It's Morthin' Time!!! [Forbidden Woods] [Cloud + Genzo]

"No, you retard," Julius said, hastening his drawing of his Fire Boomerang, "that's the corrupted Forest Spirit!" With that, he threw the Boomerang at it; scorching it, but not killing it outright. If only they had had the foresight to equip him some Spring Water. It was then that the entire thing seemed to rise up; vines sprouted from the surrounding petals, seeming to elevate it even higher. Truly, this was one to be feared.

If you didn't have a Boomerang, much less one that spewed fire in its wake. Julius would have quickly thrown his 'rang and been done with it... Were it not for the apparent arms that sprouted from the ground. He evaded them; just barely, though, as he hadn't gotten his timing down perfectly. He was much better at guarding than he was at evading, that he knew.

He was struggling. With the tendrils constantly on his ass, it made it near impossible to throw the Boomerang. He was scouting while running, before he noticed something: the entire area was coated with vines. "Tom! The vines!" He yelled, signalling behind Tom. He ran past Tom, who the tendrils (thankfully) weren't concerned with. He climbed up the vines, before taking aim at the apparent loft of Kalle Demos. He threw the Boomerang once, severing only three of his vines. That was not enough to bring the monster down, however.

What was worse is that the arms, apparently having no other target now, were targeting Tom. He was concerned about it; but not enough to actually worry. He had seen what Tom could do. He was satisfied that it, thankfully, would not come to Tom actually being in danger.

He aimed more carefully. What vines seem to be crucial in holding it up? Julius wondered. With a more precise throw, he severed four more vines. What was worse though, was that the plant seemed to sprout attacking vines. This was worse because Tom couldn't actually brute force his way past them. He about a third of the way done, he thought, taking one more good, careful aim.

Tom caught a large handful of three colorful tendrils in his arms. Their sharp prongs dug into his fur. He used all of his strength to pull back--an attempt to rip off the arms. They would not budge even slightly, and Tom slipped off and let go. The tension created by its cells by him pulling had seemingly only made them tighter and stronger. There went his best idea right out the window. His Hover Boots caught him on the way down, something he was sure to have put on after feeling that dreadful marsh water on his feet.

The corrupt forest spirit seemed to be stronger than Tom expected, although he figured it would be something magical rather than a very tough plant. Nothing really proved it wasn't magical though, Tom didn't care. He waited for another round of tendrils to attack him. He grabbed the vines again before they slithered into the ground.

"I can hold it steady, Sir." he quipped.

Tom simply pulled backward until the dark flower bud couldn't struggle away. His large arms were perfect for wrangling the adept appendages. His skin was taking on some additional damage, however. He couldn't hold forever. Tom looked up, his goggles shaking on his forehead. Julius seemed to be aiming for the core. But he needed to sever Kalle Demos from the ceiling in order to hit the silly colorful flower in the center of the bud. Pulled taut, the Captain would have no trouble ripping the vines off.

"Yeah, I know!" There was a sense of urgency in his voice. "Hold 'er steady, Tom!" With that, he severed just enough vines for Kalle Demos to come crashing down. With another swing of his Boomerang, he damaged Kalle Demos, giving it enough damage to render it immobile for just long enough for him to jump over the inner head of the corrupted Forest Spirit.

Then, he executed a technique known only as Plummeting Blade. It was a technique not known by most Guardsmen-- typically, only those at or above the level of Officers knew it. Those of the Royal Guard definitely knew it.

He plummeted down quickly, faster than a bullet. He finally made contact with it. It was a solid blow-- enough to pierce it all the way through. "Tom! Do something!" Julius yelled, charging his Spin Attack.

"I got it I got it!" Tom yelled just for the fuck of it.

He gorilla ran over to the opposite side of Julius. He wound up his arm like a tense coil. Tomate's eyes gleamed red in a dazzling flash and he let his fist fly in a stunning Yeti Punch. The head of Kalle Demos recoiled like one of those goofy spring doorstops. Frost created a cylindrical whirlwind as the head rebounded into Julius.

Julius' Spin Attack whirled like a blender and the head twirled into colorful ribbons on the frosty silver blade. What looked like colorful confetti began to shower around them. The giant petals of the bud immediately began to brown and shrivel. The roots weak and limp, the dirt and soil collapsed underneath the two heroes.

"He-hey we did it! Let's see what's underground." Tom noted as they scrambled away from the collapsing dirt.

Among other things, Tom noticed a small box bounce out from under the roots. It was probably the old cheese he was looking for. However, he continued to dig up the dirt in the center. Whomever once protected this chamber had left their valuables here. It included a large sack which seemed to have a massive seed inside.

"You said something about ores before we came here, right? There's only a big seed." Tom shuffled.

"I hope some of this UHHH loot is edible. . ." he trailed off.

"No, and I wanted to replant this Forest Spirit, actually." He said, hefting up the rather large seed. "I'll make sure this gets planted somewhere safe. In the mean time, unless you have some way to get back, I guess I'll take you along. As long as you don't mind a full day's ride back to the mainland, I mean." Julius started carrying the seed in one arm. He was that strong.

It really was no joke how strong he was.

Stepping aboard the ship they'd sent back, he introduced Tom, leaving out the fact that he was a vicious, instinctual fighter who could hold his own in combat. Saluting Julius, the men set up the ship to sail away, and hopefully, never to see this island again.

The idle chatter, combined with the sounds of the ship sailing through the ocean, made Julius rather drowsy. Going into the ship's quarters, he set down the seed in a corner that wasn't occupied by barrels. Then he went to sleep for the remainder of their ride back to the mainland.