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"Prajna!"

The redhead turned to look at Luka. What was that? A clue?

"Coming Luka" Prajna's voice was rushed as it turned to finish off the last canteen. It had just missed the small splashed and thought little of the ripples, casting them as caused by the monkeys or the wind. Prajna then "stood", with all the canteens full and dripping with spring water pressed to its chest, and floated back over to Luka, curious.

"What did find, Luka?" Prajna asked.

- - - - - -

David did not want to say it.

He felt as if admitting his fear would breathe too much life into the demonic doll. But as Lulu's amethyst eyes glared at him, half inquisitive and half demanding, he couldn't avoid the truth.

"Yes. YES. I'm not one for dolls, okay? Now... Now see? If you put the thing away, I prom-- I'll try to calm down, " David wheezed, the words just barely making their way out of his closing throat. Ugh. He was exhausted. And yet, when he looked back at the doll, he felt as if, indeed, the plush seemed more alive than before, fed by his fear or something. Really, how did Lulu even reach the conclusion that a wild rabbit was capable of loving such a toy?! That's when the man heard another shuffling nearby. It was just past sunset now and David tried to focus his eyes on the shifting shadows.

He steadied his knife again, prepared for attack. He had not forgotten about the doll nor had he declared the voices completely gone but he tried to focus on the possibility that something new, something equally dangerous and wicked could now be stalking the pair. A few more leaves and David was about to throw his knife again when... a rabbit, a similar rabbit to the one before, appeared, chippering happily. Upon seeing David's aggressive posture though, the rabbit's ears and nose twitched violently before it returned back under the brush.

David sighed.

...Then he had a new idea.

"Lulu! It was the rabbit from before! How about you leave the doll for him to pick up? Maybe he doesn't wanna come and get it from us? Yes?" David was smiling like a lunatic. He wanted to get rid of the doll more than he had wanted any woman.

LuLu sighed. She looked reflectively at the mangled doll snugged to her chest then to the man who was equally disjointed. All the tension and frustration drained from her body as she replied, "If that will stop your nonsense I will put it away Mister David." The human had done some thoughtless things while they had been together, but so had Lu. The snake she had flung in his face earlier had probably done nothing positive for his nerves. He was afraid and she was familiar with the fact that fear caused a person to do irrational things. She could forgive him and try to ease his burden, because a calm David would also mean no more knives being flung or bushes getting beat up.

LuLu was about to swing her satchel off her back to put the doll away when she also spotted the rustling bush. She was just as excited to see the rabbit as her partner. However, the sigel did not stay to hear David's spiel once the bunny hopped away. She darted back into the forest to follow after the creature and return its lost doll. She squeaked in a foreign tongue, "Wait!" She trailed after the rabbit and watched it dart around in the last dwindling rays of sunlight before night would fall.

It seemed as though the two would not be stopping to rest right now.

As Prajna listened intently to Luka’s words, wavering between going and staying as well, suddenly a splash came from the pond. The monkeys and a distant owl scattered and Prajna was suddenly overcome with a bad feeling. However, the uncertainty of whether they should leave remained. The redhead turned to Luka.

“I have bad feeling here, Luka, but… if we leave… it may not be better either. If we stay, we can set a fire yes? We can take turns keeping watch yes? Prajna is good at night,” the Star suggested. “Also, how far Luka? Are we far from the others on the map?”

Prajna “stood up” and glanced around. Still no sign of Lulu or David… or anyone really. The sun was setting quickly.
- - - - - -
So close.
Lulu had been… so close to putting the doll in her bag.
And yet here they were again.
David felt like crying.

Why couldn’t Lulu have stayed still?! Why couldn’t she have just put that doll away?!? Why couldn’t she cooperate?!?!?! As the rabbit Sigel momentarily darted after the rabbit, David trailed close behind, albeit uncomfortable and fuming. All he could think about was how Kyou very well may not have been worth all this frustration. But as they stopped, David noticed how little sun was left. How little noise there was. The silence was eerie and ominous.

He was prepared to place a hand on Lulu’s shoulder but then he made another realization, “Lulu. I think we’re too far from the others. I haven’t seen Luka or Prajna or even heard them for hours. Maybe we should try going back or going back, at least, to the main route? Where’s the map?”

