oh noes

Chapter 10

…Why am I bent over like this?
I sit up and stretch my arms. Man, my eyes feel sore…Gods, the sun is concentrating all of its shine on this one spot, I swear…
I must’ve fallen asleep while reading last night. Well, it was a good place to stop anyway, so I’m not exactly complaining…ouch!
Argh…my back feels horrible. Good thing there’s a lot more to explore…I’m sure the pain will go away while I’m out walking around.
I shut Nico’s journal and return it to my bag, grabbing some of the dried fruit while I’m at it. Freeze drying, huh? I guess it’s one of the things they invented…although, I can’t imagine why anyone would want to eat stuff like this…
After folding up the cloth I was using as a blanket, I get up and head out into the snow, stretching again. Making sure to not bend over too much, I break the ice on the Pristine Lake and flinch when I cup some of the freezing cold water in my hands.
…On second thought, maybe it’s not a very good idea to splash this on my face. Just rubbing my hands on my face would do the same thing. There wouldn’t be water on my clothes, too…
I press the palms of my hands against my face, feeling the warmth fade a little. Ugh…I don’t even want to go anywhere today. This sucks…
But, well, the quicker I get this done and over with, the faster I’ll get to just lie down and relax. I’ve got plenty of time, anyway…
I go back inside my makeshift shelter, grabbing my bag and slipping the strap over my shoulder. Woooo…more exploring.
I should leave the squirrel here, on second thought…Wouldn’t want it getting…smooshed or anything. I gently take the squirrel out of my bag and place it on top of the folded tent piece before setting out.
Now that I think about it…why is the squirrel like that, anyway? There’s nothing I can think of that would make the squirrel stay still like that…It doesn’t seem to be sleeping, either.
Unless…it’s magic? But then again, there’s none of it left…well, that’s what the Captain said. Maybe there’s still little bits of it around here. Hmmm…
I guess I won’t really be able to make any solid conclusions without finding more stuff first. Still, though…it’s kind of annoying knowing that I’ll probably take hours upon hours just looking for one thing.
Less complaining, more working, me! Alright, time to think up a to-do list…
First is the pine tree forest down there, because I didn’t get to explore it yesterday. Gotta make sure that I’m prepared to fight anything that comes my way…
Then I’ll take a closer look at the buildings. I probably missed something yesterday, considering how I was just giving everything a quick scan. And I’ll look through the slums, too. See if I can get a little more info on myself.
If I’m not too tired at the end, I’ll search through the Pristine Forest. All I’ve seen from it so far are the trees alongside the path…and that squirrel. I’ll probably find more of those frozen animals if I look closer.
Thinking of the Pristine Forest, it doesn’t look too…damaged. It looks pretty good compared to the town - no massive cracks running through the floor or anything. It’s kind of hard to believe that the Pristine Forest wouldn’t be that affected by the Calamity…
The town itself is also kind of weird. The stalls at the docks looked like they were there for a long time, but the town looked like they had just been hit by the Calamity.
Let’s see…what else can I think of…oh! The normal forest looked almost unaffected, but the further the trees got from the town, the more…dead trees there were. Oh man, that forest was actually pretty big…I might take a week or so to search through all of it…
I pull my journal out of my bag and scribble down my findings before putting it away and carefully making my way down the hill leading to the forest. Don’t wanna trip and fall from here…
Once I reach the bottom, I take a moment to look around and listen for anything unusual. The silence actually makes it pretty easy to hear anything out of the blue, disturbing as it is.
There’s no noise at all, but who knows. Maybe the thing from yesterday is just keeping quiet. In either case, I don’t know where it is, so I’ll have more reasons to worry about whether it’s nearby or not…
On the bright side, there’s a path I can follow! Guess I won’t have to worry about getting lost for a bit. I just hope it doesn’t go on for too long, or else I might not make it back before dark.
This path is a bit cleaner compared to the ones leading to the town and the Pristine Forest. But the strange thing is…these trees.
