Quite the grandiose name. Vlad scanned his surroundings. Why were we here in the first place?
"Who knew that thing would appear?" Broccoli whispered back with a solemn tone, holding the torch that burnt with renewed ferocity.
No, no! Go back to the Valley of the Gods topic! Vlad begged silently.
"Everyone in the research group besides us is dead…" Tori said softly from beside Jasmine.
Vlad slowed his steps, barely noticing the ground under his feet.
Research group…? So there really were others with us… No wait, we're moving past these big revelations too fast.
He sighed and glanced at Tori, raising an eyebrow. She looks sad… but the way she said it…
"There's the stream up ahead," Broccoli said suddenly, cutting through Vlad's thoughts. He pointed ahead. "Let's refill our bottles and keep moving before that thing catches up."
Vlad blinked, slightly taken aback.
Oh… so we had a purpose for running this way? Then his brow furrowed, Wait… which bottles? What bottles?
Just then, Jasmine whispered back, "Okay."
***
The sound of trickling water reached them before they saw it–a narrow, winding stream nestled between gnarled roots and slick, moss-covered stones. The current was slow, dark, and surprisingly clear.
Broccoli knelt first, cupping a hand and sniffing the water before tasting it. "It's clean enough," he said quietly. "Let's fill what we have and keep moving."
The stream rippled gently as the group gathered along its edge, breaths visible in the chilly air.
Jasmine knelt beside the green-haired man, pulled off her shawl's strap and revealed a small brown bag from beneath it.
Vlad blinked.
She opened the flap and took out four bottles, handing them one by one to the man beside her.
He stared.
Wait…When did she…? He slapped his temple lightly, avoiding the injured part. I must have been blind to not notice that bag.
The brown-haired girl approached, eyeing the streak of blood on Vlad's cheek and the dried trail along his jaw.
"You should wash off the blood," she said simply, "before it dries too much."
Vlad nodded, walking to the stream's edge and crouching beside the slick stones. He splashed water on his face. A sharp, bone-chilling sting that made him inhale sharply. The cold burned, but it cleared his head.
By the time he wiped his face, the green-haired man and Jasmine had already started passing bottles around. Everyone drank, brief sips, careful not to waste even a drop.
The man recapped each one, gathering them back. "We'll refill them and take them for later," he said. "The ladies, keep watch. If you see any signs of those monsters, inform us immediately."
Vlad rose from the rock, wringing water from his face.
Just as he turned, Jasmine spoke up, brows drawn. "Wait. Where's Tori's bottle?"
Tori, standing a bit apart, hesitated, her eyes flicking from Jasmine to Vlad. Then, slowly, she reached into her coat and pulled out a small pink bottle.
She held it a moment too long… then extended it toward Vlad without a word.
His eyes dropped to it. Smooth, matte steel, not matching the others.
He took it, fingers brushing hers.
...This one's different.
Vlad turned and walked a few steps closer to the stream, the cold air biting at his wet skin as he crouched down again. He filled one of the two bottles he'd been given, the water gurgling softly into it. He glanced over his shoulder, catching a glimpse of the girls walking further away.
Vlad's gaze shifted back to the pink bottle in his hand.
He corked the first bottle, sealing it with a sharp twist of his wrist. Then, without a moment's hesitation, he popped the pink bottle's cap off.
He looked inside the bottle. The lack of light made it so that there was no real way to tell what was inside.
You can't really tell what's inside... Vlad thought, his eyes narrowing.
He glanced at broccoli again, still far ahead, now corking his second bottle, not paying attention.
His grip tightened on the small bottle, the soft steel digging into his palm. For a moment, he didn't move.
Then, with a glance over his shoulder and a steady breath, his expression hardened.
***
They walked in silence now, the only sounds were the crunch of their footsteps and the occasional rustle of unseen branches. The wind whispered low through the trees, carrying with it a bitter chill that crept along the ground like a living thing. Vlad pulled his cloak tighter around himself.
He kept his head low, watching the path.
It has been… what? Over an hour since we left the stream. A few more hours, at least, since I woke up here.
He glanced up.
The sky hasn't changed….
The sky was the same pitch-black void stretched overhead. No stars, no moon, no shift in shade. Just endless darkness, as if time itself had stopped.
His brows drew in.
Is it still the same night? Or… has the night just never ended?
His gaze drifted toward Jasmine, walking quietly a few steps ahead.
She called this the Dark Mountain…
He studied the faint profile of her face.
Is this why? Because it's always night here?
A chill ran down his spine.
After a while, Vlad leaned closer to Jasmine, his voice low, "Could I get a bottle of water?"
She nodded silently, unstrapping the small bag slung beneath her shawl and handing one of the bottles to him.
He took a few gulps–the water cold, clean, and refreshing. As he lowered the bottle, he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.
Tori.
She was drinking from her small pink bottle, standing just a few paces ahead. Her lips parted slightly as she took a sip, then she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
"Walking uphill makes you pretty thirsty, doesn't it?" Vlad said casually, eyes on her.
Tori glanced at him and gave a small nod, "Yes."
Jasmine held out her hand to take the bottle back, but Vlad shook his head. "No need. I get thirsty pretty quick." He slid the bottle into his right pocket–a tight fit. It tugged at the fabric and restricted some of his leg movement, but he pushed it in nonetheless.
"I don't want to ask you for water every dozen minutes and make noise."
From ahead, broccoli spoke without turning his head, his eyes locked forward, the torchlight flickering in his hand. "Don't drink it all up too quickly."
"I won't," Vlad replied calmly. Don't worry.
Tori lifted her pink bottle again and took another sip, slower this time. But as she lowered it, her foot suddenly slipped, or perhaps she stumbled, and her shoulder bumped into the brown-haired girl in front of her with a dull thud.
"Ah– sorry!" she murmured, barely audible.
The girl steadied herself with a quiet grunt, brushing her arm where Tori had struck her.
Then, broccoli stopped walking.
"...What is this," he breathed, voice so low it was almost swallowed by the wind. He lifted a hand and gestured silently for the brown-haired girl to come forward, the motion quick but controlled. Urgent.
She moved ahead, stepping beside him, her torch raised.
Vlad's hand instinctively went to the hilt of his blade.
Another one?
His feet shifted forward, crunching over dead leaves.
And then he saw it. Illuminated by the twin torchlights that danced and fought against the darkness, something took shape. Something not of nature.
A structure.
A shape.
Wooden. Warped. Familiar and wrong all at once.
Between the trees–hunched and hidden behind a screen of dead branches–stood a cabin. Old, quiet, still. Its wooden frame was weather-worn but intact, the door tilted slightly ajar as if it had been waiting. The roof sagged, but didn't collapse. Moss clung to the walls. Time had pressed its weight on the structure, but it stood.
Vlad blinked, his breath caught.
A cabin...?
Shocking… but also comforting.
Shelter.
Something human in this nightmarish place.