Desiree hurriedly caught up to her group after wishing the others luck. She was trying to think of some sort of conversation to have with the rest of the eastern group but nothing came to her. And then her thoughts only became cloudy when Julian started humming. It was a content tune, one hummed to mask worry of awkwardness, one that stopped her from hearing her thoughts.

Julian's humming accompanied the eastern group down the narrow, mossy, overgrown path that continued to weave its way through the crowded forest. Samantha had lost the lead almost since the party was split, only to slice through the foliage and thinner branches with her sword, just to clear their way. Why couldn't Samantha do this? Well, Samantha's weapon of choice was a bow and arrow, and one can't really cut grass with an arrow, much less a bow. 

As the four worked their way through the trees, there were unusual sounds and cries echoing around them. When the path turned suddenly right and proceeded northwards into the dense undergrowth, it made Roxanne's job harder and slowed the pace. However, it wasn't too long before the group reached another junction. To the left, cries for help could be heard. Julian and Desiree exchanged nervous glances, both wanting to go help but at the same time were thinking it could be a trap. Samantha, however, seemed to notice smoke through the trees to their right and was intrigued to find out where it was coming from.

Roxanne followed Samantha's gaze and then stabbed her sword into the dirt at her feet before dusting off her hands. "So which way? Shall we keep going north, head west to find out who is whining, or east to see what's burning?"

"I'll go west towards the cries. If whoever it is, needs help then I could help and maybe save them," Samantha stated, and then added what everyone was thinking. "Or if it was a trap, I will kill them and collect their gold."

"If it is a trap then you'll need someone with you who has a close-combat weapon. A bow and arrow won't help with a surprise attack," Roxanne told her, which was surprising to hear her sound so logical.

Julian interjected, not allowing Samantha's reply, which never even managed to leave her open mouth, "I'll join you in heading west, Sam. Curiosity is getting the better of me as to who those cries are from."

Roxanne shook her head confusedly. "Even though the map says north?"

"Yeah, I think Rox could be right. Staying on the path north could be the right idea," Desiree agreed.

"What are you two talking about?! The two creatures with the hammer aren't just going to be waiting on the side of the path, they'll be hidden," Samantha exclaimed, bewildered by her peers' decision.

Julian held his palms up toward them, almost like he was trying to stop a fight before it broke out. "So why don't you two head north, we'll head west, and hopefully the paths will merge, for us to meet up again."

"That sounds plausible," Roxanne agreed, while the other two nodded as well. Desiree was a little more unsure about their chances if they were separate than the other three but went along with the plan without voicing those concerns. 

Samantha and Julian

After leaving the other two, the path started off well for Samantha and Julian, with barely any foliage to deal with or clear. However, after a short while - no more than 5 minutes, they found themselves clambering over the gnarled roots of the old trees as they headed in the direction of the cries. 

Only a few more minutes of clambering and they saw the origin of the cries. From what seemed to be a man dressed in long dark robes with his foot caught in a rusted rabbit snare. Though his face is masked by his robes and only his dark brown eyes are visible, so the pair couldn't be certain if he was human or just humanoid. 

Julian took a step toward him but Samantha gripped her fingers into his shoulder to hold him back. Digging them in, Julian had to clench his teeth to stop from whining himself. Instead, Samantha called out to the masked man, "Hey, who are you? What are you doing in these parts?" 

There was no answer, he simply continued whining and wailing in pain. 

A moment passes after waiting longer and still, the masked man didn't answer. 

Samantha didn't trust strangers who were covered from head to toe, with only a slot for their eyes to watch prey. There were assassins all over the place. If he couldn't answer her, then she couldn't be bothered helping him. Besides, she could smell something sinister going on, and she didn't want to endanger herself if she could help it. "I say we continue on and hope to head north soon, he clearly doesn't want our help."

Julian was going to suggest trying to help him since the man was obviously in pain and he was curious about what had happened to the man. Though at hearing Samantha's words, he knew she was right and nodded. "I'm going to stick with you for now."

"For now? Gee, thanks for the support," Samantha retorted with a slightly humourous smile.

Julian didn't respond to such sarcasm, it wasn't worth the trouble. So with a roll of his eyes, he walked around her, leaving the wailing man and started along the path once more. It wasn't long before Samantha pushed ahead of him, which left him grumbly and sour. That mood only grew worse at the first of many stumbles, as the path twisted and turned for some minutes. Luckily, there were no more tree roots for them to clamber over, but that didn't stop the knots in the dirt.

Desiree and Roxanne

Desiree and Roxanne followed the path that headed north into a thicker forest, with barely a gap between the trees. If it weren't for the occasional stream of sunlight breaking through the canopy, then they wouldn't have been able to see anything. Both were extremely cautious, gripping their weapons in front of them. Roxanne with her 50-inch longsword, hacking at the thick grown in front of her. While Desiree carried her flail; a weapon with a two-foot-long, thick wooden handle at the end of which a foot of metal chain with a spiked metal ball was hung as to swing freely. Holding its handle with both hands in front of her, she followed the swishing brunette plait leading her.

