2021-06-03 - Hello Darkness My Old Friend

Isi put up the fliers because, why the hell not, and at the time and date she's said she's at a hiking trail entrance. It's not the perfect time to hike with the drizzly rain, but seriously, she just wants to get out. So she has a windbreaker with a nice hook on it to keep most of the wet away, and the chill can be worked off with a good pace of hiking. She's fidgeting to see if anyone else shows up - it was pretty much a crapshoot since she didn't even leave contact information.

She probably should have put her number. It's fine what's the worst that could happen?

Black windbreaker up around his ears, the only sparks of colour on Ravn Abildgaard is his purple scarf and the copper blond highlights in the untamed mop he calls hair; everything else is his trademark black, from the jeans to the boots. He turns up just a few minutes late, walking at a steady pace, hands in pockets. "Heard you're going into the woods," he says by means of greeting. "This is where I tell you that parts of these woods are haunted as all hell, right? Figured I'd plod along, if you don't mind having to drag someone with an asthma inhaler."

The interesting thing is that if Rick wanted to do something else in the drizzle, it would not be sitting inside. But hiking is a good thing, and a nice way to stay in shape, after all. Dressed in some comfortable clothing able to keep the rain away, he steps over to the entrance to the trail, whistling a little to himself. There's a nod and a smile given to Isi as he sees her, and also to Ravn. At the words about the asthma inhaler he shrugs a little, "See, it gives the rest of us a better chance if there are wild animals," he deadpans.

Ask and the good Lord will deliver. Sort of. Cassidy doesn't know anything about fliers but here she comes meandering up the trail. She has on some simple exercise attire which isn't necessarily meant for hiking, but a trail walk? Sure. A pair of running shoes (bright colors, of course, purple and pink), leggings and a large gray shirt over a tight sports bra and a bright pink windbreaker. And a fannypack.

Cassidy seems to like taking in the scenery through the medium of her phone as she scans the leaves and trees and so forth in her square frame and ocassionally snaps a shot 'for the 'gram'.

"Did you drop black ink on yourself or something?" Isi returns as a commentary on the all-black of Ravn's cloths, and she fingers at her neck to indicate his scarf. "You missed something though." As others start to gather a grin grows on Isi's face. Slapping her hands together she rubs them vigorously. "So. My intention was to start here," she points at an animal trail leading into the forest, "And going until we decide to turn around. Ravn's here to throw to the bears apparently," there's wink to Rick as she says that, apparently they're gonna skip any names for now.

Stepping more into the forest she does toss back to Cassidy, "I think I figured you more for a city girl."

INTO THE FOREST.

"I'll have you know I own several objects of clothing that are not black. Two in fact. The other scarf is black with a silver stripe." Ravn huffs, a bit theatrically; it may not be the first time he's getting a bit of ribbing for his fashion choices. "As a matter of fact, I bought this scarf because somebody suggested that a splash of colour might make me look less like the angel of death. I may be the designated bear bait but at least I have style."

Hands in pockets still, he nods at Rick and Cassidy both -- though the former gets a small grin as well. "What is it they say -- you don't need to run faster than the bear, just faster than the other guy?"

"Something like that, yes," Rick replies with a grin. "And black clothing isn't that bad, really." There's a grin offered to Cassidy as he sees her scanning the trees with the phone. "Everything gets documented?" he offers, before he nods at Isi's words about the intention for the little trip. "Sounds like a good idea," he replies, moving to follow the others into the woods.

Cassidy stops and lifts her phone at the other three and snaps a shot. "What's that supposed to mean, exactly?" she asks at her phone - so really not clear who she is addressing.

A zip and her fannypack is opened to receive her phone next to what looks like a revolver and a pack of cigarettes. Hard to tell, really, as it gets zipped back up pretty swiftly. "What's going on?"

"A black scarf with a pop of silver is not actually color." Isi retorts as she leads the way into the forest. It's not really a people-path (but that's what makes it fun) so there are plenty of branches to swat away, little bushes to reach out and snag at oneself, and overturned trees that need stepped over. They're going to work up some nice heat fairly quickly as Isi keeps the pace brisk.

"We're just walking. If you guys see a side path you want to follow just sing out - and then keep track of turns. I figure none of us really want to stay out here past dark for too long. Though I did bring a flashlight."