The wild rabbit's reaction to the doll was unsettling. Fear. Unrestrained fear. For the first time since they had stumbled upon it, a chill ran down Lu's spine. She bundled her jacket a bit closer to her small frame.

Now she began to question if the human's actions were really unwarranted after all. Maybe she was the one who was acting daft. The wild rabbit's terror also brought up another important question. If this was not their doll.... who's was it? LuLu gave one more glance at the sorry looking thing before David caught her shoulder in his hand. The sigel spun around to face him.

LuLu's eyes trained across the horizon. Praj and Luka were nowhere to be seen. Even the clearing they had chanced upon was out of sight now. The girl felt silly for getting them so far off track. Her shoulders slumped as she tilted her head at David, "I thought you had it."

With every statement Luka made, Prajna nodded. Nowhere was safe. Yes. This was true. And yes, the water was definitely something suspicious… Perhaps it was merely the settling darkness that was playing tricks on Prajna, but the Star swore the blackened depths of the pond bubbled now and again in a fiendish manner, as if snickering. Prajna scanned the horizon one last time for David’s scowl and Lulu’s obnoxious ears but saw nothing. The androgynous soul turned back to its light colored companion and pondered, its face visibly contorting with thought. Where could they stay safely? Should they even stay at all? They could try and keep going but Prajna remembered what happened earlier with its ribbon.

Even in daylight, it was easy to stumble and get caught in the shrubbery. What if they wandered into that Thing from earlier, separated from David and Lulu? Would there be a new search party for THEM? Then Prajna had a thought, its eyes nervous and fluttering. A small cliff. Still ominous looking but it seemed to provide them a good vantage point. Things could only come from behind them so at least it would narrow down the sides they had to guard… But something nagged Prajna, something clawed away at its partial insides. Something said “NO” but… The Star felt like it had no other option.

“Luka, see cliff? If we move there, can only be hurt from one direction. Less trouble. High, safe. We can make small fire to protect us right?” Prajna hated this vulnerable feeling but what could it do?
- - - - - -
At Lulu’s words, David let out a sigh and tried to clear his head. This was too much, too much. The man was surprised he had lasted this long without lighting a flare, without giving up. But just as he had calmed himself down enough to continue, the Sigel started to twitch oddly. Then came the chill. The ghostly laugh.

David was looking for the doll, prepared to shout blame, when Lulu lunged forward. Her hunting knife was in her hand, snared in some kind of death grip. Thankfully, the older Nao had held onto his own knife and was able to counter the rabbit’s attack. Using her momentum against her, David flung his arm so that Lulu was thrown past him, her blade just barely grazing his forearm. As Lulu fell, the man let out a sharp hiss as he examined a fresh red line above his elbow. Then the blood came.

“What in the ********, Lulu? Are you on something?!” David roared, though he did not let his guard down. He was done with the bunny girl. If he got the chance, he was gone. The blood continued to trickle down and David cursed again, rummaging in his bag with his free yet bleeding hand. Did he even have something for this? His other hand shook a bit with adrenaline as it held his knife defensively.

David understood the hate for this Lulu now.

Night may have been falling fast; however, the air picked up a chill almost too quickly. LuLu felt her heart picking up its pace until it was a loud pounding thundering in her chest. Her head throbbed as blood rushed to it. The sigel narrowed her eyes shut against the dizziness, but it felt as though she was looking through as funhouse mirror. Everything was distorted and shrunken, like the world had become a small model set. David was in the center of the jungle diorama appearing like a doll himself. Yet, he did not wear the normal quaint quirk of the lips most dolls possessed. Instead his face was frozen in horror.

It was then that LuLu took notice of her arm. It was raised against her will, a knife wedged in her vice-like grip. She commanded her limb to stop, but her efforts were in vain. Her body instead tensed in preparation for an attack. A frightening realization struck LuLu in that instant. She was trapped within her own body. The girl knew this feeling all too well and she had hoped she would never experience it again. It was similar to when she had become an ink monster. Her rational side had taken a back seat to something else. Something more threatening than her normal self. As an ink monster, her instinct had been the one to take control. During that time her body had chanted for excitement, revenge, and sustenance. Yet, even with her wild side running rampant, some part of her reason would peak through from time to time.

