Chapter 11: As far as he knows
Isaac awoke once again from a dream, echoing moments from his past. The tragedy that was forced upon him birthed a strong connection with Blossom. This bond set him on a better path he believed, but still he questioned how strong that bond was to begin with, as watching her die was enough to set him back on the path abandoned. Two sharp knocks came from the door.
"Oh thank god" he sighed, as he hated to dwell on these thoughts.
It was Mandy. She let herself in and closed the door, as she did not wish to be overheard from the corridor.
"it's my daughter, she's gone missing." Mandy said.
"Missing how?"
"Yesterday Grim and I spoke to her about sending her on a delivery mission. It was her first assignment so we suggested you keep an eye on her." She explained.
"I guess she didn't take it very well?."
"Understatement. We told her to sleep on it, but when we went to get her this morning she was already gone."
"What's the package?" Isaac asked.
"A message to an associate. The only thing you should concern yourself with is finding her and getting her there unharmed. "
"Okay. Know where she's headed?"
"Not sure."
"Alright. How were we supposed to get to this associate?"
"We planned to airlift you two over there. We accounted for all the air vehicles this morning however, so I don't know how she plans on getting there. Only way I can think is a b-line through the black forest over the south wall. Our associate lives in the dead centre of it, but she's smarter than to go through that place. I've told her to stay out of that forest since she could walk."
"We'll see about that. I should investigate her room for any clues."
"Fine, but don't you dare let this get out, especially to Junior. Last thing I want is him causing a stir again."
"No problem. Kids, right?"
On their way to Minnie's room, they pass Junior who was bringing an empty tray to the kitchen.
"Morning" Junior greets the two.
"Morning, Junior" greets Mandy
Isaac gave a nod to the skeleton boy.
As they pass each other Junior turns around and asks "Hey, did either of you eat any of the muffins I left in the kitchen?"
Isaac learned from his many escapades that a missing person and missing goods at the same time usually isn't a coincidence.
Mandy turns and replies "You know I don't eat that shit, Junior."
"Sorry for asking." said Junior.
He then looked to Isaac who looked like he was lost in his own head.
"Don't think you'll get an answer out of him, bro." Commented Junior's tentacle.
"Don't need to tell me." Junior replied.
When they reached Minnie's room Mandy opened the door, revealing a hatchet swinging loosely from a hinge attached to the top of the door frame.
"You're lucky she isn't home" Mandy remarked.
Isaac noticed remnants of a shattered skull below the trap.
"Your mission starts now. Questions?"
"Yeah. What's the background on the dark forest? I'm not out of line for assuming it's a nasty place?"
"It's nothing you shouldn't be able to handle." She dismissed, "One caveat is that it blocks radio signals. One of the reasons our associate chose the spot."
"Sounds like they like to be left alone." Isaac guessed.
"And thank fuck he does." She replied, "Now get to it."
Isaac gave a lazy salute "Consider it done, boss."
As she turned, he rolled his eyes at her and entered the room, closing the door behind him. The room was shrouded in darkness thanks to the deep black curtains. Drawing them back he found that the ornaments placed about the room were ornate, with golden frames and porcelain dolls. It reminded him more of an old lady's room than a little girl's. It smelled like expensive perfume, but there was a smoky aroma as well. He tracked the scent to a metal trash can that was scored with soot and ash on the inside. Isaac rummaged through the burned contents and found the remnants of a photograph. It was scorched but the image was just visible. Two young children playing. This would be an ordinary photo if one of the children was not a skeleton. He folded the photo and pocketed it. He walked over to the window and looked down. It was a massive drop; no child would dare escape from there. However, he noticed the inside latch was undone. He opened the window to find that a ledge was obscured by the window frame, and footprints scraping through the dust on the ledge as if the maker had shimmied across. He exited the window and followed the prints, carefully shimmying across the ledge as he did.
As he reached a corner, he noticed a rope hanging down from the gutters. The rope was ankered into the gutter by a well-placed arrow. He gave it a tug to see if it could stand the weight, and it did. He repelled down the wall with the rope and upon meeting the ground, encountered more prints. He followed the prints to the inner wall of the castle grounds, where he scaled it by hand. Climbing over the ledge he saw a lookout, and within a nervous looking watch guard.
"Hey, were you stationed here last night?" he asked the guard.
Startled, the guard jumped and turned to face Isaac and said "No! I mean yes! I was here all night! Saw nothing!"
Unconvinced, Isaac replied "Just tell me where she went."
Stammering, the guard said "I...I mean... Oh please don't tell the Masters!"
Isaac waved his hand at the guard "Whatever, just point where she went."
