Username
sschw
Name
Clover
Gender
Male
Favorite Flower and Why:🌻Childhood🌻
Clover’s life began in a cozy tunnel in the middle of a Quaking Grass Meadow. From inside the tunnel where he was kept he would be able to occasionally smell the sweet scents that were swept in by a cool breeze, or see the occasional colorful beetle. The Briza Grass had a calm feel that helped life thrive. It allowed many flowers to grow and attracted birds that lived off those flowers. Overall his home was a pleasant place, he could tell already, although he had never seen it or smelled it clearly. He had always been surrounded in mostly earthy scents and sights, but his parents never came to him appearing scared or stressed so he knew the outside was okay. He felt perfectly happy with how things were.
Clover’s parents hadn’t allowed him to go outside yet. They feared the other visclings might be too much for him at his younger age. He had hatched much later than the others. He didn’t argue with them because he didn’t know there was anyone else, or what the outside was like. It scared him a little but he still enjoyed the occasional gifts his parents brought him from the unknown. The tokens were small items like petals, feathers, pebbles, and occasional special items. The special items were much larger and complete; his first had been when he was young. The bright color instantly caught his eye. It was round with many petals around it and smelled nice. “Clover, do you know what this is?” His mother had asked him, setting the flower in front of him as he had scrambled over. He shook his head, he was reserved even as a viscling. “This is a sunflower. They are a symbol of happiness and give you good luck,” she shifted closer to her viscling as if she were about to tell him a secret. She whispered, “Some even believe that if you eat them, you will become immortal.” Clover silently gasped and quickly shoved the flower toward his mother's face trying to get her to eat part of the flower. She laughed and picked up the small bundle of fur, and the light of his tail illuminated the tunnel around them. His mother hugged him close and he resisted, annoyed she hadn’t eaten the flower but eventually gave in. Clover’s parents were the only viscets he knew and he was extremely attached to them. He wanted them to live forever so they
had to eat the sunflower at some point. His mother set him down and told him to stay put before leaving again. She had left the flower behind. He gently picked up the flower in his teeth and placed it against a wall in the back of the tunnel to keep it safe until his parents returned.
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Another month passed and Clover’s parents decided he should finally be allowed outside. He was both nervous and excited. His father had nudged him forward, up through the tunnel he watched them disappear into every day. Clover was thankful for his tail, it helped him calm down as it illuminated the dark tunnel. Eventually a new light source came into view accompanied by a barrage of new scents and sounds. In his jaws he tightly held the leg of a medium sized bee plush. It was nearly his size at the time but he didn’t care. It had been given to him a few days prior. It had carried the scent of flowers and scents unknown to him, but not nearly as much as he was experienced leaving the cave.
🌻🌻🌻
There was another huge rush of sounds, sights, and scents as he forced himself out of the tunnel into the open. Tall blades of yellow grass were sprouted around him and small purple flowers speckled the earthy ground. More viscets as large as his parents towered over him. There were a few younger but all of them still intimidated him. Although they didn’t seem aggressive and even appeared to be acting friendly, they still terrified him. Then, in the distance something else caught his eye, the sun flowers. They faced nearly straight up in the air at the time facing the sun. Clover trudged through the tall grass ignoring the viscets around him. Something about the sunflowers drew him to them. He felt many eyes on him when he reached the flowers but ignored them. He sat back on his hind legs and tried to stretch up and touch the top of the petals until something crashed into him. “Watch out!” A small voice squeaked. Another viscling just a bit larger than him had knocked him over, and was now standing defensively facing the sunflowers as if they were about to attack him. He stood up confused and walked past the her toward the flowers, but once again the other viscling pounced to him. This time she landed next to him and held him toward the ground with a paw so it was as if he was going to sneak up on something. She turned toward him a bit. Keeping her eyes on the flowers, she whispered, “You need to be careful around sunflowers- the bees like them.” At this point Clover was mildly upset by the viscling. He burrowed his face in his bee plush he still clung to tightly until, once again he heard a small shriek. She was backing away slowly and as Clover looked up a bee landed on his nose. He smiled and slowly stood up, glancing over at his parents as if looking for approval. He was happy and amazed at what was happening. He nearly went cross eyed watching the bee crawling around on his nose before it flew off to land on the sunflower above him. “Wow,” the other viscling said in awe as she watched the bee fly away, wide eyed. “How did you do that? Bees sting everyone- especially if you try to take their honey,” she asked him as she stood up. “I-I don’t know.. I was just nice to it. We both like sunflowers,” Clover replied quietly. He was beginning to feel more comfortable and talkative. “What’s your name? I’m Clover,” he piped up and approached the other viscling, his bee plush still in his jaws. She replied cheerfully, “My name is Anise!”
