Log:Amaranthingamajig

Amaranthingamajig
Are we lost?
Participants Lolly, Kip, Hien, Saulot as ST	6 December, 2019 Lolly goes in search of Amaranthine, Kip keeps logs and disperses knowledge, and Hien is around in case something needs stabbing.
Location The Mad Garden
Today was likely going to be a small, peaceful day for the Changelings. At least two of them, and until Hien came in to ruin their day. The Beast heard word of something important, so he brought a healer and someone apt to know what it was. The other a Custodian with knowledge and a keeper of records. That's what the Beast said anyway. It was colder than a witch's tit today, but not exactly freezing. Yet. Hien had came early in the morning, and the sun is still barely in the sky today. From the gate in the markets he leads them unti lthey get to the mad gardens. "Wait. Fuck." he says with a look north and then south. Lolly is fluffed up in a down jacket which has seen better days, nylon stitched and patched where it has torn from previous incidents. How Hien can tell north from south in a nonlinear world eludes her, so for her part, she has spent the brief trip alternating between 'eep what if something eats me?? I should stay close!' and 'eep he's practically Fae AND he murders things too easily,' staying close to Hien or lagging behind, depending on which of the two states is plastered all over her pretty green features. "Um... Are we lost?" Well, Kip /is/ not just a Custodian, but acting Librarian and also the current Custodian-Elect for some insane reason, so there really shouldn't be anyone better for lore and knowledge and all that than him. Only it's Kip so what looks like a great thing on paper is really just... passable? His list of Cons sometimes outweigh the Pros. Still, he's got his leather messenger bag slung across him diagonally and his hair is pulled off his face in that ridiculous man bun of his to keep the strands out of his eyes, and he also looks around. "Uh, are we lost already?" he asks slowly. "Because don't look at me if we are." He nods as Lolly asks the same thing. "Should we go back and ask for directions?" "Of course we're Lost," Hien scoffs. He points to toward the the east, and shakes his head. He stops, looking from one statue here to the next. Each one of this grotesquerie is looked upon with disdain. "We need to find a specific statue. It looks like a stone lady, and-" His voice trails off, and he growls, "All of these look like stone. Try to find one that looks a lady with really short hair. We need to go south from there." "You know what we meant," Kip mumbles in that whispery quiet voice of his, though he does turn to the closest of the statuary and looks up to study it. He glances down briefly to make sure he's not too close to anything that might be dangerous, like those vines and such, and peers closely before shaking his head. "None of these," he mentions softly as he steps through a few of the statues. He finally pauses at one. "How short?" he asks, though the one in front of him has shoulder-length hair, which isn't exactly short, but the other ladies he saw so far all had longer hair. "And how exactly do we know what way is south?" "That's not what I--oohhhh nevermind," the sweetly-scented Spring at first protests, then gives up on, regarding being capital L Lost. Not being the greatest investigator in the world, Lolly picks a direction at seeming random and heads thataway, though she does keep a safe distance from the murderous plantlife along the way. Really, THAT she can do. Although... The Flowering slows, then steps closer, going very still and .. well, communing with nature, like the flower child her Keeper bloody well turned her into. "There are three nearby," she murmurs, slow and distracted. Two that way, and another that way," she points toward the directions the plants had given her. Lolly also adds that, "The plants say there was a woman, someone with pointy ears about this tall," she gestures at around the four-foot mark on herself. "She was the only us-shaped thing that has gone by in the past two days, though." Hien scents the air, turning his nose upward for a second. A growl rumbles at the back of his throat, and he starts moving just a bit southward. He shoots an askance glance to the Elemental of the group and then points to a stray plant on the ground. "Anyting you're somewhere you don't know look for something upright, and see what way the shadows turn. Was one of those lessons I got from the Scouts before they kicked me out." As Hien looks one way the other two find find something else. With what little direction he is given Kip finds his way around the statues and thorns that make up this section of the hedge. As he moves he can feel as if something is watching him, but a glance here and there reveals nothing. However, it does look like the statues might be facing him. Further along he can see something close enough to what Hien had described. A statue of a woman, her hair trimmed short and her form as stony as the other statues. Her mouth is agape in horror and in her mouth are scores of sharp teeth that look like she could bite a chunk of any of them. The context clues mostly stick, though. Her skin looked cracked, but not in a manner like stone. More like she might have