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Was that....?

Oh, thank Jack. Malodore heaved a sigh of relief as what had seemed like endless forest finally, finally ended.

((Malodore has left the zone and is heading for the Island of Misfit Toys.))

Adjusting himself on the large rock, the Crow Wraith dangled his legs off the edge, the backs of his combat boots tapping the stone lightly in a quiet rhythm. It seemed most of their group was still tented and tired, not coherent enough to answer a question or assist in gathering supplies of any kind, even minor for something such as this.

When the Avarice Demon, Envy, approached, Corbin was slightly taken aback but it did not show on his face. Instead, an acknowledging smile was there, his icy blue eyes narrowing as he examined the green demon. "Livi," he repeated, wondering if that was merely a nickname; if it was, Corbin would refer to him as his full name whenever he discovered it, same as with the Raum. "Yes, I'm Corbin." he offered a white hand to the demon, unsure if it would be taken and shook. Mannerisms were different between species but he assumed theirs were close enough in general category. Ironically, he might have been closer to West, he being Wrath and Corbin a spirit of vengeance.

Looking down at his wrist, the bells tied to it and safe as ever, he nodded at the comment. "I like to help out where I can. Did you fight? Need a jingle?" he hadn't used any of the bells yet and he was hoping to save them for a real emergency but if someone requested he wouldn't turn them down. He had the Pumpkin Pills for himself, after all, why use the bells there when many others would need them? Scrutinizing Livi once more, he had to wonder if he wouldn't mind offering up a piece of clothing for their marker--he was very eye catching. "Don't suppose you have a bit of cloth to spare? It'd be good to make a sign so the stragglers know where we are." At least, he and Braum seemed to have the same idea.

Ahh, Livi was a helpful one, wasn't he? This caused the Wraith's eyes to brighten slightly, the smile setting in more but still weak compared to most jovial expressions. He was right, the bells should be left to emergencies, much the same line of thinking. Corbin could appreciate that, most certainly.

Even more, when he responded positively to the more odd question, Corbin waved a hand dismissively, "Just the tie, if it's not a bother. No need to be any colder, right?" a brow cocked almost playfully as he slid down to his feet on the snow, the white crunching beneath his tough boots. His wings stretched, still sore but feeling better than they did a few hours ago. At least they would be able to make progress soon and they wouldn't have to worry about the others; whether they followed up the Mountains or went elsewhere was none of their concern now and Corbin felt more at ease with a smaller group to look after.

"Please and thank you," Corbin added with a dry scoff as his hand was once more held out, this time for the tie. His Stalkman belched out a quick metal riff and then returned to silence.

Indeed, this demon appeared to be an alright fellow; nothing about him was setting off any warnings in Corbin's gut. Despite this, he flinched at the touch of the fabric in his palm. If this were any normal situation and his Natural Ability was working, he might have been sent into an embarrassing torrent of flashbacks relating to the tie. Now, at least, he was thankful for the JOY circumventing their FEAR: this way he could avoid seeing things he never wanted to in the first place and he could form honest opinions about the people around him instead of knowing their secrets.

It was best this way.

"It's a hassle sometimes," he sneered at the Stalkman who had its tape deck open, gnarly teeth visible as if waiting for a new addition to its musical library. It certainly wouldn't be getting anything for a while, if this Christmas trip had anything to say about it, "The eyePods seem much more intent to cooperate." Once more, it hacked up a warbled sound, some part of a song that was too short for Corbin to place but it was decidedly heavy and he wished the device had played more of it.

Examining the tie, Corbin wound it around his hands for a moment and marveled at the softness of the fabric before moving cautiously over to the nearest tree. From an onlooker with no context, it might appear as though Corbin were sneaking up in an attempt to strangle the thing but when he was close enough he nudged the trunk with his boot and was met with no movement. From there, he tugged on some of the branches and peeled off some needles before winding the tie around the branch. It may have been green but it was such an acidic shade that it would easily be picked up in the white of the snow.

Digging through his pockets, he rummaged for a writing utensil and pulled out an eye liner pencil. Well, it wasn't ideal but it would work for now. Hush, you, his 'make up' was natural. Within a few moments, he managed to make a crude drawing of some mountains with a large "TO" written above it and wrote his name beneath. Twirling the pencil in his fingers, he held it out to Livi and gave the Avarice Demon room to write his name too.

"When they wake up, I'll ask everyone to write their names so anyone following knows who's gone ahead." It seemed courteous to the ghost, though perhaps some would think it a waste of time.

((Better than what I could do XD Can't draw trees lol))

The flinch was noticed, documented, accepted and not mentioned. His eyes shifted a bit to look up at him curiously, but he didn't ask any questions. Such things were considered rude at the first meeting of people. After he flexed his fingers a bit to make sure they were being less stiff, he rubbed the back of his neck and grimaced slightly. Yeah, really felt weird, but hopefully the discomfort would fade in a few hours. Or less. Sooner was definitely better than later.

"Seems like good company; hassle or no. I have an eyePod, but I haven't done anything with it yet. Haven't found music I like just yet, I guess." A light shrug was given cause he wasn't sure of it. Fashion and music went hand in hand, so he figured, but he hasn't found the music that fit into his style... yet. He would, sooner or later. Though it was a bit, far than a bit, amusing that the Stalkman didn't seem to care for playing full songs. "I've read somewhere that they like being fed things other than tapes. Is that true?"

But the question was left alone as Corbin stalked a tree to make sure it didn't jump out to try to hug anyone... eww JOY hugs... and then worked on setting up the banner. By all means, it didn't need to be a work of art. Just as straight forward as possible and Corbin did just that. Shifting a bit and placing his hands on his hips as he watched, he nodded in approval. Simple. To the point. Worked for him. Taking the pencil with a murmured 'thanks', he worked on writing out his name as best he could. Livi. Four letters, easy. "There." Straightening, he turned a bit to see if anyone else was up from their group. Iolanthe was resting... hmm... his eyes rested on West and he called out to him, waving his hand a bit. "Pardon? West? Are you coming with us to the mountains?"

West looked up from his snow gouges. "North's'fine, yeah," he replied. He rose to his feet and brushed off the back of his pants as he clomped over, holding out his hand for the pencil. Clomping along some more, he scribbled his name at the end of the tie, then rejoined Livi and Corbin. "Gettinoutta these trees'll be summin' at least," he said, looking around. It seemed the things were quiet now.

The entire night, Nuk had crunched around in the snow in a half-sleep, vaguly wondering if it was the ice and snow that was making him tired. Bears hibernated, didn't they? In Halloweentown it had always been fall, never spanning into the winter months where some of the predators he tended towards would hole themselves up and sleep. In this... weird... snowy-place, he could feel this little twitch of tired in the back of his mind, one that wasn't there usually. Luckily, it seemed to only happen at night (which was still weird for the skinwalker, who was used to only sleeping when he wanted to) but still, he didn't like it much at all. And it was still so BRIGHT at night. All these twinkling stars and the moonlight reflecting off the white snow making it seem like day when it should have been pitch black.

WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THIS PLACE?!

When the sun arose in the morning, Nukpana gave a large, toothy yawn, shaking himself out a bit and rolling his shoulders. It seemed like the others had stopped... had they gotten there? He resisted the urge to ask, instead listening to the others before shrugging his shoulders, running his not-right fingers through his hair a little groggily.

"I don't care where we go, 'slong as we go there soon. I'm ready to get away from drunk trees," he replied with a nonchalant shrug, grinning broadly.

(AND NUK IS OUT!)