Hello! So, yeah, I still have commissions to get through, and shockingly, this was actually finished a month ago. I am just horribly forgetful about these things sometimes.

Anyways, this is a fun story featuring a wolf hulking out on a mountainside and a sarcastic plant, courtesy of  HRRB. Enjoy!

Story © c'est moi
Zen ©  HRRB

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Zen was cursing whatever had put this insane plan in his head. A lean white wolf, surrounded on all sides by a growing snow storm on the peak of a mountain; this had not been his best thought out expedition. One would wonder why a botanist, someone who dedicated themselves to studying plant life, would be trudging his way up a freezing, desolate mountaintop, and one would be equally befuddled by his reason; he was looking for a plant.

In the type of circles Zen ran in, there had been talk of a plant that was out of legend, mandragosa solonales. Referenced by everyone from Alchemists in Medieval Europe to Buddhist Monks in Tibet, it was supposed to have restorative properties on the level of bringing people back from the brink of death. At first, it was laughed off, like Atlantis amongst archaeologists, or the Philosopher’s Stone amongst chemists. But then, interest peaked when a presumed dead mountain climber stumbled into a university, noticeably healthier than when he left, cured of a cancerous tumor that had inspired his mountain climbing, and he had turned entirely green. It sounded like the latest headline on the very worst tabloid, but then Zen had seen this mountain climber for himself; he had indeed been very much alive, very healthy, and very, very green.

Ah, that’s the one Zen was going to curse for putting this idea in his head. The wolf had become obsessed with finding mandragora solonales, and had staked his career on finding it, leading him here; the desolate, frozen wasteland that was the peaks of the Himalayas. He was so certain that he was close to the plant, it had compelled him to leave his camp and his hired guides, who had failed to tell him the reason they were stopping was because of an impending snow storm.

He didn’t need them to figure that out at this point.

The wind was howling all around him, plastering flecks of snow to his exposed face and stinging his eyes. All he could see around him was a white blur, and he was slowly realizing that a mountaintop was one of the worst places to stumble around blindly. This realization came a little too late, however, as Zen took one wrong step and lost his balance. He fell forward, and with the wind and the snow, he quickly began sliding down the slope. Panic seized him as he scrambled to regain his footing, but the harder he kicked and flailed, the further down he dropped, and he could swear the slope was getting steeper. His heart skipped a beat when he felt the ground slip away from him, and he was now in free fall. He could see the stony cliff-face of the mountain side rushing past him, faster and faster as Zen’s life began flashing before his eyes. Making a silent plea to whatever entity was out there, he closed his eyes and braced to face oblivion.

It took Zen a moment for him to overcome his panic and realize that he wasn’t falling any more. Opening his eyes, he could see only see a vague, foggy outline, that left him with another moment to realize he was upside down as the blood rushed to his head. Catching his breath, he looked up and saw that his leg was caught in some kind of vine.

“What the…?” He reached out for the vine, trying to pull himself up, but he quickly clenched his teeth when he saw the vine begin to unravel, losing its hold on him. “Oh, crap.”

He returned to begging to any divine presence out there as he slipped out of the vine’s grasp and fell again. It was a much shorter fall than he expected, but he hit the ground hard, seeing only the blurry outline of a cave in front of him before his head rolled back, and he fell into unconsciousness.

After what felt like days, Zen groaned and slowly sat up, still clutching his throbbing head. “Where the hell am I?” He muttered, opening and closing his eyes as he adjusted to the dim light around him. When he could focus, he saw that he was in a cave, but the dim light wasn’t coming from any sunlight at the cave entrance. It was coming from the only other living thing in the cave; an exotic plant unlike anything that he had ever seen.

It was a flowering plant, with green tendrils and blooms along its long vines that had a gradient sliding from yellow at the center to blue at the tip, glowing with a natural phosphorescence that was oddly soothing in a way. Zen was lost staring at it for a moment, and then the gears in his head turned and clicked.