I guess I didn’t notice it while I was up on that cliff, but some of these trees are tilted. And not in a good way - half of their roots are in the air and not in the ground, where they should be. The dirt looks like it’s been upturned pretty recently, and the trees are still alive…
They look like they could fall over any second. I try lightly pushing one of the trees over, but it doesn’t move. I push harder, I kick it, I even put my entire weight on it and just shove - but it doesn’t move. In what world does that make sense?
Well, maybe Lowell can make a conclusion or two out of it…I chip off a piece of the bark and place it inside my bag. I’ll write this down in my journal when I’m back at my camp.
Eventually, I come to a place where the path splits. There’s no signpost this time, but the path on my left is a lot thinner than the one on my right. This shorter path’ll probably lead to somewhere faster, so I guess I’ll go down this one first.
It doesn’t take long before I see a massive house looming in the distance. The walls are a slightly-stained white, while the wooden beams making up the exterior are a dark brown. The windows are only a little bit dirty, and the door is cracked open.
This would be the perfect place to set up an ambush…or some sort of den…ugh. It gives me shivers just thinking about it.
Be brave, me! I can do it! Argh…
I slow down as I approach the door, listening to the stairs leading to it creak under my feet. The door’s hinges squeal as I gently swing it open.
The inside smells musky, which is a nice change from the smell of death coming from the town. I guess this place belonged to someone who was really rich - not just rich enough to afford a huge house.
Expensive vases filled with slightly wilted flowers line the windowsills, some hang from golden chains on hooks above said windows. Several, gold-framed paintings line the walls, each more detailed than the last. The carpet is intricately decorated with small flowers and bright, swirly patterns.
Even the lights are pretty - the chandelier’s white candles are held in place by the ornate silver. The glass circles around the silver bars, making a sort of vine.
Meanwhile, the stairs are just as grand as the rest of this room. Two marble staircases lead to the upstairs, their railings made of gold and their ends shaped like dragon heads.
I wonder how much all of this cost…and we’re not even past the foyer yet. I feel like a lot of people could’ve used that money, like that fisherman who took care of the kid from the journal. Life really isn’t fair, is it…?
I’ll save the upstairs for later. For now…
I turn to my right, walking through the rooms. There’s a large piano in this room and a lot of big windows looking out onto the path I just walked through. There’s more vases of plants across these windowsills, and a few tapestries hang on the walls.
The next room is the kitchen, which is oddly small for a building this size. I would’ve expected this to be bigger…oh, well.
There’s no extra decorations here aside from the plant dangling above the sink. No fire hazards, I guess? I don’t think I want to search through the cabinets…who knows what critters might be lurking in there.
There aren’t any more rooms past this area, so I head back to the foyer and go left this time. The first room is a dining room with a gold-lined table. A few tapestries hang from the wall here. The candelabras are silver and gold, and the candles seem new.
The second room is a storage room filled with barrels and crates, most likely packed to the brim with food. There’s a thin layer of dust over everything here.
Beyond all of the barrels and crates is a trapdoor that probably leads to the cellar. I open it and take a quick look around…
…aaaaand what was I expecting. Of course it’s filled with loads upon loads of what I can probably assume to be the best wine ever. Argh.
I retreat out of the cellar and decide to head up the stairs this time. It’s really bright up there - especially when all the walls are painted a creamy color.
There are five doorways I can choose from once I’m at the top. The middle one has two elaborately carved doors with silver handles, while the two doorways on either side only have one.
Man, this reminds me of when I explored the Captain’s ship…well, better get going. I walk to the door furthest to my left and open it.
…I’m kind of annoyed at how wealthy these people are at this point. I bet the other rooms are bedrooms, too. Massive, just like this one.
A huge bed lies in the middle of the room, against the wall. The blankets look thick and comfortable, while the velvet red drapes hanging over the bed only add to the dreamy atmosphere of the place. The delicately embroidered pillows are plump and just looking at them makes me want to punch one.
