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Permafrost
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#1
Old 05-08-2015, 04:03 PM

The Path Less Traveled



This is the story of two young hikers who wander off the worn path to explore and find themselves lost in the woods despite their best efforts.

Unknown to our protagonists, in a shady part of the forest sits a grand mansion of a house that seems to blend both Gothic and Victorian architecture throughout its structure. There are rosebushes in front of the house, and an expansive, well kept garden behind it, complete with perfectly placed koi pond.

The path up to the house is of smooth flat stone lined on either side with various apple trees that go three rows back.

Here in the sequestered part of the woods in this stately house lives a single person, but as our travelers are soon to discover, they may not be all that they appear.

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#2
Old 05-08-2015, 05:06 PM


"Daphne, hurry up!"

Bent over, hands on her knees, at the top of the hill, Lily stopped to catch her breathe and wait for her hiking companion to catch up. There was sweat on her brow from where she had run up the trail; Lily wiped it off with one hand and then rubbed the side of her hand against her brown jean capris.

With a sigh, she took off her backpack and set it on the ground next to her feet. Underneath a dark purple tank top she wore a lilac camisole. Her hair was pulled up into a bun on the back of her head; to her dismay, by this time in the day, there were curly tendrils escaping from the bun.

She adjusted her glasses and then waved to Daphne.

"I think I see something over the tree tops!"

Last edited by [Blackwood]; 05-08-2015 at 05:24 PM..

Rosethorn
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#3
Old 05-08-2015, 05:51 PM




The brunette young woman chuckled to herself as she gradually climbed the hill. Lily seemed a little winded as she wiped her brow and laid her backpack on the ground next to her feet.

"Running up all the hills isn't going to get us out of this any faster," she said amicably as she stopped to lean on a tree opposite her friend.


Daphne shifted her backpack across her shoulders. She was starting to get sore, but was still in good spirits. She was only just starting to get warm in her black and pink hoodie, which she'd worn since the days had started to grow cooler.

She tilted her head backwards and looked around curiously. "Where do you see something? I don't see it," she said thoughtfully.

Last edited by Rosethorn; 05-08-2015 at 05:54 PM.. Reason: spelling error

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#4
Old 05-08-2015, 05:58 PM

Lily stuck her tongue out at Daphne. "Maybe so but at least we'll get somewhere."

She turned and pointed in what seemed to be a random direction. With her other hand held up to shade her eyes, she nearly shouted, "Look! There!"

It was clear to Lily as day - the top of a roof of a house. She couldn't make any details out at this distance but it was still there.

"I think we might have wandered onto someone's estate, Daphne."

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#5
Old 05-08-2015, 06:16 PM

Daphne laughed at Lily's outstretched tongue and just grinned broadly for a moment. We're so goofy, she thought.

She took a small step backwards and craned her neck trying to see what Lily was looking at and thought for a moment she couple make out a shadow of something. She frowned a little, silently cursing that she chose today to forget her binoculars.
She didn't waste much time lamenting her minor mistake, but chose instead to focus on the bright side.


"Well, that's good, isn't it? If there's a person living out here, they'll either have a phone or be able to tell us how to get back to the main trail,
" she said cheerfully. She hoped she didn't look as doubtful as she felt.

They hadn't been lost long, but already Daphne's imagination was starting to formulate grim scenarios that she wished she could ignore.

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#6
Old 05-08-2015, 06:23 PM

"And something to eat too, I bet." Lily grinned as her stomach grumbled.

She picked up her backpack and slung it across her shoulders. With it settled where it needed to be, Lily started to have a look-see at the area around them.

"Look here! I think there's a trail leading towards that house. It ain't much of one, though."

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#7
Old 05-08-2015, 06:32 PM

"I am getting kind of hungry," Daphne answered as her stomach growled in unison at the mention of food. She stood upright and wiggled her shoulders until the weight of the backpack settled.

She walked to the spot where Lily pointed and looked around for a moment, scanning back and forth.

"You're right about that, Lil. It's barely a deer trail; still it's the first actual path we've seen in a while,"
she assented. She took a deep breathe and exhaled loudly.

"Well, lead the way, fearless leader. Let's hope whoever lives out here is a friendly hermit,"

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#8
Old 05-08-2015, 06:38 PM

Lily shrugged and then plucked at Daphne's hoodie. "Be a lot friendlier if you stopped wearing hoodies all the time."

