Chapter 1: A Strange Encounter with Plant Kind

"Hey, Mom! I'm going to the park. I'll be back before dinner," I shouted into my house as I walked out the door.

"Ok, Hana. Have fun, ok?" her muffled response came from another room.

"'K"

I stepped out of the door and headed down the street, my bag swinging from my arm. I knew the way. I go to this park whenever I can because it's like my last link to my old life. I miss the rolling green plains. The city seems too cramped and dirty. The park is the only place that seems clean and open. Once I got to the park, I sat down near the flower bed and went to work.

I have to keep my sanctuary beautiful for me and for everyone else. This is what I do best, I thought to myself as I carefully planted some flower seeds.

"You're very good! I'm impressed! Here I thought all humans didn't care about nature at all!" a happy voice said.

I looked up, trying to find the source of the voice. I looked around but saw no one. I must be going crazy. Did someone really talk to me?

"Silly human. I'm down here," the voice said, mildly amused by my confusion.

I looked down to see a cabbage… or at least, what looked like a cabbage. The "cabbage" had big black eyes that sparkled with amusement, short stubby legs that supported the little body, and a small fanged mouth that was curved into a smile.

"Hello! My name is Kyabe!" the creature said jovially.

I jumped back, alarmed.

"Y-you just talked," I managed to say.

"Of course I did, silly! Why couldn't I talk?"

"Y-you're a… a cabbage. Cabbages can't talk," I said flatly.

"I'm not a cabbage!" the creature huffed, "I'm Kyabe, an alien from the planet Shizin."

"How is that any better?"

"It just is, ok? Anyway, what's your name? Pinkie?"

"Don't make fun of my hair! My name is Hana. Hana Kojo," I replied, somewhat angrily.

"Alright, Hana. You have been chosen! You will be the carrier of the Seed Pocket!"

"The what? Seed Pocket?"

"Yes! The Seed Pocket is very important to my planet's survival. I have deemed you worthy of using and protecting it."

"Wait. Time out. You're telling me that you trust me enough that you're going to give me something detrimental to your planet's wellbeing? Are you crazy? You just met me!"

"Of course I trust you, silly! I saw the way you cared so much for the seeds you were planting. That's extremely important, you know."

"Why is that important? I don't understand."

This cabbage was making no sense.

"Why don't I just show you?"

Kyabe produced a bag from… who knows where.

"This is the Seed Pocket. Can you guess what's inside?"

"Um… seeds?"

"Correct! They're not just any seeds though. Each seed contains a different warrior. Only someone who cares a lot about nature can make them appear."

"How can warriors be inside seeds? You're not making any sense."

"You'll soon find out what I mean," Kyabe said gravely as she looked up at the sky.

I looked up to see what she was looking at. When I saw it, my knees nearly buckled. Above us was a huge, cloud-shaped aircraft. That sounds like a nice scene, but something about it was sinister.

"W-what's that?" I asked, terrified of the answer.

"They're here," was all Kyabe said.

Suddenly, something was shot from the ship. It looked like a big black blob… that was headed right for us. We scrambled out of the way just as the projectile landed. As soon as it touched the ground, the grass wilted.

"What is that thing?" I almost screamed at Kyabe.

"I'll explain later. You need to call out a warrior, right now."

"How do you do that? What is going on?"

"Just grab a seed and throw it into the air. That should be enough to summon someone," Kyabe instructed, not taking her eyes off the blob.

I reached into the small green bag. I felt a bunch of different seeds, all of them different shapes and textures.

"Which one? I don't know anything about these seeds!"

"Any one will suffice. It won't take much to defeat this guy."

I took a deep breath and grabbed a seed. It felt kind of like a sunflower seed and was shaped like one too. When I pulled it out, I saw that it was a pretty blue color with what looked like a wave pattern.

"Throw it! Hurry, before the Hedoro attacks!" Kyabe urged impatiently.

I nodded and threw the blue seed up into the air. What happened next was utterly amazing. The seed opened and instantly bloomed. However, instead of becoming a flower, the sprout slowly grew into a young woman! I stared in awe at the seemingly magical woman in a blue dress. I noticed that she had a blue lily in her hair to complete the look. After appearing, the woman floated down to the ground and turned to me.

"Hello, young one. My name is Yuri. What is it that you need?" the woman said, curtseying to me.

I was too speechless to say anything. All I could do was point to the blob Kyabe called Hedoro. Yuri turned and nodded.

"I understand. I will take care of that monster before it can harm anything else."

She then proceeded to throw what looked like water at the Hedoro. As the water flew through the air, it took on the shape of a knife. The water knife pierced the blob's head. Do blobs have heads? The Hedoro made a sound similar to a scream before dissolving into smoke.

"What just happened?" I asked, dazed.

"Is that all, young one?" Yuri asked, not answering my question.

"I guess so. Does she need to do anything else, Kyabe?" I asked as I turned toward the little cabbage.

"No. They only fired one Hedoro."

With that, Yuri became a seed once again. I picked up the oval-shaped blue seed and put it back in the Pocket.

"Will you finally tell me what's going on? All this mystery is making me nervous," I asked Kyabe, growing impatient.

"I guess. It's getting late though. We should probably head home."

I looked up at the sky. It was starting to get dark.

"Wait a minute! You said "we". How exactly am I going to explain you to my parents?"

"That's easy! You won't have to. I can make myself invisible if I need to. I can't wait to see your house!"

I groaned. I had a feeling I wasn't going to like any of what Kyabe had to tell me.