Chapitre 5: Curiosity killed the cat
A small animal with the shape of a rabbit but sharper teeth, longer legs and ears and no hair but only gray skin was curiously looking at the dividing wall and the brown lines on it.
This unappealing type of rabbit was the predator in these gardens before John. Making any bystander think about karma.
"It seems there is a predator in one of the sections and it is getting dangerously close to my roots. This party was rather boring without competition, its time for plan C"
George has always been curious since he had only been a small baby. His mother would often instruct him to be more in line.
"George, don't wander around alone; you are far too young to be going out alone" the worried mother would say.
"Yes mother, I will be back now" George would respond.
But he always had his sight towards the far and unknown, this was the reason he had the nickname Curious.
Today was like any day for Curious George, he started to play around the field; While keeping his mother's advice about predators in mind. After reaching the border, he thought:
"What would happen if I pass this line? I am old enough to go out, mother has explained all I need to me. But she would be very upset if I suddenly left"
Alas, the curiosity got the best of him, leaving the marked territory behind.
There was much joy in an expedition for George; before he knew, the border was nowhere to be found. He was standing all alone in a field of greens, just as he was starting to become frightened as the realization of being lost dawned on him. He saw something different, a border that was all brown with thin white lines, different from the one he passed at the beginning of his exploration. His mother had no teachings about this view. As his nickname foretold, he moved closer to this strange border.
"I seem to have gotten to a new level, all the community explorers say, borders are white. Now I have evidence for it to be different. By going there and telling elders about it, I can prove that I am a mighty explorer. Just like uncle Sharp Claw"
What he saw after passing the brown line made him astonished. Soil and some remains of dead plants as far as one could see.
"What happened here? Did the predators do this? I must tell the elders; wait … what is that thing? I have never seen anything like it, I should get closer for a better look"
As George got close to his discovery, he failed to notice the lack of even plants remains or the black soil around. This plant had long flat leaves, many stems and at the top, little white flowers were upside down. The sweet scent tempted the Curious George to try a bite of the leaves.
John slowly told himself "curiosity killed the cat". He had been monitoring the little animal with life energy. Once it tried the leaf, John calculated its demise to be 1 minute. With his depth of knowledge and control, increasing the poison effects was child's play. The animal started to move in desperation, after some time the struggle ended with a corpse. If anyone paid closer attention to the eyes of this small rabbit-like creature, they would see the plea and regret.
George's last thought was to apologize to his mother, for all the pain and suffering he will cause with his departure. A meager tear flowed from his eyes and by the time it landed on the ground the tale of Curious George ended.
John did not wait for the life to fade; he formed new branched close to the animal and held its body like a cocoon. If the size and texture of the cover had been different, it would represent the miracle of rebirth; alas this was for John to conduct the research and absorb the remaining life energy. The roots entered the corpse from all possible angles, infiltrating the blood, brain, and heart. Finally, John found the mana imprint located in the brain.
"Due to lack of data, certain results cannot be derived. However, this animal seems to be in second evolution, moving slowly for a third occurring naturally at adulthood"
The relax dementor of John may have surprised strangers, but after some time they would learn his habit of not caring. Research came first and foremost.
While trying to digest the rabbit-like creature, he found many points.
First, digesting animals is faster through physical presence in their brain and heart.
Second, with the death of pray, life energy disappears at a fast pace.
Third, while inside he noticed that mana in the body acts against poison.
Forth, the imprint of the carcass can be fed to clone in the form of pure mana!
The last discovery gave John an idea, he used the life force received from this encounter to manifest very strong toxin through all the roots. As an expert in botany with firm control over the clone, doing such tasks were quite elementary. It had to be noted that, at this point, he had a complete grasp over every cell in his plant body. The acceptance speed of this reality by John, for any onlooking psychologist, would have them comment on the remarkability of human adaptability.
Using all the mana energy of the digested symbol to develop, now toxic, roots deeper into other fields.
The new strategy for this round was to colonize these gardens, slowly progressing; until there was no more space. Alerting the program would be a wrong move, thus, blatantly destroying fields was stopped. It was not out of place to hear a unison sigh of relief from all the plants around!
The progress was slow but definite; every garden had been targeted by these parasitic branches.
This case was of a small country changing leadership after a bloody battle. However, how can a tiger who has tasted blood be content with water? So, the new king plans to expand the territory, by all the means possible.
While all this expansion was in progress, within distance some movement could be seen.
"Where can I find him? Why would he leave? I have constantly reminded him of dangers outside, I hope he is alright. Wherever you are, be ok George; I'm coming for you"
Said Sharp Claw feeling anger mixed with anxiety.
By following the tracks left, he had arrived at the white border; after quickly passing the safe zone, he arrived at another garden identical to the one he just left. The reason George was so easily lost had been this similarity between gardens. While following the tracks he thought:
"The food is abundant at this place, and the only reason we explore possible locations is to scout for predators. Why would he want to be an explorer? It is practically suicide? I almost lost my tail to a jackal two weeks ago. It would be a good chance to change his mind… I have to convince him"
Sharp Claw had no child of his own, his wife had been lost in a sudden fox attack. From that day he had vowed not to let anyone feel the same pain; so, he regularly scouted the territory. Most times accompanied by his friend Long-eared Lila.
George was the closest thing he had to a son, filling the void in his heart.
He ran faster, imagining the possibility of harm upon George had fueled him to sprint with all might.
After reaching, the now completely brown wall, he smelled the doom and destruction in the air.
His instincts were screaming in fright; against the better judgment, he went inside. Focusing on George's scent he closed his eyes.
In this short span of time, John had formed a net under the new pray in sight. A flash of time later the net rose from underneath ground to close around the animal. Being trapped in this device spelled one's doom.
Sharp Claw had been an explorer for long; listening to his instincts, he jumped.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone