The cries for help only continued. They were loud, obnoxious, and they irritated the hell out of Sloane. She wanted whoever was making all that racket to shut up. She would never be able to scare unsuspecting children if the voice continued to cry out for help. It continued to lure individuals away from where she stood. That voice, whoever it belonged to, was stealing her potential victims.

After several minutes, the voices seemed to only get louder. It was luring all of her victims away and quite frankly, Sloane was now pissed. She hadn’t come out into the woods in order to just stand in the dark like a dumb ass. She was here to scare.

So in an attempt to shut up the cries for help, Sloane began to move towards the voice, allowing it to lead her through the forests. She would find whoever was making all that racket and ask, no demand, that he or she cease the ruckus. After all, she was here for the thrills and the scares.

However, several minutes into her journey, Sloane stops almost abruptly. She swore she saw this odd looking tree before. The way its trunk curved was distinctive. There was no doubt in her mind that she had seen it before. Had she taken a wrong turn? She didn’t think she had. After all, how can you make a wrong turn when you’re only going straight to begin with?

And then the fog rolls in. It creeps closer to her, enveloping her in a misty fog that seems to fill her lungs like smoke. She coughs back the mist, not at all liking the way it made it hard for her to breathe. And now, instead of cries for help, there are wails and cries of the undead. And in a split second decision, Sloane had made her decision. "Fuck this shit."



Sloane chooses to stay.

The call for help is something Katniss cannot ignore. Not only because it was her duty to protect her court (who knew? Maybe the voice belonged to someone within Denocte), but because it is the moral thing to do. She cannot just stand back and ignore a cry for help, citizen of Denocte or not. She has to render aid. To do otherwise would be a sin.

She carries her body with erect posture, her eyes scanning the forest as her ears pick up the cries and she follows them. She allows her body to weave in and out of the trees, although something causes her to stop only for a moment. She can see a similar tree and for the briefest of moments, she wonders if she is going in circles. She knows this forest like the back of her hand and she knows this particular tree can only be found once. She is going in circles…but how? Was something playing with her mind?

And then the dog rolls in, slow at first but then quick. In no time, she is surrounded by a thick fog that she can hardly see in. She still hears the cries for help, amongst the other voices that begin to fill the air. It takes her a moment to single out the cries for help, to hone in on the one she had set out to help. But eventually, she ignores all else except the need to protect. With a deep breath, she steps forward. Now she has to rely on her knowledge of the forest and the cries for help to help her navigate through the fog.

Katniss chooses to continue forward

Rhone has always made sure he looks like the composed individual who is scared of nothing. He finds that if he appears calm, cool, and collected, then so does everyone else. If he begins to show his fear, then panic sets in and all will be lost from there. So not unlike any other day, Rhone is trying to appear as though nothing is bothering him, that he is not scared.

But truth is, he is terrified. He hates being in the forest alone because he knows what lives in dark forests. He knows there are things out there that can harm him, that he is probably safer by the lake than in the forest. And yet, the cries for help do not stop. They do not quiet. He knows he needs to continue forward in order for his conscious to be clear. If he does nothing and the cries for help are replaced with the silence of a body, Rhone could never forgive himself.

So even as the fog begins to roll in, Rhone knows that he must continue forward. He knows that somewhere there is someone asking for aid. He hopes it is real, but he knows it could be a trap. So even as he tries to sort through all the different cries and wails, he continues forward. He doesn’t let the calls of the dead rattle him, his inability to see to falter his steps. He continues onward just as he has been, even though every bone in his body is begging for him to run.

Rhone chooses to go forward.

The fog is already starting to roll in. It’s thick and Kibou cannot see anything in front of him. He bumps into tree after tree, trying his best to navigate in an area he is unfamiliar with. He keeps telling himself that eventually, he will find his mother or he will find the voice that calls out for help. Perhaps it is someone he can help. Perhaps he won’t be too young or too little to render aid. He wants to help, he knows he needs to.

But as the fog grows thicker, Kibou begins to lose the voice calling out for help. It is replaces with the cries of others, but they are more like wails than anything. The voices are all around him and he looks around to see if he can see anyone. But he sees nothing, only the light from his orb refracting off the fog. It blinds him, making it even harder to see. Saki seems to understand Kibou’s fears and she tries her best to comfort her bonded. But she’s scared too and she doesn’t know what to do.

Kibou stands there for a moment, wishing that he could still hear the cries for help. Did he fail the individual? Was the caller dead? The thoughts that ran rampant in his brain were far too dark than someone as small as he should ever have to entertain. But Kibou is smart. He knows that if he continues forward, he will be the one crying for help. And so, he stays still, hoping and praying that the fog will lift and the cries of the ghosts will stop.

Kibou chooses to stay.