After the bamboo gate sealed itself back up leaving their guests outside Chris made his way towards the cloud tree, its mist already starting to settle around him like it always did when he was agitated, somehow carrying with it a calming feel that enhanced the relaxing properties of the blossoms that had begun to once more open, there faint aroma carried through the mist.
He heard Sera's boots thumping as she came over, she didn't say anything or comment on how things had gone, rather she stood sentinel, waiting to listen if he felt he needed to speak and just reassuring him with her company, it had become a type of reassurance as of late, her presence alone grounding him.
Korr had disappeared the moment they were inside though. He moved like a ghost when he wanted to and right now Chris was glad for it. He needed a minute to think.
'They knew.' The thought kept circling his mind, about the village. About the plants and even about him. He knew it would happen, his waves would draw attention but being so far out and the nature of the place he had hoped for more time or to have sorted out his own issues and matters before more cropped up.
It was the medical grass that cut through his thoughts, warning him that he was thinking far to hard and wont get an answer, only a headache at this rate, before adding that well it can fix a lot it cant fix his special brand of stupid.
Chris snorted despite himself. A smile slowly forming on his face. "Thanks." He said with an eye roll earning the feeling of smugness in return.
"That knight's going to try something you know." Her words where blunt but honest, it showed she noticed the same things he had.
"Yeah." Chris rubbed the knot mark on his wrist. The Rootmind was already feeding him information, watching them intently and even using the other plants around them to keep him informed. "He's been talking to the scout but to soft for even the world tree to make out, possibly some kind of muffling magic, and then there's how the scout kept looking at the walls throughout the conversation."
"What about the mage and the ranger? I saw how you looked at them, they probably did as well and they also seemed rather interested in this place, have they made any moves or voiced wanting to try and enter?"
"No, there just watching right now, well rather there dealing with an angry Lyra well the healer is setting up camp like nothing's wrong. I don't think they even realize the number of beasts we have to deal with each night, but it would be a good learning curve, that damn things up to something though, constant mutts, wolves and Minotaur's, there's been no sign of more spider-like creatures or worse." He told her, deciding that regardless of the party outside the wall the dungeon was still the immediate threat. "I want to believe its just focusing on recovery now and praying it will take it a few more years but." He said with a sigh before going slightly stiff and looking to the gate with narrowed eyes. "Never mind, it seems the scout's going to try coming over soon."
Sera's hand moved to her sword. "I'll handle it."
"No." Chris shook his head stopping her. "Let him come. The vines will deal with him."
She frowned for a moment, almost bristling with hints of frustration, "You mean the strangle vines?"
"They're already waiting." He could feel whispering about wanting to 'play' with someone new, that it had been far to long and he had to constantly remind them not to harm the scout they weren't hungry tonight. They were waiting with excitement. "He won't get far."
Sera studied him for a long moment. "You didn't even hesitate. Before, you would've tried to find another way or overthink things."
Chris thought about that. About the bandit leader's laugh. About the grey patch where nothing would grow again. About Theron, buried in amber because Chris hadn't been fast enough or smart enough or strong enough. About the few attacks they had from people and beasts alike, how he hadn't killed himself. How reaction wasn't action and he needed to find his balance between impulse and control, only recently feeling that he had found it, or so he had hoped.
"I learned," he said. "Took me long enough but I think I finally managed to realize who I want to be, who this place needs me to be."
Later when night had truly fallen and their camp had been set Lyra sat by the remains of their little fire staring at the village walls and ignoring the faint howls in the distance, the reports mentioned beasts but how they rarely came to the small village.
She should have be sleeping as she would need her wits sharp for what tomorrow held but every time she closed her eyes, she saw him. That guy with bark-like shin and the look in his eyes when she mentioned the old man. The way he'd said 'he passed away' like it cost him something.
"Can't sleep?" A Soft voice drifted over, it was their ranger Rina who had made her way over, she tried to be quiet but still had a lot of training still to do.
"I could ask you the same thing."
