Disclaimer: I don't own Don't Starve or any of the characters
"That should about do it." Wilson remarked, putting the finishing touches on the final ax. The group had spent the better part of a day working on creating the tools they'd need for their venture back into the forest.
"Great." Willow replied, with only a hint of sarcasm. She wasn't very happy to be going back. "So do you have any idea how we're supposed to get these things back? Or are we just going to be dragging them one at a time?"
It was one of the first protests she'd brought up when he suggested going to harvest lumber and he still didn't have a satisfactory response. Thankfully, what he did have was a source of motivation.
"Still working on that." He said. "But think of it this way, all that lumber can be used to make one heck of a campfire don't you think? Not all of it is going towards building."
With a few grumbles she consented. The fire starter couldn't deny that she was looking forward to getting a real bonfire going. Twigs and grass could burn, but they didn't have the same kind of majestic power that came from full sized logs.
"Everyone ready?" Wilson called, doing one final check over the camp to ensure that nothing of vital importance had been forgotten. "We're going to be gone for at least a couple of days, so be sure to bring everything you think you'll need."
"I am ready!" Wolfgang replied immediately, hoisting up Wendy's ax like some kind of sword. Since he would no doubt be doing the most cutting, he was the one who got to use the highest quality tool. The rest of them would make do with Wilson's hand crafted ones. "Show me trees! I will make many pinecone orphans!"
His enthusiasm could be somewhat unnerving at times.
"Everything is prepared." Wendy added, hoisting her pack onto her back. Her ghostly sister hovered nearby. "I have enough food rations to keep us going for at least one day, though it can last longer if we spread it out."
"Good to hear." Wilson said. "Willow? Do you have all your stuff together?"
The young woman let out a small sigh, looking back longingly at the fire pit. Even if it was just for a couple days, she would miss the area that had been dedicated to her favored craft.
"I've got everything." She said, falling in beside him. "Let's get going before I change my mind."
With a nod of confirmation, Wilson took the first steps on the journey to improve their living conditions.
Nobody spoke. Nobody dared to. The journey to the forest's edge had taken a little over two and a half hours, but once they arrived one thing became painfully clear.
It was not the same as it had been when they left.
"Well…" Wilson said, timidly breaking the silence that held them. "That complicates things."
The trees, no, the entire forest was all but smothered in sticky webbing. The white substance clung to every surface like the desiccated fingers of a thousand corpses, making the formerly imposing pines look downright hostile.
It wasn't the first time they'd encountered spiders before. Willow had already shown a specialty for getting rid of the arachnid infestations by lighting their monstrous homes with her lighter. What made this particular instance intimidating was not the presence of spiders, but the fact that there were so many dead ones lying around.
Chitinous black bodies with legs splayed in all directions were scattered all around the forest's edge. Their bodies had cracked as though struck by some great force. As if that wasn't bad enough, many looked partially eaten.
"All right, I vote we burn the whole place down and let it sort itself out." Willow said, cringing at the sight of the piles of dead spiders. "I am not getting bug guts all over my cloths."
"They're arachnids, not bugs." Wilson corrected. "And we can't just light the forest on fire. We need that wood if we're going to be doing any kind of building."
She just rolled her eyes.
"I don't care if they're bugs, arachnids, or the children of Cthulhu. They're ugly, smelly, and covered in disgusting hairs. Not to mention bad tempered. Fire is the only way to get rid of them."
"You shouldn't take the name of an Elder God in vain." Wendy cautioned. "They can be quite vengeful."
The others gave her a slightly disturbed glance.
"How do you even know who… you know what? Never mind. I don't want to know." Wilson said, rubbing his forehead. "Spiders or no, we still need that lumber. This means we need to go deeper into the forest to find trees that aren't covered in spider silk."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. You want us to go deeper into the bug infested forest?" Willow demanded, not at all happy about the situation. "Aren't you supposed to be the one looking for logical solutions or something?"
"This is the logical solution." He countered. "We can't harvest any of the trees if they're being held in place by those threads. Spider silk is incredibly strong, and we don't have anything sharp enough to cut them."
"I-I-I do n-not like plan." Wolfgang protested. "S-Spiders are scary bugs."
"They're arachnids, not bugs!" Wilson hissed in frustration. "Look, we don't have much of a choice in the matter. We need wood. The spiders are in the way. We have to go through them. We've done it before, and this time we have an added source of defense." At this he gestured towards Abigail's glowing form.
"She can handle plenty of spiders, can't she Wendy?" He asked.
The girl nodded.
"Spiders and bees are her specialty." She assured. "She can clear out however many nests we run across without any issues." Her words were backed up by an echoing whisper from her sister.
