Author's Note: Hey guys. Sorry it's been a bit, life has been… hard. I actually ended up dropping out of my community college despite it being my last semester there, because my stress had impacted my mental health so heavily that I was getting closer and closer to a legitimate breakdown. In any case, I now have this chapter out for you. I'm… not particularly confident about it, so I hope you guys can still enjoy it. I apologize if it's not that great. I would also like to warn you that there is some mentions of animal death in here, so that if that kind of thing bothers you, you have a heads up.
"Shizuo-kun, if you keep stomping around like that you're going to scare all the animals off! And I'm not sure I trust the local flora - our host
did say this was a cursed forest, after all!"
"And what, your fucking yapping ain't gonna scare 'em away?" Shizuo retorts. They've been searching for at least thirty minutes now, and they haven't found a single thing that looks even the slightest bit edible.
"Maybe we should just go back? Our host - Brannon was his name, right? He had food. I'm sure if we ask nicely, he'd be willing to share."
His stomach growling, Shizuo sighs. He doesn't want to rely too heavily on Brannon, but he's just too damn hungry to argue. "Fine, yeah. Let's head back."
Relieved, Shinra turns back to the path of destruction the two of them (well, mainly Shizuo) had left behind them - but instead of finding broken branches and bent trees, he finds a forest just as thick and undisturbed as it had been before his friend had punched his way through it. "Uh-oh…"
"Uh-oh? What'd'ya mean, 'uh-oh'?" Shizuo asks.
"The path you made is gone."
Sure enough, when he looks, he realizes Shinra is right. "Weird… guess I'll just have to make it again." He steps forward, once more punching his way through the trees. After a few minutes, he finds himself...
...right back where he'd started.
"What the shit?"
"I repeat: cursed forest."
"Maybe I just took a wrong turn. Lemme try again."
He does. The result doesn't change.
"Welcome back!"
"Shit! One more time."
He tries again. The result still doesn't change.
"Damn it!" He growls.
"Look, Shizuo, I don't think you're going to be able to - aaaaand he's off again." Shinra sighs, watching his friend go charging off once more only to appear back behind him a few seconds later.
"Damn it!"
Frustrated, Shizuo tries again.
"DAMN IT!"
And again.
And again.
And again.
He tries different starting points, different routes, even tries punching in different ways, yet he always ends up back with Shinra. Frustrated, he punches another, particularly large tree. It cracks in two, one half falling harmlessly to the side and the other narrowly missing Shinra.
"Hey! Watch it!"
"What the fuck are we supposed to do now?!"
"Other than not almost crush our friends under giant trees?! I… honestly don't know." Shinra admits. He is actually trying very hard not to panic; the idea of starving to death with Shizuo in a cursed forest who-knows-how-many miles from home without being able to see the love of his life one last time is not particularly good for his nerves.
"Maybe we can text Celty?"
"Do you have service? Because I haven't had it since we left Ikebukuro."
"Shit. Okay. I'll, uh… try and climb a tree or something, see if I can see the cottage from up there. I'll be right back."
"Don't worry, I don't plan on moving anywhere."
Shizuo uses the skills he's gained from years of chasing after that parkour-happy fleabag to get himself to the top of the highest tree he can find, surveying the scene below him. He can see the never-ending forest that Celty and Izaya had described, but he can also see something else - a strange, thick, green fog blanketing the lower half of the woodlands that he hadn't noticed while he was down there. He doesn't, however, see the cottage. Confused and a little unnerved, he climbs back down to inform Shinra of what he's discovered.
"Hey, I didn't see the cottage but I did see this weird green fo- Shinra?" The other man is nowhere to be seen, a fact that does nothing to help his already incredibly bad mood. "Shit! Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!"
And that is when he hears something.
It's quiet at first, almost inaudible, but then it grows louder and he's able to recognize it as the sound of an animal crying. After a few seconds of trying to track the sound, he realizes it's coming from underneath one of the fallen tree-halves. He pushes the half out of the way easily, his stomach dropping when he sees that it had utterly demolished a small, underground den containing three small baby bears. Of the three, two of them had been crushed to death. The third had somehow managed to avoid the worst of it, but it was trapped underneath debris and was obviously very badly hurt.
Oh no, oh no no no… His hands shaking, Shizuo kneels down and carefully removes the debris, freeing the only surviving cub. It's one thing to hunt a full-grown animal for food, but these… these were babies. Innocent, vulnerable, not-at-all-deserving-to-be-crushed-to-death babies.
And he'd killed them.
His entire body is trembling at this point, his fists clenched and his teeth grit as he swallows back guilt-laced tears. "Damn it, damn it, damn it…"
"Shizuo-kun?"
He starts, whipping around to face the source of the voice. "Shit, Shinra!" He wipes his eyes. "Where the fuck did you go? I thought you said you didn't plan on going anywhere!"
"I... didn't." Shinra responds, frowning. He's not lying; one minute he'd been standing there waiting for Shizuo to come back down, and the next he's hearing him cursing less than twenty feet away. "I think the forest may be messing with our heads. What are you looking at?"
"The consequences of my own actions, and I need your help before they get worse."
"My help? My help with what? Did you get yourself hurt again?" Shinra moves towards him, pausing when he notices the three cubs. "Oh. Ohhhhhhh. Shizuo-kun…"
"One of them is still alive. You can… you can fix it, right? Right?" He asks, panic causing his tone to come out a bit more aggressively than he'd intended.