Clover began to feel safer around Anise. The whole first year of his life she helped him feel secure in the meadow, introducing him to unknown viscets and teaching him how things worked there. She showed him her favorite spots around the meadow, where the best berries were, and even after some persuasion, the main bee hive of the meadow. This was Clover’s favorite spot. Bright sunflowers were sprouted all around a large tree on the edge of the field where the yellow grass would merge with the green foliage of the forest. The golden petals of the sunflowers complemented the Quaking Grass.
🌻🌻🌻
Clover lied in the tall grass at the base of the tree where the bee hive was built. He had named it the Sunflower Tree. Clover had no problem spending hours of his time there on days Anise stayed with her parents. The quiet buzz of the bees and calming scent of the honey mixed with sunflowers. His head started to droop as he drifted into sleep, but was awoken by a loud crunch. Clover jolted awake and perked his ears hoping to locate the sound. Quiet pawsteps shuffled through the grass behind him. He recognised the small pawsteps of his best friend. He stood as they approached and turned toward the source, but the light steps suddenly stopped. “Gotcha!” Anise laughed, pouncing on him. He fell over and they rolled into the forest of sunflower stems. “That's not fair! I was sleeping!” Clover complained, but his smile remained. “Pftt, yeah right! You were sleeping while standing, very understandable.” Anise backed up toward the tree preparing to pounce on him again. Moments before she backed into the tree the flowers above rattled with a thundering buzz. Anise had backed extremely close to a lower section of the hive, and the bees remembered who she was.
She had caused problems for the bees before, because she loved honey. She had told Clover the story once; it had been the first time she showed him the Sunflower Tree. The small visclings were sitting near the base of the stems. “Not too long ago actually, I got stung real bad right here. My dad was out with me talking about how to get honey from bees without disturbing them. We use honey all sorts of ways for healing, and for our tea. Anyway, he wanted me to try and get a small piece of honeycomb. Lets just say, we ended up jumping into the river in the end,” Anise looked to him to see his reaction after finishing her story and looked suprise to not see even a hint of fear in his eye. “You aren’t scared? We are at the base of their hive!” she whispered, “You just got lucky with the first bee, these would kill you if they got a chance.” Clover seemed disturbed by her last comment,
killed? Then the idea struck him and the memories of the sunflower his mother brought him came flooding back. “I know you don’t like it here, but I do. Would you stay here too if the bees couldn’t kill you?” He asked her. She turned her head, puzzled by the odd question. “How would you do that?” Clover pushed his way between the sunflower stems in response, picking through them until he found a fallen sunflower and dragged it out by the stem. He set the flower down and Anise sniffed it with a confused expression. “What is this for?”
“It's a sunflower. My mom told me a secret about them when I still lived in the tunnel.”
“Really? What is it?”
“If I tell you, you need to promise to never tell anyone, ever! Or it might stop working!”
“I promise I won't ever tell anyone.”
Clover gazed around to make sure no one was within range and whispered, “If you eat a sunflower, then you can live forever!” Anise’s eyes lit up. “Wow!” She looked back to the sunflower, “have you eaten one yet?” Clover was expecting that question. “I haven’t yet, but you need to first,” he spoke as he pushed the flower toward her. He snipped the stem off with his teeth so she could have the flower part of it, which she ate gratefully. As a viscling he never suspected that it was just a myth, because to him sunflowers
are magic. The flower itself was the shape of the sun, and the bright petals bloomed in layers like rays of sunlight. They seemed more alive than other flowers because they were smart. Clover thought of the sun as their leader because of the way they followed it throughout the day. When he had showed interest in sunflowers, his mother had told him many stories about them and the sun. They remained loyal to the sun no matter what the weather, and the sun always moved forward and led those who were like the sunflowers toward the future. The sunflowers gave Clover hope and the inspiration to travel one day to follow the sun and overcome anything that tried to get in his way.