The guard shamedly pointed to the closest entrance to the dark forest.
"Thank you" said Isaac before leaping off the wall. He buried his sword into the outer wall half way down to break his fall. He then went on to track Minnie, and entered the Dark Forest, unaware of the horrors it harboured.
The further inward he travelled, the more he realised the Dark Forrest lived up to its name, as the light gradually failed to pierce the coverage above. The ambient sounds of creaking branches, falling bark and rustling in the trees were all the more noticeable thanks to the complete lack of wind. As the brush crunched beneath his feet, he noticed another sound, one that got louder and louder the longer he listened. It was almost like a scuttling. No, a creaking. No, both. The closer it got, the more prevalent the rustling in the branches became. Something was hunting him. He placed his hand on his butterfly blade, ready to turn and strike this predator. When the sound was as close as he could stand, he turned, ready to strike it down. However, nothing was there as far as he could tell, until the bark on the trees began to rotate and elevate up the trunk of the tree in front of him. The bark extended itself from the height of the tree's body and froze pointing its end at him. He could make out the hundreds of legs lining the sides of this strip of bark extending from the tree. It looked like a gigantic centipede, but with no head. Slowly a port on the end of the creature's hard-shell carapace opened, revealing a soft and fleshy inside. This flesh then extended out of the carapace, undulating as it protruded, prolapsing as it pushed its insides out from the centre. Little beady eyes ran down the sides of this worm like protrusion. Nearing the end of its transformation, now 3 metres of worm snaking its way upward, a long tooth sprang from the worm's tip, now ready to strike.
He readied himself for its attack, slowly pacing backward, away from the creature. It stabbed at him, but he parried the tooth, making sure it couldn't scratch him, as he was not sure if this creature was poisonous. Another jab, met with another parry. It wobbled its head - or what Isaac named the end of the protrusion – in frustration as it reset, readying for a harder and faster attack. It lunged downward at him so fast he could not realistically parry it, and had to dodge. It luckily missed, and its tooth was embedded into the forest floor. Isaac took the opportunity to slice the end off before it could rip itself free. It waggled and spurted blood like ooz from the end of the worm, increasing the frequency of the creaking sound, like a scream in pain. The waggling slowly waned and it regained its predatory composure, right before it began to push out more of itself from the sphincter-like hole, and another tooth extended as well. Isaac concluded that its nervous system must run down the entirety of its body, allowing each segment to function independently, like a roach with its head cut off.
Disgusted, Isaac said "Ugh, fuckin hate nature sometimes."
The fight continued, with the creature striking at Isaac, and Isaac slicing off some part of the worm. Eventually Isaac noticed the rear legs of the carapace detaching from the tree, and even falling limp.
Isaac's eyes widened with realisation "Ah I see now! Running out of guts!"
Isaac quickened his pace, slicing off more and more of the worm from the carapace, watching more and more legs fall limp. Soon none of the legs could hold onto the tree any longer and the creature fell to the ground. It continued to fight but it could only flail and slither. Eventually there was no more tooth and not enough worm to continue fighting, looking like a fleshy stump at the end of the carapace. Isaac grabbed hold of what was left of the beast and tore it from the shell. He threw it at a tree with enough force to finally kill it. He curiously picked up the shell and peered inside to find many nerves and veins running along the inside walls.
"I fuckin hate this place." He said, then tossed the carapace aside.
Isaac continued on his mission, and with some observation discovered some branches and leaves that had been cut to form a path about half his height through the forest.
"Found you" he muttered, then followed it.
At Castle Grimskull, Mandy practiced her pistol shooting at the firing range. Her shots strayed from the bullseye so little that the hole only grew slightly larger with each shot.
Grim approached her from behind and lifted the ear-muffs off of her head and asked "Have you seen Isaac? He isn't in his room and I can't seem to find him anywhere."
"No clue" she replied, "Maybe he ran off somewhere." popping a few shots as if to end the conversation.
"Dat's not possible, deh contract makes sure of dat."
"Well maybe there's something wrong with your little contract"
He ignored the comment, "I wasn't born yesterday woman, where is he?"
She sighed, not bothering to push him further "Fine, I sent him and Minnie to deliver a message."
"To whom?" he asked.
"Who else?" she replied, assuming he knew the answer.
He pondered, then realised "Wait, there were no helo take-offs today, there's no way they went there."
"That's because they're going on foot." she replied smugly.
Frustration filled his mood, asking "Why didn't you consult me on dis?"
"As a far as Isaac knows, I did." she replied "Must be a little loop-hole in your contract."
She placed the ear-muffs back on and continued firing at her targets. Grim stormed off, fearing that his ruse might not last for much longer.