exposing the root [Q]

[SHYGUY]

EASY }}

Filius, a Chiryo-Shi, has an easy favor to ask of you.



"There is a certain herb I've been meaning to get but I can't seem to find the right tree. It grows only in the depths of Fantaji's forest, near a peaceful river. Careful though, it's hangs on the branches of a very tall tree which is surrounded by prickly thorns. The herb is called "Habu", and it has a distinct odor of stinkweed. The color escapes me, but I recall it being a light pink hue."
( Habu is harder to get than you think. )

STRENGTH: 1 | DEFENSE: 2 | MAGIC: 2 | LEVEL: 0

REWARD: 15 KIMU

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[atrb=background,http://i56.tinypic.com/3093q5g.png] "My apologies." INK's brow furrowed, fur bristling and fangs beginning to show. She stood up slowly and deliberately, turning around to meet the frame of another. She held herself high, posture rigid, and looked down on the wolf that was seemingly bigger than herself. She let her ice-like eyes lock onto the red wolf; the one who was stupid, and clumsy, enough to bump into her. It aggravated her more than it should have, but she was isolated, and if her peripheral vision was to be trusted, there was no one around tonight. Her eyes demanded a reason for her disturbance, and they requested, sharply, for the red wolfs departure. Neither happened, but before INK could spit out the hateful word realization flashed through the yellow eyes, and she spoke. "You are a Zasshouku-Sei No! Perfect! I'm Filius, and, you see, I need some assistance with locating a rather concealed being." INK eyes flashed at the words; they seemed to be a request for tracking. She was not the best of trackers, and was more adept with prey coming to her, but she could manage, yes? She was about to ask who when she picked up the full story through body posture alone. Excitement that had once raked her frame began to fade away. Filius was, no doubt, a low ranking wolf; the way she held herself and the innocence in her eyes gave it away. INK scoffed at her naive thoughts, or maybe it was more hope, to believe that she had a high-target mission in her grasp. She scented the air in an indirect way and caught the smell of powerful herbs. Her lip twitched and the pieces fell together; Filius was a Chiryo-Shi. "What do you want?" INK said bluntly, placid tone riding the wind. She was never one for tact, and even though her patience was no where near stressed, she did not want to remain in the presence of this wolf for very much longer. "I want you to do me the favor of finding a herb dubbed Habu." INK quickly probed her memory to have a picture to go with the name. She could recall seeing one a while back when she was foraging; it held itself high in a tree, hidden to those whom were not looking. She returned to the task presented to her. "And if I were to return with your desired herb, what would I receive?" "The knowledge of knowing you helped one with your skills." INK resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and then the urge to laugh in her face. But she let herself think it over a bit longer. This hunt would be a rather interesting way to waste time; time that she needed to expunge. She nodded to the wolf before her, ignoring how Filius' feature brightened with pure joy. She felt something course through her; envy perhaps? Envy that emotions came to this being so easily and free? She shook the thought from her head, beginning to stretch her limbs. "This plant, Habu, is in the Fantaji forest, yes?" "Yes, hidden in one of the few trees swallowed by thorn plants." INK ignored the sickly feeling that rose in her stomach. She had enough bad experiences with thorn bushes as a pup to hate them entirely. She stood back upright and glanced to her right, where the Fantaji forest was located. "I will return with your herb." The white and green femme said before springing to action. She used her jump technique to get her going, a few meters forward with inertia to help the momentum of her sprint. Within moments she was in the forest, beginning her small task of retrieving a small herb. 'Kalpo ēnas.' She thought to herself, repeating the prayer engraved in her head. The darkness was familiar to INK, all darkness was. She hurdled over logs and slid under branches, never once misstepping or fumbling in the cool autumn's night. She came to a halt, heart racing, chest heaving, tongue draped lazily outside of her mouth. She quickly took in her surroundings, ignoring the instinct that urged her to hunt the rabbit not far from her left flank, and paused. She quickly re-thought over her path, and recalled the path she had used to get to the tree once before. Her memories seemed faded, and her sense of direction was beginning to stall. INK pushed on anyway, ignoring the haunting feeling that she would get lost. It wasn't long after her dilemma that she caught wind of the scent. She charted her course to the origin, and moments later she broke free of the tight forest and into a small opening that held the giant tree and thorns alike. INK gracefully halted with silence before looking up at the tree in nothing but awe. It was huge. She scanned through the branches from a distance, but was able to pick out the pink essence quickly. 