Chapter 1

" That's enough Willow, there's no point in this."

"Nothing is enough anymore Wilson! Quickly, everything's got to burn!"

Wilson sighed, keeping a gentle but strong grip on the wrist that held the lighter. The young woman before him grinned wickedly back, the two of them abruptly in a tug-of-war as the rain thundered around them.

"Let me go! Don't you see? He's making it rain on purpose! Whittling our sanity down to taunt us! If we scorch it all down, he'll be so angry that we've destroyed his world. It needs to burn. It's got to!"

"Willow…" He knew that nothing he'd say would break that mad glint in her eyes. And frankly he was tired, tired and soaked and sick of this nightmare. Already he could feel his own mind slipping again, her offer becoming mighty tempting. Wouldn't it be wonderful, destroying everything in a mass of flames and chaos, letting go of all rationality?

But as enticing as that all was, the will to survive was strong enough to push away the madness and the ever-creeping shadows.

"Willow, calm down- " another tug, slowly he edged her away from the fire. "- Think for a moment. If you burn everything there's no way we'll survive the winter!"

"Who cares, we're barely surviving now!" she pulled him back making him lurch, shoes slipping in the mud.

"You do care! I know deep down you don't want to destroy our camp, the madness is getting to you. They're getting to you!"

He could feel himself getting angry, the edges of his vision flickered with shadows. For a horrid moment, Wilson thought the world dulled, whispers scratching at his ears.

"There's no more grass, or wood or anything. Darn rain! Why won't you stop you geezer!" she lashed out at the downpour, at invisible things that only she could see. Wilson clung to her wrist desperately, fearing that if he let go he would finally lose her for good.

"He's not there- "he gasped when she grabbed his collar, tightly pulling him closer with eyes wide.

"You'll help me right, won't you Will? You and the others can all help- "

"Willow." Risking it he let go of her wrist and gripped her shoulders, trying one final plea. "Your mind isn't in the right place right now. You seriously have no clue at what you're saying. Come, let's get out of this rain. Then later we can all talk about defeating Maxwell, alright?"

Shutting her eyes tight, Willow shook her head like she was in agony. "No, no, no, NO!"

She pushed him away with surprising strength. A shrill click sounded near his head as the lit lighter rushed towards his face in her thrashing, quickly heading for his cheek-

Out of nowhere an enormous hand grabbed at Willow's arm, stopping the hot flame in its tracks. Both flinched, twisting around at the great man beside them. Despite the man's massive size, neither had heard him approach in their dispute and now with his intense eyes locked hard on them, they both felt small.

"That's enough, Little Mlle."

"Wolfgang…" Wilson breathed, relief quickly filling him. Willow slacked at the sight of the man, blinking like she had just woken from a dream. Reluctantly, sluggishly, she flicked her lighter closed, shoulders slumping under his hands.

"…I hate this rain. It's too cold."

"I know," Wilson said sombrely, gently letting go of her. The strongman refused to let go though, and with little effort took the woman's lighter from her hand. It was then that the three became aware that another shape was marching towards them in the rain, gray hair whipping around her bony face like snakes.

"What the devil do you think you're doing! Do you have any idea how close you came to destroying us all!"

Willow seemed to shrink under the woman's glare, hiding her face under her soaked fringe. But the older woman was by no means letting her get away without an answer.

"Well? What have you got to say for yourself? Speak up."

Wilson stepped between them, fighting off a sudden weariness he felt. "Please Ms. Wickerbottom, I don't think this is the best time. The rain's been hard on all of us- "

"Excuses! This unruly behavior could have just demolished our camp, burnt all our supplies and guaranteed our demise; all because she couldn't control herself! What if this ends up happening again? What if the next time no one is there to stop her destroying everything? We cannot let this go by because of a little rain!"

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I understand, but we can't just yell at what could have been. Nothing came out of it, so there's no point in bickering further."

Ms. Wickerbottom bristled, obviously not agreeing with him. However, she must have decided to drop the matter when she turned to the strongman, eyes narrowed.

"Get her back to my tent. Some sleep and rest should return her hopefully back to some sort of normality."

Wolfgang nodded, softly guiding Willow towards the group of tents. "Yes Madame. Come Little Mlle, let's get dry." With a nod from her the two moved away, leaving Wilson and the woman at the roaring fire.

With a snort of disgust, Ms. Wickerbottom scowled at the mess, surveying how much damage the young lady had caused. "Wonderful. Our supply of grass is wrecked. Not to mention the amount of wood that woman wasted. What even possessed her to go outside in the first place?"

