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Curious Findings (17) : Maybe it’s got something to do with the weather, or the construction, or all the other general oddities that seem to occur in Destiny City, but for the first time in nearly fifty years, the historic tree in one of Downtown Destiny City’s parks has woken up. While the tree was known for being alive and growing despite a lengthy hibernation, this is the first year that it’s sprouted leaves–but that’s not all! The unique tree has now also started growing strange pods. Because of the trees legacy–and not at all because of the oddity–the area has been taped off, but that really hasn’t been enough to stop anyone curious enough to investigate. The tree itself is several feet wide and stands roughly fifty feet tall; it’s branches spread significantly and seem like they can hold a lot of weight–which is good, because the pods growing on it have a hard brown shell and can grow up to the size of a soccer ball. Sometimes, the larger ones seem to tremble and shake in place. Maybe it's an animal trying to nibble? Maybe it’s just the wind? Maybe it’s something else. The pods can be pulled from the tree or collected from the ground; the shells are incredibly difficult to crack open, and some of them leak a strange, acidic sap that is strong enough to cause skin agitation–and in some cases there are even reports that it’s burned through wood or fabric. Sometimes, the healthier looking pods that aren’t leaking anything even seem to shake on their own, which is a mystery in itself. Another mystery is why Almadel seems so keen to trade for them…
The sign on the merchant's force field had, at first, confused Beta Leporis. Seed pods... These weren't like any seedpods Beta had ever seen. For one thing, they were a great deal larger than anything she'd ever seen hanging from a tree before. It almost seemed like the tree's limbs should be bowing a great deal with just how many hefty seeds were hanging from them. And she's also never known seed pods to leak, nor had she known any to ratter on their own. Sure, sometimes pinecones might rattle with seeds if you caught them at the right time, but that was once they were shaken like maracas. These almost seemed to be quaking on their own, like they were filled with jumping beans. Almost like they were... alive with something.
Which was, of course, preposterous. It was probably a bug or something that had burrowed inside and was eating their fill of whatever fruits may have been on the inside. Seed pods weren't sentient... that was... well...
Okay, so perhaps Beta would have to revisit that idea, seeing as to how her metric for odd would, naturally, be skewed. And the more that she thought about the possibility of strange, sentient seeds popping out of the pods and burrowing into the earth to create large, intelligent trees... yeah, given that she was a space warrior from another planet and was searching for her sister who had been turned into a rabbit monster while fighting actual aliens... it didn't seem all that far fetched. Especially with all of the signs around the tree cautioning people to not touch the sap, reports of it eating through skin and clothing. Yeah actually... sentience wasn't sounding all that unlikely now that Beta was thinking about it.
Which of course set her more than a little on edge as she poked her toe at a fallen seed pod. This one at least wasn't rattling around but... the sound of seed pods shaking in the limbs of the trees was suddenly less calming and more... threatening. What if a seed landed on her? Would it burrow into ehr flesh like it would the earth? Set roots in her like the spiders in that urban legend about vanity? Grow in her like a watermelon or an apple tree when children swallow seeds?
Carefully, Beta stepped out from under the canopy of the tree, out of the direct range of falling seeds. She still needed a pod. One without sap or damage. She still needed one, it was just... now that the idea had platent (poor choice of words, but here she was) itself in her mind, she couldn't get it out. What if the Merchant wanted to spread the sentient seeds and create havok? What if he wanted to put them all in the people who brought them? What if... oh god, what if it was a form of mind control? The roots wrapping themselves into the brains of their victims and seizing control.
But... but the Merchant was said to know things... maybe he'd know... know where Alpha was...
Beta had to be brave. Brave for her sister. Brave for her parents.
Brave for herself.