A shriek snapped Clover from is memories. Anise was staring at him, bees dotting her coat and face. The fact she was still standing there told him she hadn’t been stung yet, but it could still happen if she panicked. Anise was tensing up preparing to run and the buzz grew, but Clover stopped her. “Be calm and they won’t-” he paused as a few bees started to settle on him also. He continued quieter, “show them that you don’t mean to hurt them or steal from them. If you respect them they will respect you too.” Her breathing slowed and the bees calmed down as she did. Eventually they dispersed, and the tired visclings returned home.
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Clover and Anise remained very close friends throughout their childhood. He told her about his dream to be a wanderer and follow the sun like a sunflower until he found a good place to get honey, and promised to give her some later. She didn’t laugh at him like he expected, rather she told him she had a similar dream to travel the world forever to help others. She claimed the flower had worked and she
was immortal now, then proceeded to force him to eat one too. She said another viscet told her that she was now, but no one believed her because there was no trace of another viscet, and she was just a viscling. Clover believed her because she was his best friend and wouldn’t lie to him, although she did occasionally tell some tall tales. They were both excited for the day they would leave, and apprehensive because that would be the day they split up for a longer time period than ever before.
🌻Dream🌻
The day finally arrived that Clover and Anise would leave. They agreed to not follow each other because in the end they had different goals and would only hold one another back. It was strange to their pack for them to leave because most viscets there never left. They were content in their pack and had access to everything they would ever want. Some even saw Anise and Clover as greedy, wanting more than what they already had, but most were still kind to them. Clover’s parents appeared to be
happy he was leaving. They had tried to convince him to stay, but after enduring their pleading without his plan wavering his mother was assured he was strong enough to make it on his own. They had a short goodbye before his father shooed him back to the crowd where Anise was. She was already prepared to leave and a crowd had gathered to watch them go. The crowd parted as Clover approached, but he heard a
Wait! from behind and turned around. His mother was running after him holding a small pot with a young sunflower planted in it. As she handed the pot over she looked as if she were about to cry. Clover choked back tears, "Goodbye, mother.. I'll never forget the stories you’ve told me." He quickly turned around to avoid looking at her face any longer. He knew the sooner he left the less of a chance there would be of him ending up sobbing. Once again the crowd moved and he quickly walked to Anise. He noticed small tear stains on her face. Her parents were lost in an accident earlier that year and she had returned from visiting their grave moments before Clover met up with her in the crowd. This was way more attention than they expected, so they walked away together. They shouted their goodbyes back to the crowd and walked together until their old meadow was out of site. Anise stopped, so Clover did as well and set his sunflower down on the ground with his worn bee plush also placed safely inside. Clover glanced back at his old home before looking to where Anise was. She stared to the rising sun ahead of them. Together they stared into the brilliant mix of oranges and reds. The two viscets then met each other's gaze, as if contemplating the moment. Clover could feel a tug at his heart, and he practically tackled Anise into a hug; tears revisited his eyes as she returned the hug.
"I-I’m going to miss you," he choked the words out. He didn't want to let go, and neither did Anise. "Shut up clover," she snapped back, “We’ll see eachother again, someday.” She managed a muffled reply, crying into his fur. They both remained in the hug for a long time, before they finally let go of each other. Clover couldn't help the tears anymore, as he smiled sadly at her. “We will-” Clover pushed Anise back by her shoulders, “Hey, remember, I still owe you honey!” he forced a laugh in an attempt to lighten the mood. Anise laughed lightly, a small smile now on her face. “I’ll see you later, OK?” Anise began to back away, distancing herself from Clover. “I’ll see you later, ” he looked once again up toward the rising sun, “Take care, Anise,” he spoke softly, before turning and walking away.
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Clover had traveled for nearly a year. Most parts of his travel had been fun and he enjoyed every minute of it and was happy about his choice to leave. He met many viscets and saw natural landforms he never would have thought possible. He even appreciated the occasional obstacles that he would have to overcome. His life was an adventure, although there was one obstacle he couldn’t overcome. He began to grow lonely, and once that settled in it began to affect his perspective and mood. The waterfalls he came across became dull, and he rejected the happy greetings of the viscets who would approach him in other packs or towns. He pushed everyone away. Eventually he gave up on his dream all together when he came across a field of Quaking Grass like that his home had. He used seeds from the sunflower his mother gave him to plant rows up rows of sunflowers to try to cheer himself up. In the center stood makeshift hives. They were built better than his own home. He lived in a small shack with a window and bed inside. A wobbly stool stood in front of the window where his potted sunflower could sit. The shack around his flower prevented it from following the sun.
