It was now late afternoon, and the eleven of them were starting to get more than a little tired of all the walking they had been doing.

"Okay, break time," Fritz said, slipping his backpack off and dropping it on the ground. Then Fritz plopped down in front of it so he could use it as a backrest.

"Now there's an idea," Cain said, dropping to the ground and rubbing his arms. "I swear, that stupid backpack chafes me on purpose."

"Complain, complain, complain," Conrad teased. "Anyway, you're the one who packed the thing in the first place."

The rest of them sat down, knowing that they wouldn't be going anywhere for a while. Snacks were taken out, and the stop was turned into a sort of picnic. As they ate, they began to talk about the things they had seen.

"I swear, that hawk was giving me the evil eye," Ness said, ripping a bite out of his granola bar and chewing it with a mildly annoyed look on his face.

"Is this the same red-tailed hawk that you swore has been following you around for days?" Ryan asked.

"I'm not sure, but I really wouldn't be surprised if it was."

Ryan laughed.

"What's so funny, oh purple-haired one?"

Ryan managed to control himself, somehow. "I'm sorry. But that just sounded so funny." Ryan flashed Ness a lopsided grin.

Ness rolled his eyes, sighing dramatically.

"Okay, rest break's over," Ulysses said. This statement was accompanied, of course, by a load chorus of groans. "Come on, come on. There are still a lot of things to see before we set up camp again tonight."

"Yeah," Cain grumped. "Like the spectacle of my feet falling right off my ankles as I walk."

"Oh come on, Cain. It can't be as bad as all that." Fritz grinned, knowing he would get a rise out of Cain.

"It very well can, and it very well is." Cain stuck his nose in the air, and Fritz playfully punched him in the shoulder.

"Will you two put a sock in it already?! Sheesh, you're driving me nuts," Conrad said.

"Just nuts?" Cain asks, smirking. "Hmmm, we're going to have to try a bit harder, aren't we, Fritz?"

"Yeah, I was really hoping for stark, raving insanity myself," Fritz said, chuckling.

"Oh, ha ha. Very funny," Conrad said, rolling his eyes.

They came to a rather large clearing, and Fritz suddenly felt a cold chill run up his spine. There was something off about this place, Fritz didn't know what it was, but he had no really great desire to find out. Fritz knew that if he said anything to the others, they would just think he was making a joke, so Fritz just resigned himself to hoping that they would be walking really, really fast through this particular area.

***

As the eleven of them made their way through the clearing, Cindy's foot caught on something. She hadn't been paying all that much attention to her surroundings, and so the sudden stumble came as a rather disagreeable surprise.

"Ahhh-umph!"

"Sis, you all right?" Devon asked, having caught Cindy before she could do more than startle herself.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks, Dev."

"Hey, what else are big brothers for?" Devon asked, grinning down at her.

That was when all hell broke loose. From the ground around them burst an uncountable number of vines. Most of them were knocked off their feet, and the few who remained standing were really too shocked by this sudden turn of events to be of much help.

Ness and Cain were two of those few that hadn't been knocked over by the sudden upsurge of the vines. Now, the twins stared at what remained of the ground in shock and incredulous horror. Each looking to the other for silent confirmation, then heading deeper into the devastated landscape to try and help their friends.

"What the hell was that?" Conrad demanded, looking around at the torn-up remains of the forest floor.

He was surprised that the straps on his backpack hadn't dislocated his shoulders, not that he was going to complain or anything stupid like that. Conrad took off his pack, knowing that the weight would only be a liability, especially if more of those… vines showed up. What the hell were those things, anyway? Conrad wondered.

Before any of the others could even think about getting to their feet, a second wave of vines burst from the remains of the ground. Those that were still on the ground dogded the vines as best they could, trying to cling to the few scraps of solid ground amid the maelstrom. Devon and Ryan were the first ones to disappear beneath the vines, pulled underground to await who-knew-what.

The scene quickly turned even more chaotic, as more and more vines burst out of the ground, and those that were already on the surface began to thrash about wildly.

"How do we fight – look out!" Ness cut himself off, tackling his brother just before the stream of acid that suddenly shot out of the ground would have hit him.

The acid spray instead hit the tree behind them, eating off most of the bark from the upper third, and causing almost all of the young shoots growing out of that part of the tree to fall off and die. The twins were both breathing hard, seeing what they had so narrowly escaped. Neither said a word, instead splitting up to try and help their other friends.

More acid was fired from the hidden spouts underground. Most of them were able to dodge, but Cindy wasn't so fortunate. She screamed as the acid splashed across her calves and feet, burning the exposed skin and eating away most of her shoes. Cindy was pulled underground a few seconds later, her mind still a bit hazy from the pain.

Ness was trying to get to his dad's backpack, where Ulysses had packed a radio to use on the off chance that they got lost. The vines, however, seemed all too determined to hold him back. One of them had wrapped around his right ankle, and was slowly pulling him back into the center of the clearing. Ness still had his walking stick, and was even now trying to use it to pry himself loose.

Ness had taken rough terrain, and the occasional wild animal into account when he'd made it. It was made of strong wood, and had a sharp tip that he could use to defend himself in a pinch. Right now, that sharp tip was being used to try and chop through the vine encircling Ness' leg. Most of the vine was still intact, but Ness was slowly making progress.

***

Cain meanwhile, was trying to help Raven, who had been injured by the vines. Raven had been badly cut on his right side, and then the injury had been compounded by the acid spray that had splashed him. By the time Cain had found him, Raven had barely been able to move. Cain was carrying Raven on his back, while still trying to stay away from the thrashing vines.

Since he was too busy looking out for attacks from the front, Cain didn't notice the one vine behind him until it whipped him on the back of his knees, dropping him and Raven both to the ground. Before Cain could get a handhold, the ground dropped out from underneath him.

***

One of the other vines, seemingly coming to the rescue of its fellow, had grabbed the walking stick in Ness' hands. Ness had already had a good, solid grip on it, and was now engaged in the oddest game of tug-of-war he'd ever been in. The vine had wrapped around the middle of the stick, and Ness had moved his left hand under the vine's grip, trying to keep hold of the only weapon he had.

The two of them, Ness and the vine, both had equal strength. Something had to give, and that something turned out to be Ness' home made walking stick. It snapped in half, leaving Ness holding on to two shorter halves. Despite the fact that Ness was somewhat attached to the walking stick – he'd made it himself after all – he also knew that holding onto the feathered top half wouldn't do him any good here.

At least the bottom half had a rudimentary weapon attached. Ness tossed the useless top half away and gripped the bottom half two-handed like it was a sword. It didn't do him much good, as one of the vines had already wrapped around his neck. Pulling suddenly, the vine choked him, pulling Ness underground seconds later.

***

Ulysses was also trying to get to his backpack, but he lacked even the rudimentary weapon that Ness had possessed, and so he wasn't doing as well as his son. Ulysses had been tangled up by the vines, and it wasn't long before he joined his sons underground.