Hikaru was at the side of the street. He had planned to find a cozy place with enough sunshine in order to get a nap. His wish was to sleep close to the amazingly scary trees. However, he had not planned around the locals. They were up with the sun, tending to their flocks till the time for lunch break came. Initially, they regarded him suspiciously. Once they saw the awe that he had for the walking Treemonoids, they spread their arms and called him closer to them.

For a while a long round of introduction between them and him ensued. Hikaru realised that the proper way of greeting was to bow; the locals got excited to learn his people on Earth often did the same. After that, a smaller local, who nevertheless looked like the leader, grabbed him by the arm and led him away from the main group, in the middle of the forest. Geru explained to Hikaru that all the walking Treemonoids are considered their society's collective flock. Then they separated the Trees in smaller groups, the cohorts, which had a coordinator. The cohorts were split then in 10 groups of 100 Treemonoids each, with each group having a keeper. Geru was the keeper of one such group and was about to introduce him to the Treemonoids.

Soon, the Enterprise's helmsman realised, that he was literally going to be introduced to the trees. Geru dragged him in front of each tree and told him its name. Soon, Hikaru got lost; he found the fact that the man could actually remember each tree name and part of its lineages marvelous. He was a bit ashamed as well; he always took pride in himself for his small garden onboard the starship. However, he never had reached the same level of dedication as Geru did.

"Do you wish to help me collect the bark?" Geru asked, with hope in his voice.

"Yes please!" Hikaru almost vibrated with excitement, which caused Geru to laugh. It was the first time any of them had heard one of the locals laugh. It reminded him of a remote waterfall in Japan, one of the few pockets of nature in his homeland he could access easily each time he visited.

Collecting the bark was a relatively easy task. Geru gave him a long knife, a peeler, as he called it. He used smooth and slow movements to detach parts of the bark the same way an Earther might peel a potato. Then they collected the bark into large piles at the side.

Initially, Sulu was a bit scared, his stiff movements did not pass unnoticed by Geru. "Is everything alright?"

Hikaru felt himself blush. "What... what if I hurt it and it decides to pierce me with something?"

Geru laughed for a very, very long time after that. Were those tears on the corners of the eyes? Sulu felt ready to be buried bellow a tree.

"You do not have to worry, Earthman! The trees do not move whenever they wish to; they have to be triggered".

"What triggers them?"

"Harsh environment, herbivory. We actually imitate herbivory when we wish to relocate them" he patted Sulu on the head once he noticed his horrified face. "You are too small and insignificant to produce herbivory flight response by them!"

"Well, thanks? I guess".

"Why are you scared of them?"

Hikaru narrated their first terrifying encounter with them, when none of them had ever dreamed of walking trees, what had happened to Dr Chang. Geru was sad when he realised that there are no walking Treemonoids on Earth.

"You miss the most marvelous piece of nature that exists" the sadness of the words was genuine and resonated with Sulu. "I wish though I could see them the first as you did. Oh, the wonder, marvel, awe in their sight! I would fall in love with them over again! We grow up around them, we are used to them, they are part of who and where we are".

Something in Geru's voice got Sulu's attention. "Don't you all love the walking Treemonoids?" he paused as they moved aside a pile of bark. "The way your Chief talked about them, I thought that you all loved as they are an integral part of your life".

"We all acknowledge that they are an important part of our society and economy. This is no guaranty that all love them the same way". Geru paused for a moment, not sure how to say the next piece, eyes fixed on the Tree. "There are... people, who love them less than before".

"You had to move to this Planet because of them". Hikaru could understand why some of the locals would resent that. Being told that you have to move away from your homeland due to economic reasons was not so easily accepted by all. "I thought that, even if you stayed there and the Trees would die, you would still have problems with surviving the geological shifts. Or at least this what the Chief told our Captain".

"Maybe. People whisper that maybe this was not true. Maybe the decision of the previous Chief was too rash. Maybe it was the decision of someone, who put monetary benefit above the people's lives".

Sulu marveled on the depth the society was ending up having. The initial perfect, peaceful environment showed up not to be so harmonious after all. It was no different than a normal humanoid society after all; struggling to maintain a balance among different opinions, desires and needs.

"Are your people always satisfied with your leader's choices?" Geru seemed curious to know the answer, searching for something that Sulu was not exactly sure what it was.

"If you refer to my Captain, James Kirk, then I trust him. We are in space, away from our home worlds for four years. We have often been in tense and sticky situations. Kirk always got us through, even when we could not see where his actions will lead us. I learned that I could trust him to take care of us". Did Geru get tense? "However, if you refer to the human society, then, I have to say that the things are not ideal. There is always a lot of discourse around what people can do and what people should do. It was especially extreme in the 21st century".

Hikaru ended up narrated to Geru classic history, from the dark times of Earth societies, as they finished peeling the bark of the Tree. Bera, that was its name. They had just moved to work on the next tree, whose name Hikaru had already forgotten, when he dared asked "Do you have similar troubles here?"

"Oh, no!" Geru shook the head violently from side to side in order to emphasize his words. "Indeed, there is a small part of us, who believe that the choice was wrong and that we should move back. They are not as violent as your people. In fact, they have never done anything more than give long monologues on the topic. They can get pretty heated, and once someone got into a brawled; we are not completely passionless, mind you. But none of them would ever think to act like Earthers".

Geru was convinced about his superiority, and Hikaru felt a bit piqued about the fact. "What about you Geru? Do you wish to go back?"

"I was not born there, so I cannot really miss a place I never called home. I have visited there, with my group, but that is it. If you told me: Geru, you need to move with your Trees there, I would do it without a second thought". He patted the tree. "I will always choose them, you know".

After that, they worked on the Tree for a while longer, chatted about plant species, Earth's history and the locals' history. They worked till the exhaustion from the previous day hit Sulu like an unstoppable wave. It was so sudden, but no surprise. He had managed to relax in Geru's company enough that his body found space to complain.

"Oh, oh!" Geru helped him sit down. "You are exhausted! But no matter, I can see a guard from the Chief's Order coming towards us. There, can you see his ornament glow in the sun. I am sure he has come to collect you".

Geru was right, the tall and austere local humanoid stopped in front of them. "Are you Hikaru Sulu? I was tasked to come and find you".

Sulu had no more energy left to spare, he could only nod in agreement.

"I can carry you, Mr Sulu. Let me take you back to the Chief's house".

"Good luck, Hikaru!" Geru shouted at him. "Come and say bye before you go to the stars".


AN: I hope you are all doing well and wash your hands :D Comments are always welcome!