She wiggled her eyebrows at Daphne and grinned, plunging into the bushes to follow the trail without another word.

~*~*~*~

Time passed and the temperature dropped the further they went along the trail. While the trail itself stayed clear of debris, the forest on either side of it grew denser and darker.

Lily shivered and stopped, turning to look back at Daphne. "It seems like this is taking forever, Daphne."

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#9
Old 05-08-2015, 07:00 PM

Daphne pretended to roll her eyes. "You know I can't leave without my hoodie unless it's over seventy five out,"

She tromped through the vegetation and broken tree bits right behind Lily for a good long while without saying much; she had a hard time keeping up as it was never mind trying to talk and breathe at the same time.

~*~*~*~

It felt as if they'd been walking a long time, and if it hadn't been for the noticeable drop in temperature and how much darker it had become Daphne would have sworn she'd spent two hours walking in circles.

She also noted how clear path had become as it had widened. She couldn't understand why it felt odd, but she was certain it was.

The sudden sound of Lily's voice gave her a small start and she paused where she was on the trail. She looked around to confirm they weren't walking in circles before she answered.

"You're not wrong. It seems like the longest deer trail on Earth," . She returned her gaze to her friend and realized that the other young woman was shivering a little.

"Do you wanna borrow my spare hoodie? It'll be huge on you, but it's better than risking you being too cold and getting sick,"
she offered already dislodging her pack to fish out the much loved purple and green hoodie she used as a spare.

Last edited by Rosethorn; 05-08-2015 at 07:48 PM.. Reason: wrong name in wrong spot

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#10
Old 05-08-2015, 07:45 PM

"Could I?"

By now Lily had her arms wrapped around her and was quite visibly shivering. The shadows were long and off in the distance there came a lone howl. She 'eep'd' and cowered, waiting for Daphne to hand over the hoodie.

"I hope we find this house or whatever soon!"

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#11
Old 05-08-2015, 07:53 PM

Daphne stuffed the remaining contents back into her bag with a grunt of effort and didn't bother closing the it as she turned and handed Lily the hooded sweatshirt.

"I wish we there already too. It must be getting later, since it's getting so dark. We didn't come prepared to camp outside," she said snapping the buttons on the flaps of her backpack. She shifted and wiggled until she was right again.

"On the bright side,"
she started, "we can't be too far away, since we've been walking for a while," she said trying to ease Lily's worry

Last edited by Rosethorn; 05-08-2015 at 08:14 PM.. Reason: spelling error

Permafrost
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#12
Old 05-08-2015, 08:12 PM

A tall, pale figure raised hir head as they felt the familiar tingle in their ears. Someone had made a tentative wish in hir forest. Judging by the vibrations in the ley lines, they were close.

Ze tucked stray alabaster hairs behind hir ear as if to listen. Ze closed the dark leather bound book and walked slowly to the window. A moment later, ze felt it again, but much stronger this time. Nodding to hirself, ze waved a hand dismissively to room behind and dozens of candles whiffed into ignited life.

Ze opened hir ornate wooden door and stepped onto their veranda and lit the hanging lamps to light the way for hir impending guests.

Ze didn't get many visitors, not like in the old days when all sorts of people who seek hir out. Considering how upset ze could get if others broken their promises or tried to deceive hir, ze couldn't blame the people for not returning.

Ze went back inside briefly to prepare a tray of small sweets and biscuits and some cups of hot chocolate. This sort of thing always seemed to go a long way toward breaking the ice in hir experience.

Once everything was arranged just so, ze walked back outside and placed the tray on the elegant furniture that adorned the somewhat enclosed porch.

Ze was looking forward to company.

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#13
Old 05-08-2015, 08:20 PM

She set her backpack down on the ground and took the proffered hoodie from Daphne, quickly slipping it on over her head. After picking her backpack up off the ground, she took a deep breath and eyed the path in front of them.

"Alright, let's do this."

Lily didn't charge into the underbrush exactly but she certainly wasn't going to stand there yapping all day when there might be somewhere warm up ahead.

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#14
Old 05-08-2015, 08:34 PM

Daphne had to walk quickly to keep pace with Lily at first. She couldn't fathom how her friend could still move so quickly considering how hungry they both were. They'd been walking for hours on top of that and she felt the first wave of exhaustion creeping into her body.

