2224/Rocket and Golden

Rocket and Golden
Date of Scene:	13 May 2015
Location:	The Great Ruin
Synopsis:	Of trees, meat, and Groot.
Cast of Characters:	781, 782

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Golden (782) has posed:
    The ruins here are strange, with murals depicting strange monster-like figures and pictographic crests along the stone walls. The writing here is also bizarre, strange. The ruins overall are just a touch alien, with some odd vegetation that seem to grow fruits that are /meat/. A ham-tree tops one of the buildings, tall and ancient with roots intertwined with the stone bricks, reaching for the swampy brackish water that pervades the area. The sounds of insects and amphibians fills the air as well, with clouds of gnats drifting lazily through the air. Shafts of sunlight break through the pervading cloud layer here and there, roving across the swamp like strange searchlights.
    Golden is here in this half-ruined temple, a small fire going in a drier second floor while the diminutive digimon tends to a kind of farm plot with stalks of a corn-like crop sprouting up from the damp earth.

Rocket (781) has posed:
Groot's rumbling vocalizations and/or his shadow will be the first indication anyone senses of the pair of friends 'walking' though the ruins. Although walking is a loose term for what Groot is doing as he slowly meanders along carrying a large sack filled with odd lumps and what would be significant weight for a less strong being while Rocket walks with a determined pace.

"How was I to know that was a load bearing wall," Rocket says in response to Groot's most recent comment, "You're the one with the fancy education after all!"

Rocket then stops as he rounds the corner of a building and sees into the temple structure. He puts a hand back to his rifle, ready to draw the ion cannon to bear when he sees Golden and his camp fire. He waves back at Groot to keep him from passing into view yet. He does not engage or speak to the stranger yet, just stands there observing, prepaired for action.

Golden (782) has posed:
    Golden peers at the shadowy (from his point of view at least) figures. "Hey, what're you doing over there?" he calls out.
    Golden is really hoping it's not some weird dudes spoiling for a fight. There's plenty of those out here in the Multiverse. Then he'd have to relocate the meat plants, find a new place to hide, maul somebody's face. It's a huge hassle really. At least they don't look like any digimon that Golden is familiar with.

Rocket (781) has posed:
Upon hearing a greeting, Rocket relaxes a hair and he responds, "Heading back to our ship after scavenging, you?" However, at the same time Groot, having seen some of the tension had left his buddy, sticks his head around the corner and intones, "I am Groot." <<We had a building fall on us, but we got out safely. What are you doing over there, yourself?>> Rocket immdiately adds, "He doesn't need to know that and I already asked him!" to Groot with a hint of friendly indignance.

Golden (782) has posed:
    Golden answers easily enough. "Growing food. Your big buddy there seems to have some trouble talking. Did he inhale one of the giant bugs buzzing around his altitude or what?" The MetalMamemon walks casually towards the pair. Well, he guesses if they're trouble he'd be able to skedaddle and disappear into the swampy ruins quickly enough. Maybe blind them with an explosion if it comes to that.

Rocket (781) has posed:
Rocket lowers his hand from the ready position he'd been holding and walks closer to Golden and his camp fire, waving at Groot to invite him to follow along (not that it was required as the arboroform began following immediately). "His vocalizations are limited to 'I', 'am', and 'Groot' but the problems not just with him... its with you. Everyone just needs to listen to him better." As he closes the distance he sniffs at the air and asks, "What is that?" about the meat plants. Groot's attention seems to focus on the plants as well and he asks, "I am Groot?" <<Those plants are... meat?>> Because he wasn't paying attention his foot nearly clips Rocket's shoulder and the little guy has to quickly scoot out of the way. "Hey, watch it Groot!" he says sounding a bit peterbed.

Golden (782) has posed:
    Golden follows Groot's gaze and hears Rocket's question. "Those are bone-in steak plants. What? Didn't notice the other meat-bearing plants around here? This is a chunk of the Digital World here. Can't normally find these plants out in the wilds of the Multiverse."
    He gestures at the little field. "It'll be a week before they're mature. Then I have to break the bone in half and replant it." Things grow quickly in the digital world, it seems.

Rocket (781) has posed:
Groot reaches down to the ground amongst the meat stalks and burries his hand into the soil. He says, "I am Groot," <<You were complaining about being hungry, this should help,>> to Rocket and then glances up at Golden, "I am Groot." <<I hope you do not mind this little metal-ball-man.>> While Groot crouches there with his hand burried, Rocket says, "By the way, I'm Rocket and my friend here is called Groot," he smirks at the obviousness of the latter before saying, "Yeah, I am," to Groot. The last sentence is punctuated by a gurgle from his belly. And then the 'magic' happens: the entire batch of meat stalks begin to grow, maturing a week's amount in mere moments. When the growth stops Groot extracts his hand and says, "I am Groot." <<Enjoy, my friend.>> before licking the fresh soil off his fingers with a flexible bark tongue.