been made of bricks. She looks to have been moved, though. A very faint trail can be seen in the dust, the statue being dragged from west from where the three are. The plants lead her along, from one statue to the next. She finds what the plants describe south-southeast, but something is wrong. This is the statue the vegetation mentioned, but she wasn't originally here. The statue was next to one that was similar enough, but not the exact same. Lolly pays very close attention, both to the plants around her and to her surroundings, though she doesn't speak to Hien and Kip until she reaches the statue the plants had described. It takes a moment to adjust, to put words together in human fashion instead of the simplicity of communion, but when she does, she frowns and points at the two statues. "One of those isn't supposed to be here." Meanwhile, Kip had started to wander along the statues, pausing after a short distance. His eyes narrow and he peers at a statue before turning and walking a bit more. "Hey, over--" he starts to call out in his whispery voice, only the words die out and he looks back at the statues he'd passed as if studying the area around them for a moment. Finally his attention goes back to the statue that had been described and he steps partially around it to get a better view. "Uh, someone's moved it. Her. The... the statue." A hand motions to the ground and he crouches down a bit to look closer at it. From his crouched position he stares upward at the statue again. "I'm not so sure I like the look of it. It's not even the same stone and those teeth... Anyone else feel a little creeped out?" Hien shakes his head and rolls his eyes. "It's the Hedge. Everything should creep you out. I wouldn't be surprised if these statues came to life or the vines just tried to start yanking us off somewhere." He rolls his shoulders as he looks upon the statue with a lift of his brow. Before he can get another word out they see it, and likely before him. A furry looking thing that stands about as tall as a child at four-foot tall. She looks human, and has as shape similar to one of their kind. However, she is covered head to two in tawny feathers. She's hanging from a statue by her left, clawed hand while her feet keep her still for a moment. Behind her and across a vine hang a couple of crimson, oblong fruit. She takes one, and takes a bite with a squishy crunch while staring them all down. Of most interest to the creature is Lolly, and she keeps her yellow eyes locked on the Fairest. Lolly gawps up at the dangling...woman? thing?...in startled admiration, swiftly followed by a flash of wariness and a swift sidestep to get her closer to Hien. Unfortunately for Hien, Lolly is NOT a combatant, and knows nothing about the whole, you know, 'don't get on the side of somebody where they are going to need to draw and swing their weapon' business. "Um..." Not the most intelligent-sounding way to start a conversation, that. Lolly's Mantle, which, oddly enough, is actually the strongest one around today, silently fills her vicinity with slowly growing vines and wildflowers, tiny blossoms and leaves traditionally used to heal. The fruit the stranger eats is studied, then marveled at. "Is--oh!" Yep. Fairest. So totally the best at social situations, here. "No, I mean more than--" Kip's words cut off again, this time by the appearance of someone else. "I hate the Hedge," he whispers to himself, though he slaps on the best smile he can muster. "Hi," he greets, though it's not intended to take away attention from Lolly. But a glance at Lolly shows maybe he should pull that attention away. Hey, everything bad that happens in the Hedge has already happened to him, so what can it hurt to tempt fate one more time? He sort of slides forward a bit, closer to Lolly, like maybe he's slowly moving into place between them. He does glance over at Hien for a moment, but talked to the stranger. "I'm Kip. Just passing through." She stares at Lolly, and then looks over to Kip as he speaks. Hien moves to stand in front of Lolly, and the creature hops from the statue. She approaches slowly, trilling near silently upon her approach. As Hien continues standing the way she tries to move around him to get a look at Lolly again. Then she stops for a moment, looking at them while taking a bite of the fruit again, juice spilling from her lips. The Spring, still wary, watches the strange woman from behind Hien, peeking out at her, then up at the fruit on the vine, then back to her again. "Um." Someone really needs to teach her how deals are made. Belated reflex for -mortal- situations sees her offering the stranger the same little bob of a bow she would offer the more traditionally Japanese side of her family. "Hello?" Nibbling on her lower lip, she adds, "Do...um, do you speak English?" Kip moves a hand out toward Lolly's arm, not to grab her or anything but just as a sort of warning motion. "We're just passing through," he repeats, in case it wasn't heard previously. "Not looking for any trouble." Not that he would expect any except for the fact that it's Kip and he's in the Hedge. These things never go well in his experience. She looks at them both, and after a few moments she responds with a churring sound with her maw stretched