Chapter Text
Aside from the occasional chirp from what Jamie assumed were bugs, the forest was relatively quiet. The tension of a zombie flanking any of them unexpectedly was still very much lingering over the group. With the little bit of rest and comfort they got, they felt as good as they were going to get. They really wanted to just hide in that cave a little longer, but they weren’t going to make it home if they did that.
Unfortunately, Jamie failed to do any proper scouting prior to spotting the cave the night before, so they didn’t have a great read on what was ahead. Nevertheless, they silently fell into place leading at the front of the group. In a way, it felt empowering knowing that everyone wanted them to take charge without even having to say anything.
Their next course of action then was to map out a path up. Not necessarily to the top of the mountain, just up. However, nothing really stood out. Parts of the mountain was obscured by some mysterious red fog, and other parts were obscured by the trees. What they did see appeared to either be a dead end or simply unreachable from where they were.
They were shoved out of their head by a sudden gust of wind. As much as they’d grown acquainted to it, they’d grown to hate it too. Not only did it completely distract them from what they were doing, but it often came with the risk of displacing them and possibly even injuring them as a result. Not to mention the feeling of helplessness when both them and their fellow scouts had to cling onto something for dear life and hope it’d hold them in place.
Shortly after the wind subsided, a loud crash was heard in the distance. Everyone frantically looked around to see if it was something nearby, though nothing appeared to be out of place. Nevertheless, tensions were heightened and they all only wanted to get out sooner.
After some time, Jamie spotted what appeared to be a battered path off to their side. It looked quite sketchy with the mysterious red cloud nearby and what looked like some lumps on the ground. Though, they didn’t exactly have many options, either. They faced their group and pointed over at the path. “Let’s go this way.”
Luna looked over towards where Jamie pointed and was immediately visibly distressed by what they saw. Though, in spite of how they felt, they hesitantly gave a thumbs up. It seemed that Riley and Jade were waiting for Luna’s response, since the two of them only approved after Luna did.
“Cool. Let’s go—” A familiar skitter stopped Jamie in their tracks. “Then…?” Another rhino beetle was hurriedly charging towards Jamie. They sidestepped out of the beetle’s path in anticipation of an attack, but instead, it stopped directly in front of them. It appeared to be panicked and scurried around Jamie erratically.
Jade hummed. “Looks like it’s upset about something. Why don’t we try to figure out what it needs?”
Jamie glared at Jade. “Seriously? I’m trying to get us out of this place and you want to help a beetle?” They shook their head in disapproval.
Jade sighed. “With… all due respect, Jamie… I don’t think anyone actually wants to take that path. And, who knows? Maybe helping this beetle means it’ll help us.” Luna nodded in agreement, though they appeared to feel guilty for it.
Jamie took another look at their proposed path. To be fair, it did look really sketchy. They’d already been taking enough risks with the zombie encounter and all of this wind. It was entirely possible that nobody was particularly interested in taking even more risks. In any other situation, they likely would’ve said something along the lines of “suck it up” and taken the path anyways. This was… not any other situation, though.
They returned their gaze to Jade and groaned. “Ugh. Fine. Let’s help this beetle, then we leave. Got it?”
“Got it.” Jade smiled.
Jamie looked down at the beetle, which stopped once it noticed it was acknowledged. It suddenly turned around and began scurrying off in the opposite direction, occasionally looking back. Jamie reluctantly followed the beetle with their companions in tow.
After a few minutes of walking, it stopped in front of a tree that had collapsed. Maybe this is what that crash was earlier…? It then turned around and looked up at Jamie expectantly.
The tree was presumably blocking a path, since it appeared to create a complete dead-end. Well, a dead-end for the beetle, anyways. It wasn’t high enough to prevent Jamie and the others from stepping over, but it was simply too high for the beetle to overcome.
Unfortunately for the beetle though, the tree appeared to be too heavy to move, even if all four of them gave it their all. Jamie echoed this thought to the rest of the group, who appeared to be saddened by the news.
However, Luna’s face lit up as they got an idea. “W-What if… you just p-pick it up and t-take it over to the o-other side…?”
Jamie had a completely dumbfounded look on their face. “Huh. Guess I never thought about that.”
They then crouched down to scoop the beetle up. It initially was startled by the gesture, but quickly settled into Jamie’s arms. It was actually quite light despite its size, so they had no complaints with carrying it.
They stepped over the tree and set the beetle down on the other side. The beetle waddled and appeared to be appreciative of the gesture. They then turned around and began to vault the tree, but the beetle made a small chirp, prompting them to turn around. It once again walked forward, occasionally looking back.
