Chapter Text
Cold metal was pushed near his neck as he was shoved into a harsh brick wall. He croaked out pleas for mercy, for him to be spared but they never reached ears willing to hear him. Warmth flowed down his neck as the knife pushed closer and closer to him.
He cried out and scrambled for safety. He was only heading home after visiting Jack. What did he do? Why was this happening?
He almost collapsed in relief as the knife pulled away from him and the hands restraining him let go.
He stood on shaking legs as he looked forward. Why did they-
Shnnk!
A scream ripped out of his throat as flurry of pain exploded from his left eye. Red flowed like a waterfall and his trembling legs gave out beneath him. The world was fuzzy around him; the only that was crystal clear was the sting of a knife through his eye.
The last thing he remembered as his conscious faded was the feeling of being dragged across concrete and then the softness of grass beneath him.
He didn’t remember anything, but the flowers gave him a name. Clover. The name didn’t make much sense but neither did anything else. Like the flower in his eye.
He was lying in the flower fields for a long time. He saw the sun go down into the horizon and the moon rise up in its place. He was lying down as the clouds sent down their tears, making his already-dirty clothes even more grimy. But he didn’t care.
In fact, he was a bit happy that the rain came and sun showed its face every day. The vines and roots that twisted around him stretched higher when the sun shone brightly. Buds opened around his head and he smiled softly at the muted hues dancing around him.
He closed his eyes but didn’t sleep. He only sighed through rotted lungs. He could hear the caw caw caw of living creatures in a tree and the swishing of wind through the fields. The soil was warm on his skin and so was the touch of sun on his face.
His peace was interrupted though, when he heard a new sound. It was like the soft thump of hooves on earth but it wasn’t a deer. It didn’t sound like hooves.
It was something else.
His eyes searched for the source of the new sound. Flower heads looked back at him, awaiting his discovery, but he didn’t find anything out of the ordinary. Just the brown of dirt beneath his hands, the blue and white of the sky, the green of grass and flower stalks and the gentle mix of petal colours.
Where was it?
He shut his eyes again. Hopefully the deer left soon; the last time a deer came across the fields it had trampled flowers as it trudged through. He frowned remembering the large empty patches, void of the towering foliage that used to fill them.
Thump thump.
The sounds got louder. It was heading towards where he was resting and his frown only deepened. He didn’t want to be bothered by a deer again.
Thump thu-THUMP.
The “deer” must have fallen down. He hoped that it would leave now that it got spooked but afterwards he heard a small groan and noises continued.
Thump thump.
Thump thump.
Thu-THUMP.
Was it possible for a deer to be bad at being a deer? After hearing how many times this “deer” fell over, he was starting to believe it. The frown on his face slowly morphed into a tiny grin at the absurdity of his own thoughts.
Thump thump
Finally the flowers parted to show this “deer” on full display. Except it barely looked like a deer. Its brown fur was only on its head and it had a stubby nose instead of a snout. It wore cloth similar him but instead of having dark splotches and rips, it was bright and clean.
He stared in awe at this new creature that looked so similar to him. As its head turned towards him, its eyes widened.
‘Oh my gosh! Are you okay?’ it exclaimed as it bolted towards him ,’what are you doing out here?’
It offered a hand and he took it; a cold pale hand was placed over a warm one. For the first time since he remembered, he wasn’t laying down anymore. It felt a bit strange not having his back cradled by warm earth but he leaned forward to keep himself from falling over.
‘That’s better’— a few bugs crawled away from where he was lying down before—‘how long have you been here?’ Its eyes jumped from him to the bugs a couple times until it settle onto him.
‘C-can’t remember,’ he muttered, his voice hoarse.
‘Well uh… my name’s Jack. What’s yours?’ Jack said with a gentle smile but it didn’t mask the worry shining in his eyes.
‘Clover. That’s what the flowers said was my name.’
That seemed to catch Jack off guard “Wh-what do you mean ‘the flowers said that it was your name’?” he sputtered.
“They told me.”
“Yeah… but how?”
He pointed at the vines spiralling up his arms and the flower covering his left eye. He blinked at Jack, waiting for him to understand.
One second passed.
Then, two.
Three.
“I still don’t get it…” Jack said.
He shrugged. If Jack couldn’t understand he didn’t really mind.
“You should probably leave. It’s gonna be night soon.” He looked up at the sky. Purples and oranges were swirling around the sun. It took a second for him remember what Jack told him, then he answered:
“Where should I go?”
“To your house. Don’t you live somewhere?”
He’d been staying in the field for sometime, did that count as a house? He didn’t know.
“I live in the field.”
…
A pained look spread across Jack’s face. “You know what. How about you come to my place?”
Not knowing what else to do, he nodded. Jack stood up and offered a hand to him. Cold touched warm and he almost knocked both of them over as he stood up, his shaky legs threatening to give under him.
They ended up with him shoved into Jack’s side as they both shuffled through the flowers. He took one look back at the small patch where he used to lay and then at Jack. A small smile spread across his face.
The flowers told him goodbye.