Juniper nodded. It should be simple enough to lure one of the wicker woman's tendrils to extend far enough for Deimos to cut it, and she hopes they can do so without too much danger to themselves.
As she considers their next move, the thrashing among the wicker woman's branches -- the sound that drew them here -- slows and stops. Juniper recognizes now what it is: "There's an animal caught in there -- deer-sized, I think. I can't get a clear look at it, but we should see if we can kill it before we leave, rather than leaving it to starve."
She has thoughts about how to complete their actual task at hand, too. "I'll get a little closer to the wicker woman and draw out one of its vines. Then you can cut it."
Perhaps Juniper has put herself in the riskier position, but she doesn't want to ask Deimos -- or his companions -- to do both jobs, cutting and luring. And besides, she doesn't actually intend to let the wicker woman touch her. She picks up a long branch from the ground and gets closer, reaching out with the branch and waving its end near the wicker woman in the hopes of getting a vine to curl around it -- and one does, snapping down faster than Juniper anticipated and wrapping around both the stick and her arm.
As she considers their next move, the thrashing among the wicker woman's branches -- the sound that drew them here -- slows and stops. Juniper recognizes now what it is: "There's an animal caught in there -- deer-sized, I think. I can't get a clear look at it, but we should see if we can kill it before we leave, rather than leaving it to starve."
She has thoughts about how to complete their actual task at hand, too. "I'll get a little closer to the wicker woman and draw out one of its vines. Then you can cut it."
Perhaps Juniper has put herself in the riskier position, but she doesn't want to ask Deimos -- or his companions -- to do both jobs, cutting and luring. And besides, she doesn't actually intend to let the wicker woman touch her. She picks up a long branch from the ground and gets closer, reaching out with the branch and waving its end near the wicker woman in the hopes of getting a vine to curl around it -- and one does, snapping down faster than Juniper anticipated and wrapping around both the stick and her arm.
Juniper
"art nouveau winged fairy" by e³°°° is licensed with CC BY-SA 2.0. To view a copy of this license, visit here
