Grounded On Juniper Island

The Gnarl Root

A few minutes after the group had left, the gnarl root, which had been hiding in the forest, launched itself at Dom. Luckily for him, Coco had woke him up just in time.

He scrambled up the nearest tree ignoring the splinters digging into his hands, forearms shins and feet. His focus was communicating with his fellow Uthrkai, warning them of the danger he faced. Branches boughed like flexed biceps as Dom travelled upwards. Coco was howling not far behind, brushing away the foliage shrouding his vision and threatening to scratch out his eyeballs. Coco beat his chest at the gnarl root, as it sprang up and down at him, with the aimlessness of a wayward jack-in-a-box.

To the naked eye, the gnarl root could be easily mistaken for belonging to a wise old tree. Its complexion allowed it to camouflage with nature. The head of the animal forked out into a trident, reaching out like claws, that were once anchored deep into the forest floor. Freshly mined onyxes, sat on the outer branches of its head, swirling like pools of blackness. The body of the beast measured a two metre girth and unfurled itself onwards for six metres. The gape that lead to the depths of its stomach appeared to swallow the brightest of days. Its albino tongue was the only source of light reflected there.

The howling became louder. The rock ape had made up ground quicker than Dom had realised. With the nudge of his shoulder, Coco pushed Dom onto a branch thicker than his two thighs combined. For a brief moment, he swayed, losing grip due to the moisture journeying to his pores on his legs and palms. His heart thundered, abounding off his breastbone.

He couldn't help but call out to his friends again. Lorne needed to come and save the day. In his short life, this was perhaps the scariest moment. Something about being taken down by slithering creature, frightened him more than malevolence of Erasmus.

But all this dread came to an end.

The gnarl root gave up the chase and snaked its way to the makeshift waterhole, arching its spine in a wave. The creature whipped its tongue into the remaining liquid, lapping up each droplet with echoing squelches.

In the aftermath of the ambush, The scent of mashed leaves, scratched bark and salt floated on the summer breeze. Oleg reassured him Lorne was coming back. He took in a deep breathe and felt the pressure of the situation fall off, thudding to the forest floor with the force of a heavy weight from the sky.

Eventually, the gnarl had quenched its thirst and returned to the tree. It hissed contently and coiled itself tightly around the trunk as if it were holding it upright. The deep abysses rolled back into the sockets and with final gasp of air, the gnarl root dozed off.

"I can't believe that's all it wanted", whispered Dom to Coco, who was sitting on a rung of branch just below him.

Coco responded with a quiet grunt; a sign of agreement from the earthen primate.

"Mind you brother, I am jealous it stole my nap time."

The rock ape brought its head forward into a single emphatic nod, resting its eyes. A few seconds later, he was as still as a stone.

"Not you too brother," said Dom to himself.

I guess Coco had every right to nap. The gnarl root below was sleeping; the crisis had been averted. Dom pressed his bottom lip against the one above and drifted off like his counterpart.

But a rumbling in the distance stole away his opportunity to nap again. The far away echoes of rocks tumbling and roots ripping apart followed. Coco groaned with displeasure as he was awoken by the unwelcome sounds.

Unfortunately for them, the gnarl root didn't approve of the interruption either.

The creature threw its eyelids back, revealing a gaze, rivalling a vengeful storm cloud ready to burst with sheets of rain. It drew its attention to the tree tops, leering at Dom and Coco as if it was absorbing their soul. It drew out a long hiss, rippling the length of its body.

In a flash, the gnarl root wrapped itself around the trunk and began to squeeze. The cracking of wood, reverberated around them. Fissures on the trunk raced up to the height of Coco, curving downwards as they plummeted to the base of the tree.

Dom pushed the panic out of his head, turning into a flash of brilliance.

"If water is what he likes, water is what he will get," said Dom to himself.

"Coco, my brother, I have a plan." Dom tapped his rock ape on the shoulder, compelling Coco to draw his eyes to him. "This is going to sound crazy, but you have to trust me. I need you to run to the waterhole."

Coco scratched his head and screwed up his brows. The plan seem too mad, even for a fearless animal to comprehend.

"Look man, I know it doesn't make sense, but Grewir understands my motivations; soon you will too. Now shall we do it brother?"

The primate raised his thumb in the air. Without a command, Coco dropped down with an almighty thud. Before he could let fear overcome him, he pumped his arms, drove his legs into the forest floor and willed himself to the waterhole.

The gnarl root freed its grip, whirling itself out of the squeeze like twine being unravelled from a stick. The creature let out a hiss, muffled by the saliva stuck at back of its tonsils. Once free, it swivelled itself into S-bends to the waterhole. Beneath its earthen body, leaves were decimated, stones skipped away, and kindling and seasoned branches cracked as they were squashed by the enormity of its mass.

Coco skidded to a halt at the edge of the dome in ground. The water bestowed to them by Hudson, had now dissolved into a brown goop.

The gnarl root was one lunge away from Coco. He could feel its glare beaming into the back of his head.

"Yo yo come here," called out Dom, who amongst the franticness had leapt down unnoticed. He stomped his feet and beat his fists against the forest floor until they were numb.

The gnarl root winced at the noise, forcing itself to squint and clamp its mouth shut. The creature broke out of its shock, swinging its body away from Coco.

Dom had turned into the target.

"Dig Coco dig!" cried out Dom, booming his voice across to him. He scuttled up the tree once more. Muscle memory kicked in, allowing him to navigate each branch quicker than before.

Meanwhile, Coco formed his fingers into claws. In a method characteristic of rabbit, he threw the remaining mud away, propelling it between his legs into a scattered pile.

A bubble appeared, then more bubbles, followed by cool water breaking the surface.

Coco kept digging, ignoring the hisses in the background. He found himself drenched at his feet. The water then raced to his knees and shortly covered the base of his navel. A spurt tickled his feet. An inkling told him to move. He crawled out of the resurrected reservoir. Muddied water overflowed, colouring the dry surface above, a darker shade of brown.

The gnarl root couldn't help himself, but made an abrupt turn from whence where it came from. Its fixation for fluid was too hard to resist. Its eyes watered and a trail of drool slid out from the corners of its mouth. The remnants of the waterholes was its only interest. The odd couple was not accounted in its equation.

Coco smiled coyly and headed towards the tree. The gnarl root rushed past him and plunged its head into the hole. The discolouring of the ground, by the water, spread out further. The creature's body trembled as it gulped in each greedy mouthful.

Coco climbed back up the tree and rested on the branch where he was before. It was as if they hadn't moved.

The pair enjoyed the silence.

Time ticked over. They watched the gnarl root slowly slink its way back into unknown. Napping could now take place.

They were in heaven for an hour.

The calls of Lorne awoke them from their slumber. Dom told him about how they dealt with the gnarl root. He was impressed by their actions, wide eyed and awestruck by their performance. He did however feel guilt-ridden for not telling them how to avoid them, but Dom didn't seemed to mind the dilemma. He believed it had improved his resolve; a skill he could share to the others.

In saying that, he did however have no interest in tussling with another gnarl root again.

Coco, on the other hand, seemed  unfazed by them. After all, he did embody a common phrase on Junipo Island. 

Resilient as a Rock Ape.