Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ameh 
"Yaa! Hands off, you creepy clinger!" At that point, about a million and six swear words started running through Raiden's head. The vine had let go of his ankle, and he scrambled to his feet immediately, but he could see more coming toward him from his left. They... it... he wasn't sure what plant it was exactly.
But his brain kept yelling 'Devil's Snare, you idiot! Devil's fracking SNARE', mostly because that was one of the few plants he knew of that were grabby and not poisonous. Seeing as his hand and ankle weren't oddly tingly from touching it...
The prefect held the branch between himself and the approaching vines, taking a step or two back towards the plant blocking his way. It was a stupid move, but he was panicking a little bit. Plants weren't supposed to be grabby, y'know? And maybe that one was afraid of the light and warmth and would move out of his way or something. If not, he was going to have to run back the way he'd come, swinging the stupid rock at anything that grabbed him.
Why was his light source also his only hope? That just sucked. Half-turning toward the path-blocker, he took a chance and flicked one of the seeds off his branch, watching it fly toward the thing. If nothing blocked it, it would land on the plant. Hopefully.
The pursuing vines ceased their pursuit when the fire seed branch was held in front of the boy. Indeed, they didn't just stop. They retreated, rejoining the mass of wriggling vines.
The one seed landed on a vine, which promptly jerked, knocking the seed to the ground, though no moved into that space. The vines kept their distance from the seed, but retreated no further.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
BanaBatGirl
Fletcher took slower and more careful steps as he came nearer and nearer to the source of the smell. He lifted his feet as if in slow motion and felt them come down with slick, sticky, and stinky vegetation now coating them. "Grossssss," the boy grumbled to himself. Good thing he was a MAN and had a strong stomach built for this sort of task. It was easier than eating food up off the floor.
He held the firebush branch up higher and hoped it wouldn't catch or start a fire on any of the leafy plants now packing the tunnel. What the hell, man? Who planted giant, green, tropical leaves in the middle of a firebush tunnel?! Fletcher wrinkled his nose, hoping that none of these were all touchy-feely like the venomous tentacula that had gotten a hold of him last year.
Continuing forward, the boy parted the leafy green plants and stopped suddenly, staring at a random (glass?) box placed in the middle of the cave. Ooookaaaaayyyyy. What was up with that? Was the plant moving? And... and was that a little head? A little SCREAMING head?!
Fletcher gasped and took a few more steps toward it. Hey, he had heard of these things! MANDRAKES! Right? The stupid dugbogs that liked to gnaw on your hand also liked to eat them! Fletcher approached the glass and then tap-tapped on it with one of his dirty fingernails.
Was it supposed to do something? He knew fully-grown mandrakes -- like this one -- could be dangerous if you heard their screams.... but since he wasn't hearing anything, he assumed the box was soundproof. All right. Fletcher walked all the way around the box, still staring at it, and then he bumped into something that pushed him back to the box.
Now what was up with that? He turned and looked from the box to the continuing tunnel, then back to the box. Fletcher put out his hand and it stopped, flat, against some invisible barrier.
"Great," he said to himself. He decided to try his other hand, the one with the firebush branch, and waved the branch all around the barrier to see if it could break through.
At the tap, the root stopped for a split second before launching into a wail that contorted its face dramatically.
The waving of the branch jostled loose nearly two dozen of the boy's seeds, but there was no effect on the barrier, except for a little shimmer from the light.