"That's great and all, but you're missing one major issue here." Willow pointed out. "These spiders are dead. That means that there's something out there in the forest that is nasty enough to be killing them. Doesn't that sound like a bit of an issue to you?"
Wilson sighed.
"All right, you have a point." He conceded. "But that doesn't change the fact that we have a need for those supplies, as well as a means to defend ourselves. We have to take a risk sooner or later so I still say this is our best option."
The young woman looked as though she was going to debate the point with him for a moment, but after a silent battle of wills she gave in. They needed shelter. Badly. This was their only option to get the items they needed.
"Fine." She said, relenting. "But if we die in there, I'm going to find a way to bring you back to life so that I can kill you again myself."
He felt the edges of his mouth twitch upwards at that.
"I'll take the lead." He said. "Willow, you stay behind me and keep your lighter out for a light source. It looks like it will get pretty dark in there. Wendy, you stay behind her and Wolfgang can bring up the rear. As for Abigail…" He cast a speculative glance at her. "Would you be able to stay above us and keep a look out for possible threats?"
As an answer, the ghost began drifting upwards. She began hovering near the treetops, gently floating in circles as she waited for them to proceed.
"All right." Wilson said. "Let's get going."
Wolfgang didn't like this. Not one bit. When it came to fighting and feats of strength, he was second to none. Sadly, his courage didn't reflect his mighty ability. He was afraid of the dark. He was afraid of monsters, and spiders, and ghosts, and… well… a lot of things actually. That was why his senses were strained to the limit when they entered the ominous forest.
He started taking deep breaths in a breathing exercise he'd learned long ago. It helped to steady his nerves somewhat, but no amount of relaxation therapy could force back the feeling of foreboding that poured out of every inch of the shadowy trees.
Hoping to draw strength from the confidence of his companions, he chose to focus on them instead of his surroundings.
Wilson was nervous, though he did a good job of hiding it. The only indication of his worry was the way he would jump ever so slightly at the sounds of the darkness around them. Wolfgang might not be the brightest of men, but he could recognize body language. The signs he saw did little to help his current mood.
Willow was much more open about her displeasure. She cast suspicious glances at every shifting shadow that lurked in the edges of their vision. Despite this, she didn't look afraid. Tense certainly, but not scared. That was a bit reassuring. He trusted her judgment more than the other man's. Wilson talked far too much about his 'science' for the strong man's tastes.
Wendy, as ever, seemed entirely unbothered by the disturbing surroundings. It was funny in a way. The smallest and least powerful member of their group was also the one who showed the least fear. Of course, that might be because of her terrifying friend.
Casting a timid glance upwards, Wolfgang caught sight of Abigail's figure flickering in and out of sight as she passed through the leafy canopy. He didn't know what to make of the ghost. She didn't seem overly hostile, but just being around her made him feel terrified. It wasn't as bad as it had been when she first arrived, that was for sure, but that didn't change the fact that she was a ghost. One of the many things that he certainly didn't like being around.
Suddenly, Wolfgang ground to a halt as a strange scent filled his nose. It was something he hadn't experienced since he'd been brought to this world.
"I smell piggy!" He shouted, turning is gaze from side to side as the others jumped at the sudden noise.
"You what?" Wilson asked. Before he could get an answer, the undergrowth started to shake. The group was immediately on the defensive, bringing their tools into position as improvised weapons. It was hard to tell who was the most shocked when the source of the disturbance was revealed.
"Oh…"
The figure froze, its face wearing a comically uncomprehending expression as it came into contact with the group. It was a pig. Mostly. The creature was roughly human sized as far as height was concerned, but in terms of girth only Wolfgang himself could hope to compete with it. Its meaty arms looked almost like pink miniature tree trunks, extending down into incredibly unfitting cloven hooves. As if this sheer defiance of all things sane and right in the world wasn't enough, its lower body was covered in a primitive straw loincloth. How a creature without fingers managed to create such a thing was anyone's guess.
For a second, the pig-man and the survivors stood stock still. Willow was the one to eventually break the moment.
"Kill it! Kill it with fire!"
The beast let out an incredibly high-pitched squeal as she charged it with her lighter at the ready. Despite having a body shape that was incredibly impractical for bipedal movement, it took off into the forest at an incredible speed, easily outpacing them.
"Willow! Stop for a minute! We don't know what it is! It might be friendly!" Wilson shouted, trying to reason with her as they sprinted through the stinging branches. She was far too out of breath to respond.
