(Kicking off my million words project: a little story set in  SpotTea‘s amazing setting, Thistleland! Specifically, involving a very interesting critter called a Red Planta. Enjoy!

As a side note, in light of my big writing project, I'm gonna change how I post certain things. Previously, any uncolored sketch or unfinished drawing was always put in scraps, and only finished pictures went in the main gallery. From here on out, though, I am going to post unfinished sketches in the main gallery if they have a finished story attached, and I'll move them into scraps if I do finish the drawing.)

Red Planta: Feeding Habits

---

Amelia slammed her fist down on the desk. "What do you mean they're not going to send a rescue party?"

The clerk jumped at the sudden noise, his large round ears twitching, before he adjusted his glasses and looked up at the indignant feline. "It's just not feasible. The red planta moved away from civilization, and it's just not worth it to send a party to hunt it if it's not threatening anyone."

Amelia gritted her teeth. "I understand that! But you also only know that because my friend got captured by the thing! Red plantas keep their prey alive for a while, right? So we still have a chance at rescuing Carlee!"

"By the time we get together a party large enough and manage to track the thing down, it'll probably be too late. Your friend can just use the resurrection shrine."

"No, she can't," Amelia said. "I already asked. She doesn't have enough gold in her account to cover it, and I don't have enough, either. But it doesn't matter, because she's still alive! We can't just turn our backs on her!"

"I'm sorry, miss," the clerk said, "but there's nothing I can do."

"Fine." Amelia stomped her foot. "Then I'll just go rescue her myself."

The clerk stared at her. "You'll what?"

"You heard me. If you jerks won't help me, then I'll just go save her on my own."

"You... you can't! I don't think you understand just how dangerous red plantas are! They're huge and they have an enormous appetite. They'll eat you and feed on your awakeness, keeping you alive for weeks before slowly digesting you!"

Amelia grinned. "Hey, I'm an Adventurer, right? I can handle it."

The mouse clerk looked flustered, as though he couldn't find a proper response.

Before he could find one, a tall, lanky figure appeared next to Amelia. The mage loomed over her, his long robes concealing most of his body. Canine features looked down at her, regarding her with an analytical look.

Amelia couldn't stop her hackles from raising as he spoke. Great, someone else to try to convince her not to go?

"If you do this," he said, his voice even and cool, "then you will be doing it as a civilian. You will receive no help from the Guild, there will be no backup, and you can take no gear with you that is Guild-owned. We cannot stop your idiocy, but we also cannot afford to throw away Guild resources on a fool's errand."

Amelia thrust out her chin and looked up at him. "Fine."

"I'm glad you understand. Be on your way, then."

The clerk still seemed to be trying to find his voice. Finally, he just shrugged.

Amelia looked between the two and, realizing that her words would be wasted, spun around and stormed out of the Guild hall.

---

Amelia pushed a branch out of her way, careful to make as little noise as possible.

She was close. She had been tracking the planta for almost a day now. It wouldn't be long before...

Her left ear twitched. She had heard something.

She moved through the bushes and peeked out into a clearing, and there it was.

The red planta was enormous. Its eyes were closed, and its breathing regular. Its thick, furry, broad body had pitcher plant feeding sacs on each side. A red, striped tail that looked thicker around than Amelia herself twitched in the grass.

None of the feeding sacs looked full.

Tears stung at Amelia's eyes. After all this, she had been too late. Carlee was already gone.

Rage pounded in her ears, and her chest felt tight. Before she realized what she was doing, Amelia had drawn her sword and rushed into the clearing. One stroke. One clean slice to the neck, and the monster would be dead before it even awoke.

She let out a bestial roar as she leaped into the air, swinging her sword in a wide arc.

She felt something wrap around her ankle and pull. With her leg suddenly stopped, her momentum carried her forward, whipping her around until she was hanging upside down. The sword flung itself from her fingers, the blade sinking into the grass a short distance away. The red planta's eyes opened, and it turned its head to look at her.

It had been faking! Pretending to be asleep until she got close enough! The vine holding her had extended out of one of the feeding sacs. It had her now, completely at its mercy.

Amelia bent her body, trying to reach the vine. She had lost her blade, but maybe she could use her claws to slice herself free.

But more tendrils were already extending from the pods, coming towards her, wrapping around her. Two of them, in particular, moved towards her large ears.

"No," she said, as though the creature could understand her. "No. No, no, nonononono..."

She felt the vines slide into her ears.

