TJ instinctively shifted into a coatl as soon as he noticed the strange shrubs. Stanton had called that particular bush a creosote, TJ just knew them as the bushes that smelled like water. Even so, something was making it move, and TJ tasted the air, desperately hoping to find whatever it was that could pose a danger. He didn’t hesitate to use appraisal on the bush, but all that came back was its name. There was a different taste in the air, though, and TJ couldn’t quite place it. He was far from a pro, or even adept, but he had spent days in these mountains. There was no doubt in his mind that there was something foreign here.
When nothing jumped out of the bush, TJ slowly pushed his snout into the creosote, looking and tasting for whatever was the source of this strangeness. As soon as his eyes passed through the outer covering of leaves to see into the center, he saw it. What “it” was, he couldn’t say for sure, but that it was a dancing plant was about all he could reasonably guess. The one foot-tall moving plant sported an inch-thick trunk surrounded with large, deep green leaves growing directly from the stem. It bounced back and forth to a rhythm TJ couldn’t hear, though it seemed to keep good time. Appraisal gave a tiny bit of information.
Vivacious plant, Copper (I): A plant with some form of Divinity contained within. It could prove useful to various Occupations, provided it is treated and collected correctly.
Better than nothing, but not by a lot. A dancing plant would probably be worth something, but the System directly telling him that it was Copper level of value was good news.
Stanton interrupted TJ from his disappointed Appraisal as he spread the leaves open to take a look himself.
“That’s something you don’t see every day. What’s it called?” Stanton asked.
“System just says ‘vivacious plant’. Could be useful, has some Divinity. That’s about all I’m getting.”
“Mmm. Surprising.”
Taking the opportunity, TJ grunted in response. “You getting anything from your Occupation?”
“Why would–well, there we are. Called a Lifebloom. Not sure what to do with it, but we can get it out and store it. Will be worth the trouble.”
“You should probably do it.” TJ said. “You’ll get experience from working with the forest, I’d guess, so it’ll be better for us in the long run. I’d like to learn the method, though, if you’re willing to share.”
Stanton nodded in assent as TJ shifted back to his human form. More and more, as he did so, he was feeling the differences between the two bodies. His human sensibilities faded in the heat of battle, and he didn’t taste the blood of his foes when he consumed them. A coatl was a semi-divine serpent, and something that dared to cross the feathered serpent would inevitably be consumed. That mentality was foreign and uncomfortable to him, but it was, nonetheless, how Divine Transformation affected him. When merely investigating a dancing plant called a Lifebloom, TJ felt like himself, and he was grateful that the Skill kept him alive. When he was offered Skills to better enable him to rip intelligent creatures to bits with his mouth, not as much.
With a shake of his head, TJ dismissed the fearful consideration of what would happen to him as he continued to use the Skill. Instead, he focused on how Stanton coaxed the Lifebloom to release its hold on the earth below it. He used a stick to poke into the firm soil, the hardened earth cracking under repeated jabs of the stick. Once the earth was broken, Stanton blew firmly on the base of the Lifebloom’s roots. Strangely, it seemed to laugh like it’d been tickled, and its roots withdrew from the earth to wrap around the stick that still stood planted in the earth near it. At that point, Stanton lifted up the stick and unceremoniously flicked the plant free from the stick and into TJ’s arms. It was surprisingly dense, the foot-long stick weighing nearly ten pounds.
More interestingly, now freed from the ground, the Lifebloom’s movements died down until it laid immobile in TJ’s hands. It felt uncomfortably like it’d died, and TJ leveled a look at the Druid in hopes that he’d give some additional information.
“Put it in my backpack. We’ll take a look once we make camp.”
“Just anywhere?”
“Try to keep it whole. Don’t know if it needs to stay undamaged.”
Sighing, TJ placed the plant as gently as he could inside the backpack before zipping it back up. They resumed walking the road towards where the highway should be, their feet crunching on the gravel path. The forest surrounding them felt more primal than it had before, the carefully cut back bushes already fighting to reclaim the paths that wound through them. Interestingly, when TJ spotted a game trail, there was no sign of encroaching greenery. Was the System trying to destroy all signs of humanity from before the Integration?
“Is it weird to you how much the brush seems to have grown in the past few days? It’s denser and almost threatening.”
Stanton looked once and cocked his head. “I didn’t notice it consciously. Feels good to me, like the earth is cleansing itself. Might be something to do with the druid stuff.” He shook his head ruefully. “Maybe I’ll become a treehugger myself.”
Unconvinced and unsure if plants would begin to pose threats just like everything else around here, TJ asked the System, “Is the forest itself going to attack us?”
There is no creature within the Copper (I) or Silver (II) tiers of Divinity powerful enough to rule over this entire forest and transform it into their divine nexus of power.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“And can the forest itself become sentient? Or is there a third tier or even higher tiered creature nearby that could force us to fight against the trees and bushes?”
If there was a hostile Gold (III) tiered creature nearby, you would need to rely on sheer luck to survive. The forest itself is not sufficiently suffused with Divine Will or Divinity to achieve sentience or sapience. There is no need to fear its sudden ascension.
His worry acknowledged, TJ continued to keep a close eye on the forest itself, trusting Stanton to notice any approaching creatures. He didn’t really think that the forest itself would do anything to them, at least not yet, but TJ refused to be surprised if it did. Especially since the System had refused to give him any real answer about if there would be something nearby that could use the forest to fight them. After all, nearly invisible goblins that smelled like flowers appeared out of nowhere while long-dead gods from Egypt and the Americas blessed coyotes and rattlesnakes. Was a living, violent forest all that unbelievable?
