Chaotic Craftsman Worships The Cube

Ben wasn’t used to leading but given he had a dozen chimeras with him he didn't need to be. It was still their task after all, with both himself and Azeezol acting more as glorified guards as they went, watching as the group followed the occasional sound in an otherwise silent forest.

He was keeping an eye out for problems of course, more eyes than he actually had as he kept pulling in and taking over the few nearby bugs to give himself a fuller range of vision, but unlike whatever strong senses a handful of the chimeras had, he held nothing that could point him to whatever it was they were hearing, even if he was feeling his concerns slowly grow as they went with a map forming in his mind of their travels, telling him they were gently turning off their original course. Nothing that was an immediate problem but one that gave a distinct feeling of being led.

“Everyone, keep an eye out,” He told them. “Something feels a bit off about all of this.”

“What’s the problem?” Azeezol wanted to know, not seeing anything herself while Ben shook his head.

“Maybe nothing but whatever noise we’re following has been taking us off track in a pretty consistent way. I wouldn’t expect our path to be going like this if whatever we were tailing didn’t know we were here and with how smoothly it’s got us shifting our pace either it’s switching between darting off and slowing down or we’re actually being lead by multiple things with some falling silent while others begin making noise to pull us along and… No, I’m calling it. Everyone, turn around, we’re going back.”

They’d been walking for a bit less than an hour but he didn’t care if they’d be getting back too early, the safety of the people around him was his priority despite any other feelings on the topic that were making themselves known.

“Are you sure about this?” Azeezol asked. “Without having seen anything yet this is pretty quick to be giving up.”

“And we want to prove ourselves,” One of the chimeras spoke. “Giving up in the face of adversity is-”

“What your current leader has decided to do,” Ben spoke firmly. “If we’re being led then we’re playing into something else’s hands, a situation I refuse to let myself fall into. Everyone, fall back, we’re finding the others and regrouping.”

If there really was a trap then he wanted no part of it and if he was wrong then he couldn’t care less. By being given the role of leading them, he’d been given their safety as well and he had no intention of carelessly putting it on the line when they could instead enjoy the benefits that came with having their full numbers with them. If the others hadn’t found anything then they could collectively come together to explore that region and if they had then it was all the more reason to get back together.

He could feel in the eyes and thoughts of the people around him that some didn’t approve but he didn’t care and he directed them to turn back the way they’d come, slowly making their way through the woods as he quietly spoke to the woman at his side.

“If you have something to say then just say it.”

“...I don’t.”

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“I can feel your disapproval from here. Are you third or fourth ranked?”

“Third.”

“Hmm, well if I’m going to be honest with you, I’d say you probably have a lot more experience with this whole being an adventurer thing but I have a firm rule about trying to make sure I live and a bit of caution can be a decent key to that. The fact we haven’t found anything else other than a few sounds is too worrying to keep going off when we’re expecting to be outnumbered, at least as far as I’m concerned.”

“I’m not going to argue with you, you’re in charge. But if we can keep an eye out for any dead animals I might be able to find something a bit more than what we’ve gotten.”

“I’ve been looking this entire time and there's been nothing which is worrying enough by itself.”

It wasn’t like things wouldn’t be quickly eaten in a forest but he’d always been observant and with the senses of a growing swarm of bugs also at his disposal he’d thought he’d have been all the more so but he kept coming up empty, another worrying thing in all they were dealing with. There were of course plenty of things that could have caused that, even just a shift in the ecosystem, but he knew demons could clear out a land in its entirety. The emptiness around them seemed as sure a sign that their targets were around as the vague senses of the chimeras that were picking up their constant smells everywhere they went.

Signs in an otherwise barren landscape, with any hint they were anything but alone absent save for the sounds that were only growing more distant as they walked back to the safety of their group until a sudden change, freezing Ben and three of the chimeras in their place.

“What?” Azeezol asked as the rest of them stopped too, with Ben nodding ahead of them.

“That noise we were following before? Now it’s in front of us. Everyone be prepared for a fight and proceed with caution.”

A couple eyes turned to the chimeras who nodded, confirming what Ben had said since they were all unaware he’d heard it through their heads before moving on, far more carefully now that whatever danger there was sat in front of them as they moved to meet it, having no other choice if they wanted to regroup as they all wondered about just what they were going to face until the sound stopped once more, with one of the chimeras sharing that fact with the rest of them.

We’re being toyed with.

It matched the demons’ personalities on that front at least, he knew they could be needlessly cruel to their targets and each other, but there was more that didn’t immediately seem to fit.

He didn’t doubt that one or two demons could be sneaky enough to leave no traces, but a crowd of them? They were expecting to deal with hundreds and while it seemed that such a group would obey a powerful enough leader if they had one, he still didn’t think it would to the point that they’d do anything so subtly, so what was the point?

Unless they’re still trying to herd us. Shit.

“Everyone, keep going straight and pick up the pace. We aren’t allowing whatever this is to decide the direction for us so if it comes to it be prepared for immediate combat.”

He tried to stretch out his already extended connect just a little farther, wanting to get the first sign of danger as quick as he could, even if he’d only gained himself milliseconds with whatever extra reach he’d managed as he pushed through, feeling all of the life in the dirt beneath their feet as well in case they were going to be attacked from below as he started flickering bind to tell Thera something was wrong.

If things worked out, she’d pick up the rest of her group and dart towards them but until then he just needed to make sure they’d all be okay and he put his efforts into making it happen as they went until whatever had been hounding them either realized it wouldn’t be getting what it wanted or else had managed to claim exactly that as whatever it was doing changed.

Not a sound but a feeling of being touched, with nothing around them all, Ben felt something try to link up with both his and the rest of their minds.

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