Human eyes don't normally glow. And humans bleed blood, not oil. Wirt knows both these things, but wishes he didn't. Because denial is the best option, the only option in his mind. He refuses to be that. As long as no-one sees his blood, as long as he can make his eyes appear human, he can keep up his act.
But when he finds small tree saplings growing out of his head, it gets harder.
He tries cutting them off (luckily it doesn't hurt) but they grow back overnight. He starts to wear hats more, whenever there is an excuse to. His hair mostly hides the saplings, but it won't stay that way forever. Days go by, but nothing helps.
Eventually it seems there is no choice. At least he'd tried... but it's unavoidable. Wirt refuses- absolutely REFUSES to go back to the Unknown. It was a traumatic experience, and one he's not keen to re-live. If he has to go, he'll go somewhere else, anywhere else, and work this out...but... can he really? Can he really leave behind everyone he loves for who knows how long? And if he does find a solution, how'd he explain himself when he returns? How can he just- just leave, how can he-
Wirt stops.
Breathes.
He has no choice. The saplings will grow no matter how much he wills them not to.
So he leaves that night. Out the door, to the graveyard, over the garden wall. He glances towards the river before starting to follow the train tracks. For a while everything is calm. It's pitch black (the dark clouds make it impossible to see the stars), but the light of his eyes is enough for him to see the tracks. The silence is broken occasionally, by an owl, by a fox, but otherwise it's quiet. Wirt stops to pull his poetry book out of his bag, and starts writing when he is interrupted by a creepy, broken up tune. It's familiar but... he can't remember ever hearing it. Spooked, Wirt looks around for the source, which is when he notices two lights glowing in the distance, horribly reminiscent of the Beast. He freezes in panic. Soon he can hear a train thundering down the tracks, and he throws himself to the side, into the wet leaves and grass of the forest floor. As it draws nearer it starts to slow, before screeching to a halt in front of him. Wirt takes a hesitant step forward and peers inside. The train is empty inside, lit by soft candlelight. The seats are worn, rust red velvet. As though in a trance he steps inside and collapses into a seat, exhausted. ...It seems safe enough, and it would be so much quicker than walking. The train starts moving again, and soon Wirt drifts off to sleep.
He wakes up as the early morning sunlight shines through the dusty windows, filling the room with golden-orange light. Mind hazy from sleep he looks around. A train...? Why is he- oh right! A train...! Looking back on it now he's not sure if it was the best idea to get onboard. He doesn't even know where they're headed, and he should probably check. Slowly, he stands up and goes through the door to the next carriage- it's empty. So is the next. And the one after, and after that. Eventually he reaches the drivers carriage. Should he knock? He doesn't want to disturb the driver, that could lead to all sorts of train accidents and even... he doesn't want to think about it. At the very least they would be annoyed. So instead he sits outside the door and waits.
The day wears on, and the train still hasn't stopped anywhere. The train driver hasn't announced anything yet either, which is what Wirt had been hoping for. His unease grows and it seems that he has no choice. Wirt takes a deep breath and knocks quietly on the door. Silence. He tries knocking louder. Still silence. Hesitantly, he pushes the door open and steps inside the drivers carriage. It's empty. It's completely empty. There's no-one to be seen, anywhere in the carriage. There's no one driving the train. THERE'S NO-ONE DRIVING THE TRAIN OH NO IT'S GOING TO CRASH I KNEW THIS WAS A BAD IDEA I NEED TO DO SOMETHING BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DRIVE A TRAIN, WHY WOULD I, I'M NOT A TRAIN DRIVER, OH NO WHAT SHOULD I- Wirt freezes as he notices a bend in the track, then braces himself for impact. As the train gets to the bend it starts to... turn itself, and soon they are past the bend and Wirt can breathe again.
He stares in shock at the leavers and buttons, grown over with moss but yet somehow working on their own. He has a bad feeling about this. He has a very bad feeling about this. Without the panic of finding the train driverless Wirt is finally able to look around properly, and he notices his surroundings are all too familiar. There are branches twisting up the walls and across the ceiling. They look suspiciously like Edelwood, and together with the creepily empty carriages...he isn't in the Unknown now...is he? He'd left it far behind him. He'd stayed away from that river since Halloween. But there is something, something that feels like the Unknown, something that feels like...home. This isn't the Unknown, he's almost sure it isn't. It feels more like a sort of...halfway point. That would actually make some sense. After all, he and Greg had almost got run over by a train just before they entered the Unknown, and he'd heard talk of a train a few times while he was in the Unknown. A thought pops into his head. Would he possibly have some control over the train? After all, the Beast had control over the Unknown, over the plants and the black turtles. And although he'd rather ignore his current...status, he is the new "Beast". Wirt is not really sure what to think of the possibility, so instead he goes back to the passenger carriage, sits down, and tries his best to calm down.