[Trade] Bless You

Spring had a habit of sneaking up on you when you lived on Isla Kela. Pera was the temperamental sister, her seasons charging in and out like thunderstorms, but Kela was softer, subtler. It seemed like the snow melted millimetre by millimeter until one morning you woke to an explosion of colour and sound as the world began to wake up again. Amaryllis described it as the season ‘sneaking up’ on her, or at least that continued to be her excuse year on year as she forgot to move to the coasts and avoid the pollen bloom. Her allergies always knocked her flat, hence the need to either get far into the desert or down by the coast to hide from the sweeping clouds of plant spunk that sent her respiratory system into a tailspin. There was little she could do about it now, stumbling around with blurry vision through the wilds of Kela. Through it all, she encountered a familiar face, only recognisable from his nervous silence.

Skele hadn't known what to think when he had seen Amaryllis taking careful, weak steps through the tall grass. It was like she was mapping out her route with her eyes closed, which wasn’t too far from the truth. Her head turned towards him and he could see the inflamed membranes around her eyes and heard the wheeze in her lungs as she seemed to recognise him. She raised a foreleg in greeting but stayed quiet aside from her ragged breathing. She couldn’t speak? That was the only logical conclusion, he thought, otherwise she would sound out his name like a foghorn. He came closer, cautiously, in case whatever was wrong was contagious. She saw how far away he had stopped and shook her head, gesturing to the grass and rustling it with her tail. Whatever she shook loose only aggravated her even more, leading to her coughing until she sank to her knees.

Skele wrung his hands together as Amaryllis barked, her breaths coming shorter until she finally stopped and sucked in a deep inhale. She looked up with watering eyes and smiled, the effect of reassurance lost on Skele as he could only focus on her streaming eyes and the faintest traces of slime coming out from between her teeth. He looked around at their surroundings, nothing much in the grasslands except the very grass that seemed to be hurting her. He noticed some trees nearby, weathered and knobbly bark refined by the harsh summers in blistering heat. He knew this tree, he realised with a start, and this tree had very special leaves that he chewed to clear his nose when he was ill. He ran to the trees while the Shuno was still struggling to catch her breath, reaching up to his full, unbowed height to take a slim branch off. He pinched the leaves from it and gathered them into a fistful that he brought back to Amaryllis. The Shuno was just about upright when he returned and he held up the leaves, shaking them before shyness struck him and he ducked his head again.

“This might help,” he said quietly, handing it over. Amaryllis tilted her head at the plant, something she remembered tasting before and not particularly enjoying. It would track that something foul tasting would work as medicine, she thought to herself. The leaves were narrow, a deep shiny green and the stems were a bright green, nearly yellow in their luminescence. She took it gently from Skele's claws and started to chew, wincing at the strong menthol taste that washed over her entire face. “It’s horrible, sorry,” the Theri mumbled, avoiding looking at her. This was the most he had ever spoken in front of her but Amaryllis was too distracted by the sensation that ripped through her chest as she broke through the waxy cover of the leaf. It was like the shock of the powerful taste had blasted her airways wide open, as long as she was still inhaling this awful taste and smell she could breathe clearly. She looked down at Skele, who watched her carefully while his claws nervously tapped together. Amaryllis made the effort of widening her stinging eyes and nodding enthusiastically, trying to convey the fact his panacea had worked. His hunched frame seemed to slump a little, like he had been holding his breath waiting for the result. He began to pull more leaves off the tree, a supply to keep chewing on the road would be welcome so she let him gather a bushel in his arms. He looked down at his arms, then back to her, noting how her forelimbs bore a considerable amount of weight and wouldn't be able to carry them like he could. “I’ll come with you,” he relented. He didn’t want to impose his presence on her but he could find no other solution to keeping her supplied with the menthol leaves. Amaryllis beamed at him, thick green sludge still stuck between her teeth. 

While she was cognisant, the Shuno took her tail club and rattled it against the grass stalks. In the dimming light, it was easier to see the pollen that rose from them. They floated like dust motes back to the ground and she grimaced at them, looking back to Skele to see if he had gotten the explanation. The Theri paused for a moment, wracking his brain for what she was trying to tell him. He knew that the pollen could make him sneeze if he walked through heavy blooms, maybe Amaryllis was the same but for the nearly invisible grass spores instead. He had never met someone who reacted that way, but it would be far from the first unique thing this Shuno had introduced into his life.

“The beach?” he asked, “There’s no grass there.” Amaryllis smiled again, delighted to have made such a clever friend. She reached down for another leaf, feeling the ones in her mouth losing their flavour and her throat already squeezing tighter. Skele handed it over and began to walk alongside her as they turned to the coast. He was glad in a way that he had encountered her, not just to be her sneeze-free guardian, but to tell her that her path had been leading her inland instead of to the coast.