Log:Bodysnatchers & Hidlebears

Bodysnatchers & Hidlebears
Not here to bring you harm.
Participants Velvet, Saulot as ST	18 July, 2018 Velvet goes hedgefruit hunting.
Location Echo's Lament
Weaver was staying home. Mostly because what he'd bought for dinner didn't go so well, and everyone in the house is a mess. Luckily for Velvet and her amazing constitution she isn't the slightest bit fazed over some meager thing like food poisoning. As such she has to go out and hunt for hedge fruit on her own for the time being. From their home to their hollow, and into the Hedge proper. It isn't a long walk through it all, but the Vault's location doesn't help. From how up on the mountain she is she has her usual points along the trod: Bloodsap Grove to the west and Echo's Lament to the est. It's very very hard to poison Velvet, thanks to all the poisoning she's been through earlier in life. Times like these, it's a good thing. The woman is sticking to the shadows, moving quietly in a pair of delicate black slippers. No heels for her this time, it's easier this way. Her movement is careful and her steps are sure as she makes her way from the mountain top and down towards Echo's Lament. She went west the last time, so not it's time to mix it up a little bit. Echo's Lament looks like some giant of a thing took an axe to teh side of the mountain, and call it a day. Despite how often its traveled the skeletons of former travelers still covers as much of the landscape as the trees. At least trod is relatively clear and clean. However, it's where Velvet has to go in search of fruit. The trees as they are appear fruitless, although a few do further away. However, she's able to catch that these trees seem to move, inch by goddamned inch and slow enough to make a snail sigh. Every step is quiet and careful as Velvet makes her way towards the trees. She very suddenly stops, her ody and breath going completely still to try to test her own theory. Are those trees moving, or is it just her. But as her senses sharpen and she remains still, it becomes obvious that there is movement. Her head tilts lightly to the side, a mental note made to avoid touching any trees as she continutes forward. Past the trees, and she can feel them turning back to her. If she looks back they appear normal enough: at least as normal as a tree in the hedge can be. Further along and away from the trod she finds the leavings of some small beasts littered to and fro. From what she can see, and smell, whatever left it behind is a carnivore that ate several dozen or so smaller creatures. Further still, and she can make out the sight of dream-a-drupes nearer one of the skeletal walls of the mountain, but there's the sound of something approaching from the distance. Velvet feels them turning, her eyes glancing to each side to make sure they aren't getting closer. "Not here to bring you harm," she murmurs softly in reassurnce to the trees. A gun held in one hand, and a knife in the other, Velvet slips deeper into the shadows when she hears something approaching. She hunkers down, eyes narrowing slightly as she waits. What approaches is a weasel-like beast about the size of a large dog. In its maw is a recently dead briarwolf, the prey's blood dripping along the way. It moves along until nearing the bone-walls, and starts moving south until it reaches a cave. The briarwolf is dropped, and several hedge beasts similar in shape to the largest rush out. Unlike their tawny-furred elder thse are covered in green stripes along with their brown fur. Upon their fur is a golden, flaky substance that falls to the ground like glitter as they poke and jostle at the corpse. Velvet watches quietly, her eyes narrowed as she watches the pack of animals. The elder bringing food to the younger ones, perhaps. It explains all of the bones around. She doesn't seem like she's planning to attack at the moment, just sort of quietly watching, and waiting. Her attention shifts around the area, looking for any other dangers. The hedgebeasts themselves are bodysnatchers, and likely not named by anyone from the human side of the world. The beasts are scavengers by and large, and typically don't eat anything that's too warm. While seemingly docile they do not at all take kindly to anything approaching or assaulting their young. The dust falling from the young Velvet sees isn't dust, but instead pollen. Specifically from the oh so common Catseye Clover. However, there isn't a hint of the stuff outside, and likely come from somewhere in that cavernous den. Oooh Catseye Clover. Any glamour addict will tell you that that could be a juicy addition to any garden. She's not looking to kill an innocent pack of those creatures just to get at it though. So maybe she can find something big and dangerous to take out and give as a distraction so that she can sneak in and get the fruit. She shifts and starts to move again, looking for something that will do the trick. Leaving the bodysnatchers is easy enough. She isn't near, and they can't care less about the still living meat on her bones. There's the scent of something in the area, but sound doesn't prove to be too reliable. The rustling of those slow moving trees make it difficult to hear exactly where something may be, no matter how faint. Heading eastward and down does lead her to the nest of another pair of beasts. Large browny, furry frames. The hindquaters of these usine hedgebeasts are covered in white spots, although that isn't the strangest thing. That would go the large rack antlers are both beasts which they're currently using to tear open the bark of a tree. That poor tree is getting torn apart. She can only imagine exactly how much that's got to hurt the slow moving, yet clearly alive foliage. Velvet frowns. It'll do. She starts snaking through the trees, moving herself into position so that she can line up a shot. Right now they don't see her, so she can take her time lining up a shot. Currently, the hedge beasts are preoccupied with the tree. While one still digs at