Star-Lore

A man-tree.

His body looked like bark, rough and mossy, with little green vines curling out of his shoulders and elbows. His legs were thick like tree trunks, and roots poked out of his feet like toes. But his face? It had a beard made of leaves... and two kind, glowing green eyes.

He walked slowly, calmly, arms swinging.

The whole crew froze.

"Uh...," Sharmitha whispered, "Is that... normal?"

"No," Sakudara muttered, reaching for his blade. "That's a forest freak."

Lyra's hand hovered over her weaponoid. "It might be hostile."

BoBo stood up quickly, serious for once. He pointed at the tree-man and shouted..z

"EVERYONE GET BEHIND ME. IF HE MOVES, I'M BLASTING HIM!"

"BoBo, no...," Lyra warned.

"I SWEAR I'LL TURN THIS TREE INTO TOASTED SALAD!" BoBo yelled dramatically.

The tree-man blinked, stopped, and raised his hands slowly.

"Whoa, whoa! Please!" he said in a calm, deep voice. "No blasting! I'm not here to fight. I don't even like fire!"

Everyone stared.

"I come in peace," the plant-man said, stepping closer. "I saw your ships crash. I figured you'd need help. And maybe some... sap biscuits?"

He held up a wooden tray filled with weird green biscuits.

Sharmitha whispered, "...Did he just say sap biscuits?"

BoBo leaned forward suspiciously. "Wait a minute. Trees don't talk."

The plant-man shrugged. "I'm not a tree. I'm a Floranian. Name's Spriggan. Nice to meet you all."

He reached out a barky hand to shake BoBo's.

BoBo squinted, looking very serious. "Hmm. Spriggan. Sounds suspicious. Suspicious things rhyme with chicken. And I don't trust chickens."

Lyra slapped her forehead.

Sakudara stood, arms folded. "If you're here to trick us..,"

Spriggan chuckled. "Trick you? Buddy, I'm literally a walking bush. What am I gonna do, photosynthesize you to death? Relax."

He handed BoBo a biscuit. BoBo sniffed it.

"Smells like... tree feet," he said.

"Yeah," Spriggan grinned. "It's an acquired taste."

BoBo took a bite. Chewed.

Pause.

Then his eyes lit up.

"...This tastes like soggy pancakes and wet hope. I LOVE IT!"

Everyone exhaled at once.

Lyra crossed her arms. "Alright, Spriggan. You seem... less threatening than expected. Why are you really here?"

Spriggan sat on a rock like an old uncle. "Well, truth is... I live on the floating island over there. We Floranians help broken things. Machines, people... even the occasional lost raccoon who thinks it's a spaceship captain."

He nodded at BoBo.

BoBo gasped. "That happened once!"

Spriggan grinned. "If you want help fixing your ships... I've got tools. A lab. Even a solar-stone generator."

Sakudara's eyes narrowed. "You'd help us? Just like that?"

Spriggan shrugged. "Sure. Why not? You folks seem... interesting. One of you literally glows blue and threatens strangers. That's worth at least one favor."

BoBo puffed up proudly. "I am Blast Bunny, defender of snacks!"

Everyone groaned. Spriggan laughed, a deep warm sound like wind through trees.

As the crew followed Spriggan across a twisted root bridge between floating rocks, a strange metallic shape began to rise through the fog ahead. It looked like a ship... but also like a giant treehouse mixed with a spaceship. It had leafy sails, bark-plated wings, and glowing green panels along its side. Vines curled around the hull like seat belts made of jungle.

BoBo's eyes widened. "Whaaaaaaat is thaaaat? That's like a spaceship made by broccoli!"

Spriggan grinned. "Welcome to the Floranian Cleansing Unit 9. Or as we like to call it... the MOP."

Sharmitha blinked. "You named your ship… Mop?"

"Short for Maintenance of Planets," Spriggan said proudly. "We Floranians are the Cleaners of the Universe."

Sakudara raised an eyebrow. "Cleaners?"

Lyra folded her arms, curious now. "Like, what kind of cleaners?"

As they reached the base of the ship, a hatch opened with a hissss, and more Floranians stepped out.

Tall ones. Short ones. One shaped like a cactus with glasses. Another had mushrooms growing on his shoulders. One rolled in like a bush with wheels.

BoBo pointed dramatically. "We're being attacked by a forest convention!"

Spriggan waved at the others. "Relax! These are my coworkers. We travel the Eternity, fixing and cleaning what others leave behind and Eternity Federation pays us for that."

A Floranian stepped forward with a leaf clipboard and a pen made from bark.

"We clean ruins, wrecks, battle zones, toxic planets, forgotten moons, and sometimes... leftover snack wrappers from lazy alien festivals," he said in a bored tone. "We don't fight. We scrub. We compost. We restore."

Another Floranian carried a glowing mop the size of a sword.

BoBo's jaw dropped. "He has a LIGHTSABER MOP."

The mop Floranian nodded. "Disintegrates sludge in 4.2 seconds. Want a demo?"

BoBo clapped like a kid. "Yes, please!"

The mop Floranian pointed at a pile of gunk on a nearby stone and pressed a button. The mop glowed bright green and made a "Zzzshhhhhh-POP!" sound. The gunk vanished instantly.

"Clean as a squirrel's dream," he said calmly.

Sharmitha blinked. "...That's actually impressive."