Previous post.
This post marks the beginning of my mission using these storyboard elements:
- Scout potential threats (3).
Musashi arrived from the strange distorted area, to another area that was unnerving in its own right. Ashy gray vines became thick in this portion of the forest, suffocating and filling what little space remained between the dense forestry.
It was already difficult enough to see and navigate through the forest, but the dense vines made it even more so. Musashi ended up drawing one of the blades she purchased from the Ronin in the Dark Tower, and was having to literally cut a path forward, as thick as it all was. She didn't know if it was a result from the distorted area she just left, this new portion of the forest, or even just this entire continent, but Musashi was still on edge.
It was like the forest was trying to swallow her, and attempting to navigate this place unprepared could easily lead to one become trapped, or ensnared.
She happened fairly quickly upon the corpse of what appeared to have at one point been a boar. Its flesh had long-since decayed, leaving only its ivory skeleton behind. Perhaps the most unnerving part was how it was suspended in the air - held aloft by the gray vines, which snaked through the spaces in its ribs, through the holes in its skull.
Was the creature trapped by its own rampaging thrashing, or did the forest reach out and grab it? Surely the latter wasn't the case, but Musashi couldn't quite be so sure, with what seemed like writhing forms always dancing at the edge of her vision.
Musashi coated her blade in
( Dokkōdō: Kakusu Shinjitsu ) - The Alone Way: Hidden Truths . It was probably an unnecessary precaution, but as she started to cut through the ashen vines, she was petrifying them - or at least attempting to do so, utilizing this powerful form of Kenjutsu. It would by her some room as she moved forward, and hoped that perhaps it would staunch the invasion of whatever these things were. Fire might be a good choice, but...she dare not chance it without a way to put out a blaze, for fear of igniting a forest fire.
Musashi's soul-sensing was going wild. She wasn't sure if it was just her unease putting her overly on edge, but it felt like there were small "pops" of things coming in and out of existence. She was thankful she had yet to detect any Oni, but that did not mean that other dangers might not be present.
The vibrant light cascaded off of Musashi's blade and lantern, and the combination of the two seemed sufficient for the swordswoman to cut a path. When she found a suitable clearing - truly, just an expanse that had been stuffed with the Stranglevines, as if muscles filling space in a skeletal structure, she loosed a shockwave, and watched as the vines petrified and shattered, leaving her a clean "table" of sorts to work with.
She placed the map on the "stone" pedestal she had created, and recorded her observations such far. The incredible density of the forest, and the danger posed by just the flora - it would be all too easy for inexperienced travelers to become restrained here, and without assistance, to possibly meet their end.
Musashi collected her things and lifted her lantern and sword, and continued trekking forward. It was becoming obvious that this continent was strange. These thick gray vines that seemed to almost be constricting upon any living thing they could, the strange fragmented realm she had previously ventured from...
Musashi would continue wandering, confident in her own ability, and to gather information for those who might eventually follow in her footsteps.
Leaving Landmark for Pool of Reflection (270).