The Cabins in the woods

In a small town just outside Maine, on the Canadian Border...

The Huntsman's Lodge, Huntersville

Small remote town on the border pretty much summed up this sleepy little town where many East-Coast wannabe hunters lodge before Christmas. Boar and Deer were plentiful game in the woods outside of town, the town's slight elevation offering a good vantage point to find hunting grounds.

The Huntsman's Lodge meanwhile, was the only hospitality place in town. Boasting a whopping 12 guest cottages, Its main lobby was a legit log cabin with a brick fire place that provided warmth, as well as a relatively modern diner-cafe to feed hungry hunters and the rare vlogger or adventurer.

Even during the day, the gray overcast bathed the town in a dull gloom, and only the fireplace provided illumination to the handful of souls in the lobby. One such figure was Princess Diana Mendoza, once the highly feared Ronin, now just a recreational hunter who uses a bow. She heard of the good hunting grounds in the area, and met with others with similar interests, and now waited in the lobby over an extra large platter of ham, eggs, hash browns, toasted rye bread and a cup of coffee. The weather allowed her to wear her old suit under her light thermal wear, and she kept her bow and quiver of arrows nearby. She ate with much gusto, as her eyes surveyed the woods where she would bag herself some boars...

Darwin adjusted the blanket around his shoulders with his free hand, while the other gripped the steering wheel of the Rad Van. Seth spoke of a hunters vacation up north, but why it couldn't wait until summer utterly confused the young Mage. A gloved hand reached down to shift into a lower gear, allowing the large van to put up a steep hill, tires occasionally slipping on the snow. That's when Seth began to snore in the back...the snorts that came from that boys mouth were the most disgusting thing to exist..

Darwin sighed, and turned on the radio, allowing him to play a shuffled playlist of Foo Fighters to drown out the noise. To be fair, Maine was absolutely gorgeous. The thick forests, the blankets of snow...the constant overcast.

The crew finally made it to the cabin, but the van had other plans. With brakes fully applied, the beast of a vehicle plowed into a large mound of snow.

"We're...here?"

Audrey was in a bit of a break, right now. Having no classes and taking the decision to go visit an old friend who lived in a city near the American border. He was an old child hood friend who she know back when she used to go in an English school, and English was his mother tongue. Both had gone to the Huntsman's Lodge, but not particularly for hunting. They we're more or less two of the rare adventurers with a small dog coming with them. Eins, the little Corgi that belonged to her friend. She generally stayed near her master or harassed the woman for pets, knowing very well Audrey could hardly resist.

In prime, they had a nice breakfast at the lodge. And oh did it smell freakishly good! ''Koodo's for the breakfast~'' she grinned, feeling her stomach screaming famine as soon as she could see the food and grabbing herself a plate. They both found a place to sit and she could just see Eins staring at her, whining lightly ''Eins... No...'' She mumbled, but as soon as she looked into the dog's eyes... Well... Some food dissapeared from her plate into the dog's mouth ''Fine, you win! Little bugger!'' she muttered as the dog happily ate a piece of bacon.

As far as things would go, she'd just casually start chatting with her friend while eating her food. Her coat hanged on her chair. Her gloves, hat and scarf inside one of the sleeves and her hairs left loose for once. She was also wearing a hoody for the cold weather. At least it would warm her ears a little bit.

Seth was surprised at the cold. Growing up in relatively warm places around the US; the snow was certainly not something he had been expecting to be so... Chilly. Whenever snow appeared on TV; it always seemed so inviting. But now that he was in it, he didn't really care for it. The electric blanket certainly helped his discomfort. But he was still freaking cold. He really should've requisitioned a new winter coat.

He had left the majority of his hard hitting weapons behind, favoring normal bolts in his crossbow. It wasn't like he was hunting monsters, this was just a retreat so that he and Darwin could get a bit of a breather before the busy season. The book had said that the winter fae got ridiculously active around this time, and that all hunters should be prepared for some kind of attack. So this was a fine time to go on vacation.

When Darwin stopped the car, Seth had shoved on his snow boots and walked outside. "Well, this... Certainly isn't what I had expected."

