The trail was slightly overgrown, suggesting that it was rarely used. From Ginger's viewpoint, this just made it more promising; she'd found a couple of unfamiliar types of plants on her first trip into the forest before she met Birch, and she was pretty sure the chances of finding more were better in places where students didn't often go. While she had had a couple of run-ins with the island's guests, she still didn't realize that these were anything but unusual chance.

The path she was following came to a stop at a waist-high cliff. With a grunt of exertion, she lifted herself up over it, giving anyone who might have been watching from behind a good view of her jean-clad ass. Once she was over the top, she sat down on a nearby rock to rest and tried to unstick her slightly sweaty white blouse from her back. Looking around, she saw a cluster of pale yellow, star-shaped flowers nearby. "Hello, what's this? I don't think I've seen anything like you before," she said to herself as she took her sketchpad out of her backpack to draw the unfamiliar plant.

263 was as unaware of Ginger's presence as she was of its. An earlier encounter with another student had gone awry when another monster had interrupted, slashing its exploring appendages until it was forced to withdraw. Now, aimless retreat had led it here. It had explored this area several times, and while there rarely seemed to be any of the stimulating females that crowded other parts of the island, there were also very few things to endanger it. For that reason, it had come to know this place as a safezone of sorts.

With its body hidden in a hollowed tree farther away, its tentacles quickly went about exploring the area. However, it seemed that 263 wasn't the only thing in this area at the moment. Its arms had barely extended a few miles when they heard the sounds of Ginger's passage. They slithered through the grassy area and approached cautiously, not eager to encounter anything that might have chased 263 from its previous endeavors. As the tentacles approached a small bed of flowers, they heard a grunt in the distance. It was sweet and high-pitched, more likely a human girl than a monster. The tentacles slithered closer. As Ginger approached the flowers, they came to a halt by the edge of the flowerbed. Other tentacles began to move quietly in a wide circle around Ginger, out of her view.

Unaware of the lurking threat, Ginger carefully worked on her sketch; since meeting Birch, she'd wondered about the apparently unique plant-life on the island. While she thought it was unlikely that she'd be the first to find a species, especially with Birch looking for his garden, it was still possible. Besides, even if this was a known flower, it was new to her; she'd see if the library had any information about it later.

Getting the basic sketch and notes about coloration done took little time, and she rose from her seat, moving to get a better look at the flowers so she could draw in the details accurately.

Ginger didn't realize that moving forward had only put the dozen or so peripheral tentacles behind her, effectively cutting off her escape the way she'd come. They turned toward the sound of her footsteps and slithered after her. Meanwhile, one of the tentacles in front of her reached the edge of a soft bed of flowers. Sensing her approach, the tentacles in front of her paused and lay motionless. The arm among the flowers was clearly visible, but could have been mistaken for a strange plant or root itself.

As she knelt down by the flowers, Ginger did notice the tentacle amongst them. However, with her limited knowledge of the island's guests, she didn't realize what it really was. "Hey, that's odd. Are you part of the same plant as the flowers, or are you some sort of vine that's grown here?" she pondered out loud as she tried to follow its course with her eyes. If the tentacle actually had been a vine of some sort, the question wouldn't have been entirely a matter of curiosity; if two plants were fighting for the same resources, at least one of them would be likely to perish.

Her attempts to see where the thing went proved futile from where she was, the undergrowth hiding it too well. With a slight shrug, she went back to sketching in the details of the flowers; she could get up and follow the vine after she was done.

Unfortunately for Ginger, the "vines" were already following her. The tentacles behind her and begun to float after her, moving silently through the air as they extended towards her. The lengths that wrapped around her position were still hidden, camouflaged by the terrain, and she was too engrosed in her drawing to notice the impending peril behind her.

The peril in front of her was equally intrigued, especially by the sound of her voice. As she began drawing, the tentacle slowly lifted itself towards her. It moved closer and closer, slowly, raising itself to her eye-level. Its texture was strange and its color was brown and mottled - quite possibly some strange vine or root. At its tip was an elongated, bulbous head that almost seemed to twitch intelligently as it moved towards her.

"Okay, that should do it," Ginger said, closing her sketchbook. "Now, let's see about that… Eep!" As she looked up, she noticed the tentacle approaching her for the first time and, instinctively recoiling, fell over backwards. She quickly righted herself to a half-sitting position in case she had to flee. She wasn't going to run just yet, though; while the blob that had disguised as a rosebush was dangerous, Birch had also surprised her while she was engrossed in drawing, and he hadn't been a threat. "Um… Hello?" she said, hoping that the thing could understand her and was willing to talk.

