[kabuto_rocks]

Kainda walked quietly, deep in thought. She knew that she should probably pay attention to her surroundings, especially since she didn't know the area that well, but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to focus. Perhaps it was just discomfort about finally going into the deeper part of the forest. She lagged behind the group, not far enough to cause concern but cautious all the same.

Bane was quiet too but for a different reason. Every ounce of his concentration was focused on his ears. He also hoped to hear the roar again, although he knew that was wistful thinking. Still, he knew the noises of the forest fairly well and he was listening for anything out of the ordinary. He stayed near the front of the group, wanting to make sure they weren't going to stumble into anything dangerous. Then again, it was hard to avoid danger in a place like this

{1/5, 6}{3/5, 18}

{Sorry for not waiting my turn but it's been four days so I had to post :3 And I hope you're okay Azura}

[Mousen]

((Look what the cat dragged in. Hint: it's me. Sorry for making you guys wait, I'm blaming this on my sucky health. ))

The moment they found themselves within the forest, it was like being immersed in a completely different world. Less than a foot into the trees, the branches and leaves seemed to swallow up any light that might have permeated through the fog. That was the other thing, the fog.

If it hadn't been said about Whisper Forest before, then Aisha would have been very surprised because for a moment she entertained the thought that the fog might have possibly been a living creature, a cold, grey serpent that wove through the trees before sinking over the floor, hiding tree roots and covering the uneven ground. The young woman felt the hair on the back of her neck rise and she quickly shrugged the feeling aside, now she was starting to freak herself out, no easy task, all things considered. "Phineas?"

"Here." He affirmed, looking around him. Part of him was a little offended at how helpess Aisha thought he was, he wasn't entirely useless. In fact, he wasn't useless at all. "Guys? You all still here? I might have something to help with the gloom in my bag. I was just thinking... I don't have anything for alchemy with me, so it'd be a shot in the dark, so to speak... But I could give it a go?"

[ToxicShadow]

Letting out a shrill squeak, something plopped right down on Aisha's head. Immediately, whatever it was clung onto her hair for dear life. Those able to see it ought to have been able to identify it as a Pumkit, though the poor beast was wrapped in an ominous, black aura and its teeth were much larger than normal. This was shortly followed by small stones flying toward the group, namely the creature in question, but with very poor aim. Rather than hitting the Pumkit, most of the stones ended up pelting Archie. Upon further inspection, the stones appeared to have strange, glowing symbols.

+

Azura, you have found 25 keystones! They will be sent to you now.

[Azura Rayume]

Though he could definitely say he had suffered worse, being bombarded by rocks (even if those rocks were money) was not how Archie typically like to be treated. Though he was physically unharmed, the machinist suffered from a damaged pride. Under any other circumstance, he would have attempted to confront the attacker with the most indignant of reactions, but there seemed to be a more pressing matter at hand at the moment. It did not seem as if the assault had been directed at him, but at the creature that had landed on Aisha's head. The logic behind throwing money at such a creature escaped him, however.

"Uh, Aisha, just... stay calm..?" He had no idea what to do in a situation like this, but he figured that freaking out was not going to help at all. He searched out a branch from the brush, reaching out to bat at the creature. They could certainly deal with it a bit better if it were not on top of their teammate's head.

[kabuto_rocks]

"Yep, I'm still here!" Bane called out, frowning as the fog descended. Of course he was fairly used to it but that didn't mean he liked it.To be honest any chance of getting rid of it was better than none at all, "Try whatever you like Pip."

"I'm here too." Kainda added, more quietly. The fog didn't bother her, although she disliked the thought of others not being able to see. Would they be as skilled at using other methods as her? She doubted it. Plus any disadvantage became instantaneously worse when you were hunting a monster.

Speaking of monsters, she almost had a heart-attack when she heard the shriek. Thankfully she was a little more prepared than that so naturally her first instinct was to duck down and pull out a knife. The sight of the Pumkit made her relax a little, although the black aura did suggest that something was not quite right.

Behind her Bane had also drawn out his knife, with a much calmer attitude. The ambush had startled him but now he was more focused on dealing with the situation, and his eyes held a steely calm.
"It's okay. Don't panic."
"Want me to get it for you?" Kainda didn't make a habit of attacking bugs but she found the thing a little disturbing. Besides, her knife was much better than the clumsy thing Bane was wielding

{2/5, 7}{4/5, 19}

[Mousen]

There was an audible gasp from Aisha as something fell onto her head, and as further somethings were pelted at Archie. "What is it?" She asked, a note of panic creeping into her voice. Despite considering herself a practical person, she was most definitely not fond of weird, unseen creatures crawling in her hair.

"It's a Pumkit, a buggy-thing. Looks like it might bite, though." Pip added as Aisha reached up to brush the creature away. "It's quite nasty-looking."

"That would be most appreciated, Kainda, if you would." The young woman replied, now doing her best to stand completely still. The creature probably wouldn't bite where it was stood, but really, she didn't want to take that chance. The last thing she needed was for it to be any more agitated than it already was.

