Should've Been Lily [Eevachu + Chaos James][Skyreach]

As Nicholas inquired about Rika's results, he shook his head side to side as he spoke. "Nope, no new information, couldn't meet the Great Deku Tree. Nothing helpful except finding these two." He turned to face Viole and Bapi, before tacking on a final quick remark as he looked at Bapi. ". . . Well, you did ask for helpful." Before she could comment though, Rika turned back to Viole. She let out a quiet, muffled, 'Hm?' as he turned to face her. "Oh, by the way, what all do you know about the situation at hand, Viole? Me and Nicholas here don't really know why the village is in such a state or where the source is, or anything of that sort. Would you happen to know?" She seemed to think for a moment, putting a finger to her lips before speaking.

"Welll, I don't know a lot about what's going on, but I heard some Kokiri say it had to do with that strange seed that appeared some time ago." Rika's interested piqued up at this. "Seed? This is the first I've heard." She nodded, continuing. "You know how the forest turned all marsh-y? Well before that, some Deku Scrubs discovered a large seed to the east. The next day, it had bloomed so much, it was like a large stump! The forest started getting more dangerous as the fog spread, so I don't know what it's like now. Someone might, but it's really dangerous to get to." Rika nodded to himself as she spoke, affirming his previous thoughts. This had to be related to the state the forest was in, it was too large of a coincidence. Such a seed would not naturally exist, after all.

Turning to Nicholas to see if he had any thoughts, Rika said, "What do you think? I think it's something worth checking out. Have you learned anything from the Kokiri you found?" He quizzed, though despite Rika's assumptions, Nicholas hadn't even spoke to them yet. So much for being on the ball!

Rika stared at the Hylian as his display of heroics quickly turned to a display of rashness, sighing as he hadn't spoke to the other Kokiri in the slightest. To be fair, Rika hadn't gotten any information out of them until now, so he wasn't much better in that regard. However, Belin and Teal shrugged their shoulders, seemingly knowing nothing more than what Viole said. Rika thought for a moment before speaking, "Do you know where any other Kokiri are hiding?"

They seemed to look hesitantly, as if still wary of the protection of the others, before slowly speaking. "Well. . . yes, some of them." Rika nodded as he spoke, turning to face everyone. "Alright, we're going to reoccupy Kokiri Village before investigating the potential source of the state of the forest. This will minimize any future deaths and mitigate potential increase in damage, perhaps even lessening the severity of the situation." One of the Kokiri, Belin, seemed a little confused by all the words Rika had used. Bapi wasn't, but she had another complaint.

"Um, EXCUSE me!" She shouted, causing Rika to sigh and glare at her. "Just tell me, who put Mr. Shoutsalot in charge here?" Rika glared at her for a couple moments before speaking somewhat calmly but loudly. "I did, who else would?" She growled at him before barking back loudly, her voice ringing throughout the treehouse. "And why should we listen to you, you. . . arrogant asshole?!" Her volume was met with equal levels as Rika fired back. "Because I'm the one with the plan! I'm the one actually accomplishing things, unlike most of you here!" Bapi bit her lip and hesitated for a moment, but was quickly going to fire back again soon. She wouldn't be useless while he wasn't.

Her voice trembled with anger as she spoke, almost seemingly at a loss of what to say which seemed clear in her words. "W-We're useless! Y-You're the useless one, what have you even done?! It's all your fault anyway!" Rika looked at her confusedly as she said this. It was his fault? Sure she was stupid, but how could this possibly be his fault? "What are you talking about, how could this be my fault in the slightest?! It's you and the other Kokiri's fault, you just sit around waiting for whatever it is to kill you, you barely even fight back, you're the useless ones, you're just worthless!"

Bapi didn't really have a remark, simply having shouted back, "You're the useless one, what really -have- you done, huh?! Nothing, that's what!" This game of arguing with brick walls seemed to go on for quite some time, of Bapi calling Rika useless and Rika calling the other Kokiri useless, but in reality it was only for about 30 seconds. Rika groaned and said, "This is exactly why I left the forest, to help stop stuff like this from happening!"

"Well if you were gone for so long, why is the forest like this then?! Where's this 'power' you were looking for, huh?!" Rika sighed, running his hands through his hair in frustration. "Because, as I said, it's because the rest of you are useless! I bet they didn't have any trouble invading the forest, and I wasn't here when it happened so I couldn't stop it!" Bapi growled and was about to spit back, but there was an interruption from nearby, a quieter voice.

