In the woods with no one around...

[waterfell]

[The forest is dense enough to inhibit light, leaving a dappled pattern of shadow on the ground as the thin sun filters through the leaves. There are no obvious landmarks, but Mercury walks purposefully, as if she knows the way

Comments

[pulsingrainbow]

[Vanille looks around as she wanders around the dark forest. Where is she this time?

She perks up all of her senses as she would do in a dangerous forest on Gran Pulse and pulls out her staff to have it at the ready.]

Hellooooooo?

[waterfell]

[The noise is hardly subtle and Mercury turns sharply, sword leading.]

Who's there?

[She lowers the weapon only when she recognizes Vanille.

... Vanille? Then this is...?]

[pulsingrainbow]

[She sees Mercury and bounds over to her]

What a scary dream!

Are you okay?

[waterfell]

[A dream. Of course. It can't be real. She's been nothing but loyal (she chases away the thought of Jadeite saying exactly the same, still caught up in Beryl's schemes at his expense). She isn't being hunted here. For as long as she and Kunzite have the same goals, their interests coincide and she is safe.

Which means it's only her own mind still thinking about this. She shakes off her thoughts and makes herself focus on Vanille.]

I'm fine. This forest should have an entrance somewhere. We need to find that.

[rosecursequeen]

And in the shadows, there is someone watching. Perhaps Mercury can feel the dread, the fear. The curiosity this creature possesses, as it glides through the shadows.

How did it get here? The Black Rose Queen did not know. And anyhow, it didn't matter. What mattered was the girl in front of her. It was time to find out whether she was a potential ally - or an enemy to be destroyed.

Quickly she thinks of a perfect card, and all around Mercury, black thorns suddenly shoot up, surrounding the soldier. But it did not directly bind her - it merely closed off the vicinity, like a twisted dome, the vines sharp to the touch.

[waterfell]

Already inside the maze of the forest, an additional trap is little more than an afterthought. No, what chills even Mercury is something very different: She knows this place, this trap, this ending.

The plants are soon coated in ice, which shatters a moment later and breaks the vines into tiny pieces along with it. Free to move on, Mercury pauses anyway. It's a trap she'd expect here, but there's still no reason to be careless. She listens carefully.

[thatoldthatkind]

Did you have to pick a forest?

[ Him and his ridiculous fez. ]

best start ever, Eleven. XD

[waterfell]

[No. In fact, she'd rather be at the waterfall. But that question really begs for a facetious answer.]

If you don't like it, you're free to leave.

[Except, of course, neither of them is free to leave yet.]

the fez makes everything sexier.

[thatoldthatkind]

I think the forest has other ideas about that one.

I was thinking 'funnier', but... >D

[waterfell]

So you noticed that. [The words are off-handed; she's not surprised, and by now it's painfully obvious anyway.]

This is the Dark Kingdom forest. I'll find the exit.

[littleprotector]

[Marlene did not like this place. It was scary and dark.]

I don't like this...

[waterfell]

[Someone else here? She turns sharply. When she sees it's the little girl from before, she gives pause.]

Marlene?

[Someone precious to Cloud. An innocent. Which means, someone she can't allow to be hurt or trapped here. Even she knows that much.]

/don't mind me. somehow I never got this notif.

[littleprotector]

Is it always so dark here?

[Marlene didn't move from her spot, frozen in place.]

Hey there bb. XD

[waterfell]

Yes. This place is in the Darkness.

[She says it with neither glee nor despair.]

It bothers you?

[kaiserknuckle]

[ Tifa was used to dark forests -- Nibelheim had a few of them outside the village growing up, and there were more scattered around her world.

But there was something off about this one, and Tifa paused by a tree, peering at the glove laying casually on a rock. Reaching down, she picked it up, and started to look for it's owner. ]

[waterfell]

[It's only a minute or two before the owner appears; the forest isn't that large, it turns out. She stiffens immediately, relaxing only - and only slightly - when she recognizes Tifa.

Time to be in control of the situation, and she manages her usual half-cynical smirk.]

Welcome to the Dark Kingdom forest!

[kaiserknuckle]

...The Dark Kingdom forest? [ She doesn't recognize you transformed -- at least not yet, Ami, but she does notice that you're missing a glove. ] This is yours, right?

[waterfell]

I left it there to mark where I'd been. [It's a yes.] The exit is definitely not natural.