"I'm not a veterinarian-"
"Damn it, Shinra!"
"-but I'll see what I can do!" Shinra hurriedly finishes. Shizuo immediately moves out of the way, allowing him space to assess the damage. It's bad, but he thinks he might be able to at least try and stabilize the poor thing.
After relaying this to Shizuo, he gets to work.
Celty looks out the window for what seems like the hundredth time, disappointed when she once more does not see Shinra and Shizuo emerging from the forest. It's been hours since they left, and that worries her - Shizuo can take care of himself in a physicalfight, but who knows what kind of strange magic a cursed forest might be home to?
I should have gone with them. I should have waited to talk to Izaya, I should have-
"Is everything alright, Miss… Celty, was it?" Samuel asks from his spot at Brannon's table. "I've been informed you can't talk, but I have writing utensils if that might help? I do also know a bit of sign language."
She hesitates before nodding and holding her hand out. Samuel immediately gestures for Tyko to provide her with the aforementioned writing utensils, which she gratefully takes and uses to write "thank you" with then continuing on to write down what's on her mind. It's strange how familiar it is to her, the feel of nib on parchment - she's been using keypads, pencils, and ball-points for so long that she can't actually remember the last time she used a quill. It's even possible she hasn't used one since before she lost her head.
'My friends went out to find food, and they haven't come back yet.' She writes, before turning the paper to face the table.
"Wait, what?" Brannon's eyes widen. "I thought they jus' hadn' woken up yet! Yer Majesty, we need te-"
"Go make sure your guests haven't gotten lost in the most dangerous forest on the planet? Yes, I agree. Especially considering the fact that it's fungus season..." Samuel shudders.
"Shit, it is, isn't it?" Brannon is now even more worried. "It's been so long since I've had te worry about it, I didn't even think te warn 'em!"
"Fungus season?" Izaya echoes, curious and a little concerned (though he would never admit that out loud.) While he would rejoice at the thought of never having to look at that stupid beast's face ever again... he would really, really, really rather not lose Shinra.
"There is a special kind of magical fungus that can only grow in dirt taken from the Cursed Forest." Elder Tyko says. "It only grows during the transition from summer to fall, and it is both incredibly rare and incredibly dangerous - it feeds by releasing potent magical spores into the air that cause whatever poor creature that breathes them in to become… well, one way would be to say they become disoriented, but I feel like that's a gross oversimplification. In any case, said creature inevitably gets lost, dies, and then gets absorbed by the fungus which lives on to do the same thing to some other poor unsuspecting creature. Fascinating, albeit terrifying. Luckily, I have a spell that will make us temporarily immune..." He's already rummaging through a pouch attached to his belt. "Shouldn't take me more than ten, fifteen minutes. Ser Brannon, may I borrow your fire?"
The werewolf nods and goes to help the mage get set up. While he does that, Samuel clears his throat and turns back to the two foreigners. "I was going to ask you to tell me your story, but it doesn't seem like we have the time for that. At the very least, would you be willing to answer me one question?"
Celty nods, while Izaya shrugs and says, "That depends on what it is."
"Fair enough." Samuel responds with a chuckle. "I will understand if you'd rather not answer, but - you and your friends. Do you happen to be from another world?"
"What? Another world? How ridiculous!" Izaya laughs as if that's the funniest thing he's ever heard. Celty, however, has no desire to play games. She pulls the parchment back towards her.
'We are, actually. We came here through a portal a little over a day ago, and I think I speak for all of us when I say that we would very much like to find our way home. How did you know?'
"That is a rather long story, which I will gladly tell you… after we've guaranteed your friends' safety." Samuel informs her. He can tell that Izaya is not at all pleased with his acquaintance's decision to tell the truth, but he's glad she did - he's becoming more and more convinced that these strange visitors are related to the magical anomaly Tyko had sensed earlier, and the more information they're willing to give him, the easier it will be to figure that out for sure. "Elder Tyko, are you almost finished?"
"I am, in fact!" Tyko responds. He waits for Brannon to set a woven potholder onto the table before placing a steaming, liquid-filled pot on top of it. "It'd be best to wait for it to cool before drinking, though."
"Then I suppose it might be a good time to come up with a plan, yes?" Samuel replies, before turning to Celty. "Your friends, do you remember in which direction they left?"
She nods and points towards the southeast.
"Then we have a starting point! Excellent."
There is a few more minutes of discussion, and then it is interrupted by Tyko announcing that the potion is ready. He pours some into a mug that Brannon provides, then passes it to his king. "A few sips is all you'll need." He informs him.
Samuel takes the suggested few sips, grimacing all the while. "Tastes like the tonic you gave me for that ear infection I had a few years ago." He grumbles before handing it back.
"There are a few of the same ingredients, so I'm not surprised." Tyko responds, offering the potion to Brannon next, then Izaya (who makes a show of wiping off everyone's germs before taking a few swigs from an untouched part of the rim), and then finally Celty. She stares at the mug in front of her, not entirely certain how to approach the situation.
What am I supposed to do with this? It's not like I can actually drink it…
"What's wrong, Courier-san? Not thirsty?" Izaya asks "innocently." If she could glare, she would be doing so.
"Is something wrong, miss?" Tyko asks, looking at her curiously.
You know what? Fuck it. She thinks to herself, before simply removing her helmet and setting it on the table.