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"Barlow?"
"Yeah?" Responded Barlow, who was zoning out and looking out into the woods, scanning for problems.
"Do you hear that?" Asked Kirix, their partner whom they were patrolling with. "Like, the twigs. You gotta hear them, right?"
Barlow listened for a moment before they responded. "Uhhhh, no? Not in the least?"
Kirix listened for themselves for a moment before they shrugged it off, continuing on the path they had tried to walk down previously. "Eh. Yeah, that wasn't loud enough to be problematic."
Barlow's gaze lingered on the trees for a moment before they moved on with Kirix, their eyes wandering to the top of the nearest tree. That would be an interesting tree to fly from. Kirix noticed their stare and chuckled. "Looks like a fun glide, huh?"
Barlow grinned. It was a pine tree with a huge eagle's nest on top- it'd probably be a perfect place to take off from if it were abandoned. And it did look abandoned."Yeah. It looks perfect. I dunno how I haven't noticed it before."
"Well, I mean, this is only the second time you've been sent on this route, of course you didn't know," Kirix said teasingly.
Barlow only laughed in response, jumping down from a large boulder and hitting the ground with a soft thud. Somewhere near them, they heard a twig snap and a rustle low in the bushes. Prolly a squirrel. They ignored it.
And then came the smell.
Down the path, sickly sweet. A patch of berries. The scent was dizzying.
No doubt about it. Dowsers.
Kirix smelled them first. They were already running down the path, displaying confusion and concern. Barlow followed close behind.
Kirix stopped in front of the bush, staring into the brambles. "This wasn't here last time."
"They weren't?" Asked Barlow as they approached.
Kirix shook their head. "No. They weren't." They yanked on a branch, causing the entire thing to tilt back and fall, revealing a stump that had been clean-cut and roughly stuck into the ground as the brambles slid down the hill.
Barlow stopped in their tracks as Kirix pulled their bleeding hand away, clutching it as droplets of blood began to drip into the dirt. They stared at the fallen bush for a long time before turning away and jogging back up the hill. "This is a trap."
"Wha-"
Something in the bushes cracked. Kirix grabbed Barlow's arm and pulled them along.
"Don't mention them. Pretend you don't know."
Barlow's heart jumped. "But how do you-"
"Remember Enn? This is how they went missing."
"Wha-?!"
"Shh. It'll be fine, just- keep walking and we'll take off as soon as there's a place."
"S-so there's humans in the-"
"Why, yes, dearest Bayira, there are humans in the camp at the base of the mountain!" Kirix interrupted loudly. "That's why we don't go down there, right?"
"OH- Um, Yeah!" Barlow did their best to hide their fear.
Another stick cracked.
"So uhhhhh which tree looks the best to um uh fly from in a human attack?" Asked Barlow, pushing back the full-out panic threatening to engulf them.
"The one you pointed out earlier seems cool. If you could climb it in ti-"
Suddenly, a tied-off bag of something zoomed out of the trees and landed in front of the pair, promptly bursting open. Green powder exploded into the air, reaching Barlow's face long before they could cover their nose.
"RUN!" Kirix shrieked, turning around and zooming down the path. Barlow followed close behind them.
Off the path, branches crashed. Pounding footsteps sounded from everywhere. The humans were no longer trying to hide.
Woozy.
Barlow was beginning to feel woozy.
They had been running for five minutes and they already felt so…
so…
tired…
They stumbled on the path, struggling to get back on their feet.
They watched as Kirix, who had already been slowing and stumbling, suddenly collapsed and fell to the ground.
They felt themselves as they turned around to get them, to carry them to safety, and did the same.
They heard as the humans approached their rapidly-losing-consciousness bodies.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.