She glanced at Wilson, only to find him gazing out into the forest beyond. He didn't move, water dripping off him uncaringly as he stared off lost deep in thought.

"Wilson?... Mr. Higgsbury!"

He jumped with a start, surprised to find the woman right in front of him "…Huh?"

Ms. Wickerbottom clucked her tongue as he focused back to her, confused. "Don't tell me we're beginning to lose you too."

"N-no no. I was just… thinking about things. Your right about our supplies though, that must be dealt with."

He crouched down to the empty chest nearby, quickly working out their losses. "It's not just our grass, Willow's gone through most of our stick supply also," he couldn't help but smirk. "and our flowers petals as well. I'll need to head out."

"Absolutely not! You should not travel, not with the way you are now. Not in this rain."

"I have to before those blasted hounds come. You know what to do if I don't return in time." he chuckled as he walked back to her, peering out at their wooden walled defense. "You'll all be fine."

"It's not us I am worried about."

"Don't be. My head's still with me."

"That might be the case now, but this rain bothers me. Somethings… not quite right. I cannot shake this feeling that something is coming; something awful."

He frowned. So, the others had started to notice the change too. Wilson himself had felt the strange aura that had descended over this place these past months, subtle details that he hoped the group wouldn't pick up on. But the threatening mood was growing heavier, and Wilson knew exactly what was to come. He just prayed they all would be ready in time.

"Which is why I have to go. Now. I'll head down to the next valley, the one with all the rabbit traps and Beefalo. It's a safe trek, one that I've done hundreds of times." Wilson smiled at her, pushing the wet strands of hair from his eyes. "Look after them all for me. I want to come back to an actual campsite; I put a lot of effort into this one."

However, when he moved to go and collect his gear, she stopped him.

"Now listen here young man; you might have survived here the longest, but that does not mean your invincible! At least don't go off alone. Take Wolfgang with you or even that Woodie fellow."

He chuckled at his own joke, giving her a sad side-long look as he replied. "I'm not exactly young anymore, Ms."

"Young enough to still be irresponsible. And stupid."

Her words made him pause to think, realizing she was probably right. It would take one small error on his part, one slip-up, and he could make a fatal mistake. Another companion would be a powerful asset, one that could end up saving his life. Half-heartedly he nodded, seeing the faint smile twitch at her lips.

"I suppose I could take Woodie along, show him how we do things here and such."

"Brilliant. A trip out might be good for that delusional head of his. Now, I'll go and tell him; and don't you dare leave without him, you hear me Wilson? I will track you down myself if you do."

She left him to his bemused thoughts, watching her march off into the rain towards their row of tents. The hissing of dying flames caught his attention, and he found himself staring off into the fire, thinking. He didn't like this. Willow's sudden bout of madness, this never-ending rain and this foreboding feeling he sensed. As much as he hated the very thought, Maxwell might… No, there was no way he was going to talk to that foul man! He would rather face the dark alone, face a hundred hounds, even fight a Deerclops all on his own than help that traitor.

Unexpectedly, almost like They had heard his thoughts, the rain stopped. Wilson looked up at the cloud-filled sky, noting that it became lighter. The fire pit dimmed, the embers slowly fading away till they fizzled into nothing. He turned when footsteps sounded behind him, but a flicker of color caught his eye that made him freeze.

"So, the Misses says we're hiking somewhere. Ah, I can't wait to head out there and explore this place. Eh, Lucy?" Woodie strolled towards the fire pit, a gleaming red axe resting on his shoulder. Peering out of his mass of red hair Woodie watched as Wilson crouched down, picking something from the dirt. "What's wrong?... Wait, what's with the flower?"

Resting lightly in Wilson's palm was a single red rose, it's black stem covered in wicked thorns. "It's a rose," Wilson muttered softly, twirling the flower in his fingers.

"Err, okay? That's nice and all, but me and Lucy want to move. We're burning the daylight here!" He walked past Wilson, twirling the axe in his hands. "I know, I know Lu! No choppin'. Hey, you coming Doc?"

Wilson stood, glaring up at the grinning man. " Wait, I need to gather my supplies first." He called back. Woodie grunted in reply, heading over to look at the fire pit. When the crazy man was no longer facing him, he looked back at the red rose in hand. It was a sign. A sign from Her.

He crushed the flower in his hand, grimacing when his blood seeped through his fingers.

AN: So, there we go! I've had this story stuck in my head for a while now, so it's good to finally get it down. Sorry if there were any grammar or spelling mistakes, I'm still figuring out the basics. Also, updates might be a little infrequent with this one, but I do plan on finishing it. Thank you for reading.