HAUNTED GARDEN: East Gate {5/5}

Joakim waved Winona off, "At least people can understand whatever comes out of my mouth."

He rummaged through his pouch, looking for something in there, "You were asking what we were when we were alive, yeah? I was a farmer, hunter, leathersmith and mercenary at different points of my life. Forests are my backyard." the viking snorted when Winona mentioned movie stereotypes, "You're already a walking stereotype just being here. Don't worry though, we're all already dead. Unless that stereotype applies to the afterlife too, then it sucks to be you."

Finally pulling out his phone, Joakim unlocked it, tapping on the flashlight app and illuminating the path ahead of him. He squinted, not turning to reply to both Esther and Heng, "Something was out here," he started, shining his light at the signs of someone (or something) having pushed their way through the path. The snapped stems, the unnaturally-bent plants offered him that much.

"I just wanna see if I can find prints, or find out what it is. 'Sides, nothing wrong with going off paths that're already trodden on," he looked over his shoulder, finding that Heng was busying himself with Winona and that Esther was still where he saw her, "You coming? Or are you staying with Heng and Winona?"

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 wPo65fMo + 2 = 4  [Joa appears to be searching, but wasn't paying much attention yet...]

LINCOLN
After a short walk, you are met with a large glass conservatory. You notice that the trees around the building seem different, more varied, colorful, wild. Who ever the caretaker was, they seemed to have neglected their duties in these parts.
The glass conservatory itself seemed to act as a greenhouse. Through the dilapidated dirty windows you can see greenery pushing against the glass, as if it was trying to escape. The conservatory itself was reminiscence of a birdcage in design: Arching dome on the top, the support structure looked like white delicate wires. The moon peaked out from behind the conservatory's dome, like a shy creature.

The front door was shut by nailed on boards but upon closer inspection, the boards looked like they have been taken off before and hastily put back on. Perhaps just a little bit of force could pull it open. But the next odd thing was that…it looks like there is something glowing from within the birdcage like building. Perhaps someone else was already inside.

JOAKIM, WINONA, HEUG, ESTHER
Joakim found nothing useful on the ground other than the same thing Winona found. More leaves.
As Joakim trodden on a bit further in, he would faintly be able to hear the soft sound of running water nearby. The ground was a bit moist under his feet, the crunch of the leaves less sharp with each step. The bright light from Joakim's phone LED did a good job lighting up the area but it was unnaturally stark against the yellowing plants of the forest.

Are you guys staying together or splitting up?

As the building came into view, Lincoln let out a low whistle. That's one huge cage, he wondered, shining the light from his phone screen up to illuminate the structure and its protruding foliage. The light wasn't that bright, so it was barely any different from what he saw without it. With a huff, he aimed the phone downwards to illuminate his path instead. He noticed the nailed up entrance, but decided to give the building's exterior a cursory look-through. Stepping past roots, undergrowth and fallen foliage, he peered at the trees outside and those flattened against the glass from the inside.

"A shame...," he murmured to himself as a he shone the light at the glass wall, illuminating whatever plant had its leafy face pressed against the glass. They would eventually break through the glass, wouldn't they? Lincoln wondered, reaching an hedge at the end where the building ended as well. There was nothing else but nature around, so he turned and walked back to the entrance he had seen. A glimmer in the glass caught the corner of his eye, and he turned slightly to see what it was. It could just be the reflection of his screen bouncing back at him...but it was an orange glow, barely visible through the glass wall. Brows furrowed, Lincoln made his way back to the entrance and gave the door and its boards a short inspection.

They looked loose.

Perhaps the person inside was just visiting an old haunt of theirs, Lincoln reasoned. Should he knock? He tugged at the board and it fell off, falling to the ground with a loud thump. Lincoln congratulated himself with sarcasm for being a clumsy badger, and possibly alerting whoever it was inside. His hands weren't exactly free...with a sigh, he knocked on the door loudly before giving it a hefty push, quickly putting his hand into his pocket where his knife was. It'd be great if it was a hobo, he mused as he shone his light in.

Well, there goes sticking together.

Heng looked over at Winona, moving his hand away from his weapon momentarily.

"I'll stay with you then," he replied with a nod. He looked over at Joakim, who was already into the forest, and Esther (all he could see was her back), giving them a wave, then stepping to the side to let Winona through.

"Let us continue down the path then," he said, scanning his surroundings one last time. Whatever thing had run amok was not here anymore. For now.

Well, well. "Welcome to the lair of the lady Poison Ivy," Lincoln murmured with light amusement as he looked up to the trees that grew in abandon, his other hand closing the door shut. The glow he saw extinguished itself with a hushed rustle. Aaaand there they go...must've scared 'em. Lincoln raised his phone, giving it a tap to keep the screen lit up. There were signs at the feet of the trees, and as he walked down the stone road, he flashed at the little signs with his phone. 'Spruce', 'Fir', 'Cottonwood'...he must be on the side where all the trees were being planted. He flashed the screen elsewhere, taking in the sights of the rest of the greenhouse interior. He reached a large tree and gave it a tap, then a bit of kick. Sturdy enough, gnarly enough. The bigger trees should be about similar to the structures of buildings he used to parkour around, with the same concept and all.