Riley rubbed their chin. “Maybe it wants us to follow it?”
“Nnnnope! I helped it, so now we’re leaving. That was the agreement.”
Luna sniffled. “B-But… it’s so c-cute! W-We can’t just leave it now!”
“Don’t care. Let’s go.”
Luna pouted at Jamie’s insistence and put on the most pathetic display of puppy-dog eyes that Jamie ever saw. There was no way that was going to work on them… and yet…
Jamie sighed. “Fine. You win. Happy?” They and the remainder of their group dropped down from the tree and returned to the beetle.
Luna’s face lit up and they clapped at their own daring act of manipulation. As much as it frustrated Jamie, they couldn’t help but also respect Luna for that. They seemed so friendly and naive on the outside… but clearly they had their own tricks up their sleeves too.
For a while, the group walked in complete silence. Only the sounds of footsteps and distant skittering filled the air. The trees grew more plentiful, which ended up being beneficial because the wind seemed a lot less intimidating when it blew through.
After some time, the trees started to become sparse once again. Near the point where the path started to widen, the beetle stopped, turned around and shook its head. It then turned back around and continued, only to stop and shake its head again when Jamie attempted to follow it. Jamie was confused by the gesture but made no further effort to follow it.
Jade opened their mouth to speak, but Jamie promptly cut them off. “Nah. I think I got this. It wants us to stay here, I’m guessing?” Jade nodded. “Cool. Guess we’ll wait, then.”
The beetle seemed to appreciate that Jamie got the hint. It scurried off then returned after a few minutes with a purple shroomberry. It was rather dirty since it had been rolled around on the ground, but perhaps they’d come across some water later to rinse it off. Once Jamie picked up the shroomberry and lodged it into one of the handles on their belt, the beetle once again took off.
After another minute or so of walking, a massive opening revealed itself. Within the opening were a lot of beetles that looked exactly like the one they’d been following. Once one beetle caught sight of the new visitors, every single beetle turned to look. This act made Jamie feel extremely uncomfortable.
Maybe the beetles were “cute” and “friendly” on the outside, but the scouts were massively outnumbered and could easily be overwhelmed. Jamie couldn’t count exactly how many there were, but there were certainly more than four.
A handful of beetles attempted to approach the group, but the beetle that lead them to the opening stepped forward to interfere. After a few little waddles from each beetle, they all backed off. Consequently, every other beetle that was observing also backed off just a little bit, even if they were farther away.
Jamie let out a breath they didn’t realize they were holding. It was far from the scariest moment of their life, but they would be lying if they said they hadn’t felt tense that entire time.
Out of the right corner of their eye, they spotted some more movement. Once they turned their head to get a better view, they noticed several beetles were moving out of the way to create a new opening. Their guide beetle then headed towards the opening, so they followed behind it. As they got closer, they randomly glanced upwards and figured out why the opening was being made.
A bunch of large fungi was conveniently laid out along the side of the wall to lead up to what they could only assume was the top. It almost seemed too convenient, but they weren’t going to pass up on an easy way up now!
Once they reached the wall, the beetle stopped and turned around once more. It looked up at Jamie, though it did nothing more. For some unexplainable reason, Jamie decided to crouch down and give it a pat on the head. It fluttered its wings, then walked past the group. Luna smiled and waved as the beetle walked by, to which it waddled in place briefly. It then resumed walking away, eventually reuniting with its fellow beetles.
Jamie hummed. “You know what? I’ll admit it. I was wrong for being a jerk about helping the beetle, considering it gave us a pretty easy way out.”
Jade smiled. “I understand your skepticism, though I do appreciate you coming around. Your generosity seems to have paid off for all of us.” They then rested a hand on Jamie’s shoulder. “So… you’re forgiven.”
“W-Wait…” Luna was trembling at the sight of the wall. “Y-You’re… you’re not a-actually… c-considering this, are you…?”
“What?” Jade scoffed. “Suddenly scared of a little bit of climbing?” They began to laugh, though a sharp nudge from Jade stopped them in their tracks. “Sorry.”
Luna shook their head. “N-No… not that… i-it just… seems unsafe?” They were picking at their sleeves now.
“Look, I’ll make you a deal.” Jamie held out a hand towards Luna. “If I hold your hand the entire time, will you climb up this wall?” Even though they intended on mocking Luna, their softer tone betrayed their intent.
Luna hesitantly reached out to grab Jamie’s hand then nodded. “Y-Yeah… I’ll… I’ll do it...”
