Rosemary sat on her bed, looking at the dark ceiling. Everything there was black and dusty. She smiled. Then she remembered the horrible fate that awaited Natalie. Forced to be on a side that she didn't even know about. They were probably feeding her lies about Mandrake being the mean one. But they couldn't sway her, no matter how much they tried. She sat there in the shadows for a long time thinking about her poor friends, when the door flew open. She sat up and saw a mosquito-type thing looking in.
"Yes?" I asked it.
He stood up straighter and looked at me, as if not expecting me to be awake. "You are needed by Lord Mandrake, Miss Rosemary," he said with a little bow.
"Thank you," she said. Hm, talking bugs and slugs. Fantastic! She got up and walked behind the mosquito who seemed to be the one leading her.
They entered a really dark room that held a really big chair in the middle. Mandrake was seated in it, beckoning her over. She decided it was probably the best thing to do, since she still didn't trust that she'd be killed behind her back if she made the wrong move, and looked up at him.
"Hello, Rose," he said from his throne. "How are you?"
Rosemary thought to choose her words carefully. "Good, sir, very good."
"You wanna know something funny?" He didn't let her answer before he said, "I was buried alive in a tree."
"How'd you escape?" Rosemary asked without a second thought.
Mandrake smiled."You see, I knew you were going to ask me that. It took me a while, but I finally clawed myself out of that tree. It was a few weeks after I was buried, too. My nails were long and sharp so I started digging out. In about two weeks I dug myself out. It was easy, too. They didn't expect anything until I sent out my little bugs to help me with my reunion party. It was fun. Cake, presents, screaming of the evil flowers, good times."
"Why-who buried you?" she queried, looking at him.
He looked stern. "Now, that one should have been obvious," he said, displeased. "Maybe I think too much of you. Their queen did, with her evil magic."
"Magic?" Rosemary asked. "What-how-where?"
"I know, it's hard to comprehend sometimes," Mandrake said, putting his hand on his chest. "But, for some reason I just feel like if you joined me, then that wouldn't happen again." He held out his hand. "Join me, Rose. Together we can rule the forest the right way."
"You," she gulped. "You mean form an alliance against my friends?" What would they think of me? I would have betrayed them.
Mandrake stood from his throne. "Your friend will not die, they will purely get sent back to their own size until they are needed," he said, smiling. "You're a smart girl, you know who the real enemies are, why are you fighting your knowledge?" He walked down to her level, so they could see eye-to-eye. "Join me, Rosemary. The real enemy is out there, waiting to kill all of us. They are the murderers, Rose. They started this unnecessary battle when they killed my son. I only killed their last queen after they shot my son. I'm not the enemy here." He stretched his arm out a little more, an evil glint in his eye.
She crossed her arms, which made him put his hand back in surprise. "And if we join forces," she said, "you're absolutely positive that my friends will be safe, that I won't have to choose between my life and theirs?"
His smile got larger. "I promise," he said.
"Don't make promises you can't keep," she said, taking his hand in hers. "Don't forget, I can still choose to fight against you if you openly target my friends."
Mandrake's smile weakened, and then got stronger again. "Of course. That's how it always works around here." He nodded and they shook hands twice with satisfaction. "Do you know your way back to your room, or should I call for someone?"
"I'm good," she said, letting go. "I just need to know where the restrooms are."
Mandrake laughed. "This is a joke, isn't it?" he guessed. "Or…"
Rosemary sighed. "You have no clue what I'm talking about, do you?" He shook his head. She sighed again. "So you just do your business anywhere?" He looked confused. "I'm in my room," she said, walking away.
"Okay…" Mandrake said, going back to his throne. He sat down and smiled. Once he was sure she was gone, he laughed. "Maybe she can be helpful," he said once he stopped laughing. "But her friends need to get out of the question. Let's see, she does need to show that she knows what she's doing. Give her a chance to penetrate their defenses, do what she needs to do, then come out with something very special to them. Hm." He thought, and then snapped his fingers. "Their queen. Kidnap the queen, she'd have shown her loyalty. Perfect!" He started laughing again. "She'll bring her to me, and then we'll kill her, maybe even push Rose out! Yes, perfect!"
"And here we are," Ronin said, pushing back a blade of grass just for her. "Right this way, Natalie."
Natalie smiled. "Thank you, Ronin," she said, now more comfortable with the general, knowing what happened around the forest.
She walked forward and saw a big tree with people going to and from it. Not just people, but plants as well. She looked at all of them and then at Ronin. She looked at the sky, half expecting it to have set mostly because of all the walking they did. It barely looked like it moved at all. Maybe an hour or so, but that was about it. The next thing she saw was a few flowers moving around going toward Ronin.
They all were shooting him with questions like they were shooting him with a machine gun. Natalie took a step away from all the chaos and breathed. He quieted everyone down and turned to her. Beckoning her with his hand, he led her through the crowd and into the tree. Once inside, they went into a room in the back and stopped.
