Ivy and Hikari
A tale of two fighting evil
The day seemed normal at first, like any other day of high school. Ivy walked to class with a carefree gaze and a steady stride, excited for a biology class with one of her best friends, Nova. It was getting close to noon, and many of the students were winding down and getting ready for lunch, the first time they would have it and not have to worry about school again, but Ivy always skipped lunch so that she could fit in this extra class, even if it was honors and the fact that she almost always failed every test.
She walked into the room, earlier then usual, and got a chance to speak with the teacher, whom was oddly in a good mood as well. Mr. Spira's room was almost like a greenhouse, with many windows and open walls, and with the beautiful early summer weather, it felt almost as though you were outside in a meadow, the smell of exotic plants all around you.
"Good afternoon, Mr.S!" Ivy said cheerfully, hoping that the class would turn out as fine as the great day it was outside.
"Good to see you, Ivy, you were just the person I was looking for. I need to talk to you about an upcoming assignment." Mr. S replied, giving her a look as though he expected her to cringe at his words. Ivy, being the stereotypical girl that she was, gave a look of horror to the teacher as the words came out of his mouth.
"Ummm, what kind of assignment would that be? A poster? An essay? Oh no! Don't tell me it's another whole biography on a scientist that I have to read again!" Ivy shuttered at the thought, with her reading skills as atrocious as they were, it had taken her twice as long as the rest of the class to finish the assignment, with her grade at a great D+.
"No actually, you'll find that this assignment is catered to the less knowledgeable sort of people, such as yourself." Mr. S said sarcastically. He knew that she had only taken the class to be with friends, and thus, their relationship was not so great. Ivy was taken back by his words, but listened anyway, thinking about what kind of comeback she could make.
"Anyways, the project is to take home one of my plants for the summer, taking care of it, and measuring it at the beginning of every month-long interval so you can make a graph on its average growth." He said, then turned around, grabbing something on his desk. He handed her the paper, which was the grading rubric of the assignment.
"Any questions?" His gazed was then aimed straight at her, almost as though he was staring through a magnifying glass.
"Ummmm," she stirred uncomfortably, "Which plant do I have to take home?" She looked around at all the beautiful plants lining the walls, and even snaking up the ceilings with their tendril-like vines. She wouldn't mind taking one of them home, hanging it in her room and showing it off all Summer.
"That'll be decided by the order of the scores on your final exams, Ivy." He said, knowing that she would most likely be on the very bottom of that list. Ivy shuttered at the thought of it, Oh great! Now I'm gonna have to take home the ugliest plant here! She quickly grabbed the rubric out of Mr. S's hand and proceeded to walk towards her seat, without adding anything to his smart remark.
Just then, Nova walked into the room, his neatly organized binder and books in hand, and walked over. He was about to sit down, thinking that he was the first one there, only to notice Ivy. He called over to her, then sat down and began organizing his things for the third time that day. She walked over, then remarked, "Had enough organizing for one day, bookworm?" Her sarcastic tone hid her anger.
"Hey you know, if you were even a little bit as organized as me, then maybe you wouldn't lose your things quite so much." He smartly pointed out to her, a large grin on his face. Mr. S walked out of the classroom and into the hallway to monitor for runners or those trying to skip class. Ivy sighed in relief at the moment of freedom. Nova took notice, then said, "Is he giving you a hard time again for your work? Do you want me to help tutor you again?"
"No no, it's not really that. You know him around me! He hates my guts, and I really am starting to believe I failed that Biology Final." She quickly added, blushing slightly. Nova then turned to her, and with a stern look on his face, stated, "No way you could fail it! We spent so much time studying and memorizing for that! The worst that you could get was a C-!" The way he spoke almost made it sound as though he expected her to get the lowest grade possible, while still passing.
More students then began streaming into the classroom, chatting about something going around the school, or how excited they were that the day was almost over. Mr. S then came in, then called order to the class, asking everyone to sit down. He then took out a small piece of chalk he always kept in his pocket, then began scribbling on the board. "High scores for Final", the heading read. Ivy looked away, knowing she would never make it to such a list.
"Alrighty class, as you know, the year is winding down to a close, but there is still much that we have to learn! That's why I'm giving you an over-the-Summer assignment, as a final grade for my class. And as many of you have heard, this will be a take-home plant project. I hope you all grabbed the rubric on your way in." Many students had, but those that hadn't quickly got up in a rushed attempt to grab it and sit down without being noticed.