“Cool.” Jamie looked between Jade and Riley. “You two got a problem with this too, or can we get going?” Both Jade and Riley shook their head in response.
Everyone climbed atop the first fungi without a hitch. It was very close to the ground, so Jamie was able to step atop it without letting go of Luna. Jade and Riley were able to climb atop the fungi too with no issues.
The second fungi was quite a bit higher than the first, though it was still a relatively short climb. Luna let go so both them and Jamie could climb up. Once Jamie reached the top, they offered a helping hand to pull their fellow scouts up.
The third, fourth and fifth fungi were also just as easy to climb. Nobody else seemed to be suspicious about it, but it rubbed Jamie the wrong way. There was no way the beetles would just allow them to take such an easy path and not have a catch attached to it. There was definitely going to be a rogue beetle waiting or a gust of wind that would decide to screw them over.
Speaking of wind, a gust suddenly came out of nowhere. Jade, Jamie and Riley all clung on to the wall as tightly as they could, while Luna hugged Jamie as tightly as they could. It didn’t last quite as long as the other gusts, which they were all very grateful for.
Everyone let go, except for Luna. Jamie gave them a light nudge, but they just whined in response. What a crybaby… Once they gave them a harder nudge, they finally let go, their face painted with fear. Jamie gave their hand a reassuring squeeze, which seemed to ease their fear ever so slightly.
Upon climbing atop the sixth fungi, Jamie froze once they saw something they never wanted to see again. There was a zombie lying down near the middle, and a beetle was sleeping just a little farther away. Unfortunately, running wasn’t the easiest option, but they really didn’t want to fight the zombie either. Irrational fear washed over them, rendering them immobile and non-verbal.
“Is everything alright up there, Jamie?” Jade inquired, their tone laced with concern. When Jamie didn’t respond, Jade climbed up. “Did you not hear…” Jade’s eyes landed on the zombie. “…me… Oh.” The zombie still remained dormant, though Jade placed themselves between it and Jamie.
Suddenly, the zombie woke up!
Once it spotted Jade and Jamie, it immediately charged towards them. Jade went into a more defensive stance, fully ready for an attack. However, the beetle also woke up and spotted the zombie. It charged towards the zombie and completely caught it off-guard. It rammed its head into its side, sending it flying off of the fungi and into the forest below.
For a moment, it stood there and did nothing, but upon noticing Jade and Jamie, it became hostile again. However, once it spotted something, it stopped. It calmly walked past Jade and up to Jamie and nudged them softly on their left ankle. It looked up at the purple shroomberry that they had on their belt and did a little waddle at the sight of it.
Jamie was still frozen in fear, so they hadn’t entirely registered everything that was going on. It wasn’t until Jade pinched them that they were snapped out of it. “Huh? What… where did the…” They looked around frantically for the zombie, but it was nowhere to be seen.
They then looked down at the beetle, which was waiting patiently. “Oh. Hey there.” The beetle continued to stare at their belt. Jamie hovered their hand over the shroomberry. “Want this?” The beetle’s face lit up, which Jamie took as a ‘yes.’
They placed the shroomberry down and the beetle immediately rolled it into the crevice it once rested at. It laid down and began to nibble on the shroomberry, no longer interested in anything else in the world.
Luna and Riley climbed up shortly after and smiled when they saw the beetle. With all of the immediate threats subdued, Jamie set their sights upwards again. The fungi was starting to come to an end. I feel like there’s still a catch… They started climbing once more with everyone close behind them.
The remainder of the fungi did not pose any issues. Once they reached the top, they spotted something that they never thought they’d see again. Smoke. However, before they could go much farther, they tripped over something in the ground.
Once they stood back up, they turned around and saw some kind of skull. Out of morbid curiosity, they picked it up and inspected it. It was dark gray and covered in numerous cracks. A soft pink glow emitted from both the cracks and the eye sockets. They could very faintly hear the sound of… voices? What an interesting find…
They looked up to gauge how the others felt. They expected the others to be curious as well, but Riley was as pale as a ghost. Jade was quite tense as well, and Luna was a bit clueless about what was wrong.
Riley stepped forward and attempted to grab the skull, but Jamie pulled back. “You… you need to put that down… now.”
Jamie stuck out their tongue at Riley. “Or what? You gonna ground me? Ha—” A small gust of wind suddenly knocked it out of their hands. Riley attempted to grab the skull, but they barely missed it. Neither Jade nor Luna were fast enough to respond either.
Almost immediately after the skull came into contact with the ground, it shattered into several pieces.