[Horus] Where's Your Sunlight Now, Plantman?

[swiftyuki]

Horus is a good plant lad. Lives with plant people. Does plant magic. Very many plant oriented details about this man indeed. But plants usually need sunlight. Oh what a fine day this is. Lovely clouds skimming across the sky effortlessly carried by the wind far above. It was a pleasant day. What a perfect day to start on a grand adventure filled with adrenaline! The suspense! The drama! ..Ahem.

What little Horus knew is that his peaceful plant-filled day with his plant people family and plant foresty home was going to turn on him! Yes! Muahahaha! Vines of black laced with teal points lashed out of seemingly nowhere and wrapped around him, forcing him into the ground. How do you like being a plant now plant-man! The vines didn't stop though. and even if he could manage to cut or break them, there were so many more that would spring out and reinforce each other. If he struggled enough, he'd be entirely wrapped in a cocoon of vines. Do it, plant man, do it for the vine. ..which is also a.. Plant! You heard me!

When Horus could see again, he'd find himself still wrapped up in vines, suspended in absolute darkness. The vines themselves seemed to be less of a threat, seemingly satisfied that they've gotten Horus to understand the first lesson of planthood. That is, learning your roots. Hahaha, I'm funny.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Horus was a good plant lad. Dare he say, the best plant lad archer boy in the business. He was a strong, independent bean sprout who don't need no... sunlight? You know, when he checked the sky this morning he didn't remember seeing a whole bunch of -OH GOD THE VINES. The poor boy thrashed about, struggling against the flora that seemed to negate his own magic, even downright refuse it. Hist only option was the dagger on his hip, but the more he hacked away, the more they came, like the head of a hydra forcing itself upon him, wrapping around him with an amazing amount of speed and aggression. 
    
    More and more he was wrapped up and cocooned while more and more he hacked and slashed fruitlessly. Until finally nothing but darkness engulfed him. At some point, he must have blacked out. Either from exhaustion or from the work of the vines themselves. Regardless, he found himself suspended in darkness. The vines had calmed- finally- but the plant man was still not exactly happy. 

    "You know..." He mused, tugging at his bindings. "This is not how I expected my day to go in the slightest." 

    The young hunter struggled and wiggled against the plants that held him, trying to pull loose his blade, hopefully freeing himself in the process. He was taking a bit of a risk, what, with the perpetual darkness. Hell, he had no idea if there was just some sort of... gaping DEATH PIT down below him, and the second he free himself- whoops, down into hell he goes~! Real nice way to end the day.

    And his life. 

    But, risks aside, he had to try and free himself. 

    The only other alternative would be to just... hang there like some sort of vegan BDSM addict. Or would that be a hippie BDSM addict? Plant fucker. Like some sort of kinky, nasty plant fucker. There, does that work? Happy? Can we move on with the story now? 

    Dagger freed, Horus did his best to set to work freeing himself without hacking off his own limbs. It was a bit easier given he could sense where the plant were, you know, in relation to his extremities, but one bad swing and he could lop off his own leg. Then where would he be? Falling into a death pit with one leg gone? Now that sounds like an interesting betting game- how does he die first? Blood loss or finding the bottom. Real man's betting game right now. Unfortunately for the gamblers, Horus would free himself with no such issue, so now it was time to find out if there was a pit of doom waiting for him, or if he was just going to face-plant himself into the ground.  

[swiftyuki]

Horus would fall! Fall about... Huh that's weird. Excuse me, but I'm pretty sure I ordered the spongy trampoline surprise kit! Darned trapkit salesman I swear is about five Skaven in a trenchcoat cheesing me of my- Nevermind that! Horus fell from a height of two feet _{and didn't sustain any friggisblaggardshemflmich.....blegh...}

He'd find himself in a cavern of sorts, air so bone chilling and cold and the ground wet and rocky. This isn't really the place for a plant or a plant man or a man made of plants. But, there was something here. There was a soft breeze flowing in. There must be an escape route right?

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    "Oof!" Ok two feet. That was. Not as bad as he expected. You know, at this point he wouldn't have been surprised if there was some sort of trampoline or something waiting for him underneath it all, but obviously that whole thought process was just a jumble of disappointment. Just like finding out that there was indeed no death pit. You know, Horus was happy to be alive and not falling to his death, but he'd hyped it all up so much that he kinda felt a bit robbed that he wasn't plummeting to his doom. Weird. 