Soon enough, Wilson, Willow, and Wendy reached the limit of their endurance. Unable to keep up with the pig creature, they had to come to a halt. Wolfgang was so focused on reaching his target that he didn't even notice.
"Pig cannot run from me!" He yelled into the back of its retreating form. "There will be much bacon for eating tonight!" It was nice to be the one doing the chasing for once. Spiders were usually much more aggressive.
The bulky swine burst through the tree line, all but exploding into a clearing in a wave of destroyed ferns and tree parts. Seeing his chance, Wolfgang put his dash into overdrive. With a mighty rush of speed he charged forward and slammed into the pig-man's retreating form.
The strong man let out a roar of triumph as he brought the beast crashing to the ground. Unbeknownst to him, it wasn't about to go down without a fight. The pig hit the floor rolling, using its massive bulk to throw him forward and away from it.
He went sailing on what was likely one of the shortest flights in history. It ended with him smashing his face into a large clump of dirt that was sticking up at a rather inopportune location.
"Man is bad!" The pig squealed, speaking such broken English that it made Wolfgang look articulate. "Me make smash now!"
"Piggy want to fight?" He challenged back, feeling more confident than he had in a while. Spitting out a clod of mud from between his teeth, he turned to face it once more. "I am mightier! I will turn pig to paste!"
It was then that he noticed the snuffling sounds coming from all around him. With a sudden feeling of uncertainty, he took a look around at his surroundings. The clearing was filled with ramshackle houses that looked like they'd been built by carpenters who were either missing a few limbs, or heavily inebriated.
And for each house there was a rather large pig-man.
"Uh oh…"
The noises of snorting and animalistic grunts turned hostile as the pig villagers laid eyes on their unwelcome visitor. The strong man decided that now might be a good time to leave. Mighty though he was, Wolfgang was still only one man.
Unfortunately, the pigs had other ideas. He'd only managed to take a couple of steps before a wall of angry oinking muscle closed in on him from all sides. An exceptionally bulky pig managed to latch onto his arm so that he couldn't bring his ax around to strike them with. Wolfgang lashed out with feet, fists, and head-butts, but his strength was quickly overcome by sheer weight of numbers.
The last thing he was aware of was the sight of a fist-like hoof flying directly for his face before the impact sent him spiraling into darkness.
"Wolfgang! Where are you!?" Wilson shouted, wearily plodding on at the head of their group. Above them, Abigail weaved in and out of the trees in search of the man. Despite his best efforts, he got no response.
"At least the trail is easy enough to follow." Willow remarked, gesturing towards the newly-made pathway of broken shrubs. "It looks like a train went through this place."
The scientist shook his head in irritation.
"Why did you have to go and attack it like that?" He demanded, sparing her a very annoyed look. "For all we know, it could have been some kind of sentient species!"
"Oh don't give me that." She replied, rolling her eyes. "It was a freakish pig monster, not an alien. Did you get a good look at it? The thing certainly didn't seem intelligent looking to me."
"Beauty is only skin deep." Wendy commented. "Ugly runs straight to the core."
Wilson groaned, holding the sides of his head.
"I don't know what that's supposed to mean, but I really don't need this right now." He grumbled. "Next time we meet some strange new living being, let me do the talking. I'd prefer if we didn't have to go chasing down stray group members from now on."
Suddenly, Abigail came shooting down towards their position. Their attention immediately locked onto the ghost as she began making her spectral whispers.
"What is she saying?" Willow asked, turning towards Wendy. "Did she find him?"
The bereaved girl frowned, but nodded.
"I think she's saying that Wolfgang is near." She said. "But there's a problem. I'm not entirely sure what, but we should be prepared for a confrontation when we get closer."
With an air of grim determination, they got their weapons of choice ready. Willow and Wendy sported axes, while Wilson pulled out his trusty knife. It wasn't the most impressive weapon but it was far better made then the sharpened rock on a stick that constituted his other cutting tool.
"Lead on." He ordered, following Abigail's lead.
The procession continued forward until the trees started thinning out into a large clearing. It was several time the size of the one that Wilson had met his current companions in, and it was dominated by all manner of incredibly rustic log cabins. Or at least, the impressions of log cabins. If nothing else, they were the proper shape.
This wasn't what caught his eye.
In the center of it all, tied to some kind of obelisk, was Wolfgang. And behind him…
There were many things that could have been said in a moment like that. He could have made an ominous remark about the sheer volume of the figures facing them. He could have made a rallying call to arms, heartening the group for their rescue attempt. He could have even thought of several humorous comments to make about the figure. Unfortunately, Wilson wasn't feeling very poetic at the moment. All he could think to say was…
"That is one fat pig."