Diana's attention was mostly on her food, but the presence of a corgi always drew attention. As she chewed on her last bit of ham, she took out her phone for a picture.

As some customers opened the door to leave the lodge, Ein made like the Flash and quickly zoomed out the door, borking all the way to investigate the van that had crashed into the snow. The handful of souls eating at the lodge were quick to whip out their phones, but Diana preferred to be useful.

Ein was at the crash before anyone else, his stumpy little legs letting him circle around the van a few times, barking at Seth and Darwin. "BORK BORK! BORK BORK!"

Diana caught up shortly, having her winter shoes already on. "...Anybody hurt in there?" She asked, seeing the van didn't seem in that bad a shape.

Darwin let out a deep sigh, putting the van in park and setting the brake. The teen finally emerged from the van, cursing the cold snow beneath his feet "What part didn't you expect? The snow? The fact we're miles away from civilization? The...oh hey a cute pup!" he bent down, petting the dog with all the love he could muster. His head perked up at a new voice, putting on his award winning fake smile "We're fine, thank you! Nothing we haven't been through before...is this your dog miss?" Darwin stood up cradling the corgi in his arms, accepting all of the licks it had to offer.

His eyes drifted to the woods, as a fog began to set in. creepy. It seemed to grow thicker by the second, obstructing his view, minus the thick forest. That unusual feeling set over him, like it does every time him and Seth go on a mission. He looked back to Seth, giving him the look.

She had finally finished her plate and noticed Eins running out of the building, barking as she passed. The two young adults stared, the mouth full of food and yelling ''EINS!!!'' with a muffled voice. She hurried to swallow the remaining food while grabbing her coat, taking out everything that was inside her sleeve and running toward the door, followed by her friend. She put on her scarf and placed her gloves in her pocket. She hurried to zip her coat, though it did not want to cooperate at first ''CÂLISSE!'' she yelled out in frustration, finally zipping it and giving a satisfied nod.

Her friend was already out, yelling ''EINS, COME BACK HERE!'' and followed by her to see the dog in someone elses arms, to their relief. They did not want the dog running away too far. It was the first time she actually did that, normally he had trained the dog to stay close to him. So he hadn't planned to leash her in the woods, but if she was gonna run away like that he'd eventually put a leash. He had one in case. He also noticed the crashed car, about to say something before Audrey came out ''What the hell happened here?'' she asked in a look of surprise. She was glad to see no one seemed hurt. She looked at Eins who seemed to be enjoying the pets ''Little bugger!'' she muttered as the two approached the group ''Is everything alright, here?'' asked the boy who was also moving to see his dog.

As she moved, she noticed how it was starting to get foggy ''Hmm, the meteo didn't announce any fog.'' she mumbled more to herself, which had come to her friends ear ''You know, it's the exact type of temperature people dies in horror stories.'' he grinned. She clapped her hand ''OH REALLY, LET'S GO THERE!'' she joked back, turning her attention to the others.

Seth glared back at Darwin. ”Well Darwin, what I meant was that I wasn’t expecting it to be so freaking cold.” Seth grumbled bundling up a little more. ”The van will be fine, just. You know, leave it here.” He said and started walking towards the lodge when a dog came out to greet them. Seth grinned and began rubbing the dogs back playfully. Seth had always liked dogs. But his mother had been allergic… dammit. Seth had put himself in a bad mood simply by thinking of his mother.

He silently watched as the people came from all around to check on them. He nodded at Darwin’s answers, choosing not to speak. The fog rolling in as quickly as it was made Seth uncomfortable. Darwin was giving him the look, and he grimaced. ”You know, it’s pretty cold out here. Maybe we oughta go inside, yeah?” Seth said dragging Darwin towards the entrance. He didn’t like the fact that the fog was rolling in unnaturally fast. Fog usually only showed up in humid environments.

Seth tried to remember anything from the guide that might help him; but he couldn’t think of anything off the top of his head. He just knew it would be better to be inside than outside if it was something that could supernaturally change the weather.

Diana shivered under her high tech cold weather wear, tightening the coat and her mouth scarf. Except for the van, no one else was hurt. The presence of the excitable dog eased the tense situation as well.