Rina dropped down beside her, bow across her lap. "Someone's got to watch that jerk knight. He spoke to the scout for over an hour and kept glancing at the village. Something about 'scouting the perimeter.'" She said, making it clear how stupid she felt such an idea was.
"And the other hero? the mage?"
"She's trying to talk him out of it." Rina shrugged before letting out an exasperated sigh. "The scout wants to 'prove himself' though." She told Lyra with air quotes. "That idiot knight's been building him up all week and when we got here kept it going, telling him this is his chance to make a name and even very subtle threats towards his family."
Lyra closed her eyes at that, already feeling her annoyance growing but trying to look calm and collected, it was the first time in a long time she had felt her emotions grow strong enough to almost leak out, it wasn't something she could allow though, not during her first real interaction with the hero's. instead doing what she does best, trying to plan around it and think all about how to deal with the issues this may cause, she'd seen this before and even read some of her father's reports about it, men who thought glory was something you took instead of earned.
"He knew we were coming," she eventually said. "He was waiting and the whole talk he had with you? It was thought out and planned, but there's a few things about him that bugged me."
Lyra replayed their interaction in her mind before frowning, realizing she was right and that she should have easily picked up on that. "You think he's working with the demons and this is part of a plan or trap?"
"No." Rina said, shaking her head slightly, watched the mist curl around the walls. "I very much doubt he has much interaction with them or an affiliation with them, I think we got here first, it was something else." She saif before pausing for a moment. "The way he looked at us, it was different, there was some longing in that look mixed with recognition, he also said 'good luck' and since coming here none of us have really heard anyone tell us that, I think there's more to him than we know or been told, I also think we need to be ready for whatever might be coming."
Lyra turned to look at her, realization in her gaze but before she could question if she thought he might be an other worlder as well, a howl drew her gaze, noticing a large cloud of dust coming towards them.
The scout used the distraction of Lyra and the others rushing to prepare for something to slip towards the village, finding it to be the perfect opening.
The knight had told him to be careful. To watch for the plants and avoid the vines, to see what was really inside those walls and to take whatever he could. If he brought back good information or some kind of treasure or item, there'd be a reward with a bonus, it was his chance to make a name for himself. This was his chance to prove he was more than just a pair of eyes.
Looking over his point of entry he scoffed at how easy the walls would be to climb. the bamboo didn't react, the mist was thinned along the eastern side and as long as he was careful, he could easily avoid the various spiky patches of the decorated walls.
He made it three steps before the scream flower pulsed. It wasn't loud at first, just a soft thrum in the back of his skull that made his ears ring and his vision blur for a brief moment before the vines hit him a moment later.
They came out of the thin mist like snakes, thick and dark as they wrapped around his legs. He tried to draw his knife but they were already moving up his body and pinning his arms to his sides. Going around them and his waist. Not crushing but keeping tight enough that he was firmly held in place.
He opened his mouth to scream only for another vine to wrap around his throat, the faint sensation of needles brushing across his skin yet not piercing sent shivers through his body as panic tried to take hold.
That was when another two appeared in front of him, strangle vines but different in color, with needles coming from there blossoms, they way they seemed to look at him and move side to side made it clear they were telling him not to try anything as they all but dragged him over the wall into the village proper, his knife laying where he was previously.
Chris was there rather quickly, finding the scout hung in the strangle vines' grip, suspended a few feet off the ground. His face was pale, his eyes wide, but he wasn't bleeding, swelling or near death, showing the Gympie vine around his neck was doing well in restraining itself.
Sera appeared beside Chris a few moments after, having followed him as soon as she saw him move.
"They didn't kill him," Sera said. It wasn't a question.
"They knew I'd want to talk to him first and I did make sure to give clear orders for them to only restrain him, don't want to make problems till we know all we can after all." Chris stepped forward, the vines pulled the scout closer towards him. "Your knight send you?"
The scout didn't answer, his gaze moving between him, the vines and clearly shocked by the village interior, trying to not let the needles break skin.
