Plants Abound

Rifts were all similar, at least the portal themselves were. Each one was a giant in terms of height and gave off a soft humming noise as it swirled into itself, unmoving from its fixed locations. A tear in space time, these amalgamations of magic allowed the traveller to move from one world to the next with absolutely no effort and no limitations. If you could fit it, you could move it, it was that simple. Going through it was as easy as just walking right into a brick wall, only without the added pain and injury.

And if said wall telerported you to a whole new plane of existence.

Perhaps Jak's only gripe when entering the Rift was that unless your entire body was completely through the portal, you wouldn't be able to see anything at all but a swirling vortex. This meant that one had to be careful when entering its vicinity since practically anything could be situated on the other side, from dangerous beast to unwelcome weather. Even if you could predict and properly analyze what was on the other end, it was always a gamble to walk through one as each and every world possessed its fair share of issues, be it environmental, political, or social. The world of 'Ard Araml was no different for any of those same aspects. It was due to this reason that only Adventurers or those capable of defending themselves were usually allowed through the Rifts.

Following Yokino through the iridescent rays of magic, Jak and company finally set foot into the Desert World of 'Ard Araml, leaving Ornera behind them.

It was hot. That was the first thing Jak noticed when he stepped into the sandy dunes.

Unbearably hot. Even as the youth moved forward, he could feel his skin tanning under the dual stars hanging at the sky's pinnacle. For someone who could adjust his internal temperature freely with magic, Jak could only imagine how everyone else was faring.

Raising his hand, the fiery redhead shielded his eyes as he glanced around, simultaneously following the Coalition as they finished pooling into the world. As far as he could see, waves of high crested dunes spread out in every direction, making it difficult to see what might lay in its vast depths.

Even with proper knowledge of the location, one would arguably have to have spent their whole lives in that world just to understand the geography.

As the last remnants of the Guilds trudged into the virtual sea of sand, Jak and the Water Wolves moved over to the very edge of the groups, near the same side where the Aries Vice Captain and her squad had moved to. It was unclear as to what came next, but the fiery redhead assumed they were waiting for Obinay to give the Guild Coalition some sort of direction. This was backed by the fact that Obinay had whipped out a map and a compass from his position atop one of the carriages.

"So, I guess we're here," Mako whispered, just loud enough for his Guild and Jak to hear. "This is pretty exciting."

"Pretty hot more like it," Kungo muttered.

There was a wave of agreement from Mako's other squadmates, of which even Jak gave a nod of agreement. The two suns in the sky were really doing a number on him, though it wasn't anything he couldn't put up with for more than a few days.

"Well, we'll only have to deal with it for a few hours optimally." Mako held out the palm of his hand, a ball of water rapidly forming onto it, growing bigger and bigger until it was the size of a swimming pool. "For now, maybe this will help."

A number of nearby Guilds looked over as Mako tossed the giant water bubble into the air, letting it splash down onto Jak and the rest of the Water Wolves. As if on cue, a number of others seemed to have the same idea, other water users summoning some spheres of liquid to keep themselves cool. Obinay took note of this and waited until everyone was done before he finally spoke up.

"Alright, let's get started than shall we?" Obinay began the conversation with a smile, eyes scanning the large crowd before him. Standing at around 193cm, he cast quite a decent shadow. "We'll begin the expedition by allocating the rogue Mapel's base. Due to some insider information and multiple sightings of the route he and his guards have taken, the WGC and House Raine have narrowed his base to a spot some 30 kilometers southwest from the Rift. It's well hidden but given the size of the group we've brought, I'm sure one of us will be able to spot it."

A few people cheered, raising their weapons, which made Jak sorta confused since there was nothing to truly cheer about at the moment.

"After the base has been discovered, we'll fan out and cover all possible escape routes before laying siege to it. We'll divide into four squads made up of the larger Guilds whilst the smaller Guilds will fall under the larger ones. Reward money will be given out individually after the excursion is over. Any questions?"

