United We Rise

Eltrys waited and nodded as Saga was the first to settle in. They waited a few moments more and the great bear repeated his call! He smiled at her and nodded his thanks, it did seem the others might be lagging a little behind, many of them on the younger side and prone to distractions. They each filed in quickly after her call. Each expectantly waiting for him to begin.

Gavroche was the one to speak up and ask what the topic of discussion would be.

"The lesson is how we might relate to the different parts of a plant. So bear with me. A single stick breaks under the weight of one foot, but a bundle of sticks together holds its strength! More so, a single plant has many parts that make up the whole. We shall take the Stinging Nettle, for instance. Even though it has a formidable bite all on its own, it would stand defenseless without each part working together to help it grow and become more numerous.

Without the root, the Nettle would gain no nutrients to grow. Without the stem, the nettle could not reach into the air to find sunlight, without its leaves it would have no means to gather the sunlight to maintain its defensive sting, without its flowers, it could not multiply and carry its genes to the next generation dying of extinction, never to be seen in the world again. Its bite is only as strong as the nutrients that feed it."

He watched his students as he spoke, walking slowly back and forth over the dias. They all had a role to play.

"Now who can tell me, what would you rather stumble into? A ditch with a single Nettle plant or a ditch with multitudes of Stinging Nettle?" He asked the crowd, waiting for a brave soul to speak up. He had a guess as to who it might be.

"Speech!"