Eli, Autumn and Titus managed to stick together on the western front as the crowd of fighters dispersed throughout the trees. They had been given the general rule to keep two trunks between themselves and their neighboring fighters, which allowed them to spread out and cover quite some distance while still maintaining frequent visuals on their nearest allies. Sergeants were spaced out along the edge of the formation, and among their responsibilities were maintaining its shape. More than once they startled at an explosion, yell or other loud noise, but each time it was followed by a shout of "all clear!" or "false alarm!" shortly after.
"This is a waste of time," Autumn groaned loudly, after a few hours of walking, "we should be back at camp while the scouts handle this."
"It's only a waste if nothing happens," Eli called back from up ahead, scanning the woods with his staff at a low ready.
"The best fights are the ones you don't get into," Titus added from her left.
As they traveled, the redwoods grew shorter and wider yet, while the roots bulged against each other and fought for space. The dirt ground dwindled into isolated stretches and patches, leaving no direct path without climbing atop and traversing over the massive roots. After a short distance of jumping from root to root, they grew so densely overlapped that the ground was rarely seen at all, and the adventurers were left walking atop a twisted, gnarled and knotted surface of bark.
The sunlight that filtered through the canopy did so in speckles of light which rarely found a direct path, and a faint, inconsistent glow from the light which had first bounced around the canopy before reaching the adventurers. There was no open ground for understory foliage to grow, which left only empty terrain and stunted redwood trunks to be seen in all directions, and there were fewer bugs and animals, which made the forest eerily still and quiet.
The three party members grouped closer together without acknowledging it, and each of them grew more alert. Though they could see further and hear more, the ominous atmosphere left them disturbed and uneasy. Eli whipped his staff around at the ready as a figure landed amongst them.
"Whoa," the man laughed, holding up both his hands, "I'm with you guys."
He wore a sandy brown tunic crossed with a leather bandolier lined with pouches. His belt held yet more pouches and two small waterskins, and he wore no visible weapons. He had a tan complexion, shaggy, dirty-blonde hair that grew just beyond his ears, and a friendly expression.
Eli lowered his staff and acknowledged the man with an upwards nod, "Eli Silverwood."
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"Cameron Cole," the man replied, lowering his hands, "uh, Sergeant Cameron Cole, I guess."
"You guess?" Autumn asked with a hint of her interrogation voice.
"Yeah," the man laughed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, "I just came here to kill stuff, the sergeant thing kind of happened to me. Never mind that, I'm here to give an update."
The man waited for interruptions, but the others simply exchanged glances.
"Right," Cameron continued, "there's been an incident near the point, our champions were forced to engage a very pissed off owl. They managed to slay it, but one was injured and is on his way back to camp."
"Injured by an owl?" Autumn questioned.
"It was a big owl," Cameron said, "let's keep moving while we talk."
As they walked, Cameron continued, "that's not why I'm here, though. The big issue is that we've lost touch with several scouts northwest of here, including a sergeant. We have scouts searching for them as we speak, but your path is going to bring you near the area where they were last contacted, so remain vigilant and report anything you find."
"Understood," Eli nodded.
"Great," Cameron distanced himself from the others as both his hands reached into pouches on either side of his belt, "see you around."
Before they could see what he pulled from the pouches, Cameron spread his hands out towards the ground beside him and leapt. Explosions blasted from his palms and launched him high into the canopy overhead. The blasts were strangely muted, sounding more like dull pops than explosions.
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Elsewhere in the woods, Iris rapidly blipped between the trees. She stopped to evaluate her surroundings closely as her mana recharged, but she saw more of the same and soon continued. She couldn't see Victoria, who was wafting through the canopy in mist-form, but she trusted that Victoria could see her with her heightened senses. Despite this, she felt alone in the forest.
She heard a voice call out from afar, "hello?"
Her attention shot towards the voice, and she blipped after it.
"Is anyone there?" the voice repeated.
She quickened her pace, sprinting between each blip.
"Please, help me!" the voice cried.
Iris stopped on the edge of a small area of exposed dirt amongst the expansive root-floor of the dense woods. The ground was nearly eight feet below the thick, overlapping roots, forming a crater-like pit. Plant life had taken full advantage of the isolated opportunity, and the space bulged with trees and bushes. She expected to hear chirping bugs or rustling critters within the oasis, but it was still and silent.
"Uh, hello?" she called out.
"Please, help me!" the voice repeated from within the thick foliage. It was soft and androgynous, with an unchanging cadence.
Hair rose on her arms and bumps covered her skin, and an inexplicable sense of vulnerability overtook her. She glanced around, peering across the woods where there were gaps in the trees, but saw no other scouts. She edged closer.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"Hello?" the voice asked.
"Fuck," she said under her breath, fighting back the fear she couldn't explain, "fuck, fuck."
"Please, I need your help!"
"Fuck, fine!" Iris shouted, "I'm coming in."
She looked around for a place to blip, but saw nothing through the thick foliage. With a final swear, she stepped up to the edge of the roots and dropped down into the oasis.