"Um, sorry to interrupt, but. . . " It was one of the Kokiri Nicholas had saved, Belin. "What's wrong with being useless? The Great Deku Tree will always protect us, and he'll have this problem fixed in no time, right? So isn't being useless okay?" Rika looked at the Kokiri and sighed heavily. Finally he could speak without shouting. "No. . . Access to the Great Deku Tree is completely shut off, there is no way for us to get to him, or him to us, we're on our own." The Kokiri's face twisted in shock and fear for a couple moments before starting to turn to normal, his voice shakingly spitting out a reply.

"W-What? . . . N-No, that can't be it, you're lying, aren't you?! The Great Deku Tree will always protect us, no matter what! There's no way we'd be in this situation!" Rika had about had it with dealing with Kokiri.

"Open your fucking eyes already, look around! The Great Deku Tree can't help us, we have to survive on our own! In fact, he needs our help now, the forest needs our help, and you just wanna wait for him to save you?! After everything our father and the forest have given us, our entire lives, you're not even willing to put yourself on the line to help them in return?! If you're going to tell me yes, get out of my house, I don't want to see you again!" The Kokiri seemed to shake with fear, collapsing to the ground.

His hands covered his face as tears started washing down his cheeks. Perhaps Rika was a bit too harsh, but he didn't care. "He can't. . . save us?" The Kokiri sobbed out, looking at the ground below. Rika exhaled deeply, trying to calm himself slightly, although evidently that wasn't working. "That's right, we have to fix the problem ourselves."

However, of course it wouldn't be that easy for him, and he was interrupted once more by Bapi. "You say that, but what could we have done about it, huh?" Rika's eyes narrowed at her, she wasn't ready to just listen? Rika was ready to just punch her.

"What do you mean, 'what'? You could have fought back, or organized as a group to secure safety points throughout the village, or essentially anything except what you actually did!" Rika was back to shouting, clearly very frustrated and irritated. "We didn't, and what are we supposed to do now?! We're clearly losing by a lot! Don't bunch me in with the rest, we're not organized like that, I can't just ring a bell and summon all of the others!"

She sort of had a point, but that didn't change the point of the argument, which she was asking here. "Are you just arguing to argue? I told you, I can fix this, that's my plan! We have to organize the Kokiri, then me and Nicholas will investigate the source of the problem, we're strong enough to fix it, unlike the rest of you. That's why I left in the first place, so I could fix problems like this!" Bapi seemed to pull back for but a moment, unsure of what to say.

Wait, could he really fix it, he wasn't just saying that? No. . . of course not, he didn't want power anyway. "No Rika, that's just a lie! You didn't want power, you were just running away, you're scared of us, the other Kokiri!" Rika seemed to freeze for a moment, and it didn't go unnoticed by Bapi. "W-What are you talking about, that's ridiculous! Of course I wanted power!" He spoke with a bit of hesitancy, but Bapi cut him off as his sentence ended. "No, you were running away, scared little Rika was afraid of the other Kokiri! He didn't wanna be picked on, so he ran away! That's the truth, isn't it?" Rika paused for a moment, unsure of what to say. Slowly, much more quietly than the previous shouting, he spoke. "T-That's not. . . It's not. . . " He wasn't even able to finish the words, it wasn't something he could deny, at least not completely.

Bapi wasn't letting it end there, she was going in. "Do you want to know -why- we picked on you, Rika? Why none of us liked you? It's not because we were 'jealous' of your 'genius' or whatever you call it, it's because you're an asshole! You're an arrogant prick who thinks he's better than everyone else, and you're still like that now!" Rika looked away, unable to give a response. No matter what he could possibly say, he just couldn't spit it out, he knew it was true.

"You keep saying the others are useless, that you alone can fix this, and maybe they are useless, but it's just the same as always! You act like the others are below you, but they're not! You're not any better than them, and that's why I won't do what you say!" Rika didn't turn his glance towards her or anyone else, instead just looking away. What could he possibly say? She was right, wasn't she? He got lost in thought, in regret, but Bapi still wasn't letting up. Was she right? Did him leaving the forest hurt it? If he had stayed, would it not be in this scenario? Normally such a thought would be ridiculous, it was over 100 years since he left, but he couldn't help but drift to such thoughts.

