FCF - The Carnivorous Plant

Extermination

This chapter is the first translation from Czech to English. You are welcome to rewrite it, if you make it better, I will send you 10 000 Gift Points.

Please note that I'm trying to write simplest way possible. The story is moved forwards mostly just by using various events.

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Zebra is a rocky planet where there is very little water on the surface. Most is covered by deserts, mountains .. and only a few green valleys.
Jaffa and Neme are two young aliens. Their species is about half the height compared with people, their skin is red in colour. The inhabitants of Zebra also have an extraordinary ability to survive without food.
These two have just finished school. Their main subjects consisted of very pro-ecological topics such as "how to build a shelter whilst not hurting the plants" and so on.
An alien civilization that is only in the stone period and they have already learned how to be respectful to their planet. However, this concern wasn’t instilled into them by themselves. All inhabitants pass forward the rules, as any damage to plants is life-threatening.
That’s because some of the plants are very powerful and intelligent.
The Inhabitant’s way of life is therefore really tricky. They try to survive in nature, without damaging it.
Jaffa and Neme, however, have never been very good listeners to old traditions. They don’t like poor vegetarian meals of baked mushrooms, wet leaves and fallen dried fruit. Once they became independent, it was time to go hunting.
Neme approaches Jaffa’s modest hut. He just ties some sharp stone to a stick.
"What are you doing with the stone?" Neme asks without having a clue.
"One of the elders gave me this advice. When long ago they hunted wild boar, they stunned them by using with one shot. Look."
Jaffa makes a brief swing with his weapon. It looks almost like a mace skilfully done. Later, he returns to his colleague:
„I can see you have dressed up for hunting. Isn’t that your last piece?“
Neme is looking at his trousers made from animal skin.
"We´ll go into the jungle around the hut where Layka lives. I can’t be seen by her on a hunting expedition dressed as a scarecrow."
Jaffa probably doesn’t get it.
"Maybe, you should have focused on your weapon rather than your wardrobe. You’re not going to catch anything with that in the forest." He says nervously.
Neme is checking his not so sharp stake.
„A well dressed corpse will be no use to Layka." Jaffa laughs.

Layka is a plump young alien with shapeliness in all the right places. You can see that, although she lives in a similarly meagre hut as the rest of the village, her parents give her special care. If she is well-fed, one day she will marry the fittest man from the village.
Layka sits in front of the hut on the edge of the village, she´s rotating dried fruit. Jaffa walks by with Neme and both wave at Layka.
"She is looking so pretty today." Neme says dreamily.
"At least you’ll try hard. If you don’t catch at least one animal, you can forget her straight away."
"Layka is not like that."
"It's just because she has never been starving." Jaffa thoughtfully flips his weapon from one hand to other. "And you won’t impress her parents any other way."
The rest of the journey to the jungle Neme is busy thinking of what Jaffa said and what he meant by that. Sometimes he looks worriedly at his poorly trimmed stake and closely monitors the area to see if something alive may appear.
Jaffa is delighted that Neme begins to think about important things. Jaffa has always felt good when others relied on him.
In this state of mind they make their way through denser and denser fauna.
It’s obvious that they´re not in the jungle for the first time, because even though after walking a kilometre they haven’t yet bumped into a single animal, a single beetle or even a tiny fly, they are carefully watching where they step and approach the Jungle only on tiptoes so they don’t accidentally hit something green.
After about half an hour's walk Jaffa pulls the first trap out of his bag in the form of a self-closing cage with a bait of dried fruits.
"I have only two because my father took one. I seriously look forward to finishing building my own hut, this really drives me nuts." Jaffa mumbles while laying traps.
"Relax. I suspect that today will be a really successful hunt and we will be home before lunch."
However, the reality was somewhat different. The only living creature who they´d encountered all day was a small monkey, looking a bit like a rat, it had just climbed up a carnivorous tree. But in a split second a large carnivorous leaf wrapped around it, the monkey was shaking inside for a few seconds then it’s pain stopped.
On the way back their traps were still empty, so the hunters shared fruit bait and headed home.
Similarly it continued for about a month. Life in the forest, however, had the advantage that although hunters didn’t find anything decent to eat, there was always a rivulet, from which they could drink, or they found a few fallen berries which had been thrown on the ground by the wind.

For the entire history of planet Zebra it hasn’t yet happened that the jungle has been completely empty. Sudden reality made Jaffa believe that he will have to look around in places, which everyone knows that there is a very little chance of survival.
These locations were called "dead forest". A dead forest means the most dangerous place in the jungle. Even carnivorous plants there are so hungry that they began to lure their prey with their natural ability of telepathy.
The special ability of plant telepathy wasn’t developed by accident on Zebra.
The only creature that has gained resistance to the telepathic attraction is the Actan. A small animal, living underground like a mole, its behaviour reminiscent of a beaver, because it builds underground shelters from branches.