“The Mandragosa!” he gasped. The description the mountain climber had given came rushing back; this was it. “I can’t believe I…”

Zen’s huge smile slowly slipped from his muzzle, and he looked over his shoulder. He swore he heard something, but there was nothing at the cave entrance. It almost sounded like someone was calling him.

“Hello?”

There it was again. It wasn’t a defined sound or voice. The best way Zen could describe it would be a hum mixed with a wind chime; a gentle nudge of a sound. With some realization, the wolf slowly looked over to the plant, then immediately frowned, shaking his head.

“No. No, that’s crazy.”

There it was again; the noise had an almost insulted bent to it.

“Plants don’t talk!” Zen declared, more for himself than anything else.

The sound rang insistently in his ears again, as the glow along the plant grew in intensity.

“It’s… the Mandragosa is self-aware?”

The chiming rung with an affirming note.

Zen slowly knelt down to examine the plant more closely. “That’s impossible…” he muttered. The plant, beautiful at first glance, was limp and seemed more listless up close. When he grasped the vine, it felt dry, almost brittle to the touch. “...you’re dying?”

A sad, affirmative chime.

The wolf looked up. “Well… I don’t know what I can do. I’m out here without any supplies. No food, no fresh water…” Zen looked down at his tattered clothes, tufts of his white fur sticking out. “I’m probably going to freeze to death out here if I don’t starve first…” he sunk down to the floor, leaning against the stone wall the plant clung to. “And I doubt that you’d appreciate me eating you… that’s even provided you’re edible.”

The Mandragosa chimed its agreement. One of its flowering buds opened up, revealing a fruit roughly the size of a strawberry, and bright green.

Zen immediately arched his brow. “You do realize this is sketchy as all hell, right? I saw Little Shop of Horrors.”

The plant sounded offended.

The wolf sighed, looking back out the cave. “Alright… I don’t know where I’m going to get food otherwise.” He reached down, plucking the fruit from its branch. He stared at the fruit; it was smooth and had a sheen to its skin, like a grape, and it was decently soft- obviously ripe. “This… isn’t going to do anything weird to me, is it?”

The chime came after some hesitation.

“Are you trying to lie to me?” he asked incredulously.

The Mandragosa shivered slightly. After a moment, Zen remembered the mountain climber. “Did you help someone else recently?”

Affirmative chime.

“A mountain climber?” Zen nodded with another chime. The wolf took a deep breath. “Alright… very well.” He looked down at the fruit, and pursed his lips before biting into it.

“Huh…” he swallowed down the rest of the fruit. “A little tangy.”

As he finished it off, Zen soon felt a strange, tingling feeling in his stomach, which quickly began growing in intensity, spreading to the rest of his body.

“Oh, god,” he cried, “You poisoned me!”

The Mandragosa could only hastily chime defensively in response.

Zen gasped, falling to his knees as his head swam. His vision was blurry, but panic gripped him as he looked down, and saw his pure white fur slowly turn green. “W-what is this?” he breathed through clenched teeth.

As the green spread across his body like a can of spilled paint, he grunted as his limbs, and then his entire body, felt a deep ache, as if he were feeling every bit of exertion from his mountain climb all at once. His heart felt like it was about to explode from his chest, and then he could only stare at his own body, everything else falling by the wayside. It began with his legs; thighs slowly bulging with muscle under his green fur, until his tattered trousers split at the seams. It built up to his core, his middle hardening, rippling as six solid bricks pushed forth, engorged flanks spreading out like wings. He had barely enough time to scramble out of his jacket before his shirt burst off of him, melting away like the snow just outside in face of a back that was quickly growing wide enough to serve as its own geographical landmark. The last were his arms, suddenly roped with powerful muscle rung taut with the slightest flex. Zen stumbled over himself, breathing deeply as his eyes went as wide as they could as he stared at his own body, mouth agape. His now rippling body was almost bare, save for tattered pants that were practically painted on to him.

