Unlike Remi, her hunt had just begun. In a similar fashion, she finds the frustration building, boiling over as the minutes tick by into hours and still they haven’t seen a single pokemon. The Houndoom sweep the forest in front of her, using odor sleuth to fish for a scent – any scent. It’s impossible they couldn’t pick up one trail, “Useless,” she hisses from behind the helmet, her tone laced with a subtle electronic tone.

A gloved hand raises to lift the visor. Dark eyes peer out into the night. A chilled wind brushes against the bare skin, but she doesn’t shiver.

A piercing howl marks the start of a hunt. Finally, they’ve caught a scent. It’s not pokemon, but it’s something.

Much to her disappointment, the Houndoom lead her to a small clearing. The silhouette of a woman stands near a tree.

R.C.

She’s seen that before, she’s passed that tree. Did they just lead her in a circle? The pack keeps their distance and Toni raises the visor again, leaves crunch beneath each step. She’s not trying to hide, she’s curious. The woman seems to be in some sort of distress.

“Lost?”

---

Remi Cassel

In some regard, the hunter has become the hunted. The dramatic, rapid inhale-exhale of Houndooms shuffle through the undergrowth, stepping through foliage and brush in hot pursuit of... something.

Meanwhile, Remi is losing her marbles scratching the letters 'R.C.' deeper into the bark. She is feverish, rageful, fighting back tears. Really, it's embarrassing.

"Lost?" someone asks, and it pulls her abruptly out of her hysteria. She fumbles her pocket knife, dropping it through the roots. Somehow, the roots seem to twine tighter, preventing her from picking it back up.

"Fuck. Where'd you come from?"

I thought I was alone in here.

The woman's attention spans down from the stranger's visor to her Houndoom. Part of her is terrified, and the other part is intrigued. It all gets washed away, however, when she stands straight up and stares.

"Is this a nightmare?"

mission: cle'fable in the feywild

Antoinette Spina

☉

She seems startled, frantic. The poor thing. If Toni only knew she too was trapped in the same nightmare, her thoughts may have been a bit more kind. Still, the huntress remains unaware.

Her head tilts slightly to follow the pocketknife down into the tree’s roots which . . . move? No, that was her eyes playing tricks on her. Toni throws up a casual hand in response to her question, a thumb pointing behind her, “That way,” a simple answer for a rather silly question.

A nightmare? Her head tilts like a curious dog. Now that is a strange question. After a beat of silence, she laughs. It’s whimsical, light, and surprisingly elegant for the setting, “A nightmare? Of course not . . . are you high?” she asks curiously, raising a brow. That would explain the paranoia. Must be some good shit.

---

Remi Cassel

The woman gestures behind her with a short response, but when Remi looks the direction she's pointing, the world feels like it's spinning. The roots beneath her feet feel like they're trying to pull her under. It's nauseating and overwhelming.

"Am I high? No, fuck off. How long have you been wandering in this forest? Because let me tell you, I've been walking for like twenty minutes, but my phone keeps jumping dates and time. Look at this shit!"

She shows her her phone screen but admittedly, nothing seems amiss. Behind her, however, with slow, creepy blinky eyes, there does appear to be something. With a wiggle of its unseen fingers, it spins the scene around a second time. The phone dies in her hands, fading to zero and powering off.

"Please. Tell me that I'm crazy and that we're not stuck in some sort of crazy nightmare-scape."

mission: cle'fable in the feywild

Antoinette Spina

☉