RE: Becoming Civilized
Four days dashed past as quickly as the plants grew in the jungle; because the experience of the beginning days were unfamiliar to Laria, her sense of fascination smothered her sense of time. Much to see, to research, she could spend months around this place and still not finish her categorization and data collection of plants (Though to be honest, the Sitrus berries around also was a major contributor to her compliancy in staying).
Despite her research, the jungle retained its enigmatic character; statistics of plants told her little of all of the possible lives that lived, sets of weather data did not explain the why the jungle's climate was the way it was, and certainly nothing she recorded explained the natives.
Yes, she saw more than that Absol named Kari in her first four days. They lurked around, furtively traveling, but she encountered them. They resembled Kari, with their unkempt appearance and skinned clothing. Both she and they dared not to stop to meet one another. Rather, both could not have parted ways any faster than they had done so. Perhaps both had nothing to relate, nothing to communicate. Perhaps both feared one another and chose not to risk an actual meeting.
Laria definitely did not wish to make enemies. Her mother made more than enough for her to learn to avoid getting on people's bad sides.
Speaking of mother, does she miss me? Does Father miss me?
Laria's ears perked up as she heard the downpour of water quickly slow to a small stream of droplets; the rain stopped; only the water caught from the webs of leaves above was slowly dripping down. To make sure, she poked her head and looked around. She then slowly walked out, taking the pack and a long bamboo stalk she cut for protection with her. A small path from the clearing she landed at let to the bamboo forest, where her dwelling resided. After some exploring, she found that the path twisted until it lay straight against a small stream, flowing fast and deep just after rain periods.
Perfect spot for drinking and refueling her canteen.
Nothing grew on the river, due to its frequent rushing flow during the rain. The ground nearby was also bare, as the river also dragged any possible seeds within its reach into the current. The result was two clear paths to either side of the river. She stopped and stood at the edge of the stream, crouching down. She plunged the round leather bottle into the cold water, the hole facing the current. She then looked up as she heard footsteps; one of the natives, this one a Zangoose, walked into sight.
Both of them stared at one another, not moving for a moment.
Laria quickly looked back down and finished filling the canteen. The Zangoose, assured Laria meant no harm, unstrapped a small barrel-like container from her back and took off the lid; the cylinder, only three feet in height and roughly two feet in diameter, gobbled the water greedily as it was lower into the water. Laria glanced at the Zangoose once more before she left silently, capping the canteen.
The Spinarak were annoying. Sitting on a branch, Laria batted another one of the little critters away from her equipment. The black markings on its green back, resembling a face, stared menacingly at Laria as a simplistic black frown. The little pests crawled about on almost every part of the tree she sat at. Even worse, they seemed to wander about aimlessly, and the Leafeon ended up keeping the critters away for almost the same amount of time she spent collecting the bark from the tree to analyze. But as she moved up the colossal trunk to collect more bark, her encounters with hordes of the annoying spiders became more and more frequent.
"Shoo!" she cried, using the knife to threaten an approaching Spinarak from going coming close to her pack. Honestly, how many of these things were there? Giving up, Laria chipped off a bit more bark into the clear test tube fit snugly in the Leafeon's paw. Her other paw switched from the knife to the black rubber cork and plugged the test tube with it. Quickly labeling it (by her shorthand; all letters in parenthesis were omitted), "B(a)rk s(a)mp(le), lvl 2 c(a)n(o)p(y)," she set it in the pack with two other bark-containing glass tubes. She then looked down.
The rope hung down from the branch she was on in two directions. One end dangled close to the ground, while the other still firmly hugged another tree that Laria tied the rope around. Grabbing the side with the dangling end, she cautiously made her way down, constantly looking at the other side of the rope, looking for a possible sign that the rope might break and send her crashing fifty feet to the ground. As she descended, the sights of the Spinarak became more and more rare; by the time she reached the ground, not a Spinarak was to be seen around. She walked to the other tree and untied the knot, freeing the rope. Then, her paws started to pull the rope, hauling it over the branch and to her. Rope now stuffed into pack, Laria sighed. All of that work for only three samples of that tree. Since she traveled all the way here, surely she wasn't going to head all the way back home with insufficient data. However, she wanted a break, and she was going to have one.