Rika wasn't sure to say, what would he? She was completely right, after all. As she continued on, Rika remained speechless. However, someone was sick and tired of the fighting, and that person was Nicholas. Rika looked up, surprised, as he saw him speak. His words were fierce and blunt, but rang true. After speaking, Nicholas ran out, leaving the rest of the group standing there, dazed. Looking up at Bapi, her face was a mixture of shock and anger at what Nicholas had said. Did he really just say that?

Staring blankly at Bapi for a moment, Rika looked around at the others. The Mad Scrubs had all piled on top of and behind Wollo in fear at some point of the conversation, smothering the Octorok as they quivered and shook. Viole looked somewhat on edge, while also worried about the two of them. The other Kokiri seemed to be afraid, both of the fighting and of Nicholas. There was a brief silent of a second or two as Nicholas walked out, before it was broken by laughing.

Rika could help himself, what started out as a light chuckle broke out into a pathetic sounding laugh. It was just like Nicholas to do something like that, and he was right. They were all so stupid. This went on as Rika laughed for several seconds, everyone slowly looking up in confusion. ". . . Rika. . . ?" Viole quietly asked, seemingly worried about him. Did he lose it?

Finally, the laughing stopped and he spoke. "You're right, Bapi, absolutely right." She jumped slightly at this. She was. . . right? That's not what she expected to hear. "I hate you all, and I think I'm above you. . . But I'm not. If I was, I wouldn't be the one running away, haaa. . . What happened in the past doesn't matter right now, though. We may not like each other, but whether we do or not doesn't change this situation, it's just like Nicholas said. The forest will keep getting worse unless we do something, so we need to act instead of fighting. If you don't want to work with me, that's fine, but I'm not going to stand around doing nothing any longer." He walked past the shocked Bapi, to the cowering Kokiri Belin and Teal.

"So, you two said you knew where some of the other Kokiri were, right? Show us the way, so we can help save the forest. We- No, our father, the forest needs your help. You'll help, right?" Belin looked at Rika, a bit stunned. Save the forest, the Great Deku Tree? He hadn't done anything, could he really help save father? The Kokiri wiped his tears and stood up. He could help, couldn't he?! "Y-Yeah, I do! I-I mean, we do!" The two Kokiri followed Rika outside, seeing Nicholas who had been waiting outside.

"Yeah. . . Sorry about that. Anyway, we can split up to find more Kokiri, we'll each take one of the Kokiri Nicholas. However, my house isn't big enough to store so many people, so we'll need to find something bigger. Perhaps. . . The Northern Music Hall? You two know where that is, right?" Rika quizzed the two Kokiri, who both gave confirming nods. "Good, we'll use that as our home base then. Make sure you explain what's going on to each Kokiri, I don't really want to deal with any more incidents like that one." Rika nodded and the group split up into twos, Rika and Teal heading one way and Nicholas and Belin heading the other.

--

As Rika left inside, Bapi stood, staring at the wall in shock. Did that just happen? Viole slowly walked over to her friend, calling out as she did. "Um. . . Bapi, are you okay? I don't know everything that happened, but they're right, we should put aside our differences and work. . . " As she approached the Kokiri, she noticed the sound of faint sobbing and as she reached the side, saw tears running down her face. "Why. . ." she whispered, causing Viole to perk up in curiosity. What did she say?

"Why is he so strong?!" She burst into tears, clenching at Viole's chest as the tears soaked her clothing. "He knows how to fight, but to be able to just walk away like that. . . -Why- is he so much better than me, what did I do wrong?!" Viole pulled her friend in closer, the tears not ceasing.

As the duo split up, Rika and Teal bounced from house to house, a new Kokiri with them each time. The area was mostly cleared out due to Nicholas clearing out the Bulblin for now, with the various Deku Baba or Mad Scrubs being easy to avoid. Even if they weren't, however, there would be little difficulty clearing them out of their way. Teal seemed to get a bit more confused than Belin did in his attempts, but in the end they managed to find most of the Kokiri just fine. As they met each of the small children, Rika gave them a basic summary of their plan and what their job would be.

