Ello ello. we're arm searching!

Armour: Victide Armour (Ranger)

Weapon: [UNUSABLE]Mandible Bow (Jester Arrows); Arkhalis

Acc(11/11): Band of Regeneration, Amidas Spark, Sailfish Boots, Luxor's Gift, Ocean Crest, Counter Scarf, Crown Jewel, Tsunami in a Bottle, Frog Leg, Aero Stone, Shield of the Ocean

Health: (400/400)

"... we're working together and you won't tell me your name?"

The Experiment paused momentarily as if considering whether to speak to her or not. He was completely covered up, but despite his closed visor, she swore she could see the little gears spinning feebly in his head. Ultimately, the little gears overheated and gave up. The Experiment turned away from her and continued to silently trudge through the brush, ploughing their path through the undergrowth. She chuckled darkly as she followed in his wake, paying special attention to not put undue strain on her body. She was already pushing herself to the limit and taking a fall in The Sea King's castle certainly wasn't good for her structural integrity. Her poor shins were aching like nothing before. Her only consolation was that although The Experiment didn't talk much, she found that harassing him was quite entertaining.

"So what am I supposed to call you then? What did The Guide call you? Why won't you say? Are you embarrassed about your name or something?"

"..."

The change in him had been shocking. Only yesterday, The Party Girl had been certain he would kill her - and now she was comfortable enough to openly jab at him without fear of reprisal (she felt he didn't understand most of what was said, but that was beside the point). Ever since she had mentioned she'd try and get The Guide to a hospital and somebody might shock him out of his coma, The Experiment had immediately become far more courteous.

Or, at least, he was trying his best to be courteous. All of his hostility evaporated and he treated her with a distant sort of respect. Although he continued to give off a strange, even terrifying aura, The Party Girl determined he was ultimately a simple creature whom she could easily make her ally - even if The Guide ended up dying. Besides, although she hated her own parents, she did feel sympathy for the now orphaned experiment...

Because without The Capitol's Head Physician, there's no way they can fix The Guide... Hell, I doubt they can even slap a bandaid on someone without her help... but The Experiment doesn't need to know that. All he needs to know is that I'm his friend, and I "tried"...

Perhaps pity contributed to her staying here. Perhaps there was even a little bit of guilt... but mostly, she was here because she needed The Experiment's nose to find Amidas. And she needed to find Amidas so she could rend that slimy fishman's head from his body. She was already imagining how she would present his corpse to The King. Should she mount the head on a plaque? Perhaps she would have the entire body taxidermied and preserved? Would it be more poetic to drag it in raw? Perhaps she should quarter it and present it on a silver platter?

hmmm... I like the plaque idea...

Thoughts of such an achievement (and of the ensuing rewards) made her head spin with glee. But, she mustn't get ahead of herself. The current mission was to retrieve The Experiment's arm, after which she would spend a few days to fully heal - and they'd head off to find whatever hovel The Sea King had run off to. It was possible Amidas had already reached The Resistance, but it was more likely he was still travelling. After all, there were Imperial patrols at every major highway, and a fish man on land wasn't exactly the most stealthy and agile creature.

I just need to find him before the patrols do... And to do that... I need to find this stupid arm... does this guy think it's going to reattach or something? Agh. Whatever.

She sighed and focused her eyes forward at The Experiment's swaying cloak. He was marching ahead of her, oftentimes stopping and waiting for her to catch up. The rough terrain of the forest seemed inconsequential to him. He sort of glided over jagged rocks, protruding roots, and even lifted over embankments without even dropping his pace. It was strange seeing him move about so weightlessly - as if he'd blow away in the wind at any moment - but she was getting used to that as well. As a soldier who had seen an abundance of strange and unnatural things, it was common for her to simply accept oddities she had no understanding of. She wasn't an intellectual. 'Not Knowing' didn't bother her.

The Experiment had stopped and waited for her to catch up. She snarked out her next quip as she walked behind him.

"Okay fine, so since you're not telling me your name, I guess I'll just have to give you a name - right? Is that what you're trying to communicate?"

"..."

He didn't respond, but she knew he'd heard her. She saw him raise his head from The Arms Dealer's trail and glance back at her with that stupid, blank look in his eyes. Still, he didn't stop walking and she didn't stop following. The Experiment trudged onwards as he effortlessly tracked The Nurse and The Arms Dealer through the dense forests. He seemed quite confident in his steps, as if the path was broad and clearly marked. Hopefully he could do the same with Amidas' comparatively older trail.

I just hope it doesn't rain before then... I wonder if he can track scents through the rain?

She sighed as she carefully clambered over a fallen tree trunk, digging her clawed shoes into the soft wood to step up and over the barrier. They had already been walking for an hour at a relatively brisk pace, and it didn't take long for The Party Girl to realize they were rapidly leaving The Crimson. The air was sweeter here. The grass was dull looking, but still green and peppered with small field flowers; the trees above sported with green leaves which rustled in the eastbound breeze. If she weren't so concerned about choosing something inappropriate to name her new, strange companion, she might have appreciated these things... but alas.

