`When Cassidy had her senses around her again, she realized she was deep in the forest. She looked up, and could hardly see the sky. It was still night, or maybe early morning??? She didn't know, her head was fuzzy, so fuzzy.... "Why am I here...? I had just stepped out to get some fresh air, right? To try and help myself get to sleep easier... I stepped outside my tent and then...." She tried to remember.
"...!! Then I heard.. Mom. I chased her voice and now I'm..." Cassidy leaned against the nearby tree. "Oh... Oh fuck..."
How in the world was she gonna get out of this? She was about to work herself into a panic until she stubbed her toe on a root that was out of the ground. That quick pain was enough to bring her back to Earth, so to speak. "Ok. I just... Need to breathe. If I'm careful, I should be able to avoid animals and get out of here safely and back to camp... Or at the very least, out of this forest. I just..." She looked around, seeing nothing but forest, "Try and get my bearings.."
She took a few minutes, trying to settle her breaths. The area around her got a little bit bright, but... Not by much. At least she had a bit more light to work with. She just had to find a path and hope that she was going the right way. She realized after a few minutes, she could not shake the feeling that she was being.... Watched.
She shuddered. "It's just some animals in the forest... Hopefully they aren't hungry... Or if they are, they don't eat meat." She muttered as she continued to walk. She still felt eyes boring into her from every turn.
".... I really hope I'm going the right way..."
---
Takashi trodded through the undergrowth, along with a few guards, marking a trial maker for himself in a tree every few feet, that way whenever she was found, or if he found her, it would be easy to get back to camp. The dog with him seemed to have a good track of where Cassidy could be as it kept going, its nose to the ground as it sniffed out Cassidy's scent from the other scents of the forest.
He still wondered why she would be out here, as Tanjiro had said earlier, she had no reason to...
Hopefully, they would find her soon and be able to get right back on track with the actual reason they were all here, to hunt. Takashi was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't even realize until the dog barked at him that he was alone with the dog. "What the-? Guards! Where are you?" He said, his voice echoing a bit around the small clearing they found themselves in. The dog was whining a bit, staying close to Takashi.
Something wasn't right.
Takashi pulled an arrow out and got it so he could fire in an instant if he so needed. Something wasn't right. Something felt... Wrong about this place, and he couldn't place it. Someone was watching him, that much he could feel. "... Come on, Boy." he said to the dog. They would have to be extremely careful here, something more powerful than them was definitely here.
----
Cassidy had been walking for an hour now it felt like. When she first started, she would do something to mark that she had been there, like bending a tree branch, stacking some rocks, just something that could let her know that she had been there before. Luckily, she hadn't found any of her trail markers. But she was still lost.
"This sucks." She grumbled softly, and held her stomach a bit as it growled a bit as she was hungry. "....Just hold on, you can eat when you get back to camp.." she told herself. She was still being watched. She could feel it. Something about it made the hairs on the back of her neck rise up. Whatever it was that was watching, it was wanting blood. "Maybe the others from Camp are looking for me as well..? I... I hope so." She rubbed her arms. Her night clothes did nothing to warm her against the cold of this forest.
She let out a soft whine, before running into spider web and letting out a scream.
"GYAHHH!!!!!"
-----
Takashi stopped when he heard the shriek. That sounded like-!! He burst through the clearing, dog at his side with his arrow ready to fly at whatever was attacking her. Then he saw a rather large spider coming down, and if he didn't know better, he would say it seemed angry that it's web was messed up from Cassidy. He could see bits of web in her hair.
"... Calm down," He said, "It's just a spiderweb." He said as he watched the dog go over, it's tail wagging. It found who it was supposed to, so the dog was happily waiting for praise. "Why are you out here???"
Takashi watched as she took a few deep breaths, petting the hunting dog for comfort.
"I-it doesn't stop it from scaring me.." Cassidy said, meaning the spider web, "And.. I don't know.. There was a voice. It was.. my Mom. I had to follow it.. I don't know why.." she said, looking at the ground.
That made Takashi quirk an eyebrow. Something seems to have lured her out here.. But for what? Best explanation? The creature wanted to play a trick on her... Worst explanation was that the creature probably wanted to eat her. He didn't like this. That feeling of being watched had increased tenfold now. "Come on." He said, keeping an arrow ready, "We need to get back to camp."
"R-right..!" Cassidy said and was sticking close as they began to walk back the way that Takashi had come from.
As the two walked, they still could not shake the feeling that they were being watched. Whatever had lured Cassidy out here, was definitely still there. Waiting for a chance. Takashi was taking in every little thing. If they could just find the guards that he somehow got lost from, they could probably find the camp easier.
It didn't sit right with him that something just seemed.. Different in the forest right now. It was as if it was the same, but not. Could they have traveled planes..?? He really hoped not, he didn't exactly know how to get back if that was the problem, nor would he have picked this area for hunting if he had known there was apparently a gate to the Other World here.
"...Are you ok..??" Cassidy's voice broke through his thoughts. He didn't really know how to explain properly what he was thinking had happened.
Sure, she had been brought to their time by magical means but... "I think..." Takashi said, his voice soft as if not to alert whatever watching them from the Shadows. "We're in the Other World... The Spirit World. There must've been a gate. A spirit probably lured you here for.. Something." He looked back at her, noting her little tired laugh.
Seems they both knew that 'something' meant it probably wanted to eat her.
"...We'll get out. We just. Have to keep going. Fuma here will help us." he said, nodding to the dog who still was by his side, wagging its tail, happy to be acknowledged.
"...Right." Cassidy nodded, and rubbed her arm a bit, "...Thank yo-WATCH OUT!" And Takashi was shoved forward out of the way of a large paw coming out of nowhere, slamming down where Takashi would have been. Takashi looked up as Cassidy scrambled off him, embarrassed, and panicked.
That... Was a big wolf...
----
Cassidy was glad that Takashi had found her. Though she would admit that she didn't expect him to be the one that did so, she was honestly just glad to be found by SOMEONE... So, now at least she had more of a chance to get back to camp. He told her he thinks they stepped into the Spirit World, and Cassidy can't help but laugh.
That seems about on par with everything. She was sent here by magic anyway. So maybe the world of the past was just more in tune with it, and in her time it had just faded to the shadows, letting both worlds live in a form of... Peace.
She didn't have much more time to think about that as a sudden movement caught her eye. It was a paw, heading straight at Takashi to smash him to the ground. She acted and pushed him out of the way, both of them ending up on the ground, the paw smashing to the ground where Takashi had once stood.
Fuma was standing beside them, growling and barking, hackles raised.
Cassidy scrambled off Takashi, looking up at the owner of that giant paw. That was a wolf. A white wolf. A giant white wolf that was half the size of the tree beside it, and seemed to have gray just swirling around its fur. How the hell did they not notice it??! She didn't have time to think as Takashi grabbed her hand and soon they were running, and even though there was no crashing, they could still see it running after them.
"How could we have not seen it?!" Takashi huffed. "That thing is the size of the throne room...!"
As the wolf growled and barked, thunder crashed overhead.
Cassidy looked back and saw the wolf's white fur was turning a dark stormy gray, it's eyes bright like lightning.. "W-we're in the Other World right?!" Cassidy said as she tried to keep pace, "What if that thing is like... I don't know... "God why couldn't she remember the word for cloud now of all times?! "Fluffy!"
"Fluffy?!" Takashi looked at her incredulously, could she be being affected by being in this world, would the same be happening to him?! "What are you talking about?!"
"It makes rain!!" She said, still struggling to remember the word for cloud.
"...!!" He pulled her off to a side path, Fuma following. The large wolf ran soundlessly past them, seeming to phase through the trees. "..A cloud." he said softly, watching the wolf stop and sniff, trying to find them again.
Cassidy nodded as thunder distantly rumbled over head as the wolf let out soft growls. "So... How do we get past a cloud...??"
Takashi was trying to think of that exact answer. How could they get past a cloud, a storm cloud?? ".... This may not work, so.. be ready to run again." He said, his voice soft as the wolf was still sniffing around. "We need to make the storm break. If we do that, it should relax. Hopefully." He knew this plan was stupid, but they didn't have much other choice than injuring it and getting out as fast as they could. He really hoped that the storm they'd unleash would be a gentle one and not a harsh one.