The class went on like normal, with Mr. S putting the grades up. Nova, of course, had the highest score in the whole class, went and picked out a little cactus that was budding with little blue flowers. "Good choice" Mr. S muttered to himself as Ivy scoffed. Favoritism, pssh. She thought to herself. He continued to call out names, and one by one, the plants slowly worked their way onto the desks of the students, each one prettier then the last.
Ivy had been hoping that her name wouldn't even be called, and that she could avoid the embarrassment of being in dead last, like usual. Her prayers weren't answered though, as he got to the bottom, and wrote her score on the board. 70.2% C-, Ivy Hawkthorne. She sighed a bit of relief at the fact that though she was at the bottom, she had passed a class that many thought she would fail.
There was one problem, of course, the fact that not one flower or plant remained. Mr. S didn't look the least bit surprised and told the class to start measuring the size of the plant they had picked as the control measurement. He called Ivy to the backdoor, which lead to his supply closet. He looked around, unlocked the door, then told her to follow after him.
"I knew you'd be on the bottom, so I have this very special little plant for you to take home and raise." He pulled out a very little pot, containing what looked like a small yellow mushroom with brown spots on top. Hey, I guess he doesn't hate me that much to give me this cute little thing, she thought to herself.
"Ummm, how would I raise a mushroom?" She stated, dumbfounded by the task at hand, and the fact that she didn't want to let off that she actually liked the mushroom. He laughed, then said quickly, "All you have to do is keep it somewhere dark and give it dead plants and fertilizer and it'll quickly grow on its own. I made sure you would get this because it's near impossible to kill one of these things."
Ivy sighed in relief that this silly little mushroom would give her an easy A to start the new year. She picked it up, then head out back to class, with everyone looking in awe at the mushroom. Some snickered, while others couldn't hide their jealous looks.
She went back to her desk, glad that the day was going well, and hoped it would only get better after this. Class finally ended, and Mr. Spira dismissed the class and wished them a happy and long summer full of good times, but that stopping at the library once in a while wasn't a bad idea either.
Ivy quickly went outside, glad to be free of school. She had left the ends of her days specifically open so she could leave early and enjoy her days, but before she left to get home and promptly throw away all of her school things, Nova came up behind her.
"You're leaving already? Be careful on your way home!" Nova said, short of breath. Ivy smiled quickly and blushed at his concern for her. She simply replied, "I promise I will be careful, you just go and finish up your day. You know the teachers like you, but they still don't like students being late."
"I know I'll be fine! Don't forget about that hangout were having this weekend! Everyone's gonna be there to celebrate summer!" Nova quickly said before bounding off back into the school, waving like a maniac. Ivy waved back; excited for all the things she planned on doing this summer. She looked at the little covered pot in her hands, then said to herself, "Now let's hurry home Mushroom! I've got some shopping and things to do before this weekend comes!" She knew that it didn't understand her in the least, but that didn't matter to her.
Ivy quickly hurried to finish her day, doing chores after she had finally got home. She put the little mushroom on the windowsill, then went about her day. She stopped though, in the middle of doing the dishes, when she thought of something very silly. "I should at least give you a name, shouldn't I?" She thought again for a moment, her hand cupped under her chin, before she decided that figuring out names was harder then she had first thought. "Well, I'll think of something soon, I know I will!"
The rest of her day went by relatively normally, until she got a call from another one of her friends, Cecilia. "Hey, I know it's kind of late, but let's go out and get a bite to eat! I'm starving!" Ivy rolled her eyes, her friend was like a bottomless pit, able to swallow everything and not even gain any weight. Not that Ivy could say much else about herself either, with her 5'3" small frame with bright red hair, she would really stand out.
"Well sure I can go, my parents are out on a business trip this whole week, but can you pick me up then?" Ivy asked, expectantly. She was pretty sure her friend wouldn't say no.
"Of course I can, Hun! That'll be way easy! I'm getting everyone else to beforehand, so be ready in like half an hour!" Cecilia said quickly, then hung up without a goodbye. Ivy ran into her room, hoping to find something good to wear, when she saw the time 10:30 p.m the clock read. Just then, she remembered that she should uncover her little mushroom, or else it might not grow right. I'll only be gone for an hour! She thought to herself as she uncovered the mushroom.
The mushroom, then on the windowsill, wash fully bathed in the light of the full moon that was out that night. "How pretty! I just hope that it doesn't affect you, little Mushroom!" She told herself as she ran back into her room to change.
Eventually, twenty minutes later, she came out, wearing a simple parka and shorts. Heck with it! She thought to herself, it's almost 11 o'clock and it's not going to matter what I wear.
