Forests are Dangerous Places (Whitebrand and Redfield)

[Whitebrand]

Whitevalley Forest was a thick, sylvian forest with heavy brush and tall trees covering all manner of unseen hazards for the unwary traveler. And even the wary ones sometimes didn't come out. The dangers of the forest included natural predators, unnatural creatures and the occasional human peril. Two large streams fed a lake to the south, and provided sustenance for everything that lived beneath the leaves.

The lord of the land, a great dragon, did his best to keep the threats of the forest confined there, but he seemed unable to wipe them out entirely. As though the forest itself was conspiring against its master, it provided cover for the deadly creatures and criminals clever enough to avoid the dragon's gaze.

Then of course there was the dragon himself...almost as dangerous and unpredictable as the forest he guarded.

All in all it was a very bad place to get oneself lost in...

[Redfield]

Lost was the best word for it, nineteen year old Yumi Knew she should never have strayed from the path.

She stood at a total height of five foot, three inches tall, she had jet black hair that was cut short, stopping just above her shoulders. Her skin was as white as snow and soft as silk, her eyes a beautiful emerald green and her lips a light pink colour. Her figue was slender and she ample breasts On her feet she wore a pair of gladiator style sandals, showing her toes to the world, her slender legs were on display for all the world to see and she wore a plain black mini-skirt. On her upper body she wore a plain white belly shirt and a leather jacket she kept unbuttoned. Hidden on her body she kept a small blade for protection.

Yumi had been at this point walking for hours, her feet were aching, but she pressed on through the forest hoping that she would find safety, before something found her...

[Whitebrand]

Street smarts did not translate well into survival in the rural areas. Yumi could not be worse prepared for a hiking trip, let alone getting lost during it. All around her were the calls of birds and other animals moving through the forest. The grunt of a wild pig. The trill of a bird. The rapping sound of a woodpecker.

As she walked, however, the forest got quieter and the animal trail she was following became thinner. As she walked she could see that the area was covered with a wide spreading of roots along the ground...and she was getting closer to its center.

She came across the main plant in only a few moments. A single flower-like blossom rested on the forest floor, its roots spreading out widely into the forest. Each petal was almost half as big as she was, and the center had a number of rope-like filaments reaching skywards. The silence of the forest was eerie, with only the sound of the wind moving through the trees to disturb it.

[Redfield]

Yumi marvelled at the sight of the plant, getting closer to it, but then she paused, listening to the sounds around her. There was nothing, she looked around, but in the midst of the trees she could see nothing. Looking down her feet were in-between the roots somehow not touching the plant, it didn't seem to know she was there. The young woman sighed, looking warily at the plant, it didn't seem like a good idea to get closer to it, so she carefully took a step back, being careful not to step on any of the roots. The young woman sighed, shaking her head slightly, as she tried to cautiously edge away from the thing infront of her.

[Whitebrand]

As Yumi retreated the filaments began to sway as if in a breeze. The petals of the flower seemed to flex and stretch a bit as she backed off.

Her instincts proved to be true a second later. The five filaments whipped down at the girl, grasping at her limbs. They struck slightly more slowly than snakes, possibly due to their size. The flower tilted towards her, letting her see into the blossom. There was no septim or ovary, but instead a rapidly opening toothless mouth in the center of the plant. The mouth opened further, eager for the city girl's tender flesh.

[Redfield]

Yumi gasped, her eyes widened, she hadn't expected this, surely it had to have just been an ordinary plant, that gave her the creeps. Now she was effectively restrained, a vine wrapped around each of her wrists, one around each of her ankles and a fifth around her stomach. The human girl tugged at the vines, but it was no use, they weren't going to budge, her green eyes widened as she spotted the opening mouth. A nervous look on her face, she knew what that thing wanted and It certainly didn't look good for her.

[Whitebrand]

The plant started to reel Yumi in, tugging on the sleeves of her jacket and tightening their grip around her bare legs and midriff. She was slowly hauled forward, towards the plant's opening and closing mouth. She could see sap or saliva dripping from that awful mouth, and could only see a tunnel leading down into darkness. Darkness that was waiting for her. It yanked at her and her leather jacket began to slide up her arms.

If she could get her arms out of the jacket then maybe...maybe...she might be able to do something about her predicament.

[Redfield]

Yum gasped, her eyes widening as she drew closer to the plant, her arms would be the first thing to enter at this rate. There was surely no way she could avoid it, that was when she noticed her jacket slipping and she got an idea. Yumi wriggled from side to side, her arms writing as she tried to pull them free of the jacket. Her hands were entering the plants mouth, she only had a couple of minutes to act, luckily her arms finally slipped free. "Who knows how far that thing goes down" she muttered to herself, pulling her hands away from the mouth.

She reached in-between her breasts, pulling forth a small but very sharp knife, Yumi grinned, but she didn't want to be too distracted, so with knife in hand she began to try to cut at the vine around her right ankle. She could however only barely reach with her knife.

[Whitebrand]

Yumi's cutting got an immediate reaction from the plant. The filament around her right ankle let go and retracted, as did the two that carried her leather jacket. Two remained, one around her left ankle and the other around her midriff. She got a close-up look as the plant hungrily slurped up her leather jacket...seemingly unaware that she was no longer in it.

A loud bang sounded and the filament around her waist was brutally severed. The plant recoiled and let go of its prey, the flower closing over the mouth and the filaments retracting fast. A pair of hands gripped Yumi under her arms and dragged her back away from the plant amid a good deal of swearing. In moments she was free and clear from the wretched plant. Looking around she could see her rescuers...a pair of rough-looking men, one a dark-haired man with a rifle that smelled of freshly fired gunpowder, and a paler, light-haired man in a plaid hunting jacket.

