Chapter 35: You're (Almost) Out, Emphasis on "Almost"
The gang ran as fast as they could from the being of inconceivable horror until they ran out of breath, stopping after they had ran around the far side of the ravine.
"Did..did we lose it?"
Skull Boy looked where they had come from and nothing was in sight.
"I think we got lucky and it decided not to follow us. It probably just went back to wherever it crawled out from."
"Lucky us." Frank said sarcastically.
"It looks like we made it all the way past the far side of that crevasse" Ruby announced seeing the gap from afar and the other side they had originally tried to access.
Just then a flapping sound was heard and
kept getting louder and closer until...
"Ah here you are."
They all jumped back, before turning around to see Poe perched on a low branch of a dead tree.
"Poe, you're back." exclaimed Ruby.
"Indeed, it took longer than I had expected to find evidence, but I finally did, I was going to come back and tell you all but it asseems you beat me to it." Poe explained. "Observe" he said pointing to the ground.
The ground was moist covered in mud and thanks to said mud it had outlined footprints of someone wearing
Ruby: Are they the right ones?
Skull Boy stepped forward. "Only one way to find out. Doom?"
Doom came forward and looked at the footprints lightly sniffing them, then nodded as if to say they were a match.
"Alright, great job Poe you found our trail." exclaimed Iris.
"Oh it was nothing really, I was merely doing what any bird in my situation would do, but oh listen to me prattle on, uhh..." he noticed everyone was giving him a friendly yet smug look. "Right we should probably resume the dilemma on our hands." he said sheepishly.
"They must've made it to the other side of the ravine and came down the mountain and went through here." Skull Boy explaimed as his finger pointed into the woods where they had taken Zaí.
While they didn't look any different from regular woods, the atmosphere made them seem unfriendly and dark, complete with a long windy twisting path and brambly dead trees.
"We're just not gonna see anything nice, are we?" Len said clearly exasperated with being subjected to constant peril ever since leaving the mansion.
"Unfortunately I think not." Scaredy said shaking.
"Don't worry Scaredy, you can stick with us." Frank said consoling the frightened bat.
"Don't mind if I do." Scaredy said scrambling around Frank's head wrapping his wings around his crown.
"I walked right into that one." he said.
"Ok Guys, we're in a bit of a time crunch, so let's keep moving forward." Ruby encouraged her friends.
They all nodded before heading into the woods. There really was nothing truly frightening or dangerous for them. The odd tree that looked as though it had arms, or the odd bird calling out in shrieks.
After walking and walking for what seemed like hours they finally found a clearing behind some bushes, they all crouched down and peered over the brambles.
It felt as though their journey had paid off, they had finally arrived at the lake of zombies. Of course the place had obviously seen better days, most of the buildings were either broken, burned, charred or just plain ransacked.
"We made it guys, we're in the Lake of Zombies." Ruby said faintly above a whisper as to not draw any attention.
"Well Ruby although I'm thrilled at the prospect, I do hope we've brought some sort of camouflage to prevent us from being discovered since we're not witches." Poe said equally as quiet and twice as concerned.
"I think this is just what we prepared for." Ruby replied with confidence.
"Guys, I think it's time we donned our disguises."
"Great idea Ruby" said Iris.
All the human-esque members of the gang reached into their knapsacks and dug out black garments that resembled the dresses and cloaks that the witches were wearing.
Iris and Ruby both put on witch dresses leaving their red-and-grey and red-and-yellow striped leggings exposed because luckily they fit the theme of witches. Iris took out a pair of sunglasses that obviously weren't hers because they had 2 eyes, once she put them on she looked no different than a regular witch.
Skull Boy, Frank and Len all donned black cloaks and applied guyliner to their eyes and Skull Boy added a black hat to hide his skeletal form.
"Umm.. I hate to interject this but how exactly do Scaredy, Doom and myself avoid drawing attention to ourselves?" Poe queried.
"Simple, black cats are the go-to pet for any witch so Doom will fit right in, and as for Scaredy a bat is also a sort of creature loved by persuers of the dark arts so he'll just have to perch on our shoulders and no one will suspect a thing." Ruby explained.
Skull Boy then started "as for you Poe, a regular crow isn't gonna turn heads, but you might need to lose some of the attire."
"So what you're suggesting is that removing my clothing will disguise me better?"
"Not all, just maybe the jacket, monocle and hat. Also you and Scaredy should probably stay quiet just not to arouse suspicion."
"Though the idea isn't my favourite, if it means Zaí can come home with us unharmed I'll do it." Poe reluctantly agreed.
"I have no problem remaining quiet. As long as nothing jumps out at me." Scaredy agreed as well perching on Skull Boy's shoulder.
The gang all realized Scaredy was bound to be frightened by anyone they encountered but they all decided not to ruin it.
"If all else fails Scaredy, if you start to feel too uneasy you can just jump into my coat, that way you can't see anyone." Skull Boy reassured his nocturnal animal friend.
"Oh, thank you, I may very well do so."
They all peered out of the bushes at the dark and foreboding fallen civilization.
"On second thought it's not really polite dropping in without an invitation, perhaps we should just write them a letter?"
"Scaredy, we're kind of in a bit of a time crunch here, remember?" Frank reminded the frightened chiropteran.
"and I don't necessarily think these witches are the kind of people you can reason with." Poe informed him.
"Well it was worth a shot *gulp* okay I am ready now."
"Well, here we go." Ruby said half-terrified of the war-torn infested town. They all followed along single-file unaware of the obstacles that lay before them.
(Next chapter we'll see how Misery and Zerelda are doing, also I should mention these travelling events are happening simultaneously not time wise, just thought I'd clarify.)