Floral Harvesting

The forest seemed to radiate an intense magical aura that seemed overwhelming to any average Mobian, but wasn't unliveable to experience. 
The three stepped up to the entrance, before stopping to take a look at the oddity before them - the forest made its boundaries very well known, as if tempting anyone who entered with a threat that there was no turning back once they cross the threshold. Pass through the unnatural, enigmatic entrance to the forest, and the adventure truly began. 

Of the group, behind the other two, was tubby cat with red eyes and of slightly above average Mobian height. Knowing it was a densely packed forest, she wore her more casual wear, though by the time they got their twilight already revealed its many golden fingers reaching down to the heroes to try and grab at them, as if worried and wanting to save them from the dangers they signed up for. It stung a little, but once they entered the Manaforest, there wouldn't be need for worry. 

The air was moist, thankfully, so if need be she could fight back against the threats with the other's help, plus she had water bottles in her bag, not for drinkibg - she also had sodas - but for 'fuel' for her powers, and even then her bat hung off the bag strapped across it. She may not look battle ready from a first glance, but she was as ready as she ever could be. 

She sighed, chuckling nervously as she stepped forward in front of the others, "So... Let's get going, I guess?" And she walked in, her tail swaying from side to side.

Who said anything about stepping up and looking at the oddity? It was something that snowflake sure as hell wasn't doing. Naw, instead the albino hedgefox walked straight on towards that entrance. Her red eyes gleaming in excitement even if most of her face was shaded by a green hood with other wears in greens that helped hide that bright white fur as well as aid in helping her blend into the nature of the magical forest ahead.

The hybrid was prepared for this mission, maybe even a little over prepared but there was no harm in that. Oh her back a sleek backpack filled with various supplies including rope and a grappling hook in case climbing was gonna be a thing. And rations because who knew how long this was gonna be. Plus there were a few more miscellaneous items in there, not to forget but there was a bottle in there considering that had been stated specifically.

What also wasn't to miss on the albino's back was a fine crafted scabbard with the hilt and handle of a long sword poking out of it. If any, she was ready.

The voice of Julian behind her calling the question didn't go past her though. "I mean I already am going, no reason to stare at it from in front, there's gonna be enough inside to observe and take in." She said, her words not stern or anything, more playful if any. But she was not waiting for the others though.

Upon entering, that is when she took a second to slow her pace, to look along those twisted trunks that reached for the sky. Their branches like hands grasping for the blue up there, a blue that was blocked out by the branches woven together in their both, creating a canopy that allowed light to seep in in small beams of light. It made the ground not pitch black, but more that medium dark where you can still clear enough but things hiding in the shades would blend in almost flawlessly. And who knew what this forest was gonna hold with it's magically manipulated flora and fauna.

With the other two joined a slightly odd fellow, a robot to be exact. Gear was excited for his first mission as a guild hero. He quickly dashed up one of the many trees at the entrance and saw nothing but and expansive canopy of trees, navigating this place was gonna be a tad difficult considering how wild and unnatural this forest was. But with his unique skills and mobility it shouldn't be to hard.

"Well then, looks like this'll be a good adventure into territory. From what I gathered we should be incredibly careful of everything. No tellingwhat some things inhere could do to us."

Gears face was one of amusement as he walked ahead of the group. Taking a moment to take in the odd sounds and sights his green eyes flicked out as several lines of code brushed past on his screen. A moment later they popped back as he winked at the other two, from his speaking channels an odd Tune begin to play.

"Thought I'd set the mood. Fits eh?"

Julian had heard a version of this song from her many years on the internet, and a little annoyed at Snowflake just sort of rushing into the forest literally oozing magical energy, she decides to take the familiar tune with a sense of nostalgia that seemed forced - to her, there were better fitting songs, but Gear was rather intriguing, a kind machine whereas the albino just kinda rushed in and she was still a little concerned.
Who knows what problems could be in this forest that if you just ran at it without looking you would be punished!? Magic isn't something to take for granted.
This is why she took the back, trying to keep up but remaining cautious as she looked around st everything.

The trees were as tightly interwoven together at the base as they were at the 'natural' ceiling, or canopy, and thus created a strange hallway that even stranger as they moved along, revealed multiple paths, three to be precise. It wasn't like a human maze, the paths extending outward like the roots of a tree at irregular angles, but at this point an issue would be brought up.
They most certainly needed to stay with someone who brought a bottle, and splitting up just isn't a smart idea, though it was their choice how they'd handle it.

