Eliza sucked in a sharp breath, and whirled around to face the creature behind her. She brought her Katana-like sword up in a fluid motion and lunged, decapitating it swiftly. Her nose scrunched in disgust, kicking the already rotten head away from her. "What the hell are you?..." she asked quietly, wiping the murky, blackish substance off her sword with a scowl. It could hardly be called blood; the goop was strange in consistency.

She humphed and sheathed her blade, stepping over the corpse and continuing her trek through the tall oak forest that never seemed to end. Eliza's armor clanked quietly, the only sound that was discernable; no birds sang, the place was alien, foul. Thick, thorny vines choked the trees here, but surprisingly enough the trees seemed mostly unaffected- at least on a normal, functional level.

*~*

Leaping from tree to tree, Garth did his best to avoid tripping up, lest he fall and impale himself on those precariously sharp vines that grew everywhere he looked. The nomad wasn't sure how he ended up here, but the whole place was wrong, obviously contaminated with some sort of sick, dark magic. He suspected necromancy, but even if that were the case this seemed far too advanced for some novice. That fact alone set him on edge, not knowing what to expect- sure, he was confident enough to defend himself if need be, but there was a fine line between confidence and arrogance.

With that in mind, Garth avoided fighting unless absolutely necessary. The poor, stubborn monsters that gave chase he cleanly and swiftly dealt with. It was sad, the creatures were mindless and completely bloodthirsty. They reminded Garth of the countless other undead he encountered in caves and graveyards- even fellow vampires. Having to put down his own kind left a bad taste in his mouth.

He paused on a thick enough branch and crouched down, peering through the leaves warily. He thought he smelt or heard someone other than himself- someone who was living that is.

Ryna is silently, slowly wandering through the forest. Her mouth is open so she can smell better, but all she can smell is the scent of death and dead things. Sometimes blood. Sometimes mold. But mostly just death. She doesn't like the smell, but if somebody else is nearby she wants to be able to scent them.

The vampire adjusted the cloak he wore, and let his hand hover over his sheathed dagger. Just because something is living doesn't make it not a threat after all. Slowly, he eased himself off of the branch and hit the forest floor silently, creeping around a cluster of bushes to scan the woods around him. He narrowed his eyes when he caught sight of Ryna, Garth silently thanked any luck he had that he was downwind. He wasn't quite sure what she was, but she didn't seem hostile, still...

Garth debated on whether or not to reveal himself; In the end, he stood and cautiously called out, "Hello?" His voice had a deep roughness to it.

~*~

Meanwhile, Eliza was still wandering, still not catching sight of any landmarks. She was growing increasingly frustrated by her predicament, wondering if she should start a fire and burn the whole forest to ash.

Her large ears prick, and she turns to face him. She doesn't say anything, just tilts her head a little. because she has the mouth and vocal chords of a small dog, she doesn't talk much.

Garth slightly frowns, "Can you speak?" he asked, shifting his weight and trying to seem unthreatening- though he wasn't sure how good he was with that. His cloak concealed his arms, warily glancing around the clearing discreetly for signs of those rotting monsters before settling his gaze on Ryna once more.

She shrugs. "Yes.. and.. no." Each word is difficult to decipher, because each one sounds like she's barking.

(Oof hadn't realized he had started)

Casey prowled through the woods as a wolf, his pack close behind. Do you think we'll see any humans? A younger pack member asked.
I hope not, Casey snarled. Humans don't belong here.
The wolf fell silent, feeling kind of offended. He didn't mind humans much, but most of the rest of the pack did. He didn't understand why they hated humans so much. Sure, a few of them could be mean, but some of them were nice.
Casey growled at the wolf. Stop. Humans are all evil. They are all corrupted. End of conversation.

"It's hard for you to speak the common tongue?" he dips his head in understanding, "How did you end up in a place like this? Was it similar to mine?" he paused, then explained, "I remember walking down a path, but then the road tapered off and I found myself here. I've tried to backtrack, but there seems to be something holding us here." he mused.

She opens her mouth to speak, but stops. She can smell dogs. They're nearby. Wolves, from the smell of it.

Speaking of humans, another pack member growled. The pack fell silent after that, their glowing eyes visible