Acceptance

"Ah, I see," Grandmother nodded in acceptance, sipping her tea. "Then this flower is my great granddaughter. My, how time flies…"

We sat at the dining room table of my Grandmother's huge house, drinking from cups that must have been of Vacuo make. Mom had barely gone inside before leaving again, off to handle business I assumed. Gou had sniffed around curiously for several minutes, exploring the new place until my grandmother's own dogs had walked in, massive hulking beasts that were several times the growing puppy's size. Despite that, they had played around the room, prancing around until Gou's adventures lead him out the open door and into the rain outside, immediately drawing his attention. Currently, he seemed to be engaged in battle with it.

He also appeared to be losing. I suppose it was fine so long as he had a good time of it, though.

Autumn, on the other hand, now rested within a pot of soil Grandmother had had one of her men fetch from outside. At a touch, Autumn had unwound herself from my wrist and taken root in the soil, transforming quickly to appear the same as any other rose. My grandmother had watched the process with interest as she'd listened to my explanation.

"Truly though, she's amazing," She continued, blowing gently on her drink. "There have been many experiments over the years, but I've never seen an awakened plant grow so advanced. The most I've ever even heard of was a plant capable of limited motion, but they were unable to get any definite responses to signify intelligence."

"They probably just couldn't communicate with it," I mused, hands around Autumn's pot. "I encountered something similar; when Autumn first became self-aware, she was blind, deaf, and numb to the world. I ended up connecting us through Aura, in the end, but…"

I shook my head, imagining those other plants, who'd never had someone to bring them out of the dark. I hoped…well, I wasn't even sure what I hoped for. That they'd found peace somehow, I suppose.

"Remarkable," Was all my grandmother said, stroking one of Autumn's petals. There was a reaction, after a moment, but I don't think she'd been able to speak to Autumn as such, merely draw her attention with her Aura. "Truly, my granddaughter is quite amazing, isn't she? And very beautiful, as well."

There was a kind smile on her face as she spoke the words and I translated them for Autumn, giving her a rough understanding of the context as well. Autumn reacted by changing her face, blossom shifting somewhat in both color and shape as it opened. I'd explained to Autumn how humans considered her flowers beautiful and she'd used them as one of her many forms of response ever since.

"A Middlemist," My grandmother breathed. The name of the flower, I supposed? I didn't recognize it. "It has been a very long time since I've had the pleasure, Autumn."

She tapped her blossom again, a gentle contact with a single finger, and then looked up at me.

"You said she could consume plants, as well?" She asked. "That's how she grows?"

"I think it's more complicated than that," I replied. "It seems more like a melding of minds then a consumption of them—but yeah, that's one of the ways she grows. She's gotten to the point where she can consume entire trees. She feeds on Aura spent around her, as well."

Grandmother smiled at me gently, so her next words were a tad jarring.

"Have you given her anything poisonous yet?" She asked.

"Not yet," I shook my head after a moment's pause. "Issues with when to use it, mainly; she tends to keep her natural defenses up at all times. Until recently, she would cover herself with Atlesian Blackberry thorns, even while wrapped around me—and sometimes she still does, if something frightens her. She…"

I paused, trying to put the thought into words before my grandmother did it for me.

"She's blind and deaf and numb. Trapped in a silent, lightless world, surrounded by strangers," She said calmly, smile momentarily fading. "It's only natural that she'd get scared."

"Exactly," I agreed. "But even so, a lot of people could get hurt if she reacts the wrong way. I've been working on that with her, but…well, it's something that needs to be done right."

"Then see that it is," She inclined her head towards me. "But once she is prepared, do you have any plans?"

"A few," I shrugged. "The merging seems to have greater results when used on another awakened plant and there are a few good ones I can get to easily. Ranunculus, Aconite, and Oleander seem like good places to start."

"Ah," She said fondly. "A good place to start indeed. But don't be afraid to aim your sights a little higher—Abrus and Brugmansia, Conium and Cicuta and old Cerbera and dear, sweet Manchineel. At the very least, you should have no trouble finding Ricinus in Vale, should you so need. But if I might make a suggestion?"

I tilted my head to the side, not recognizing all of the names—and somewhat worried that my grandmother did. Even so, I raised an eyebrow inquisitively, bizarrely curious.

"Menagerie is quite famous for its…inhabitants," She said, lips quirking slightly upwards. "If its dangerous plants you intend to look for, I'd recommend you aim for the top and research the matter. There's a species of Heracleum that has a fascinating poison; I've seen men fine one minute and blister and burn as they walked back into the sunlight. There's another I'm familiar with, a rather spectacular Dendrocnide, which stings those who touch its leaves, injecting them with a toxin so agonizing and persistent that most chose commit suicide to escape the pain. There's a distantly related tree called the Urtica, though that's native to the north-east, and its one of the few plants I've known to have killed people who simply made the mistake of walking into it. There's also a very poisonous breed of plant by the name of Daphne, though you may know it better as a Spurge-laurel, though it's neither a spurge nor a laurel; regardless, those who eat it tend to meet rather horrible deaths."

She made the words sound conversational.

"These are all on the Kingdomless Continents?" I asked, shaking my head.

