Desert Rose

 is the eighth chapter of Natsumi Mukai's +Anima manga.

Synopsis
As summer comes to an end, the +Anima children decide to head south before winter arrives. Nana Alba notes that the ocean is to the south and tries to start a conversion with Senri about it, but he doesn't respond; Nana wonders whether Senri finds her annoying.

A woman up ahead calls out for their help. Her donkey has fallen from the trail, a girl had already gone down to it, but they needed help getting it back up. With a rope tied around the donkey, the +Anima children help to pull it back onto the trail. Senri then gives the girl a hand in getting up too. Her arm was scraped in the climb, so Senri licks the wound clean; he remarks the pleasant taste. The girl introduces herself as Rose, a peddler, and the woman as Margot another traveller that she met at an inn. The donkey is now injured, so Margot offers to pay the children to help her carry luggage; Husky accepts.

Along the road, Rose tries to talk to Senri; she recognizes him as a Kim-un-kur and talks about his culture, but he is unresponsive. Rose becomes curious about Senri, believing his quietness to stem from something more than shyness. Cooro starts to talk to Rose, but is interrupted by Margot's outburst of having remembered meeting Senri before; she explains that he had been part of a large caravan that she had travelled with for ten days many years ago. Senri doesn't remember her.

An Astarian military unit, led by Igneous Giesrieg, are travelling along the mountain path in the opposite direction, so the group step aside to let them pass. Igneous becomes irritated that Senri is watching him and demands he stop, but his uproar startles his horse and causes a crate of swords to fall down the cliffside. Igneous orders some soldiers to collect the sword, but Cooro offers to help instead and flies down; Rose is shocked to learn that he is a +Anima. After tying a rope around the swords so they can be pulled back up, some birds start to attack Cooro. Some archers shoot at the birds, but end up hitting Cooro; Husky stops them from firing and Senri jumps down onto a bird. Cooro almost makes it back safely, but is being chased by another bird. Rose reveals herself to also be a +Anima and attacks the bird with her cat claws; Cooro proudly exclaims that he knew she was a +Anima. After Senri gets back up the cliff, he licks Cooro's wounds clean; Rose is disappointed that this is just normal behavior for him.

After arriving at the next town, Margot offers to let the children stay at the inn with them. Rose talks to Senri about her little brother, who Senri reminds her of. Then she gifts Nana a rose corsage, and asks her to look after Senri which agrees to although unsure why she would need to. Senri takes a rose corsage out of Rose's hair and places it into his book. Rose asks Nana why, but she doesn't know.