The next town is smaller, nestled in a valley. Wirt makes sure to feed his Lantern before leaving the train. It's cold, and he's glad for his cloak as he makes his way towards the town, a trail of frosty footprints leading from the train.

It's early, and hopefully no one is awake to notice that he's come from the Train. Wirt can't see anyone out yet, and the faint dusting of snow on the cobbled streets is free from footprints. It's a good sign. He should find somewhere to wait, maybe gather provisions? Does he need anything? He doesn't seem to need food, and most other things he'd packed before leaving home. Nevertheless, he has to find some excuse for why he's here. He can't exactly walk on in, claim that the Train is safe and leave. It needs to be natural, something that won't draw suspicion… directions! That's it. He can feign being lost, looking for directions. It's certainly something that'll be easy to act, given his previous experience in the Unknown.

—

Wirt heads into the forest near the little village and sits down, leaning against a large fir tree. He tries to gather his thoughts. The last few days had gone so fast, and so much had changed. It's certainly a lot to process. So whilst he waits for the sunrise to wake the village, he lets himself stop and rest. The smell of the trees fills the air. He can hear the distant sounds of birdsong. It reminds him of Beatrice. Last time he'd seen her had been when he cut her wings of and helped her become human again. Wirt shudders at the memory. Despite knowing the scissors were magic, it'd still felt wrong to cut her wings off. It had taken him several tries to get the courage.
Thinking about it now, he never saw where she lived. It'd be a horrible coincidence if she happened to live here. Wirt isn't sure he'd be able to make up an excuse as to why he's back in the Unknown. At least not one she'd believe.

Maybe... maybe this was a bad idea.

Wirt looks back towards the village. He has to pass back through to get to the Train either way. If he passes anyone, then he'll try to change the stories of the Train. If he doesn't then he'll leave it for another time.
Wirt takes a deep breath and heads back towards the village.

—

Naturally he sees people on his way back. A small crowd has gathered, huddled together staring at the Train. They mutter darkly among themselves, faces pale with fear.

"…it's an omen, I'm sure of it…"
"….I heard that it appeared in Asterpine a couple of days ago…"
"…but wasn't the Beast dead? Has he returned once more?…."
"….it took my brother when we were just kids…. and now it's come for me!…."

Wirt tries look as ordinary as possible. He approaches them nervously.
"Greetings! Uh… hello… hi…" He stutters.
All the faces turn to look at him.
This is a bad idea.
Wirt takes a breath. "I'm, uh, looking for directions? Please…?"
They peer at him. Wirt looks down at the cobbled ground and mentally begs them not to notice anything strange about him. The villagers are silent for a while.

Then one steps forward.
"Where are you going, traveler?" She asks in a low voice, "The Beast is about, and I'd advise against travelling far in these times. Do you have a travelling partner? It's dangerous travelling alone, that's how he gets you…"

Wirt sees the opportunity and jumps on it.

"I've been travelling with my brother. We were headed to Pottsfield to meet a friend, when we came across that train up there. It stopped before us, and a girl got out. She said the Train is… under new management. That it's safe now. And uh, it helped her greatly in her travels. She told us that we should catch the train to save time on our journey, but I was still wary. My brother boarded though, and a few days later I found him in the town we'd agreed to meet in. He'd been staying there a while, as the Train had taken him there faster than I could on foot. After that, we parted ways. He boarded the Train again to go ahead, and I was left to travel alone once more."
He's glad he'd had all that improve practise from his school drama lessons.
The old woman's eyes widen at his story. She turns back to the Train, looking at it suspiciously.
"It does… feel different…" She murmurs.
One of the other villagers turns to her, "Gertrude?" He puts a hand on her shoulder. She looks up at him, then at the other villagers who look similarly confused. Gertrude sighs.

"When I was young the Train came to my village. We could all feel the sense of dread, of death, and horror, and crushing despair that radiated from it. But even so, we were curious. We'd heard rumours, of course we had. But they were just rumours, there was no proof. We wanted that proof, badly. Most of all my father. He'd always been the sort to walk into danger in pursuit of knowledge. Once he even ventured into a grove of Edelwood trees to study them- but I'm getting carried away here."

She pauses and takes a shaky breath. Her eyes are wet with tears.

"He boarded the Train. Me and my mother, we watched from just outside. As soon as he stepped inside, the shadows started to twist towards him, pulling at his legs and dragging him further in. It was slow, painful, but we couldn't risk stepping inside too. He turned back to look at us as the Beast claimed it's prey, but there was something horribly wrong. His eyes were lifeless and dull, staring sightless at us while we screamed at the thing that was taking him. He wasn't /him/ anymore, just an empty shell destined to become the seed for an Edelwood."

Wirt feels sick. If something like that had happened to Greg, or his Mum… or even his Stepdad, he can't begin to imagine what he'd do.
Gertrude steps towards him, noticing his expression. She dries her eyes on the edge of her apron, then lifts a hand towards him, grasping one of his hands in her rough, wrinkled ones.
"But if what you say is true, then perhaps there is hope for the future. It certainly feels different from before… this time it feels sad, and lonely… but ultimately harmless."
Sad and lonely, thinks Wirt, if that's not me then I don't know what is.
Interesting to know that the Train appears to broadcast his vague emotional state out for just about anyone to feel. Not something he really wants to happen though.
He meets Gertrude's eyes and nods nervously. "It's true," He says "the Beast is gone. The Train is safe. You don't need to worry anymore." The old woman smiles and grips his hand tighter, "Thank you" she whispers. Then she lets go and turns to the rest of the crowd. They all look like they're struggling to process what happened. Wirt takes the opportunity to slip away to his Train as they begin to discuss amongst themselves.

Only as the Train starts up once more and disappears into the distance does anyone notice that the strange traveller is gone. And that he never even got his directions.

Hello again! It has been forever since I last updated this, and I'm sorry it took so long. I've been very busy, and when I have had time to work on this I've got stuck writing the dialogue. I have however finally finished this chapter, and hopefully I'll have more time to work on the next chapters. It should definitely be easier now I'm past the load of dialouge.

Thank you to the people who have read/favourited/followed/reviewed, I'm glad you like this!

Now that Wirt has told people about the Train, things should start happening. I can't say what things, but I can say that the more people hear about the Train, the more awkward interactions Wirt's going to end up having.

— Pottsfield CM