Chester woke to a splitting headache and dry mouth, punctuated by a cramp-inducing hunger. Whatever that was I’m never doing it again, she vowed with a pitiful whine while curling into a ball around the pain.
I need to get out of here soon, she thought and forced herself to unclamp and roll onto her back to stare at the ceiling; ignoring the handful of bone shards that dug into her back and ass while doing her level best to embrace the pain.
They might be indestructible, but I still feel everything through them.
It took a few minutes before her thoughts cleared enough to plan.
Focusing on the sun-dappled hanging vines filling the fissure in the ceiling she contemplated the new spell information idling in her head.
There was nothing that indicated she had to be near the roots to affect the vines. Only cautions that if the soil couldn’t maintain the growth they may wither. Also, if the soil couldn't handle the weight they could fall as she manipulated them. Nutrient and moisture drain could weaken them too.
She sat up with a groan and looked about. Huh, my guitar must have timed out.
Okay, Chester, things will only get worse if you don’t get a move on. No more of this wallowing about and passing out, she told herself with a wry smile.
She worked through the instrument summons again; succeeding on the first try and fist-pumped in triumph while cradling it in her lap. Fist pumping is much better with a bra.
Now, this ability seemed quite easy on the surface but still had its challenges. According to what she gleaned, all it required was to play or sing and project her desires at the plant she wanted to affect.
The real trick was that if she wanted them to grow faster, she would have to play and sing at the same time. Otherwise, it only worked at half speed. Doing both would bring it to the speed indicated in the abilities window.
So, she would have to know the song intimately and be able to perform it without thought to use the full ability. There were only a handful of songs she felt that comfortable with. That’s all for later, six inches a second is more than enough to try and get out of here. If I can even climb that bloody thing. I was never that good at rope-climbing. Always ended up humping the end of the rope. Although, I weigh less now. Hmm, perhaps I can make a ladder out of it?
Determined, she set up the guitar. Tuning it and settling its strap about herself before starting to play, Collective Soul’s: December while urging the vines to grow to the floor with her mind.
With giddy delight, she watched all the vines within reach start descending like wriggling snakes. The echoing music filled the cave, wrapping her in its silky embrace.
Caught in the moment, she sang the chorus, enthralled as the vines quickly reached the floor, pooling in a circle about her like discarded coils of rope.
She stopped singing for a moment, to switch gears. Encouraging the vines to grow tendrils that reached out to those nearby, creating a makeshift ladder.
Once she finished, she expressed the hope that they would bloom. When the song's echo finally settled, she looked about at her creation and smiled in awe. The room was filled with a vibrant array of beautiful flowering vines.
Wow, it’s magical! She snorted at her thought. I can think that now, right? She laughed and clutched the guitar to her chest in delight. Wow, some of these urges are strong.
Slinging the guitar onto her back she stood and studied the vine ladder with slight trepidation before shaking her head. Dude, it's no worse than three scaffolds.
No time like the present, she encouraged herself after a pause before stepping up and taking hold of the first rung.
I better test it first, she cautioned herself before she got carried away climbing.
She pulled herself up a few rungs then jerked up and down. There wasn’t any sign of movement. So, determined, she started to climb in earnest.
When she reached the edge of the crevasse in the ceiling, she made the mistake of looking down and vertigo nearly made her let go. That was stupid. Focus on where you're going, idiot. Taking a deep breath, she set to climbing again.
As she hoisted herself over the lip a window popped into her vision.
You are about to leave Dryads Rest Entrance Zone, are you sure you want to proceed? Entrance zones will be unavailable to you for the next 24hrs.
4:32:56 remaining
The seconds were counting down steadily on the timer. Huh, that makes me wonder what’s down the tunnel. She contemplated the climb back down, then sighed and started descending. I’ll never forgive myself if I missed something important.
Once more on firm ground, she admired her flowers for a moment before moving into the tunnel she had discovered. She stepped into the darkness, standing there for a moment to let her eyes adjust to the dim light. To her shock and delight, not only did her eyes adjust. Her vision turned to shades of grey and everything came into sharper focus. Wow! What is this? Some sort of low-light vision? she thought in wonder, looking at the strange greyed world in the tunnel. Ahead the tunnel descended into more complete darkness.
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Her feet ached as she padded forward, placing each foot carefully on the gritty and sharp ridged floor.
She came to a split in the tunnel and took the left branch. It led to a dead end with a large hole in the floor. So, she crouched near the edge and dropped a small chunk of bone, curious. She counted as it fell, and it was 2 Mississippi's before she heard a small plunk as it hit the water at the bottom.
Shaking her head, she retraced her steps and took the other path.
Shortly she became aware of a trickling sound and excitement gripped her. Quickening her pace, she was pleased to find a small hand-width stream cut a diagonal through the floor at the end of the tunnel.
Her stomach grumbled at the sight of water and she crouched to scoop some into shaky hands before raising it to her parched lips.
She paused. Shit! Can I even drink this? She weighed the pros and cons for a few seconds as the water flowed from her cupped hands.
