Uchronia and Gus stared at Winal. His two friends were about to beat the flames out of his body all because of a misunderstanding. It didn't help that it was his fault too. A simple Devolution was all it took for things to be cleared up. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to do it. There was only one way to end this fight with his dignity intact.
Run!
Winal made a mad dash for the door, praying to Cor for salvation. No sooner had he started running, a trail of lightning whizzed around in the room, only to stop in front of his escape route. Gus blocked the door with his body, shaking his head while scowling at him. The sandwich in his paw was gone as well.
Refusing to hurt his friend, Winal turned around. He ran for the Sparring Room. If he could use the door as a bottleneck again, maybe he could slip past them while they fought about who got to enter the room first. Once they started fighting, he would climb up to the ceiling, over their heads, and make his grand escape. Another genius solution by Winal!
As if he could read his mind, Gus zoomed in front of Winal, blocking his path to the Sparring Room. Dammit Gus. Why did your IQ have to jump a million points at the worst possible time?
Winal turned around, hoping for a lucky break if he charged toward the exit once more. What awaited him was Uchronia. He had arrived just in time to catch the Potted Sprout monster at the final verses of her chants.
"Cage of Thorns!" she yelled out.
Thick vines burst out from her potted body, headed straight toward Winal. He tried to lunge away, but the plants were faster. They wrapped around his body, giving him the worst hug he had ever received in his life. Large thorns pressed against his flaming exoskeleton, scraping against his tough chitin, but not strong enough to puncture it. As they made contact with his body, the thorns were burnt to cinders, only for a couple more to regrow and take its place. The vines tightened, leaving only his face exposed as they encased him in a living prison of tangled vines and piercing thorns.
Uchronia and Gus walked up to their now-trapped captive, scrutinizing him. Uchronia leaned in closer to inspect the bug bound by her Cage of Thorns, while Gus began sniffing the air around Winal. Gus leaned in close, ignoring the smoke billowing out of the cage. He opened his mouth, using his tongue to sample the cooked portions of the thorny vines.
"It's a bit too well done, " Gus said, leaning back in for seconds.
"Stop it!" Uchronia shouted.
Winal and Gus both flinched at her sudden outburst. A pout formed on Gus' face as he hopped back, away from his delicious treat. Meanwhile, Winal continued to wriggle and writhe under his restraints, trying to come up with a solution to his predicament. A simple Fire Bite or even Fire Blast would set him free, but then what? Get trapped by another set of thorns? Or worse, become Gus' third—possibly fourth—lunch of the day.
Uchronia circled around her masterpiece, the thin root-like appendages that emerged from under her potted body propelling her every step. One loop around later, and she stood directly in front of Winal. Those eyes of hers bored into his. She drew closer and closer until their faces were inches apart.
"Who are you and what are you doing here? Tell me what's really going on," said Uchronia.
"I'm Winal, and I'm here because you trapped me in here."
"Smart guy, aren't you," said Uchronia, taking a step back. "If that's how you want to play it, then sure."
"Great Thorned Leaf!" she shouted.
A leaf began to sprout out of the bulbous portion of her head. It continued to expand, growing larger and larger with each passing moment. Thick, pointed brown thorns jutted out all over the leaf's surface, which continued to grow in tandem with its sibling. When the leaf eventually grew as big as Uchronia herself, its growth slowed and then ceased. She leaned forward, swinging her body to slap Winal with the oversized piece of vegetation.
The leaf struck Winal in the face, its thorns piercing through his flaming exoskeleton. Tiny droplets of blood oozed out from the punctures, sizzling and evaporating from the heat his body was constantly giving out. Flames licked across the overgrown leaf, consuming its green surface like a wildfire ravaging a forest.
Uchronia glared at Winal as she dismissed the skill. The burning leaf detached from her head, falling onto the ground. It burnt to a crisp on the floor, leaving only ash and scorch marks as proof of its existence.
Stolen story; please report.
That hurt! How dare Uchronia hit him? Who cared if Winal technically asked for it by refusing to tell her anything? She had no right to beat him up! If he wasn't such a nice guy, he would've burned Uchronia into charcoal! But, since he was such a nice guy—much to his detriment—he'd have to find a way out of this situation without hurting them. At least not physically. Emotional damage was on the table.
"Oh come on. You call that a slap?" said Winal. "I've met seedlings who hit harder than you."
Her eye began to twitch at his comment. Good, good. Push her buttons, make her angry. So mad that she'd have a lapse in judgment. While she busied herself plotting new ways to torture the information out of him, he'd come up with a way to get out of here—peacefully.