She turned to leave, thinking that the still-warm outside air would be nice to sit out in, when she noticed that her mushroom held a strange glow to it, she thought it was the moon at first, but then realized that it was the mushroom itself that glowed, almost as though it was a lightning bug. Oh no! Did I kill it already? She angrily thought to herself.
She went up, intending to move it out of the moonlight, when she suddenly felt pulled towards the mushroom, like she was losing the will to move her body on her own. Wait? What? Stop now! STOP! She shrieked silently to herself as she slowly inched forward, hand out, towards the mushroom, its glow becoming brighter and brighter as she stepped forward.
Her eyes burned as she got closer, but she could not close them. Desperation quickly turned to panic as she came close enough to touch it. What's happening? Am I really going to die like this? She cried, hoping that it would stop, or something would happen.
Then, the mushroom hummed as she touched it, she noticed how warm it was, and how it resonated beneath her hand. It was at first a deep hum, but it grew more powerful now that she had touched it. Someone, Anyone! Help me please! It was the last thing she thought before she plunged into the darkness, like the floor giving way beneath her.
She couldn't even imagine what was happening, but right before she blacked out, something deep within her said, Let go of your fear and embrace the light, for it shall show you a truth yet undiscovered. It strangely made her at peace as she fell, praying that the light would catch her, where ever she was falling to.
Then, all of the sudden, the falling stopped, or at least that was what it seemed for Ivy as she awoke on the ground, the night sky and the half moon staring down at her like hawks.
That's weird; I thought it was a full moon outside when I looked out. She looked around, but was stopped when her head started pounding. Moving around, it seemed, was really not a good idea at the moment.
She then realized their was something in her hand, strangely warm and nostalgic, then she remembered, and despite her pounding head, she stood up quickly, holding tight the pot in her hand. She quickly got over the whiplash, and, looking at her hand, she saw that the little mushroom she once held was now the size of two of her fists, while still looking slightly smaller then a normal mushroom.
"How is this possible? Nothing makes sense anymore!" She cried out, scared. As she looked around, she realized that she was in the middle of what looked to be a small flower patch, which was nothing like her yard, or even her house! She stumbled, then fell back on her knees.
"Be careful there Buddo! You might squish some of my good friends, and it's rude to wake flowers up when they're sleeping." Someone told her. It was a small but husky voice that stood out in the total silence of the night. She suddenly realized that it had come from the little mushroom!
She shrieked, then dropped it like it was a snake, and stood back, aghast at the sudden revelation that it could talk. "Y-y-y-you c-can TALK?" She stuttered out before inching backwards.
"Of course I can! Please don't drop me like that again! It hurts you know! You might have shattered my pot!" The little mushroom angrily muttered, then realized she was deeply scared.
"Don't worry about me, I'm on your side! I want to help protect you!" The little mushroom chirped as she got up and went over to the pot, cradling it in her hands. The mushroom glowed, then a small orb of light collected around him, and he was suddenly struck with an idea.
"Hey! Catch that little light for me! It'll help make you happy and calm you down a little!" Ivy quickly did as she was told, and when she caught the little light, it sunk into her palm, but she wasn't scared, the light made her whole being feel warm and at ease, though only for a moment. She caught her breath, then asked the little mushroom "I feel a bit better now, but what was that? And what's going on around here?"
The little mushroom took a big breath, then said, "I know this is all really tough, but what we really need right now is to find some shelter so I can contact the others, they can explain what's going on." Ivy shook her head, then asked, "Ok, I can do that, but what's your name? Don't you have one? And where can I find some shelter?"
The little mushroom laughed jauntily, "I'm Hikari! And judging by where we are, I'd say we're only a few miles away from a safe-house! We should get going then, before we alert the BAD others that we're here." Hikari looked around suspiciously then calmed down when he saw the coast was clear.
"So, we have to go to this safe-house and THEN do you promise to explain to me what going on? I don't want other people telling me. I can't trust them." Ivy asked worriedly, her gaze becoming more filled with fright.
"I promise I'll protect you! Remember? Now let's not tarry and skee-daddle outta here! Pick me up and I'll show you the way! You don't have to worry about a thing if we hurry!" Hikari's little mushroom chest puffed out like a grain of rice popping, and Ivy couldn't help but laugh, helping her calm down.
The two slowly got up, and with the night sky shining above them, they started off on a grand adventure, something which the likes of had never been seen before.
Thanks for reading! Please review and let me know what you think of my first
Plants vs. Zombies fanfiction!
The next chapter should be up by the end of this week, so happy reading!