"Okay, I got one. Ready?"

She huffed as she landed on the other end of the barrier and limped after The Experiment. Thankfully he stopped and waited for her to catch up and christen him. Something she was quite eager to do.

"If you don't tell me your actual name, I'll just call you Bitchface. How about it?"

"..."

The poor man just cocked his head and observed her carefully from behind the slats in his visor. Only now did it became apparent to her that he had no idea he'd just been insulted. Was he seriously considering it? Evidently so, because after a long moment of deliberation, he fixed her with that blank, dead-eyed expression and nodded gravely.

"That's fine."

"Ah... that's it? How boring."

"What?"

She rolled her eyes and waved at him, indicating he should continue following the trail (he was more than happy to oblige). Meanwhile, she continued to scan the undergrowth for heat and movement. She was certain that The Arms Dealer had taken The Arm with him as he and The Nurse fled The Compound; they must have done one of three things: Either they had decided to keep The Arm, they had dropped it somewhere, or they destroyed it.

I doubt they took it with them. They were running from The Experiment, so they wouldn't want to give him a reason to chase them... I just hope they didn't manage to burn it or something...

The Party Girl was betting on option two. The Experiment would follow the path, she would seek out The Arm with her heat sensing vision. However, the further they got from the lifeless Crimson, the more difficult this would be for her. She was already seeing all manner of small creatures scurrying about in the undergrowth, and lots of them were looking very hand-like. One turned out to be a family of rabbits, another was a squirrel at a strange angle, and still another was a-...

She blinked and squinted as the heat signature of something large and lumbering suddenly appeared in her peripheral. A bear? No. It was moving quickly towards them and The Party Girl hurried after The Experiment. She shouted at him.

"Hey, hey! What the hell is that!"

The Party Girl stumbled forward and grabbed the back of The Experiment's cloak, wrenching him around. She twisted to pointed at the signature - which slowly emerged as a large unnatural shape crawling between the thick tree boughs. What could it be? She had failed to notice it earlier for it's body temperature was low - closer to that of a recently slain corpse than any living thing. Nevertheless, she swore she saw a litany of pumping organs flashing from between the leaves and the trees.

"Look, right there, do you see that?! It's coming for us!"

Her breath instinctively grew fast as the lumbering something continued to approach them. It was moving quickly now, eating up the ground faster than a man could run. It barreled through the forest like a cannonball, snapping the tree boughs and crushing the shrubs in it's path. The Party Girl couldn't help but to stare as it came further into view. Something about it looked terrifyingly human, yet it moved like a massive misshapen insect.

Oh god.

Was this one of The Crimson monsters? No, she had seen several taxidermied in the Capitol museum before. None looked even remotely like this! They had all been skinny, emaciated creatures that were never much larger than their original bodies. This thing was massive! Even in her prime she doubted she could take on such a monstrosity, how in the world was she going to fight it off now?! She was badly injured and armed with nothing but a handful of throwing knives and a garrote wire.

Shit! Okay... okay, we need to get away... um-

The Experiment shared none of her panic. He dismissively brushed off her grip on his cloak and turned back towards the trail he'd been tracking. The tone of his voice was quite flat, but as she became more acquainted with him, she learned to pick out certain modulations in his speech. Right now, he was mildly annoyed. She met his annoyance with open panic.

"It's The Travelling Merchant."

"Bitch, what sort of Travelling Merchant is that?! That's a monster!"

"..."

The Experiment looked at her, then turned to peer at where she was pointing. Clearly he had identified the monster by scent rather than sight. After a moment, he appeared taken aback.

"Oh."

" Oh'?" She mimicked him mockingly, then immediately became serious. As much as it pained her to admit, she really couldn't escape without The Experiment's help. Could he fly, maybe not - but at least he could run. She had watched him holding thousand pound logs in a single hand without any visible effort, so he was going to carry her and flee.

"Okay Mister... Bitchface, We need to run! I can't fight that thing right now, and it outspeeds me, so I need you to- Where the hell are you going!"

He hadn't been listening to her. She swore she heard him mutter "It Grew", before vanishing before her eyes and appearing at the bottom of the hill to face down The 'Travelling Merchant'. He leapt at it with his blade drawn, and began to hack at The Monster with the sloppiest swordsmanship she had ever seen. (Did he teach himself?! What is that!)

In any case, The Party Girl didn't stay to watch. She fled the other way, climbing the hill as fast as her injured frame would carry her. From the forest beneath, semi-human roars rang out. There was the noise of screaming. The noises of flesh rending beneath steel and bone splitting under blows. Was... were the noises getting closer? She turned to look over her shoulder with mounting apprehension.

Fuck!

The Travelling Merchant had cleared the trees. It was a terrible sight, almost a paralyzing one. Nearly twelve feet tall and covered in limbs, bone shards, and all manner of open wounds, that lumbering thing was nothing like The Party Girl had ever seen. It might have been human at one point, but had swelled to such a degree that limbs grew limbs, teeth grew teeth, and skin and muscle piled upon itself like the most grotesque cancer imaginable. What sort of terror was this?! Even Crimson Monsters weren't this bad!

