Snow. Just your luck, it had to be snow. A mixture of intense sadness and immense relief had nearly overwhelmed you as you stepped through the door that lead out of the ruins, but now, seeing the snow cast an even darker cloud over your already expanding sense of dread. Still, you knew that you had to keep moving. In this strange world, you had been told so many times already, and it sounded clearly to you, buzzing loudly in the front of your head: Kill or be killed. However, you were resolute: you had no intention or desire to do either. However, in your short time here, you knew all too well that fate would take every chance it could to test your resolve.

Yeah, well... fate could fuck right off.

Of course, it's easy to talk big in your head, but facing what the path in front of you at the moment made you feel tired, small, and wilted.

Where was "here" anyway? Where were you headed? Where did this path lead? A light snow was falling, which was strange, considering that you were under a mountain... no, wait... were you.. were you out? Had the door lead you back to the outer world? You felt your breath hitch for a quick second, and without another thought, you started walking. If this was the path out, you wanted to move quickly. You needed to find someone, tell them about your strange adventure, find shelter, get out of this stupid cold... a shiver engulfed you, and you pulled your hood closer to your face. It felt as if the stupid fur accent on the hood did nothing but add an unnecessary embellishment to the jacket as a fashion statement instead of doing any real job at keeping you insulated. You made a passing mental note to write a letter of complaint to the company.

Your footfalls slowly came to a halt, eyes suddenly scanning up and around into the dark, barren trees that towered over you. Something felt off... wrong... unsettling. You felt your skin crawl as another shiver worked its way up your spine. What was it? Why were you feeling so uneasy? Sure, it was a bit of a spooky atmosphere, but... then it hit you: it was deathly silent. No birdsong graced the air, no critters scampered about in the foliage, no sound of distance wind or people... the only thing that you could hear was your own breathing, and your heartbeat sounding much too loudly in your ears.

You felt panicked; this was the kind of environment that you've heard would proceed an earthquake or a natural disaster. Maybe... you weren't out yet? The thought hit you hard, but you didn't want to dwell on it for too long. You had to keep going. You had to get out of here. You had to do something. So, you kept walking, with your own footsteps seemingly too loud in your ears.

A couple of branches had fallen over the snowy road, but a quick jump and you cleared them easily. You felt the tension easing up a bit with every little leap you made. No use being sad or scared, you mused as you skipped over another small branch, a smile twitching at the corners of your mouth. Despite the quiet all around you, it didn't look like there was anything around here that could harm you. Besides, if there was a threat, you would clearly be able to hear it.

CRACK.

Oh, fuck no.

You whirled around at an insane speed, eyes stopping on a cracked branch that you had jumped over not twenty seconds before. Other than that, there was nothing else there to symbolize a threat. Your heart was galloping now as your eyes darted wildly around your surroundings. There was nothing up in the trees, and there were no other footsteps that you could see other than your own. The condensation from your rapid breaths formed a fog before your too-wide eyes as you tried to rationalize it. Maybe the branch had already been weakened? I mean, it looked heavy enough... Yeah, that was it. And that was enough thinking over this. You quickly spun on your heel and continued to walk, your breathing, heartbeat, and footsteps all much quicker than before. Just keep walking, just keep walking, just keep walking...

Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.

NOPE. NOPE. NOPE.

You pace quickened even further, brain screaming incoherently as the slow footfalls you definitely heard behind you registered, and you made no move to look back. Oh, christ almighty, don't look back, don't look back...

It was then that the sight of a small bridge made you falter and stop. The sides seemed to be altered in a way that looked like it had been hastily modified for... some reason... but you couldn't quite figure out what the builder was going for here. Was this bridge even safe to cross? It looks kind of worn and rickety...

CRUNCH. CRUNCH CRUNCH. CRUNCH. CRUNCH.

The footfalls directly behind you stopped at the same time your heart did.

"HUMAN . DON'T YOU KNOW HOW TO GREET A NEW PAL ?" a deep, rasping voice sounded suddenly from behind.

You took a long, deep breath that didn't seem to successfully bring back any air to your lungs before you replied:

"NOPE! NOPE! NOPE! NOPE! NOPE!" Not even waiting for your "new pal" to answer, you sprinted wildly across the bridge, all danger of its construction now lost to you, and before you can even think any more about it, you're across, and still sprinting like a maniac further and further down the winding path spread before you.