“H-how…” he paused to catch his breath, and steadied himself on his now-mighty legs. “How did you do that?” he asked of his leafy companion.

The Mandragosa chimed merrily. It sounded quite pleased with itself.

Zen looked over himself, swelling up his chest as he cupped one of his pecs in his hand. “Wow… so…” He smiled to himself at how big his chest had gotten. The more he looked down at his own body, green fur warped over bulging muscle, the more he was growing to like it. “So… what happens now?”

One of the Mandragosa’s vines listlessly crawled along the cave floor, stretching out as far as it could towards the light pushing through the yawning opening.

The wolf sighed with realization. “You need to get out of this cave.” He sat down across from the plant. “What do you need? Lots of sunlight? Warmth?”

The Mandragosa chimed a yes.

“Alright…” Zen slowly rose, thinking of a plan. “I was looking for you in the first place. I’ll see what I can do.” He opened his pack and then, as gently as he could, pried the Mandragosa’s thin roots from the cave wall, placing it in the pack. “We can’t stay here at that rate.”

The wolf sighed, and took his first few steps out of the cave. He was met with a sheer cliff face, with only the incredibly narrow ledge outside the cave keeping them up. “Well… crap.”

The Mandragosa chimed sadly, but Zen waved it off. “Hold on, hold on, I think I can climb down…”

The plant let out a panicked chime in protest, but it didn’t stop Zen from gripping the edge of the cliff, and then swinging himself down, his whole body braced and legs flexed as his feet found purchase. The Mandragosa continued chiming its protests.

“Well, I don’t see any other way down!” Zen shouted back, his back rippling as he gripped the cliff as hard as he could. The sheer strength in his hands cracked the rock underneath his fingers as he slowly began moving down. His heart skipped a beat when he felt like he was about to lose balance, but with his powerful arms and legs, every tendon rung taut as he hung on for dear life, he was able to recover. He wasn’t growing as tired as one would expect to be while climbing a mountain. “I suppose that’s your doing?” He shouted to his pack, where he could feel the Mandragosa shift around, possibly trying to cling to the green wolf for dear life. A timid chime said yes. “Well,” Zen chuckled, moving ever further down. “At least it paid off, right?”

The climb was long, but at last, Zen was able to feel flat ground beneath his feet. When he turned away from the mountain, his jaw dropped. “Wow…”

Before him was an exceedingly lush valley, nestled between the Himalayas. The green of the long grass was the exact same shade as Zen’s new fur, all fed by a crystal clear stream criss-crossing through the valley. The wolf was eventually shaken out of his rapture by the Mandragosa’s insistent chiming.

“This is where you’re supposed to be planted?” He looked around. “I mean, you picked a pretty nice spot, but…” Zen looked back up the mountain. “How’d you end up in that cave?”

The Mandragosa gave a noncommital chime, like he was making up a story. Zen rolled his eyes. “Don’t bother, you’re gonna start sounding like a windchime.” He knelt down, setting his pack down. “So… what. I just stick you in the ground?”

The plant gave a panicked, shrill chime.

“No…” Zen looked up, and in the distance, he could hear animal calls. “Oh, I see. You’re afraid of getting eaten…” He ran a hand over his head, his bicep bouncing against his forearm. “Alright, well. If we’re gonna do this, I need something to keep the rain out.” He dug through his pack, the Mandragosa piping irritably as he shoved it aside. The wolf pulled out a small hatchet, frowning to himself. “Well… this will have to do.” He glanced down at his leafy companion with a smirk. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t,” Zen quipped, jogging towards a copse of trees at the edge of the valley before the Mandragosa could chime indignantly at him.

Approaching the trees, Zen figured it would be easy; every part of his newly augmented body was bursting with strength and energy, so of course felling enough wood for a cabin would be simple. So what if he had never chopped down a tree before? It couldn’t be that hard with his mighty muscles, could it?

Of course, it probably would have been easier if he had been swinging the ax blade the right way.