Jaffa and Neme just passed a path resulting in one such dead forest. At first glance you can see that some of the plants are wilted and slowly drying out.
"So listen to me carefully," Jaffa stops for the last time. "We look only to the ground, the fruit on the trees don’t interest us whatsoever, right?"
"Sure."
"Traps are ready."
Each of them carries one cage prepared with dried fruits.
"You put it down there by those holes, I will put it about ten paces further on and then we run quickly back, okay?" Jaffa assures for the second time so that Neme understands.
"You think I will be enjoying the beauty of the killer trees and fall into the trap?"
"I’m just making sure you bear it in mind. I've been there a few times with my dad, we had a big craving for those red berries. He had to pull me back by force, otherwise I probably wouldn’t be here now."
"I've heard that. But the only meal that I’m going to think of, is the food that Layka will prepare for me when I become a real hunter." Neme plays down the situation.
Jaffa is trying not to laugh. He has never really been so in love with his wife. They have been best friends since childhood, so when the time came, they didn’t really think about it too much and went straight for it.
"Well then think of Layka, just don’t climb on any tree, okay?"
"Sure!"
Jaffa starts to sprint first and is immediately followed by his colleague. They both throw their weapons on the ground. While running they are trying to hold their traps as carefully as possible so they aren´t opened by any sudden shocks before they are placed on the ground.
Right on the edge of a dead forest the carnivorous plants don´t wait for anything. They register movement in direction where new visitors enter.
First plants send visual messages to the hunters showing delicious juicy fruit in the subconscious, activating the salivary glands and gastric juices.
Neme is in the place and already feels hunger like never before in his life. He carefully puts the trap down where he was supposed to, but instead of going straight back, he looks towards the sprinting Jaffa.
He's also doing very well and runs with his trap without a hesitation. Neme is pleased by that, but as he is looking around he suddenly forgets where he actually is. Instinctively he looks at the large juicy berries nearby. Now they look much, much bigger, juicier and more enticing than they really are.
A few moments earlier it was just a couple of rotten fruits reminding him of animal s***, but with every passing second, they appeared redder and juicier!
"Ah damn, such beautiful juicy berries and Jaffa the idiot is running away!" Neme laughs and can’t believe his own eyes.
"Come to daddy, my sweet berries!"
He runs out toward the carnivorous tree and quickly climbs on the branch that is about a metre in height. Jaffa just puts down his trap and during the sprint back he registers that Neme is trying to get to those beautiful juicy berries!
"Don’t do that!" He shouts to him desperately from a distance and is running back to him, as fast as he can.
Along the way, he is really struggling, in his head a total mess starts to hum and he feels sick. He has never felt this bad.
He picks up a stone that lays in his way and runs with the stone in his hand towards the carnivorous tree.
He gets to the place literally at the last minute. With a rapid swing he throws the stone at Neme’s head. This is a game of seconds! Neme falls to the ground, unconscious, just in front of a live vine and a large leaf, soaked with a paralyzing poison.
During those few idle moments when Jaffa’s stunned friend falls to the ground, Jaffa is forgetting what’s happening. He just feels that he has to rest for a while, but at the same time he feels the urgency to do something.
With one last effort he takes Neme on his shoulders and runs out of the dead forest, even though at the last moment he doesn’t even know why.
Once in safety, he throws Neme on the moss, kneels down, vomits, and losses consciousness.
A little later someone is waking him up. It’s Neme with a bloody gash on his forehead.
"Wake up, are you alright?"
"Come on, wake up!"
Jaffa feels like something has broken inside his head, but it doesn’t hurt, he just suspects that something serious had happened.
"What happened, Jaffa? How come I’m bleeding?"
"You don’t know?"
"Don’t know what?"
"You're an idiot and began to climb for fruit, so I had to shot you down." He answers sullenly.
Neme is trying to recap what just happened.
„Oh, sorry.“
"We were supposed to be there only for a moment, even a snowflake wouldn’t fall down to the ground during that time! Can’t you watch yourself?"
"I don’t know how it happened, I remember only flashes of the fruitiest berries in the world!” Neme tries to explain.
"Have a look at those rotten turds again, even worms wouldn´t eat that crap!"
Jaffa is sitting down and rubs his eyes to recover from the experience.
"Hey look!" Points Neme towards the traps.
Jaffa stands up and tries to focus on the first cage, in which two Actans had been caught and in the second one are three Actans.
"Great, we mustn’t hesitate too long and kill them as soon as possible before they destroy the cages! It looks like you are very confident in a dead forest, you’ll get them by yourself now, ok?" Jaffa smiles ironically.
Neme is afraid, but he tries to rise above it.
"They can´t surprise us for a second time!"
"Keep saying to yourself: This Actan is going to be baked by Layka, this one is going to be baked by Layka ... it might help."
"Yeah!"
They both look very focused now, as if nothing had happened. They set off towards the cages. Neme repeats loudly to himself "This Actan is going to be baked by Layka, this Actan is going to be baked by Layka ...".
This time the sprint is successful, and although they both run back with the last effort of psychic strength, their mission is successful and each of them holds a cage with the captured Actan inside!

Successful expeditions to the dead forests were going very well for some time. Neme brings a little Actan to Layka every day. Whenever the sun is approximately above western jungle trees, Layka carries on with her work in front of her house or she just stands there and waits for the guys to come.
They aren’t shy anymore. Neme always goes straight to her to talk about the adventures they experienced during the search. While he is talking she supplies him with spring water and they treat each other more and more intimately.