How the hell did it grow so much! What was feeding it!

She had little time to contemplate. The Experiment was standing on its back and uselessly slapping it with his blade. Strangely, the creature ignored him. It behaved as if he weren't there at all. Instead, all two hundred of its hungry eyes were fixed on her as it dragged its massive bulk up the hill. That thing was coming for her with its mouths wide open and salivating a yellow, caustic substance. When it arrived, it would devour her whole.

So, with terror straining her heart, she put her head down and ran.

And when she heard something crack in her ankle, she continued to run, because she could smell the stink of that disgusting creature gaining on her.

Up and up, she made her hobbling escape with The Travelling Merchant snapping at her heels. She didn't dare look behind her. She fixed her eyes at the top of the hill and made everything in her strain towards the crest. If she got there, she reasoned, then surely she might survive. Perhaps there was a hole she could drop into? Perhaps some trees in which she could hide. What a disaster... is this even real? This feels like a fever dream.

Dream or not, she had to survive. She shut her eyes, made a quick prayer, and ran for all she was worth. Her breath came in short, straining bursts. Her heels beat against the ground in tandem with her heart.

And when the ground beneath her ended.

She was certain her heart had stopped as well.

She didn't even have time to scream before she was swallowed by the deep blue waters.

He felt like he'd been here before.

No, he was certain of it. He had seen this exact house. It was the one he had stumbled upon last ...morning? evening? He wasn't sure. It was a strange structure. Blocky and perfectly geometric as if put together by an infant - but crafted with the engineering prowess of a master sculptor. But instead of a single house, there were now five, and what appeared to be a miniature castle as well.

What is this place... is... is it safe? Have I been here before? I can't remember.

The Compound seemed empty, but it was difficult to tell. The mists were thick and rancid and they made his eyes water, but The Merchant was certain he saw a light glowing faintly from one of the building's outlines. He hesitated before approaching and carefully considered his position. He was trespassing, yes, however there was this undeniable feeling within him that he was in the right place. It was 'correct' for him to be here. He was drawn here as if by some powerful compulsion...

But what a terrible place this was!

Why did I even come here?! Shouldn't I be fleeing?

Yet even as these thoughts passed through his mind, his feet carried him through the haze and across that vicious looking field. The grass was mottled and discoloured, halfway calcified and halfway consumed by a strange red substance which formed vicious fang-like spines in the turf. They crunched beneath his boots and tugged at his pants-legs as he made his way towards the door of the lighted house. A chill scurried down his spine as he stared at the wooden door. The metal handle was cold against his palm. As he stood there, with evil grass twisting over his boots and a horrid stench coating his throat, he fought back his compulsion for a brief moment of lucidity.

This is wrong! Why can't I remember anything? I need to get away from this place! This place is dangerous!

He shouldn't be here. It felt like... it felt like death. Not anyone's death - his death, right here, in this house... His body remembered this place, his flesh feared was terrified.

But of course, he'd never died before. Such a thought was pure foolishness. Utter foolishness...

Still, he trembled bodily where he stood. No matter how he encouraged himself, the apprehensiondidn't leave his mind, yet neither was he free to run form this place! He was stuck. Pulled one way by his dread and in the other by the hand of destiny. There was a war raging in his members and-

*Shffff... shfff*

Something.

Something behind him.

*Shhffff...*

Growing. Emerging. He could hear it. He could feel its inhuman gaze piercing holes on his back.

Every hair on his body stood on end. His skin crawled as that chill spread from the top of the head to the soles of his feet. Oh, that something was sprouting tall from the ground. He could hear vines snapping, the dirt moving, and the grass writhing. What could it be? Some horrible creature which would tear him asunder? A great wicked plant which would bash him to pieces? The Merchant was too terrified to even look. With great effort, he fought back his dread of the 'death house' and wrenched open the door, barreled inside and slammed it shut behind him. As he fell into a frenzy barricading the front door with every piece of (worryingly familiar) furniture he could lay his hands on, voice echoed from the other side.

It was an ancient, otherworldly voice, seemingly made of rustlings and whistlings and overlapping mutterings. The sounds of the wind. The moanings of trees creaking against each other. The chitter of insects. The drone of the wild.

Yet what was uttered was so utterly pedestrian, that The Merchant was certain he must be dreaming.

"My, My so sorry for startling you, my dear. I did not mean to. Sometimes I forget humans can only see in the direction they are facing."

"...p-pardon?"

Party Girl: MisterBitchface, do you mind passing the strawberries?
Slayer: *passes the strawberries*
Guide: (oh lords, my children have learned to cuss)

uwu

I always have a ton of notes in my head when I come to the end of a chapter, then forget all of them when it comes time to write them all out. Same with chapter titles. I will randomly be sitting around and think of a really cool sounding title - which is inevitably forgotten by the time I sit down to name the chapter lmao.

Notes: The Travelling merchant only got so big because the Crimson parasite that posessed him was feeding on The Terrarian first -so it got supercharged. Rip PartyGirl. Also The Slayer has stupid sword skills. if The PG survives i might make her teach him.