Luckily, they didn't seem quite as crazy as Bapi, more simply concerned and desperate for a solution like Belin was. As such, it was much easier to convince them to assist the two in saving the forest, making things go far more smoothly. After seemingly exhausting Teal's knowledge of where some of the other Kokiri were, the small group made their way to the Northern Music Hall, careful that no one got picked off by a stray Mad Scrub or Deku Baba. They made it relatively unarmed, and seemed to arrive around the same time as Nicholas.

The two of them had gathered quite a crowd, and together the number of Kokiri equaled around 30, with a few plant-like creatures, such as Kikwi, Koroks or Deku Scrubs. The Kokiri all entered into the main auditorium after Rika scouted ahead to make sure it was empty, though there was quite a lot of breathing room considering it would typically hold more people than this.

Once everyone had entered, Rika started speaking, making his voice loud and clear, but not quite to a shout. "Well. . . I'm glad we found so many people. Although I'm sure you're all aware, let me detail the plan once more to you all at once, to make sure we're all on the same page. Upon gathering the small number of survivors we can count on one hand, we will acquire a large, central hub to use as our base, or the Northern Music Hall, which we are in now. This will provide increased protection to the Kokiri inside and allow a proper defense against whatever may be assaulting the village. Upon securing this point, there will be a list of missions to accomplish from various groups. As I'm sure you all know the location of more survivors, one mission we must complete is ensuring the safety of these survivors, and upon doing so, transporting them to the main base, or the Northern Music Hall."

Rika looked over the Kokiri as they stared at him, worried expressions decorating their faces. He felt a bit of nervousness as he saw all of the Kokiri eyes on him, but this was no time to get stage fright. "Along with this, another mission is defending the central base. Clearing out the village is the optimal end, but if the central base is destroyed, it will endanger many Kokiri, as such, it should be our utmost priority. Tell me, who here is capable in a battle? You don't have to be particularly battle proficient, just able to wield a sword or a bow without stabbing the person next to you." Eyeing over the crowd, a small handful of Kokiri slowly raised their hands, one or two actually lowering it right after.

It wasn't many, and a few were probably afraid of fighting. "Well, less than I was hoping. For those who can though, do not worry, I'm not expecting you to fight. I simply wanted an estimate of our capable combat numbers. For those who can, your duty will be to defend the central base and make sure no enemy attack is successful. Though, slingshots will probably be effective enough against Deku Baba and Mad Scrubs. However, we should make it a priority to acquire more combat ready Kokiri, so if you know of any, please let us know."

As he finished speaking, Rika turned to look at Nicholas, then back to the crowd of Kokiri. "Finally, there is the matter of the source of the problem. Although our info is limited, we believe it lies to the east of the village, a small seed that is growing exponentially. Myself and Nicholas will investigate and eliminate whatever is causing this while the rest of you secure the village. However, as I said, our info is rather limited. If any of you know anything beyond what I have said, please tell us, it will be a great help. If not, though, does anyone have any questions about the situation, was I clear?" The Kokiri seemed to murmur about themselves for a moment, causing Rika to get a little anxious. Hopefully another incident wouldn't start.

As Nicholas spread out to explain to the Kokiri that could fight basic combat techniques, Rika did something similar. Taking a moment to quickly memorize the layout of the Northern Music Hall once again, Rika explained to certain assigned Kokiri the different choke points throughout the Music Hall, and the entrances and points they would want to especially defend, while covering what to do in case of a breach. In the case of a small enemy or two, bombard it with ranged attacks if possible and only engage physically if necessary. In the case of an assault, however, they should work to outsmarting the creatures and luring them into a trap due to their superior knowledge of the building and easy access. They should set small traps up throughout the hallways to trigger in the cases that the enemy would be too strong for them to defeat normally.

With that out of the way, Rika's next objective was to gather information. Though he didn't learn much he didn't already know, he found out one important piece of information; The status of the seed. Supposedly, the seed, or at least, something in the location it was present at, had grown exponentially. In its place rest a massive, hulking tower, ascending high into the sky. Various groups of Deku Scrubs and Korok had set out to destroy the tower, but their attempts were futile. All who entered the tower had not returned, so the insides were a complete mystery.