Pip opened up his bag and from it, found out a few rather dubiously-labelled bottles. In the dark, no one stood a chance of reading exactly what they said, not that they'd have actually had a better chance in the daylight; Pip had truly awful handwriting. The thin, spidery scrawl seemed to be mostly letters looped backwards over themselves. Surely 'Essence of Philosopher's Stone' didn't exist? (That one went back into the bag.) In it's place was a vial containing what appeared to be dried fireflies and a bottle that may or may not have been labelled 'Armillaria mellea'. While everyone was occupied with the insect, and knowing that he wouldn't be much help, the man turned his attention to creating something that might bring a little light into the forest.

[Azura Rayume]

"I'm not certain killing it would be the best course of action," Archie said, spying the blades in both Bane and Kainda's hands. He tended to be rather non-violent by nature, but he had a feeling there was something they should learn about the insect before slaughtering it. It didn't seem angry or even remotely violent; the cry it had made sounded more like one of terror than anything. That, and whatever was causing that horrid aura couldn't possibly be beneficial to the animal in question.

He edged the stick a little closer, trying to poke the Pumpkit half-heartedly. He really just wanted the creature to crawl onto the offered branch, but it seemed to panicked to do anything of the sort. "I don't think it means any harm; it's probably just scared."

[ToxicShadow]

At first, the creature seemed to be in as much panic as some of the others might have been, had they not calmed themselves. Spying the blades in both Bane and Kainda's hands, though, it gave out another shrill shriek. Immediately, it dove down from Aisha's head and onto her shoulder, cowering into her neck. "P-please don't hurt me," it begged. Its fright didn't seem entirely just from those all around it, not with how it desperately kept glancing around.

[kabuto_rocks]

Kainda had been about to attack upon Aisha's conformation, but she stopped when Archie spoke. The creature had seemed pretty hostile to her, but then again she did usually expect the worst from the situation. To her surprise she found herself glancing to Bane as if to ask him for help, although she would never, ever do that. She could only assume she was looking for another's approval.

"Archie's probably right." He hesitated, putting away his knife. He hadn't really intended to hurt the creature anyway-rather, he was hoping to scare it. Apparently the plan had worked too well though. He felt awful when the Pumkit spoke, and within an instant all trace of hostility was gone.

"Sorry if we scared you. It's okay, we won't hurt you." Kainda didn't like how he'd spoken for her, but even she felt a stab of shame when the Pumkit had cowered. Unlike Bane though she hadn't really shown it, except for lowering her knife so it was no longer pointed at the insect. She kept hold of it but her grip was loose, also lacking hostility.

"You startled me." She said simply, her way of an apology. Bane scowled at her but he quickly turned his attention back to the insect and the rest of the group

{3/5, 8}{5/5, 20}

[Mousen]

((Guys, guysguysguys. So sorry for making you wait, what can I say? My health is awful, right now.  Blargh.))

As the insect crawled onto her neck, Aisha exclaimed a few choice phrases in a language that sounded as though it had been created by destitute cats. Sphinx (it being Aisha's native tongue) was a language formed from stringy, whining syllables that turned into equally horrid-sounding words that were more akin to a cat yowling than anything else.

Then, it spoke and the young woman found herself thoroughly surprised. Of course, there had been no reason why it couldn't speak- no, on Evelon it was a wonder the trees themselves didn't converse, she just hadn't expected it to. The odd little creature really was quite astonishing. "Oh. I didn't know you could speak, if I'd have known... Nevermind. Could you please just get off of me?"

Pip, on the other hand was too wrapped up in his alchemy to notice much else. There was a faint flicker of light from the substance he was mixing together before it started to emit a greenish smoke. "Bother." He uttered, his eyebrows knitting together. Pip added a pinch of something from a suspicious-looking jar that was labelled 'Mixed Spices' and the mixture seemed to stabilize somewhat. "That was lucky," he said to no one in particular.

[Azura Rayume]

((Kinda dying here, you guys. ;; Professors all decide to have final projects for every class ever, and finals are in a week. Creativity is basically gone, and I just got an opportunity to try and reply. So so so sorry. Should be a bit better once winter break gets started though.))

Archie relaxed, lowering his branch when the creature began to speak. He had expected the insect to be friendly, though how much so was entirely uncertain. The fear in the animal, coupled with its obvious sentience, made him glad that no one had outright attacked it yet.

"Could you possibly explain what has been going on?" The machinist usually would have let the other party explain themselves without question, but he was eager to move on with the hunt. The creature could hold some information they would find useful, however, so speaking with it, and possibly helping it out with whatever its issue happened to be, could prove useful.

[Mousen]

There was silence for a time and it became apparent, well, it became apparent to Pip that the pumpkit was finished speaking for the time being. Perhaps it was scared, or overwhelmed or... something. You could never tell with this sort of thing. Strange magical creatures found in dark, fog-filled forests weren't exactly the most reliable of sorts. The light in his hand was slowly growing more and more definite by the minute. It cast a soft, blue-green glow through the fog and it seemed to accent the gloom rather than cut through it. Well, they were probably a bit less likely to trip over logs now, at any rate.

"Well..." He began, looking a little awkward. "I suggest we continue walking. I'm sure it'll talk when it's got the chance and it doesn't look like it's about to bite anyone."

Aisha sighed, taking a hair tie from her pocket and pulling her hair into a loose ponytail away from the bug on her shoulder. "Very well. Let's keep going."