The three Retrievers reluctantly stepped away from Zeref after his wandering hand pinched their behinds and he'd told them to spread out.  They wanted to stay close, but he'd basically given them an order... and he was right, of course.  Nonetheless, he still had one girl more-or-less draped over him from behind... the curvaceous, dark-skinned Janessa.  She was ignoring the fact that the only reason he hadn't pinched<span style="font-style: italic">her</span>was because she'd been walking<span style="font-style: italic">behind</span>him.<br/><br/>Mina ended up moving ahead to join Onyx and Tia, while Rachel somewhat reluctantly fell back a bit to walk alongside Ted.  Young Lucille continued to walk just ahead of Zeref, her young tight buttocks swaying tantalizingly and distractingly right in front of him, just out of easy reach.<br/><br/>Onyx led them slowly and silently through the grasses, pausing often to look around and to listen.  She seemed to change directions often, avoiding clumps of tall grasses for no apparent reason, but she seemed to be doing so the proper way to keep them alive.  After half an hour of walking, they still hadn't seen any but the most obvious deadly plants... the large, tree-sized mature ClapTraps.  She had, of course, kept them clear of those.<br/><br/>However, whether it was from skill or luck that they were safe to that point, it was not to last.  Onyx neared another patch of tall grasses, paused, and moved to walk around them.  Everyone followed, but not everyone followed Onyx's steps exactly.  Marie kept walking at The Cad's right side, keeping a set distance from him, but that brought her close to another patch of tall grasses they had just circumvented somewhat...<br/><br/>"Marie," Rachel began in a harsh whisper from where she walked with Ted, behind Zeref, "You're too close...<span style="font-style: italic">look out!!</span>"<br/><br/>There was a rustle of grass moving, and a blur of motion.  Little Marie yelped, and there was a sharp<span style="font-style: italic">twang</span>as she loosed an arrow from her bow; however the arrow shot into the ground, unaimed, as the attack was simply too quick for her to aim properly.<br/><br/>By the time everyone had turned to look at the commotion, Marie was already being lifted off the ground, her feet kicking frantically as a tall, slim-stemmed plant pulled her away from the group.  She was making panicked, muffled sounds, her head already engulfed inside the center of the large flower's leaves, and her fists and bow were beating helplessly at the thing.  A slimy, pink tongue-like tendril had wrapped around her upper body and was pulling her mercilessly inside; it was continuing to wrap around her as well, intent on restraining her legs, but so far all it managed to do was snap off her loincloth as it slid slimily over her buttocks.<br/><br/>The flower was very tall, and already it had lifted poor Marie high into the air, out of immediate reach of anyone.  It had a long stem, probably too slim to allow Marie easy passage through it, and at its base, above its roots, was a large round pod, its digestion chamber.  "Gulper Flower!"  Onyx yelped.  "Cut its stem, cut open the pod!  And it'll try to grab someone else if she reaches the pod...!"  She was hurrying toward the thing, her spear stabbed into the ground nearby as she drew her bone knives.  Her blue eyes turned to The Cad.  "Keep Cad away!"<br/><br/>Obediently, Janessa and Lucille took hold of his arms and tried to pull him out of the thing's range, while Rachel held back the stunned-looking Ted and Mina hovered next to Tia, who was levelling her crossbow at the thing, looking uncertain what part of it to shoot.  That left only Onyx and Zeena to try to cut the thing open... before it was too late...