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He’d heard of the cursed gourds from the pretty bartender, but this was his first time experiencing them himself. They weren’t nearly the laughing matter he’d expected them to be – more unsettling than humorous – but they also weren’t the threat some of the sentient plants of his own world could pose. They were just so bizarre that it was hard to take them seriously! And for all that Jigano was a serious man – often too much so, or so his old traveling companions had jibed – he wasn’t so straight-laced that he couldn’t let his hair down and have a little fun now and again.
After all, what would be the harm in teasing the mindless plantimals a bit? If nothing else it was a nice break to take his mind off his troubles. And of these, he had many. Past, present, and future were all awash in problems without answers. If he didn’t take a break soon he might find himself breaking, and there was no one here he knew well enough – much less trusted – to help him put the pieces back together again.
The white fox had frozen atop the rock he’d leapt upon just before spotting the little pack of vicious vegetables as the thoughts had spun through his mind, but he shook himself sharply to push back his inner demons and turned his attention to the outer ones, letting out a little yip to get their attention. The collection of gruesome gourds, with their carved faces and devilish eyes glowing in the evening’s gloam, turned almost as one to focus on the newcomer. Jigano bared his teeth in an approximation of a grin and then hopped down from his perch, muscles bunching beneath silky fur as he launched himself straight at the pack – patch? – of his would-be hunters. A smarter foe might have been surprised, but the pumpkins, squashes, and lone zucchini were already heading towards him with gleeful abandon.
The fox realized he had, perhaps, overestimated his new playmates and so, instead of simply barreling through them he turned on a paw and flicked his tail across the round, green, grinning orb in the lead. Tag! he smirked to himself as teeth made of rind crunched together on empty air. The tail’s owner had already begun to run – slowly enough for his entourage to keep up – deeper into the woods. He had to keep bouncing back, tapping first one, then another to keep their attention and make sure he didn’t lose them as he slipped like a pale ghost through the skeletal trees, leading them on a merry chase in what he thought was a deserted grove.
When suddenly…
He’d heard of the cursed gourds from the pretty bartender, but this was his first time experiencing them himself. They weren’t nearly the laughing matter he’d expected them to be – more unsettling than humorous – but they also weren’t the threat some of the sentient plants of his own world could pose. They were just so bizarre that it was hard to take them seriously! And for all that Jigano was a serious man – often too much so, or so his old traveling companions had jibed – he wasn’t so straight-laced that he couldn’t let his hair down and have a little fun now and again.
After all, what would be the harm in teasing the mindless plantimals a bit? If nothing else it was a nice break to take his mind off his troubles. And of these, he had many. Past, present, and future were all awash in problems without answers. If he didn’t take a break soon he might find himself breaking, and there was no one here he knew well enough – much less trusted – to help him put the pieces back together again.
The white fox had frozen atop the rock he’d leapt upon just before spotting the little pack of vicious vegetables as the thoughts had spun through his mind, but he shook himself sharply to push back his inner demons and turned his attention to the outer ones, letting out a little yip to get their attention. The collection of gruesome gourds, with their carved faces and devilish eyes glowing in the evening’s gloam, turned almost as one to focus on the newcomer. Jigano bared his teeth in an approximation of a grin and then hopped down from his perch, muscles bunching beneath silky fur as he launched himself straight at the pack – patch? – of his would-be hunters. A smarter foe might have been surprised, but the pumpkins, squashes, and lone zucchini were already heading towards him with gleeful abandon.
The fox realized he had, perhaps, overestimated his new playmates and so, instead of simply barreling through them he turned on a paw and flicked his tail across the round, green, grinning orb in the lead. Tag! he smirked to himself as teeth made of rind crunched together on empty air. The tail’s owner had already begun to run – slowly enough for his entourage to keep up – deeper into the woods. He had to keep bouncing back, tapping first one, then another to keep their attention and make sure he didn’t lose them as he slipped like a pale ghost through the skeletal trees, leading them on a merry chase in what he thought was a deserted grove.
When suddenly…