No one said anything, and after a half a minute Obinay gave a small nod.

"Alright then, begin the march."

As the groups peeled around, making their way in the path that Captain Obinay had directed, an unusual color that stood out from the scenery caught Jak's eyes. A line of green dipping and rising over the dunes that had been hidden from sight by the carriages, only being revealed when they shifted course. It didn't fit the environment in the slightest, a patchwork of green in a land of sand, it was surprising that no one else was paying it any attention.

Jak stared at the plants for a second.

"Jak?" Mako questioned, stopping to look back at his friend, his squadmates having already moved forward with the rest of the Coalition. "We gotta keep moving or we'll lose the group."

Jak ignored him for a second as he moved closer to get a better look. There was something that was bothering him the more he looked at it, raising more and more questions.

Kneeling down, the young Rookie ran his fingers over the leaves of the plant, thumbing the flowers that sprouted from the center stalks. The more he observed and fidgeted with it, the more certain he became and the more perturbed he was, the feeling of something being off residing within the pit of his stomach.

He knew what this flower was. The only question was, what was it doing on that specific planet?

"Jak? You Alright man?" Mako walked up to the kneeling redhead, trying to get his attention. "What's the problem?"

"We're in a desert world," Jak muttered, continuing his examination of the plants. "We're surrounded on all sides by grains of sand, of which goes on for miles. Do these plants not seem a little out of place to you?"

"I mean, they do but I'm sure there's an explanation for it."

Jak shook his head. "If they were regular plants. But these aren't even from this world. They're from Noxta, the world of Night. They aren't supposed to be here."

Mako frowned. "The world Of Night? I don't think I know that world."

"The planet has an unusual rotation," Jak explained. "For half the year, one side of the planet gets only a few hours of sunlight whilst the other gets over a dozen hours of night. Due to this, they named the world Noxta, after the goddess of night. These plants only grow on that world."

"Oh."

Jak checked the underside of one of the leaves. "These are Cresca Flowers, ones that are extremely sensitive to light and tend to die if exposed to anything above a certain temperature. By all rights, they should be dead within a few minutes on this world."

"But these ones are surviving just fine," Mako countered, staring at the bright green flowers. "They must've been here a while as well."

"Exactly." Jak frowned as he stood up. "It doesn't make any sense."

The blue haired Rookie scratched the back of his head. "I get what you're saying Jakky but if we don't get going then we're going to lose the group. In a desert world like this, I don't think we can afford to do that. We can worry about the flowers AFTER we've completed the mission, when everything is said and done."

Jak stared at the flowers a tad longer, even after Mako had begun to walk away. Something just wasn't sitting right with him, and it wasn't just the flowers, it was something else though he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"With you here, all the pieces are in place."

The words of Obinay came to mind for some reason. In that particular moment, it didn't make sense to say those words, or at least to phrase them in such a way. Jak and Mako SHOULD have been a small part of the Coalition, not enough to be considered a piece to the puzzle, especially since it was highly unlikely they would make too much of a difference in the coming battle. In comparison to everyone else, they were mere rookies, even if they were far stronger than the average beginner. They weren't qualified to truly count in the grand scheme of things.

So why had Obinay said those words? It was possible that Jak was overthinking the whole thing, but his gut wouldn't let the wording go, clamping onto them with an unwavering grip.

Dusting off the sand from his knees, Jak turned around and followed his friend through the sandy dunes.

As he was catching up, the young Rookie caught sight of a multitude of other vegetation, all of which didn't appear to fit anywhere within the current world. Some of the plants were recognizable to Jak, them being greenery he had seen on other planets, whilst others were a mystery but felt completely unmatched by the surrounding environment. Though not having the time to fully stop and study each one, the pattern was already very clear. Something other than the rogue Mapel was on the planet, something that was spawning plants from sand, a thing mostly impossible without some magical intervention.

Though no one else seemed to truly care, it made Jak feel on edge as he picked up the pace to catch up to the rest of the Coalition.