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Mushrooms talk to each other using their mycelium network, thousands of tiny threads in the dirt, telling each other if they need something.
—
“You alright?” Yelle asked, softly.
Katja was slumped over, with shiny eyes, in the hallway. “I’m fine.”
“Okay,” Yelle said, as they sat down beside her. “You okay with me being here?”
Katja waited a second. “Yeah. It’s okay.”
“Good,” Yelle said.
They sat there, for a second, just waiting. And then-
“There’s this boy, in my fighter class,” Katja said, breaking the silence. “He sucks.”
“I’m sorry,” Yelle said. “Do you want me to put termites in his locker?”
“Termites?” Katja asked.
Yelle bumped their shoulder against Katja’s. “They’d eat his homework.”
“As if he does homework,” Katja huffed. “He- he makes some kid do it for him, I think.”
“Not you?” Yelle asked.
“No,” Katja said. “Not me.”
“How about bees, then?” Yelle asked. “Or stink bugs?”
Katja cracked a smile. “You would really put stink bugs in his locker?”
“It’s his fault for not seeing the inherent beauty in them,” Yelle said. “And, you know, going after you. I’d release a million stink bugs on him for that. Could give him bed bugs, too-“
“I think that might be overkill, Yelle,” Katja said.
“Nothing’s overkill for you,” Yelle replied. “Or any of us maidens. Including killing. Not off the table. Controlled burns, y’know?”
“I don’t think killing a bully counts as a controlled burn,” Katja said.
“Damn,” Yelle said. “But the stink bug thing?”
“Do it,” Katja said, smiling brightly for the first time in the whole conversation.
Yelle stood up, a druid on a mission.
—
Plants release pheromones into the air to alert other nearby plants of danger.
—
“Sam!” Yelle called out, her voice more impassioned than it normally was. “Behind you!”
“Thanks,” Sam said, as she dodged the training arrow flying past her. “On your left, Yelle!”
It was Yelle’s turn to dodge, as a rock flew towards them.
“Hey,” Ostentatia said, as she dodged more rocks. “Wanna do the- damn, there’s a lot of rocks- the thing we were talking about?”
“Think it’ll work?” Yelle asked.
Ostentatia shrugged. “No time like the present, right?”
And then she sprinted off, before Yelle could say anything else.
“Behind you, Katja!” Antiope called out.
“Behind you, Antiope,” Zelda said.
Antiope laughed. “I can’t be caught off guard.”
“You were totally caught off guard,” Sam said.
“Totally,” Katja echoed.
“Well, so did you,” Antiope said. “Are you-“
“I’m fine,” Katja said.
Yelle sent out a torrent of vines at the one attacking Katja, just to be sure.
“Thanks!” Katja called out.
“Where’s Penny?” Antiope asked.
“She’s Penny,” Sam said. “She’s somewhere.”
“Now!” Ostentatia yelled.
Yelle shot out a burst of earth, under where Ostentatia was standing, and thrust Ostentatia in the air. She crushed one of their training opponents with her hammer. An arrow-
“Down!” Yelle yelled back, as she move the tree to shield Ostentatia.
“Yelle, your left!” Penny yelled, as she finished sneak attacking someone.
Yelle turned, and spat a swarm of wasps into her attacker’s face.
“How many of their team are left?” Katja asked.
“I do magic, not math,” Sam said.
“You totally do math,” Ostentatia said.
“Okay, well, not during magic!” Sam called out. “On your left!”
“But you can do directions?” Antiope asked.
“Are those even related?” Katja asked.
“Fractions are the directions of math,” Zelda said.
“Hell no,” Antiope said. “Graphs are the directions of math.”
“Are graphs even math?” Katja asked.
“I’m gonna get the totem,” Penny called out. “I can see it!”
“I’ve got your back,” Yelle said.
And they meant it.
—
Trees share nutrients through their root systems, giving each other whatever they need.
—
“Hey,” Yelle said, as she walked towards her- her- group. “Baked you giys some bread.”
“You can bake?” Penny asked.
“Did we know you could bake?” Ostentatia asked. “I would have made you make ,y damn birthday cake, if I knew you could bake-“
“We haven’t actually tasted it yet,” Sam pointed out, as she took her loaf.
“Hell yeah I can bake,” Yelle said. They would have mimed holding a blunt, but they still had more loaves to hand out. “Both ways.”
“Both ways?” Katja asked.
“The bread is bisexual,” Zelda said, deadpan.
“The bread is high,” Antiope corrected. “Obviously.”
Katja poked at it. “The bread is… high? Will it-“
“No,” Yelle said. “Although, if you wanted me to make you some brownies…”
“We should at least try to be sneaky about it while on campus,” Penny said.
“That’s your thing,” Sam said. “Not ours.”
“If you listened to me,” Penny said. “It could be your thing, too.”
“Nah,” Ostentatia said. “My whole thing is sparkling, you know.”
“What does this have to do with bread?” Katja asked.
“No idea,” Yelle said.
“Right!” Penny chirped. “Thank you for the bread, Yelle.”
“Yeah!” Katja said. “Thanks!”
“Thank you,” Zelda said.
“Mhm,” Antiope said. “Thanks.”
“Course,” Yelle said.
“What they said,” Ostentatia said. And then, she grinned. “Can we taste it, now?”
“Do you have a bread knife just- in your backpack?” Sam asked.
“I have a knife- like a stabbing knife,” Penny said. “And extra forks!”
“Who uses a fork for bread?” Antiope asked.
“Who uses knives for bread,” Ostentatia said. She had already opened her container of bread, and ripped a chunk of.
“Literally everyone,” Sam said. “Sliced bread was a big deal for a reason.”
“Who says sliced bread is a big deal?” Katja asked.
“Everything’s a big deal,” Yelle said.
“This breads a big deal,” Ostentatia said. “You guys should really try it.”
“Who wants my knife?” Penny asked.
“Did you even clean it after our last fight?” Zelda asked.
“We could use magic to cut the bread,” Katja said.
“Using what?” Sam asked. “Water? Plant magic?”
“Knowing about magic is your thing,” Katja replied. “I’m just the ideas gal.”
“My idea is already perfect,” Ostentatia said. “Come on! Tear some bread!”
And Yelle just smiled, surrounded by her friends.
—
Plants thrive better in a group, than alone.