White Flower, Black Feather

Standard Fetch Quest, Get!

‘AAAHHH!!!’ I am getting closer to the river as I flee ‘FORD THE RIVER!’

No, wait! That is a bad idea!

‘FORD THE BROOK!’ I turn north

Better!

As I get to the other side of the water, I turn to look above my shoulder as I move, its not following me at least

‘Still! I am not safe until I get-!’

The massive daily roar shakes the forest again and unlike before, I get the feeling of Death coming from it, I stop moving, but keep looking south

‘One… two… three… four… five-!’ another roar comes from the same direction ‘…? One… two… three… four-!’

BOOM!

‘Wha-?!’

The earth and air shakes from an impact, it came from the other side of the river, not too close to me, but I do see some dust going up in that direction and… the strength of the vibrations was high enough for me to get happy about not having my head against the ground, at the moment

‘So… it really can attack anywhere in the forest… at this distance is about four seconds before impact…’

-Don’t do something STUPID! About that!-

‘Is something to have in mind, I’m not going to use something, with so many unknowns, as a weapon’ the waiting makes me aware of how tired I got ‘I am overheating’ I count to ten and move to the shade of a tree to rest

The vibrations of the river don't let me hear properly the ground, so even if I am slightly tired, I keep my head up and looking around

‘I am going north to find either a bridge, or a very shallow spot for me to cross’ the water that remains against my scales feels good, as it helps me cooling down ‘I can’t do anything to it, as I am right now, but perhaps the river and the fishes on it, keep it away?’

One of the bushes, near the other side of the river, shakes and three Pest monsters appear from it, throwing themselves to the water after they shout at me, one of them managed to reach a rock in the middle of the water and judging by the bubbles coming from around it, the rest weren’t that lucky

‘That is why I am moving there-’ it jumps to the water again ‘Come on! I am tired!’ I prepare myself for combat

This Pest manage to reach this side of the riverbank, and shakes its fur, before moving at me

HISS!!!

It jumps to the north side, not towards the water… it looks a bit bigger that the previous two I ate, but I should still be able to devour it, it goes low as it growls at me, I aim at it, but keep my head moving slightly side to side

‘Why is not charging?’ I open my mouth and consider hissing again, but something feels off about it ‘…? what are you-?!’ it jumps!

Down! Turn! Bite! Quarter venom! Pull back!

It screams and rolls away, before looking at me again

‘Did these things always jumped before?!’ it was almost as fast as the grasshopper!

It goes low again, this time I move my head in a wider area, it follows me, I keep doing it, it snarls in frustration?

‘I can do this the whole day! Reverse snake charming! Idiot!’ I just need to wait until the venom does its thing

It lifts its body again and now it charges opening its mouth, I move to the side avoiding it, grab it it my mouth and throw it to a tree!

‘You should have aimed to my body, not my head!’ the wound I got from this kind of idiots, is going to haunt me for a long while…

It recovers from the slam and shakes before turning to me again, slower this time, it goes down and I move to the sides again, but this time it keeps shaking until it loses control of its limbs and falls to the ground, trembling

‘…? Oh! I forgot, I am making paralyze venom with my right fang!’ not the fang, a gland in the right side of my head ‘I am injecting that kind of venom at least with that one’

-Arguing with yourself, is not going to stop me from calling you STUPID! You IDIOT!-

‘Had to try, Status’ the monster is not death yet, but I am wary of the disease ‘More kill venom, is good for digestion, my digestion’ get closer and deliver another quarter of my left venom ‘Waiting now…’

I look to the water, nothing else manage to cross the river, nor anything else came to this side of the impact zone…

‘Some of these monsters maybe where attacking a creature, got sniped after the roar, and the survivors ran…? Maybe-!’

Ding

‘Breakfast is served… ugh… may your kin’s remains, stop corrupting this forest and those that have fallen on it’ I move to eat it, as I glance to the river ‘At least now I know, that I am not the only thing eating monsters…’

-----

‘Okay, I have rested and not longer overheating’ nothing else came out of the woods from the other side, nor this side either ‘To the north! And to (hopefully) a bridge!’ I move from the shade of the tree I was using to cool my body, following the river

As I go, I try to get a feeling for the smells on the other side, this particular spot is a bit narrower, than the place I was using to fish before, so ignoring the carrion smell of the monsters, I have the sensation that there are more living things in the other side, the smell of boar is also between the mix of what I get as I move

‘I know its not going to be easy, but I can’t do anything against the spider, the boars… if I get in a hole maybe I can paralyze them and run…? My instinct is screaming, so I’m just going to avoid them…’

