Minds don't Matter (travel post)

[China]

I don't want to waste my precious 800 words per round explaining how China finds Dane & 13, so I'm putting this in a separate thread.

This place was different from the forest he was used to, China could tell immediately as he stepped through the gate, into the small clearing beyond. Though it was still a dense woodland, this one was more humid, like a jungle. He had seen those previously on occasion during his decades-long trip around the globe, back in his own reality... of course, that had been well over a century ago, so he barely remembered any of it. One recollection which did leap to the forefront of his mind, however, was that such places often contained many scary types of food... and even some scary things which weren't food at all!

Mages living within would often use the local flora and fauna as testing materials for their various brands of magic, which could easily have some rather unexpected consequences. Just because the nice, non-Purifying light had saved him and brought him to this other place, and the just-as-nice miracle had turned a house into some trees for him, China wasn't about to start getting overconfident and thinking everything would keep going his way. In fact, if the nice light was fond of rescuing hungry people, that probably made it even more likely that there would be someone scary about.

What if someone else tried to eat him?

Realising that being out in the open like this prolonged danger, and that most scary things would likely lurk on the ground, as they often had back home, the Ceramic Beast bounded over to a tree and scrambled up into the comparative safety of its branches, his six sets of razor-sharp claws easily finding purchase in the bark of its trunk.

From there, he headed off in a random direction, leaping and flipping agilely between trees, and listening, sniffing and peering around as he went, always in search of any nice, tasty foods that might be found. Most of what he came across was of little value. Bugs and stuff, small mammals that darted into holes in the ground or into hollows in the trees... he snagged a couple, though they were hardly worth the effort; more skin and bones than actual meat. He did come across a decently-sized snake at one point, though, when he accidentally grabbed on to it, thinking it was just another vine, as had clearly been its intent.

The 'vine' fell all around him, and its coils began shifting immediately, as it sought to ensnare him. Before he could even take in the change in his situation, it had sunk its fangs into his neck.

It took him a moment to realise what had happened, but then he broke out into a huge grin, his 'quick' mouth appearing on his face practically instantaneously, then opening to reveal his full array of diamond-hard fangs. It seemed he'd hit yet another lucky break. Who could possibly have predicted that a random old vine would turn out to be food?

Without a thought for the consequences, he grabbed the vine-food near its head with his right pair of hands and tugged forcefully.

Oops.

He flinched upon hearing the shattering noise, his obvious mistake occurring to him only then. He ought to have pried open its jaws first, rather than simply tugging at it. As a result of that hasty decision, he now had several cracks and an inch-wide hole in the right side of his neck.

He glanced about, feeling a little embarrassed. Luckily, no other hungry people or foods were present to witness his silliness. He did notice that the creature's coils were much tighter and more constricting than they had been just moments before, though; if he didn't do something about this soon, he might end up with even more cracks.

He already had the yummy food in his grip, though, so putting a stop to its antics wasn't all that hard; he simply leaned forwards and bit off its head with a single chomp.

Immediately, the coils loosened. Deciding that the sight of the yum-yum's body and the sound of his munching might attract more hungry people and other scary things, China clambered up through the branches with his prize, bundling it up crudely in his lower arms as he went.

Before long he had reached the treetops, where he soon found an adequately sturdy perch and continued with his meal, gazing out across the luscious green canopy as he ate...

It was several minutes later – not that China knew this, never having been taught what a 'minute' was – just as he was finishing up the last of the snake's tail, that he happened to notice the beginnings of a small plume of smoke, breaking through the canopy back the way he'd come, though slightly further to the south than the path he had trodden...

Not that he had ever been told what 'south' was, of course.

He wasn't quite full after the snake, but he could make do as he was, at least for a little while, so China allowed his curiosity to guide him, rather than his non-existent stomach. Hopping and bounding from treetop to treetop, he made his way swiftly across the canopy towards whatever exciting event might be taking place over in that direction...