Golden (782) has posed:
    "Well, I guess I've seen stranger things." Golden says as Groot makes the plants grow. The little digimon walks over and pulls up three of the steak-shaped 'plants' and hands them to Rocket. The meat part is fairly big, about as big as Golden himself.
    "Campfire's this way." And he shows Rocket the stairs up to the second floor where the campfire is, where it's less prone to being put out by the damp earth. "I'm called Golden, mostly because of my gold metal parts." He says as Rocket introduces himself and Groot. "Your friend there has a way with plants, huh? There's a few hidden villages that could use that kind of help." He mentions as he adds another log to the fire and stokes it with a slightly bent metal rod.

Rocket (781) has posed:
Rocket has already taken a huge bite out of a slab of meat when Golden reminds him about the campfire and he stops chewing to say, "Umm, yeah, thasht a..." *chew and swallow* "... great idea." He and Groot follow Golden towards the fire as he taks another bite of the raw meat. The sparkle in Rocket's eyes on hearing about villages needing help is noticed by Groot at least who says "I am Groot," <<We don't have to try to make a profit on everything,>> to Rocket who, on hearing this while swallowing the second bite begins to suptter as he nearly takes it down the wrong pipe in surprise.

Golden (782) has posed:
    Golden watches the exchange. "I don't need to listen to know he said something you found surprising. Dunno if they can pay you two in anything except food though. Digimon aren't big on concepts like money." No, he didn't understand what Groot said or what Rocket was thinking, he's just stating a fact since he knows lots of folks in the Multiverse liked to be paid for their effort. The entry way is big enough for Groot, as if the people who built these structure assumed that beings of many sizes and shapes would be using them. In fact, the stairs and archway are more than big enough to accomodate the tree man.
    Golden glances at Groot. "Hope you don't object to using your distant relatives for firewood. It's hard enough finding dry wood around here."

Rocket (781) has posed:
"Food isn't a bad thing," Rocket says between bites as Golden leads them to the stairway. Then, at Golden's comment about firewood, he interrupts Groot quickly. "I am Gr-!" <<You use sapient trees for...!>> Groot's usually pleasant features are twisting angrily and he seems to grow a few inches before Rocket can interrupt to say, "Woah! I'm sure he just means trees. Normal... every day... not intelligent trees." As Groot calms down to a simple glower Rocket turns to Golden and asks, "You /do/ mean that, right?" in with a tone of voice that says 'You better or else'.

Golden (782) has posed:
    Golden uhs... "Yeah, I meant distant relatives in the sense that you're trees. If they were walking and talking I'd ask them for their trimmed dead branches instead... it'd be easier than finding wood on my own. Where I'm from, we got giant talking cactuses and walking rose-bushes, so big intelligent plants are not too weird to me."
    He gestures at the trees forming the canopy. "As far as I know, they aren't talking. I take the dead stuff anyway since it's usually drier than what I can get on the ground. So if they are intelligent, I hope they see it as a service!"

Rocket (781) has posed:
Groot and then Rocket both relax at Golden's comments. "Hey, how would I know? Just good to keep an eye out for stepping onto someone's back and ripping out their extremities and such, right?" Rocket says glibly. Upon being shown the tree canopy Groot stops and presses his palm against one of the trunks. "I am Groot?" <<Is anybody there?>> he says half under his breath (meaning everyone can still hear it clearly) as he communes with the tree.

Golden (782) has posed:
    It's a tree, but... not a tree. It's hard to describe. It's almost like a simulation of a tree; a very GOOD simulation, /almost/ real. And yet there's something off. The ham tree entwined around the ruins the trio are in is not a native of real space, that much is clear to Groot. Imagine listening to the interference on a speaker caused by contact with an unshielded CPU; the rapid pulses of binary instruction code faintly leaking out. That is what Groot hears from the ham tree.
    Golden would raise an eyebrow if he had them. "What is he doing?" he asks Rocket.

Rocket (781) has posed:
Groot pulls back from the tree... slowly but deliberately and then puts his hand to his forehead. "I am... Groot. I. am. Groot.," <<How odd... and slightly unpleasant. This is not sapient. That said, they are very different from plants I am used to. Almost... unreal.>> Rocket watches his friend and then, when it is clear that Groot is going to be alright, he finally gets to answering Golden's question: "I don't know, analyzing the tree I would guess. He says its not quite real." He then looks around and says, "Oh, I think we've lingered long enough. Tell your friends that if they need our services we can be reached on the radion on frequency 1138.42. You can contact us too. That's my ship's contact frequency."

Golden (782) has posed:
    Golden kind of bobs, what passes for a nod when your body is pretty much your head. "Yeah, it's from the Digital World, not the real one."
    He makes a mental note of the radio and such. "Alright, take it easy and watch out for the wild Kuwagamon that like to wander around. They ignore me because I know how to grow food, but they might think you're a snack."

Rocket (781) has posed:
With a signal from Rocket, Groot reaches down allowing his friend to climb up onto the shoulder he is not still holding the large back over. As he climbs up to the convenient perch, Rocket says, "Kuwagamon, gotcha," as if he knows what that means. "To the Rack 'n' Ruin, Groot," he says like a captain ordering a ship to cast off and then he says, "Nice meeting you, Golden," to the digimon as Groot chimes in with, "I am Groot. I am... Groot," <<It was a pleasure. Thank you for letting me grow your plants,>> over his shoulder which Rocket translates by saying, "He enjoyed making meat for us both!" as Groot walks away.