Word (Writer's Club)

At the mention of King Vine, the patrons of the Inn began to talk and whisper amongst themselves, many of them debating on if they needed to report based on what they had seen– Until they all witnessed the healing of their Inn Keeper. After that, there was no doubt that the strange Botanicals were the real deal, and some of them believed in King Vine because of it.

"Patrons, none of yas are to snitch on my new friends, or I'll ring your necks. Is that clear?" Mr. Sprouts asked with a voice full of intimidation.

The chattering immediately ceased with Mr. Sprouts' threat.

"Mr. Sprouts, do you know what direction the capital is?" Kale asked shortly after Brussel's threatening of his patrons.

"Why do you want to go there?" Brussel asked with an eyebrow raised skeptically. "If you think this place is crawling with mugworts, that place is crawling with Below Soldiers."

"It's the whole reason I'm here." Kale explained. "King Vine sent me to deliver a message to this land and that includes the captial."

Brussel breathed his ever increasingly signature rumbly breath. "Ya know... The capital ain't like here. The capital slickers are a pampered bunch. You need to know that those folks value their comfort more than a Below Soldier values his wealth. You could be arrested... or worse."

"Mr. Sprouts, I have to go. There's more people who need to know about the Hyssop Door than what's out here in the wastelands."

As if in direct contrast from where Kale started, he stood there quite boldly and ready to continue on his mission. His human friends, who knew him before all this started, could clearly see Kale's faith had grown even in just the 24 hours he had been in the Land Below. They all felt a sense of pride on behalf of their friend and hoped his faith would only get stronger as he continued on this path to save others from the evils that lurked below.

When Mr. Sprouts saw Kale's determination, he sighed."It's down the road. At the fork, go left. If you go right, you'll end up at Wormwood's castle, and no one wants that."

"Thank you, Mr. Sprouts." Kale cracked a small polite smile.

"You can call me Brussel." Mr. Sprouts responded with a crooked grin before he pointed at Rosemary. "You take care of her, you hear?"

Kale nodded, "Of course... Mr. Brussel."

"Just Brussel." Brussel chuckled and fell silent for a moment. "You know, I ain't got a whole lot, but I'm going to send you off with some supplies. Hang on." He walked behind his counter and grabbed a sack, and began to collect some food items from his own storage.

While Brussel was gathering some things for them, Kale approached Rosemary to check in on her after her healing.

"How are you feeling now?" Kale asked her with a meek expression on his face.

"Much better, thanks to your friends." Rosemary replied, looking down at her healed leg. "It's like it never happened..."

Kale smiled softly. "What do you plan to do now that you're healed?"

Rosemary looked up at Kale from her stool and shrugged. "It was implied that I was going to stay with you."

"Yes, but are you?" Kale asked with concern. "I don't want you to come with me just because it was implied."

"I... I don't know." Rosemary admitted. "After all that's happened today, I don't know what I want..."

Kale tilted his head to the side. "Rosemary... Is this about your parents?"

Kale's question was met with silence as Rosemary looked off into the distance with a distasteful and bitter expression on her face.

"... I still don't understand. My leg could be healed, but my parents were allowed to die... I wouldn't have needed healing if my leg had never broken in the first place."

Lana gently placed her hand on Rosemary's shoulder, "Rosemary...

I know you want to make sense of this world's senseless violence. I wish I understood it too," She continued, "– but staying miserable isn't going to heal those wounds inside you... King Vine doesn't want that. He has a way better life for you in him."

"I can't say I understand what you mean..." Rosemary sighed. "... But I am sick and tired of... suffering."

"Then come with me." Kale persuaded. "Come to the Hyssop Door. It's the only hope there is for life."

Rosemary slowly looked back at Kale with weary eyes. "Will there be suffering on the way...?"

"I wish I could say that suffering ends the moment you go through... But as long as we're down here where there is absinthin and death, there will be suffering for us." Kale knelt down to Rosemary's height. "The only difference is that suffering's purpose is changed. Do you know what I mean?"

"What possible meaning is there?" Rosemary asked, her eyes filling with frustrated tears. "What possible gain is there if the suffering doesn't go away? What good can come from this pain?"

Kale gazed into Rosemary's hurt eyes while his were full of compassion. "There will always be pain on this side of the Land Above," He explained, "But, what I've learned to be true... Is either you can go through suffering alone... Or you can lean on the King that will never leave you nor abandon you."

"What good is that?" Rosemary's lips quivered as she fought her tears. "Why should we have to suffer at all?"

"Because of absinthin and Lord Wormwood, Rosemary." Kale answered. "Don't you remember? Lord Wormwood assisted in the fall of our people. He and his followers are the ones to blame for all this pain, not my father. My father is the one who came to save us. That's why the Hyssop Door exists."

"If he really cared, he'd destroy the mugworts and the Below Soldiers." Rosemary whimpered. "He'd overthrow Lord Wormwood and save us by coming down and slaying them all... If he can heal, he can destroy evil."

"You're right." Kale said solemnly, much to Rosemary's surprise. "That's why I'm here."

Rosemary narrowed her eyes at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"The eradication of evil is coming." Kale explained with a very serious expression on his face. "And the Hyssop Door is the only way out for those who believe in King Vine's way."

"Can't you see, Rosemary?" Lana asked, leaning down to Rosemary to look her in the face. "King Vine is trying to save your life!"

Rosemary glanced between Kale and Lana with the understanding that there were some very heavy implications by what they were telling her. However, she wasn't fully comprehending what this meant for everyone else. She just wasn't there yet.

"I don't understand..." Rosemary sighed. "But I think I know you well enough now to know... You're going to need my help." She rose from her seat. "And I have just the horse and wagon to get you to the capital."

"You'll come?" Kale held back joyful tears. "You really want to come?"

"You're not getting rid of me that easily." Rosemary said with a hint of a smirk on her face even though an unknown inner pain was still present. The truth was, as much as Kale could use Rosemary's wagon, Rosemary knew she needed Kale if she was going to survive in the terrible wasteland they were in. She saw something in him she didn't see in anyone else– hope.

"Just..." Her small smirk faded. "Don't leave me behind on the side of the road somewhere... I don't think I could bear going through that again..."

"I won't leave you." Kale promised. "I will get you to the Hyssop Door."

"This Hyssop Door..." Brussel began, standing off to the center of the room with the full sack draped over his broad shoulders. "It leads to King Vine? The Land Above?"

"That's right." Curtis answered on Kale's behalf. "I um... I haven't seen it, but I heard it does lead to King Vine."

"Why do you care anyway?" Alex asked skeptically, still not 100% trusting of the Botanical that almost crushed his ribcage. "You kinda have a business to run, don't you?"

Brussel replied to Alex without malice for the first time since they got there. "I'll leave it all behind if it means I can meet the one who gives healing power." He turned back to Kale and asked with all sincerity, "Can I come too?"