They went in deep, working their way down into her auditory canals. She kept expecting a stab of pain as they pierced her eardrums, but it never came. The vines seemed to be going... somewhere else, in a way she couldn't explain.

She heard a loud, wet schk. The vines bulged as something was pulled from her and down towards the feeding sacs.

Amelia's eyes grew heavy.

"N-no..." she managed, in barely a whisper.

The planta lowered her to the ground, placing her gently in the grass. It put a paw down on her stomach, holding her in place.

She tried to push it off, but her arms felt like noodles.

Schk. Schk. More bulges flowed out of her ears and down the vines.

The planta leaned in close, its large nose snuffling around her face and shoulders. Then it opened its mouth and licked her, its thick tongue ruffling her fur. It almost seemed to be cuddling her, licking and nuzzling her happily.

Amelia tried to squirm away, to maybe reach her sword. It was lying within arm's reach, but she couldn't get her arm to move to grab it.

Schk. Schk. Schk. Schk.

The planta licked her shoulder, and didn't seem to much like the taste of her shirt. More vines extended from the pods, sliding beneath her clothes as the planta started to remove them, like a child removing the wrapper from a piece of candy.

Amelia had the vague thought the she should probably try to stop it, or at least to cover herself, but she needed all her energy just to keep her eyes open.

Once she was clad in nothing but her fur, the vines wrapped around her. The planta gave her a few more licks, and then she felt herself lifted carefully into the air, towards one of the pods.

As her feet were lowered into it, adrenaline rushed through her. This thing was eating her. "No!" She shouted. She tried to put her hands on either side of the pod to slow her progress and pull herself back out.

Schk. Schk. Schk. Schk.

Amelia's eyelids drooped again, and she felt her fingers slip from their holds. Her body slid into the pod, and the top of it sealed closed above her.

It was warm in here, and more comfortable than she had expected. The pod conformed to her shape, causing her to settle into a fetal position. Vines surrounded her, caressing her, and of course the two vines in her ears continued their work, still bulging in a steady rhythm as they fed on her. A sweet scent pervaded the air, underlined with another musky smell, like grass after it rains. The damp walls soaked her fur with some sticky substance; Amelia was having trouble focusing enough to think about what that could be, and she suspected that she didn't want to know.

A new vine approached, caressing her arm as it slid up to her face. It pressed against her lips, pushing forward, and she allowed her jaw to go slack, letting it inside. The vine settled on her tongue, and she saw a bulge moving down the vine towards her. Like the vines in her ears, but in reverse.

The bulge reached her muzzle, and a viscous, sticky fluid filled her mouth, so sweet it almost stung. Her body reacted on its own, and she swallowed it. The vine brought another bulge, another mouthful of the stuff, and she swallowed again.

It was feeding her, the last rational part of her mind explained. Had to keep her alive for as long as it could while it fed on her mind. It could spare a few nutrients for her, probably leftovers from the last time it...

From Carlee.

Amelia's eyes widened.

The nutrients would be at least partially from the last time it ate. Meaning it was feeding her Carlee.

The vine pumped another glob of the sticky goo onto her tongue.

Her heart raced. She spat out the mouthful, grabbed the vine with both hands, and yanked it from her mouth. She started frantically clawing at the top of the pod, trying to force it open or tear through it.

Schk. Schk. Schk. More bulges traveled down the vines.

"N-no," she moaned, her voice a plea this time, rather than an objection. The muscles in her legs relaxed, and she sank back down into her comfortable sitting position.

The feeder vine moved back towards her mouth and pushed its way between her lips.

"Please," she begged, tears forming in her eyes and wetting the fur on her cheeks. She wrapped the fingers of one hand around the vine, but her arm lacked the strength to even grip it tightly, much less pull it out.

She felt the bulge move beneath her fingers, and her mouth filled with the sweet sap again.

Unable to fight it any longer, tears still in her eyes, she swallowed.

Schk. Schk. Schk. Schk.

---

The red planta looked at the bulging pod on its side.

This particular meal had put up a lot more fight than usual. Even after the planta had started feeding, the prey had tried to fight back several times. It would be a good meal. She could probably feed for a few weeks before she had taken everything from it. Then, when it finally stopped wiggling, she would flood the pod with digestive fluids and take everything that was left, until every bit of her prey belonged to her. Maybe she'd even keep the bones and fur in the pod for a while, as a reminder of the nice meal, though she would have to dump those out eventually.

Satisfied, the red planta lay back down on the grass, ready to continue her nap.