Hejira 07
Story by Mantrid_Brizon on SoFurry
Episode 07: Gareth helps Kahlera and Naomi with a little problem but only creates one for himself.
Hejira: Crystalline Hall
By Mantrid Brizon
Episode 07: Mushroom Samba
A storm rages outside as Gareth, Kahlera and Naomi sit around a small fire placed just inside of a moderately sized cave. When thunder broke the peace of the twilight, they walked away from the road and towards a distant cliff face, in order to find shelter. Naomi and Kahlera both seem preoccupied and irritable, but Kahlera in particular has been rather clingy with him. She stays near him, and has moved her bedroll next to his sleeping bag; she did not ask if she could do this, but he certainly isn’t complaining.
In fact, they’ve both been acting strangely since the night before last. Gareth tries to hold a basic conversation, but Kahlera becomes easily frustrated and tells him to stop talking for the next few days.
“Are you alright? You both are acting strange.” He asks her.
“It is nothing that you need to concern yourself with.” Kahlera replies.
“I just don’t understand why you’re angry lately… Well, angrier.” He adds.
“Idiot…” Kahlera mutters.
“It’s just a cyclical problem that we share.” Naomi comments.
“Oh… Oh! I’m sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?” He asks as he blushes.
“Just stop talking and obey without question.” Naomi laughs.
“What she said.” Kahlera groans. “Actually…” She lifts her head. “I can make a pain-relieving potion, but I am missing a primary ingredient. A toxic mushroom cap.” She says.
“I’ll get right on it.” Gareth immediately offers.
Thunder claps and lightning lights up the night sky.
“I’ll get right on it, in the morning.” He reiterates.
Kahlera smiles and leans against Gareth, resting her head on his shoulder. That night, as the first two, she sleeps closer to him, her bedroll touching his sleeping bag. Early the next morning, the storm has passed and the sun shines brightly. Kahlera gives Gareth a rough description and tells him to look near moss-covered rocks wherever there is moisture. As they have camped near a visible cliff, no one believes that he could become lost. He leaves the Kahr pistol with the girls and wanders off into the woods.
He marks his branches as he heads deeper, breaking them in a particular way every three or four meters. The girls sit down and eat deer jerky and wild berries when Kahlera’s eyes suddenly widen in horror. She has only just remembered something important; he isn’t supposed to touch the mushrooms with his bare skin. She moves to the cave mouth and calls out to him.
“Gare!” Kahlera shouts.
“Gare?” Naomi raises an eyebrow.
“Gare! Come back!” Kahlera yells. “Oh no…” She groans as her heart sinks in her chest.
He walks through the woods, well out of range of Kahlera’s voice. He finds a small clearing with several large, moss covered rocks near soppy grass and oozing mud. Various mushrooms surround them, dotting the dark green and brown grass like freckles. He takes a closer look at each and every mushroom type. One seems to fit the description perfectly, but he can’t be sure. He looks to the other mushrooms and considers his options. He looks back and forth at the different mushrooms for several minutes.
“Damn… Well… Screw it!” He says with a sigh.
He bends his knees and squats down, picking every mushroom cap with his bare hands, and placing them into his musette bag. He spends several minutes picking nearly one-hundred mushroom caps as his fingers start to tingle. He heads back, following his blazed trail of broken branches. His head starts pounding and he feels as though he is listening to heavy bass at a nightclub. As he walks, his vision starts to blur, only for it to return and the colors to appear much more vibrant.
“Eh! You ova’ there!.” A male voice calls out.
“Huh?” Gareth turns around, looking for whoever is talking.
“What’s wiff you breaking off me fingers, mate?” A tree talks to him in an exaggerated British accent. “You are one cheeky bastard, you know that? I’d neva come and snap off yor fingas… Well, maybe I would…”
“I uh… I needed to blaze a trail. I didn’t want to get lost.” Gareth says to the talking tree.
“Lost? Just ask for directions, mate. Why can’t you people ever ask foh ‘elp. Is it a human thing?” The tree chastises him.
“I’m sorry… How do I get back to the cave?” Gareth asks.
“Well first you turn around, then you walk a few hundred paces and ‘ang a left. Oh, who am I kidding? I’m a fucking tree! Haha! I have no idea, you stupid bastard.” The tree laughs.
“You don’t have to be so mean about it.” Gareth blinks as his vision blurs again.
“I neva’ get tired of that. Oh, bloody ‘ell.” The tree cackles.
Gareth stumbles around and hears growling from a bush. He backs against the tree, which grabs him by the shoulders with its branches.
“Eh dog! Get ova’ ‘er and do me a feva’! Eat this stupid prick foh me!” The tree calls out.
Gareth shakes off the branches and pulls away.
“Eh! Where you goin’ you wanka’! I’m not through with you foh damn sure!” The tree yells.
Gareth steps up to the shivering bush and rubs his eyes as a wolf’s skeleton emerges. It’s holding what looks like a human femur in its toothy maw. It slowly walks up to Gareth and sets the bone down before sitting in front of him. Its jaw hangs open and the sound of panting echo throughout the forest, though the skeleton has no flesh, tongue or lungs to speak of.
“Do you want to play? Is that it?” Gareth asks.
He picks up the bone as the wolf’s skeletal tail wags happily. He tosses the bone and it runs into the woods, chasing after it.
“Why the ‘ell did you just throw yor own leg?” The Brit tree asks him.
Gareth looks down and panics at the sight of a floppy, boneless left leg. He stumbles back and falls onto the dirt, which turns into a sloshy ooze of mud. He coughs up mud and scrambles from the pit as it seems to come alive. The ground turns into quicksand behind him as he hobbles through a tunnel of tree branches. He sees a vast, grey faced monster, as a demonic looking Kahlera and Naomi stand in its jaws. Kahlera approaches him, her glowing yellow eyes and spikey ears twitching as her mouth opens to reveal razor sharp, chrome plated fangs. He falls forward onto the ground as his body begins to tremble and he feels the urge to vomit.
Kahlera steps up to Gareth and kneels down beside him as he hallucinates on the ground. With Naomi’s help, they drag him from the mouth of the cave and set him down by the fire. Rummaging through his pack, Naomi spots the mushrooms. Naomi dumps the contents of the pack out onto the ground while Kahlera takes the correct mushroom, picking it up with a cloth, and setting it aside. She looks at the other mushrooms and notices one in particular.
“Well look at this!” Kahlera exclaims. “This mushroom can counteract the effects of the toxic mushroom that he touched. I’ll whip this potion up first.” She says with a relieved smile.
She takes out a small stone mortar and pestle from her pack and grinds the ingredients together, then mixes in a bit of water. She seems to hum a tune as she grinds away. Naomi recognizes the tune as the chorus of ‘Only’ by Ra, the song that he sang to her when Kahlera was patching the gash on his side.
“If you aren’t sure, don’t even touch it. Les Stroud said so. If you aren’t sure, don’t even touch it. Les Stroud said so.” Gareth chants.
He claws at his pant legs with his finger nails while rocking side to side and laying down in the fetal position. Kahlera takes the freshly made potion and sits beside Gareth. She and Naomi hold him up as Kahlera puts the mortar to his lips. He drinks the potion and they lay him back down.
“That wasn’t shaggy mane.” He mutters repeatedly.
“I should never have told him to go… This is all my fault.” Kahlera laments.
“If you hadn’t, he’d have left anyway and brought back the whole forest.” Naomi reassures her.
Kahlera cleans the mortar and pestle before mixing the second potion that will relieve their menstrual pain.