    The young flora mage shifted back up to his feet and brushed himself off, fighting a bit to try and see in the darkness. He'd trained a lot with his clan to hunt in pitch blackness, but this was a different type of darkness. This was... advanced darkness. 
    
    So... oh boy, this was going to be fun. Horus slowly crouched down and placed two fingers to the ground. There were more ways then one to get a read on an area. The young hunter shut his eyes- they were useless anyways- and focused his senses on everything else. Sound. Smell. Touch. The ground, the cave, were all cold and damp, which meant that there was some sort of water source. The smell was damp, stale, but up ahead came a source of fresh, cool air. Sound accompanied the coming breeze. All completely obvious, but not the important details. No signs, no sounds of movement, no other forms of life. The plants that had captured him no longer surged towards the boy. 

    So for the time being, the  archer was safe and he had a direction to head towards. Not to mention a general idea of the area he was in. Still fucking sucked, but the guy had to at least try. Horus stood up and slipped an arrow out of it's hold, extending it outwards like a walking stick and tapping it on the ground ahead of him. Given the enhanced darkness around him, the young man had to probe the area ahead to make sure he didn't trip, and using the sound of the tapping could key him in on potential hazards such as pitfalls, shifts in elevation, etc.

    Though, obviously, he wasn't used to being in darkness like this for so long. And despite being trained for so long to keep a level head, he had to know, had to see what the area was like. The hunter yanked his bow free and notched the arrow, pulling it back. Focus. Horus leveled the arrow forwards and focused his mana on the singular point- the arrow head. In a flash, the arrow ignited with the light of mana.

    But Horus couldn't keep it that way forever. Even if it didn't have a massive risk of just blowing up in his face like a fucking grenade because Charged Shot was a war magic spell, it'd still drain his mana way too fast. So, instead, he used the light as a probing shot. Like a flare, firing the glowing arrow off into the abyss. 

[swiftyuki]

All seemed pretty quiet for a good portion of his walk. Hollow moaning from the winds intersecting with other tunnels within the cave. Small sounds of squeaking overhead meant there was something there. And that something had friends. Friends that grew louder from the light, or maybe it was the sound, produced by Horus. Despite the minimal squeaks, there'd be an increasing number of eyes on him. Regardless of how many eyes were on him, he'd find that singular tunnel splitting into five separate paths.

Tread lightly, traveler. There is no potion seller with the strongest of potions present to deny you of them here.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    If anyone could see in the dark after that scene, they would have front row tickets to the purest form of mild panic ever brought to life. Beads of sweat dripped down Horus's brow as the young hunter stood straight as a board, lips pursed and sealed into a forced smile, and eyes wide as saucers. Yup, this is fine, this is alright. Totally, completely, utterly, perfectly fine. Mhm, yup. Yup, totally. I love this. Best day ever.

    Give it a few more minutes. 
   
    GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE. Darkvision was not going to work right now, and now he was too scared to keep up the tapping to probe. No, you know what, he was just going to follow the air flow, not talk, not even say a single peep. If he fell, he was just going to casually catch himself with some plants to soften the impact and keep moving as if nothing happened and that he wasn't surrounded by a potentially angry, potentially hungry swarm of squeaky toys. At least, that would be the plan if the air wasn't coming from every single path possible. So, how about this- Number Four, you're in. You better lead to something good.

    Note to self, never try anything like that ever again. Until I get out. Oh gods I wish I had someone here with me. At that thought it seemed as though the eyes only burned into him more intensely. SOMEONE THAT WASN'T THESE SQUEAKY FUCKS.

    Current mood: Violent internal screaming.

    Current objective: Survive (and escape).

    As the boy semi-blindly followed the path, he honestly hoped that nothing tried to attack him here. Sure, he could potentially fend for himself. The guy had a dagger. And if worse came to worse he could just ball himself up in a panic plant bubble. Or use the plants to whack stuff. You know, it really was just a matter of what happened, how many, and how big they were. Gods he hated this. 

    You know, as an aside, Glory might have a bit of a sadistic side, doing this to the poor plant man. The plant man that didn't do anything to deserve any of this besides being a plant man, man what a bad day to be a man of plants. Something something plant man. You get the gist of this joke by now, so it's time to switch focus away from a dead joke to the actual story here. 

    Horus was doing his best to keep a level head and a solid focus, but now that he knew what was around him... it was kinda hard. And the poor guy felt his skin crawling all over because of it. Dude was honestly close to a mental break down if he didn't find some source  of safety sometime soon. Mother's training never prepared me for this. Mother why!? It was hard to believe that out of the hundreds of generations his clan had lived, adventured, and just generally been around, not one of them had been in a situation like this and hadn't passed along some sort of training or advice. Although, given the general feel of it, Horus kinda assumed that they were just too traumatized by it all to want to talk about it or relive it. Honestly, at this point, it didn't even matter. 