"You know, maybe today's just not hunting weather. How about y'all come inside, we'll call a tow truck when the weather clears up?"
She offered Seth and Darwin. "And let's bring the little corgi in too- who's your owner boy?" She patted him on the head as the others oooh'd and awww'd on the stumper.


Just as Diana said that, a frantically running woman appeared from the trail. "Help someone help!"

Diana could only roll her eyes upward to the gray sky at the coincidence. Of course someone had to do 'I need help', just as thick fog rolls in and the cold weather gets worse. "Calm down, ma'am. We can call the town ranger. Breathe and tell us about your husband. What's your name?"

"My name is Stephanie, Stephanie King. My... my husband... Steve... we were out hiking and... we got separated... last thing I heard... shouting... call for help... came back... to get help..."

"What color were your husband's clothes?" Diana asked for something useful to work with.

"Steven King. Orange and yellow jacket. Camo crossbow. Hunting group. Missing. Got it." She turns to the others.
"...You all should go inside. I'll go... go...ah, tell the rangers." Diana had no ranks in the bluff skill, and it was apparent with her carrying her bow and arrow she was going somewhere aside from the ranger's office.

Ein too seemed sympathetic to Stephanie's plight. The intelligent herder dog whined as he listened to her story, almost seeming like he wanted to comfort her. He gave her a few good sniffs, and a bork, then a sympathetic snuggle. Without much more ceremony, the brave corgi looked at his owner, then darted off into the woods.

"...The dog!" Diana exclaimed. Worried the dog might get into trouble, Diana was off to follow him.

Darwin let out a loud sigh, turning to Seth and reaffirming the look. He opened the back doors of the van, tossing Seth his favorite crossbow, before attaching his sword to his waist, shouldering the bow, and centering the quiver. Finally he finished it off with a bandolier of small glass tubes.The corgi sat by his side, looking at him lovingly, before ultimately bolting into the forest. Man in distress, bright colored coat, hikimg, corgi sprinting into the fog... Things decided to take a turn towards classic cheesy horror movies, rather than a vacation.

The teen ignored the woman talking, and began to slide down the hill after the corgi. "call the ranger, I'll be looking for him!" he yelled back towards the group. One hand shot to the bandolier, pulling out a small yellow liquid. With a quick gulp, Darwins senses shot into overdrive, allowing him to track where the woman had come from.

Though with it came heightened hearing..a low moan filled the forest, too low for most individuals to hear..something besides boar were roaming these woods. Something was causing the plant life to moan in agony..

The two young friends walked toward the dog and noticed one questioning who his master was ''It's me!'' Responded the boy as he raised a finger up. Audrey seemed slightly disappointed that the weather was so bad. She had been excited for this day, but even her found it weird how their was fog everywhere. ''Well, I guess we're gonna have fun inside instead.'' she murmured more to herself.


All of a sudden, a woman came in running and looking worried, which had caught the attention of the two. Audrey walked toward the woman ''Ma'am?'' and listened to what she had to say as the other spoke. So, the thought did freak her a little bit. A sudden unexplained fog and a woman coming in talking about her lost husband. She tried to rationalize, thinking he might have fallen somewhere even though her eerie feeling. Her friend sighed and muttered ''Let's go inside while he calls the rangers. Maybe we could organize a search party?'' he muttered, after all the more they we're the better.


Then, all of a sudden, Eins began sniffing the woman and ran away, barking on the way. ''EINS!'' Yelled the young woman as, without thinking, ran after the dog ''AUDREY!'' muttered her friend who was less certain about going in the woods. He clenched his fist, knowing she wouldn't listen. She was focused on the dog right now so she didn't pay attention on his calling. He hesitated, looking at the others and quickly decided to go after her before she got lost or something. Especially with her sense of orientation. She could orient herself when she knows the place or has a map. But it was the first time she was here, and he knew she could get lost in the woods. ''AUDREY, WAIT DAMN IT!'' he grumbled. He was as worried for the dog as she was, but he didn't know if it was a great idea to run after her right now.