The strange thing twitched at the sound of her voice. Its tip - perhaps it would be appropriate to call it its head? - pointed towards her, and slowly moved towards her. It almost seemed curious about her. It seemed to respond well to her voice. The dozens of its compatriots continued to slowly creep up behind Ginger, making no move or sound to alert her to its presence. The one in front of her dipped slightly, and moved towards her hand.

Well, whatever it was, it didn't seem to be threatening. Curious, perhaps, but not aggressive. At the moment, she was no longer sure what it was; it seemed too active to be a plant, but so did Birch, and he was definitely a plant. Besides, he'd assured her that there wasn't any animal life on the island (although she had no idea what that would make either of the blobs if he was correct). Cautiously, she reached her hand towards the approaching tendril, expecting the feel to give her some idea of if it was animal or plant. "Er… Can you understand me?" she asked, not knowing if the thing would be able to let her know if the answer was yes since it seemed incapable of speech.

The tendril pointed itself towards her hand, once again seeming to investigate her curiously. Slowly, it lowered itself into her hand. Its outer layer felt soft and warm, definitely more like animal skin than bark or a vine. It made no sound, but seemed to twitch happily in her palm, content with the contact with her skin. Curiously, it pointed towards her and slowly started to slide through her hand.

Suddenly, the thing jumped free of her hand, and in a blindingly fast movement, wrapped around her wrist. It coiled around her arm several times, squeezing tightly. Before she could react, the tendril pulled her forward onto her knees. She could see the long body of the tentacle start to rise out of the grass. Behind her, she could here a violent rustling as the other tentacles accelerated towards her, their lengths trampling grass and twigs as they rushed forward, their tips floating into the air, all pointing towards her.

The thing seemed peaceful, even friendly in a way, until it suddenly wrapped around her arm and pull her forwards. The act was so rapid and unexpected that Ginger could do no more than cry out as it brought her to her knees. She quickly tried to pull loose as the thing's body became visible and a rustling sound made it clear that something was approaching from behind, but the tentacle had too tight a grip on her. Even so, she continued to try to get loose, dreading what might be approaching. "Come on, let go!"

Despite Ginger's best efforts to break free, the strange serpent's strength was remarkable. She couldn't even budge it as she pulled against it, and a simple tug from it sent her stumbling in any direction it desired. It played with her for a few moments, tugging her left and right by her bound wrist, its grip absolutely unbreakable. All the while, the sounds behind Ginger grew louder and louder. She was so busy focusing on the tentacle she could see, that she didn't spare a glance behind her. She was caught off guard as more tentacles pressed into her back, knocking her forward. In an instant, she was swarmed by a plethora of the same strange tentacles, their weight and strength pressing her to the ground. She could feel coils start to wrap around her waist and upper arms as she lay pinned by the squirming mass.

"KYAAAA!!"

Though she wasn't caught entirely by surprise when the tentacles swarmed her—they'd been anything but silent in their approach—she'd been focused on trying to get away from the one that already had a grip on her, and so hadn't been able to tell what was approaching or when it would attack. Not that being more prepared would have helped, since the one that had her could keep her off-balance easily and there were too many tentacles to fight anyway. She still tried, using her arms to try to block them as well as she could with the things gripping her. "No! Let go! Get off me!"

The tentacles quickly immobilized her arms, wrapping around the whole length of her limbs. The serpentine coils held her arms fast, and she found it impossible to bend them or keep them in front of her. More tentacles poured over her and piled on top of her. It felt as though they were trying to smother her - to drown her in a sea of squirming, fleshy appendages. She was kept pinned to the ground as tentacles slowly coiled around her waist. Then, the mass suddenly parted, and she found herself being pulled upwards. Numerous tentacles wrapped around her torso - around her waist, over her chest, and even crossed behind her back, over her shoulder blades. They effortlessly lifted her into the air, as if she weighed next to nothing, although they were gentle enough that the motion didn't feel rough or painful. As her ascent started to slow, she could feel the tentacles around her arms pulling them in front of her. Their strength was far greater than Ginger could fight against, and in seconds, the coils around her arms interwove, bounding her hands together in front of her.

The tentacles turned her in midair, so that her back was to the ground. More tentacles ensnared her legs, and together the swarm lifted her into a sitting position. More tentacles rose from the ground, slowly undulating around her as they began moving towards her. They touched her gently, and began slithering over her body. Though their skin was soft, there was hard muscle beneath it, and she could feel it press into her skin as the alien appendages started to roam softly, almost sensually along her features.

Ginger's struggles were in vain as the tentacles quickly immobilized her, lifted her into the air, and positioned her for whatever they had in mind. She was pretty sure what that was, based on her experiences with the blobs and the way that some of the tentacles began to caress her. "Ugh… Stop it! Put me down!" She tried to twist her face away from them, a futile effort as there were more tentacles in front of her whichever way she turned.