[swiftyuki]

A tiny flame lit up as Horus entered the chamber. Perhaps there was hope after all! Ha. Hahaha. Hahahahahah. AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

...

Ahem.

As the chamber was illiminated, it would show Horus that there didn't appear the be an exit. Oh, there really wasn't an exit. Huh, where'd that tunnel go? Well, he could try to look around, try is the keyword here. Around the area, it almost looked like a little underground oasis. A little breeze in the chamber, a waterfall leading into a pond, lush plants, and fire to give a warm light to accompany glowing crystals. What a nice little vacation home you've got there.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    "Oh cool, I have light but now I also conveniently have nowhere to go." Horus cupped his hands in-front of his face, closed his eyes, and sucked in a deep breath. It was time to do something he hasn't done since his teen-years; Lose control. Horus stomped his feet and pulled off a pose the emanated pure power, shouting and pointing wildly "Alright listen! I've been putting up with this long enough, but let's be real here, it's pretty much impossible for this all to be coincidence. I know you're out there messin' with me! So whoever you are, wherever you are, do me a favor and not before I get angry!" 
    
    Horus's arms fell to his sides in a much more exaggerated fashion to suit his power pose. Peaceful plant man's not peaceful anymore. The archer had given it all the benefit of the doubt- predatory plants suddenly appearing in his forest where they never were before? Sure, fine, invasive species maybe. Yeeting him into a black pit with a weird ass path to  follow? Ok, whatever, it can happen. Infested by squeaky creatures? Now you just hate him. But the thing that finally pushed it all away from coincidence to "Yeah someone might be fucking with me" was the fact that his escape was just mysteriously gone. Only magicky shit can do that, and the archer's pretty sure those plants ain't the ones casting spells. Only other option was the swarm of squeaky things being mages but ehehehehe, let's not get too crazy here.
    
    Oh, yeah, and the campfire. Campfire's don't pop up outta nowhere.

    Honestly, the place was pretty neat too, but all the bullfuckery was making it a little hard to appreciate the pure aesthetic of everything here. Also the crippling sense of entrapment. Already Horus was considering how much mana he'd have to pump into himself to blast his way back, or back to the surface. Deep as it may be, plants can't survive in a lush scenario like this unless it's generally sort of close to the surface. Sure, maybe not completely, but at least close enough. 

    Although, the crystals could kinda muck up that theory, but at the same time also not because- you know what, honestly, plants aren't the problem here right now! They were like fifteen minutes ago, but right now they are not the concern. Focus on the important things for once instead of plants, Horus! 

    "Come on out you coward! I know you're out there. Where are you? Behind this crystal?" Horus exclaimed as he checked behind one of the glowing gems. "In that pond?" the hunter continued as he skirted around the edge trying to see beneath the surface. "Grr..." 

    Horus huffed and fell into a sitting position, legs crossed as he muttered. The young man needed to collect himself before he started genuinely going insane. There was still a breeze, so while this may not be the exit, it was still on the right path towards the exit. Just had to figure out where the breeze was coming from... or where the supposed tiny mischief gremlin was hiding so the archer could make them pay for pulling shenanigans. You know, whichever came first.

[swiftyuki]

A soft breeze tickled Horus' ear. For a minute there he could have sworn he heard someone laughing or giggling. The voice overall sounded in between and hard to distinguish male and female. Some of its sound would have a swap, but for the most part it kept in a neutral tune. The breeze turned into a burst of wind, a white wispy being with hardly any distinguishable features save for a grin that spelled trouble. [smear:#98c0d6]"It appears we have a smart one amidst us."[/smear:#b892e2:3] Voices rose in a laughter to the being's apparent joke.

This creature was a thrall. A sentient one. [smear:#98c0d6]"To leave you must prove to us that you're the hero or die trying."[/smear:#b892e2:3] Us? What was 'us'? The other voices roused up with this wind thrall? Who knows? Well, I do, but that's because I run this show.

A high pitch giggle bounced off the walls as it watched Horus sit down like a child who just got denied a sweet. What an odd way to take a test. It took no hesitation flying at him, passing through and knocking him over with ease.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Horus had sat down to give himself a moment to think, to breathe. But he got neither. Before the man had even a second to react  to the cackling imp, he was already knocked back flat on his ass. The mage was quick to collect himself, not letting shock get to him and moving with the blow, rolling backwards and onto his feet. Bow out, arrow notched, Horus fired off a shot that streaked towards center mass. 

