“Ouch…!” Aleric crouched on the ground, gently holding the growing bump on his head. The edge of his sight was fuzzy. For a moment there, he saw stars in orbit. Fortunately, the heavy impact from that stick wasn’t hard enough for him to get knocked out, but - added to the fact he was collecting injuries left and right – it wasn’t helping the headache that was slowly forming. After the stranger had expressed extreme displeasure, his possible means for answers quickly ran off deeper into the forest with the word “home” blatantly tossed in his face.

“Ah, wait! I’m sorry! Please come back!” Aleric called out as he quickly stood and winced at the first pound of pain in his head. Don’t touch the ears, he duly noted with a grimace. Quickly shaking his head, he hurried after the wolf-like man who already proved himself superior in both speed and grace by weaving through the trees with ease several feet ahead. The young blond was by no means a gazelle and could only stumble his way through the forest, hoping to at least keep the silvery blue tail in his line of sight. If he can’t get the stranger to stop, then he might as well follow him back “home.”

Zeke couldn’t help but roll his eyes as he heard the blond man asking him to ‘come back.’ Not even the dumbest animal Zeke could think of would have obliged such a ridiculously suicidal request. The man really did seem harmless and a bit buffoonish, especially when he stumbled and staggered around in his hopelessly futile attempts to give chase, the only thing intimidating about Aleric was amount of noise he was making as he followed. Seemingly slamming his foot down on every twig as he walked. It even sounded like he’d walked into a tree once or twice… but surely that had to be Zeke’s imagination?

Zeke was more worried about the other presence his sensitive ears had picked up on. Someone who ‘smelled’ significantly different from the earthy scented mushroom diver. The second presence moved with much more confidence, not quite swiftly to be considered a hunter, but something in the air seemed to give of the vibe that Zeke didn’t want their paths to cross.

Fortunately Zeke was a fair way away when Akiko burst out to intersect the path Zeke had already passed by. Though when he heard the brunette girl chasing after him, the wolf-man was fears had been confirmed. These… ‘creatures’ weren’t definitely predators, no docile harmless creature Zeke had ever come across would ever chase him so persistently, and…. The deep crimson red eyes of the woman trailing after him looked dangerously, reflecting the sunlight and bathed in the shadows of the tree canopy in the worst possible way, giving her what many would consider a dangerously sinister look.

Unfortunately Zeke attention had been so focused on getting away from red-eyes that he’d failed to pay attention to the group he originally headed for, and by the time he turned his head to place his gaze on Ian, the shorter male burst out from behind a wall of bushes. Startling Zeke and causing him to ungracefully fall backwards onto his backside. These…. ‘mushroom lovers’ were appearing all over the place, almost like goblins in a mineshaft. Fortunately though Ian seemed just as startled by his presence as Zeke had been, and without giving it any further thought Zeke scrambled back onto his feet before veering sharply off to the left. It was a slight detour, but the stealthy appearance out of thin air was enough to make Zeke think twice about intersecting the loud group he’d heard earlier.

Managing to quickly gain some ground, Zeke smugly stopped and arrogantly swished his tail in a mocking gesture.
“You wingless birdmen are slow, you should just give up and go home before you fall out of a tree like the first one” Zeke smirked smugly. “You don’t belong here, this is my forest, my mushrooms, and my ears!” he added, holding out one arm to the side to indicate his forest, before placing his hand protectively on the ear that Aleric had so rudely poked.

"Wow, that's really good. Did you draw this?" Emilie asked excitedly.

"I don't know, this was all I had with me when I woke up. Though it's most likely that yes," Kotori then showed the drawing that she was doing until a few moments ago to Emilie.

After her first answer, the hyperactive still asked in her usual cheery voice,"What do you mean something is observing us? Is this another one of your riddles?"

"It's like the unrest of looking at the sky on a moonless night, an ominous sensation not based on facts, but on instinct" Kotori said as the wind blew her short hair and her light clothes around.

---After Ian's and Brock's exchange---

So, it was just like Kotori thought at first, no one of them seemed to able to recall anything of their backstories and yet they all remembered how to do a lot of things, like walking and talking, or drawing in her case. "I'm like a canvas before anyone applies any paint it," Kotori said.

Then, as Ian walked way to check on the strange sounds near them, Kotori's eye caught the glimpse of someone sitting under a tree far to their right. As she approached the person, Kotori asked, "Hi, can I ask you something? Are you another soul, fated to wander these woods aimlessly, or do you know anything about this this place that we don't?"

---

@MelodyNoir@Onarax@Crimmy@karamonnom

@KoL
---
"What?"

She hadn't expected there to be others here with her, so when the voice suddenly intruded, Brook immediately craned her neck around to find the source. Another girl. With an eyepatch. Huh, was that an eyepatch? Was the person a pirate? No wait that clothing was ... PJs? Actual PJs? Dozens of thoughts flashed through her mind. She'd just gotten used to the fact that she had no memories and now there were people to meet.