“Oh, come on!” Zen cried out in frustration. “It’s been an hour, and this little hatchet might as well be a pocket knife!” Growling, he tensed his powerful arm, his tricep and bicep rippling against each other as he summoned up his strength. He punched the tree, and was more than a little surprised as his fist slammed through the trunk like it was paper, the sound of splintering and groaning wood filling the air as the tree fell, smashing to the ground.

Zen was left staring, looking from the tree to his pumped arm, his pecs grinding against his biceps as they swelled larger with each breath. “Wow… well…” He cleared his throat. “That’ll work…”

With an hour left before sunset, Zen jogged back, his arms laden with heavy tree trunks that tensed his rolling, hill-like shoulders, the wood slightly dented as his pumped biceps swelled up to the size of basketballs. It was a bit of a balancing act, and his bulging lats flared out to support the weight, his back a rippling green valley as impressive as the land he was standing on. His own trunk-like legs were growing a bit weary, and when he returned to the Mandragosa, he shrugged off the logs, all of them landing with heavy thuds.

The plant, still in Zen’s pack, chimed irritably.

“What?” Zen huffed, his chest puffing up. “Were these friends of yours?”

Another insistent chime.

“Oh!” the wolf smacked his head. “Right. Sorry.” Digging a hole as best he could, he gingerly slipped the flowering plant’s roots into the soil. “Comfortable?”

The Mandragosa gave a snappish, but affirmative chime.

“So…” Zen sighed, then looked back to the pile of logs at his feet. “I… don’t suppose you know how to build a cabin, do you?”

It took some time, some sweat and tears, and some sarcastic sounding Mandragosa chimes, but finally, Zen was able to at least set himself up with a sturdy lean-to. With light from his leafy friend’s bioluminescent blooms, he stepped back with the stars overhead, and admired his handiwork. “Well… at least it won’t collapse and fall on me in the middle of the night, right?”

The Mandragosa gave a curt chime.

“You’re a lot meaner out here than you were in the cave, do you know that?” Zen snapped, unrolling his sleeping bag. For obvious reasons, it wasn’t big enough for the green wolf, so he could only lay on his cut and defined torso, getting as comfortable as he could. “We’re going to be stuck with each other for a while, looks like…”

As the sun rose, the sounds of birds in the trees rung in Zen’s sleeping mind. This was quickly followed by the light chiming of the mandragosa, which came calm and relaxed for the first time since they had made it into the verdant valley. The wolf’s eyes opened in time to see the plant’s vines shifting out under the early morning light, its flower tilting toward it.

Yawning widely the wolf rubbed at his eyes before sitting up, his thick abs crunching as he rose. “Well, looks like somebody’s feeling better this morning.” Stretching his arms skyward Zen grunted as he felt his biceps press against the sides of his head, squeezing gently as those round masses jostled his cheeks as his lats flared wide below them. “Ooof! That's going to take some getting used to...not bad though.”

A chime rang out as the Mandragosa’s flower turned, facing the waking wolf. It sounded almost as though the flower was scolding him.

“What are you going on about now?” Cocking his head only made the wolf’s neck bulge, or would have if much of it hadn't been swallowed by his enormous traps and pecs.

The chime came out again, this time more like a whine. What could the Mandragosa be complaining about now? “What, the sun’s in your eyes? You don’t like the smell? ...Oh.”

A blush darkened Zen’s cheeks as the realization dawned on him. Climbing a mountain, nearly dying, climbing back down, and building a makeshift cabin hadn't left much time for bathing. “Okay, okay, I get it! Just give me a few moments to wake up and I'll find some place to wash up. You're awful finicky for a flower.”

The chime that followed sounded much too snide to be coming from a plant that had been dying not twenty-four hours before.

Grumbling softly the wolf rose up, brushing himself off. Just looking down forced his chin to press against his chest, his tail wagging lightly as that fact sunk in. Stalking away from the camp he peeked his ears, the sound of running water drawing him to a stream. Dipping a toe in he shivered at how cool the water was. “Makes sense, probably from snow running down from the mountains,” he murmured before glancing around nervously.