"It qualified as 'colour' to the lady who bought it for me because my dress code is boring," Ravn returns with a grin. "Who am I to argue?"

He follows Isi out on the trail without much concern; the man's either somewhat familiar with the area, or he is just that clueless. Judging from the quality of his boots, though, he did realise that forests have all sorts of gross things -- mud, dead leaves, even (ick) beetles and stuff.

"Will do," Rick replies, looking around once in a while as they walk. "Flashlights are good, since I forgot to bring a tent, should the trip be very long ," he offers, before he adds, "And I think I forgot to introduce myself. Rick Carlson." That clothing of his looks like he's been out in the woods many times before, in fact some of it looks like it has been repaired a few times.

"Nah, didn't bring what we'd need for overnight, so let's not get caught overnight." Isi calls back over her shoulder at Rick.

They're deep enough that the road behind them has been lost to view and it's pretty clear that people don't really come this way. No boot marks or bushed away shrub. Just as nature wanted it to be. Isi ducks under a low hanging branch and her sleeve gets caught on a patch of morning glory that is closed up tight for the evening. One of the blueish flowers comes away and she scoops it up then squeezes to one side of the trail to motion Ravn closer. "Here, have some blue. It might kill you, but who knows."

Ravn hisses, in the fashion of a movie vampire exposed to garlic. Then, with a small laugh, he picks the flower from Isi's fingers and tucks it behind one ear. Because why not. "If I die," he warns her, "You better hope a bear eats me so I'll haunt his cave, because I sure as hell will be haunting something."

Then he raises a hand in a lazy wave to Rick. "Ravn Abildgaard. Resident Danish refugee. I think we may have run into each other at some point in the past but I could be mistaken."

"Cassidy," the blond says to introduce herself to Rick as she kind of lingers behind the others.

Unable to hold back a chuckle as he hears Isi and Ravn, Rick grins. "I'm sure I have seen my share of worse ways for people to die than the color blue," he offers, before nodding again at Ravn's words. "I think I've seen you around town." He looks rather relaxed as he watches the trees and the rest of their surroundings. "Been to a few nice forrests around the country, but this looks quite lovely," he offers.

Isi takes a moment to clap a hand onto Ravn's shoulder and squeeze once. "If you end up haunting me you will have the worst after life ever." Sarcastic weight is on her words before she pushes a tree branch to the side and steps forward again.

Ravn manages to not actually shy away; he does stiffen at Isi's touch as if for some reason he expects it to hurt. Jaw set he refrains from making any audible response -- although that might also be because somebody just turned off the sun. Some would consider that a little unsettling.

"WHAT THE FUCK WHY IS IT DARK!?" Cassidy squeals when things just go out. There are the sounds of her fiddling with her fannypack to get to her phone and turn on the super effective illuminence of the iPhone flashlight.

Being mid-step when things go dark, Rick finds one hand going to one of the trees near him. "Oh great. Is just one light and nice day too much to ask for?" he mutters, shaking his head a bit. "Everyone okay?" he asks, trying to keep calm, even if his insides want him to scream in panic. Trying to pull out his phone from his pocket as well, to get some light.

Isi absolutely laughs at Ravn for his flinching - but it's laughter that gets abruptly cut short when everything goes DARK. "What the...?" And she's just going to hang on to Ravn's shoulder now because the last thing anyone wants to do is to be separated from others in pure blackness. "Hey, Cassidy?" Isi just reaches out towards the light and if she grabs something squishy and mid chest it's totally an accident, kay?

"Please let go of me," Ravn manages to squeeze out. "Hold on to my jacket if you must." Whatever's going on there, it's obvious even in the darkness that he's anything but comfortable.

Cassidy is a bit shorter than Isi. Judging by height difference and usual proportions, it is entirely possible that Isi gets some top boob, and then it's really just a matter of how curious a feeler she is.

"Hey watch it!" Cassidy says as she turns her shoulder in a way to move the curious hand elsewhere. "I fucking know that was you Rav!"

Then she sees a moving tree and she jumps backwards and screams a bloody murder scream suitable for classic B movies.