The edge of the woods is not far ahead of me, it opens to… almost a plain, the outer wall of the city is to my left, too far away for me to tell details, but I can see it. Coming out of it, is a stone road that splits the plain in two, next to the forest is the plain part, to the north are farms and far, far beyond them a really impressive mountain chain, likely weeks by horse to reach… maybe, I am tiny right now

‘I am going to assume, that the building that I see next to the crops is the home, or a barn, for the farmers… looks like that they are planting different things on every field’ good to know they have crop rotations here, even if is something that I’m not going to benefit from giving to them ‘It seems to be a three field one…? The fields are… quite small aren’t they? How do they feed the whole city with fields this small? And considering how scared of fliers they are, how…?’ I remember the stones keeping the boar away ‘Right, never mind, they must have a lot of those protecting the fields… not touching them if I see any, just don't mind the snake that should be repelled by them, please!’

The road so far looks empty, at least on the nearby area and I see a stone bridge crossing the water towards another farm, I give a glance to the skies and move there

‘I really need camo!’

I am moving quickly in the grass, the smell from the crops mixing with the ones from the forest in my tongue, hearing the sound of the wind moving the plants nearby and the vibrations from the river are the only thing that I am feeling here, I hope they don't hide anyone in the bridge

Reaching it, I find it empty, it should be wide enough for at least three horses to walk side by side, but it must be mostly used by the farmers, I cross it

‘Odd how the vibrations “echo” on it, from both sides, its not dizzying at least… mouse?’ I get to the other side of the river and that smell is close by… ‘From that farm…’ the field closest to me is growing some kind of tall plant, parts of it are purple so I hesitate in calling it a cereal ‘Local corn, or wheat variant…?’ I look up ‘Is not midday yet… but if I kill the mouse, I’ll be doing them a favor… and I don't know how long it might take me to track it…’

The man made structure looks like a house and is close…

‘Good act of the day, I guess…’

I slide towards it, if its a mouse, it either has the nest in the building, or nearby, even if the smell feels like it comes from (or goes to?) the field, I will check the house surroundings first, there is a “small” stone wall around it with a wooden gate, about my length in height, while the field next to it has a wooden fence marking it

There is a pile of firewood next to the wall, it has a fresh human smell on it, so I guess is a delivery that they haven’t picked yet, but is providing an easy access to the property, I just need to get a proper resting point on the other side of the-

‘Aaahhh!’ I fell…

It didn't hurt! So I am getting a taste of more smells!

‘Humans, duh, the mouse… more than one? And…?’ I lift my head and look to the house ‘There is a lot of herbs there… and one of the humans is… diseased?’ it reminds me of my own wounds… but different ‘Another kind of illness then?’

The house looks… like a wooden patchworks of different providers, with a thatch roof… cheap to rebuild, huh? I hope they don't replace the people inside as often as the walls… it has an easy to climb stone chimney in this side, the one pointing to the city, I can see the front door from here, near the opposite wall, so I move to the stone part of the building

‘Lets touch the stone…’ its has a plume of smoke going out, so I know they are using it, but I want to know if its too hot for me ‘Um~ nope, I am good with this heat, I can climb it and…’ I look up ‘… yeah, I can get to the roof from here if needed…?’ from this vantage point it looks like I can get inside the building from a gap in the wood ‘Hunting outside first though’

Letting go of the wall and “ear” to the ground, the vibrations tell me of at least one person inside… near the fire, maybe? The fire makes an odd “sound” like this and unlike the campfire, there isn’t a couple nearby distracting me, nor I plan of making a prank, so I can tell it exist

‘I probably was sleep deprived by then too… really need to get a safe and consistent, shelter’ I lift my head and go around the chimney testing for the mouse ‘If the hole is not outside then I’ll use the gap and peek- oh, there is the hole’ right on the other side of the stone structure ‘Hello~ anyone-’ Launch!

Snap!

‘Did… did I just broke another neck?’ the little one was just getting out of the hole when I saw it… I let go of the mice after giving it just a bit of venom, its heart stopped beating anyways ‘Yep… sorry about that’ I nod to the small creature, give my prayer and swallow it, the previous bulge on my body is already getting small ‘My biology teacher would be terrified of how much I eat…’

He probably could tell me, by sight, if my paralyze venom is the heart stopping variety…

‘Sorry that I forgot your name and, or, nickname professor…’ I look to the small hole and taste ‘At least… one more… wait, if the rats in the city heard me, how this mouse didn't…? I didn't knew how to move properly, was in a hurry and now I have a sneaking boosting Title, yeah sorry, me making stupid complains’