She pulled it her canteen, uncapped it, and drank from it - as she tilted her head up to let gravity bring a stream of water to her mouth - in hearty, loud gulps. Her exhale of relief after the Leafeon finished quenching her thirst was just as loud. She brushed a paw through the fur of her forehead, catching sweat and removing it. The jungle's season was constantly summer. If only she brought along -
"This fan, sir. It has no price tag." The Houndoom looked at the object on the Leafeon's paws. He took it and opened it a bit clumsily, revealing a basic oriental black ink painting of large mountain ranges, unfamiliar characters at the side.
"Hmm... my wife probably doesn't need this anymore and forgot to mark the price. How about fifty?" Laria frowned. Everything in this garage sale was ridiculously priced high.
"I only have forty, sir," she replied, glancing off at the sky: the sun just touched the horizon. Not good.
"Hmm... well... I guess so." Laria rushed to get the coins out of her purse and paid. She quickly took the fan, snapping it closed and stuffing it into a hidden pocket of her backpack. The Houndoom watched the Leafeon take off in a blazing hurry, her head never turning to look back.
Laria opened the door to her house.
"You're late."
"I'm sorry. It won't happen again," Laria quickly replied as she took her backpack off. She didn't even look to the person speaking to her. Rather, she glimpsed at the nearest clock. Five after six. Five minutes later than her usual time.
"I'm worried about you, Laria. I'm always worrying about you."
"I know, mother," she replied, a little softer than normal. She had gotten her backpack off and was washing her hands at the sink. She sneaked a glance at the dining table. Nothing again. Silently sighing to herself, she checked the rice cooker before turning it on and then opened the fridge for some vegetables to stir fry.
"It's not easy having to worry while at work, Laria. Being a Real Estate -"
What was she doing dragging herself through that torture again? Laria shook her head as she finished eating the berry in her paw. It's over; she was no longer back in that horrible place. She's living here now. Well, in the meantime at least. Her lunch break was long enough. Time to find a tree not infested with Spinarak.
Picking up her bamboo staff, Laria walked further into the unexplored area. This time, her head looked up as well as forward as her back paws slowly, mechanically stepped forward, looking for Spinarak in the trees. In the middle of her search for the suitable place to collect more bark samples, Laria halted as she felt some force stopping her, some strange tugging at her left paw, which was holding the bamboo staff. She looked back to see thick white line attached close to the top of the staff. Her eyes widening, she grabbed the staff by both paws and hauled it back, just as a fisherman would pull up a large catch out of the water.
A large Ariados flung out of the bushes, its mouth holding the same string attached to Laria's staff. However, at the apex of its temporary flight in the air, it suddenly lets go of the thread and shot out another one at Laria. Not quite prepared, the Leafeon stumbled back, making the String Shot land onto her leg. Panicking, she brought the staff down hard, snapping the line attached to her in two. However, the momentum sent the bamboo to jam itself into the ground. More concerned for her own safety, Laria spun around and ran as fast as she could, desperately fleeing the insect. She took cover behind a tree, her backpack smashed against the trunk. She panted heavily, trying to come up with some plan or idea. She quickly looked back and saw that the Ariados had disappeared.
No way it gave up that quickly. Laria quickly looked around, then dashed back to the area where she encountered the Ariados, grabbing the staff and yanking it out of the ground as she fled. Whether she was being followed, she didn't care; she just had to outrun it and get to safety. After about a few long minutes, she looked back; no sound, no spider. Was it gone? Sighing, she went back to the river.
