The child was clearly stuck. The deer-like creature at her side appeared divided between helping her escape and keeping a watchful eye on myself. A single ear tipped back, listening, heart pounding in my chest. Nothing. No awkward sounds, no deceptive whispers of shadows. The Rift, or whatever it preferred to be called, was eerily silent, which I decided was almost as bad as its general veneer. Blue eyes tracked the progress of the vine, which was in fact several clusters of vines. It traveled nearly half-way up the child’s hind leg, a strange development for a plant. To my knowledge they were mostly sedimentary. This one, however, seemed to have a mind of its own. Had I not caught the slight tightening of green stem, I would not have believed it.
They were alive.
It was
crawling up the girl’s legs.
It was
trapping her.
(
Will it eat her?) Asterisk butts in, rather unhelpfully. I grimace briefly before smoothing it over with a careful smile. Banishing the possibility to the back of my mind, I step forward once, nose extended in a sign of calculated peace. I meant her no harm.
“
If you would, allow me-” And I am stepping back, even as the words leave my mouth, a mare comes bustling through the underbrush. Her expression is wary (and rightly so), she immediately places herself in a defensive position, and my tail swipes the moist weeds in a short fit of anxiety. I am no threat to the child, obviously. It is not until some of her initial distrust winds down that I find reason to answer any questions. “
I am Bathsheba. I found this - your - daughter here stuck in the vines. They seem to have a mind of their own. I was going to help, if you would like.”
"Talk."
@
Gwynnd @
Glacia (ooc - ugh I'm so sorry /late)
Rainforest Cliffs
