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Oh man.
Their expedition hadn't even started yet, and they'd already failed to stick to the plan. If there ever even was a plan; Duncan was honestly not so sure anymore. All he knew was that with the local crazy chick in tow, all bets were off. She was just as likely to stab them in the back, figuratively or not, as she was to summon a portal back to the real world out of nowhere, or bond with whatever otherworldly creature they were about to run into in the mountains.
For now, all Duncan could do to preserve his sanity was to ignore Ayana the best he could. A job much easier said than done, but at least he'd gotten some practice in doing the same to Hiroshi over the past year. Arguably, Hiroshi was even worse; that piece of shit did hold some actual power over him, after all.
Duncan quickly ignored that thought, too.
What he couldn't ignore was the strange smell permeating the air. During their painfully slow pace, Duncan had grown hyper aware of the forest around them, noting every change in elevation, atmosphere and foliage hue in a manner very uncharacteristic of him. It's what happened when you were desperate for a distraction and had to basically tiptoe forward so you wouldn't lose the two slow-asses behind you.
But this smell? He would've noticed even without trying. It was sickly sweet and overwhelming. And, even failing that, he would've definitely noticed the fog.
Duncan came to a gradual stop a few inches from it, arms crossed and eyes narrowed in suspicion. Yeah, no way in hell was he walking in there first, especially when they had a perfectly crazy classmate to do it in his stead.
"Alright," he called out to the two others a few steps behind him, not bothering to turn around as he gestured at the fog. "Which one of you farted?"