-Like usual-

I dismiss the screen and move my head inside, but there isn’t any space to hide, or move much… it also smells cleaner, than the one in the city

‘Probably they just started… if I find the others then I could say, that I gave them a really good help… I’ll look around for a bit, then inside’ I get out the hole and taste the grass around it, before looking behind the house… ‘Not good… the mice… must have come from the city? I don't get their smell on this side… and the wall appear less damaged on this side’ makes sense, it looks to the north ‘They don't really have windows… the windows in the city… were also of the wooden door variety, right?’ can’t remember ‘Invest in glass making for money… I might have a few ideas for that’

I move to the chimney and start climbing

‘As long I don't fall inside… I used most of a day practicing this, I should be better at it…’

-Less than a DAY! You BUFFOON!-

‘I know, I know…’ I reach the gap in the wooden wall and is big enough for me to slide in ‘Hello~ the pest killer is here~’

Its a one room building, the differences in the woods are also observable from the inside, right in front of me is a central wooden “bridge” to a pillar in the middle of the house, with very little space to the triangular roof above me, I don't move completely to the inside, there is a lot of dust in this particular area

‘No mouse foot prints, so probably not inside’ looking carefully down I see from my left that there is a cauldron in the fire, the floor is stone in the half of the building that has the hearth, and wooden in the other, on this side from the opposite wall to this one is a table, with a mountain of herbs and an open scroll with a drawing of a flower below a black square, on the north wall some farming tools (One of them looks like a modified shovel with a “nail head” instead of a handle) some mallets, buckets, ladles and a couple of chests, to my right- ‘Oh…’

There are two people inside… one is an old man holding… the sickly thin hand of his wife(?) as she lies on a big bed…

‘She is in a bad condition…’ besides her age, she looks malnourished, and her breathing comes out in raspy sighs, she has a wet cloth covering her eyes and forehead, both of them have white hair and compared to the woman that was helping mom, they look ancient, I don't need to see his face to tell that he is crying, his breathing is enough ‘I DON’T HAVE MAGIC! I JUST USED IT! UGH! WHAT DO I DO?!’

I look around trying to not disturb the dust, as if an answer is going to-

‘Wait… I know that flower’

The answer suddenly appeared?!

‘Are those letters?!’ the black square above it, if I focus, I can tell it’s actually tightly packed characters ‘Forget glass, I introduce cheap paper, and whoever wrote that, is going to love me!’ next to the flower, there is a couple of paint spots, white and light blue, with arrows pointing at the five petals… ‘Fuck… that IS the flower that I used in the funeral rites… there was only ONE of those there!’

I must resist the urge of hissing, I am shivering a little… of anger, or fear I don't know…

‘Calm down… if its a flower of the forest, then it… it can’t be easy to find if he is crying… I can’t disturb that place, that flower is unreachable, even without the spider!’ the door opens and I stick closer to the wooden beam, the voice of a tired young woman reaches my hiding spot, I move a bit to my right to see

She closes the door and removes the big hat from her head, she is a tanned redhead, very, very cute, she hangs her hat on a hook behind the door, with two others, before moving to one of the bags hanging on the wall next to the table, her grandfather dries his face as she looks for something

‘They must be her grandparents, she is way too young for other kind of biological relationship’ she takes two loaves of bread from one bag and two sticks of dry meat, from another and gives one pair to the old man, before moving to the cauldron below me ‘She is either the age of my mother, or perhaps younger’

He is not really eating, instead he is staring at the woman, while sitting with her in the bed, I have no idea of what they are whispering to each other, but she also sounds sad under her tiredness, she stops using the cauldron and moves to the recipe? With the flower… the discussion is getting a bit heated, as she points to the flower and the forest, while talking with him

‘Yes, I know where it is. Ugh… this is awkward… I was looking for pests, not family drama-!’ he suddenly shouts something, startling me ‘What the…?!’ the old woman starts coughing and the girl looks ready to cry, as she looks to the ground, he starts talking softly to his wife as she stops coughing ‘I am overheating… going out’ I move back from the gap and begin going down

Is fairly obvious what they were discussing, she wants to go and look for the flower, its too dangerous for her, so he is angry… I reach the ground

‘I am moving to the field to rest, they are eating, so I’ll have an easier time hiding there’ I move to the small wall, it looks like the girl moved the firewood inside, now is by the wooden gate, is fairly open by the ground, so I’ll use that… now there is also a bucket with a stick inside it next to the door ‘She looked… desperate, I don't know her, but to me it looks like in less than a week she is capable of-!’ Launch!

Snap!