Getting the sticky thread out of her fur completely proved to be extremely difficult; once she got to the river she was accustomed used to, she took a stick to pry the thread off of her leg, but this attempt only succeeded in getting all but globes of the sticky fiber on her fur onto the stick she used. Groaning, Laria discarded the piece of wood and looked at it. She considered her choices, then decided to simply cut the fur. She wrapping a leaf around sections of her fur so she was able to grab it without getting the spider silk stuck to her paw. Once she held it, Laria reached for the Swiss knife at her backpack, but then she frowned with her paw could not make contact with the desired tool. Worrying that she had lost the knife, Laria took off the backpack and held it in front of her to look for the knife. Rather than first spotting the knife, she spotted something more important: attached to the side of the backpack was a thin, barely-visible silk thread. She stared at it for a moment before looking back to the area where she ran from; the thread completely traced her steps ever since she fled.
It was following her, slowly. How could she not have thought of that: Why try to confront your prey when you can wait until it's completely defenseless? The Leafeon frowned and looked around, making sure it wasn't around yet, close by, stalking her. Quickly, she opened her pack and found the knife in there. Smiling, she took that and the metal casing of one of her equipment. She flipped out a small knife from the Swiss; it definitely wasn't a screwdriver, but it'll do.
The remaining thread's length was dwindling. She was nearby. The Ariados silently crept across the floor. It reeled in the tracking silk as it crawled. The length was very short now. Past the bushes lay its target. It then looked through the sparse bushes to see. Instead of the Leafeon it expected, the backpack idly sat out in front, the thread attached to the side. The quick rustling of leaves warned it of movement. Laria cried and swung the bamboo staff at the large spider from above. Out of pure reaction, the Ariados scuttled out of harm's way. Quickly, it released a barrage of Poison Sting, quickly trying to stall its enemy from getting too close.
Unfortunately for it, its opponent was far from normal prey. The Leafeon held out a rectangular black metal sheet with her left paw as she charged forward, her sole weapon in her right. The poisonous needles harmlessly bounced off of Laria's makeshift shield. The Ariados fled under the bushes; it was not for combating; better to wait latter and trap the Leafeon later.
No, Laria sure as hell wasn't going to play the fight by the Ariados's rules. She dashed after it, jumping over the brush and landing on all fours. Letting go of the staff and the side of the metal case, she sprinted after the Ariados in sight. The skinny eight legs could not outrun her four, trained in both power and strength. She overtook the spider and unsheathed her claws, pouncing onto the creature. The result was pure chaos: the force flipped the Ariados over as Laria grabbed on with her might, the claws tearing into the back of the creature. The arachnid screeched, flailing futilely to escape her grasp. However, her strength could not hold the struggling spider for long; she was neither naturally nor trained to be a wrestler, and she realized that she would not be able to hold on much longer.
Her solution was to widely open her mouth and bite roughly around the neck of the Ariados. The constant shriek that the Ariados emitted intensified. Despite wanting to leave, to escape such a horrible racket, Laria kept focused and tried to have her teeth penetrate through to sever and possibly behead the Ariados. Yet, as hard as she sank her teeth in, she could not get it in deeper than a few centimeters as her muscles ached, sore from keeping the Ariados in place. So she let go, shoving the spider off of her so she could stand up.
The Ariados managed to flip back up, but it was now faltering, suffering painfully from the wounds. Laria saw the very predator chasing her now at her own mercy. She watched it try to escape, but it was having difficulty for some reason; did she somehow reach the spinal cord by luck? The Leafeon looked off and then walked back, picking up the bamboo staff. If the Ariados was indeed injured to that extent, then it’s best she put it out if its misery. The Ariados hardly moved far as Laria went to get the bamboo and back, further supporting the fact that it was fatally wounded. It hardly even paid attention to the Leafeon that stood not a few inches in front of it.
The Leafeon looked at it for a quick moment, and then closed her eyes. Raising the bamboo with both paws - the staff almost vertical - she brought it straight down upon the spider’s head, crushing a large hole through it. Laria opened her eyes, noticed the mess she caused, and quickly walked away, getting sick to her stomach.
