Characters: Hardarse “Hard” Wisecrack and Razouk
Prompt: Create a story around a dangerous plant.
Summary: Hard and Razouk go in search of a plant but they soon become impatient and resort to their old ways.
Hard:
A bat and a cat walked steadily along the forest floor, casting their eyes downward towards the ground. They were looking for something. The summer evening was coming in quickly as their next victim slept soundly nearby.
A bulky hulk of a soquili had made Hard angry and so she invited them to a poisonous tea time, the only catch is, it wasn’t enough to finish off the job. Normally she was a little ratty gremlin who was quick to snap but in that moment Razouk was busy and so the little mare chose to play dirty with the filthiest cup of tea that would ever grace the lips of the stranger. For a while she contemplated asking Razouk to dispose of them but now she was curious to see how much it would take to send them into an eternal slumber, just incase such a situation was to happen again. Hard knew she’d be in trouble if she didn’t follow through with it as there was no guarantee that she wouldn’t ever see them again.
She huffed as the growth of the forest twisted around her and low hanging branches thwacked her in the face,“the spot with the “tea” is meant to be right here”, a sourness hung on her voice. She was becoming impatient as the sky grew darker as she was uncertain if they’d find their way back.
“Can you see anything?”
Raz:
Razouk was mostly bored when he wasn’t with Hardarse, he found she brought entertainment to his grey world, before it had been a conflict inside him between darkness and light, pure hunter or someone with a conscience, he’d mostly just survived, eaten when hungry, not doing a whole lot when not.
He was in his cat form, following Hardarse, not that much different in size between him and her either even in this form. He had been hunting for food when Hardarse had finally found him. Where branches thwacked her in the face, he gracefully avoided them, ducking his head when they swing back after he pushed through them. He wasn’t entirely sure what she wanted, or what this ‘tea’ was but in this form, his vision was stronger, sharper. “I do not see anything, but i hear deep breathing nearby” he said, his tone flat, it was less a disinterest and more, just how he spoke, he didn’t really emote in the way he talked, unless he was feeling strong emotions.
Hard:
Hard’s eyes narrowed as she scanned the forest floor,“don’t mind the breathing, we’ve got a guest.” Her voice flowed nonchalantly,“they’re sleeping now but I’m afraid they’ve overstayed their welcome. They’re a little bit too heavy for little old me to shift on my lonesome.” A wry smile found it’s way onto her face as she wrinkled her nose. It was only in that moment that she had noticed a mild numbness slowly creeping across her face. “Ah…”
Suddenly she understood what had happened, she sighed,“I’ve found it.” Fortunately for Razouk, his natural agility was enough to save him the exposure to the plant.
She turned back on her heels and looked at the low hanging branches, a spindly vine with lobed leaves wound around them. The silly mare didn’t even recognise it when it had hit her in the face.“You see that?“, she gesturned towards the vine,“that’s it. It’s the leaves we need but we musn’t touch them.” If they could take a vine with them the rest would be easy, in truth, she had no idea of how they might loosen it from the branches without touching the leaves but it didn’t look like the plant was clinging tightly. She knew that it wouldn’t have a significant effect when applied topically but she did find it rather annoying to brush up against them.
Think think think think.
Her eyes followed the twists and turns of the plant as she approached the base of the entwined tre. “The rootstalks don’t run too deep but they are very stubborn. Could you help me dig it up?” Hardarse was trying not to be too impatient though she knew her worry was an irrational one now that Razouk had returned. She was not as familiar as the environment as she pretended to be and she didn’t like to feel like she had to rely on Raz too much even though he never seemed too bothered when she pulled him into her shenannigans if that’s what you could call a would be murder.
The little brown usdia tapped and scratched her hoof around the spot where the rootstalks would be. She knew she wouldn’t have much of a chance pulling them out as her bite had weakened with the numbing effect, fortunately it had not effected her speech from what she could notice.
((OOC note: - feel free to add to it or change it but this is just to give you an idea of what the plant is like.
The body:
- The plant looks like a green vine with lobed leaves.
The leaves:
- The leaves are slightly rough in texture.
- The leaves cause the numbing effect but the rest of the plant does not unless it’s boiled or exposed to heat.
The roots:
- The root structure is a rhizome (a long root stalk) which can be found in shallow soil, it is very thick, woody and tough. It saps the moisture from the plants it suffocates and is extremely invasive.))
Raz:
Razouk shrugged when Hardarse said not to worry about the breathing though when she stopped and made a face, he was concerned. “What is it?” he asked, seeing the strange look she gave the plant, strange because it was numbing her face. He was ready to attack whatever had done that to her.
“The… plant?” he said, a questioning tone in his normally monotone voice, He tilted his head as she examined the plant in question. “Pick it without touching” he muttered, impossible but he would carry it for her if she needed to, indeed he had shifted forms and stepped forward to do just that when she she also approached it, and told him to dig up the root. “Easy” he said, an almost laugh on the edge of his tone.