Shaking his head Chris called off the Gympie vine, "You do know your just his Guinea pig, right? Using you as a means to see what the plants do, see if it's safe to come in himself."
The Scout remained silent, only letting out a sigh of relief as the vine seemed to hesitantly pull away. "Tell me something," Chris continued without a care. "Was it worth it? Sneaking in here, getting caught, did you even know what you were looking for when you decided to try and sneak into MY village?"
The scout's mouth opened. Closed. Opened again. "The knight said..."
"The knight's not here and this isn't your empire; he has no say in what happens here." Chris's voice was flat and faintly annoyed. "He sent you to break into my village with no backup and no plan. And now you're hanging from my vines well his back at camp, waiting to see if you make it back, well to be fair its probably a bit safer this way for you."
Something flickered across the scout's face. Realization, maybe. Or just fear.
"So here's what's going to happen." Chris stepped back. "The vines are going to let you go, you're going to walk back to your camp and help them fend off the beasts, if you all survive you're going to tell your knight that if he wants to see what's inside, he can knock on the gate like everyone else or put that pride of his aside like the Lyra girl did and be civil, I did offer you lot a chance to spend the night in safety, he wanted you lot to face the beasts."
He gestured and the vines loosened, dropping the scout, barely managing to catch himself on his hands and knees.
"If you come back over my walls though?" Chris began, his smile turning cold, "they won't let you go and I will make sure you feel untold pain before being mixed into the soil."
The scout ran. Barely hearing Chris yell that his to tell the others its only one wave a night, never more unless provoked, he barely managed to take it in as he still tried to look at all he could well running, managing to grab a small wooden bottle from under a tree as he went, refusing to leave empty handed as he made it to the gate, the bamboo softening and letting him through as if he was moving through water before hardening once more behind him.
As he arrived back at camp, he noticed it was mostly destroyed, various beast corpses and even a Minotaur lay scattered, various vines and roots visibly retreating, his party looking weary and worn, blood spattered across them and visible injuries, nothing extreme but clearly having been through a rough fight.
Lyra's eyes narrowed as she saw him stumble into what was left of their camp.
She was prepared to tear into him, to yell and reprimand him till she noticed how he was shaking, the faint pink mark around his throat.
"The plants," he gasped before she could speak. "They were everywhere! They had me before I could even—"
"I know." Lyra's voice was sharp. "It's why the mage and everyone else tried to tell you not to go."
"But, but the knight said—"
"The knight was wrong and his words shouldn't be more valuable than your life, and you no doubt ruined what trust we might have been able to build!"
She turned and gave a glare towards the knight who stood at the edge of the camp, arms crossed, face unreadable. He didn't look at the scout. Didn't even acknowledge that anything had happened even with his armor dented and spattered with blood.
"We need to know what we're dealing with; surly you have more information."
"We're dealing with someone who has plants that move and think and attack on command!" Lyra snapped as she stepped closer, forcing him to meet her eyes. "We're dealing with someone who knew we were coming before we got here. Someone who let us walk up to his gate, talk to him, and then you had to be overly confident and cocky that resulted in us having to deal with that damn beast wave! We would have been killed by it if those same plants hadn't gotten involved."
The knight's jaw tightened. "My lady—"
"You're done." Lyra's voice was ice. "Tomorrow, we go to the gate. We apologize for your stupidity and we ask if we can try again. If you say one word, if you so much as look at him wrong, I will send you back to the capital in chains. Do you understand?"
The knight stared at her for a long moment before giving her a slow nod.
Lyra turned away. She didn't trust him but she knew she didn't need to. She just needed him to stay quiet long enough to try and salvage this.
Rina was watching from the edge of the fire, her face unreadable as she clutched her bow tightly, her hands shaking somewhat as she tried to comfort her friend Elara the mage, her staff held tight enough that her knuckles where white around the wood as if it were a life line, barely replying to her friend. There clothes rough with blood spatter and tears. The healer was already moving toward the scout, herbs ready to try and treat any possible injuries, not looking at anyone and clearly trying to stay out of matters, muttering about how he was running low.