    "I don't care what you're play is, but if you're looking for a hero you grabbed the wrong guy." Horus spat. His tone was level, mind clear. An enemy he could see was one he could fight. No mind games. No trickery. The hunter notched another arrow and focused, pumping it full of energy as he pulled back. He didn't have to worry about some insane creatures lurking in the dark anymore either. So what would be wrong with using his strongest combat spell? "Next time you wanna interrupt a guy when he's takin' a rest, remember this!"

    The hunter crouched, bow set sideways, took aim. Released. 

    The arrow was like a green javelin, roaring forth with destructive power. But Horus was already on the move. He had no offensive abilities aside from Piercing shot, so he had to keep moving. Keep at range. Given the thrall brought him here, they likely knew about that fact. It was probably going to be keen on taking advantage on it. Horus was keen on not letting them. Which meant the only option available was sporadic movements, dodges, rolls, keeping distance however he could and not letting them track him in any way. 

    The hunter doubted his attacks would have any effect on the thrall. If they did, he had an option to use to fight. If he didn't, he'd have to find another way. A way that wasn't normally available to him. He needed a way to disperse the thrall's form. Or figure out a way to hurt it.

    Which wasn't going to be easy for a mage who had primarily specialized in support magic. And those that weren't outwardly based on healing, were more of ensnarement. In that regards, could you even snare a wind thrall? Was that even going to be possible? There had to be other options here. Think. Look for the little details, Horus. The man's amber gaze swept around the room once more. Find them. Find something you could use. Waterfall. Pond. Plants. Fire. Crystals. No, no no there had to be something deeper. Something he'd missed. Some idea or answer to the puzzle he hadn't yet pieces together. The young man just... had to figure out what that was.

[swiftyuki]

[smear:#98c0d6]"Hero?"[/smear:#b892e2:3] The voice bounced around the cavernous walls with a laugh. [smear:#98c0d6]"We aren't looking for a hero."[/smear:#b892e2:3] The voice sounded sickeningly sweet. [smear:#98c0d6]"You stumbled into our home, silly!"[/smear:#b892e2:3] The wind creature seemed to watch Horus, watching him fire an hour. She flicked a gust out, the extra effect of the spell just breaking her wispy form for a moment but it seemed to recover. She turned to watch the arrow pin itself into the wall, cocking her head to the side enough for her to flip around in the air and right herself.

The thrall flipped around to turn back to look at Horus, a grin on her face. [smear:#98c0d6]"Ohhh, neat party trick you have there. Do it again, do it again!"[/smear:#b892e2:3], she said excitedly while clapping her ghostly hands. Funnily enough, her hands never made a noise, but it did unleash short bursts of wind that rustled trees and flickered the fire. Or...did it?

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    Horus gave a blank stare as the thrall stated it didn't really give a damn. Something something, he's an intruder something something. Really, he honestly felt a bit confused now. The guy didn't know what was going on. He threw up his hands, bow over his head, and exclaimed in an exasperated tone; "I don't know what you want from me then! I just want to go home!" 

    Poor plant man. Dude was... so lost. Physically. Mentally. Emotionally. 

    His eyes stared out towards the endless sea of possibilities. 

    The sea gave him the middle finger. 

    Mere seconds away from genuinely giving up, admitting defeat, and curling into a ball on the ground, when the thrall, clapping her hands like a cheerful child, popped up in front of him. Horus was taken aback, the gears clanking, sputtering, grinding, and struggling against everything he'd seen today. There was enough kindling in the young hunter's brain to start a forest fire, and yet, before the sparks really began to fly, it all worked itself out. Horus blinked once. Twice. Thrice. Shook his head. Lowered his arms. The young man blinked and shook his head at the same time, then tilted it quizzically. 

    "You... think it's neat?" Horus shifted, straightening slightly. Did he really have this all wrong? The stress from being in the dark must have messed with his head something fierce. Maybe... maybe if he had actually tried talking it out instead of fighting? Sure, she attacked the mage first, but she did have a point. Whether by his own devices or not, he was an intruder. The young man should have set the record straight from the beginning. But here was a chance for the man to put things right. And it seemed to lay in the new skill he'd learned. "Alright. I'll show it again, then." 

