No one even noticed as The Cad spun in place.  No one realized anything was amiss.  Quite the opposite, they were hooting in relief as Marie's face not only reached the hole they'd made --- allowing her to gasp welcome lungfulls of air --- but as they even guided her head right out through it.  She let out a heartfelt "<span style="font-style: italic">GoddamnFuckingPlant!!!</span>"<br/><br/>The Cad could see nothing amiss, nothing unusual.  No new plant had shown itself amidst the tall grasses he now faced, nor had any kind of beast or mutant emerged while his party was distracted.  There appeared to be no reason whatsoever for him to have felt what he had...<br/><br/>And then he saw them.  Concealed in the grasses, invisible unless you were staring right at them, was a pair of eyes.  Golden orbs stared at him,<span style="font-style: italic">him</span>, and him alone.  He saw immediately that there was a great deal of intelligence behind that gaze... and the impression struck him, as well, that there was no malice there.  The eyes' owner was curious and possibly even amused, but there ws no hostility to the golden gaze whatsoever.<br/><br/>This all registered in a second, maybe two, Zeref Cadester's evolved mind processing the information quickly and instinctively.  Then the eyes were gone; the barest rustle of the grasses marked the departure of whatever creature had been watching him... appraising him.  Then silence, and the sense of being watched was gone.<br/><br/>"Yay!"<br/><br/>Despite what The Cad had just seen, he would look over at the happy shout nearby as Lucille's efforts paid off, and the Gulper Flower lurched downward and engulfed the overjoyed girl's head.  The plant was completely oblivious to the fact that its previous victim was already half-way out the hole just above its digestion pod, and that the pigtailed young blonde would pass harmlessly through its length.  It just knew it still had room and it intended to keep feeding until it was full...<br/><br/>Though several minutes passed as Zeena and Onyx pulled Marie free entirely and guided Lucille through the widening hole as well, the golden eyes and the sense of being watched did not return.  By the time the girls severed the stem entirely from the pod and extricated Mina --- who had also merited a one-way, slimy trip --- whatever The Cad had seen was long gone.<br/><br/>"Be more careful, Marie," Onyx chastised as Mina was wiping off the plant's saliva and rolling up her breathing tube.  "Follow my tracks<span style="font-style: italic">closely</span>from now on, all right?"<br/><br/>"Yes, ma'am," Marie muttered, nudging the dead plant spitefully with her toe and looking over the loincloth she'd been wearing.  The string had been snapped... she'd have to go naked.  It would be nothing new to anyone, of course.  "I'll be more careful."  She passed her hand through her slickened hair.  Her ponytail had made it through the trip undamaged.  "Crap, this stuff is gross..."<br/><br/>"If yer not more careful, it'll be more than just<span style="font-style: italic">gross</span>next time somethin' eats you," Mina said, though she was grinning.  She was still covered in oozing slime herself, but didn't seem to care.  As a Golden Retriever, she had experienced being eaten before... and since she had her memories, she actually<span style="font-style: italic">remembered</span>it as well.  "Though sometimes, it's a pretty cool feeling.  Right, Lucille?"  The pigtailed girl nodded enthusiastically.  She hadn't even bothered to wipe anything off.<br/><br/>Onyx finally turned to The Cad.  "You okay?  Not to bothered by what just happened?"  She frowned, seeming to see something in his expression.  "What's up?"  She smirked.  "Enjoyed watching that a little too much, Master Breeder, hmm?"