"Most of them," She shrugged. "It's among the many reasons why they're that way, though a bit down the list. Still, some have been taken away and grown successfully elsewhere, throughout Remnant's history. Mistral has quite a record of making use of such poisons. I've done some research on that topic myself, as you might have guessed."

I could guess why, too.

"As you grow older, you'll find that all manner of skills can prove useful," She continued. "I and several of my old friends developed some small skill at knitting while at school and it's seen us all a ways. That's where I first met your grandfather, you know, though we didn't get to know one another until sometime after that."

"I've found a number of odd skills useful myself," I admitted. "I can believe it."

She reached over to pat my hand gently.

"Will you be going out tonight, then?" She changed the subject. "If you wish, I'll take you to see the festivities tomorrow."

"Thank you, Grandmother," I replied. "I'd love to. But I do think I'll take a look around some, since I'm new in town and all. I don't need to do anything for the tournament tomorrow, right?"

"Not tomorrow, no," She shook her head. "Preliminaries will start the day after, however."

"Then I'll go for a walk, if that's all right with you, Grandmother."

"I don't mind," She said. "I'll send Grigio with you to make sure you don't get lost."

It wasn't a request, but I didn't mind anyway. I really did just want to take a look around—and, okay, maybe scope out the city so I knew where everything was if, against all odds, something happened to go catastrophically wrong in my proximity. Unlikely as it seemed, I felt it might be wise to prepare myself anyway.

Still, a guide could only help with that.

"Okay," I agreed. "Would you be okay with looking after Gou or should I take him with me."

"It's fine if he stays," She answered with closed eyes.

I nodded once, even though she couldn't see me, and then picked up Autumn and rose to leave—but I stopped when she spoke again.

"Jaune," She said. "If you're going into town, you may want to leave Autumn here, as well."

"Oh? Why?" I asked, frowning. I wasn't suspicious of my grandmother—okay, no, that was a lie. I wasn't an idiot; I was totally suspicious of my grandmother. But I was sure she wouldn't harm me or Autumn. But if she wanted me to leave Autumn here… "You know that without me…"

"I know," Grandmother said, opening an eye to look at me. "But…it's your first day in town, Jaune."

I tilted my head to the side and said nothing for a moment.

"You're talking about the others, aren't you?" I said at last; there was no need to clarify who I was talking about.

"If I was with you…" She sighed slowly. "But no, it may be better this way. Word must have spread by now and they'll want to get a look at you. It should be fine but…just in case, leave Autumn here."

I said nothing, frowning down at the pot I held.

"You're strong enough to stand on your own, aren't you?" She asked after a few moments of silence.

"I can't say, without any knowledge of who I might be standing before," I replied, unafraid. "But you think I'm ready or else it wouldn't matter."

She smiled at that.

"You're ready," She stated. "But I don't know if Autumn is. Could you protect her?"

Could I? There was really no way of knowing yet. I thought I could; I knew I had a long way to go, but I was still strong now. Autumn herself had a fair number of tricks up her sleeves. I was pretty sure we could handle whatever came up.

The better question was 'would I bet Autumn on that'?

No, I thought. Not if I didn't have to. Not if there was a safer way. She was…

But…

"Should I stay here, then?" I wondered aloud. "She's still so…"

My grandmother chuckled sadly.

"You remind me of myself, Jaune," She said, her smile briefly sad. "But perhaps you should ask her first?"

I looked down at Autumn, Aura shifting invisibly around me.

"Are you sure?" I whispered after a moment and then looked up. "Is this important, Grandmother? Or should I stay?"

"It might be important," She said. "Or it might not even come up. But…in my experience, problems don't go away just because you ignore them; they just get bigger. I advise dealing with such matters quickly and thoroughly."

She looked at me steadily.

"She can sense Aura, can she not?" Grandmother asked. "She'll know she's not alone. Tell her I'll keep her safe until you return."

I was silent for a minute and then nodded.

"Gou," I said and my dog immediately stopped playing in the rain to rush inside. I winced slightly at the mud and water he trailed in but knelt beside the happily panting puppy regardless and lifted Autumn from her pot. A silent whisper and her shape changed, stem splitting to tie loosely around Gou's neck in a second collar, flower on the back of his neck. Gou continued to pant in what seemed like approval, so I scratched his ears before touching Autumn one last time. I knew she'd be safe here—possibly safer then she'd be anywhere else, but…I suppose this was the first time we'd been a part since she woke up and…I…

I'll be back soon.

For a moment, she rippled with patterns of white and red crystal and I knew she could see me as I rose.

"Stay here boy," I told Gou. "Keep an eye on her, okay?"

He panted in acceptance of his important mission before bouncing back into the rain to continue his efforts to conquer it. Through it all, my grandmother's dogs sat patiently on the porch, just watching the puppy play. I imagined them wondering 'what is this idiot doing?'

After a few moments in the rain, however, Autumn stirred around Gou's neck, blossom rising on an extending stalk, growing swiftly larger as large leaves grew around it to help catch the rain for her to drink. Below the organic umbrella, Gou was struck by profound confusion as he continued to run around for a moment, before apparently coming to the conclusion that he had succeeded in defeating his sworn enemy. He sat down and gave me a doggie grin.

"I'll be back soon," I said.

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