Did the other girl know her? The hamster wheel in her brain started to turn. No, there wasn't any recognition whatsoever on the person's face. Brook tried to parse the question. A lost soul? She was definitely lost but she had no idea who, what, when, where, why and how. Oh so she'd found another lost person. Or someone with memories but one or the other.

Wait, she was still staring weirdly at the girl. Her mouth would catch flies at this rate.

"I'm pretty lost ac-tu-a-lly," she said with a mild grin, her final word drawled out. "Just been lazing around here until you came along. So what up?"

"I'm pretty lost ac-tu-a-lly," The other girl said grinning, her final word dragging into some kind of stutter. "Just been lazing around here until you came along. So what up?"

"I don't know, neither of us do, it's just like we were drawn into a maze and no one seems to remember naught but their names. Say, are you the same, our do you possess any memories beyond waking up on this forest?"

"Tough, some of these answers might have to wait. We should get out of this forest before night falls, this wind bodes an ominous presence, can you feel it?" Kotori said as she gestures the other girl, which she now noticed, was way taller that her, to get up. "The others are just over there, I guess we can stay safe as long as we travel as a group. I'm Kotori Tsubasa, what's your name?"

---

@Crimmy

@KoL
---
"Guess something weird's gotta be happening," she replied, a hint of thoughtfulness entering her tone. Her right hand was pressing agains the tree trunk as she rose awkwardly from the ground. Her butt was cold and covered in dirt from having been sitting for so long, and she could feel her legs wobble slightly. She should've picked a better resting spot, but hey, the shade was here. And speaking of the shade, a hole in the leaf cover had likely opened up and light was shining down onto her head.

Wasn't as bright as it had been, but the teenager still found it pretty hot for her liking. Her eyes were still pretty tired right now.

"No memories, only names huh?" continued the girl, leaning down to pat some soil off her trousers. "That's real suss. But anyway, if by 'oominous wind' or whatever you mean that this place is totally creepy, I agree."

Huh, she was pretty tall compared to the other girl.

"Brooklyn Bridges," she said with a smile. "Nice to meetcha."

Ian found himself blinking his eyes and landing on his backside into the bush that he had made his way out of when he met the sight of the canine eared man. Just who in the world had he stumbled upon? Shaking his head, the brunette awkwardly climbed his way out of the bush before hissing slightly from between his teeth. Not only was a hospital gown perhaps a bit too revealing for a trip to the woods, but also it did not seem to shield him from the branches that caught him. Lucky enough for the boy though, the bush he had fallen into was not a thorny rose bush. Being caught by something like that did not even seem pleasant just imagining it. Green eyes found themselves looking over to the eared stranger that had startled him enough to fall backwards, curiously raising a brow when the other spoke of having seen more. Surely, the three he had bumped into already would have mentioned seeing a wolf eared man with a tail if they had.

Though a sound coming from the direction the wolf had been running from, got Ian to get his attention there; seeing the girl with the crimson red eyes. The way the sun rays and the shadows of the tree hit them almost got Ian to jump willingly back into the bush he, just moments ago, had such trouble getting out of. The sinister look they gave almost got a shiver to run down the boys spine as he took a careful step backwards, while he debated with himself on who looked more terrifying; the man with the cute tail and wolf ears, or the girl with the blood red eyes that had been running after the wolf man.

The green eyes also did not seem to take all that long seeing a glimpse of a blond running from the same direction after the brunette. Just who was chasing who here? Ian asked himself as another step back was taken. Though, when the brunette managed to see the girl better, the sinister look he had seen before slowly vanished as the light from the sun changed it's setting due to the shadows from the trees. The girl looked like she was just a bit younger then himself, and a bit shorter, and Ian most likely had at some point described her as cute if the shiver from the sinister look had just not finished running down his spine. So far, it seemed, the group of people was getting a bit bigger. Though the big question was; who was the wolf man?

Emilie began to touch Ian's hair gently. She was amazed at how soft it was. "You must really take good care of your hair," she complimented him. She still had her dainty fingers running down his long hair, when he patted her on the head. It didn't bother her at all though and she felt that it was only fair that he got to touch her hair too.

Suddenly, Emilie was pulled towards Ian's chest, which confused her very much. "What's going on? Is something out there?" she wanted to ask him, but before she knew it he had already let her go and left to find out what was making the noise. She found herself staring in the direction that Ian ran off to and decided that she wanted to come along too. She started to sprint as fast as she could until she found him. But to her surprise, he was not alone. There was a girl, a boy, and a man with wolf ears.

"Wow! Are those ears real? They are super cute!" Emilie exclaimed, approaching the wolf man with no fear whatsoever. She then offered him a hand. "I'm Emilie! Are those other people back there your friends? It's nice to meet you all!"

"It was probably some kind of dog human...or wolf. Let's settle with wolf."
Whatever it was, Akiko was hot in its trail. It was the first human-like thing she had seen ever since she had woke up. The discovery somehow had her adrenaline going and she ran after the wolf person with all her energy. Even after running for a while, Akiko realized she was still not quite slowing down implying she might have gone through some physical training before her memory loss. Her excitement was also somehow driving her and she must catch up with the wolf. Unbeknownst to herself, Akiko had an expression of a predator chasing down a tasty prey which would make a delicious meal.

