> Elven huntress

>

> Fallen Jungle

>

> 53rd of Cycle 2, 1015

I stood crouched on a tree for hours, watching, waiting for him to make some kind of move.

But he just slept like a log.

This careless child couldn't possibly be a threat to our great tribe. I would just kill him here and end this stupid waiting game. I aimed my bow at him and nocked an arrow. I drew and held my breath, but some unpleasant thoughts stopped me from finishing the job.

What if he was just a kid? What if he was lost and had no idea where to go or what to do? That would explain a lot about him if I disregarded his resistance to hypnosis and the carefree expression he wore while sleeping in the middle of a forest.

How was he so calm then? Shouldn’t a lost child be panicking and crying for his mother? That’s certainly how I acted when I was a child and... never mind.

He woke up! Finally! Just how long were you planning to sleep you little shit? Do you have no sense of danger? You’re in Fallen Jungle, the most dangerous place in all of Koria!

He reached for something. I readied my bow again only to see him pick up the rock he used last night to... butcher that rabbit. He then proceeded to look at the rock, then at the man-eater, then back at the rock, and so on.

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

He took the rock in his left hand, stepped forward with his right leg, and chucked the rock at the man-eater. He missed.

The rock bounced a couple of times and landed right in front of the man-eaters hypnotic appendage. Then, to my surprise, the man-eater opened its mouth and chomped down on the rock.

What? Man-eaters didn't eat rocks, did they?

I thought deeply for a moment and then it hit me. It must’ve been attracted to the dried blood covering the rock. But what was the point of that throw anyway? Now the boy had lost his tool and had nothing to show for it. Man-eaters have teeth strong enough to crush bone, a mere rock is not going to do any damage.

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The boy was standing there watching the plant with curiosity in his eyes. “Three seconds." He said, "I can work with that."

Three seconds? Did he mean the time it took for the plant to finish eating the rock? Just what was he planning to do with that information?

It didn’t take long for the boy to get to work, gathering a few rocks from nearby and... stuffing them into the remnants of the rabbit’s corpse. He then took some vines from nearby and tied up the corpse into some kind of stuffed trophy.

Is this really the time to be making a trophy? I mean I’m sure he’s happy about hunting a horned rabbit without any weapons, but doesn’t he have better things to be doing?

> Dave

>

> Fallen Jungle

>

> 53rd of Cycle 2 1015

I can’t believe I hadn't noticed it earlier, but there were a broken bow and a quiver of arrows near the base of the Hypno-plant. Yes, that’s what I’ve decided to call it now, although it seems like its hypnosis doesn’t work on me anymore.

I needed that bow if I wanted to survive. The plant took three seconds to eat that rock, so I had about four seconds from when the plant opened its mouth, to when it was ready to eat again to pick up the bow and quiver. I only had one shot at this, and I was making a lot of reaching assumptions. For one, I wasn't sure if the plant could attack me while eating or not, but well, here goes nothing.

I walked slowly towards the plant and stopped about ten feet away from it. I tossed the rabbit’s carcass towards it and its glowing appendage retracted with a flash, but the plant opened its mouth and paused as if it was considering whether or not to eat it.

My heart stopped. I took a step backward, then another step, and with each step back the plant moved its mouth closer to the carcass. Just how intelligent is this thing? I wondered as I took the third step backward. That was the breaking point.

The plant lunged and crunched down on the carcass, quickly starting its eating process. I sprinted at the plant and it seemed my guess was right because the plant kept chewing even as I was right next to it. I reached down and picked up the broken bow and quiver, and then I started sprinting in the opposite direction.

That was when I noticed something a little concerning. I couldn’t hear the crunching sounds anymore. I didn’t need to turn around to realize my time was limited, so I took another step and leaped away as far as I could. I heard a shrill screech as I tumbled into the dirt. The plant's rows of teeth were a few inches from my legs, and it was screeching louder than I was when I had just pulled the rabbit’s horn out of my hand. I scurried away on the ground and stood up to run away.

Before I ran away, I looked back at the screeching plant and gave a wry smile. It might have just been my imagination, but I think the plant started screeching louder when I did that.

Bow and arrows acquired.