Well, that was encouraging. Regardless, they'd have to succeed, failure wasn't one of their options. After asking a few more Kokiri, he didn't turn up any further results, so Rika decided to head back to his house for now, to rest for tomorrow. As Rika jumped up onto the balcony and walked in, he was greeted by Viole, who had been waiting since they left. "Oh, Rika, you're back! Did things go well?" She inquired, as he nodded lazily. "Yeah, things seem to be going well. . . Not that I mind, but where's Bapi, she's not here?" Rika inquired, noticing the distinct lack of a bitch in his house.

"Just after you left, she ran out saying 'I won't let him get all the glory, I'm going to be useful too!', but I dunno where she went after that. It seemed like she was ready to help though, which is good." Rika nodded, laughing slightly before he spoke. "Yeah, if anyone can keep those Kokiri in track it'd be her. Has Nicholas gotten in yet?" She nodded, and motioned further into the house. "He's in there resting."

Rika headed deeper into the house as he continued speaking. "Okay, thanks. I'm gonna get some rest, you should too Viole, for your wounds. I don't really have any spare beds, but feel free to rest here wherever you want. You can use Wollo as a pillow, haha." She looked at his back confused as he said this. Wollo was the Octorok right? Would that be. . . comfortable? As Rika entered into the main room of his house, he saw Nicholas resting with his eyes shut. Was he asleep? Well, no matter. The Mad Scrubs were all resting, apparently tired from a long day of doing absolutely nothing, and Wollo was probably combing his moustache or something.

Looking down at himself, Rika hadn't completely registered it yet due to all the events that had happened, but now that he had a chance to stop, he saw. His clothes were torn up. The vines really did a number on them, leaving numerous holes in his clothes, though luckily nothing bad in the way of injuries. He didn't really have a spare set around the house, so he'd have to deal with it for now, but acquiring new attire would be the biggest priority.

With that out of the way, it was time to relax until the next day, the only way Rika knew how; Reading. Walking over to the large bookshelf adorning his wall, Rika picked up a moderately sized paperback book and opened it about one-fourth of the way through. Sitting down in a chair adjacent from where Nicholas was presumably sleeping, Rika began flipping through the pages, and once he had found the page he was looking for, began reading silently.

Rika read his book for a short while, having not read in a multitude of days. However, he quickly realized he should probably get some rest soon, lest he be tired when climbing the tower. Putting the book away and shutting his eyes, Rika quickly dozed off into a slumber. He slept rather deeply, both his mind and body exhausted from the events over the past few days. It wasn't until the next morning that he awoke, stretching with a yawn as Nicholas seemed to be doing the same. Waving to the Hylian as he entered the kitchen to find a light breakfast, Rika looked over in the corner.

The Mad Scrubs had huddled up underneath a pile of dirt which had somehow found its way in the house while they slept. Across from them was Wollo, collapsed on the ground and snoring, a light drop of liquid dripping down his snout. On top of him rest a small Kokiri girl, curled up and cuddling the Octorok's small form, snoozing away. Viole actually used Wollo as a pillow. . . Well, it wouldn't be the first time that's happened. Walking over, Rika gently brushed her against the shoulder in an attempt to wake her.

She groaned slightly in her sleep before her eyes opened, her hand instinctively moving to her face to rub her eyes. "Mrhm. . . Rika?" Viole spoke softly as she ceased rubbing her eyes, seeing that the red Kokiri had woken her up. "Nicholas and I are about to leave for the seed. Keep an eye on Wollo for me while I'm gone. He'll probably want to help, but he'll really just get in the way, so it'd be better if he was left here." The girl rubbed her eyes again as she squeezed Wollo closer, resting her head back on him. "Mmm. . . Okay, come back safely. . . " She muttered as she shut her eyes, drifting back to sleep.

. . . She'd remember, right? Well, it didn't matter. Rika headed into the kitchen after Nicholas to grab something to eat before they left. The Mad Scrubs had made a mess of the food he had in here before he arrived, but there was still a small selection of edible foods, enough to eat. Quickly grabbing a bite, he headed out to where Nicholas was as he ate.

"Yeah, let's go," Rika nodded to Nicholas as they leaped off the balcony, heading towards the east. Nicholas seemed in rather good condition despite the events yesterday, which would be good. The last thing the Kokiri would need is Nicholas passing out from exhaustion on him. Well, that would probably happen by the end of this adventure anyway. As they walked and exited the forest, Rika explained the situation to him he had heard from the other Kokiri. "So, supposedly the seed has transformed into a massive tower, which means we will get to climb a lot. I wonder if we could scale the outside. . . " He mused aloud to himself as they encountered the raid leader's corpse.