“Move” he said “uh… Please” he added for politeness. In his now larger size, with larger claws, he dug up around the tree, digging to find the roots she mentioned. digging until he did indeed find the bulbous parts of the plant, he hadn’t needed to dig far but because of the tree roots, it had been a little awkward. Once exposed and pulled, the roots had an almost sweet odour, “Do you want just the roots or the whole plant?” he asked his little lover. He would do anything for her, she made the world make sense for him, just being with her made him calm. He could have, would have, clawed the vines down from the tree had she wished, he wouldn’t have minded some numbess, it wouldn’t have mattered to him.
Hard:
Hardarse moved out of the way with half a hop and took on the role of spectator while the agile muscle took care of the hardest parts. She paused breifly pondering his question,“I just need a single strand with the leaves on, I only touch the roots.”
The sounds of the forest swirled around them, various unfathomable creature sounds blending in and standing out, she had not noticed that the sound of slumber had paused in the distance as she was much more preocupied with the task at hand. She was impressed by Raz and his efficiency but she’d never give him that satisfaction. She looked along the roots and picked out a section with some vines on it,“aight, shall we go?”, she spoke to him through gritted teeth and muffled tones gesturing the way they came.
She with every step she had become more certain of the way back, carefully making their way towards their very unfortunate guest.
Raz:
Razouk merely nodded when Hardarse picked the strand she needed but he did let out a small grunt as the sounds of the forest changed slightly. “Hmmmm” he mused, turning his head towards the place he had heard the sleeping form. Quickly shifting into his cat form he listened hard and when she suggested they go, he spoke “I think they were about to wake” he said, claws tightening in the ground but then the light snoring continued “Never mind, they are snoring” he told her, his pelt rippling as the wind changed, bringing the scent of the stranger to his nostrils.
“What is this for?” he asked her, confused a little at the whole, use of toxic plants thing, he much preferred getting his paws dirty, and quite often, so did Hardarse, it was one of the things he loved about the little mare. He had been about to predate on her when they first met but she had been so full of anger and temper, and just … spark, that he had been drawn to her, hung around her to try and understand her more, the fact she had let him stick around long enough for them to develop feelings for each other was a wonder to him honestly but she could more than handle herself in a fight, he was just.. extra muscle if she required.
As they drew closer, the sound of the forest around them stopped, the wildlife seeing a couple of predators when they saw them and preferring not to be the selected targets. Razouk sidled up alongside Hardarse, a leaf brushing against his ear and after a few seconds he felt the sensation she must have. They approached the sleeping Soquili and he watched Hardarse carefully. “I do not understand why i can not just bite his throat and dispose of him that way” he whispered, very, very quietly to her. It made no sense to him but that was part of the pleasure of his little bat, she quite often surprised him with how her brain worked.
Hard:
Hardarse learned from her mistakes and had kept her eyes forward. She made sure to have a little more awareness about the plants at face height. When she heard that they were about to wake she thought about tossing the plant to one side in frustration.
With a mouthful of filthy roots she was starting to think it was more hassle than it was worth, she mumbled with a mouth full of plant matter before spitting it out,“you could say I’ve been trying out something new but it’s a hassle. While you were out catching us dinner some nosey-whatsit came along, they stayed around a little too long and asked too many questions. I wanted to do everyone a favour ‘cos it was doin’ my ‘ead in.” She huffed and picked up the root, this experience had shown her that the herboligist role didn’t suit her in the slightest and she knew it.
When the pair arrived at the scene of the crime she was relieved to see that the stranger was still there but she knew that they may not have too much time left, the worry and the time keeping gave her more anxiety than she was prepared to handle. When Raz spoke reason and she listened,“I wanted to try something but you’re right. I’ve ‘ad it.”, the mare launched the root across the forest and snarled, each sentence becoming shorter and sharper with a staccato rhythm as the annoyance towards the stranger that she tried to bottle up had resurfaced,“I’m done with the planning and the picking. It’s effort. It takes way too long. I tried it, it’s a no. We won’t be doing that again. Snap their neck and do away with them. I’m sick of looking at them.”
Raz was an efficient finisher and with the features of a natural born predator but in contrast Hardarse was much less equipped for efficiency and messier, in the end, so it was always kinder for Raz to be the finisher but sometimes she didn’t want to be kind. “Useless plant!”, she growled into the evening air. She watched Razouk puncture holes into their victim and suddenly she felt the weight of her feelings lift, he had the power to make the problems go away so easily. They sat together listened to the last breaths escape and wheeze out of them like a sad leaky balloon. The forest remained rather still around them but Hardarse didn’t mind after all she had good company. The only company she ever could stand.
Almost all evidence of them would be gone by the morning and their tea-time friend too, the only thing they would leave behind is the numbing plant for someone else to step on. A gift from them to the next stranger to pass by.