If Rick was able to consider why the darkness seems to be so much darker around him, he'd probably be amused. After all, the last number of years have been quite dark. But for now, he grimaces, muttering something under his breath, as he pockets the phone again. "Okay, Darkness. What do you want?" he calls out, probably a bit louder than intended as he turns around to see if there's less dark on some other side of him.

"What?" Isi is caught off guard at first by Ravn's tone, but keeps it together enough to change her grip to his jacket rather than his shoulder. That's a conversation to have after the sun like, comes back! The squishyness she grabs of Cassidy gets a yelp from her, "Sorry, it was me!" But Cassidy is jumping away and so Isi lunges after her to grab her.

Not Rick, sorry Rick.

"It's darkness," Isi calls at Rick, "Why would it want anything?"

"Did I mention this forest is haunted?" Ravn manages to squeeze out. If he's wondering what he's getting accused of in the dark, he's deciding to shelf inquiries for later; like Rick, he's an old enough hand here by now to realise that the manure has in fact hit the windmill -- now it's just a matter of where it gets distributed to. "Let's try to get back into the light. Before something eats us."

"SHUT UP RAV THERE'S NO SUCH THING! Not helpful!" Cassidy yells. She's backed away from the tree and bumped into the Isi/Ravn pair. "Where's the other guy?" She means Rick.

"Um... Could someone please help me over here?" Rick calls out as he's getting squeezed by the darkness. "That's a little too close, you know..." he mutters. Taking a few deep breaths, he grimaces a bit. This is getting a bit too uncomfortable now.

Isi's not going to argue with Cassidy right now as she yells about things not being real. Look, THIS IS NOT THE PLACE.

"I can't see him!" Hello, tiny panic there. She has grabbed more firmly onto Cassidy's arm now, linking herself, Ravn, and Cassidy together. "Can someone grab him? I hear him! But I can't see him." Plus her hands are hanging onto the other two.

Ravn doesn't try to talk. He's got more issues with this situation than he can count on two hands, and the ADA thinking he just groped her is the least of it. Instead, he reaches out with his free hand in an attempt to find (grope?) Rick -- the other man was there a moment ago, he can't have gone far. While he has all of the bloody issues with this human chain idea, it does make sense, and he will endure it for the moment. Because survival is kind of a good idea, on the whole, he's in favour of this.

Cassidy brazenly moves forward (you know how she do), yanking on Isi and thus Rav as well. "He's over here! I can hear him!"

Must stay calm, even though it's hard to breathe. Muttering something in a language that sounds quite a bit like Russian, Rick manages to avoid the panic now. Instinctively, his body tenses a bit as the darkness squeezes him, but as he can at least hear the others, it's easier to keep calm. "Here..." he gets out, hoping it's loud enough for the others to hear.

Ravn hopes that whatever it was his hand just caught is Rick. He's wearing gloves and his fingers are stronger than one might expect from a tall but rather slender guy -- and he has every intention of holding on because while doing so is not at all comfortable for him, this is Gray Harbor, and around here, it's never just a prank.

"Anyone able to tell which way we came?" He calls out while trying to kind of feel -- not grope -- his way up to Rick's face. This may not be fortunate if the person he's grabbed hold of is in fact not Rick.

"Ew! What the fu--- hey!" The last word being in response to the 'goo' rebuffing her.

Cassidy has never bitten her nails her entire life. Her cuticles have been perfect since the day she learned how to groom them. She never wears acryllic. We're talking strong, all natural, female human claws strengthened over at least a decade and a half of regular pampering. These are used against Rick's invisible 'lover'.

"Here...." Rick calls out as he can realize the others are near and about to grab him. Lowering his voice to a mutter, he speaks to the darkness now. "Please, you have to let me go. I know you're probably lonely but I can't stay, sorry." Still working on not getting squeezed further.

The others are focused on Rick and his dark lover, so Isi will focus in on the getting-them-out-of-here thing. Hanging on tightly she starts to edge back down the trail, using her boot to check for foliage on each side before pulling back ton Ravn and Cassidy. Hopefully they got Rick.

Ravn has nothing to say to that; largely because it is in fact difficult to speak through clenched teeth. Whatever he's thinking at the moment probably wouldn't pass through a PG13 filter, though. He holds on to whatever it is he's holding onto -- and really, what is this crap? Some kind of oil? Liquid shadow? That 'skin of evil' from a very old Star Trek episode? Whatever it is, it is disgusting and it's trying to choke a man, and it needs to stop. He does his best to herd himself and everyone else in the direction Isi is setting -- and not cry out whenever somebody pulls on him.