Lincoln stashed his phone in his hoodie pocket and started to climb the tree, grabbing its boughs and clambering to a high enough position. From his spot, he could see over the expanse of the lower trees, see where the building ended and where the brush was thickest. He supposed that he could locate the rustling from where he was, unobstructed by the undergrowth on level ground. The darkness was quite inky, though, and nothing was clear. Carefully, he stood on the bough, gauged the distance to the next tree and jumped to it.

He kept at it for a while, pulling out his phone as a light source every once in a while. Lincoln got deeper into the greenhouse, finding the best boughs to grab and jump onto. At a considerably large tree, he hunkered down on the branch and peered into the darkness below him.

With Esther joining him, Joakim moved a bit more cautiously, letting out a small, barely audible "Mm?" at how wet the ground was. Was there a river nearby that flooded over? He didn't recall it raining the night before, and even if it did, the rain would have resulted in damp grounds even back on the trail.

And as he recalled, the ground was dry prior to their being here. Rubbing his chin in thought, Joakim decided to continue onwards, occasionally throwing Esther warnings over his shoulder. ("Low branch, careful" , "Tree root to your left", "Ground is soft, watch your step.", etc)

Joakim was oddly quiet through the trek, indicating he was concentrating on their bearings. He'd reply if Esther spoke up, of course.

He took occasional stops, switching his flashlight off and simply standing still as if waiting for something. When nothing happened, Joakim would shake his head and switch his flashlight back on, "Alt for pokkers stille..." he'd mutter under his breath as the duo trekked along.

When they came to the clearing, it was bright enough for Joakim, so he put his phone away.The sight of the murky lake wasn't quite unsettling to him, if only because the thing that caught his attention most was the child sitting in the middle of the lake.

Yes, he knew the possibility of the child being something completely supernatural, maybe even a figment of their imagination.

Yes, he knew everything about this whole place was suspicious and ominous.

Did he care? Not really. All he knew was that there was a child's figure stranded out in the midde of the lake, alone and sobbing.

Walking up to the water's edge, Joakim cupped a hand around his mouth, inhaled and bellowed to the child, "HEY, NÁ-FOLR!! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"

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Nà-folr = literally 'corpse-pale', it's a danish term for undeads/ghosts who are pale as a sheet.

Trailing along silently behind Joakim, Esther expressed her gratitude for each warning with a small, curt nod.

"Ground is soft; watch your step."

And he was right -- the ground had softened. It hadn't rained very much the past few days (she'd been grateful to not have needed an umbrella), which meant that there might be a creek nearby. The sound of water seemed ever-present the further they strayed from Heng and Winona's path.

(Heng and Winona. Her hope that they would follow hadn't panned out. She hadn't been sure whether to be irritated, worried, or glad, but somewhere along the way to wherever they were headed she had settled for being mildly relieved. The sounds of water and silence were much preferable to the sound of bickering.)

Occasionally she would stop and peer at their surroundings, flashing her phone's light into the darker depths of the woods. It was never kept raised for long, though -- there was always a chance that the something would see it as a beacon and flock towards it.

Alt for pokkers stille -- for all Esther appreciated the quiet, it sounded like Joakim thought there was too much of it. He paused and muttered during their walk, periodically switching off his flashlight and waiting. It wasn't the dark that made Esther nervous so much as what was lurking in it... but whatever it was didn't confront them, and they managed to make their way out of the darkness in wary peace.

It was only when they'd reached the clearing that she realized it wasn't the trickle of a creek she'd been hearing, but the sounds of a lake. The lake itself could have been beautiful during the day, perhaps, but the current eeriness of the rest of the garden hadn't left the water unscathed.

Even if the haunting atmosphere and the chilled night air weren't enough to give her chills, the person on the lake's jagged center island was more than enough. A child -- or someone that looked like a child -- sat there, back facing them, utterly unsettling.

The lack of trees provided enough light to see, so she brushed a thumb over the flashlight app's off button and tucked the phone away in a jacket pocket. Hopefully it was on mute. Of course it was on mute. She patted the pocket in a reassuring manner and peered out at the water --

And there went Joakim, striding forward towards the lake and shouting at them, caution stupidly forlorn.

"젠장 -- What are you doing?!" she hissed, doing her best to keep up with him. There was no point staying hidden, now, and so she stepped out of the safety of the trees in order to demand an explanation. She stopped just short of the lake's edge, though, mistrustful of the murky water.

To her inexplicable horror, the child -- the girl -- turned around.

"I can't believe --" said Esther, who was fully prepared to reprimand Joakim before the girl could do anything. But then she faltered, words leaving her.

Battered and small-looking against the jagged island she was chained to, the girl's words barely carried over the water.

Her state brought back memories. And now she was crying for help. As much as Esther wanted to believe it was a trap (heck -- as much as she still did), the girl's situation tore at heartstrings.

... And besides. She had information. Information that she was desperately trying to relay across the water.

After a quick visual sweep of the shore, Esther's gaze flickered back to Joakim.

"You know more about these situations than I do. I think." Her words were hurried, rushed. "What do we do? Swim? Wait? Run?" The latter was put in as a practical suggestion, but she was pretty sure that neither of them were going to run.