~~~~~Chapter Four~~~~~
Four days dashed past as quickly as the plants grew in the jungle; because the experience of the beginning days were unfamiliar to Laria, her sense of fascination smothered her sense of time. Much to see, to research, she could spend months around this place and still not finish her categorization and data collection of plants (Though to be honest, the Sitrus berries around also was a major contributor to her compliancy in staying).
Despite her research, the jungle retained its enigmatic character; statistics of plants told her little of all of the possible lives that lived, sets of weather data did not explain the why the jungle's climate was the way it was, and certainly nothing she recorded explained the natives.
Yes, she saw more than that Absol named Kari in her first four days. They lurked around, furtively traveling, but she encountered them. They resembled Kari, with their unkempt appearance and skinned clothing. Both she and they dared not to stop to meet one another. Rather, both could not have parted ways any faster than they had done so. Perhaps both had nothing to relate, nothing to communicate. Perhaps both feared one another and chose not to risk an actual meeting.
Laria definitely did not wish to make enemies. Her mother made more than enough for her to learn to avoid getting on people's bad sides.
Speaking of mother, does she miss me? Does Father miss me?
Laria's ears perked up as she heard the downpour of water quickly slow to a small stream of droplets; the rain stopped; only the water caught from the webs of leaves above was slowly dripping down. To make sure, she poked her head and looked around. She then slowly walked out, taking the pack and a long bamboo stalk she cut for protection with her. A small path from the clearing she landed at let to the bamboo forest, where her dwelling resided. After some exploring, she found that the path twisted until it lay straight against a small stream, flowing fast and deep just after rain periods.
Perfect spot for drinking and refueling her canteen.
Nothing grew on the river, due to its frequent rushing flow during the rain. The ground nearby was also bare, as the river also dragged any possible seeds within its reach into the current. The result was two clear paths to either side of the river. She stopped and stood at the edge of the stream, crouching down. She plunged the round leather bottle into the cold water, the hole facing the current. She then looked up as she heard footsteps; one of the natives, this one a Zangoose, walked into sight.
Both of them stared at one another, not moving for a moment.
Laria quickly looked back down and finished filling the canteen. The Zangoose, assured Laria meant no harm, unstrapped a small barrel-like container from her back and took off the lid; the cylinder, only three feet in height and roughly two feet in diameter, gobbled the water greedily as it was lower into the water. Laria glanced at the Zangoose once more before she left silently, capping the canteen.
~~~~~~~~
The Spinarak were annoying. Sitting on a branch, Laria batted another one of the little critters away from her equipment. The black markings on its green back, resembling a face, stared menacingly at Laria as a simplistic black frown. The little pests crawled about on almost every part of the tree she sat at. Even worse, they seemed to wander about aimlessly, and the Leafeon ended up keeping the critters away for almost the same amount of time she spent collecting the bark from the tree to analyze. But as she moved up the colossal trunk to collect more bark, her encounters with hordes of the annoying spiders became more and more frequent.
"Shoo!" she cried, using the knife to threaten an approaching Spinarak from going coming close to her pack. Honestly, how many of these things were there? Giving up, Laria chipped off a bit more bark into the clear test tube fit snugly in the Leafeon's paw. Her other paw switched from the knife to the black rubber cork and plugged the test tube with it. Quickly labeling it (by her shorthand; all letters in parenthesis were omitted), "B(a)rk s(a)mp(le), lvl 2 c(a)n(o)p(y)," she set it in the pack with two other bark-containing glass tubes. She then looked down.
The rope hung down from the branch she was on in two directions. One end dangled close to the ground, while the other still firmly hugged another tree that Laria tied the rope around. Grabbing the side with the dangling end, she cautiously made her way down, constantly looking at the other side of the rope, looking for a possible sign that the rope might break and send her crashing fifty feet to the ground. As she descended, the sights of the Spinarak became more and more rare; by the time she reached the ground, not a Spinarak was to be seen around. She walked to the other tree and untied the knot, freeing the rope. Then, her paws started to pull the rope, hauling it over the branch and to her. Rope now stuffed into pack, Laria sighed. All of that work for only three samples of that tree. Since she traveled all the way here, surely she wasn't going to head all the way back home with insufficient data. However, she wanted a break, and she was going to have one.