"What was that all about?" Natalie asked him, her eyes popping out of her head.
Nod and M.K. came through the curtain. "Why M.K.'s back and who you are, Natalie," Nod said. "I had the same question in my head, just didn't want to say it aloud."
Natalie looked around. "Well, shouldn't I feel just special, huh? My best friend is gone and it's all my fault because I should have never forced her to come here and I just feel…" She started crying.
"Send her to a room," Ronin commanded Nod. "I'll keep watch just in case."
"Yes, sir," Nod said. He took his two fingers and moved them back and forth in the 'this way' sign. "Come on, M.K., you and her share a room."
"Sleepover!" both of the girls squealed, jumping up and down. "Yes!"
Ronin almost felt sorry for the young man, but decided that he deserved it, being he was the one that started the whole thing with M.K. in the first place. He walked over to the party where Nim was distracting everyone with his music, making an easy get-away for the soldier. He had a rough day. He never had to do so much explaining in one walk. He was a mix of power of knowledge and on the verge of sleep. There was no time for in-between sleep now. He had to make sure the girls didn't get killed, plus find this Rosemary and take her back, then stop Mandrake once and for all. No, time was either sleep or awake, no in-between. He yawned and looked at the setting sun. So much to do, so little time.
He sighed and looked up. The sun was setting behind the horizon, and Ronin smiled, remembering watching that with Tara. He suddenly thought of Natalie. He didn't know why, but she just reminded him of Tara so much. He didn't understand it, she wasn't as shy as Natalie, and didn't look like her, either. Not in her short blonde hair or in her petite feet. But there was just something about her that kept tugging at him, though he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He decided to think about it later. He didn't have time to figure it out at all. He decided to try to go to sleep, not needing anything to stall him.
"Okay, Natalie, M.K., this is where you guys will be staying," Nod said, leading them into a room with leaves hanging down all the walls and some vines separating the room. "I hope you have fun."
The two girls walked in and smiled. "Okay, thank you," Natalie said, happy she got her own bed. "That's very sweet of you."
"It was the Queen's idea," Nod said, looking at the girls. He nodded and walked outside.
"Okay, this is actually going to be fun," Natalie said. "I mean, I'm in a room with someone who's done all this before!"
M.K. looked at her apologetically. "Actually, I've never slept here before. I didn't even stay past the moon's highest point." Natalie looked at her like she was from a different world. "Midnight," she rephrased.
"What?"Natalie asked. "Did you even sleep here before?"
M.K. smiled. "No, we didn't have time to sleep. I had to save the pod then I was sent back." She looked at her frightened friend. "Sorry to raise your hopes for nothing."
"You mean this is a first for you, too?" Natalie yelled, almost hyperventilating. "You betrayed me!"
"No, I'm still on your team, so I haven't betrayed you," M.K. explained. "Besides, it's better than not telling you at all."
Natalie breathed fast and started fanning herself. "Oh, no, oh, no, I need a bag!"
M.K. looked though her bag and found nothing. She took her friend to a wall and put a leaf over her mouth like it was a paper bag. Natalie breathed to calm herself calm down and took the leaf away from her mouth.
"Thank you," she said, going to her bed. "Better."
M.K. smiled. "Of course, it's made of the same material, that's why I knew it would work," she explained, petting the leaf. "You would be amazed how much stuff is made out of natural resources."
"Right," Natalie said, rolling her eyes. She looked out the window. "It's getting dark out, let's go to sleep."
M.K. smiled. "Sure, you're right, we should."
Quickly they made their beds and laid down. M.K. slept quickly, but Natalie stayed up a little longer. She just laid there, staring at the ceiling. Going through everything that could happen wrong. Silently, she stood and started pacing, not noticing Ronin entering the room. Carefully, he placed a calming hand on her shoulder.
"You okay?" he whispered to her, feeling her tense up.
She turned and saw the Leafmen general. "Yeah, I guess," she whispered back. "Did I wake you?"
Ronin shook his head. "No, I was just making sure all the rooms were secure for the night, like I always do. Especially when I can't sleep."
Natalie felt a little better that someone was making sure the place was safe for everyone. "Okay," she said, smiling. "Thanks, I'm fine."
Ronin laughed a little. "Want to help?" he asked, holding out an extra sword.
"I-I would love to," Natalie said. "But I don't know how to use a sword."
Ronin smiled. "It'll come to you. Someone as paranoid as you? Would be second nature to you." He put the sword in her hands. "Come on, I just started on the search."
"Thank you," Natalie said. "Are you sure I won't just get in the way?"
"Nonsense!" he said, starting to walk with her. "If anyone gets in the way, it's Nod, not you." They started chuckling. "Besides, four hands are better than two, right?"
"Yeah, right," she chuckled. "Better."
They walked out of the room and checked the others for things that seemed out of the ordinary. After they found nothing, Ronin showed Natalie back to the room. It was darker, so she had to feel her way around it to get to her bed again, then she fell asleep the next time she blinked.