    Horus gave a warm and bright smile, turning and taking aim at no real spot in particular. The arrow illuminated a pure and vibrant green as he drew it back, focused, and let it fly. Just like the last one, the powerful bolt would pierce into the rock, punching a fist-sized hole in it's surface. Horus beamed, a mix of happy and proud that he got to show off his new skill to someone. "I just learned this skill recently! I was actually very excited because of it, I was hoping I would have gotten a chance to show it off to someone in my clan. But this is the next best thing. Here! Find something to throw up in the air, I'll bet'ya I can shoot it right out!"

    The man's golden eyes sparkled like the sun as he turned towards the thrall, hands clenched in front of himself like an excited child. The young hunter never really got a chance to ever show his skills off to... well.. anyone, really. So this seemed like a grand opportunity to make peace by... well... having fun. In theory at least. It was a substantial tone shift, but anything that avoided fighting was still a welcome one.

[swiftyuki]

"[smear:#98c0d6]Ooooohohohoh!"[/smear:#b892e2:3] The wind thrall clapped excitedly. [smear:#98c0d6]"Again, again!"[/smear:#b892e2:3]

[smear:#98c0d6]"Oi, cut the racket down!"[/smear:#b892e2:3] The fire flickered and rose, a being stroming over and lighting the grass on fire with its feet. [smear:#98c0d6]"What's going on here? Who is this?! What do you want?!"[/smear:#b892e2:3] The fire being stormed over to Horus. [smear:#98c0d6]"If you're trying to sell some cookies, we don't want any!"[/smear:#b892e2:3], they said shaking a fist at him.

[smear:#98c0d6]"Oh calm down Pyrhe!"[/smear:#b892e2:3] The wind thrall said.[smear:#98c0d6] "They're just showing off some cool tricks! Look!" She flew over to the the arrows embedded in the rocks. "I've never seen arrows so deep in stone from a bow before!"[/smear:#b892e2:3]

The fire thrall grumbled,[smear:#98c0d6]"Because you don't go out much."[/smear:#b892e2:0] Not to mention that wind thrall was DUMB AS HELL, but Pyrhe didn't want to deal with having a wind storm tantrum right now.

[Sparky]

[Refs]

    With pursed lips and wide, blank eyes, Horus looked completely lost as the two thrall's began arguing. He opened his mouth to say something, but found himself locked on the cookies part of the fire thrall's... outburst? Ok so... a free spirited wind thrall and an aggressive fire thrall. This was just getting more and more-

    Horus looked towards the water expecting a third thrall to pop out.

    Hell, maybe even one of the crystals was a thrall. Get the big four coming out for a full presentation. Maybe the whole room was just one big thrall? Honestly, the poor hunter was lost both literally and mentally at this point. Good job Pyrrhe, you confused the young man. All the hunter wanted to do was find a way out so he could go home and maybe make some tea and curl up on the couch in a big fuzzy blanket with a good book to read, is that so hard to ask for? Huh? Is it? Because if it is then gods damn does he live a high maintenance life style. 

    Head in his hands, Horus stared at the ground, dizzy and and confused by the constant tonal shifts. It was starting to actually give the man a headache. When the arguing stopped and silence fell, Horus looked up towards the two thralls.

    "U-um... if that's well and done now..." The side of Horus's face scrunched slightly, pulling his lips into an awkward frown. "Look, I don't know how I got here. I was snagged by some roots, got lost in the darkness and honestly I just want to go home. I'm not here to sell cookies or to fight or anything really. I'm just looking for a way out. "

    The young man raised his hands, showing them his palms. "I don't want to cause problems. At first I thought you were maliciously trying to mess with me, I didn't realize this was your home. And for that I'm sincerely sorry." 

[swiftyuki]

Pyrhe turned to Horus, body a complete flame and lacking a real set of facial expressions, but the colour of their flame seemed to reflect their emotion well. [smear:#98c0d6]"Listen here hot-shot-!"[/smear:#b892e2:3], she started.

The Wind thrall cut her off from whatever she was about to say. [smear:#98c0d6]"No Pyrhe! You always act like the big boss but you're no better than any of us!" [/smear:#b892e2:3]

The Fire thrall's flame grew more violently down her back as she lashed out at the wind thrall. [smear:#98c0d6]"Ayre! I've had about enough of you!"[/smear:#b892e2:3] Uh oh, family drama. They actually look like they're about to fight. Man, this wasn't how things were supposed to go. This was supposed to be a trial of sorts and even I can't get my fabricated creatures for the sake of my own plot to do what I want! What's up with that?!