It"s a haze in the morning at the mountain ranges. and a hazy vision was visiting them for a short period of time. even it"s 8:30 am, the visuals are not much clearer. the team was supposed to go straight forward until the next stop. but Mizuki was worried that they have lost their path very far. as their compa.s.s doesn"t work, she asked Rin to climb up the tree and see which was the direction east. Rin climbed up and see for the sun. but still, nothing was seen. he has to go more up to see the sun"s dim light. so he said to Mizuki that, they have to climb up to the hill."ok we have to find a way first" Mizuki was concerned with him so she agrees to go. for that, they need a proper plan so they gather around and open their maps. the team surrounded the area and Kazu was leading the direction this time "we have pa.s.sed from the plum town and its about 4 km from our point of location now. if I"m right then we much be here" he pointed his hand to the exact location of them in the map. "we came from that direction right? and that was the west side of the map so to go to the east we have to take the route from the north direction, this the only way up. "alright there" Jimmin pointed his finger toward the north.
while they were walking frequently the sound came from behind. it was the same sound Rin heard before inside of the motel. he asked his team to stop. Rin was now confirmed that someone was following them. "stay here" move toward the bushes we"re the sound came from. before he can look into it a crow flew away at sudden from the other side of the bushes.
"come on Rin it was just a crow nothing to worry about," Himoto said.
"Anything wrong?" Kazu asked.
"No nothing, it"s just my vision."
Mizuki understands Rin"s feelings but she said nothing cause she was not sure what was he trying to hint, but she knew that there something bothering him.
it"s was suspicious for the team that these green hills were so silent. it can be a.s.sumed that there was less possibility of life form in four-footed cause its hill area, and can"t support them to freely move but at least there should be some birds chirping sound on trees. but rather then that crow there was no traces of life. Mizuki was a little tensed after the incident. but she was not showing her worries. Rin was now more alert than before, he knows anything can happen in these suspicious hills. moving straight toward up hills, they heard a rock coming towards them. they ran but at a certain point, the team got confused where the sound coming from. either east or west or north or south.
like a flash of lightning, it came from upwards Jimmin cried out loud "jump." they just survived from crashing under the rock. it seems that someone might plan to do so.
whoever that was they were trying to stop them at any cost.
his efforts were successful, the team lost its way and didn"t know where they are.
but they keep walking into the forest, the mist gets darker and darker Mizuki asked them not to leave her side. but unfortunately, one by one they split up individual. and lost in puzzles of mist.
"Tin.....Tin..." it was quite clear that it"s a sound of a bell coming from behind Himoto. slowly she turned around but saw nothing. getting back on her track she was moving straight.
they all keep quiet, cause they knew if they make a sound the enemy can know their position. so quietly they search for each other.
"Jimmin" sound loud enough to hear coming from Jimmin"s left-hand side. it was similar to Kazu"s voice. at first, he thought it was just a trap but when Kazu cried for help he swiftly rushes towards it.
on another side, Kazu was lighting up the torch so his comrades can see him. unfortunately, only Rin sees it and came toward him.
Mizuki takes her steps very carefully but that doesn"t even count, suddenly she falls under the ground. and now
Mizuki was trapped in between ground holes she tries really hard to get out from there but each time she tries, she fails. finally, Mizuki saw a root hanging on over the walls. by grabbing it she took herself out of the hole. but what she sees that was quite unexpected.
she was in a totally different world sky was so bright. j.a.panese macaque and rac.o.o.n dog can be seen. there was also a sand cat running around the grounds of the hills forest. Mizuki has a better knowledge of animals it habit and habitat. so she can easily deny the fact that there is a chance of finding a desert cat in the mountain range. she took her sword and cut through the air. the slash wiped out the scenario completely. she opens her eye. she was still in the hole. it was actually an illusion made by some sort of hidden magic in the mountains. when her vision clear she saw the hole was about 20 feet deep and she stuck in it. there was a dark tunnel ahead of her. having no choice rather than go in there and have no way to climb back she has to move inside of the tunnel to find a way out. she has only her twin sword, spear, some food supplies and medicines with no light supply so were searching for it. luckily she found a branch of tree, she tore one of her clothes and rolled it then burn. and move towards the tunnel.