Chapter 5 Timeskip

It has been 2 weeks since Sina had started training Iris. During that time, her Ki capacity has improved exponentially. She has also learned how to sense others life force which was instrumental in keeping up with Sina in sparring sessions. Sadly she lacked talent in martial arts and was not able to learn much. Instead, Sina taught her several acrobatic moves to help her evade attacks and or run away from danger.

On the other hand, her control over plants increased exponentially the more she mastered Ki. She could now make plants grow 10s of metres within seconds (but refrained from doing so) if she concentrates more on them. She can now even reform large trees, making them sprout more branches, making their barks harder than steel etc...

Of course, one notable thing happend during this time, which was Heather catching them red-handed during one of their training sessions. She had followed them to the clearing where she was met with her best friend conjuring up a giant apple, while her skin had become green. So how do make your best friend forget that you have powers, you don't. After the initial shock, Heather basically became a child in a candy store asking Iris to demonstrate her powers and asking questions over and over again.

Sina and Heather became fast friends as both were avid otakus. They became comparing Iris to several character from anime stating that she might get some insight. The worst part was, that they were right. Iris and Heather took Sina to the top floor of building. The entire floor was one big lab they had built from the ground up. Iris had several plants growing on her side complete with every laboratory apparatus a standard lab would have. Heather on the other hand mostly kept machineries on her part ranging from car parts to appliances etc... It was here the trio began testing Iris's blood when Iris tried to connect to her blood. The result was an entirely different species of plant to grow on the petri dishes. From there the pair hypothesised that Iris could take the properties of the plants she consumes. She then used her blood to make a plant that somehow bore fruits in one side and vegetables on the other side. The trio then found an oak tree and tried to make Iris eat an acorn (but only after making 30 "deez nutz" jokes). The result was that Iris could now make an apple tree which was as hard as oak without using Ki.

With the knowledge of Iris's blood related abilities, Heather began to collecting several plant samples. This ranged from ginseng roots to entire rafelasias (which Iris refused to eat due to the ungodly smell. Only to be force fed by Sina) as well as poisonous berries.

By the time they were done, Iris could create a healing salve and healing sap with the help of her plants. She can also secrete a variety of poison from her plants as well as her nails. More over, due to her extensive knowledge in genetics and biology, Iris knew how to make flowers that release pollen with sedative properties, pollen which are highly flammable as well as a plant that can release noxious gases.

The healing salves and saps could theoretically drastically increase the healing of a person minor wounds would heal in seconds while broken bones could heal in a few weeks. Not that they had time to test this out. Neither Iris nor Heather wanted to inflict any major injury onto themselves just to test a theory (despite Sina volunteering to do it for them, which they declined as politely as they could.)

After being satisfied with the progress of testing her powers, Heather and Iris began to take Sina with them on their stomping grounds. Both Sina and Heather were environmental activist so most them were rallys and NGO gatherings.

It was here Sina was introduced to the Lumen City Orphanage. It consisted of around 75 orphans ranging from 2 year to 12 years old. The mistress always brings them to such hatherings as it was a good place for the children to interact with others meaning its a potentially favourable place to find people to adopt the children and to find people who are willing to donate.

Iris and Heather have been friends with the Orphanage since they were kids. They always make sure to visit them either at the Orphanage or at the gatherings. The children immediately liked Sina who for them was exotic due to her Asian heritage. And it seemed that Sina got along with them as well. Heather as usual played with a boy named Joshua. She always had a soft spot for him as their lives were kind of similar. Both of them were victims of neglect Joshua more so as he was abandoned at the Orphanage by his parents. Yet he was carried on with a smile which subsequently made him well liked amongst the other orphans. Iris on the other hand had most of the attention due to her recent make over. Even the mistress was thoroughly surprised by her transformation.

As such the future looked bright for the girls as they continued this routine for days. Unfortunately this is not that kind of story.

Boom!!!!

Boom!!!!

Boom!!!

The explosions came out of nowhere. Iris and Sina were thrown away from the explosions while Heather managed to shield Joshua at the cost of being hit by debris.

Iris was the first one to wake up as her armour had absorbed most of the damage. She had several cuts and bruises but she disregarded them as she began to look for her friends. It was then, Sina lifted off a big chunk of concrete and came out from underneath it. Iris breathed a sigh of relief as she began looking for Heather. All around her, she could see corpses and and injured wailing for the dead. The few that remained unscathed were trying to free the people who were trapped under debris.

Iris covertly used her plants to find Heather easily but what she saw made her blood go cold. Heather's bloody unmoving hand was poking out of a pile of debris while Joshua was lying still just a few feet from her.

Iris called for Sina as she checked Joshua with tears streaking her face, fortunately he was alive just unconscious. She then began trying to free Heather. Eventually she removed the debris to find a bloodied body of Heather, her once blonde hair was dyed with her own blood while cuts, bruises fractures and broken bones covered her body.

Iris gently cradled her body as she checked for any signs of life. Seeing none, she created a plant to secrete the healing sap and poured it down her throat. She then waited praying that she would be fine. But seeing no changes, Iris was filled with grief as she embraced her friend. It was then she heard it, it was small but she heard it. Heather's heart has begun to beat again.