As they walked, the path turned from dirt to flat stones that looked white in the fading sunlight. There wasn't much space between them, but they didn't exactly touch either. As she walked double time to keep up, she saw that their path was going to curve around a thick tree.

"Look, Lily!"
she huffed, "we must be really close!"


Last edited by Rosethorn; 05-08-2015 at 08:37 PM.. Reason: formatting error

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#15
Old 05-08-2015, 11:28 PM

Lily eyed the trees nervously as she continued along the stone path. It was as though they were looming in toward her and in return she picked up her pace a little, forgetting that Daphne was trudging along behind her.

As the path curved and then opened up to the grounds of the estate, Lily gasped, having not expected such a well kept manse to appear before her. The grounds were beautiful and she came to a halt, standing there to stare as Daphne came up behind her.

"Are you seeing this?"

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#16
Old 05-09-2015, 03:33 AM



Daphne struggled to keep up as Lily sped up almost frantically. As her red haired friend halted abruptly, Daphne stumbled to an awkward stop in an attempt not to bump into the other girl.

Once she regrouped, she too raised her eyes in awe at the expansive estate before them. In the remaining gloam, she could see very well tended landscaping and the partially enclosed porch was well lit. It seemed that every window had an inviting, almost soothing glow.

"Wow," breathed the dark haired young woman, "It's amazing. You weren't kidding about it being an estate,".

She lowered her eyes and starting looking around for signs of human life, but it was dim enough that she couldn't see much past her companion.

"Now what? Do we just go knock?"
she said no longer caring if she sounded more than a little apprehensive.

Last edited by Rosethorn; 05-09-2015 at 03:36 AM..

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#17
Old 05-09-2015, 05:17 AM

Just as ze had settle in with yet another tome full of yellowing pages, ze heard the soft scraping announcing hir visitors.

Each stopped in their tracks once the house was in full view, though one seemed more to stumble and teeter into place. Ze didn't move for a moment as the two newcomers exchanged hushed words.

When neither of them moved, ze smiled quietly to hirself and rose to greet them. Ze descended the steps slowly, being careful not to move suddenly lest ze startle those who were more than welcome.

Ze didn't want to have to search the wood for the after darkness had fully descended.


Once ze was near enough, ze said, "Good evening! You two look lost; do you need help?"

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#18
Old 05-11-2015, 11:35 PM

Lily smiled falteringly; suddenly she was nervous about approaching the stranger. For real! They were lost in the woods, alone, and now speaking to a stranger. Daphne had made her watch enough horror flicks to know where this was going. Someone was going to end up dead, or worse.

She didn't take a step back but she did turn enough to poke Daphne in the side and murmur to her, "You first, oh fearless leader."

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#19
Old 05-12-2015, 01:16 AM

Daphne didn't know it, but her eyes grew wide as she noticed a willowy figure that seemed to glide down the steps of a partially enclosed porch. Thought they did not move quickly, there was something about the way this person moved was more than a little hypnotic.

When they spoke, Daphne's mind couldn't process it at first; the sound was simply too beautiful for words. It wasn't until Lily touched her that the young brunette realized that she'd been staring without blinking. Her breath caught in her throat for a moment.

Taking a small, shy step forward, Daphne answered the pale person's inquiry at last.

"We are actually lost, yeah. Do you have a phone we could use?" she said doing her best to laugh it off and hide the first inklings of fear trying to creep into her thoughts.

Last edited by Rosethorn; 05-12-2015 at 04:25 PM.. Reason: missing word

Permafrost
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#20
Old 05-12-2015, 05:31 PM

Ze could see now that the two lost travelers were girls barely out of adolescence. One had hair like sunset blazing through the clouds of dusk and the other had a cascade of sepia that even in the gloam all around them ze saw traces of gold.

The coppery haired young woman hissed something to her companion after which the darker haired girl stepped forward and spoke. It was obvious to hir that she'd been struck by hir presence, and while ze was more than a little flattered, ze ignored such things for now.


A small smile graced hir face as ze answered, "I'm afraid there are neither phone lines nor mobile reception as far into the woods as we are, alas. I can, however, offer you a safe place to rest until tomorrow; once day breaks, I would be happy to show you how to get back to the main path out of the forest,".



just remember that despite the pic, hir ears aren't obvious just now

Last edited by Permafrost; 05-12-2015 at 05:35 PM.. Reason: missing word, added pic

 


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