"Eep!" Cassidy drops her phone and unlinks from Isi. She gets to swatting fiercely at the feeling of the darkness rolling upon her. "Get the fuck off!" she yelps.

"Eyes..." Rick mutters as he can feel the pressure of fingers against said eyes. Pausing for a few moments as the darkness loosens a little bit, and then when it unlatches, he lets out a gasp for the air. "Air..." Blinking as he looks to Cassidy and her swatting. "Wait, did it...?"

Ravn does not have Cassidy's sharp nails nor Rick's awareness that this is somehow a living creature. He just flails and hopes they're moving in the right direction. And because he has only two hands -- and both are busy -- he uses what little shine he has on fishing his zippo out of a jacket pocket and lighting it with his mind. Who knows? This stuff might be afraid of light-- or fire.

"This overgrowth is wild. That's why I usually stay on the main paths." Cassidy says after only a moment's blankness.

The ADA reaches down to pick up her dropped phone. She turns the light on it off and starts hiking forward again. "You guys coming?"

Still taking a few moments to breathe, Rick looks around rather carefully. "Thanks," he offers to all of them, one hand going to that fingernail mark in his arm briefly, before he nods as he hears Cassidy's words. "Yes." Glancing around carefully once more.

"Hell yes." Ravn moves several steps away from anyone who might decide to cling to him or his clothes still. He's a tad pale -- maybe he's afraid of the dark. "I presume we're headed back to town?" He glances at Rick; after all, Rick is the man who was covered in ... whatever the hell that was, Ravn is not certain. He's pretty certain he doesn't want to be certain. He's pretty certain he doesn't want to be covered in it next, either. He manages to keep himself from kissing that battered old zippo.

Isi lets her hand fall from Cassidy and Ravn as the darkness flees. She's pale under her native skin and is just going to stand taking big deep breaths for a few minutes.

But then Cassidy is moving forward and she has to act. She steps forward to grab the woman's arm, "Yeah, no I vote we go back to town. I think some beer is in order. I'll buy."

Literally, anything to get Cassidy back out of the forest.

Even Rick gets a 'wtf bro, NO!' look.

Cassidy sighs. She lifts her phone and takes one last photo of the forest. "/Fine/"

The phone disappears into her fannypack and she turns to walk back the way they came. As she passes him, she catches a glimpse of Rick's wound. "Careful of the branches."
And onward she goes.

"Someone said beer? That does sound quite good now," Rick replies, nodding as he listens to the others. "Excellent idea, in fact." There's a brief pause as he hears Cassidy's words, before he nods, offering her a brief smile. "I will be more careful the next time," he replies, moving to follow the others.

"Beer sounds fantastic." Right on track. Ravn is the last man out, and that zippo stays in his hand until they are indeed out of the woods -- figuratively, and literally.

He glances to Rick and murmurs, "I don't suppose you have any idea what that was?" Only, not quite loudly, and if Cassidy doesn't hear him asking, no skin off his nose.

Isi's is just going to shepard them in THAT direction - the out in not-to-this place. As she does she glances back over her shoulder a few times.

"SO CASSIDY," it's that too-loud god anything but what just happened for this next conversation tone, "Sorry for grabbing your boob there. That was my bad." See Ravn, she can be kind.

Cassidy squints and frowns as she's crunching leaves along the way forward. She's slightly ahead and doesn't look back. "What are you talking about?"

Shaking his head a bit at Ravn's question, Rick lets out a bit of a breath. "Not really. Whatever it was, it seemed quite lonely, though." He frowns, looking between the others. "Good thinking with the lighter," he offers to the man, along with a brief grin.

"Try panic," the Dane murmurs back. "Animals are afraid of fire. And you sounded like the damn thing was trying to choke you. If this is how it treats all its friends, no bloody wonder it's lonely."

Isi lets Cassidy get a few steps in front of her and then tosses a look back at Ravn that says pretty clearly, 'what the heck is wrong with her?!'

But she offered beer, so that's the direction she's going to head into.