Concluding that it was at least 40feet underground and likely fine she dipped her hands back in and proceeded to drink her fill before she settled back on her heels for a moment of thought, running her wet hand through knotty hair. I’m not guaranteed to find good water up top either. Hmm, is there any way I can take some with me?
Vines! She snapped her fingers hurrying back to the main cave. She studied them for a while, trying to visualize how to do this. A large vine that hollows itself out? Or do I weave them together then grow them, so they are water-tight? I’ll try both. Settling her guitar in her lap, she played a slow aimless tune while carefully urging the vines into the shapes she desired. When she was satisfied, she thinned out the attachments to the main plant, so they would break off easily.
Collecting the containers, she returned and bent to push their openings into the stream. The woven one worked better because it remained flexible. Whereas the hollow vine cracked when she pushed it under the water and it started to leak.
Using the now broken one as a ladle helped her fill the woven one.
She sat down with it when it was full to cast the inventory spell. She didn’t want to carry the burdensome thing and tying it to her bra or panties seemed foolish. The same went for the guitar strap because it would disappear.
Finished with the diversion, she returned to the vines and climbed back to the top hesitating for a moment when the window once more popped into her vision.
These things are annoying. There has to be a way to make them not jump up in my vision like this. With her thought, the window minimized and moved to the bottom right of her vision; only taking up a small portion of her view now.
“Nice," she said before finishing the climb.
Once she was out of the crevice the window closed and a blue barrier filled the opening.
After taking a quick look at her surroundings a new window started flashing in the corner of her vision. The glance didn’t reveal anything immediately dangerous. It appeared she was in a forest of some sort. None of the species of tree were recognizable, but that wasn’t too surprising considering she was in a different world. Feeling relatively secure she brought up the new window.
You’ve entered the Highwoods Dungeon Preserve. Travel with care and good luck!
Zone: Rank 2
“Shit.” She said. This is bad, isn’t it? Well, nothing I can do about it, I’m stuck here now. She shrugged.
There was a cool breeze blowing through the trees, dimpling her skin and making her shiver.
Crossing her arms, she contemplated the vines with a frown. I wonder if I can make some sort of clothes out of these. I would have to keep the vines tiny and weave them together, using the leaves as the actual garment. Well, it doesn’t hurt to try, she decided.
Settling down with her guitar, she strummed a few different tones, willing the vegetation to form a weave and sprout leaves that were then woven in by the vines.
It took a good hour to find a method that worked.
As she played the sun started to set and she looked around frowning. I need to hurry this along and find somewhere to hole-up for the night.
It was by no means perfect but the large cloak she’d managed to form should stave off the wind and rain. I even managed a half-decent Hood. Too bad I still don’t have footwear, she lamented.
She appreciated her handiwork for a moment before once more studying the forest. The entire time she'd played there hadn’t been any signs of life in the forest. The lack of birdsong made the surrounding heavy woods unsettling. Now that I’m thinking of it, it's unnatural but I haven’t seen a living creature this whole time.
She shrugged after a moment. Time to scram, I guess one direction is as good as another. She turned a slow circle.
Heading away from the setting sun. It might be east, right?
She sang Stubborn Love under her breath on repeat as she set out. Just another walk in the park, she told herself. Nothing to worry about.
Placing her feet with deliberate care she made her slow and steady way through the fern, brush, and moss that covered the forest floor. The huge iron-grey and brown trees silent sentinels looming over it all.
She kept her head on a swivel, looking intently for danger and anything that might be edible. She eyed the odd berry suspiciously but decided to not take the risk. There are so many poisonous berries, it isn’t worth it. Yet, she thought as her belly protested her meal of water.
As she was progressing around a small boulder and birch-covered hillock well over an hour later while thinking there might be a good place to hide nearby, she heard a voice.
A voice speaking a language she hadn’t heard before but could somehow understand perfectly. She froze and listened. Must be one Freya gifted me, she thought and stopped singing as well.
“I heard singing," A gruff voice was saying. The response was muffled. So, she squatted down behind a tree to see what else she could learn by listening.
There was silence for long minutes before she heard a snort and a sound of flesh striking flesh.
“You’re hearing things Thaylor. Now, get some sleep, you're on second watch,” said a feminine voice in derision.
“Singing, in this forest of all places. She’s right, you’re losing it Thay,” another voice added.
Chester waited for a good quarter-hour but there was no further talking then eventually snoring drifted out of the camp.
Now, what do I do? Start singing again? No that’s a terrible idea, they might get spooked or something. It only sounds like three of them. Well, I might as well approach in the open.
Standing up she continued her slow and careful trek around the hillock and soon came into sight of a small camp nestled in a small indentation in the hill. A small fire cast shadows about in the gloom casting light on two bundled shapes sleeping near the fire.
Another figure was standing shrouded by the nearby trees and currently had its back to Chester a few yards away.
When the figure turned her sweeping gaze in Chester's direction she saw the women's eyes catch on her then widen in horror and terror.
“DRYAD!! RUN BOYS, RUN!!” she screamed and charged straight for Chester.
Huh? Chester thought as the figure rushed her.