It had been a short journey to Cecil’s new home, It seemed to be very nearby, Magnus felt quite excited going outside as a full Floret and being able to show off his new collar, A few Affini had petted him and Mabel as they’d passed and the touch felt completely delightful, almost addictive. 

Exdela set them both down outside of a hab and attached a vine to both of their collars using it as a leash and tenderly pulled them forward, Magnus could hardly bear to be physically separated from his Owner and rushed forward to cling to one of their vines and received the gentle brush of a vine through his hair which he instinctively nuzzled into.

The hab door opened and his Owner took them inside, The first thing Magnus glimpsed the sight of was Cecil wearing a red collar and sleeping almost as if a cat upon a lap of vines, A vine lightly taps her cheek and her eyes drowsily opened before suddenly filling with excitement as she sighted the three of them.

Magnus unexpectedly felt himself get picked up by his Owners vines and found himself and Mabel being placed upon another lap of vines that seemed to come from his Owner who then sat down placing him in a similar position to Cecil, He felt another pair of vines lightly pet him and looked up to see Cecil’s Owner “I don’t believe I’ve met either of you cuties in person before, My name is Oleander Labelle, 1st Bloom”  

“I’m Mabel Rine, First Floret, Miss” Mabel chirped, Magnus quickly decided to take her lead “Magnus Rine, Second Floret, Miss” He copied.

“Aren’t you two just the most adorable connivents?” She said as she began to pet them more “I believe I also have you two to thank for bringing my precious Cecil to me, She’s been so very happy since she became my pet, Haven’t you dear?” 

“Yes, Mistress!” Cecil eagerly agreed, It seemed a far cry from the rebel girl he had seen in what felt like ages ago but she certainly seemed very happy to be lazing upon her Owner and thinking about it Magnus thought that this was probably the first time he had seen Cecil actually smile. 

“Now what would you all say to some cuddling and Floret cuts?” Exdela asked, A rhetorical question, of course, Before Magnus could respond he felt a slight prick in his arm and felt a slight mewl escape from his lips as he felt the familiar warm wave of pleasure of a Class A course through his veins and he began to happily sink into an onslaught of vines and bliss.

Captain Maaria Ferocium was sitting in her office alone looking out into space from a window, A half empty bottle of vodka on her desk, She felt the most intense frustration, the resistance was getting nowhere, every day the Affini captured more and more rebel ships and they certainly weren’t getting anymore anytime soon. But what hurt most of all was that the Affini had succeeded in kidnapping her brother.

How could she call herself a protector of Terra when she couldn’t even protect her own family from the weeds? The question ran through her mind several times until she slammed her fist into her desk in anger, every day longer he was left there was another day he was probably being worked closer to his grave in their mines or being brainwashed into being one of their slave pets, She had to rescue him as quickly as possible but she couldn’t come up with a single feasible plan to do it, The Affini just seemed too powerful in all regards.

She heard a light knock on the door to her office “Come in” She shouted, A slightly nervous man in a rebel uniform walked in, Felix he was called, He’d been with Maaria from the start of the rebellion, he’d even stayed with the rebels at their resupply stops where many weaker rebels proved too cowardly to return to their duty “We have another communication window Captain, As long as we don’t stay linked for too long you should be able to repeat your demands without being traced” Felix explained, He had always been the tech expert of the ship, He’d figured out how to communicate with the Affini for short periods of time without risking them finding out your location, A few rebels had fallen for that trick and she wanted to make sure that she didn’t join them, It should have been a large win for the rebellion but there was just nothing to do with it, Maaria had used it to demand her brother back with no success so far but she did feel that continuing surely couldn't hurt, It’s not like things could get worse for the rebellion. “I suppose I might as well, Doubt we’ll have much success though”

Felix seemed to ignore her cynicism entirely as he walked over and handed over a small tablet “You know the drill” He added as he sat down at her desk, She remembered the procedure quite well from how stress-inducing it was, She simply began the transmission and spoke into the tablet as if a microphone being sure to disconnect within a minute, Last time the Affini had just interrupted her demands with propaganda and she expected more of the same this time but she wondered if maybe she’d get lucky as she tapped the tablet awake and began the transmission. 

“This is the Captain of the Para Bellum, Maaria Ferocium speaking, My brother Magnus Ferocium was abducted by the Affini Compact, I demand that he be set free unharmed and—-” 

“Greetings little sprout, I’m glad to hear your voice again, I was so concerned after you cut off so abruptly last time” Maaria sighed and laid her head in her hands, The same Affini as last time. “I’m happy to tell you little one that your brother has become a Floret although many of us do find your protectiveness to be utterly adorable, If you were to just surrender we could find you a lovely owner too” The voice sounded genuinely caring but it merely served to almost make Maaria shiver in unease, To wrap such tyrannical ideas around a facade of gentleness. The statement that her brother had become one of their pets had perked Maaria’s attention though, It couldn’t be true, she refused to accept it “Your lying” She responded dryly. 

“You can see for yourself dear when your finally in the warm vines of your owner, On that note do you have any preferences that they should take into account? favourite food? Any hobbies? Maybe any—”  Maaria disconnected from communication and sat her head back into her hands, Another useless try, She didn’t know why she thought that she’d make any progress this time, It’s not even like they had anything to bargain with in the first place.

Without warning Maaria began to hear an odd sound, One that made the hair on her neck stand to attention, She looked out of the nearest window and saw an Affini ship on the horizon and her face began to fill with dread as it neared closer, She immediately grabbed a small ship-wide radio so hard it also caused it to crack under the pressure “Start the jump drive now!” She barked through before adding “Take us to Ceres, It should be abandoned enough” She ran to her window to check how long they had, The Affini ship was getting dangerously close almost enough to make contact when suddenly Maaria felt the jump drive kick in, She’d underestimated its force and it knocked her to the ground forcefully and her vision went black for a few seconds.

She lethargically opened her eyes again and instantly felt dizzy, She gently moved her head to look out of her window and saw the grey rocks of Ceres instantly filling her with relief. She closed her eyes again, She must have hit her head hard she thought when she suddenly heard loud shouts from outside her office, she looked to Felix, still sitting at her desk and seemed quite nonchalant over everything, She looked back to the window and her heart skipped a beat as she saw another Affini ship mere seconds away, Felix looked at it through the window and seemed to smile or grin, The dizziness made it hard to tell, He walked back and knelt down in front of her “I am sorry, but I couldn’t wait any longer” Maaria managed to get out one word before her vision went black fully. 

“Why?”