She pulled it her canteen, uncapped it, and drank from it - as she tilted her head up to let gravity bring a stream of water to her mouth - in hearty, loud gulps. Her exhale of relief after the Leafeon finished quenching her thirst was just as loud. She brushed a paw through the fur of her forehead, catching sweat and removing it. The jungle's season was constantly summer. If only she brought along -
"This fan, sir. It has no price tag." The Houndoom looked at the object on the Leafeon's paws. He took it and opened it a bit clumsily, revealing a basic oriental black ink painting of large mountain ranges, unfamiliar characters at the side.
"Hmm... my wife probably doesn't need this anymore and forgot to mark the price. How about fifty?" Laria frowned. Everything in this garage sale was ridiculously priced high.
"I only have forty, sir," she replied, glancing off at the sky: the sun just touched the horizon. Not good.
"Hmm... well... I guess so." Laria rushed to get the coins out of her purse and paid. She quickly took the fan, snapping it closed and stuffing it into a hidden pocket of her backpack. The Houndoom watched the Leafeon take off in a blazing hurry, her head never turning to look back.
~~~~~~~~
Laria opened the door to her house.
"You're late."
"I'm sorry. It won't happen again," Laria quickly replied as she took her backpack off. She didn't even look to the person speaking to her. Rather, she glimpsed at the nearest clock. Five after six. Five minutes later than her usual time.
"I'm worried about you, Laria. I'm always worrying about you."
"I know, mother," she replied, a little softer than normal. She had gotten her backpack off and was washing her hands at the sink. She sneaked a glance at the dining table. Nothing again. Silently sighing to herself, she checked the rice cooker before turning it on and then opened the fridge for some vegetables to stir fry.
"It's not easy having to worry while at work, Laria. Being a Real Estate -"
What was she doing dragging herself through that torture again? Laria shook her head as she finished eating the berry in her paw. It's over; she was no longer back in that horrible place. She's living here now. Well, in the meantime at least. Her lunch break was long enough. Time to find a tree not infested with Spinarak.
Picking up her bamboo staff, Laria walked further into the unexplored area. This time, her head looked up as well as forward as her back paws slowly, mechanically stepped forward, looking for Spinarak in the trees. In the middle of her search for the suitable place to collect more bark samples, Laria halted as she felt some force stopping her, some strange tugging at her left paw, which was holding the bamboo staff. She looked back to see thick white line attached close to the top of the staff. Her eyes widening, she grabbed the staff by both paws and hauled it back, just as a fisherman would pull up a large catch out of the water.
A large Ariados flung out of the bushes, its mouth holding the same string attached to Laria's staff. However, at the apex of its temporary flight in the air, it suddenly lets go of the thread and shot out another one at Laria. Not quite prepared, the Leafeon stumbled back, making the String Shot land onto her leg. Panicking, she brought the staff down hard, snapping the line attached to her in two. However, the momentum sent the bamboo to jam itself into the ground. More concerned for her own safety, Laria spun around and ran as fast as she could, desperately fleeing the insect. She took cover behind a tree, her backpack smashed against the trunk. She panted heavily, trying to come up with some plan or idea. She quickly looked back and saw that the Ariados had disappeared.
No way it gave up that quickly. Laria quickly looked around, then dashed back to the area where she encountered the Ariados, grabbing the staff and yanking it out of the ground as she fled. Whether she was being followed, she didn't care; she just had to outrun it and get to safety. After about a few long minutes, she looked back; no sound, no spider. Was it gone? Sighing, she went back to the river.
