how clean and filter water.

The Human Clan are the ones that don't do anything. They are greedy, lying, filth. They live in houses and buildings. They make money by bullying it out of others, and the one that don't force it from people sell the magic beings to work for other mortals. They make no promise and refuse to learn anything.

While the other clans work in harmony, Humans hate all magic beings. All clans are supposed to defend themselves, as the Big Book says, but the Humans force the other clans to fight for them.

I guess you could say I'm like Robin Hood: I steal from the mean, and give to the nice. On my current mission, I'm trying to find a gold jewelry box encrusted with diamonds including emeralds, rubies, and opal. It belonged to my friend Ignaea, a golem of the Rock clan. I race over the Bricks, the slang term for where the humans live. I find the apartment I'm looking for and silently swing into the window, careful not to wake the fat man sleeping in the bed in the one room abode. I find the box, and see that at the very bottom of the box there's a key. I look around the room and find the only thing that needs a key in the room is a closet. I open the closet and see a naiad, a creature of the Water Clan.

"Who are you?" she asks, obviously scared. She's shaking, and wearing only rags of human clothes, not the usual swimsuit of the Water Clan.

I reply calmly and quietly, "I am Rose Petals from the Plant Clan. I mean no harm. I am merely here to retrieve a bejeweled box belonging to my friend, Ignea, of the Rock Clan. If you would like, I could help you escape." I show her my tattoo of a rose on my wrist, the marking of the Plant Clan. She nods vigorously and points to a locked trunk in the corner, then to the fat man in bed. I understand, and go pull the covers off of him quickly so he doesn't notice it subconsciously. Under the covers, the man is wearing only shorts, so his flabby, disgusting chest is revealed. Around his neck is a thin string of silver with a large metal key on it. I rip it off of his neck and squeeze his nose shut with my hand over his mouth so he can't breathe, then crouch next to the bed, hand still in place, and wait two minutes before I come back up, to see him with a blue face and his eyes shut. I let go and he starts breathing again. I go unlock the chest and get the naiad's swim suit. I hand it to her and sneak her out the window. I'm just about to climb out too, when I hear the man speaking.