He wasn't keen on the idea of bathing in a cold stream, but options were limited. Taking a deep breath he reached down and slid what remained of his shorts down, the fabric tight against his massive thighs, ripped seams frayed at the ends. Laying the tattered clothing aside he took a deep breath, his chest rising and pushing out several inches before he stepped into the stream, the water coming halfway up his thighs. The resulting shock sent every strand of his green fur on end, fluffing up as he barely restrained a yelp. Several quick breaths were needed for him to calm down as he adjusted to the temperature of the water. Even so his arms crossed against his chest in a hug, trying to stop another shiver, his swollen biceps digging against the shelf of his pecs.

It took several long moments before the wolf managed to adjust to the cool water, dipping himself into it with a soft groan. Fur slicked down, clinging to his powerful body, the curves of his muscles accentuated as he began to rub himself down. His back rippled as he bent forward, lats flaring while he cupped some water and brought it up to spill over his head. Water ran down in rivers between his muscles, dripping off his body and back into the stream as he sighed. “Okay, not so bad now, but could be a bit warmer.”

Once he had run enough water from head to toe to count as a bath, the wolf heaved himself from the stream. He shook himself lightly, sending a spray of water across the bank before pulling what remained of his shorts back on. “Should be good enough for the time being. It can't really complain, it’s not like there’s a bath and body works hiding in the trees.”

Zen immediately rolled his eyes as he began heading back for the camp, wincing as a chime pierced his thoughts. It was high pitched, one of fear and alarm. The wolf grunted as he began rushing back toward the Mandragosa. Breaking through the underbrush his eyes went wide at the sight of a large mass of fur shuffling toward the stationary plant.

The unmistakable guise of a bear loomed ahead of him, the beast’s dark furred body shifting back and forth as it snuffled and snorted, inching toward the Mandragosa. The plant was chiming in fear as the bear grunted and began to open wide to bite down.

The green hill of muscle that the wolf had become slammed into the bear, knocking it away from the Mandragosa. Zen stumbled back, the force of the impact shaking even him as he rubbed his shoulder. Roaring in anger the bear righted itself, rising up onto its hind legs and swiping at Zen, making the wolf step back. The brutish animal followed after the wolf, claws slicing the air just in front of Zen’s muzzle for a brief, heart-pounding moment.

Kept on the backfoot, the wolf found himself before pushed further and further from the Mandragosa. It would only take one hit from the bear to do serious damage, and then what would he do? The best he could hope for would be to just get the beast out of the camp. As one paw missed him Zen took a breath before ducking forward. Ramming his shoulder into the bear’s torso he wrapped both arms around the ursine, squeezing as he began to lift. His arms rippled and bulged, biting into the shaggy mass that he pulled from the ground, the bear grunting and snorting in confusion. Groaning loudly the wolf hoisted the bear over his shoulder, chest surging in effort before he set his feet. With a howl of frustration he hurled the bear head over heels, sending it crashing into the bushes beyond the camp. The stunned beast let out a groan before the vegetation shook, the bear clearly deciding the plant was too much work to bother pursuing.

Huffing, his chest pounding and swelling up and down as he caught his breath, Zen flexed his arms out of some sense of accomplishment, throwing a toothy grin to the retreating bear as his pumped biceps jostled his pecs, his shoulders exploding in size. “Hah! Come back when you want a rematch, Yogi!”

With a smirk and a bounce of his pecs, Zen turned back to the Mandragosa. “So. Got any more complaints?”

A curt chime told him “no.”

Zen checkled, swaying his hips just a touch as his bulging thighs rolled off one another. He stooped to pat one of the plant’s leaves in an almost patronizing manner. “Well, don’t worry. Thanks to you…” He looked down at his swollen bicep, his smile slowly spreading further. “I think I can handle it.”