It was a nearly silent journey of over an hour to reach the highway. Of course, no cars whizzed by, and no people greeted their approach. Instead, once they saw the intersection with the paved road, nature’s reclamation efforts were obvious. The few cracks in the asphalt sported foot-tall grass that would have been torn away by passing cars too recently to exist already. Across the road, a large green sign had two arrows, one pointing left and the other right. On top, an arrow pointed right, saying “Fossil Springs, 19” while on the bottom the arrow pointed left, its destination “Pine, 7”.
Stanton didn’t say a word before he whirled and continued his journey. TJ groaned. “Let me take a break. I want some food and a drink.”
“You’re hungry after eating an entire pukwudgie? Can’t a snake go for weeks without food?”
“But I’m not a snake. If I wanted to, I could only live up to a third of my life as a snake. The Skill makes me return to human and spend twice as long here, so I don’t think eating as a coatl helps me with being hungry as a human. And I don’t want to be a snake.”
“I guess a break’s fine.” Stanton allowed while looking around. “Stick to the center of the highway.”
“Yeah, I’ve figured out how to watch for approaching creatures by now.”
TJ opened his backpack after carefully placing his drying coyote pelt to the side. Appraisal told him it wasn’t yet leather and safe to stow, and his Occupation said as much as well. Reaching in, TJ pulled out a water bottle and a can of mandarin oranges. He sipped from the water before cracking the lid of the oranges and taking a deep pull from the syrup inside. His dry throat gloried in the thick syrup, and TJ cracked a wide smile at the sweetness. After nearly half of the juice inside had disappeared down his throat in greedy gulps, TJ pulled the rest of the tab off the top of the can and pulled a couple sections of orange out. As he chewed on them, Stanton settled onto his haunches with a sigh next to him. TJ proffered the can, and Stanton pulled his knife from his belt before skewering a couple and biting them off the knife’s tip.
While sitting, TJ looked at the soles of his moccasins. He’d done his best with them, and had felt proud for making them, but they already were showing signs of wear. The hastily, if still supernaturally guided, footwear sported only crappily prepared hide as a sole, and several tears were forming. TJ could only hope that they would make it all the way to Pine, though knowing how far they had left was reassuring. He stuck his hand into the oranges and pulled another pinch free then into his mouth.
“I figure we go at least half the way to town before we take another break.” TJ said as he swallowed.
“Getting close to noon.” Stanton replied, looking up at the sun, prompting TJ to ask the System.
“12:10, says the System.” TJ replied.
“I figure it’s my place to complain about young people these days relying on newfangled technology, right?”
“Well, you are a crotchety old fogey. It’s a god-given right or something.”
Instead of actually complaining, though, Stanton sighed and pulled a can of beans from his backpack. After stabbing its top several times and bending it back with his knife, he drank from the coagulated mass of baked legumes. TJ laughed and reached out for a taste of his own while proffering his oranges. They switched cans and took several minutes to eat and drink in silence.
“Anyways. Since it’s as late as it is, I figure we try to make it all the way to Pine before we stop. There’s only going to be more and more things getting in our way the longer we take, so we should hurry.” Stanton said as he stood from his crouch. He groaned and stretched, joints popping repeatedly as he worked his arms, legs, and waist.
“You’re right.” TJ agreed, standing and finding he wasn’t nearly as stiff as he would have expected. “How’re you holding up? You’re not a young’un like me, so you doing ok?”
Of course, Stanton grunted. Then, he answered, “I’m better than I have been for a while. These levels and attributes are getting me into better shape than I’ve been in a long time. Still not a whippersnapper like you, but I feel closer to 40 than 70, and that’s good enough for now.”
“And I never asked, jumping like you did, that didn’t hurt?”
“Not really. Twisted my ankle just a bit while landing, but I could have walked it off. Took care of it when I was healing myself.”
TJ nodded and finished gathering everything into his backpack. Then, without any more talking, they set off at a jog down the road. The steady pavement was easier on his feet, though TJ wondered if stepping instead on the yellowed grass that ran alongside the road would be better for his moccasins. Regardless, for a time, all that answered their travels was the steady slapping of feet on the asphalt.
It wasn’t long before TJ was forced to recognize where his and Stanton’s attributes differed. The older man certainly had a higher Agility than him, but TJ’s Endurance and Vitality combined to help him to continue running much more easily than the Acolyte. After twenty minutes solid of running, Stanton continued doggedly running, his breaths coming in gasps and wheezes, and TJ couldn’t let it keep going. He raised a hand to Stanton, a previously agreed-to sign to stop. With a couple wobbly steps, Stanton staggered to a stop, too exhausted even to ask why they’d stopped. TJ continued walking slowly, and the older man locked his fingers together behind his head and gasped deep, pained breaths.
Neither man felt the need to say why they’d slowed, and TJ continued walking at a deliberate pace for another five, then ten minutes. Even then, Stanton rubbed at his knees and ankles, obviously pained.
“Go use one of the trees.” TJ suggested while walking towards a particularly large pine tree. “If you’re blistering and uncomfortable, which you absolutely are in those boots, then you need to fix that.”
Stanton merely nodded before walking and laying his hands on the nearest tree and closing his eyes. Which was why only TJ saw the flashing yellow eyes before they lunged out of a nearby creosote bush and towards them.