it with its antlers another turns around. As if expected and on cue the bear starts rubbing its backside on the tree without a care, and then raises up. As it starts to scratch that itch just right the tree slowly moves away, but at the rate its going the beasts would likely of old age before it gets away. The poor tree. Is it odd to feel sympathy for the tree? It's just another creature. But imagining someone doing that to her makes it a little easier for the tiny elf to sympathise. She waits for thirty second, lining up her shot carefully. One breath in, one breath out as she pulls the trigger. It goes right through the neck of one of the creatures, sending the thing toppling to the ground in a heavy thud. She readies the pistol, preparing another shot. The hildebears were quite happy and content to continue their abuse of the tree. It all comes to a complete stop as Velvet's bullet finds its mark. Blood splatters on the other bear, covering its coat in crimson. It looks around, confused for a moment. It nuzzles its snout against the other thats bleeding out, and after a wail of pain starts running off. It continues that odd, bleating sound until its gone and well away from the unknown source of the other hedge beast's death. Okay, well not she feels like shit. Velvet lets out a sigh, rubbing her forehead. She just killed that bear's mate, or family. But there's no time to think about that now, it might come back for more. She slips out of the treeline, pausing to try to smooth some of the tree's bark back into place. It'll make it easier to heal that way. "Sorry," she murmurs as she pets it softly, another apology offered down to the bear. "Sorry." With a little bit of Stone and effort she starts to pull and tug the creature back towards the cave. It does indeed take effort to move the dead hedge beast back to the caves. The trip wasn't insufferably long, but without the use of glamour and contracts it'd take longer. As she returns, the mother bodysnatcher is resting lazily. Half of the cubs she's seen are outside of the cave, wrestling and biting at each other. The other two are somewhere within the cave, and, from the sounds of it, fast asleep. Dinner is served. Velvet takes a moment to find a spot where there's enough of a slope where she can roll the body out but not be spotted herself. Once she has it all lined up, she gives the body a shove and sends it rolling out into view. Then she'll start sneaking around the side, dipping into her Smoke in order to dart into the cave without being scene. The body slumps when drops, and that little push sends it rolling. When it does come to a stop it hits the two cubs. Both of them sniff at it cautiously, and without another thought start digging into their dinner's side. Papa or momma dearest soon joins in after a yawn and a stretch, and after a wretched cry the other cubs come to join in. After a few moments Velvet can see that the way is clear, and movement into the cave is without any form of resistance. While there's no light for the first dozen or so meters she eventually comes to a spot with an opening in the cave's ceiling, and the bounty of the cub's bedding. Many of the flowers and plants here have been crushed, but a good number of them appear fine enough to pluck without issue. Watching carefully, Velvet waits until they're all surrounding the large body. It should hold them for long enough and she's only going to havve a few minutes of her invisibility to get in and out. She moves quickly, shuffling into the save, managing to wiggle herself in without much of an issue. When she comes across the flowers, gloved hands reach out to start taking the whole pieces that she can find, managing to find six of them and tuck them into her bag before she starts to hurry back out. Back outside, the cubs have already had their fill. They lie there, trying their best to find comfort with their overly filled bellies. The adult, however, continues to eat and gnaw at the remnants of the ursine hedge beast. From where she started its not impossible to find her way back, but this is the hedge. It takes a bit of doing, and a bit under an hour. She does find her way back to the winding trod of Echo's Lament, and on the way to it she can still hear the deep bleating of the ursine beast until it becomes naught but a whisper. Once the Smoke fades, Velvet returns to the shadows themselves, shifting and moving as quietly and careful as she can. The bleating breaks her heart, which has Velvet doing the only thing she can do, shutting down her emotions. They vanish, leaving the woman cold and calculated so that she can focus on the trip back home. From the trod its a straight shot back up the mountain. Relatively straight as there's still the twisting and turning of the trod within Echo's Lament. Past that it's simply a matter of hiking or climbing. The former is the safest option, but it'd mean that the sun would already be in the sky by the time she gets home. The latter is the quickest, but poses the most obvious danger. There's little in the way of danger save the attention she garners from the wayward hedge beasts on the outskirts of the trod. ALong the way she can make out Stoneheart, but going to the real world from there just means an even longer trip back home. Eventually she does find her way back to the vault, and within it the makeshift gardens within the hollow. Coming to the hollow, Velvet immediately moves towards the garden and drops the pouch with the fruits in them. She pulls out a couple and studies them quietly, looking from flower to garden plot. She remembers Weaver's instructions carefully and starts getting to work. She sets the fruits into the soil, dropping bits of her own blood into the mix to really help make sure that the planting sticks. Bodies for fertilizer aren't usually in short supply with her, so that shouldn't be an issue. Once she's finished, Velvet hops back up to her feet with the rest of the fruit and goes to find somewhere to store it before retired for the day.