This is a second installment for this prompt becuase this was a GREAT one but was a cliffhanger!
https://peakd.com/fiction/@internutter/challenge-02703-g146-gathering-for-time
They'd been on the deathworld for nearly 3 months, their human had lost so much weight his health had begun to deteriorate. The simple sugars extracted from the toxic flora were just barely enough to keep the havenworlders alive, and the human was not getting what he needs. The rescue ship arrived to see the human and havenworlders in very bad shape. But they had to leave quickly because some rather bad news was on the horizon, it wasn't just the plantlife on this place. It was about to start raining and, unfortunately, apparently, in the forest, the rain ended up turning toxic, too.
This world was most definitely not inhabitable for havenworlder or human, but one thing about toxic plants, many of the properties in the past ended up becoming invaluable for medicines in the future. The medics end up finding some very interesting plants for easing pain, deadening nerves, and as sedatives, with a lot of work and processing. -- Anon Guest
Our Human was dying slowly. They knew it and so did we. They said they can make it, but this world is barely habitable. Everything out there is toxic, even to our best Deathworlder.
We can easily synthesise the simple sugars and nutrients we need. We will be relatively healthy by the time help arrives. Even if it is barely so. For our human? It is a more complicated problem. Deathworlders evolve in more complicated environments. They need more than sugar, chlorophyll, and simple nutrient peptides.
Those were what was more easily available. That, and an incredible amount of complicated toxins. If we survived this, all of us, we vowed that we would buy Human Kaat the top-of-the-line livesuit they could not previously afford. As a sign of our gratitude. As a sign that they are a part of our pack. As a sign that we are grateful that they are still with us.
We were doing what we could with what we had. That is the most that we can say. In our labs, we have been working to recreate the nutrients Human Kaat needs whilst watching them wither as they worked. It was frightening.
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