Julian waited to see how the others would react, deciding she didn't want to be left behind just for standing and observing the incredibly dangerous forest.

While on the outside she had just gone for the straight marching in, inside though her entire being stood on alert. Not a single muscle seemed to be relaxed right now. Her ears up high and moving in small twitches to try and locate any and all sounds. From the natural rustling of wind passing along the leaves to foot steps and the others talking. To which she did spin around towards. "I mean if you want to be careful, playing music might uhm...not be a good idea unless you keep the volume really low." She said, her voice sweet as honey and kept low enough just for the three of them to hear. "It's foreign for a forest and might draw unwanted attention to it." She wasn't scolding the only robot of the group at all. It more was stating the obvious considering his own words previously.

While her gaze had gone skyward and just generally ahead, so far the actual eye level and below had not been entirely observed by the albino hybrid. So that got her attention for now. That and a question though. "The quest mentioned to bring a bottle, do you two also have one with you?" She questioned with the slightest of head tilts. Being so much still at the front of the forest the floor of it still seemed to mostly ust be dirt and sand with the occasional leave or pieces of grass poking out. But ahead in this natural hallway the ground seemed to slowly get consumed by the grass as well as bright spots of flowers growing in them. That over run path dealio cause when squinting enough, there clearly still was a vague path that others had walked on, just not enough to leave a clear straight forward one ahead.

She frowned slightly, raising another question. "How far in do you feel the creature might be? More towards the center, somewhere in the front? Personally I fear it might be moving about which would be troublesome in trying to locate it properly." Her gaurd remained up as she spook, scanning the area for sounds still. "Cause we might wanna make a plan of attack in a sense with how to deal with it."

"O-oh... sorry... my fault."

Gear said as he cut the audio, his eyes flicked blue for a moment as he glanced away nervously scratching his head, ~Great... first mission and i already caused a problem...~ he thought as he continued forwards, ~Guess I better just stick to doing the job...~

With that his eyes flicked again as his he began to scout ahead of the other two, falling into habit from all his old day's of fight in a war. Considering his was mostly made of metal and had defensive abilities it would be better if he could catch any potential dangers beforehand.

He boosted from tree to tree with little noise and looked around the twisted forest. Had this place not been so dangerous it would b a great place to vist and relax in, the unusual scenery alone enticing. Unfortunately a mission was a mission as Gear tried his best to look for the signs of the thing they were looking for.

Now it was Gear who rushed in without much thought. At least she trusted him better than a fleshy Mobian like Snowflake or herself. That being said, Julian stepped forward.
She had brought more supplies with her, but she took out one of her many water bottles, popped open the top, poured out the liquid, than put the top back on, "Assuming you didn't bring a bottle, there, we now have a bottle to put potion in."
She didn't mean to sound so snappy, she was just answering the question.

"Hm... Did the quest giver say it could move? Being some plant looking thing as I would assume from the photograph, I can only hope it can't move, though we can't just assume that. I guess... Hm... Being that this is a maze, do we have methods to keep track of where we've been? Do you think hugging a wall and just listening out would work? We're bound to cone across it eventually if we do that."

"Hey, don't sweat it. We all can make slip ups." Her words carried a gentleness and understanding towards Gear. Though squeezing in a small "Warn us if something comes our way." Before the mechametal went off to bounce between the trees. Maybe he wouldn't hear her, maybe he did, all Snowflake did was hope he did in that regard. She did watch him set off for a moment before turning to Julian as she spoke. 

"I do also have a bottle with me but! I figured that if we each have one our chances of getting the toxins is marginally better since if one fails or loses the bottle or it breaks or such, another can attempt and succeed." The white furred woman replied with her gentle sing song voice. Leaning back a little on her heel as she considered. "The quest did say it mutated into a giant beast specifically in it. And since most beasts aren't stationary...plus if it was set in one location then why couldn't we be pointed just directly to it like 'here is location of the plant to get the poison from'" She raised her shoulders in a small shrug.

But then the feline did bring up a really good point. Did they have a way to mark the way back, hm. Swiftly the backpack was in her hands as she shuffled through it as she spoke. "While in theory the wall hugging can work, it is assuming there are no 'islands' within the maze. Chunks where the walls don't connect to others. Because if that is the case the wall hugging will just lead you in a circle." Rummage rummage. What did she have. Food wouldn't work for obvious reasons, she wasn't gonna use her rope, but HA~! Ribbons! She held the pack up with the red satin looking ribbons. "Had them with me in case I needed to tie my hair up but we could use them to mark the trees by tying it around the branches? Do you have another idea or a back up for if these run out?" the albino slightly tilted her head to the side looking at Julian.

