“You have a lot of nerve calling us giant,” V’rone growled. “When you’re the biggest fucking flowers we’ve ever seen!”
“V’rone, don’t insult them!” Rive hissed, but the two giant daisies didn’t seem offended at all.
“My Word! They can speak!” the first one exclaimed.
“Speaking skinkles! Bless my soul!” the second one said. “What will everyone think of such a thing?”
“Are you the Froozles?” Terra asked loudly, taking a chance.
“Why yes we are, young lady. Bless me—never thought I’d be speaking to a skinkle.” The first daisy chuckled. “I’m Tompkins and this is Reginald,” it went on, introducing itself and its friend. “And you are?”
It seemed rude not to give their names especially since the daisies seemed friendly—even if they were enormous.
“I’m Terra,” Terra said. “And this is “V’rone, and Tem’blx, and Rive. We’re on a peaceful mission, just passing through your land,” she added.
“It’s a good thing you come in peace or we should’ve have been dreadfully frightened,” the daisy named Reginald said gravely. It gave the other daisy a look and then both of them burst into peals of laughter so hearty it made their petals and leaves quiver.
“Uh, well, I guess we’ll be moving on now,” Terra said, hoping they could just keep going.
But unfortunately, it seemed they couldn’t just move on. While they had been talking with Reginald and Tomkins, the other daisies had been waking from what seemed to be a mid-day nap and were all chatting among themselves. Before they knew it, the daisy with the royal purple and gold-edged petals was suddenly in front of them, blocking their way.
“Here now, Reginald, Tomkins,” it said in a deep, blustery voice. “What have we here?”
Both daisies bowed, swaying on their thick but supple stems.
“They appear to be giant skinkles, Your Majesty,” the daisy called Reginald said respectfully.
“Not only that—they can talk!” Tomkins added.
“You’re pulling my petals!” the royal purple daisy exclaimed.
“No, Your Majesty—honestly, we’re not! Go on, say something,” Tomkins said to Terra, poking at her with one of the long green leaves that grew out of the sides of his stalk. V’rone growled and batted it away.
Terra cleared her throat and lifted her chin.
“Greetings, Your Majesty,” she said clearly to the king Froozle. “I am Terra and these are my companions, V’rone, Rive, and Tem. We are on a peaceful mission and are only passing through your beautiful land.”
“Why, prune my branches and call me a bud!” the king Froozle exclaimed. “They do speak. Hello, my dear! It’s very nice to meet you!” And he extended one long thin leaf which had fronds at the end of it that looked rather like green fingers.
“Er, hello,” Terra said. She reached around V’rone, who was still planted firmly in front of her, to take the king daisy’s “hand” and shook politely.
She felt like she was in the middle of some surreal dream, but the cool, firm grip of the daisy and the way it was peering at her with bright golden eyes felt real enough.
“And hello to your companions, too,” the king continued. “I take it they are guarding you, but I assure you, my dear young lady, that there is no need. We Froozles are pacifists.”
“Ah, thank you. That’s good to hear,” Terra said, smiling in relief. “It’s all right, boys,” she told the Monstrum. “You can stand down a little bit.”
V’rone was still frowning mistrustfully but he stepped aside so it was easier for Terra to see the king daisy.
“I am King Randolph Percival the fourth, ruler of the Froozles,” he told her, as he at last released her hand. “But you may simply call me ‘Your Majesty’ or ‘Your Highness’ like everyone else.”
“Oh, er, thank you, Your Majesty,” Terra said respectfully. “I hope you don’t mind, but we’re on a kind of quest and we need to keep going.”
“Oh but certainly you have time for a meal?” the king daisy asked hopefully. “We don’t often have such amusing guests and we’re just about to sit down to a very tasty repast.”
“Er…” Terra tried to think of a way out of this. But then she thought, why should she? Hadn’t she just been thinking how hungry and thirsty she was and how she was worried about V’rone? “Well,” she said carefully. “That’s a very kind invitation, Your Majesty, but how can we be sure that we can eat the same kinds of things you do? We wouldn’t want to offend anyone if we weren’t able to eat what we were served.”
“Oh, as to that, I’m certain we can find you something!” the king exclaimed.
“We can’t eat dirt, I’m afraid,” Terra said quickly, thinking of what flowers used for nutrients back on Earth.
“Dirt?” King Randolph Percival the fourth stared at her blankly. “My dear young lady, whatever makes you think I would serve my valued guests dirt?”
“Oh, um…” Terra cleared her throat. “We…we have, er, plants that look a lot like you back on my home world and they eat dirt—or at least they grow in it and get their nutrients from it. So I thought…”