Fennel stayed until spring, and her companions stayed with her. She concentrated on only three things. Caring for her friends, learning new ways to help others from the guardian, and not dying.
The guardian, and her friends, had to keep reminding her that she came here to heal. After all, the seed did NOT actually create "heartless". It became a new heart. Heartless was simply a term used for those that allowed the heart to grow dark like blackened weeds, instead of strong and gentle, like the founding trees of a forest.
https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-04554-l170-seed-of-life -- Anon Guest
The first symptom was indigestion as the swallowed seed burrowed through her esophagus to make its way to her heart. Literal heartburn as the sprouts wrapped the wound of its own creation and the flawed heart that it was going to replace. For a month, Fennel was barely able to stand, gasping and weak, as the Hartsoke took root.
In the second month, her pulse was thready and hard to read. Fennel was bedbound and close to death. She could hardly whisper her daily prayers, and then in short gasps.
At the beginning of the third month, she fell into a swoon for an entire day. It was Greesh the Reprehensible who sat up with her, held her hand, and recited Fennel's prayers for her. The Kobold screamed their tail off when Fennel awoke and said, "I'm hungry."
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