As Gear looked around he noticed an odd trail that passed over the path they were currently on. He jumped down and begin to examine it. After looking at the trail he deduced it was made by a... plant? As crazy as it was it wasn't the normal animal tracks as it looked like vines and petals were dragged across and over the twisted forest floor.

He quickly bursted back to the others with minimal effort after grabbing a sample of some of the plant like material from the tracks. 

"Hey, did they say anything about that thing moving?  Because i found an old trail that may belong to our target," he said as he held out out the odd samples and pointed down the path, "it looks like what it was at least was heading towards the middle of this place."

The albino gave her rapid-fire questions, and she tried her best to respond. 
Noting that she should have known wall hugging wouldn't work from experience(a maze in a game frustrating her when she was really tired), Julian felt a little sheepish about having suggested it 

"I see... I'm not too find in the idea of a moving plant, but I wasn't expecting thus to be easy or normal... Anyways, I did pack a lot of stuff, including water bottles. For a quick source of water in case I needed it," she explained somewhat unnecessarily, "but, um, yeah. I guess as long as nothing like wind or other creatures tried to mess with the crap, I could just leave a trail of bottles. Of course, we're suppose to preserve the forest and i don't know how I feel about littering but I guess the quest guy won't know, right?"
The kitten pulled another water bottle out of her bag, lightly tossing it in her hand as if cautious if her missing a catch, "The water bottles, useful again."

As Gear came back and explained the situation, she sighed.
"Snowflake and I just discussed about it moving. Guess we jinxed it or something - couldn't have just been a stationary evil demon plant, couldn't it?", she joked with a cynical tone, cautiously walking forward where Gear had come from, taking a sip of the water, and pouring it out, ready to help leave a trail.

It seemed the mechametal was right on cue with his called out question. That she would check in a moment fully. First she wanted to reply to the bottles idea that Julian spoke off. Honestly it was a good idea no lie there. "How about we do the bottle and then a ribbon and inter change to still have a way back in case one of the two gets missed with while be track deeper? And if it comes to litteraing we can always pick our junk back up if we head back to the exit." she said giving a smile to the feline. Before being quick to add on. "Would you do the honors of the first step in the track back then?" The albino said gesturing to the bottle in the other woman's hand that she already had emptied out.

Though with that sorted Snowflake turned her full attention to the trail that Gear had pointed it. "A stationary plant would've been way to easy. Though I do wonder why it would've been this close to the entrance of the forest. Hm." Quietly she mused to herself trying to figure out said question herself. Either it was sentient and curious enough to take a peek here or it was entirely by chance or in the situation she hoped for the least, it was because there were more than one of these moving plants. Gods she really hoped it wasn't the later. Though the first option also didn't really sounds appealing and pleasant either.

She allowed her red eyes to follow along the track that led deeper into the dark woods with it's twisting trees and ...unique flora. Big and bright of colors. It certainly made what was deeper in feel like some odd fever dream that had a sprinkle of nightmare fuel mixed in. Nightmare fuel that could just as easily manifest in other creatures. Though sound wise it being this...still. When realizing that fully it put the hybrid on edge. Because why was it so quiet, was it because of the magic or was there something else that made it so still.

"Maybe we should keep on moving ahead..." She suggested quietly just for their group to hear as she got into motion herself. Taking careful steps as she moved along and ahead following the trail that Gear had pointed out.

Gear continued forwards behind the albino, his eyes keeping vigilant. So.far there wasn't much to the place than all the weird plant life and odd.energy flow. The place gave him the creeps.

"This place reminds me of the Crystal Quadrant from little planet... creepy, big, mysterious, but also pretty and intriguing. A nice mix."

Continuing to trail behind Gear began humming a catchy upbeat tune, keeping a positive attitude to help keep the mood lighthearted. By this point it was obvious Gear wasn't a simple robot, to expressive, to alive. Trying to get a conversation going going he began to ask questions.

"So... where are y'all from? Maybe why you guys joined the guild?"

Julian looked to Snowflake and nodded, agreeing to the idea with a smirk as she flipped the empty bottle in front of her onto the wet ground below.
What, going for style? Would've been better if it landed upright.
Outdated references aside, no show off here, just trying to enjoy her time out by any means necessary - so easy to entertain it seems, like a child.
"Alright, put the ribbon where ever you think necessary then, and let me know so I'll know when to drop another bottle, 'kay?", she explained, giving a light shrug before following after the group.

