Camp Lily

Day 3 - The Girl?

Three days into the camping trip, and Gumi, Lily, and kokone were both hungry and worn out. They hadn't properly eaten for an entire day, and their survival instincts were constantly in high gear. They refused to eat any of the expired food from back in the cabin, and they didn't trust the berries in the forest. Perhaps if Lily had done the most basic research before setting out into the forest for five days, she would have been able to recognize the fruits.

Nobody knew the time, and Lily failed to read the sun's place in the sky. From how hot and dry the day had become, you might not have known it stormed at all. It had to have been sometime in the afternoon, since there wasn't a shred of darkness in the sky.

Once they were sure the Indefinable Shadow Beasts were no longer following them, the trio stopped to sit down. They sat beneath a large tree that shaded them from the sun, giving them a much-needed coolness after hours of running. Oddly enough, they did not run into any woodland creatures on their trek. It didn't seem like the ISBs wanted anything to do with the animals. Such creatures did not need to consume other living beings, so nobody could say for certain what their motivation was.

"Never thought I'd see a demon with my own eyes," Lily drew a heavy breath and sat against the tree.

"Me neither, and that might not be the last of 'em!" Gumi added.

kokone had not said a word for the past hour. Her friends figured her fear had taken all the words right out of her. In actuality, she had worn her voice out from screaming so much, and did not want to worsen the pain in her throat.

"We're gonna be okay," Lily assured her friends. "We just gotta get some help. We'll all be out of these crazy woods in no time!"

Gumi and kokone wanted to believe their leader, they really did, but everything seemed so dire. Staying optimistic during such a time took a lot of effort they were not willing to give. There were only three of them, and they were unarmed and incapable of self-defense. If any creatures like the ISBs were to attack them again, they would not stand much of a chance. They needed to get out of the Execrated Forest and fast.

By the time the girls stood up from where they sat, the daylight was already beginning to dim. "We need to find shelter before it gets dark out," Lily told her crew of two. If fairytales and rumors were true, ghosts and demons were likely to be most active at night. Not to mention, they still had that wild cat to worry about.

"Do you think it was Ring that attacked us before?" asked Gumi on the subject of the wild cat.

"Not possible. She was bound to that cabin, remember?" Lily reasoned.

"Are you sure? Maybe she's bound to the whole entire forest. Or worse... the whole entire country!"

kokone shivered at Gumi's theory, but didn't make anything more than a peep. The soreness in her throat did not allow her to say much more than that.

Continuing down the beaten-up path that sat in the middle of the dirt, the travelers made their way to a clearing. The trees parted and the path guided them up a hill, where mountains and massive treetops could be seen in the distance. On top of the hill, something remarkable appeared. Gumi and Lily gasped in delight when they saw a tiny ranger cabin at the end of the path.

"A ranger cabin! I didn't know this forest had a ranger!" Gumi sped up to reach the front door.

"I didn't, either. I thought it was abandoned," Lily was puzzled, but did not want to taint their newfound good luck. With kokone following behind her, she hurried to the door with Gumi.

The cabin was much smaller than the one in the woods, but much less haunted. The living room had an unfinished ceiling with the rafters still visible. A stone fireplace, a tiny bed, and a large trunk made up the inside of the house. A tiny white roomba rested on top of the trunk, but did not look recently used. Aside from a bathroom, the cabin only had one room. It wasn't easy to get lost in there.