Re: The Wretched Rite - Round One - The Rose Ring
07-29-2011, 11:29 PM
Originally posted on MSPA by Aryogaton.
The Ivy’s situation was worrying. Not dire as of yet, as her apparent confidence seemed to show, but worrying. As much as the Ivy was overwhelming the Walker she used as a home, she was also a slave to its actions. M. would not so easily place a plant under the whims of a Walker, it could only respect the Ivy’s decisions and intervene only when such decisions place herself or a fellow being in danger. The situation was somewhat similar to M.’s experiences in dealing with invasive species and their unfortunate decisions, but the added danger of a Walker in between warrants extra precaution.
M. plucked an apple off its canopy and gently tucked it in a crevice at the base of the Ivy’s growth. Whatever danger she would find herself in, M. would know. It decided to wait and observe the Walker for a few more moments.
M.’s thoughts were interrupted by an explosion in the nearest building. M. tensed. Indeed, the upper floor of the office was a mess of unnatural heat, dancing through the structure in a chaotic pattern. Fire was the most dangerous of the unnatural forces, one that is most ruthless towards M.’s kind. Its main instinct was to attempt to extinguish it, but there were no appropriate tools nearby to douse or smother it. But… the only nearby structures were Walker buildings and the enslaved trees and bushes. Allowing the building to be destroyed would speed wild reclamation of the area. Let it burn.
A Walker dashed out of the burning building, ostensibly panicked, and ran off towards a larger building. M. lamented for a moment that it was not consumed in the fire, but otherwise paid it no heed. A flash of movement exiting the crevice between the burning building and its neighbor was more interesting. M. did not notice it at first, because its heat signature was effectively negative and thus nearly invisible compared to the inferno, but the fact that the moving object was shaped like a Walker caught its attention. M. had seen a number of Walkers successfully disguise their heat signatures, but never one that had an appearance so close to a… corpse. Walker corpses, M. had learned, were things to be ignored and left to nourish the grasses, but this experience was to be challenged if, indeed, Walkers figured out how to make themselves look dead.
M. approached the moving corpse. A smell distinctively reminiscent of swamp filled the air, and followed suit with the corpse as it shirked away from the fire. It noticed M.’s approach and sunk into the puddle of water it seemed to be generating, half a head above the waterline.
M. was confused. The moving corpse disappeared into a puddle. Upon a closer examination of the water, however, M. observed that it was deeper than it looked, as if there were neat holes in the unnatural earth in exactly the shape of the water on it. It was a physical inconsistency. This day already challenged a surprisingly large number of M.’s experiences, and it seemed to begin with the chaotic storm it had seen earlier. Perhaps it was time to figure out these anomalies.
M. lifted a foot towards the water and extended a root, intending to determine whether the hole-making was an unusual property of the water itself. Immediately, the moving corpse thrashed and seized the root, ripping it off and uttering hisses at M., who jumped back. The wound would heal quickly on its own, but evidently, the moving corpse was quite territorial with its water. Regardless, this creature seemed to share the same paranoia and aggression as a typical Walker. M. plucked another apple from its canopy and tossed it at the moving corpse. The fruit bounced harmlessly off, landed in the water with a soft splash, and proceeded to release its acidic juices into the water. The moving corpse, now furious, lashed forward, spreading a large amount of swampy water over M. Before it could realize it, the earth underneath M.’s feet disappeared and the moving corpse grabbed its legs and pulled it down.
The Ivy’s situation was worrying. Not dire as of yet, as her apparent confidence seemed to show, but worrying. As much as the Ivy was overwhelming the Walker she used as a home, she was also a slave to its actions. M. would not so easily place a plant under the whims of a Walker, it could only respect the Ivy’s decisions and intervene only when such decisions place herself or a fellow being in danger. The situation was somewhat similar to M.’s experiences in dealing with invasive species and their unfortunate decisions, but the added danger of a Walker in between warrants extra precaution.
M. plucked an apple off its canopy and gently tucked it in a crevice at the base of the Ivy’s growth. Whatever danger she would find herself in, M. would know. It decided to wait and observe the Walker for a few more moments.
M.’s thoughts were interrupted by an explosion in the nearest building. M. tensed. Indeed, the upper floor of the office was a mess of unnatural heat, dancing through the structure in a chaotic pattern. Fire was the most dangerous of the unnatural forces, one that is most ruthless towards M.’s kind. Its main instinct was to attempt to extinguish it, but there were no appropriate tools nearby to douse or smother it. But… the only nearby structures were Walker buildings and the enslaved trees and bushes. Allowing the building to be destroyed would speed wild reclamation of the area. Let it burn.
A Walker dashed out of the burning building, ostensibly panicked, and ran off towards a larger building. M. lamented for a moment that it was not consumed in the fire, but otherwise paid it no heed. A flash of movement exiting the crevice between the burning building and its neighbor was more interesting. M. did not notice it at first, because its heat signature was effectively negative and thus nearly invisible compared to the inferno, but the fact that the moving object was shaped like a Walker caught its attention. M. had seen a number of Walkers successfully disguise their heat signatures, but never one that had an appearance so close to a… corpse. Walker corpses, M. had learned, were things to be ignored and left to nourish the grasses, but this experience was to be challenged if, indeed, Walkers figured out how to make themselves look dead.
M. approached the moving corpse. A smell distinctively reminiscent of swamp filled the air, and followed suit with the corpse as it shirked away from the fire. It noticed M.’s approach and sunk into the puddle of water it seemed to be generating, half a head above the waterline.
M. was confused. The moving corpse disappeared into a puddle. Upon a closer examination of the water, however, M. observed that it was deeper than it looked, as if there were neat holes in the unnatural earth in exactly the shape of the water on it. It was a physical inconsistency. This day already challenged a surprisingly large number of M.’s experiences, and it seemed to begin with the chaotic storm it had seen earlier. Perhaps it was time to figure out these anomalies.
M. lifted a foot towards the water and extended a root, intending to determine whether the hole-making was an unusual property of the water itself. Immediately, the moving corpse thrashed and seized the root, ripping it off and uttering hisses at M., who jumped back. The wound would heal quickly on its own, but evidently, the moving corpse was quite territorial with its water. Regardless, this creature seemed to share the same paranoia and aggression as a typical Walker. M. plucked another apple from its canopy and tossed it at the moving corpse. The fruit bounced harmlessly off, landed in the water with a soft splash, and proceeded to release its acidic juices into the water. The moving corpse, now furious, lashed forward, spreading a large amount of swampy water over M. Before it could realize it, the earth underneath M.’s feet disappeared and the moving corpse grabbed its legs and pulled it down.