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Her smile made him tilt his head curiously. It pleased him that she was smiling, regardless of how odd the situation was. Maybe it was because of his nap helping his mood, he felt that it was best to not feel too discouraged on this trip. After all, they had to survive it somehow. But his smile didn't fade in the least before Braum re-joined them; nodding his head in acknowledgment to his nod. Though his eyes swept over his form quickly, his mind already having documented his outfit and manner of typical walking and he frowned softly. He was hiding it, that one, but he wasn't one hundred percent. However, he didn't make mention of this aloud. It wasn't his place to point it out. No, he'd just have to keep an eye on him. Just in case.

"The trees aren't that bad, no. But there has to be worse things. Stronger things the closer we get to Christmas Town. And who knows what we'll find at the target point itself." But it wasn't only them going after the prize. There were other cabins as well... maybe, depending on how it all works out, they'd all meet up again there and could fight as a huge unit. Or something.

He wasn't sure but he rubbed the marking on his forehead with his scratched hand. The throbbing had stopped, most likely from the cold, which he was thankful for. Least the weather had some purpose. "Though, of course, I hope it doesn't get worse from here on out, but the odds of that happening are rather low." His eyes flicked up to check on Aksaja again, hoping he wouldn't push himself too far this early. They still would need all the strength they could get.

Nuk made a completely unamused face, staring at his deformed arm for half a second longer before quirking an eyebrow in Shehk's direction, watching the canine approach. Oh, sure, now that he was hideously deformed* she would come see what was up. Still, he merely watched her as she approached, wiggling his fingers a bit drolly as she licked them, a little pleased that he could still move them at all. His arm felt much too heavy for his body, which was kind of really annoying, although it seemed he could move it, which was a plus. Maybe it could still be useful... it might make a good bludgeoning tool. Still, it seemed more of a hindrance than a help, and he made a 'this place sucks' face at Shehk, reaching for her with another smirk in a half-hearted attempt to catch her again.

Still, like Shehk (although he had no way of knowing) Nukpana had the nagging sensation they should be more... group-oriented. So far, he'd treated this much like the game it so sincerely looked to be, but the fact of the matter was they might be in some serious trouble. Nevermind the trees seemed to mostly be pushovers... there HAD been some damage done already.

And he was getting kinda bored with all the snow and tree-fighting. Which probably had a lot to do with it.

Picking up his snow-bazooka with his normal arm, Nuk leaned it against his shoulder as he whistled at Shehk with a grin, heading over to where the others were crouched. The plague doctor and the dragon seemed intrigued about something going on with Riley -- there must be something interesting going on. Of course, the only thing he heard was 'are you trying to mate with me?' which made him nearly burst out laughing.

"Oh, so it was the Plaugue Doctor raping the tentacle-girl? How unexpected," Nuk offered with a grin, tilting his head down at Riley and (with a great deal of effort) lifted his bear-hand. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Well that didn't seem like a very practical question. Glancing over his shoulder into the bright, Nuk squinted a little before rephrasing.

"Or, more importantly, how much further 'til we get out of this damned forest?"

*which was still quite a deal less deformed than his true form.

With her hand still pressed firmly down against her tentacles to keep them from writhing, she kept her eyes on anything but the doctor.

No it's - well it wasn't okay, but she had to say it anyway - it's okay, you didn't know. You.. didn't know... right?

No, of course it didn't. Except it was so smart, and educated, and.. her face darkened again, and after just barely starting to regain it's normal color, too.

When a bear claw was placed in her face, she looked up at Nukpana with a mixture of frustration and embarrassment. The frustration won, and she lifted her hand to offer him a single digit. Guess which one.

I don't know, how many am I holding up? She teased lightly. Even though her voice was teasing, even he could probably tell it shook. I mean, this was her first time, after all. AND SHE THOUGHT IT WOULD HAVE BEEN WITH SOMEONE SPECIAL. Oh wait, Malodore WAS special.

Braum looked to the dragon, feeling slightly bad for him. Dragons were affected by cold. He personally knew just HOW cold it could be up in the air, much more so the higher you went up, and this place was already frigid. He could only imagine the discomfort. With a small frown, he thought of the choices.

"North, to the mountains, if we can manage it. We won't have to worry so much about our enemies being LITERALLY anywhere and everywhere, since less trees are likely to grow there, and there's more open space to attack enemies in, instead of being boxed in under more trees," he reasoned, looking to the group for an affirmative. He wasn't demanding, but his tone conveyed that he thought it the smartest decision, and he might argue his point of view if challenged.

"Those that can't manage the climb can be carried by those that can transform. Seeing as many of our comrades can transform now, I can manage lifting a lighter student in my other form. Not up the whole mountain, but particularly tricky ledges and plateau's probably," he offered, trying to debunk problems before they arose.

"No! No, no, I didn't have any idea-" Malodore said quickly, scooting away and standing up, wringing its hands fretfully, composure pretty much gone. "I only intended to aid you in returning to full health more rapidly via inducing vomiting, lo giuro-"

At Nukpana's assertion, Malodore turned away entirely. It did think Riley was most interesting, certainly one of the most attractive minds it had yet to meet, but... it hadn't meant to do anything to her! "Shall we continue onward? I think perhaps we should," it said, forcing its voice into what it hoped was deadpan calm but came across as more monotone.

Hopping around merrily, Israfel cocked his head at Riley and Malodore. "WUT." Getting closer he wanted to touch the tentacles too! Reach out he tried to pet one. "Purpul Ciduh fairy is very pretty. You will make rovry babies with teh doctur. Just needs to find ah pumpkin."

North or South? A good question, to be honest. Tapping his fingers against his chin, his eyes were narrowed in thought as he recalled the map from before. "Both directions take us out of the woods, though south entails an isle of some sort, bridges and water. If I recall the map correctly. North does seem a bit steep but it may be the faster way to go." He rubbed his arm gently as he sighed; more to himself than anything else. Which way... he looked back to where the others who hadn't joined the group were. They could shift, but how well could they fly? And could they keep it up for the time needed?

There were many things to consider and his mind was awhirl trying to figure out something logical to go on. "There's no way to tell if one way is better than the other, but that gnome had said that it would be safer to go either route... if not the fact it'd take more time than Candy Cane Lane... or whatever." Mountains or bridges and water... he didn't truly like either choice, if he was honest. But the only option left was one they couldn't take at all. He was half tempted to flip a coin to make his decision, but he refrained and mulled it over some more. His boots kicked up more snow as he kept walking, needing to keep moving so he could ignore the soreness of his body. Finally, he gave a light shrug and looked up. "I'll go for North. It may be a harder trek, but it may be the wisest choice of action. And if we're lucky, we may not get attacked as often as we have here... Iolanthe? West? Which would you want to take?" He called out West's name as well. He was part of the group and he didn't want anyone left behind.