"What to do? Should I call out and offer terms of peace? Or, should I aim an attack at where I suspect this person to be hiding? Or should I wait for their attack to make a counter?"The options presented themselves, and each one came with its merits and demerits. She had stopped at the center of the clearing, where she looked around, like she was examining a potential picnic site. The sounds of the forest were hushed, much the same way the forest goes quiet when something dangerous or foreign is about. She could still pick out the slithering noises, but they also seemed hushed, like they were preparing to spring an attack. At that point, Cara made up her mind.
"Hello, whoever is out there," she called out in as friendly a tone as she could afford.
"No point in hiding, and no point in attacking me, either. I just want to talk. As you can see, I am unarmed," she concluded, holding up her hands in a gesture of non-violence.
There was a now deafening silence. All sounds had ceased altogether, and Cara began to hope that the foe she was supposed to deal with was considering her offer. She honestly preferred if she didn't have to resort to fisticuffs, but she was prepared to go down that road, seeing that many creatures were not as rational as she often hoped. After a while, a hooded figure appeared atop a high branch, looking down at her. Cara could see nothing of their features, because the person wore a mask. Be that as it may, there was something kind of odd about the person.
For starters, Cara felt the person smelt like a woman.
That would be a legit point, especially since the person was covered from top to toe and was probably known to people in Hargeon. Right now, some progress was being made on the path of peace, since the hooded figure had not attacked... yet. Cara smiled up at the figure.
"Thank you for obliging me. I was hoping...""What do you want?" the figure rasped, cutting her short.
The smile on Cara's face refused to wane.
"Why, to talk...""Then talk." Another interruption.
"Well, you're not letting me," Cara replied calmly. She waited for another rude interjection, but surprisingly, none came. So she ventured forward.
"I came to ask for peace. If something has aggrieved you, I'm sure we can talk it through and reach a compromise. I'm open to hearing your demands, and if need be, I can talk to the authorities on your behalf."As she was speaking, she barely could hear the quiet movements again. There was a pause, and then a harsh flick. Almost instinctively, Cara pulled herself to the right, as three or four lashing vines missed her by an inch. With a strong jump, she put some good distance between herself and the vines, and looked towards where the attacks were coming from. In good time did she do so, because a monstrosity of a moving plant squeezed through a space in the trees and came to oppose her in the clearing. It resembled a huge bud, or bulb, with razor sharp teeth concealed within. It used root-like appendages for locomotion, and six vines waved about, ready to strike. The hooded figure dropped from the branch and onto the bud.
"For one who talks peace, you sure seemed ready for war," they said, in a mocking tone.
Cara shrugged and rolled back her sleeves.
"A good soldier is always ready to fight, even though they value peace. You're the one who's giving me no options.""Let's see how good you are!" the figure yelled, as the plant creature lurched towards Cara, all vines flinging outwards towards her. Cara stamped her foot, pushing her power into the earth.
"Oh no, you don't! Metsuaku no Tsuchiheki!" A burst of glowing crystal pushed its way out of the ground and in the way of the incoming plant tendrils, forming a durable wall. The vines struck at the barrier, causing cracks to spread across its surface. With a final push, the vines broke through the wall, lashing at whatever was beyond. Beyond, was nothing.
Both the plant and its controller, stopped, surprise written on their features. Behind them, at the edge of the clearing, Cara rose out of the ground silently, having phased underground to avoid the tendrils, once the line of sight of the hooded figure was broken by the wall. She was pleased that she had avoided detection for the time being, but suddenly, as if listening to an inaudible voice, the figure perked up and turned sharply. Cara dropped to one knee, pushing both of her palms onto the ground, as pulses of energy raced from her hands and into the soil.
"Metsuaku no Ryuusa!"In an instant, fissures of glowing energy seemed to spread across the clearing, and the solid ground transformed into shifting quicksand. The plant monster slowly began to sink into the sand as it flailed about with both root and tendril. Cara clapped her hands together, then thrust them outwards at the monster, as white energy materialized into five large crystal blocks.
"Kongo Ougihiden: Gogyoku!"The blocks crashed into the plant with crushing force, striking it with such viciousness that Cara half expected it to stay down. She was sure it would be up and about soon enough, since it was powerful enough to break through her Earth Rampart. It was 'up and about' immediately, however. The hooded figure clicked their fingers, and the bud began to open, a strange energy gathering at its maw as it pointed towards her.
Cara didn't need to be told that this was an attack, so it was best to either evade, or strike first. And since the powering up of the plant monster seemed somewhat slow, Cara took advantage of the opportunity. She took in a deep breath, then exhaled a powerful gust of vibrating dust, a scintillating dance of concussive explosions and shining dust.
"Metsuaku no Chigekikou!"The blast of dust caught the monster right in its bud aperture, and a small explosion rocked the scene. The hooded figure was flung off the monster, and although they managed to right themselves in mid-air, they still ended up crashing into a tree at the other end of the clearing. Cara folded her arms and watched them, as she spoke again, her voice calm.
"I'm still open to peaceful negotiations, provided you are."Unfortunately, her quarry was too frustrated to see reason. Shaking a fist at her, an angry hiss emanated from the mask.
"You have not seen the last of me. Hargeon has not seen the last of me!"With those words, the figure snapped their fingers, and what was left of the monster plant shuddered violently, then slowly began to turn brown. The figure jumped back onto the branch from which they had originally come, and cast a baleful glare at Cara; well, at least she supposed that was what they did. Then placing a hand on the tree trunk beside them, the hooded figure effortlessly melted into the tree and was gone.
Cara's gaze returned to the plant, and she was surprised to notice that the creature had almost completely fallen to pieces. She sighed and shook her head. The figure had evaded her, but she was not really upset about it. The mission was to take care of the plant, and obtain information on the culprit behind the attacks. And she had done so. She had identified to some level the strength of the culprit, and she had her suspicions that the culprit was female. Also, it seemed that the person had some vendetta against Hargeon, but that was more or less speculation at this point.
Cara walked back to the city, her senses alert for signs of a surprise attack, but none came. Her theories were put into writing, which she went to submit at the city mall, where she explained the details of her encounter with the hooded figure. After giving an accurate description of the character's height, and some other information, the officials thanked Cara and paid her her due.
That was accomplished, and all that was left was to return home, to the Ace of Spades.
Mission Completed
WC: 1386
Total Word Count: 1834/1500
