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Undergrowth had finally found her again- his little plant, a cutting off of humanity. Few other things were worth saving like this one was.
Undergrowth hadn't treated this one especially well, so focused on getting a takeover complete that the process had been put off.
Even with that plan fallen through, Undergrowth would see the mistake rectified.
The greenhouse overseeing this seed had whispered to him, spoken well and true. Plants from wall to wall speaking of care. They were glad to see their mother ascend.
Inside the lifeless house, Undergrowth picked the cutting.
Horrible place for a plant, decorated like poison.
A wave of his hand saw the whole thing overtaken with new children. Reckless, perhaps. The dreadful little icicle was still around somewhere, afterall.
But it didn't matter, really, because Undergrowth was gone before even the greenhouse plants could speak to the improvement.
The cuttings non-resistance to sleeping spores would have to be corrected, but the effect alone was enough for now.
Few humans seemed to appreciate the work that cultivation was, to the point even loyal cuttings seemed fearful. It would be easier to start with her mind dulled than not.
First she was laid flat, the grass beneath her form reaching to restrain in case the dose hadn't been enough.
Flowers bloomed around her, and soon roots propagated atop the skin.
Doleful eyes opened, uncomprehending. The grass tightened in response.
The roots found their weak point, piercing the skin in one swift motion.
She did not scream, though whether it was stalwart determination or the spores lingering was beyond Undergrowth's interest. She simply lay, an open mouth wound frozen with more spreading roots. The entry point would make it even easier.
Each and every flower bloomed, widening faster than any mortal plant. There were many kinds atop, all important, all waiting.
Undergrowth was large enough to be the flower's wind, a hand swiped well over shaking everything below to its core.
The fuzz of pollen puffed out, trailing after the vacuum from his hand.
With a swipe in the other direction, and a little bit of will, the flowers pollinated themselves.
Undergrowth couldn't see the cutting beneath the blooms now, petals pointing back towards stems.
These would not be any seeds though.
Petals fused to stems, single pods rapidly forming.
Rapidly bursting.
Undergrowth was now impressed she wasn't screaming, even with the roots likely entangled in lungs.
The nectar was a slow acid though, a pioneer for the next plant.
The roots matted fervently as she writhed, uselessly straining against her fate.
Along each root, now forming bark like branches as the mat grounded itself, were sprouting twigs.
Undergrowth let them carry on. Meddling in what she became was not the point; far from it.
Carrying on would take weeks at least, possibly years. Undergrowth had never seen decades, but the possibility was there.
The island they were on, one of Undergrowth's own carefully curated spots, continued on its endless path through the zone. Undergrowth closed its eyes, and slept, for waiting on this to be done right was going to be the most important part.
Undergrowth couldn't put a finger on how long it was before the little icicle found the island finally, naps coming up and down as things developed, but it was definitely a while.
Undergrowth was, by all means, camouflaged in the jungle he had placed around his new seed. The icicle likely knew he was there somewhere, but clearly hadn't noticed Undergrowth attached to the landscape.
"Saaaaam." It whined, looking around like calling her old name would help.
It correctly identified the bush as strange, larger than a human house would be.
The skins of the fruits were frosted, but the icicle's held ecto-light to one showed the outline of a body.
Undergrowth didn't wait for it's plan, plucking it by the collar.
Ice resistant vines wrapped around it even as it glowed an ominous blue, and by the time it released the power the vines had their hold complete.
"What are you doing to her?" It hissed, accusatory.
"Seeds need to have the human bits removed. A sap from pods to dissolve, the original root mats to transfer, and my managing to make sure the spirit is whisked through the branches."
The blue overpowered Undergrowth's vines, and several branches were victims to ecto blasts.
The fruits weren't stable constructs though, not without their attachment to the stem. On the branches' deaths, the skins ripped open. Even with the fruits quick crash to the ground, the bodies dropped faster.
For the price of two branches, there were three. One who's hair had modified to petals, their soft purple color truthfully rather pleasing. One who's body was more bark than skin, pricks of green leaves showing through this early being somewhat miraculous. And one that might have looked almost normal at first, but if the icicle had inspected would see the thorns for teeth.
It threw up, which was honestly just sad.
Undergrowth had it by the collar again in short order, giving it a knowing tsk-tsk.
"Now now, while only one fruit will see picking, it'll hardly help her to kill all her possible iterations."
"I-I'll! Do-"
"Something, I'm sure, but very little that won't kill her for good. Is this your intent?"
It stammered, and ran once Undergrowth lost grip on its suit. Undergrowth noticed later it took the thorn-teeth corpse with it, which wasn't of relevance.
The body's exit from the island would ensure it never woke, slowly decaying beneath the icicle's nose.
Undergrowth carefully scooped up the two abandoned bodies, humming to himself.
The petal-haired one opened its eyes, uncomprehending. Undergrowth was sure the psychic bond to the rest hadn't actually broken, meaning whichever iteration he chose would certainly remember this mistake.
Regardless, neither were ready yet. The bark body of the other was already going grey, clearly too unstable to make an emergency pick.
Undergrowth squished both in his hand, and laid the pulp to the roots of the bush.
There would be plenty of others to pick from, despite the misfortune. His seed just needed some more time to mature.