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[i]Please make way for a very special guy. Our man Jack is king of the pumpkin patch.[/i]

The Nightmare before Christmas? Harper shuddered. It wasn't a bad movie, in fact, he remembered watching it with his sister back in the day. However, singing an eerie song in a cursed forest filled with witches didn't exactly sound like the best idea out there.

The jittery boy trudged onward, flashlight raised and eyes wide. He shone it down the dirt road that seemed to lead deeper into the forest. They had been following this road ever since they reached the border. People said it would get them to the Sacrificial Stone, one of the witches' more famous haunts but so far they had seen nothing but trees, rocks, bushes, and even more trees. The deeper into the forest they went, the more frightening things became.

Avian snapped the boy out of his thoughts and he gave the guide a nervous smile. "Thank you very much, we'll do our best to help you out." He shone his flashlight at a bunch of trees only to have a batfrog swoop down at them. The boy could have sworn he was going to have a heart attack and he took a step back towards the middle of the group. Haku could stay in front for all he cared, Harper had enough of this forest! He fell into step with Inadi then nodded his head.

He hadn't known Inadi for as long as some of the others, but he considered the man his friend. He was dependable and kind and back during that mushroom fight he had shown just how determined he could be. If he ever needed any help, Harper would have his back.

The others had began to scold Haku but the ice mage simply grinned. Heh, it was Avian's job to protect them yes? So he doubted the man would even go through with his words, he was just bluffing. However, he didn't want everyone to be upset, so he quieted down and basked in their annoyance. Seeing them upset over such a petty thing was so amusing. The young gave Leon a smile then watched as Songbird and Brandy stepped forward to inspect a tree.

He guessed it looked a little different...

Brandy suggested the forest was shifting and Harper frowned. If that was the case, then finding the Sacrificial Stone would be harder than it already was. He looked at the guides with creased eyebrows. He could hear the others talking about marking the trees but Brandy had already said it wouldn't be a good idea. "Is there any way to tell if the forest has been shifting, maybe a landmark or through magic?"

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Whatever Ace was singing, it sounded familiar and was rather catchy as well.

The group came to a stop while some of the guides inspected a tree, and Inadi appeared beside her with a question. Riley responded with a grin then laughed. "Nah, even I'm not that reckless. The dragons said they were tough and dragon fire is way hotter than any flames Ace or I can come up with." She shrugged a little, her grin turning into a less cheery but determined expression. "Doesn't mean I won't give them hell though. They're going down for Sol, for the dragons," there was a slight pause, "for Vinvin too." The thought of him just dying like that wasn't exactly pleasant and for a moment, she wondered how his family or the people he knew back home would take it.

There wouldn't even be a body to bury. He had simply vanished without a trace or explanation and they would never see him again, ever. Period. This was the end of him. It was almost like some omnipotent being had taken an eraser and erased his very existence.

She imagined dying in Nowhere. Riley wasn't exactly close with her parents, they were a total pain in the butt, but bringing them that kind of pain and filling their heads with questions that could never be answered, she never wanted that to happen. The girl wondered if they were doing well, if they were still panicking over her disappearance. How long had it been anyway? None of them had any way of telling.

"Huh? Oh, well there's something we have that they don't." She slammed a fist into her open palm. "We've all got each other and we've got a goal we're working towards. A bunch of wrinkly old hags." Riley made a silly face, "there's no way they're stopping us." She jabbed Inadi playfully on the shoulder, brightening up in the process. "You better make sure you give them a piece of your mind too. Give them an [i]electrifying[/i] show that'll shock 'em dead." 

A faint humming sound filled the air and Riley blinked. It was coming from behind them?

Harper had spun around as soon as he had heard the whispery voice. In fact, he had jerked his arm back and wound up hitting Leon in the face with his flashlight. He had muttered a quick apology before he stared at the people behind him. 

Riley looked left and right then broke into a laugh when she noticed it was Leila. "Relax Harper, it isn't a ghost." Riley made her way towards the humming girl then popped up beside her. Come to think of it, she had never really heard Leila speak but the quiet girl sure was something. First, she hugged a dragon and now she was humming eerily in a forest that was most likely cursed. Man, she had guts of steel. "So dragon tamer," Riley grinned from ear to ear, shoving thoughts of Vincent's funeral and the witches into the back of her head. "What was it like hugging a dragon?" She placed a hand on Leila's shoulder. "Because seeing you rush up to it was just amazing."

The humans had began to talk, some about trivial things and others about carving up trees.

The trees didn't mind the former, but the latter idea was very upsetting. The pink-haired man had even suggested using a pointy fork to mark them. How dare he. The tree stared with red, glowing eyes but closed them. 

"We shouldn't stay idle for long. If we don't keep moving bad things could happen." Songbird narrowed his eyes at the tree once more before motioning for the humans to follow. The group began to move again.

However, little did they know, something was following behind them.

Lesley would feel something hover around his shoulder but whenever he turned around nothing would be there, and at one point he even felt something wrap around his waist. It felt sharp and cold. 

Jasper felt the same thing on her neck. There would be a prickling sensation but nothing would be there. Whenever the humans turned to look behind them, the same tree would always be there. Even Songbird and Brandy would occasionally feel a tap on their shoulders.

Hakuren shrugged still looking rather gleeful. "It wasn't me, I think we might actually have a playful spirit with us--"

There was the sound of creaking wood and when they spun around it was the same tree, but then again almost all the trees looked the same.