Bonnie's Touch

"HEXCLAW MENACE"

Footsteps crunched through the autumn leaves blanketing the forest floor edge of Nadiria. Patrolling the area were the Nadirian bounty hunters—a group of five men and a young woman. They were all dressed in black long-sleeved cargo uniforms, with badges bearing a stylized double-autumn-leaf emblem on the left side of their chests—two leaves crossing over each other to form a sort of heart shape. Leading the front was Boss—a tall, dark-haired man of black complexion. Unlike the others, he wore a long-sleeved black button-up shirt and black pants, complemented by an orange tie and an orange vest, with his sleeves rolled up. Each of them tightly gripped giant capture nets while scanning the surroundings with keen focus, searching for whatever warranted the use of such equipment. 

A spark of excitement gleamed in the young woman's eyes as she noticed something alluring in the distance. Signaling the others over, their quarry seemed within reach, but upon approaching, she simply plucked a tomato from a lone tree, biting in gleefully as her companions groaned in annoyance at the distraction. 

"Dammit, Claire!" Boss scolded. "Didn't I tell you we can't afford to get distracted durin the mission? If everyone here ain't on alert for even a second, we'll be guaranteed of losin our score—" 

He turned only to see two more of his companions already indulging in tomatoes alongside Claire. With increasing frustration, he impatiently smacked the tomatoes off their hands.

"We, are here for one job and one job only: Catch the Hexclaw Menace!" he barked while continuing his patrol. "Unless you've forgotten, there's some serious Autumn in store for taking down this monster."

"But Boss," one of the men interjected while casually munching on a tomato with a hand on his hip, "we've been huntin for nine days. Our supplies ran out about two days ago 'cause of Claire, and we haven't eaten since. This search has been a never-ending cycle of nothin. I don't think we're gonna find anythin. Why don't we just go home already? I wanna see my babyboo!"

"Quiet, Simon, we need to stay focused," Boss ordered while marching on with sheer resolve.

"Ya know what day it is today, Boss?" Simon asked while following quickly behind him. "That's right, it's Sunday. And you know what happens on Sundays? Exactly, nothin! We're supposed to be takin a day off, Boss; spendin time with our families. Don't you know that there's a time when you just need to cool off and stare into space? We ain't machines, ya know. We gotta be very conscious of our limits. Did I mention that I'm also dyin to see my babyboo?"

"I said quiet! Listen here, the Hexclaw Menace has been described to march mindlessly forward and destroy whatever's in its path, and the locals say it was last sighted just south of here. So if it's only movin forward, it should be headin towards this forest as we speak. So if you want to keep attractin attention to yourself, you can forget about coolin off, 'cause the Hexclaw's gonna make sure to get you first."

"Whatever you say, Boss. Remind me to never invite you to parties."

While the group pressed on with their search, one man stayed behind to quickly gather an armful of tomatoes. After countless sleepless hours on patrol and no food, he couldn't help but think that stumbling upon a tomato tree was one of those rare strokes of luck that come once in a decade. Before he could bite in, an unseen force snatched him away, leaving only startled screams behind, alerting the group. Rushing to follow the fading cries, all they found was a lone, tiny mango tree amid the forest growth. One man called for their missing comrade to show himself, and in a flash, a giant claw ensnared his face, and his body magically melted into a pineapple-topped plant sprouting from his vacant clothes. The claw was one of six belonging to a hulking aberration with an exterior seemingly made of treen. With a giant eyeball in the center of a bald head, six bulky arms, a stitched-up mouth, and a jagged jawline, its 8-foot frame stood far from natural. The hunters trembled in fear as a diabolic presence closed in; their hearts pounded with dread, for the Hexclaw Menace had descended upon them. In a panic, they simultaneously tossed their catching nets onto the monstrosity, only to find that maybe they should have brought bigger nets. The menace nonchalantly stretched out an arm, and like a serpent-mole, that same arm slithered swiftly underground to pop out again and seize the fleeing foot of another man. With an eerie metamorphosis, the man's form melted into that of a lifeless cabbage. As the dust settled, only Boss, Claire, and Simon stood as the remaining fragile spirits, and in a twist of fate, the once-predatory hunters had now become the hunted. The three fled in frantic disarray, but the creature had already ensnared the soul of one among them, Simon, its claw enveloping his mouth, and in another uncanny transformation, his very form dwindled into that of a vibrant red clover. Sprinting side by side, Claire's leg was seized from below. Falling with a nervous chuckle, she called out for Boss to help her up, but pure desperation pushed him forward, leaving Claire to the daunting realization of her fate. The claw dragged her forth, and she too underwent a transformation—her body melting into a grapevine. Boss ran on with wide eyes focused on the horizon, unstopping even when the danger was long past. 

Calm finally settled, and the Hexclaw stood by its lonesome, with only the altered forms of its victims lying dead-still beside it. Scanning the vacant uniforms, the creature plucked out a detailed map of the capital and surrounding lands. Without hesitation, it continued its mindless path of destruction.

CHAPTER 5 of 'Bonnie's Touch' ends