[closed] mission: carnivorous harvest

[bunnyhopped]

who: hana song, genji shimada, x'rhun tia, shigeru miyata, keith, shiro
what: the carnivorous harvest mission
when: sept. 15-18
where: the jungle; outside of the abandoned city walls
warnings: none foreseen; will update as necessary

TRAVELING, CAMPING

[ It’s early in the morning when the team sets out from the Perimeter Guard’s base of operations; they have a long ways to go to reach the jungle, which lays beyond the outerwall that surrounds the abandoned city. The Guard has equipped them with supplies for traveling, including camping gear, containers for collecting the Lababerries in, and of course the information they need to reach their destination within the jungle.

Passing through the abandoned city before reaching the outer wall is quicker than the traveling they will do outside of the wall; while the abandoned city is grown over, there were still paths that were relatively clear for the party to travel along – there won’t be much of that out in the jungle. That does not, however, preclude any sudden appearance of the monsters that may have broken through the outer perimeter of the city.

Traveling concludes during when night falls, which puts the team just within the confines of the city: it would be easier for them to take on what may lie beyond the fence once they’ve rested for a night. They camp out around what would have been an old house on some small plot of farmland at the very outskirts of what would have been settled before the Quarantine was compromised. At the very least, it provides some solid shelter in the event of a freak weather event, but vines and other vegetation have overtaken it to the point that it was really barely a shell of its former structure. The area around it is open and well-suited for setting up tents and a fire and everything else.

Members of the team, of course, take turns keeping watch through the night.

The plan would be to find a suitable campsite for the following evening within the jungle but away from the area where the Lababerry plants grow; it wouldn’t be wise to camp near carnivorous plants, after all, although there’s nothing to say that there aren’t other dangers lurking within the jungle. After examining the search area and locating the plants, they would harvest the fruits and then journey back, likely making this a four-day trip in total. ]

SURVEYING THE SITE

[ After about half of a day’s travel into the jungle from the outer perimeter, they reach an area that had been marked down as habitat for the Lababerry-growing, carnivorous plants. The party will have to make camp at least some distance away come nightfall lest they be eaten in their sleep, but in the meantime they can get to work by surveying the habitat area and pinpointing the locations of the plants; both for data collection purposes and to make it easier for the seasonal harvest that will take place once the plants are once-again dormant because, in an environment as rapidly-growing as the forests outside of the Quarantine, things are constantly changing.

The Lababerry plants grow on a shrub that enjoys the shade and dampness of the jungle’s understory. At first glance, it is almost indistinguishable from most other plants growing beneath the large trees, but closer inspection would reveal the Lababerries themselves growing in clusters directly along the shrub’s stems. But closer inspection would get your hand and/or face possibly bitten off by the leaves also growing on the stems. They appear to be completely unsuspecting until someone gets too close, at which point the leaves split and reveal toothy openings much like a venus flytrap’s that can elongate and extend from the stem almost like a vine, and snapping at its prey much like a snapping turtle. So, good luck fighting off the plants while making sure the berries stay in tact (which probably means less fire and explosions, more hacking and slashing). The goal, for now, would merely be to observe the plants’ behavior and come up with a good strategy for harvesting later.

Oh, and making sure the party doesn’t get attacked by any of the other monsters dwelling in the jungle. ]

HARVEST

[ After a day of surveying and clearing the area of any outside threads, it’s time to harvest! If the team has prepared sufficiently the previous day, this should be the easiest part of the mission! Hopefully. Barring, again, any angry monsters coming through.

Using the information they gathered on the plants and coming up with a good way to extract the fruits, the team will have to fight the plants without completely destroying them to leave enough crops for the next harvest season and collect them in the containers provided by the Guard before making their journey back toward the inhabited area of the city. ]

Comments

[mysophobic]

Does that mean I'm distracting? [ Shigeru no?! Don't tease poor Genji like that. Shigeru's smile brightens as he laughs a little. His own hand stirs a little beneath Genji touching his. ]

I want to help you as well...with whatever you need.

[ And he eyes the man's robotic jaw plate before looking back into his eyes. ]

font face=georgia>If you ever...wanted me to heal you, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But only if you wanted. [ Regardless of how Genji looks, Shigeru loves him all the same. This would be more...for Genji's own benefit in all honesty. ]

[flowlikewater]

[ He chuckles again, his voice hoarse and almost a little husky when he replies. ] Very.

[ And then when he gives him his offer... Genji's eyes widen and a look crosses his face that shows he clearly had never even thought of that. ] I...

[ He gives Shigeru's hand a gentle squeeze. ] That is very kind of you to offer but— I'd have to think about it.

[ Ten years ago he'd jump at the chance but now he's not so sure. ]

[mysophobic]

[ Shigeru gives him a warm smile as he puts his free hand against the other side of Genji's face, leaving it there for a second as he traces the metallic part before pulling away. ]

I understand. Take as long as you need to think about it.