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Well, first we have to get to my hometown. We can use that area as a staging point to visit all the other areas. I also happen to be friends with the innkeeper.

Ryugi smiled and motioned down the road. He then turned and started to make his way down the path between the trees.

It'll be just a couple hours or so.

Unfortunately, no. My hometown and parents were destroyed and killed a long time ago when I was still young. What stands there now is a rebuilt town. Looks exactly the same for the most part, except for a memorial fountain in the Town Center.

Ryugi said it without much sadness. It was still there, but his friend would see that Ryugi had mostly come to terms with the cause of the town's destruction, and it didn't bug him that much.

But like I said, you'll get to meet one of my childhood friends. She runs the inn.

Ryugi grinned and kept walking, his arm sweeping across the view before the two travelers.

This whole area is known as the Bounty Plains. You can probably guess why. What you're seeing now is some of the most fertile soil in the world. This area is also Angara's main agricultural center, providing the majority of the Continent's food supply.

Ryugi continued to wander down the path, and coming over a hill, a small town would be visible a few miles in the distance, nestled among several large fields and homes.

And THAT there is Presea, my hometown.

Ryugi laughed.

Not at all my friend. We might not get outsiders often, but that doesn't mean we're cold to them, just a bit wary. Besides, any friend of mine should be welcome here. Afterall, I did help to save my home from--STOP!!

Ryugi stopped, freezing in place, his voice lowering quite a bit, almost to a whisper...

Quiet... Look there, see that?

Ryugi's right hand lifted from his side and pointed ahead along the path. What Maximos would find if he peered ahead would be...a few vines laying across the path.

Ryugi's voice was quiet, somewhat serious, but overall Maximos would be able to tell he wasn't too terrified of whatever it was that he was pointing out.

What you're looking at is a trap set by the Angaran Creep Vine... If you concentrate, you might be able to smell its flower. It uses its beauty and sweet scent to lure its prey in and attack. I suppose you could liken it to a much bigger, meaner venus-fly-trap. It isn't the worst critter we've got here, but out on the plains like this it can catch you off guard...

Ryugi paused for a moment, then got a silly little mischievous grin on his face, and a glint in his red eyes.

Hey... You want to see it?

Ryugi grinned and stepped forward after a second glance back at his friend that said, "Whatever happens, don't worry." That silly little glint in his eyes was still there as he walked over and picked up one of the vines, which immediately wrapped around his arm, and began to try and pull Ryugi into the bushes as a loud rustling noise came from the tall grass, and a huffing soon followed as more vines slipped around Ryugi's arm. Ryugi was still as confident as ever, and even had a funny little smirk on his face as he looked to his friend.



As another vine wrapped around Ryugi's arm, he suddenly jerked, and a loud growling, screeching, roar came from behind the grass as the full form of the Angaran Creep Vine came barreling through the grass, flattening it as it came. The red "flower" opened to reveal a set of big teeth, until it met the bottom of Ryugi's boot, right to the face, which sent it back among the flattened grass, and gave Maximos a great view of the creature as it dug its "legs" back into the soils and roared once more at Ryugi.



Ryugi seemed to scold the big creature, which was easily two or three times his height when fully upright. It grumbled in protest and sent several vines shooting towards Ryugi, which were nimbly dodged and smacked aside as Ryugi shot forward towards the body of the big creature. He then reached out and grabbed a few red orbs from the small cavity at the front of the creature before the vines could double back along their path. He stuffed them into his coat, before jumping up and back away from the creature, as more vines came around to try and snare him. But once more, Ryugi snatched them, but instead of yanking, he pulled back and around, swinging the critter about by the vines.



And off the Creep Vine went, grumbling and howling as it sailed into the air and across the plains for about 200 feet, landing with a thump, where angry and frustrated cries came from the beast as it made its way off the beaten path.



And with that, Ryugi turned, wiped his hands off on one another, and tossed one of the deep red orbs towards Maximos.



Ryugi grinned, and then turned to head back down the path as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened.

Oh! Dear me... You can eat the whole thing, like an apple of sorts. It has a rind similar to a honeydew melon, but its just as tasty to eat as the rest of the fruit. You can bang it to open it, or just eat your way through.

Ryugi paused, taking one of the red fruits and slammed it onto a rock. The rind cracked, showing a rich purpley-red meat, dotted with tiny black seeds. Oddly enough, as the reddish purple juice from the fruit began to drip from the inside, it turned green! Maximos might have seen many strange things in his life, but this fruit would probably rank among some of the top items. Ryugi took a bite of the rind and fruit itself. The rind was tough, and somewhat crunchy, similar to a watermelon rind, but was rather sweet and tasty. If Maximos were to try some, it would taste very different for his night pears.

The taste was something like a mixture of pineapple, passion fruit, guava, and a bit of the taste of sugar sweetened strawberries. Overall, a very sweet, yet slightly tart fruit. Infact, it tasted a little like the smell of the flower.

These were one of my favorite treats when I was growing up. If you save the seeds, Walter might be able to plant them and grow these delicacies for you. Granted he'll have to raise the Creep Vines well. You wouldn't be able to tell from that one, but they make good pets, and get along well with one another. Raised correctly, they're as gentle as a pussycat.

Ryugi took another bite of the fruit and continued on down the path towards the town.

Ryugi grinned and took another bite.