wide. Just as Lolly bent down she feverishly reached out to yank one of the flowers of Lolly's hair right out. She just barely misses the Fairest, and Hien instinctively pushes her back with his arm, and then he reaches over to do the same with Kip. "We may need to run," he hisses under his breath. Just as the warning came the beast lets out a shrieking cry worse tha nails on a chalkboard. She reaches out again, clawed fingers outstretched. This time clawing through Hien's jean, and the scent of blood hits the air. "Oh!" Lolly stumbles a bit as she gets pushed back by Hien, catching her balance with a brief flail of jacket-fluffed arms, and, wide-eyed, she studies the feathery creature's posture after wincing at that shriek and gulps a nervous swallow. "I...um, Hien? I think she wants to eat me." She glances at his bleeding leg, then back up to his face, correcting, "Us. Can, um, I may be doing something stupid. I REALLY want that fruit." Which is within arm's reach, evidently. "It's that one I mentioned, the amaranthine? If I can plant it, I can grow more." "The what now?" Hien asks, his gaze briefly turned to her. He grimaces at the sight of the feathery problem, and reaches into nothingness to pull out a sword The sight of the metal blade elicts more of the hedge beasts ire and she shrieks again. One was already a problem. The trilling shriek grew louder, and the number of criers beghan to multiply. From the behind bushels of throny vines and the statues more of the creatures came, each of them shrieking and screaming at the two of them. "How hard is it going to be to get them?" Lolly trembles ever so slightly, eyes wide with fear, when MORE of the feathery beasts begin to make their presence known. "Umm..." Right. He was saying something to her. After a quick blink and a pause for possibly-imminent-demise-distracted thought, the Spring rushes out, "I just need to cut the stem and we can run for it." Green hands start patting at the pockets of her fluffy jacket, searching. "Find them. Now," he barks. He growls, already setting his feet as he brandishes his sword. He turns it to block access to his torso and face while moving slowly. One foot drops, and then the other moves. The beasts continue to file in one after the after. Nearly two dozen of the beasts can be seen gathering around the lot of them. Some of them wet their lips in anticaption, and others begin to get to get ready. Crouching down low. Watching. Waiting. Hien keeps moving until his back faces the plant, and Lolly has at least a little bit of cushion and room to reach the plant. "You better be quick. Real quick." Lolly unzips her coat just far enough to reach inside and fumble around for the pocket -there-, brief triumph lighting undergrowth-green eyes as she pulls out a sturdy set of garden shears. Small, but well-made. "Got them!" With a glance of mingled anxiety and a squeak to stay behind Hien when he moves, the sweetly-scented young woman hastens to reach for the fruit, gripping it gently, but firmly in one hand while cutting the stem with the clippers in the other. Fruit and clippers alike are shoved into different pockets as she announces a breathless, "Done!" and spins to face .. well, Hien's back, but also the growing horde of beasts. Hien spis the blade once, and flashes his teeth at the beasts. The display only gives them a few more seconds, and those seconds prove to be useful. The fruit falls from a vine with a quick snip, and victory has been found. Almost. "How fast are you?" he asks as he begins to circle towards the east. As quickly as Hien sets his feet the beasts leap from their perches. He knocks away one with the flat of his blade, and another's cut along its middle with a downard arc of his blade. Lolly can see it as well as they can when she peeked back to him. Hien was here, there, and a few other places. In spite of his typically raspy growl she can hear his whispers when looking at the Beast, but it can only help for so long. Just as he raises his blade to strike at another they start piling one. One slashes his arm, but comes up short. He has to back up, pushing Lolly back as he rakes his claws over its eyes in turn. Fairest she may be, but she 'grew up' in a tough forest. When things start looking hairier, she squeaks out a warning of, "Don't touch me! Plant stuff!" and abruptly manifests her own form of sharp and thorny protection. Unfortunately for her, it doesn't protect her from everything. When the creatures begin to stack up, Lolly lets out a startled yip of pain, doing her amateurish best to avoid their claws. Unsuccessfully, one might add. Her blood is syrupy, sappy, translucent and more like the clear fluids one would find in a broken stem than anything human. It's a bit sweet, amberish, though still on the red side of amber, and smells as lovely as the rest of her. As she bleeds a few of the creatures pounce on the puddles that collect along the hedge floor, lapping up whatever droplets they can get. It's not enough, though. The beasts give chase again. They're not just nipping at the heels of the two, but nearly ripping at the tendons and ready to kill them. However, when veers just a bit to the right they leave him alone. They don't want him, no. Not in the slightest. They do draw closer to her with