As Nicholas picked up the weapon, it then occoured to Rika that Nicholas lacked a weapon. That's right, he didn't have a sword or anything! He just punched everything with the gauntlet? "So wait, did you just punch everything? I have to admit, that's pretty badass." He said to Nicholas, shooting him a cheesy grin as he did. Still though, having a weapon would probably be pretty good. Speaking of weapons, that reminded Rika, he was down a dagger. . . Not that he needed one, since they were initially back up weapons anyway.

"By the way. . . " Rika spoke more seriously than before, looking up over the trees. "I've heard that closer to the base of the tower, the forest can get somewhat poisonous. I know enough about forest toxins that we should be able to avoid them, but just a warning that you should keep a heads up." He then started walking further to the east, towards the supposed direction of the tower. Regardless, Rika shouldn't get lost as is, and neither should Nicholas, as long as he stuck near the Kokiri. This would be a breeze, right? . . . Well, there'd probably be far more than a breeze, where they were going.

--- Skyreach Part 1 END​

As Rika and Nicholas traversed the forest, Rika was diligent in making sure they didn't get split up or off track. Though he was always aware of where he was going and wouldn't have much trouble getting there, Nicholas would have far more difficulty. Still though, climbing. . . It was at times like these he wished he had his Bunny Hood. However, he had to give it up for now for Lucian, and he didn't have time to backtrack and retrieve it. As such, he would have to do this solo, and would return for it afterwards. Oh well, at least he had a magic spell to help with movement, right?

As they progressed, Nicholas had something to say. "Ask something? My age? Mmm. . . I'm not completely sure, truth be told. For me, I've lived so long and will age for so much longer, the concept of time isn't - Watch out for that hole a couple feet in front of you unless you want your foot to rot off," Rika casually interrupted his answer, pointing in front of him to a wide gap in the earth lightly shadowed by leaves and foliage. After pointing it out, Rika continued his sentence, without breaking, "- really that grand for me. I don't really keep track of specific like you Hylians. I mean, hell, I don't even recollect when my "birthday", so to speak, is, while I know such a day is rather important for Hylians, right? Though, I believe I'm. . . around 170, 175? Something of that sort? I couldn't give you an exact number, though, if that's what you're wanting specifically." He looked away from Nicholas to his right, peering through the trees.

"Now then, I have a question in return. Can you do that. . . sensing ability that other Hylian can? I can detect where we're going constantly, but I have no idea if anything is actually around us, other then what I can see with my natural senses. So if you can, that would make a great combo while within these trees. If not though, that's okay, I have a more useful Hylian that does I can replace you with!" Rika jokingly laughed as he said, though it wasn't -entirely- untrue. Though, it would be quite the detour to find him.

Rika nodded to himself as Nicholas spoke. This would be very advantageous to the two of them if used in unison. "Alright, I'll be the map and you be the radar. If you sense something, tell me immediately and I'll mark it mentally." They continued rather smoothly, able to avoid falling into any pitfalls or traps that laid throughout the forest. Casually glancing at Nicholas as they walked, Rika smirked, a slight laugh escaping his lips as he noticed the Hylian focusing intently. "You know, it isn't a very useful ability if you have to focus to use it." Rika remarked, referring to his focus set on Sense.

As they continued further, eventually Rika stopped, met with veritable sea of miasma. The poisonous substance lingered to the ground, which curved down a couple feet or so, causing travel across it to be impossible without dipping into the miasma. Looking up, Rika saw the vast expanse of trees and thick branches connecting between one another. "Well, the seed should be up ahead, but we can't walk across here unless we wanna die halfway through. Which leaves one solution. . . I hope you're a good climber." Rika patted Nicholas on the shoulder, and the Hylian would feel a rush of energy wash over his body, though there wouldn't be much in the way of a noticeable effect due to his Roc's Feather.

Walking over to a tree who's branches were a tad bit lower, Rika leaped up, leaping again in mid-air and landing feet first on the branch. He had to grab onto the tree to stop himself from falling, but otherwise was fine. "By the way, if you fall in you'll probably choke to death!" The Kokiri shouted down below to Nicholas before leaping up and across to a thick, nearby branch teetering over the entry point of the poison.