"and how do we do that?" She asked but covered her mouth to block her squeak as Fuma darted out, the dog seeming to go distract the giant wolf for just a little while longer while the two made their plan.
Takashi let out a small hiss of air as he heard the wolf catch him. Fuma's sacrifice wouldn't be in vain. They would get out of here. He pulled an arrow from his quiver. "Can you climb the tree?" He asked, nodding over to it. He didn't want to put her in danger, but they were running out of options.
Cassidy nodded, gingerly taking the arrow, "What do I do...?" she asked, trying to stop her shaking. Her hair was a mess, she was hungry, and she was still only wearing her night clothes! Why couldn't this just be a weird dream?!
"It'll be dangerous but.. You must get on the wolf. It can choose to pass through things..! you should be able to get on it... And when I shout, fire, stab the arrow as hard as you can into its neck." Takashi explained. Again, a bad plan, but right now it was the only one they had. The wolf was getting close to their place again. "we'll be ok." he said, seeing her still look scared. "Hurry. Climb the tree. I'll keep it close so you can get on.''And he dashed out.
He had to be faster than the wolf. He yelled to keep it looking at him, he would run under it, or around it, keeping it close to the trees that Cassidy was climbing. He mentally swore because she was slow. But he had to remember she probably didn't do this kind of stuff. She probably never had a need to fight for her life.
The wolf let out a loud howl, and thunder crashed, as it felt Cassidy land on its back. Cassidy was crawling her way to the neck of the great beast and Takashi realized another fault in his plan. If the Cloud wolf decided to run through the trees again, and pass through them, Cassidy would fall right through it, and crash to the forest floor. At least he was able to keep it here, for now.
When Cassidy waved, he quickly notched an arrow and aimed, right at the soft flesh of the wolf's throat and -- "FIRE!" He let the arrow fly and it hit its mark, right in the soft flesh of the neck. Instead of blood, clear water started to fall.
Cassidy slammed the arrow in her hands into its neck, more water started to fall from its wounds as rain started to fall from the sky. It let out a loud howl and started to run off. Takashi dropped his bow, running forward to catch her as she started to fall through the wolf as it passed through the trees.
He barely caught her in time. "Are you ok?!" He asked, not caring that she was soaking wet now thanks to passing through the wolf.
"I-i'm fine.. We did it..! we beat it back!!!" She laughed and hugged him, which he returned, admittedly as giddy as her.
Both realized what they were doing and quickly he sat her on the ground, both looking away from each other awkwardly and blushing. "I. uh. Good work." he said, looking over at and then his face turned a bright red.
Cassidy looked at him a bit confused, why was he so red..? It couldn't be just from the hug----!!!! Cassidy looked down at herself and realized real fast her night clothes were sticking to her. She let out a squeak attempting to try and cover herself more. The rain wasn't really helping.
Takashi swallowed and pulled off his jacket, holding it out to her, "H-here." he said, "It will keep you warm until we get back to camp." This was definitely one way to deal with his first actual experience with the Other World. At least it seemed he wasn't alone in that fact, since it seemed to be Cassidy's first experience as well.
"Thank you." Cassidy said quickly as she accepted the coat and wrapped it around herself.
Eager to get out of this awkward situation, Takashi picked his bow back up, and started to walk again, Cassidy following.
----
By the time they got back to camp, it was just after midday. The storm had stopped just as they stepped out of the forest. Guards quickly surrounded them along with servants to help them. "Sir what happened?!" Giyuu said as he rushed over to them, getting notified thanks to the commotion, "First your guards come back without you and then this-!"
"I think the explanation can wait until after Bishop and myself both get into warm clothes, please." He said as Cassidy sneezed. He could hear mumbling about how Cassidy was wearing his coat. "There was an accident and to protect her modesty, I gave her my coat to borrow. Miyajima, please tend to her." he nodded as Nao jumped a bit but nodded, rushing Cassidy off. One of the doctor's nurses went with them to make sure Cassidy wasn't injured.
"Giyuu."he said as they started toward his tent, "Don't let anyone else in the forest. Not yet. There's a Gate."