[Chr24] [CHR24] Special Dumb Plant

Cold was the night Mirt found himself in the company of 3 other men, a vulpip who seemed to take great joy in jumping at his ankles from random snow piles, and a special plant that needed special water from the special tree so that it may grow up to be a big, healthy, strong special plant. He'd never even heard of a Sweei plant until being selected to join this traveling party, and he's still not quite sure he knows what it is, much to Obarhi's disdain. It’s the thing he’s carrying – is what everyone has told him every time he’s asked, some in the tone a parent might use with their belligerent child and some (mostly Obarhi) with the tone of their dwindling patience. But no one has told him if this plant has some kind of power or uniquely significant trait that would make it so terribly important for the four of them to be trekking in these frigid conditions towards the spirit tree in order to get the special spirit water. Mirt can hear the grumbling voice of their escort in his head reminding him that it “shouldn’t matter” if there’s any discernible value to the Sweei plant itself; they were selected by the Royal family of their district to take the plant to the spirit tree so it may be watered by the spirit water there because otherwise it will not grow. Or maybe he had said that it wouldn’t grow the right way? The way Mirt understands it, none of them really know why they’re the ones who have to do this unnecessary task during the actual winter season. In the snow and cold. On foot.

He sighs into the darkness of the evening, a smoky cloud of heat swirling past his face in the chilling breeze. He hasn’t felt his toes for the last several hours, and the tips of his ears and nose are so cold Mirt wouldn’t be surprised if there were icicles hanging from them. As much as he wants to not participate, he doesn’t actually know how to get back home on his own and he’s already tried just “accidentally” forgetting the plant somewhere. The latter idea did not go over very well with both Obarhi and Urvus, the other uptight escort. But when Mirt lifts his head to look at the road ahead of them, this time he’s not disappointed. In fact, he’s absolutely delighted. Nearly giddy even. Because finally, after far too many hours of journeying, the spirit tree stands ahead. They’re close enough that he can actually make out the faint glowing from its leave and the pool of water surrounding its trunk.

“Ugh, finally!” Mirt exclaims, though he’s not happy to have found the tree specifically. No, he’s just glad that this waste of his time is now halfway over and he can look forward to returning home. Since he was designated the Plant Parent of the group, he pushes his way past the others and begins a paced jog towards the tree. The sooner he can get the Sweei plant to that water, the sooner they can all just turn right around and go back home. Where it’s warm, and indoors. He hears some complaints from the other three but he pays no mind; they’re probably just mad that he shoved them out of his way. Soon enough, the other men are so far behind him that he can’t actually hear them anyway.

It wasn’t until he was close enough to the spirit tree to make out the texture of its sturdy trunk and the few blades of grass poking out of the snow near the edge of the water pool surrounding it that Mirt actually heard something unexpected. A low guttural sound that grew into a rumbling, chilling roar. It’s more than enough to make him come to a dead stop, one foot in front mid-stride; the hairs at the back of his neck and along his arms begin to prickle on end as his gaze slowly scans over the area. There were no others that he could see around the tree, and at first he thought maybe it was just his stomach that had sounded so ravenous. But there was no mistaking the skeletal head and long tapered ears of the form that methodically wandered out of the tree line on his left.

A Raakon. Krampus.

Mirt knew it only from stories, and very few at that, and the stories he’d heard gave him several reasons to not move. He hardly wanted to breathe, or blink. Staring at its eyeless, faceless skull was becoming increasingly disconcerting, because it just seemed to be looking at him. Not through him, not in his general vicinity. Directly at him.

Something brushed against Mirt’s ankle and he opens his mouth to let out a startled yelp when a larger gloved hand covers it completely. When did Urvus appear next to him?? For such a muscular and bulky fellow, he certainly could move silently when he wanted to do so. The Paladin also seemed on edge; his yellow eyes are wide as he brings a finger up to his lips before pointing towards the Raakon. Yes, being quiet is a great idea. Mirt steels his nerves as Urvus slowly moves his hand away. A glance down is enough for that vulpip to once again be found purposefully winding itself around Mirt’s feet and ankles. That would have been a tragic eulogy – oh yes, Mirt Inall, such a brave lad, laid low in his prime because of a vulpip scaring the pants off of him and a Raakon eating him. Rest in pieces, literally.

But Urvus stays next to him and leans closer to whisper into his ear, “It can’t see us, so just be quiet. We have a plan.”

