>>6158421In an instant, all rational sense is gone. Daniel is forgotten in an instant as you launch into motion and run through the trees, heedless of his startled shout echoing out behind you. “Wait!” you call out as you reach the tree the horned woman had been hiding behind, but she’s already vanished. Desperation burns in your breast as you look frantically around, the bitter taste of logic and reason seeping back into you. With your shoulders slumped and your head low, you return to Daniel.
“What was that all about?” he complains as you sit down opposite him, “I know we’re not cuffed up any more, but that doesn’t mean you can just run off-”
“Were you attacked by a horned woman, earlier?” you interrupt, giving him a sharp look. His initial attempt at lying withers and dies beneath your glare, leaving him speechless.
“...Maybe?” he offers at last, “I didn’t really have much of a chance to check for horns. I was a little bit preoccupied, you know?”
You saw nothing, frowning at him in silence.
“And… I wouldn’t even really say she… attacked me,” Daniel continues awkwardly, “She grabbed me, threw me about like a doll for a bit, then dropped me.”
“Dropped you right where we needed to go.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” he forces a laugh, “Quite the coincidence, right?”
Where one man sees coincidence, another man might see providence.
“Well, it doesn’t matter now, does it?” Daniel concludes, clumsily rising to his feet, “That’s enough sitting around for now. If we make a move now, we should get back home before it’s too late. Should still have plenty of time before it gets dark, but I’m in no mood for taking chances. No chance that you’re getting me to come out here at night!”
You murmur a vague agreement, but you know in your heart that he’s wrong. Night is the only time to see a place like this for what it truly is, the light of the full moon dispelling all illusions. But perhaps he’s not entirely wrong.
Men like him aren’t meant to see the true face of the world.
But you are.
>I think I’m going to close the thread here. I don’t know exactly when I’ll have the next thread started, but it’s going to be in the new year. I’m planning to take a break over the holidays, take some personal time and prepare for the next thread>I hope you’ll stick around, and I’ll be back in action soon! 