The strange colors reminded her of old movies and candy for some reason, as if the palette was made up of a rainbow powered by whimsical magic.
Black magic, that is.
It carried an air of evil, tonal dissonance between the assortment of colors and their unnatural arrangement, feeling like some demonic entity was painting a picture with the plants and flora.
Julian couldn't help but stare in disturbed awe, her tail close behind her and barely swaying.

She decides to help break the unnerving silence with Gear.
"Oh, you've been to Little Planet? What's it like up there? I remember as a kid I looked up in the sky and whenever I saw it I couldn't help but stare. I imagined living there as a kid for... some reason.", she asked Gear, before hearing his question and answering herself, waiting for Snowflake to tie a bow, "Ah, I was born in Station Square. After my parents kicked me out, I decided that if I could I might as well do some good."

There was an understanding nod back at Julian's kinda request to be notified when to drop another bottle. Her focus wavering for a moment before clicking back into active so to say. "What is Little Planet?" Some of her question already kind of answered by the reply the cat gave to the mechametal. "I'm not that knowledgeable about the other planets around, sorry." Snowflake explained herself with a sheepish smile and a rub at the back of her head in thought. Not quite answering the other question yet, letting the other woman finish her responds first. "I'm from Scelus and I believe I was born there? I honestly have no clue. Personally I ended up joining the guild because I wanted to help out people as much as possible. What about yourself though?" Her question geared towards well...Gear. 

Though even with talking to the to hers, her gaze remained ahead of them. Preferring to keep her focus there. it wasn't that she minded the more casual banter, it just ever so slightly annoyed her that that was the focus and not getting the toxins. But it didn't show on her face in the slightest. It were feelings she wasn't going to show because the last thing the hybrid wanted to be was some big party pooper. If they enjoyed casual conversations, so be it.

Her ears giving a sharp twitch as the small rustle of leaves nearby. For a moment she blamed it on the wind, before that mind gut wrenching feeling came forth of realization. There had been no hard enough wind this entire time to rustle leaves.

The rustling followed by the shifting of a shape, slowly approaching with methodical unnatural movements. At a first glance looking like a big four legged beast. But the closer it came, the more details showed through. There was no head, there was no tail, there was no clear back, front or side to the creature. It's appendages that it moved on resembling the gnarled twisted roots with wide bases to rest it's weight on. It's torso almost like a ball, a giant ball of moss that swayed gently with each step that was taken by it.

Waiting but a few seconds before a few loud POPs filled the air as small seed pods amongst the moss burst open, shooting straight at the group of guild members.

Gears eyes flicked to blue for a second as his most recent memories came up from being there. However he shook his head and returned to being more positive.

"It's ok, little planet is a bit odd, it's not really a planet... but it is... it appears once every year over a lake, miracle lake I think... not 100% sure what you mobians call it besides little planet," Gear continued to muse on as they went, "It has a lot of odd areas, Quartz Quadrant... the Wacky Workbench... ect... honestly it's bit of a ghost town, not really any civilization..."

Gear turned to Julian, a slight look of sympathy.

"You were kicked out? Why? Did you do something they didn't like?"

(Guessing there is enough time during this point for her to answer before we run into creature by in thread timing)

Gear felt slightly disgusted as he looked at the strange plant, wondering to himself what kinda odd things had to happen in order to allow this to exist. However he didn't get time to continue thinking on it before they were attacked.

Gear didn't waste a second as he threw up a barrier, making it larger than usual to try protecting the others for the first attack.

Julian continued walking alongside the group, not interrupting anyone as they talked about their own situation. She never heard of Scelus, and learning some names of Little Planet zones was pretty cool.

They moved through the dark, yet vibrant forest as attention was soon returned to Julian for a short bit.
"Hm... Well... I feel a little weird explaining it-", her ear twitched, the sound of bushes rustling distracting her, her hand hovering over her bat, "What the fuck...?"

Then it revealed itself. She stared at it for a moment as Gear put the shield up to block the seeds, whilebpulling her bat out, getting ready for a fight.
Was this the target? Or were there just more monsters than what they were after?
Surely it couldn't be this "easy".
"Holy- Everyone get ready! Thanks for the shield, Gear."
Ready to fight, her tail whisked from side to side as the creature screeched, clearly not happy its seeds failed. It wasn't too smart, now trying to slam Gear's shield with its vines.