I could go on and on about how nice all of this looks, but I don’t think I wanna stay here anymore…I just feel sort of disgusted now at how much these people are flaunting their wealth. I wouldn’t even feel bad just taking everything from here.
Actually, on second thought, I’m just going to take one of those pillows and one of those thick blankets. There’s not really much point in taking anything else, anyway. I grab the things and stuff them in my bag, under everything else I have in there.
The next room is basically the same, just in a different color and different accessories. I skim over every part of the room, and then move on to the room with the two doors.
On the inside is an extremely large library, filled to the brim with books, plants, and ladders. At the top of every bookshelf is a beautiful painting, each depicting a different background.
As I step inside the library and walk around, I (once again) think about how much the mansion probably cost. Maybe…ten or twenty thousand gold pieces?
There’s a desk here and there with a bunch of writing utensils and paper, but I don’t really feel like taking a closer look. However, when I approach one of the bookcases on the left wall, I see…some sort of stain on the carpet.
…is that blood?
…it probably is.
There’s a huge splatter of blood all over the books and carpet in this area, and some sort of an outline that’s bloodless. I’m guessing someone stabbed another guy to death here and continued to stab him while after he fell down, against the bookshelf…
I don’t feel so good anymore…I’ll check those last two rooms as quick as I can. I don’t want to stay here for too long…
I exit the library and check the next room. It’s another bedroom, which I’m pretty much sick of seeing, so I just close the door and move on. The next door leads to a walk in closet, filled with several different outfits, probably made of expensive stuff. Ugh…
I sigh and exit the room before going to stand at the top of the staircase. I turn around, giving the rooms one more glance, before going down the steps-
Wait.
I feel like these doors should be more evenly spaced…I turn back around.
There’s a bigger space between the second door on the left and the library, and it really annoys me…why, you could fit a smaller closet between those rooms. So…
…but didn’t the wall end just after the doorframe? The bedroom doesn’t take up that space…and from the looks of it, the library is more of a triangular room. There’s an entire area that doesn’t get used over there…
It’s not the same with the second door on the right, though. That side is entirely flat, so why is the left side slanted? I don’t get it…
And I’m also wondering about the area behind the staircase - or, rather, the lack of one. Usually there would be a back door somewhere behind those staircases, right? But there’s only a wall there.
The kitchen and storage room don’t take up that space, though. Nothing uses that space. Did the builders mess up?
I re-enter the library, studying the left wall. The bookcases are in the way, so I can’t get a good look. I glare it for a couple more minutes and then I give up - there’s nothing to see here. I guess it really is just a building flaw…
I descend the stairs and return to the foyer, where I give the area one last scan. Is there anything I missed…nope. Well, I’m outta here…I push the squeaky door open and step out onto the stairs.
It would’ve been nice to camp here, but I don’t feel comfortable enough…I don’t want to sleep in someone else’s house, much less one where some guy was probably murdered. That probably sounds weird, though, considering how I‘ll be sleeping with someone else’s blanket and pillow tonight…
…but, well, those don’t bother me nearly as much as the house itself does. A blanket and pillow on their own don’t really have that much sentimental value compared to a house.
I head back down the path to the place where the original one split and take the other path this time. This one probably leads throughout the entire forest…or at least, past the place where the dead trees start to outnumber the living.
I take a couple more fruit chunks from my bag and shove them into my mouth as I set out. The quicker I get to the end of this path, the faster I can return…argh.
I walk for what seems to be the better part of an hour before I finally see a completely collapsed tree. Woooo, guess I’m finally out of the weird area…
As more and more of these fallen trees show up, I start to hear faint chirps all around me. I guess the wildlife in these areas aren’t affected by whatever affected the town and forest…
A bird soars overhead, flying towards the weird area. I watch it as it goes, happy to see something familiar for once. Ahhh…if only the town was slightly more welcoming-
The bird explodes as soon as it reaches the area. Its bloodied feathers slowly drift to the ground.