Mirann

Seek, and ye shall find.

Mirann dashed through the thick undergrowth of the Foxfire Bramble. Her wings caught on thorns and her claws slashed through branches. She didn't know where she was going, she just knew she needed to leave, and leave now. There wasn't much time, she knew. On her back, swaddled and gently but hastily put in a snug wicker basket, a sleeping Creeping Tendril. She knew that she had to keep it safe; that's all her mother had asked of her before they took her away. Now, this dumb plant was the only thing left of her family.

She heard footsteps race behind her, slowly but surely catching up. She couldn't last much longer, she could already feel her chest heaving and getting sore just from breathing so heavily. Mirann had to do something, otherwise she would be taken and she would never figure out what her mother wanted to find. Why was this plant so important to her?

"Do something!" she hissed at the sentient plant. Its head popped out of the basket, chirping in an almost curious manner. "We're in danger, stop acting so clueless! You're the reason we're in this mess to begin with!" The purple-petaled plant chirped some more behind the ridgeback's head, then she could feel tendrils snaking around her body. Risking a glance downwards, she saw green vines and brown roots surround her body. "What are you doing?! You're going to-"

Mirann's foot stalled under her as the roots reached the ground, stopping the both of them in their tracks. With a yelp, they both fell to the ground, the dragon's chin digging into the soft dirt below. The tendrils continued around her, wrapping her up in a large cocoon and sinking into the ground. She shouted, panicking. The damn thing was trying to suffocate her!

But... maybe she overreacted. Although dirt was seeping through the cracks in the roots, everything else was quite snug. Was it trying to bury her alive in a false sense of security? No, because it wasn't squeezing her too tightly or letting dirt pile into the pocket she was stuck in. In fact, it felt like they were completely underground now. Footsteps above her shouted as they realised they had lost her; to them, she had vanished into thin air. They slowly ran off in different directions, and as they faded from her hearing, she could feel the soil shifting around her once more.

She was never so happy to breathe fresh air, even in a suffocating place like the Bramble. A chirp sounded from behind her. Panting, Mirann took the basket off her shoulders and turned it to face her. The tendril's eyes were closed as if it were smiling widely; she scoffed, allowing a small smile on her face as well.

"Maybe you aren't so bad," she mumbled as it nodded, chirping loudly. Shushing the plant, she started on her way again, pulling out the map that her mother had given her along with the sapling that was now her travel companion.