It had taken Pupper, Luna and Abraham until the late afternoon to find the hive. And even then, they’d passed by it several times before they’d finally seen the damn thing.

Under the guidance of Luna’s symbiote, they’d been led further towards the edge of the mire - over to where a rocky outcrop had been surrounded by a small thicket of bare pine trees.

The symbiote’s flower had turned to lead them in the correct direction, but even under the guidance of the monstrous flesh, they had still had to rely on their own senses to avoid the many dangers of the wet landscape - the many beasts hiding in the moss, the black pools of unknown depths and, to Abraham’s grand irritation, Pupper’s sudden bursts of speed.

All-in-all, the three were in agreement as they came to a halt outside the thicket that the lands of Longmire were hostile, clammy and uncomfortable. But Pupper’s long nose and empty eyes reminded them that they’d go to a great length to protect those horrific lands - even at great risks for their own safety.

Abraham had adjusted to his life atop the hound’s back and had even begun to find it an enjoyable sensation - his curious hands wrapped around one of the two most beautiful women he’d ever encountered hadn’t had a thing to do with that, he was certain of it. But this adjustment had allowed him to embark from the hound and immediately survey the area with the use of his mind-tricks.

As Abraham felt the air around the thicket, Luna stepped down to make her own conclusions, staring at the trees themselves and the surrounding mires with suspicion. Sure, there were no Monstrum visible then and there, but she knew how quickly that could change as their presence was noticed - she’d been wisened by her past experiences, after all.

Where the symbiote had once been a frightened thing, they were both equally determined in their cause - the need to save Pupper and the rest of the hounds by dismantling this accursed place once and for all.

Luna snuck up to the first of the trees and leaned against it cautiously, staring further into the small patch of trees to eye the large boulder next to what appeared to be a bottomless pit dug into the moss. She raised a foot to take a step closer, only to hear a series of crackling. When she next turned back around, she stared directly into pupper’s long nose and empty eyes.

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“Go back - stay with Abe!” She whispered as the flower withdrew into her back with a shudder.

Pupper cocked her head and, as if to further enhance the look of being cognitively troubled, she opened her mouth to allow her tongue to flop out.

“There’s a lot of gas here. I’m not sure how deep that hole is, but… let’s hope it’s enough to fill that thing.” Abraham spoke, his eyes closed as he fumbled around in the air. It was not lost on Luna that he sounded far less confident now than he had been during the previous evening’s supper. But in the face of the unknown, she could hardly blame him. She, too, felt it as she took the large weapon from Pupper’s saddle.

“I’ll keep you safe while you do your thing, Abe.” At least she could sound confident, but had to admit to not feeling much of it.

From their position between the trees, Luna kept a watchful eye on the massive hole in the ground - finally seeing the initial signs of it being the hive in question. Small strands of red lay intermixed in the surrounding moss - pulsating ever so slightly to her touch, verifying their group’s suspicions.

Abraham sat on his knees and, just as he had when Serah trained him, he had identified the reactive gasses bubbling from the nearby pools. It was difficult from afar - a difficulty that only increased as the pocket of gas grew bigger and after wasting a quarter of an hour by bursting the bubble and spilling the precious gas, he concluded that it was, in fact, impossible.

“I-I’ll need to move around. I’ll need to get closer - it’s too hard to gather it up. It’s coating the pools, but as soon as I start messing with it, it blows away.” Luna did not like this first bout of bad news and, if Abraham would move around too much, she imagined they’d soon get more bad news. But they’d come too far to turn around at the door and, with daylight burning, she accepted and attempted to readjust.

Together, they walked towards the first flatulating pool of black goop and this time, she swore she could see the atmospheric disturbance in the air as Abraham raised his hands to gather something up -concentrating it in the air. It was an odd experience, watching a pocket of air somehow far more clear than the surrounding atmosphere, but her questions would be better left for later.

For just as she’d feared… she’d begun to hear the slithering from the thicket…