[Redfield]

Yumi blinked, she shut her eyes as the bang ruptured the air, she felt the impact on the vine and watched as it fled. She was deposited on the ground, then before she could react she was grabbed from behind. Yumi blinked looking around to the men, she swallowed nervously as she was dragged along the ground. The sandal on her right foot fell off, but it seemed she had bigger things to worry about now. The young woman squirmed a little in the man's grip, she used this time, to stash her knife back safely between her breasts.

Yumi looked to see the plant away from her, she looked back at the man holding her and swallowed nervously, for a few moments as she stayed in the grip of the man, she was silent.

[Whitebrand]

"Something about that plant always attracts the pretty ones," the dark-haired man said.

"Good thing we were here this time," the lighter-haired man said. "This one's more than pretty. Check these out. I think they're actually real."

The lioght-haired man reached down and grabbed a breast, kneading it roughly.

"Oh, hell yeah," he said. "She's gonna be worth plenty. Lucky lady, you are going to bring me and Eric here a whole lot of money."

"Hurry up, Frank," Eric, the one with the rifle said. "Get her tied up and we can get out of here. The prince won't want her if she's too much trouble."

[Redfield]

Yumi groaned slightly, looking between the two men as they spoke, she gasped, her cheeks turning a deep red as the man grabbed her breast. She wriggled trying to pull away, but the one man had a pretty firm grip on her, so she wasn't running away anytime soon. The good thing Yumi noted, is that while holding her, the man couldn't use his gun, so she figured that could be used to her advantage.

Yumi groaned as the man continued to play with her breast, she tried pulling away once more, this time though, she used her right leg to deliver as strong a kick as she could manage to the man's chest. Hoping to at least briefly, get him away from her. "Let me go you creep!"

[Whitebrand]

"UHNF!"

Caught completely by surprise the slaver was nailed squarely in the chest by her kick. He let go of her in his pain and surprise, dropping her to the forest floor and letting her go.

"Don't move!" Eric snarled as he pointed the gun at her, but Frank got in his way.

"Hurt her and we get nothing!" Frank shouted.

Perfect. An excellent time to run.

[Redfield]

Yumi eeked as she hit the ground with a soft thud, she was going to move when she found herself face to face with the man's rifle. The young woman swallowed, her feet pressed into the ground, she looked between the two men. Slowly she moved backwards, as she did her skirt moved up slightly, giving the men, if they were looking a good shot of her pink panties.

Yumi didn't know whether to run, she was conflicted, with the gun they could easily shoot her, but they seemed reluctant to do so. Yumi decided to wait for something of a better opportunity to try and make her escape. She didn't want to risk the chance she could get shot.

[Whitebrand]

"Stupid little tramp!" Frank snapped as he grabbed Yumi again. "If we wouldn't get paid for bringing you in, I'd find out what was under those pretty panties of yours."

"Tie her up and let's go," Eric grumbled.

Yumi's hands were tied behind her back and her missing sandal was found and stuck back on her foot...they didn't want her limping along when they bought her to their employer.

"Now move that pretty little butt," Eric said, pointing with his rifle back the way Yumi had come before she had encountered the flower. The two men made her walk ahead of them as they moved through the forest. Yumi had lost her chance to escape. For now, anyway.

[Redfield]

Yumi groaned slightly, this wasn't exactly the best situation to be in, but on the bright side she wasn't being eaten at this moment. The young woman tested the bonds holding her hands, she narrowed her eyes slightly, walking along, her eyes examining the ground before her. There was a gun at her back and she didn't exactly like it.

The nineteen year old tested the bonds once again, testing to see if they would easily break. They didn't the ropes themselves dug into her skin and they were probably going to leave cuts. She glanced back at the slavers "Why are you doing this? Where are you taking me?"

[Whitebrand]

"For the money we get for selling you," came the obvious answer. "There's an elven prince we sell girls to. He's got to have a regular harem by now with all the ones we've caught. You're lucky. There are things in the woods here that would eat you alive. Or rape the hell out of you then eat you."

"Shut up, Frank," Eric said. "She'll find out on her own. We just need to get back to camp and we can be done with this place."

"Scared, Eric?"

"In case you hadn't noticed, there are things out there that might try to eat us. So zip it and keep going."

They marched along in silence for awhile.

"So you a virgin, kid?" Frank asked as Eric rolled his eyes.

[Redfield]

Yumi blinked 'elven prince' she thought to herself an annoyed look on her face, she swallowed slightly watching the ground infront of her. She rolled her head a little as she walked a groan escaped her lips, then she heard the man's question, she gasped slightly looking up, blushing.

The young woman stuttered a little, she cast back to look at the man "I...I what's that got to do with anything?"

[Whitebrand]

"More money for us," Frank said. "If you're a virgin. So are you?"

"Like she's going to answer you, idiot," Eric said. "We have a half-mile to cover before we hit camp. So let's..."

Suddenly both men shouted in surprise as a dozen arrows came flying through the woods at them. Eric bought up his rifle but an arrow scraped his hand and he almost sropped the weapon. Howling in pain and fear, Eric and Frank fled into the forest.

Leaving Yumi to face whomever had fired all those arrows.

[Redfield]

Yumi blinked slightly, she let out a soft eek escape her lips as the arrows flew around her, the young woman groaned slightly. The nineteen year old tried the bonds behind her back, but she stayed still in position. Whoever shot those arrows, were very accurate and she didn't want to upset them.

The young woman stayed in place, her eyes scanning the surroundings a nervous look upon her face, her eyes darted from side to side. "Who....Who's there." She says half tempted to run after the slavers, she figured that it might be better than whoever was out there now.