"Another two-for-one. This one the plants are not sure if one of these was scanned because they are close together as well. Oh, sorry. One is growing on the other. Oh, this is hard to describe. One second. Sergeant Rage, can I borrow your tablet to draw something?"
He smiled and handed it over as he watched what she was doing. "Okay, there is a stand of bushes over there. They all look the same but they are not. The leaves of one go like this," as she drew two leaves, one with a slight difference from the other. "These are two separate species of plants. The one you need is actually quite rare on this planet and it's this one."
As she pointed, the students took a picture with their watch which shocked her. She didn't know they could do that. "Now, on this bush where two branches meet is another separate plant which is even more rare. Got it?"
They nodded and off they went.
She exhaled as she looked at the last group. Most of the other groups have already returned. She turned around and walked over to a tree. At the base of the tree was a single leaf. She pointed at it, "scan this."
The student did and there was a beep indicating the plant was new. Just then, the last group returned holding a beast crystal high to show her they not only found it but brought back a prize as well. She smiled.
"Okay, Sergeant Rage. That way is an area that has never been seen by human eyes."
Lana got them to the next spot then positioned Sergent Rage so that the entire area was new. She stood by the teacher waved her hands out, "have fun!" she smiled at Nis and he turned on the scanner. It didn't take long before the scanners were going off like crazy. This area was quite different from the other. They passed a mountain that was covered in greens and purples. It was quite beautiful but the plants were vehement that she stay away from that area.
This area had no grass. It was covered with something that resembled sorrel on earth but it had yellow and blue flowers that spiraled like a pinecone. They were soft under the feet and Lana noticed an insect was attracted to these flowers. She wondered if they were this planet's version of bees. She had been watching these insects and not even realizing the teams were almost done in the area. She called them all together to get those last few done. They had just finished when they heard a loud sound like a gunshot.
Almost immediately, the plants told her to leave the area. She relayed that to her classmates and teacher. "Follow me and jog QUIETLY" and she turned further into the unknown area. She instructed Nis to turn off the scanners. She got to where she was told she was safe then stopped and told everyone to get behind her and get low just as a huge rock-beast crashed through the area they were just in.
This thing was as big as a two-story house and was leaving everything destroyed in its wake. It's legs were as thick as a person and it had 6 of them. Trees, bushes, nothing withstood the strength of this mammoth beast. It didn't seem to care where it was stepping but it meandered along as though it didn't have a care in the world. It had a long neck like a giraffe with no fur. There were six tentacles on its back which had what looked like a flower at the end. The plants told her this thing was called a cataini.
Lana heard nothing but silence behind her as this beast passed before them. She wondered if they were even breathing. When she was told it was safe, she let the class know. The plants also told her there was terrible danger and she should act if she could.
She stood up and went another 200 meters motioning Nis to follow her. "Stand here." She then motioned her team to come over. They looked exceedingly pleased. She did not. To the class, "for now, you are safe to continue exploring this area. I'm told it will come back this way but it should return on the same path. You all heard the amount of noise and destruction it made so you should be okay. The plants are telling me this thing is heading for the next class over which is Blaine's class. This means, I will be heading that direction." She looked at Sergeant Rage to see if he intended to challenge her.
"I think you are the safest person on this planet. Stay safe."
Lana nodded. "A couple of things. Listen carefully to the surrounding area. If it appears you have gotten lost, Kattie has Sven with her. He can help you find the way back. And most importantly, I have the plants monitoring the situation and giving me updates."
"If things get bad and we are recalled back to the shelter, go but don't leave the planet without me. I'm not going to die here and I have more to learn at school!" She smiled and was off in the direction the beast had gone.
She had not gone far when she found what was once a panther beast of some sort. It was black and had tentacles. She was noticing this was a theme on this planet. The panther was squashed by the beast that just came through. She bent down to examine how such a thing happened. Lana realized she had just given birth and all but one baby perished with her. Lana picked up the baby and shoved it in her cleavage to keep it warm, intending to ask Kattie about it when she got back.
Lana caught up to the beast way too quickly. It was just starting to engage in combat with the other class. It turned out the flowers at the ends of the tentacles were suction cups as she saw one of these suction cups grab hold of a student, place the student in the mouth and the beast ate the student. She had seen enough. There was nothing she felt she could do.
The plants informed her they could smell rain and if she wanted to be proactive, there was something she could do because the students were in danger in more ways than just this beast. They directed her to what looked like a thick forest of trees that were so big round she couldn't wrap her arms around them. The plants told her these were plant-based beasts. She decided to try her wither skill and it worked. She could hear behind her the beast walked forward more toward where she had seen some students run.
She decided to stay where she was and check out what she could do on this planet. She was able to wither a "tree" and noticed there was a hole in the middle of the ground where this thing was. She leaned over just a bit not wanting to dally too much and noticed some dried flat something in the bottom of the hole. Remembering she was told rain would be upon them soon, she ran around the area in a wide circle hitting each one of these beasts with wither. She brought out a vine to whip the crystals back to her because she didn't want to fall down these holes.
She got the area clear just as the rain started. That was when she was informed people were being entangled in the roots of these trees which had come alive with the rain. She ran as close as she dared get and prayed she could save some of them. She didn't know if the bottom was solid but her gut was telling her that it looked like a dried membrane. She had read a lot of medical books in trying to learn her ability to be able to make such a guess.
If she went in now during the rain, she would go down with them. She was getting ready to go in as soon as the rain stopped. Lana then noticed the remainder of the class was finally getting the upper hand and had defeated the beast. Thinking the rest of the students were dead, Sergeant Rudy led what was left of her students back toward the shelter. She could hear the teacher explaining what happened over her watch.
The plants called these trees, treants. Lana had heard of these in fairy tale books but those were mobile. These things seemed fixed in place. She decided there simply were different variants of treants and rolled with it. Lana saw how fast and squirmy they were when the rain was coming down and she aimed to not be near them if the rain started again. She hit all of the treants with her wither, grabbed the crystals with her whip and moved on. In total, she found her friends plus two other students clinging to withered roots inside the holes.
She lowered her vine down to help them out. She was right about the bottom. One student had broken through and almost fell through but was able to grab something more solid. It was clear to her, these were the last to get swallowed.
Lana had acquired 42 crystals in the act of saving these people so she could not complain. Her man was alive.
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