It doesn’t make sense to Astrid. None of her questions were directly answered, instead more popped up in her mind after her conversation with the Ent. Even the Ent didn’t understand what the creature was. No real help given. The stories she heard of the Ents don’t line up to what she just experienced today. They are meant to be calm, wise, and straight to the point. This Ent was all over the place while talking to her.

From what the Ent told her, hope that Arkane is still alive is gone in her heart, but she wants to persevere. The Ent knew a lot but also kept a lot of information away from her. Clearly testing her to see if she would be strong enough to be helpful to them. Or weak enough to not hurt them?

The snake's constant weaving matches the anxious feeling building in her chest.

“I’m going to have some bread and cheese if that’s okay,” Astrid says out loud to the snake. Watching it weave back and forth, entranced, until she realizes that the snake won’t respond to her.

Astrid removes her bag and pulls out the clothed cheese and bread. Using the dagger to cut them into one small slice each. They’ve got to be rationed. The sliced bread and cheese are placed in her mouth as she slides the dagger back into its sheath in the belt loop. The bag swings onto her back, wincing when it slams on her bruise. Her arm gets stuck in the cloak. The snake is still winding away at her feet. Not my enemy she reminds herself while swinging the cloak around to get the bag underneath it. Slightly stuck and tangled.

The snake is moving faster, and it causes her heart to beat fast in the same rhythm. When she finally gets the bag snug underneath the cloak, Astrid grabs the bread and cheese out of her mouth while biting into it.

“Okay, let’s go. Lead me.” Astrid says impatiently through chews.

The snake darts ahead and into the woods. Astrid begins to follow the snake. With one last look at the Ent, she steps into the woods. Only a meadow sits where the large tree was a moment before. Astrid raises her hand up towards the meadow. Focusing on the magic in the air. Trying to feel the vibrations of the spell or whatever is placed in this area. Nothing there that Astrid can pick up yet.

The cheese and bread are dry in her mouth. It’s unpleasant but it’s something. It stopped the subtle shaking in her body due to hunger. As much as Astrid hates that she ever was in the institution, she misses the structure. The structure of food provided. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It wasn’t the best food, but it was something.

Astrid’s mood lifts slightly as the food settles in her stomach. The snake weaves through bramble and pokes back out onto a clear path for Astrid to walk through. This brings her joy. It’s like a game for them both. The snake is entertaining herself due to Astrid’s small strides, but this is entertaining Astrid as well.

Will the snake poke out behind the boulder covered in moss? The quivering ferns? Or the large tree? Astrid tries to predict where she will come out of. The snake pokes out from under some roots with a bulge now sitting in its long body. It’s as though they were snacking while walking through a forest together. Slithering and walking.

Astrid wants to be grossed out, but the snake waited, albeit impatiently, for her to get herself ready. The snake now moves at a slower pace. Astrid chewing on her bread and cheese in a less rushed manner since they are both digesting something now.

“Want me to pick you up?” Astrid asks, the snake must know what she’s saying right? How else do the Ents know what’s happening if the creatures don’t know words?

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The snake spaces itself away from Astrid in response. Not wanting to get near her in case Astrid wants to test her luck. The purple snake is highly dangerous if it were to take a bite out of defence. The Ent instructed her to keep Astrid from harm's way if possible, including the snake itself.

Since the snake moves so slowly, Astrid is staring down at it for most of their trek through the forest. Especially since it keeps disappearing into crevices. This time the snake slides into a hole in the ground and Astrid stares at it while continuing to move forward, she tries again to guess where she’ll come up from.

HISSSSSSS

Astrid jumps back nearly stepping on the snake that came out from a place unknown to her. The snake has moved her head above the ground in a defensive way. The forest is dark, and Astrid doesn’t see what the snake is alarmed by. She keeps stepping back as the snake weaves backwards as well.

The forest is too dark. Astrid pulls the dagger out. There are obvious outlines of bramble, trees, boulders, and ferns but nothing incredibly detailed or new. The snake moves closer to her and the lump in her body quivers. With intense focus and adrenaline pumping through Astrid’s veins, she notices it. The black ooze is covering ferns, tree trunks, mushrooms, bramble, and even up to the leaves in the lower canopy of trees. It’s faint and hard to notice but that’s what the snake is reacting to. They can’t be where Arkane went missing since they haven’t gotten super far into the woods yet. They haven’t even met the lake where Astrid was hoping to fill up on water.

Astrid holds her breath in anticipation. There has to be something more. The snake starts regurgitating its meal. The stress and the movement must have gotten to her. Astrid feels her stomach start to weaken at the site of the snakes still twitching meal. Is it alive? Or reacting to the ooze? It’s hard to tell what it even is.

Something is breathing hard. Astrid looks down at the snake and she’s shaking. The breathing gets fast and louder. It comes from the ooze. Both Astrid and the snake move backwards and behind a tree. Unable to run–curiousity and fear fixing them in their spot.

A deep growl resonates from the black ooze.

The shape of a large beast begins to appear through the trees next to where they thought it was coming from. It looks like a black bear with horns like a goat sticking directly out of its forehead. Sharp and long canines stick out from the longer than normal snout. Even the claws themselves are abnormally lethal.

Astrid wants to run and hide, but the snake chooses to attack. It slides drunkenly forward–still uncomfortable and weak from throwing up lunch. The beast sees her immediately. Dodging the snakes' bites with swiftness. Astrid grips the tree in front of her. Heart filling with worry for the poor thing. It must believe that this beast is what’s haunting the woods. The beast scoops the snake like a string by its claw and flings it away. Astrid hears her body fall through a bush.

The beast stiffs the air aggressively again. Stepping slowly closer towards Astrid. Claws sliding across the ground, creating deep divots in the dirt. Astrid stands solid as ever. Staring into the bark. Breath held captive in her chest. The cloak blocks off her scent for the most part but the snake left a trail of where it came from. Exposing Astrid to the attention of the beast.

Sounds of the breathing steady. Astrid looks around and the animal is right in front of her. Eyes locked on her.

Astrid's eyes grow wide. She pushes herself away from the tree and the beast. Stumbling backwards. The game of prediction with the snake has made the path back to the Ent clear in her mind. The beast roars as she turns around to run. Spit covers the back of Astrid's cloak.

Her feet take her forward quickly through the forest. She pushes through bramble. Cuts form quick on her hands. Roots snag her feet down. It doesn’t stop her. The beast is growling and following her fast. Fear drives Astrid straight to the Ent.

When she arrives, she continues running into the meadow. The Ent doesn’t reappear. Astrid tries to feel the magic. The air is thick with static. She goes towards the base of where the Ent was, and her hands begin to burn the facade away. The beast is now at the line of trees. Growling at her. Head low. Ears flat.

The beast lunges forward and a wall of fire bursts between them as Astrid screams out.