every beat of her heart. Kip may have had the right idea to run away from these things. The Beast peels back again just one more time until he's behind her again. A few more scratch at his back, but then he grabs at her. Hien gets his hands around her middle, and lightning crackles around him. He's faster than anything has a right to be, and gives the two of them more then a bit of distance in a few seconds. The beasts don't give a single fuck, and keep on moving. They have the scent, and won't leave the Changelings be. While he holds onto Lolly Hien leaps up, and before she has a chance to ask what may happen they're both in the air, carrying just a bit of forward moment that then has them sailing downward. Giving the blood-licking beasts a startled look, she tells them, "I am NOT a plant! Not food!!" and squeals in surprise when Hien outright grabs her. Better hope he likes lily of the valley and bruised stems, because that's about what she smells like right now, and the scent is strongest by those flowers in her green-rooted white hair. Redirecting her thorny armour to linger about her hands alone after the belated realisation that it is hurting -him-, Lolly ends up flinching and yelping at the speed, not to mention the whole -falling- business. "Holy--" She twists a little, trying to get an idea of how far they've managed to get. Surely, the creatures can't follow them through the -entire- maze? They'd were up there. Way up. Way way up there. Far enough up that Lolly can get a good view of the maze to the easy and the garden down below. Just before they can start waiting for the afterlife they blink forward. The beasts are relentless, and aren't leting up from down there. All those brown beast moving to keep up with their new dinner. Hien grimaces in pain, but screaming is a thought he doesn't get to just yet. Instead it's just a slight growl for now. The screaming will likely come later. In another second they're snapped from the air, and they're back on the ground again. Their momentum is even greater, but the Beast is a moving like a lightning bolt. From the first street of the Row Houses they land on he keeps moving, and doesn't stop until they're a good 100 meters out from the garden. Lolly doesn't scream. That, at least, can be said of her. Squealing? That, she does, along with what sounds like fervent prayer in Japanese, and when they just keep hopping and 'porting and moving, she outright dismisses the armour to free her hands for -grabbing- the man and clinging to hold on, more panicked than strategic. When a few brain cells fire, she concentrates, calling on the power of her season, and Hien can feel a far stronger rush of healing warmth than her previous attempt. Evidently, having the incentive of 'protect the person keeping me alive' is a good thing. The sounds of those shrieking beasts are gone. For now. They're instead greeted by leering eyes and undue attention from the many houses of this area of the Hedge. Hien lets her down and lifts his hands to his head. While catching his breath he starts to slowly look around. As the adrenaline starts to wear off he stops moving to clutch at his side for a moment. With what work Lolly's magic has done much of the damage is gone with the worst it being on his right arm. He stops to look over the damage and now rapidly healing scars. "C'mon," he says. His personal inspection is done, and he hasn't caught his death. "Maybe we can see if Kip already made it out." Once she's set back down on her own feet, Lolly takes a quick look at the area around them, then focuses on Hien, making sure it doesn't look like anything life threatening is, you know, dangling out of him. When he mostly only looks contused, she whooshes out a breath of relief, and agrees, "Yeah, I hope so. I..." The Spring looks behind herself, worried. "They remind me of my nightmares. Um. Of being There." The emphasis of the capital letter is audibly present, but shily spoken. "You'll get used to it." The response comes as he swings his blade. He drags the flat of both sides against his pants. "I advise you to start drinking tea. It helps with the nightmares and the memorie." His gaze is down the street, and he doesn't look away. He turns to her, and briefly gives her a fanged smile. "I prefer lemon balm," he says before moving on. The comment about tea startles a small laugh out of the younger woman, along with an amused, incredulous, "'Start' drinking tea? My father's family was from Japan, and my mother was Chinese." Her own smile is a bit more tentative, and definitely not fangy. "I should get this to the garden before I hurt it," she adds, checking her pockets to make sure the fruit is still intact after all of that jostling about. So far, so good. Hien harrumphs as he moves along. "Then I guess there are other things. Meditation works. Sometimes. There is also tumeric, and I love it on chicken and-" He stops for a moment, and thinks on that. "That may be what helps with cramps. I mean no offense, but I have crossed the line you currently stand on. Things that carry those memories. I chose to embrace it, and not let it be the only thing that define me." He shrugs as they near the next section on their way out. "I may have stopped giving a shit, though. I can't remember today."