Lottie

Lottie has spent eons tending to her magical garden all on her own. Her fairies keep her company but she longs for the company of other dragons. Lottie is a dreamer and often thinks about what life would have been like had she grown up with others instead of by herself. She dreams that maybe one day another dragon will come to visit. But she would never leave her garden to fend for itself. If only there were a way to bring it with her.

One day, as Lottie was enjoying a nice stroll through her garden, she heard something in the distance. It sounds like another dragon! Quickly, she makes her way over to see who's out there. When she gets closer, she realizes it isn't another dragon at all — it's a little green fox with flowers growing on it. The two quickly become friends and begin playing together in the garden. Lottie confides in her new foxy friend, telling him her woes in life. He listens intently before offering his own advice. To help ease her loneliness, he suggests they create a magical garden that can be taken anywhere. All Lottie needs to do is put everything into this garden so it can travel wherever she goes. Lottie loves his idea, but she cannot perform such powerful magic. How could she create this traveling garden?

Lottie rushes off to do research for her magical garden. As she works, she finds herself thinking back to when she was younger. When she was very young, she had an older sister named Daisy. Daisy was not related to her by blood, but they loved each other just the same. Daisy taught Lottie everything she knew about gardening. Together, the two spent countless hours tending to their beautiful garden. It was such a special time for them, until one day Daisy passed away. Lottie has tended to her garden ever since, in Daisy's memory. That's why she feels so connected to it. She knows if she can make this traveling garden, she'll finally feel like she can go on living without her sister.

As Lottie continues to work on her project, she discovers a magical seed that seems to be calling out to her. She's not sure what kind of plant it will grow into, but she feels like it may be the key to creating her magical garden.

Lottie does some more research and discovers an ancient spell. It calls for a recipe of sentimental items and a magical ingredient to fuel it. But Lottie is still unsure if she can wield such strong magic herself. She decides to consult a beastclan sage about the spell and its ingredients. She visits a druid sage, who tells her about the magic required to complete the spell and how to obtain the necessary items. However, she warns Lottie that she'll need to gather these supplies on her own. Lottie plans carefully, using the most sentimental items she owns. She decides that the seed she found could serve to fuel the spell. But would she have enough magic of her own to perform the spell? And if she did, would it even work?

With great care, she performed the spell. She places the magical seed inside the garden and waits for it to grow. Over the next few weeks, Lottie grows anxious as nothing appears to happen. She tends to her garden as a distraction from her anxiety, praying to the Gladekeeper that her spell will work. One night, while resting in front of her garden, Lottie sees a bright light. Suddenly, she hears a familiar voice. It's Daisy!

"Hey Lottie!" Daisy's lyrical words pierce her heart as Lottie's eyes fill with tears. As serene as ever, Daisy opens her arms for a hug. When Lottie jumps into Daisy's arms, she finds that Daisy is not all there. She's a beautiful mirage, a ghost in the evening light. Lottie morns as the apparition of her sister soothes her.

"Little Lottie, don't be upset. I will help you tend to your garden once again." Daisy's beautiful voice calms Lottie's worries.

As they smile at one another, Lottie can hear a gentle song coming from her garden. She looks up and sees the green fox appear from the trees. The fox seems especially sassy as he comes to sit in the garden, next to the newly bloomed seedling. He continues to hum his little tune.
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"Oh, what are you doing here?" Lottie asks her foxy friend.

"Well, I'm here to help," replies the fox. His music soothes Lottie's heart as she begins to feel better about the world around her. She thinks that even if she never gets her magical, traveling garden, then she would be happy now she is together with her sister and foxy friend.

That night, Lottie has a dream of Daisy. They're both running through a field together, laughing and smiling. In Lottie's dream, Daisy tells her that she'll always love and protect her sister. But something felt wrong. Daisy sounded wistful, looking her in the face like she was trying to paint a picture. Daisy turns to Lottie and hands her the seedling she had planted in their garden.

"I can't stay, Little Lottie. We cannot change the past." Lottie nods, and holds onto the seedling tightly, holding back her tears.

"I wish I could grow old with you... I promise I will take care of our garden." Daisy gives her sister a kiss on the cheek, then disappears. Lottie wakes up sobbing. She notices through her tears that she is clutching her sister's old trowel to her chest.

That morning, Lottie gathered her belongings together. She carefully packed, knowing her journey ahead would be a long one. She couldn't go on tending to a garden alone, where only the ghost of her lost sister lived. She took her belongings, trowel in hand, and made her way to their garden. Her green fox friend came to watch as she knelt in the dirt next to the robust little seedling.

"What are you going to do now?" He asked her. She began to dig the seedling out of the ground.

"I'm going to find a new home. You can come with if you want to." Lottie replied as she unlodged the tree from the dirt. As she gave the seedling one final pull, unearthing its taproot, the garden around them quickly decayed. Flowers turned to dust and green leaves shriveled and fell to the ground in a brown heap, leaving only black vines and brittle thorns. They both seemed astonished as the garden died. But the seedling seemed to sprout up in her hands, growing several new leaves and even the bud of a flower now. Lottie felt the tears collect in her eyes again.

Daisy entrusted her with this garden, and she was sure now that the magic worked. Where ever she chose to call home, all she needed to do was plant her sapling. The garden would spring back up where ever she went, and she was sure that Daisy would be there too.