Ding

‘Its not your lucky day… sorry about that. Status’

‘Useful!’ I give a prayer and swallow my food ‘Ugh… feeling full… kinda, this should be enough until dinner’ I slide between the gaps in the gate and slide along the road to the field, for rest ‘Anyways, she looks like is about to enter the forest by herself, soon… and that is problematic’ I get inside the plants and lie down ‘She is also… hot… but in a cute way…? In a few years she is going to be a danger… please tell me I don't have to wait eighteen more years to have a girlfriend?’

-At this rate, you are going take that many years, before evolving ONCE! YOU IDIOT!-

‘Right… need to become humanoid first…’ I look to the forest ‘If I get in… how do I get the flower out? How many does she need? Are some in this side of the river? Without birds, how (and how far) the seeds of that plant travel?’ I have no idea ‘At least they aren’t the punch in the nose kind… Status, EP Shop… nothing new… but I have 20 EP… fangs can wait, Buy Increase Bone Strength twice for 10 EP’

The warm spreads from my head, to the rest of my body and now I can feel how it molds into the shape of my bones, before sinking in them, the heat increase the intensity becoming almost painful, before it recedes

‘Alright… next… um?’ the price updated, now the bones are 15 EP in the general option and 10 EP on the list ‘Buy Increase Muscle Strength once for 5 EP’

The warm spreads again and focus inside my “skin”, but not reaching the almost painful level of the bones, the prize in the store is still 5 EP, so I buy it again…

‘Now its 15 and 10 EP for the muscles too… if I had tried to-’

-If the Cost changes in the middle of consecutive purchases, it gives a warning and stops. It wasn’t made by an IMBECILE! Like you-

‘Thanks for the information’ that is good to know, now I don't have the fear of wasting points while buying in bulk ‘I might not buy multiple at once often… it hurts’

-You masochistic MORON!-

‘This body is too young to have a fetish’

-I can’t believe I am agreeing with an IDIOT!-

‘Hey, people get convinced by politicians all the time’ the screen flicker violently and closes ‘…? Did I just made you laugh…?’ I don't get an answer for that question…

-----

‘Back in the forest…’ I already rested and cooled a bit ‘Now I just need to follow the river and hope I see some flowers in this side of it…’ there are far more smells in this side compared with the other… ‘Perhaps I don't strictly go with the river… just being aware of its vibrations should be enough… I also don't want to be cornered with my back against it’

Trying to remember my mental map… I am aware that the river moves away from the place where I found the first one, where the hunter was. Also, I am not sure of the shape of the river after that bend

‘I think it went south…? Since I couldn't heard it (and I missed it, going back) the “Human grave” is most likely to the southwest of here, instead of directly south… I was following the smell and the cold, not paying attention to landmarks… frustrating… I really hope there is some on this side’ I am reminded of her figure looking down ‘Okay… lets stop her from doing something silly, or worse’ I move forwards

The smell of boar is one of the strongest as I move, but it comes mostly from some trees, so I know they do consider this their territory, there is also some human presence, but its much older by comparison

‘Did I move from the boonies to the bad side of town? Just my luck…’ thankfully no Grudge feelings ‘Right now… I just detect some monsters… and insects’ there is a particular one that tastes like the grasshopper ‘More pest killing ahoy~ ugh…’

Yes, I’m nervous

‘I entered the forest a bit further east from the house, to not be seen, just in case’ I place my head in the ground… some vibrations, that I can relate to the river, are in the edge of my detection range like this ‘Good… nothing else…’ I lift my head and look to the trees, they are the same general kind than those in the other side ‘Hard to climb, broad leaves and winter signaling… some have dry mud on the branches or high up… why?’ I do get an insect smell from those trees, but I don't see any

There is no sweet smell around, I keep moving

-----

‘Crater’ it looks a bit bigger than the other, sadly there isn’t a conveniently lifted stone for me to use has shelter ‘Is bigger because is new…? Or by more strength used on it…? Could be either… it hit though… the smell of blood is prevalent in the area’ I look to the mostly destroyed tree to the south, it also destroyed some of the top branches of the tree behind it…

There is no obvious projectile, just raised dirt, sawdust and broken wood, that got pushed away from the impact, there is no meat, bone, skin, or feather in the area, so I don't know what got hit… She is right, nothing get wasted in this forest…

‘Vibrations… the river curves to the southeast in front of me, I’ll… go east for a bit more then south, if I see nothing then I’ll come back here following the river before moving… somewhere’ this is the first landmark I have found after the first bend in the river, I know that after a certain point going further south is a bad idea ‘So if I don't see the flower before that… further and further east…? Or facing a spider that-’

Buzzing

‘Um?’ I lift my head… is nearby to the east ‘Ugh… please don't-’ is getting louder ‘Why?!’ I get ready, as I see a wasp entering the crater area ‘You hate fliers and ignore wasps?!’

