The Wicked Ones

Chapter 5. First Contact

"There has to be weapons somewhere." Blaze muttered to herself, studying the forest that surrounded her. It seemed to be getting thicker, and there was almost no green vegetation growing on the ground besides a few ferns every once in a while. "Weaponry, or an armory, or something. We can't all be unarmed."

Midnight drifted along beside her. "We don't know anything about this world." She glanced up, checking the sun. Her eyes narrowed slightly when she saw that it had hardly budged; was it frozen? Did it just not move as fast as the one they were used to? "One thing at a time. Hopefully it's inhabited and we're not stuck out here, miserable and alone."

"That'd be a trip to remember." Blaze drawled, smacking a branch out of her way. Midnight leaned to the side to avoid getting hit when it inevitably flung itself back into place, continuing as normal.

They had been walking for a while now, doing their best to keep track of the direction they were traveling in so they'd be able to return without much trouble. Random tiny woodland animals scattered whenever they were discovered to be a bit too close. At one point, Mid had halted dead in her tracks and pointed out a black and red bird that kept slamming its face into a tree at ridiculous speeds. It had taken all of Blaze's willpower to choke down her laughter and not potentially alert whatever other creatures existing in this world that they were passing through.

If the birds essentially gave themselves concussions just for kicks, what were the predators like?

Blaze, so far, had successfully kept a careful eye out for anything abnormal - so when she spotted a bright yellow light through the trees, she grabbed Midnight by the edge of her cloak. The Brine stilled immediately, looking at her in question.

Wordlessly, Blaze gestured toward the light. No talking from here on out was their apparent agreement, so Mid nodded faintly, and then, without breaking eye contact, yanked her cloak back. Blaze shrugged apologetically, which only made Midnight scowl because she was most certainly not sorry.

Sticking together, they cautiously moved closer to the source of the light. It was hard to remain quiet with all the leaf litter and whatnot, but they put in an admirable amount of effort. The closer they got, the more they realized that the forest ahead opened into a small clearing at the base of a small but steep hill. In the center of the clearing was a dark mass that quickly took the shape of a cabin built of logs.

"So there are people here." Blaze whispered, maneuvering herself behind a tree. "See anyone?"

Midnight strode right past the tree, each step practically radiating impatience. "No. Let's find them, then."

"If that light is on, it's currently in use. It's almost a guarantee at this point." Blaze replied, scanning the log cabin once more before stepping out and following the Brine. "In the meantime, we can check out what's inside. Maybe we'll find some tools we can use. Or a medical kit for Equinox."

"Or an axe to the face."

In no time, they found themselves crossing the cabin's grassy front yard toward the steps. "Should we even bother knocking, do you think?" Mid asked as they finally came to a stop in front of the door. "I imagine that if anyone was actually inside, they would have seen us through the windows."

Blaze shrugged, and then knocked. Waiting several seconds and receiving no answer, she tried knocking again. Mid rolled her eyes. Blaze hummed distractedly, looking around for a moment before catching sight of a window. She'd taken barely a step or two toward it when she heard a loud, jarring crash, accented with creaking wood.

"Great," Blaze said, turning around to find that Midnight had kicked the door open. "Well, you broke the lock."

"I don't believe in locks." Was the Brine's only reply before shooting her a smug grin and stepping inside. Blaze shook her head and followed.

It opened out into the living room first. "Anybody here?" Midnight called, mostly just for the sake of going through the motions.

"I think they'd have heard you break the door and come out to see what on earth was invading their home." Blaze said, immediately pinpointing a full knife rack and a discarded hammer on top of a large white rectangular box. "There's knives here. Can't tell if they're for cooking or stabbing."

Mid said, "Both, if you're creative enough."

Blaze snorted, opening a drawer. Spoons, forks, and more knives - duller ones. So, butter knives. And then in the back, as she moved some stray utensils out of the way, she saw more knives - even sharper than the ones on the knife rack the counter currently held. "Oooh...we could use these as weapons. How many knives do these people have?"

Mid didn't answer her rhetorical question, instead going through a couple more drawers in a different spot that looked like they might have supplies. Noticing a floor-to-ceiling stack of shelves that had a folding door, she opened it and rifled through the contents. "Jackpot." She said, holding up several packages of medical supplies, including a bottle of something called hydrogen peroxide and a disinfecting cream.

Blaze looked up from the knives and saw what she held. "That looks like it'd be helpful. On a scale of one to ten, how down are you to break some laws right now?"

"Ten," Mid said, shoving the bottles in her hands into a dark, weirdly shiny bag she'd grabbed.

Blaze paused, then. Paused, and turned toward the door.

She didn't know exactly what she'd sensed. Maybe it was a tiny sound. Maybe it was a creak from the door that should have settled by now. Maybe it was just sheer dumb luck. Whatever it was, she was suddenly very glad for it.

Because a stranger stood there, brandishing an ice pick.