A plan? Well, Mirt thinks that’s what he heard from Urvus. It’s not easy paying attention to the Raakon that seems to have paused to listen for their movements and a vulpip trying to climb up his pant leg and the breathy tickles from his companion’s words. But out of the corner of his eye he could see Cumaar and Obarhi carefully circling left, both keeping a very respectable birth away from the Raakon. This is fine and all, but what are they going to do to keep him safe? Mirt is the one with the special dumb plant – how is this going to help him get the special dumb plant to the special spirit water? The pool is a stone’s throw away from him, surely he could make a run for it, get the water, and then start running away before the Raakon could catch up.

That’s when his thoughts are drawn back to the Raakon, or rather to his comrades who have stopped behind a tree closer to the creature. Seeing them in significantly closer proximity to the monster truly helps show the sheer scale of it; without including the antlers on its naked skull, it must be 10 feet tall at the very least. There’s no way the two of them could hope to win in a direct fight with it. Mirt watches as Obarhi takes something from a pocket and then throws it into the woods. The sound of the object, which must have been heavy to some degree based on how loudly it clattered against unseen branches, clearly grabs the Raakon’s attention as it snaps its fleshless head in that direction and lets out another bone-chilling roar before running towards the noise. Teven though the beast has disappeared from view, it’s a few agonizing moments longer before Cumaar turns in Mirt and Urvus’ direction and makes a hand signal. “That’s our cue,” he hears Urvus say before he’s ushered along by the arm.

Oh, right, the plant and the dumb water. Mirt pulls his arm free from Urvus and runs to the spirit water pool, gently setting the Sweei plant down in the water while he gets his pack off his back. There was a water bottle in this thing somewhere… As he blindly rummages through his bag, Mirt happens to look at the other two at their tree. Obarhi is still there, but he can’t see Cumaar. Oh no. Mirt starts looking for that container faster, eventually grabbing what he needed and dipping it into the spirit water. But he can hear a commotion near the trees, and Urvus moves around him to stand between Mirt and the presumably approaching danger. Another shrieking roar startles him and he can’t stop himself before he again looks up in the direction of the beast.

There just at the edge of the wooded forest he could make out the form of Obarhi, but not where he had been. This time Obarhi was a bit further back from the trees and seemed to have pulled out a weapon of some type. Cumaar was still not visible but the flashes of light coming from inside the dense foliage was enough to know that he’d engaged the Raakon in a fight, because Mirt knows that Cumaar being a Primal from Earth – like him and Urvus – could breathe fire. But it seemed like things were under enough control at the moment. Mirt turned back to the spirit water, closing the container and putting it back in his pack. He fluidly puts his pack on and picks up the now heavily watered Sweei plant before beginning a sprint towards the road they’d come from. The sounds of the fight give him more incentive to push through the snow, which is high enough to make running just a bit challenging but not so deep that he couldn’t run at all. Urvus trailed behind him, close enough that Mirt could hear his heavy footfalls but not so close that he could feel the snow being disturbed. They would probably be fine if they got far enough from the spirit tree, right? Right?

A bright flash of light and a blast of heat from behind them throws off Mirt’s momentum just enough that he trips and stumbles into the snow, falling completely to the ground. He guards the Sweei plant, as he has been for this entire headache of a journey and keeps it out of the snow and from being crushed. Another roar but this time it sounds a bit different; as he gets to his hands and knees, he steals one more glance back at the tree and instantly regrets having done so because he sees not just one and not two. No, now there are five more Raakon entities rushing from the woods along with the first one they encountered. His stomach drops and if he weren’t already so cold and cheeks reddened by the wind, it’s likely all the color would have faded from his face as well. This is not something he signed up for, he's just the Plant Parent!

Urvus of course has a much better handle of these high stress situations; he’d already transformed from his bipedal form to that of his feral shape, and he easily scoops Mirt up with his bull-shaped horns and snout without skipping a beat in his gallop. Having to maneuver around the lycanbuck’s head with a plant in hand and also avoiding a fall is not something Mirt is used to doing but he’s certainly very grateful to have these three men with him today. Cumaar had also changed back to his feral form as well at some point, and his ability to soar in the air seems to be the key in giving them the most help but Obarhi is not to be outdone. Mirt doesn’t even know when the man managed to catch up to them, but his skill with a firearm is proving supremely useful. He can see projectiles striking the various Raakon through the fire Cumaar had left to block off further attacks but Mirt is most grateful for Urvus. Definitely not because he was saved by him or anything like that. Nope. Definitely not. All four of them continue on the road they had travelled back towards their home, and all of them – Mirt especially – hope this is the last time they have to hear, see, or deal with any further Raakon. Once he’s back home, he’s going to take a very, very, VERY long soak in a hot and steamy bath and probably write a letter of his own to that Royal family and tell them the next time they need their precious dumb Sweei plant watered in the winter at the spirit tree, they can do it themselves.