“Thank Arceus one of us came prepared!” a soft, nervous chuckle followed the light hearted joke. She is somewhat embarrassed being completely unprepared but also off setting the deep unease these strange woods are making her feel. With a soft smile, she accepted the flashlight and clicked it on. The white beam quickly ran over their surroundings in search of the trail they seemed to be missing.

Th Oricorio disappears surprisingly quick and their sight doesn’t seem to improve with the use of the flashlights. In fact, a thick white fog starts to roll in between the dense trees. Its so thick, it appears to reflect their light right back at them. Eva spins around when Aubrie jumps, flashing the light on the tree branch in question. For a moment, it looked like fingers to Eva too. A quick blink turns the knotted appendages back into branches.

“Y-you alright?” she asks, the reassurance in her voice as much for her as it is for Aubrie. With the growing fog, sight didn’t seem to be their best primary sense, “Since we can’t see,” she begins, reaching for a pokeball on her waistband, “Maybe we can smell our way through,” a flash of light releases a little Phanpy ahead of them, “Find the hikers, boy,” she lightly encourages, waving a piece of fabric in front of the little elephant. He trumpets in understanding and begin ODOR SLEUTHING his way forward.

---

Aubre McKenna-Settentrione

Eva attempts a reassuring smile, “Yeah, mine are too,” she admits with a little shrug. The place is creepy, especially with this thick fog. Now, she feels as if there’s unseen eyes on them . . . well, it always feels that way when she thinks of the DRK Triad, but that’s beside the point. They certainly had nothing to do with this situation . . . right? Eva huffs to herself, spinning around to follow the Phanpy. She’s just being paranoid.

Eva doesn’t go far when she notices Aubre stop behind her, “Doesn’t your Oricorio have lavender feathers?” she doesn’t stop to think about it too long because the bright trumpet of the Phanpy catching a scent calls them forward.

“This way!” she encourages Aubre to follow her between the bending trunks and skeletal branches, “Say close!” she warns, the beam of her flashlight acting like a little lighthouse on a foggy sea.

“Whoa!!” Eva trips over the Phanpy and tumbles across the ground riddles with knotted roots and sharp branches. The rough roots dig into her knees and elbow, leaving deep abrasions and raw skin, “I’m ok,” she mumbles immediately to calm any worry, “Check out what Phanpy found, would ya?” she asks Aubre as she sits up to take care of her wounds.

Upon close inspection Aubre would find the Phanpy looking up into the canopy of a tall, dark, leafless tree. It’s crooked branches angle down towards the path, flaring out at the ends like waiting hands. Waving from one of them in this windless forest is the shredded and bloodied flannel of the father.

---

Aubre McKenna-Settentrione

The flashlight doesn’t seem to penetrate the thick fog, but it does illuminate the deep scrapes across Eva’s knees and one elbow just fine. It was a pretty bad tumble, as Aubre observed, but nothing the doctor couldn’t handle or shake off and keep going. Out of curiosity, she quickly shines the light towards the ground where the knotted root had tripped her. She gasps and nearly leaps out of her skin when the root - the ROOT itself - snaps back down into the ground and hidden from view.

“What in the world~” she whispers to herself, lost in her delusions with the light fixed on where the root was until the large shadow of a Dragonite appears before her.

She follows Aubre’s pointed finger up towards the flannel and audibly gasps at the sight. As the tree turns, yes turns, and smacks the Dragonite out of the sky, the gasp becomes a sharp yelp in surprise. The dead leaves beneath her rustle loudly as she scrambles to her feet as adrenaline fully kicks in.

“Did you see that?!” it is more of a rhetorical question, of course Aubre saw that! The Phanpy did, and he trumpeted in surprise and immediately launched forward at the trunk of the tree with a TAKE DOWN. As expected, the tree doesn’t flinch, but the Phanpy found himself dizzy with recoil from the solid hit. Eva scoops him back up in her arms and ushers the Dragonite back to its feet.

“Let’s keep it moving,” she encourages, hoping they could get as far away from that tree as quickly as possible. It just had to be that tree, right? Or perhaps the fog is more than just fog? She snatches the flannel on the way as she attempts to lead them deeper into the forest and away from what hallucinations they were having.

---

Aubre McKenna-Settentrione

Uncomfortable tension has begun to sully the air. It mixes seamlessly with the endless fog that feels thick enough to choke on. Still, they press on, more wary of the dangers than before. Eva’s eyes dart back and forth like she is expecting something to jump out at them. Every little sound that echoes through the forest makes her heart race just a little faster.

This is ridiculous! Hallucinations! She can’t help but recall a time she spent in the woods with Matias, searching for a child like this. It was a powerful Hatterene that stolen it away and sent them spiraling into their darkest dreams in the woods outside Petalburg. Perhaps this was something similar? No, it felt more sinister.

“Alright, let’s see what you got,” she put the Phanpy back down at Aubre’s suggestion and let the little thing go about another ODOR SLEUTH.

The Phanpy leads them further along the path, sniffing rhythmically along the treeless trail until a shadow appears up ahead. The thickness of the fog doesn’t give much away, but the dark silhouette grows into a simple structure: a decrepit old cabin. It's hear, in this small clearing, that the tall trees seem to bend over it, long branches reaching out to tickles it's failing roof. It feels as if they are watching over it, or waiting for something to happen.

Sitting neatly outside the entrance are two hiking packs, torn and tattered and stained with blood. Eva tries the door, but it feels locked firmly, “Hello?” she asks, using a fist to bang firmly on the rotting wood.

---

Aubre McKenna-Settentrione