What had chosen to take the reins this time around was far more malevolent and binding. No part of LuLu was able to break out. She tried to scream at David, but her voice was caught in her throat. Her lips refused to move and form the words she desperately needed to say. ‘Move!’ ‘Run!' 'This is not me!’ The sigel’s stifled cries buzzed in her chest. Her ribcage convulsed like a hive was nestled within it. The possessed sigel launched herself at the human.

LuLu managed one clean slice before she was thrust away. Her back hit a tree with a loud ‘THUNK!’ and her knife slipped from her hand into a thicket. However, if David thought that unarming Lu would be the end of this he was sadly mistaken. Even weaponless, the rabbit rose back up and faced David. Her eyes were lulling back into her skull to reveal white slivers of sclera. Her mouth opened and closed like a gasping fish. Indecipherable gurgles and squeals gushed from it as though Lu was choking on her own tongue. One limb still clutched the doll in a vice.

Without a knife to cling to, the fingers on her free hand twitched. The adjoining shoulder shrugged erratically. Every one of LuLu’s muscles were writhing beneath her skin, loosening and tensing in random spurts like snakes captured in a leather bag. LuLu brought the doll to her chest and held it there. The gurgling ceased and her voice creaked emptily, “Why do you hate us?”

Somewhere inside the real LuLu was still trying to fight the doll’s control.

“Of course, of course, Luka” Prajna stated matter-of-factly. As it flickered a flashlight into livelihood, the Star zigzagged the beam of light in the bushes around them. Yes. Nothing seemed too out of place, looking past the notion that they were in an unfamiliar forest in the middle of the upcoming night. Yes, they’d be fine. Prajna tried its best to hold onto its optimism, though it never did come to trust the murky waters nearby. The Star just simply could not shake the feeling that something was waiting and watching within those quiet depths. The departing image of the scattering monkeys did not bring much reassurance either.

Prajna headed towards the back of the cliff, trying to turn its light onto any odd looking bulges in the ground. There were so many roots and unstable rocks back there, Prajna was thankful it did not have feet. It made sure that Luka was not too far behind either. It stopped a few paces away from its companion, trying to define a part amongst some bushes.

“This way, Luka. Just watch… step? Lots of shrubbery, yes.”

- - - - - -

David felt as if he had only looked away for a second. Just one second, in the hopes of finding something to wrap around his forearm when he heard the swoosh, the rustling of the leaves and Lulu’s cackle. The man dropped his knife in surprise, his hand now gripping Lulu’s wrist instead as it tried to fight her off his throat. He coughed, gasped for air as the adrenaline sunk further and further into every crevice and pore of his body. What had gotten into Lulu?!

But as David’s eyes looked for his fallen blade, he met the gaze of the hellish doll and knew. He just KNEW what had happened and it looked as if the doll smirked, satisfied with its work. David made a mental note that if he AND Lulu made it out of this alive, he was definitely going to tell the Sigel “I told you so” at his first opportunity. But for now, he had, literally, more pressing matters to attend to.

He clenched his teeth, breathing heavily through his nose, wasting no breath on words. God, was she really this strong naturally or was it the doll’s doing? He tried to think, think, think, THINK! But as the blood began to gather behind his temples and as his throat gasped for another breath, this time more aggressively than when Lulu’s hand initially gripped it, David knew he was running out of time.

Well… ******** me. Sorry Lulu David thought as he looked Lulu in the eyes. Her usually energetic and almost childish gaze was definitely replaced with something…malicious and beyond human replication. David didn’t know what kind of person Lulu was outside of these kinds of situations but he knew she nor anyone in Gaia be capable of producing such a look. And so, David felt that much more fueled to do what he had finally concluded.

Taking as deep of an inhale as possible through just his nostrils, David readied his bleeding arm and then swung it as hard as he could into the side of Lulu’s face. As his knuckles hit her cheek, the man felt his whole arm burn with fury, the cut tingling in an oddly satisfying way. The blood was completely staining his forearm and after a few seconds, the pain hit David all over again. He just needed Lulu to loosen her grip, relax her fingers. He … just needed… AIR!