🌻🌻🌻
It was a morning like any other. He woke up to tend to his bees as the sun rose. Some had moved in months ago to fill the hives he built. He is gentle with them and kind, treating them as someone would treat any other pet. They were all he had left other than the occasional visits from Anise. As he was checking the hives for honey he remembered something, Anise would be visiting soon! His mood brightened and he searched faster for the honey. Everything needed to be perfect. He scrambled to take his collected honey inside for the final processes. As he went to close the door he heard something he hated to hear, the thunder of an approaching storm. He set the honey down and dashed outside. He turned his head to the sky to see dark storm clouds rumbling closer as lightning tore through the sky. Clover’s roughly crafted hives couldn’t survive a storm like this. He grabbed a nearby pole he kept for storms and began to carry it. It was one of many supports he had to get in place in order to secure a tarp to shield his bees. He approached a deep hole in the ground where the pole could go without fear if it falling over. He hoisted the pole up into the air.
⚡⚡⚡
He could see nothing but light and a sound exploded around him with a force that knocked him off his feet. Nothing made sense at the time and all he knew was he couldn’t see, and his paws burned more than a bee sting ever could.
⚡⚡⚡
“Clover! Are you awake?” a familiar voice echoed through his mind. Clover couldn’t tell if he was dreaming or not. His fuzzy thoughts began to come together and he remembered everything from the bright flash to the burning sensation in his paws. He forced his heavy eyes open and saw a fuzzy image in front of him. It was Anise, but something was very wrong. She was blurred to the point the he might not have recognized her if it hadn’t been for her voice. Panic took over and he began to wildly search the room with his eyes and blink to clear his vision but nothing worked. He shifted his gaze to the window and felt as if he had once again been struck in the head. “Calm down, you are lucky the sunflower worked,” she paused, “You were struck by lightning.”
Lightning? He couldn’t believe it. He knew it wasn’t actually the sunflowers that saved him. He wasn’t a child anymore and knew his mother had only told him that story to inspire him. “Oh thank goodness! You’ve been out for days!” Anise had taken care of him after he was struck. She rushed to reach his home when the storm was coming, but when she arrived it was chaos. The lightning had started a fire and Clover could have died from the strike itself, the flames, or smoke inhalation. His luck saved his life initially, then Anise did the rest.
⚡⚡⚡
As his strength and sight returned Anise allowed him to move around his house, but wouldn’t let him look out the window. She claimed it was only because the light was bad for his eyes, but he knew it was something more. Clover made his way toward the door. As he approached he got suddenly anxious, scared of what he would see. He rushed outside and the rays of light felt as if they pierced right through his eyes into his head. A dizzy sensation caused him to stumble as he forced his eyes shut. Anise helped him gain his footing with a gentle paw on the shoulder. Slowly he opened his eyes to see the fuzzy remnants of his bee hives and garden. They were little more than piles of ash and half destroyed structures. Not a single bee or standing flower was in his blurry vision. Clover trudged toward his garden of sunflowers. It appeared to be only brown and black ash, until a small spot of bright color began to approach him. He continued forward to meet it, feeling his heart drop more and more with every crunch of dead plant he heard as he walked forward. With an outstretched paw he reached the small spot. The bee landed on his hand like a bird would to its perch. Clover stared at the bee before raising his paw higher with the intent of letting it leave to find a new home and foodsource. The bee took off toward his shack. He followed it into his home where it had settled on the middle of the last sunflower. His gift was now wilted from being moved from the sun while Anise cared for him. He picked up the pot gently as if it were the most important thing in the world and carried it outside. He was amazed the bee stayed through the whole process. Then as if it were meant to be, the bee took of toward the sun. Clover understood now what he was meant to do. He returned to his dream of traveling. His flower pointed to the sun every dawn and dusk so he could watch the flower itself to see what direction to travel. His eyes never stopped being sensitive to light, but this proved helpful at night. The illumination from his tail was perfect to light the area just enough for him to travel safely. Anise had helped him along the first few days, but he convinced her to go follow her dream also. The sunflower is a symbol of hope and guidance to Clover and leads him through his life
🌻🌻🌻
CREDITAnise is owned by
BluKitty53Art is a collab done by blu and I. Blu did the lineart and color. I did the shading and background.