While Uchronia continued to wail on his face with Great Thorned Leaf, Gus was busy sampling the food that Winal was serving him. Unfortunately, despite the burnt flavor that the flame lent the plant matter, Gus didn't seem to enjoy his meal much. A frown was on his face each time he took a nibble, mumbling something about needing more salt. Still, Winal continued to provoke her.
"Did you forget to take your fertilizer this morning? I barely feel anything," said Winal.
Winal's face was slapped left, right, and center. More puncture holes dotted his exoskeleton with each attack. All the while, Uchronia stayed silent. Her face contorted with rage with each smack, yet she didn't say anything. That was good. Winal needed some quiet to focus on coming up with a plan. Then again, noise was the least of his problems when he was being smacked silly every few seconds. Plus, there was also the fact he was screaming with every hit. Needless to say, coming up with a plan was going to take some time.
After several rounds of Great Thorned Leaves to the face, Winal had an idea. Spirit Hands were summoned right behind Uchronia and Gus—silent casted so that they wouldn't suspect anything. After receiving commands from their master, they floated toward the classroom entrance. They gave it a couple of good knocks before zooming toward the teacher's desk and hiding under it.
Finally, Uchronia spoke up. "Go get the door, Gus. Let them know we're busy here."
"Sure!" Gus said, hopping toward the door while his two paws flopped about.
Gus opened the door and what greeted him was an empty hallway. He peered out of the door, looking left, then right, and even looking toward the ceiling—looks like some of Winal's brilliance had rubbed off on him. Unfortunately, Winal was just too smart for the food-brain Fluffpaw. Gus walked out of the class, looking around the hallways in search of the mystery person who knocked on the door.
He had fallen for Winal's trap! The Spirit Hands floated out from under their hiding spot, slamming the door shut. Immediately, one of the hands moved to the lock, twisting it. A faint click was all Winal needed to hear to know that part one of his plan was a success. Gus was trapped outside the classroom.
On the other side of the door, there was silence. Then came the knocking. A slow steady beat like rain dropping from the sky. It continued for a couple more seconds before Gus decided to use his mouth for something other than eating.
"Hey!" a muffled voice came out. "I think you locked me out of the room, Uchronia."
Uchronia whipped around, discovering the culprits of the commotion: the two Spirit Hands. They waved hello to her, like greeting an old friend—mostly because they were. Without missing a beat, they curled their ring and pinky fingers in, while aiming at her. Finger guns. They had become finger guns. They pretended to fire at her, complete with fake recoil and all, mocking her. Though they lacked mouths, Winal was here to save the day. "Pew! Pew! Pew!" he giggled.
"Why do I always have to do everything myself?" she grumbled, walking toward the pair of Spirit Hands.
They ceased their pretend shooting, raising themselves up in surrender. That didn't stop Uchronia. She leaped into the air, spinning her body. The Great Thorned Leaf grew out from her head, before smacking the Spirit Hands to the afterlife as she landed. Using her own pair of Spirit Hands—which weren't silent casted because she wasn't as amazing as Winal— she unlocked the door. It swung open revealing Gus eating a cheese muffin, a circle of crumbs around him.
"Thanks!" Gus said, unaware of the rage that Uchronia was outputting.
As he walked in obtaining a clearer view of the classroom, Gus said, "What happened to Winal?"
Uchronia snapped around, scanning across the room. Her eyes lingered on the charred remains of the Cage of Thorns, wisps of smoke rising from the pile of ashes, with Winal nowhere to be seen. A trail of black scorch marks caught her attention. The path of tiny black dots led toward the edge of the classroom, disappearing once it reached the wall—The Sparring Room.
Unbeknownst to her, Winal had been watching the entire scene unfold. A second pair of Spirit Hands, hidden discreetly in the corners of the room, relayed everything back to him. From the twitch in Uchronia’s eye to Gus’s casual crumb-dropping stroll, he saw it all.
How did Winal manage to escape the clutches of the treacherous Uchronia? It was simple, really.
Once Uchronia had her back turned toward him, he continued to scream and wail in agony. While doing so, he worked in the shouts to Fire Bite, yelling out the skill name in such a manner it mimicked his pained cries even though he wasn't being hit at that moment. The Cage of Thorns was set alight, burning to cinders in a matter of seconds. Once that was done, he let out another pair of Spirit Hands ordering them to hide and fill him in on everything going on. While Uchronia was busy dealing with Gus being locked out, he tiptoed his way toward the Sparring Room while still letting out pained screams. As Uchronia opened the door to let Gus in, Winal opened the door to the sparring room, then he closed the door with the utmost care, making sure that he wouldn’t get caught.
Phase two of his plan was complete. Now to move on to phase three.