However, Akiko slowly realized the wolf person was slightly faster than her but that did not stop her from keeping him at least within her sight so she did not lose him. Nobody was going to get it before her.
"You will not get away from meeee!!!!"
When the wolf person finally stopped, Akiko noticed there were more people nearby...fellow human beings. A look of disappointment came to Akiko's face. She noticed a blonde boy who seemed to have sustained some cuts and bruises. Has he been stumbling over things? Moreover, Akiko saw a brown-haired boy who seemed to have been frightened by her. Somehow, Akiko felt good being feared by others though she assumed that part of the reason was that she had an evil smile on her face as she finally caught with her prey. When the wolf man, it seemed to have the body of a human male, proclaimed the forest was his made her interested in him even more. She quickly dismissed the part where the wolf man called her and the other people 'wingless birdmen' finding it irrelevant. Just when she was about to pounce on the wolf man, one of the others, a girl with brown hair, suddenly introduced herself as Emilie. Moreover, her friendliness was totally not improving Akiko's mood.

Akiko was denied her chance of encountering the wolf man alone and denied first contact by the girl named Emilie though Akiko was unaware the blonde boy was the first. When Emilie greeted her, Akiko just glared at the other girl and her evil smile was gone from her face replaced by an irritated expression. She then picked up a nearby stick lying on the ground and proceeded to poke the wolf man from behind with it, ignoring the other humans around. They were not worth her time yet. The wolf was the most interest thing at the moment.

"Speak, beast. Before I find poking you too much fun to stop...or decide to cook you for dinner."
She said it in a authoritative tone with her irritation plainly showing on her face. Whatever the wolf was, he could be an important piece or part of the unknown forest...

For the love of all things juicy and tender, where on earth were all these wingless monstrosities coming from? First it’d been that blonde man parachuting his way down on him, then the crazy demon girl, the jack-in-the-bush, and now… a very peculiar girl who sounded like she’d been let out of the crib a few years too early. Were it not for her agonizingly chirripy voice Zeke might have bothered to take note of her delicate features, but unfortunately now was neither the place nor time for that. For starters Emily had mentioned his ears and tail, and that brought back memories of the first blonde man. Now that he thought about it, these ‘creatures’ looked a lot like himself with the exception of his ears and tail….. were they…. Jealous? Did they want to cut of his ears and attach them to their own skulls?

Shaking his head violently, it was at that exact moment he noticed someone had snuck up behind him. A cold shiver shuddering down his spine as he heard the menacing voice of the demon lady for the very first time. The affirmation that these creatures meant to cause him harm didn’t soothe his frizzled nerves in the slightest, hence… without any hesitation he grabbed a hold of Emilie’s hand. Squeezing on it a bit roughly before yanking her forward towards him, swinging her a bit to the side before shoving her right into Akiko.

Akiko’s words really hadn’t helped at all, as Zeke now realized just how possible it was that he’d be roasting over an open-cook pit in a few hours. There were already too many wingless birdmen around, and if the current pattern of things was anything to go by, there were probably a few more lurking in the bushes. Wide-eyed and panicky, he ran straight for Ian in a mad desperate charge for freedom, narrowly he missed a full on collision, intentionally knocking the poor youth over as he sped past and headed towards ‘home’ using the shortest possible route he could think of.

These people were crazy, outright out of their minds.
He needed to get away, and the only place he knew he’d be safe was locked away from scary scary nature.
Not even bothering to check if he was being followed, Zeke sped along through the thickly forested area, believing that those behind either would learn their place and leave his poor ears alone.

Kotori had just returned from where she'd found the girl named Brook laying under a tree's shade, to rejoin the main group but when she arrived where she'd last saw they, the only one still standing there was Brock. After giving the boy a quick glance, Kotori decided to follow the way that Ian had went before, it was very probable that she would find both Ian and Emilie there and, since they were the ones that she felt an actual bond with she couldn't devise a better course of action to follow.

Turning her back to both Brock and Brook, Kotori said, before entering the thicket, "I'm going to follow the two who I know for the most time, you two are free to come with me, but if you prefer to stay keep in mind that the next time you wake up, your memories will probably not be the only thing you have lost..."

After arriving at the other side of the small green maze, Kotori barely had the time to listen to the last bits of the conversation between the many people who were standing there, before the mysterious creature that looked like a wolfman ran away from the group after throwing Emilie and Ian out of his way.

"Are you unhurt?" Kotori said as she walked to Emilie and then Ian and helped them get back up. Both of them looked like they had nothing but a few minor cuts and bruises, mostly on Ian's case, actually, so Kotori decided that she should press on the most important matter at hand , "We should follow that creature and see if it knows of a safe place to stay the night. We don't know how much time there's until the sunset, and with each second that passes the sensation that this place wants to drag us deeper and deeper into its gaping maw grows stronger within me."

---

@karamonnom@MelodyNoir@Crimmy@Rakurai@Onarax