The young lily stood atop a tall hill basking in the bright midday sunlight. Stretching once with a groan she tilted her head back to the only home she had ever known and grinned. "Don't worry grandma I'll find a new home for the clan to flourish in!" her words no louder than a whisper as she turned from the small forest lifting and opening her parasol before walking down the hill into the wide plains.
Her humming echoed across the plains as she skipped across the glossy green grass. It had been a few months since she began her journey. Gazing up at the stars Duogaze took a deep whiff of the air taking in the enriched scent of the soil, plants, and other lilies carried by the wind. This was how she was determining her future direction.
Although they were together for only a year grandma had taught her many things. One of those lessons being use every ability to 85% efficiency. The reasoning behind it being if you have the capability to be flexible then there's no need for the enemy to know how good you truly can be. Duogaze thought it was silly but she didn't dare go against the last words of her grandma.
She pulled out a small bark bound book filled with leaves. She carefully traced the imprints on the leaves till she found it. Information about the various Lily clans bringing it up to her nose she let the scents fill her before she found one that smelled similar to the ones carried by the winds.
"Hmm so the closest clan written is called The Nightrider Lily clan, there's another scent with them but it isn't recorded in the book." she rubbed her chin knowing that a clan not in the book meant her clan had little to no interaction with them but being a curious child her feet had already restarted their skipping sprint her parasol hanging comfortably at her hip. "I can't wait to meet them! maybe even make some friends..." she declared loudly at first the second half becoming softer and quieter.
Sometimes she found herself silently wishing that she wasn't the Pollinating Lily. The idea was also very silly to her why did the species die and have to be replanted? She shook her head abandoning the thought with another {It doesn't matter every clan goes through it eventually.} That was just how it was and how it had been for as long as anyone could remember.
It was an early morning when she crested the peak her parasol spread open and propped against her shoulder covering her head from the light. Bouncing on her toes excitedly having caught sight of a small city sitting neatly at the bottom of the valley. The hill wasn't that tall so she could see the city becoming active slowly as doors and windows to buildings opened letting out lilies of all shapes basking in the rays of the sun that beamed into the city.
Descending the hill seemed to be more of a chore than it actually it was due to how excited she was. The book mentioned very little except that they are very showy and described the color of their petals as a deep violet black. As she was getting closer to the base of the hill she noted that scent of the other petals she caught earlier increasing with the help of her heightened senses she noticed that although at first glance they all seemed the same but there was a difference in color.
Some could be described with deep violet black but others.....were more of a very dark black red. From what she read she recognized that the ones colored violet black were more energetic and active then the ones colored black red. She slowed her steps as the guards of the city caught sight of her. Duogaze curtsied just like grandma had taught her introducing herself with practiced ease. "Hello!! I am known as Duogaze I come from a small clan close the Grand Garden's edge." unless asked there was no need to mention her clan. The more a potential enemy knew about you the more danger one would find them exposed too.
The guards nodded back asking her business in the city and how long she intended to stay. "I will be staying for 2 weeks to rest my roots and hope to find information about the surrounding clans." her reply was curt only giving what was asked and nothing more. Nodding again they opened the gate for her to pass through welcoming her to the City of Nightglow home of the Nightrider clan. It was curious that they only mentioned one clan as it was obviously a pairing of two but she wisely chose not to ask.
She lightly skipped looking around at the tall buildings built from tree and stone. There were quite a few signs signifying stores but her inexperience made it difficult to understand the purpose of the stores based off their names and had to use context clues to make guesses. Eventually she came to a building large in width and height with a sign showing the image of a bed along with poppy flowers resting atop it. It was a ominous image but she didn't let it dissuade her from entering as she pushed the door inward squinting a bit as her eyes readjusted to the dim lighting the first room was rather bare with chairs and tables with light designs made with vines there was a counter in the center of the room with a bright red eyed lily smiling at her tilting her head in acknowledgment. Instead of dawdling about she quickly walked over to the counter. "I can request a room to rest here correct?" the lily nodded her head in reply. "Correct you will be staying with us for 2 weeks correct? May I have your name to mark it down in the records."
Duogaze tilted her head at that it made sense to her that the knowledge of how long she would be staying. The city wasn't that large with 2 clans here pretending as if there was only one. It was obvious how close their ties must be so knowledge of outsiders would be spread to those who needed to know swiftly. "Why do you need my name?" it was a simple enough of question that got a quick reply "We take note of those that pass through the city it's only when the guest decides to stay the night we record names down handing over the records from over the year to the inflorescence. As for why they need such information I can only assume it is to better monitor their territories and the happenings within the larger cities."
Duogaze was rather surprised the lily managed to get all of that out in barely 3 breathes. Keeping her cool she nodded thinking that it made sense if that was the case but there was one more thing. "Makes sense but before that could you tell me how much it would cost me to stay here for those 2 weeks?" in truth she did not know this service required fees. This was an educated guess made from how nice the building was and the professionalism of the staff. {It must be a store selling the commodity of rest as a service} she thought to herself. "The fee for 2 weeks is 168 pollen gems." was the reply the lily gave to Duogaze. Which she simply blinked back as if she was talking to someone stupid. She might of been born merely two years ago but she understood the importance of the gems. It dealt directly with the nature of her duty as her clan's Pollinator. So without using words her eyes became sharper and her aura more threatening as she simply glared at the lily who tried to blatantly rip her off. In response to her heated stare the lily chuckled as if she did nothing wrong "Apologies dear guest a small joke on my part your total is 84 gems it's priced at 3 gems per day and night booked with us." although the price was still outrageous she didn't argue this time disturbed by her chuckle "Fine." she let out a soft hmph and received the key and number to her room. "Head right up those stairs and you'll find your room." She directed Duogaze waving her off with a gentle smile and tilt of her head.
"Oh! and before I forget you have a very lovely parasol dear guest." her tone still gentle had a bit of steel to it. Duogaze had almost escaped the first day without providing her name as she knew that was what she really was asking. Without missing a beat or turning around she replied "Thank you!! it's quite a useful tool at times and my name is Duogaze." and before the lily could hold her anymore. She skipped up the stairs finding her room and in one motion unlocking the door sliding inside the room with a sigh before she just as quickly locked the door. Tiredly she dropped face first onto the bed stretching before she decided it was time for a nap.