Words weren't spoken between the pair, but they were thinking the same thing; something could be hiding in the trees and at any moment jump out to attack. They walked along the narrow path, single file since that's all the space the trees gave them, until ahead of the two was a big, old tree with a large hole in its trunk. The hole sat just above their eye line.

Desiree pursed her lips together, unsure if they should see what was in the tree trunk. Stick a hand in there or find something to stand on to get a better look. After all, there could be something living in there, which doesn't want its home to be invaded. 

Roxanne, however, was sure that they needed to find out what was in there. She suggested, "I think we should find out what's in there. So what if we don't put a hand in the trunk but put something else instead? Just in case something bites. I don't know what though. Maybe a branch or something?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea," Desiree agreed. She looked at her flail but knew that it wouldn't work. She wouldn't be able to feel anything and it'd do more harm than good. Then she remembered the wizard and those strange items. Taking off her pack, she dove into her bag and pulled out the water rod thing. "How about this, Rox?" 

Roxanne nodded. "That'll work."

Desiree pressed herself carefully against the tree and stood on the tips of her toes to insert the rod of water-finding into the hole and jiggle it around. Once her arm was elbow-deep, the rod banged into something hard, something that a cylindrical hookless rod wouldn't be able to get at. 

"I'm not sure what's inside, it's something large and hard," Desiree told her partner.

"Can you get it out?", Roxanne asked, eager for the treasure that had been stashed in the tree.

"Not with this rod."

"Should I get my hand in there to see what it is?"

"I think I can do that, Rox. I am a bit taller."

So pulling out the rod, she handed it to Roxanne, who bent down to place it back in her pack. Desiree then slowly put her hand into the hole in the tree and it bumped into something cold and hard. It felt like a metal bowl. 

"It's something metal."

"Can you grab hold of it?", Roxanne asked as her eagerness was not hidden from her face at all. 

"Hang on-". As she started to lift it out of the hole, she shrieked in pain as the sharp teeth of some small creature sunk into her arm. Desiree yanked her arm out of the hole faster than lightning, but still hanging onto her discovery. 

Both of them now looked down at the object and Desiree's hand. Blood dripped to the ground from her wound, though it was only small. Nothing a bandage wouldn't fix, or at least some sort of wrapping. As for the metal object, it wasn't a bowl after all. It was a bronze helmet. 

"Are you going to try it on to see if it fits?", Roxanne queried. "If not, I can try it."

Desiree looked at it a little longer, thinking, before she decided to do it. She placed the helmet on her head and a surge of power started to run through her body, making her feel stronger and unafraid. The must have been magical. The new bite on her hand even dulled in pain. 

Roxanne looked at her with her keen hazel eyes. "How do you feel?"

"Ready to find this hammer," Desiree said, confidently. 

"Is it healing?"

"No..." Desiree hesitated. "I don't think so. Why do you ask?"

Roxanne pointed. "That." 

Desiree followed her finger to her own hand, the one that had retrieved the helmet, the one that had been bitten. Had being the operative word. No longer was there a mark where something had pierced her skin, no longer was there even pain. No. It had gone. It had disappeared. Almost as if nothing had happened in the first place... almost. The only evidence was the thin wet line of blood that was still dripping to the ground. 

"Nice. Do you want to keep it?"

Desiree tilted her helmeted head, overthinking what had just happened, as well as not wanting to give up her new helmet. "If I take it off again, what if it reverses the effects? I might be bitten again, the wound may return."

Hazel eyes grew like saucers at the possibility. "And if you fight a monster and it stabs you but you feel nothing. But then you lose the helmet days later, will you then die from the monster attack?" Roxanne shook her head and began walking around the tree. "No, no, you better keep the helmet on. I don't want to have it." 

Leaving Desiree standing there, trying to register this new possibility that was now in her life. What if this helmet was now linked to her life force? On whether she lived or died. She would have to be even more careful than normal. She didn't want to have a helmet be her life support. Without those thoughts now floating around in her head, Desiree turned and followed Roxanne north. 

Roxanne continued to lead, hacking away at the growth attempting to stop their passage until they reached another junction. However, it was her indecisiveness that caused her confidence to falter. Roxanne looked both ways, multiple times. "West or East?" 

Both just stood there, at the junction, as they stared down each direction in silence. So Roxanne repeated, "West or East?"

Desiree put a hand on her chest and took a deep breath as if she was going to make the hardest and more regrettable decision. "What do you think, Rox, should we split? Take a path each to cover more ground?"

"Yeah, Dee, we should split up," she agreed. A little excited at the thought of being on her own.

Desiree, however, was partially hoping that Roxanne would disagree with her idea, but also knew deep down that she wouldn't. "Do you have a preference on which way?"

"Either way is fine. Maybe east? I don't know."

"Okay, you'll go East and I'll go West?! Will try to look for the best way north and hope to meet up again."

"Sure." 

Then they wished each other luck and headed in their separate directions.