Post date: Oct 7, 2017 3:04:08 PM
Caradorynee:
Kin #11
Star’s first instinct was to flee. Just like when she had been back on Caradorynee at the start of the first Shegata challenge.
Exhaustion overruled that instinct. If she fled she would be easily found. Her muscles not strong enough to take her far enough from any threat.
The noise sounded again. Closer but not in a direct line. Maybe she had a chance to somehow evade.
If she couldn’t run could she hide?
Star looked around. She saw no rocks or depressions in the ground. Nothing to crawl under or into.
Star looked up.
All that met her eyes was tall vegetation with thick leafy vines nothing else.
Once more Star reached out and grabbed one of the vines. She tugged hard. The vine surged downward at her force but did not break. In fact the vine was flexible. Star let go and watched in fascination as the leafy vine snapped back and upward.
Star quickly put one of the docarass-like objects in her mouth and hurriedly grabbed another of the leafy vines pulling it toward her.
Grasping the vine with her other hand she bent her knees and launched herself upward hugging the vine close to her body. The vine swayed but held her weight. Encouraged Star began to climb. Her feet initially slipping on the slick surface, but soon they found their purchase and she was able to slowly make some progress.
The noise once more sounded.
Star’s breath caught. The sound was so close. How did the hunt move so fast?
Sweating even more Star scrambled further upward and accidentally scraped the docarass-like object in her hand against the vine she was climbing.
The abrasion oozed a slimy substance similar to thick sap. The orangey goo quickly spread and when it came into contact with Star’s hand she felt a tingling sensation run from her knuckles to her fingertips and then toward her wrist.
Star raised her hand upward and hoisted herself further up the plant. The orangey goo continued to cling to her. Star ignored the goo and the sensation and kept climbing.
Twice more on her climb upward her newfound weapon pierced the vine and twice more the orangey goo seeped out of the gash to cling to her skin. By the time Star reached the trunk of the plant where she could perch herself up against the solid structure her entire right arm was covered in the gooey mass.
The mass continued to spread. Up over her shoulder and down her chest.
As Star watched in horror and fascination the mass soon engulfed her entire body including her head.
When the mass covered her eyes and she couldn’t see Star panicked. She dropped her newfound weapon and wiped the gooey mass from her eyes. The mass came away easily and Star’s eyes widened when she saw the mass turn from the orangey colour to a light peach and then completely translucent.
Star looked down and saw that the goo encasing her entire body was also turning translucent. The tingling sensation now encompassed every part of her. Even the roots of her hair vibrated with a pulsing energy.
Star removed the docarass-like weapon from her mouth and took a deep breath. She no longer felt light-headed and she had stopped sweating. She had no thirst. She felt satiated, her muscles strong, and the queasiness in her stomach was completely gone. She also did not feel hot nor cold. She was comfortable sitting perched high up in the plant which she had climbed.
Hope spread through her.
Could she flee once more? Would the goo follow her? It was obvious that the goo had restored her. Could it sustain her and maybe even protect her?
Star stood. She braced her back against the trunk of the plant and reached out to grasp a vine that was hanging from another plant.
Pleased that the slime covering her hand did not impede her ability to grip the swaying vine Star put her weapon back into her mouth and launched herself off of her perch.
The vine surged downward but it bore her weight and then snapped upward in quick succession. On her way upward Star snatched another vine with her right hand as she passed. Transferring her weight she swung sideways before letting go with her left hand. Star repeated the action and within moments she was swiftly moving through the vegetation like she was a human form of a tree monkey.
She forgot about the quickly approaching noise and concentrated on moving as fast as she could upward.
©Human in Inhuman Worlds by Janet Merritt