HISS!!!

My threat slows its advance, is an enormous red, yellow and black beast, with a ridiculously thin waist between thorax and abdomen that has a sharp looking sting aiming at me, its red jaws also look big and strong… the wasp is about the max size for me to eat

‘You are NOT stinging me! I know were to focus with you!’ the buzzing is annoying though, I prepare my claws and coil tensing all my muscles ‘Get closer! This time I am the one jumping!’

Even if I remain still, I know that it sees me, unlike the grasshopper. Its feinting the going forwards a lot (but it can be just the way it flies) I need it to be locked in an attack and counter… I have about a fifty percent chance of avoiding the stinger…

‘How did I lasted this long without Instinct?!’ I also can’t use my fangs on this thing

It pulls back more than normal before-! Jump, avoid, curl, grip! Bite! Pull! Grip! Crush! Crush! Crush!

I managed to avoid the stinger, gripped its torso, and like the Launcher I am pulling at its antennae to avoid getting chopped in two! But I am losing my grip on the antennae as we hit the ground!

The legs of the wasp are not piercing my scales, but the hooks dig painfully between my ribs. As its trying to bite me, its right wing keeps buzzing so I use my claw to hit it until is broken, then I try to push one of its legs from my body

Most of me is crushing the thin part of its body, if I can cut it in half then I should-!

SNAP!

I did it!

Some of its legs are trying to scratch me, but its making pained sounds as it bites the air, with my claw I manage to move one of the legs for it to bite, it doesn't seem like it can crush its own body, or is trying to avoid it, I am trying to coil around its thorax to keep crushing, I can’t let it go, it can still kill me

With its jaw busy, I change of antennae to pull, like this I can’t see its mouth, but I manage a better grip and pull further. Crush! Crush! Crush!

…

…

Crush! Crush! Crush! Die already!

‘Status!’ nothing, its still alive, but I can’t crush it harder than this!

-----

Ding

‘How long did that take?’

-That sorry, MORONIC! Spectacle? Ten minutes-

‘It felt like hours!’ I stop coiling the wasp and move away, I am overheating, but still drag it by the head near the shade of a tree, where I rest for a moment ‘Roamer? Not giant?’

-Giant is the next evolution :)-

‘WHY?!’ that is the most evil smile I have ever seen!

…

‘Do I need to eat every part of it for Absorb to work?’ the torso got really mangled and even if its claws didn’t pierce my scales, my organs are squishier

-Does the MORON! Think I have the information about the “???” inducing ANOMALY?!-

‘Time to find out then… where did the rest of the day go?’ the sun is already getting low, I look to the abdomen ‘The stinger broke… must have been when we hit the ground’ there is a yellow puddle of insect blood, were we struggled and it bleed to death ‘I’ll try to eat most of it… so the head and the abdomen’ I try to rise, but fail ‘Just… give me a moment…’

-----

The sky is red now… now that the head and abdomen are inside of me, I realize that I might have… overreacted… the wasp wasn’t as big as the grasshopper, its jaws weren’t going to chop me in half… it would hurt and it probably would have cut my scales, but it won’t have killed me immediately…

‘Is a good thing or a bad thing… that I acted that way?’ the helper is not answering me ‘I don’t really have magic at this moment… no way of casting Regrow, so… do I want to be calm as I fight for my life…?’

I look to the root were I placed the torso of the bug… I already prayed and apologized, but… internal wounds are something I don't want to risk

‘River, water and cleaning. Then a hole for the night… the flower will-’

Ding

‘The flower will need to wait… what now Status?’

‘Uh…’ the screens starts to bug out ‘Oh no!’

-WHAT DID YOU DO?!-

‘HOW IS THIS MY FAULT?!’ all the windows close suddenly ‘…?’

HISS!!!

‘AAAHHH!!!’

…

I… got another “Burning nail” shot into my brain…

Ding

…

‘Why…? Status?’

‘Ugh… why…?’

-Why what? You WHINER!-

‘Why did I got an update?’

-What update? MORON!-

‘The one that removed the question marks from the Deed’

-What “???”?-

‘Okay… you only get like this when the gods are involved, noted’ I look up to the sky ‘Sorry for giving you extra work… I extend to you, the same offer I gave Mordauntless… just… please, wait until I become humanoid’ I lift my head from the ground ‘Water and shelter…’

This quest is harder than I thought…