Freya's scream echoed in the darkness as she stood and scrambled against the tree, trying to dig through it to get away.

Phonian's "gift" dropped to the ground with a wet thump, landing in a pile that Freya couldn't fully comprehend.

The next flash of lightning illuminated the half-eaten human skull that lolled at an awkward angle, half-eaten and soggy.

Turning, she fled into the rain, thrashing through the underbrush and falling on herself at every step, her voice straining as she repeatedly screamed. No words would form. She wasn't prepared to land face-first into the unexpectedly hard and lumpy berrykin when it suddenly appeared in front of her.

Shoving back, some part of Freya noticed that trying to move the berrykin was like trying to push the tree. Also, the lumps beneath its fur did not match any anatomy she could imagine going on beneath its skin. Landing on her butt, she scrambled back and came against another tree. Trapped and helpless, Freya put her head down between her knees and covered her head with her arms.

"Why are you doing this?" Phonian asked right near her ear.

She could only sob. "Please--please stop!"

"I brought you supplies. Why are you doing this?"

"You brought a corpse!" She screamed as thunder nearly drowned her out.

She suddenly felt the presence of the berrykin disappear from beside her, ripping through the air at unimaginable speed. Abruptly, it was back. Something fell next to her.

"You are being a lot of trouble," Phonian said, floating near her head again.

"I'm sorry!" Freya bit her lips, even though her body still insisted on convulsing in sobs. She knew that tone of voice. She knew that if she didn't start acting as this thing expected her to, she would become too inconvenient, and it would just kill her and try again with someone else. "Just--please--no more dead things!" she requested. "Don't kill people..." she choked and coughed. "H-heros... don't..." her voice faltered. She didn't know if Phonian cared about what heroes did or didn't do.

"Oh! You want to be a hero. Not just an adventurer." Phonian seemed to put things together. "I see. Well. I didn't kill that thing. It was eaten by an oshu."

Freya didn't believe that for a second.

"Little hero-to-be," Phonian said, though the title was dripping with sarcasm, "As I understand, flesh creatures like you aren't made to be in the rain. Pick up your things and follow me."

Lifting her head slightly, Freya squinted in the darkness. A flash of light illuminated a pack and sword. She didn't want to follow, but she knew she couldn't get away. She fumbled to get hold of the pack. It was made with some kind of waterproof material and sealed, but she wasn't holding out hope that anything useful would be in it.

Staggering to her feet, she found the strap and pulled it on. Teeth chattering, she awkwardly clutched the sword between both hands and followed the berrykin as it floated slowly through the stormy night.

The majority of the storm passed before they reached a cave.

"Ph-phonian... is... there anything in there?" Freya asked.

"No. It's empty."

The dark mouth of the cavern wailed softly. She could hear the patter of water from within as well. It didn't seem safe, but Phonian floated behind her and she knew she was going to be pushed in if she didn't go willingly.

"You're very cowardly for someone who wants to be a hero," Phonian noted.

Sitting down in the darkness, Freya put the sword down on the ground and hugged herself. The constant wind pulled her soaked hair and clothes, chilling her further.

"You're so useless."

"I'm s-s-orry..."

Phonian was next to her. "Open your bag, idiot."

Reluctantly moving, Freya opened the bag and started unpacking. She had never gone camping before. Identifying the items in the dark by feel alone was impossible. Phonian hit her shoulder. It was hard enough to send her sprawling. "Open the light," it ordered.

"I don't know which one it is," Freya said, clutching her arm. It had been like being hit by a tree branch.

"This one," Phonian pushed something toward her. Taking the item and fumbling with it, she was suddenly blinded when it ignited with bright white light.

Dropping it, Freya rubbed the blue-dot special from her eyes.

Noise drew her attention. Lowering her hands, she found Phonian poking through the fallen items with stiff arms. Its hands didn't move, just hung there limply, and the arms were stiff and straight. The berrykin wore a slack-jaw expression. Setting the light aside, Freya began going through the contents of the pack for real. She still didn't know what most of them were... well, except for the potions and a few items she remembered vaguely from the last Danger Around Mt. Pallin game she'd played. Red potions were health, Green were mana. The berries were for reviving a party member, but it was unlikely Phonian was going to use those on her. There was a tent and a sleeping bag, at least, but Freya had no idea how to set up a tent. She did know how a sleeping bag worked, though, and even though it smelled like someone else, she was freezing. Deciding that she didn't want to take her shoes off, Freya crawled into the sleeping bag.

"Aren't you going to start a fire?" Phonian asked.

"I--" she wanted to say she didn't know how. Instead, she said, "I'm too tired... I'm sorry."

Phonian was silent. It stared at her.

Freya shuffled further into the sleeping bag and curled against the cave wall. Sneaking an arm out, she pulled the light closer, holding it tightly like it was a lifeline. She knew it wouldn't do anything, but it was better than sitting in the dark with whatever Phonian was.

She glanced up, just as she'd gotten settled, and gasped as compound eyes, nestled in the depths of Phonain's mouth, glinted.

Starting with a soft shriek, she banged the back of her head against the wall behind her, bringing stars and tears to her eyes.

"What is it this time?" Phonian demanded.

"I--Sorry--I'm sorry." She curled further into the sleeping bag. "It was... a bug... behind you. I'm sorry." Deciding that whatever Phonian was, she was not capable of fighting it, Freya curled tighter around herself. If Phonian wanted to kill her, it would, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Still, she couldn't relax enough to sleep and knew being exhausted wasn't going to make her life any better in the morning.