'Tiešām?' she questioned herself with irritation. The goal seemed a lot more difficult now that she saw the whole picture; a sea of thorns below a small plant on an even smaller branch a good thirty feet off the ground. She questioned her sanity for the second time of the day before heading toward the thorns. "Nopelt!" INK howled the curse, grimacing at the feel of the plant piercing her flesh. She wanted to just jump through it all, but it was too long and would only worsen the pain. If there was anytime she wished she could fly it would be now. She continued to push through the thorns, putting little force into her movements; she had learned that slow and steady was the way to win this if she was going to come out alive. Another stab at her flank and the thorn pierced flesh. More blood danced down her frame in trickling paths. Something flashed through her eyes with maddening intent, and before she knew it she had jumped. The angle that she had done so at had he sailing in an arc just above the thorns. She reached out, and with deft paws latched onto the tree... for a few moments before she began to slide down. Her rump hit the ground softly, and she was more than ecstatic at the lack of thorns by the base of the tree. INK glanced up at the tree, marking a pathway she could take to reach the herb. Seconds later she was jumping from branch to branch, still wishing she had wings. INK reached the branch with deft movements, keeping the same pattern and pace as she had to get here. She was short on breath and her thoughts were jumbled; she had used jump far too much. She nearly stumbled as she went foreword, carefully stepping and testing her weight. Her frame was stiff with fear, and her mind and eyes were racing. Her breath hitched in her throat when she heard a groan from the branch. INK counted the seconds until it broke and she fell, but it never came. She let a heavy breath escape her maw, slight relief and motor functions returning. A few steps later and INK lowered her maw to pluck the herb from the tree. She latched on the stem, ignoring how prominent the smell was as this range, and gently pulled it free. The Habu rested between the incisors of her first row teeth, and was held by the flat ones of the second row. The warm feeling of success hugged her, but with moments it was gone with a cold breeze. INK now had the task of going back. The sight was an interesting one to behold, INK had paced herself back on the branch closer to the trunk, and was just standing there. Beside her the sun was beginning to throw its first lines of light into the dark sky. It was a beautiful view, breathtakingly so, as the sun began to rise over the mountains of the distance. Colors laced into the sky; blues and purples, reds and oranges, all stunning. But INK was not paying attention, instead she was focusing on her breathing and slowly building confidence for her next move. Just as the sun made it halfway to completely visible INK sprung to action and ran off the branch; leaping at the end. It was definitely not her smartest of ideas, but she refused to add even more blood trails to her distraught pelt by going back through the thorns. She had a hard time breathing as she fell, but she remained as focused as she could, waiting for the perfect timing. Seconds from hitting the thorny abyss, INK focused on one last jump forward. She hit it off without a hitch and flew over the thorns, slamming into the ground. The force she hit it with caused her mouth to loosen and the herb to drop to the ground as INK rolled from momentum. Her frame finally slid to a stop, pang forming everywhere. INK held back the small moan that threatened to escape her maw, and struggled to her feet. Her frame was covered in blood, dirt, and grass, her breathing was erratic, and her eyes were steeled. She wobbled when she stood, but with will and resolve she strengthened her stance. With loud dragged steps she walked back over to the pink, stinky, spirit, picking it up in between her mouth. She felt sore, but she would survive. INK continued to repeat this as she turned around and followed her tracks back out of the forest. INK had trudged through the forest, with no will to run it, and was relived when she broke free from the forest and the Kingdom was in her sight. A small smirk formed on her maw, her chest swelling with pride; She had completed her task. She raised her head and banner tall and proud, pain a faded memory, before trotting forward with the trot of a horse. She picked up the female Filius' scent from where they met just outside the Castle walls and began tracking her. The scent led her into the Kingdom and into the Public Courtyard, and after dodging through a couple dozen of wolves her sharp blue eyes caught sight of the red wolf. "Filius." INK managed to say through the herb in her mouth. The wolf turned around and surprise washed over her, a small smile gracing her small face. She trotted over to INK, covering the distance in a few strides, and her tail began wagging. INK did her best not to smile at the young wolfs cute antics and busied herself with placing the herb on the ground. She reclined on her haunches as the Chiryo-Shi admired and inspected the essence. "It's perfect Zasshouku-Sei No! I thank you for doing this task for me, greatly!" INK watched as a bigger smile engulfed Filius' face, and had to resist the contagious effect. Instead she gave a short nod. It was odd, but INK was starting to develop respect for these Chiryo-Shi and Ridohiras. The dedication it must require was astounding. She watched carefully as Filius picked up the herb between her flat teeth and flash a silly face. "My name is Itsuwari No Kage." The white and green femme confessed, glad to call this Chiryo-Shi an acquittance. The red wolf nodded before staring. INK was beginning to feel unnerved and irritated by the way the wolf circled around her, inspecting her. She let this show clearly on her face, and when Filius came around a fourth time she let out a hearty laugh. "Come now, I'm just checking your injuries. Nothing to serious, but why don't you come back with me so I can be sure?" INK was surprised by the request and a little nervous, but of course she did not let the show. She wiped her face clean of expression and thought about the invitation. Before she could fully understand of process it she was nodding. "That would be rather kind of you." Without any hesitation she followed suit behind the red wolf, rather curious to what her home looked like, what herbs and medicines she had attained, and what it was like. ____________________________________________ "INK SPEAKING" 'INK'S THOUGHTS' DOING ooc; first quest complete -plays treasure chest music from Legend of Zelda- Huzzah! word count; 2045 tag tag; no one

[CREATOR ( SH )UDDER]

reward sent.