Getting the sticky thread out of her fur completely proved to be extremely difficult; once she got to the river she was accustomed used to, she took a stick to pry the thread off of her leg, but this attempt only succeeded in getting all but globes of the sticky fiber on her fur onto the stick she used. Groaning, Laria discarded the piece of wood and looked at it. She considered her choices, then decided to simply cut the fur. She wrapping a leaf around sections of her fur so she was able to grab it without getting the spider silk stuck to her paw. Once she held it, Laria reached for the Swiss knife at her backpack, but then she frowned with her paw could not make contact with the desired tool. Worrying that she had lost the knife, Laria took off the backpack and held it in front of her to look for the knife. Rather than first spotting the knife, she spotted something more important: attached to the side of the backpack was a thin, barely-visible silk thread. She stared at it for a moment before looking back to the area where she ran from; the thread completely traced her steps ever since she fled.
It was following her, slowly. How could she not have thought of that: Why try to confront your prey when you can wait until it's completely defenseless? The Leafeon frowned and looked around, making sure it wasn't around yet, close by, stalking her. Quickly, she opened her pack and found the knife in there. Smiling, she took that and the metal casing of one of her equipment. She flipped out a small knife from the Swiss; it definitely wasn't a screwdriver, but it'll do.
~~~~~~~~
The remaining thread's length was dwindling. She was nearby. The Ariados silently crept across the floor. It reeled in the tracking silk as it crawled. The length was very short now. Past the bushes lay its target. It then looked through the sparse bushes to see. Instead of the Leafeon it expected, the backpack idly sat out in front, the thread attached to the side. The quick rustling of leaves warned it of movement. Laria cried and swung the bamboo staff at the large spider from above. Out of pure reaction, the Ariados scuttled out of harm's way. Quickly, it released a barrage of Poison Sting, quickly trying to stall its enemy from getting too close.
Unfortunately for it, its opponent was far from normal prey. The Leafeon held out a rectangular black metal sheet with her left paw as she charged forward, her sole weapon in her right. The poisonous needles harmlessly bounced off of Laria's makeshift shield. The Ariados fled under the bushes; it was not for combating; better to wait latter and trap the Leafeon later.
No, Laria sure as hell wasn't going to play the fight by the Ariados's rules. She dashed after it, jumping over the brush and landing on all fours. Letting go of the staff and the side of the metal case, she sprinted after the Ariados in sight. The skinny eight legs could not outrun her four, trained in both power and strength. She overtook the spider and unsheathed her claws, pouncing onto the creature. The result was pure chaos: the force flipped the Ariados over as Laria grabbed on with her might, the claws tearing into the back of the creature. The arachnid screeched, flailing futilely to escape her grasp. However, her strength could not hold the struggling spider for long; she was neither naturally nor trained to be a wrestler, and she realized that she would not be able to hold on much longer.
Her solution was to widely open her mouth and bite roughly around the neck of the Ariados. The constant shriek that the Ariados emitted intensified. Despite wanting to leave, to escape such a horrible racket, Laria kept focused and tried to have her teeth penetrate through to sever and possibly behead the Ariados. Yet, as hard as she sank her teeth in, she could not get it in deeper than a few centimeters as her muscles ached, sore from keeping the Ariados in place. So she let go, shoving the spider off of her so she could stand up.
The Ariados managed to flip back up, but it was now faltering, suffering painfully from the wounds. Laria saw the very predator chasing her now at her own mercy. She watched it try to escape, but it was having difficulty for some reason; did she somehow reach the spinal cord by luck? The Leafeon looked off and then walked back, picking up the bamboo staff. If the Ariados was indeed injured to that extent, then it’s best she put it out if its misery. The Ariados hardly moved far as Laria went to get the bamboo and back, further supporting the fact that it was fatally wounded. It hardly even paid attention to the Leafeon that stood not a few inches in front of it.
The Leafeon looked at it for a quick moment, and then closed her eyes. Raising the bamboo with both paws - the staff almost vertical - she brought it straight down upon the spider’s head, crushing a large hole through it. Laria opened her eyes, noticed the mess she caused, and quickly walked away, getting sick to her stomach.
