--- Kat ---
The group moved through the forest at a moderate pace. They were limited by Bower and Kamiko, though Kat had some suspicions about Bower. He'd occasionally have his gaze snap to a location then move swiftly to get a better view before dropping back down to his 'normal' speed. Kat was starting to wonder if Bower didn't want to single Kamiko out as being the slowest by far.
On the other hand, monsters were still no issue. They could be dealt with just be applying demonic fire. Lily got some practice in, when she was awake and Bower could easily take them down, but quickly stopped. This was because while he could take down plenty of monsters with ease using his crossbow, he didn't have unlimited ammo.
The arrows he did have were sturdy, and he picked them up after battle... but that was most of the problem. Just how long it took to pick them up after a fight.
The group was spending more time on that then the fighting itself. See, even if they were quite sturdy Kat knew enough about arrows to know you couldn't just rip them off. Well that and the first time Hunter tried she ripped off the arrow head as well by accident.
This meant you had to slowly and somewhat carefully extract the arrow to ensure that it remained in good condition and that all just took too much time. Bower did apologise about it, but nobody really minded.
This mostly leisurely stroll changed when they came upon some mist. Kamiko, Kat and Hunter all bunched up intending to stay together... and Bower just kept moving forward. "Wait what are you doing?" asked Kat.
Bower turned back, body half into the mist. "Oh, right. Yeah nah, this isn't THE mist, it's just some mist. Probably from one of the plants around here. It attaches itself to root systems and then expels the water it takes in back into the air. It keeps everything misty, and sometime spawns a little pool.
You tend to find them in the more carnivorous plant areas but they can show up on the edges sometimes to,"
"I see, so you mean to say this is no difference then standard water-based mist?" stated Hunter. "While that in itself is not a worry, is there any way to tell the difference with just a glance?"
"Oh, yeah I spose you would need that. Everyone around this area knows what the mist looks like, even those who don't go into the forest often. See, it's got quite a few different tells. The first is that it doesn't allow most smells to escape it. Granted its not the mist your smelling right now, but I'm sure ya understand what I'm getting at?"
Everyone nodded and Bower continued. "Right so that's the first thing. The second is that the mist is... thicker in a way? It swirls and acts almost like a liquid that's managing to float then the cloudy stuff you see here. It doesn't really cling to you, and it's not a liquid, it just looks like that. Um... hmm... what else.
"So of course I've got a couple more solutions! See, next one is finding a good spot up in a tree, stringing a hammock between the branches, and you're pretty well alright. Don't rightly know why that one works so well honestly. Plenty of the monsters in the forest can climb, a few can fly, and a bunch live in trees... but they tend ta just leave ya lone.
Which I must say is might strange but convenient.
"Then there's the fire method. If you get a real smoky fire going then the monsters tend to stick away, not liking the smell of the ash, but that one does have ta be watched a bit. If ya fire goes out part of the way into the night you might get some critters sniffing around. I tend to just use the ol' piss method because I'm used to the smell but I ain't gonna force that on ya youngins,"
"You do realise I am approaching eight decades correct?" offered Hunter.
"Yes, and ya be a fantastic hunter for just that little bit of time, but you're still a youngin," stated Bower.
Hunter just accepted that while Kat jumped in to ask. "So there's nothing we need to do for the plants?"
"Oh just take them out before ya set up camp. They ain't exactly the most mobile of things, and while they tend to regrow pretty well as long as ya don't uproot them they ain't growing back overnight. So just move around a bit, get them attackin and then tear em to pieces. It really ain't that complicated. Course, some people have problems with even that much, but if so?
I say they shouldn't be this deep in the forest just yet," explained Bower.
"That seems fair to me," agreed Hunter. "If such a small obstacle is proving an issue they need further training,"
*Not sure I'd agree that it's a small obstacle... but I suppose for the kind of place this is it probably does count as small. So... I'd call it fair in the end I guess? I know we won't have issues, even Kamiko can probably deal with all of the plants by herself.*
With all that confirmed the group stepped deeper into the forest. It wasn't all that late, and while they'd skipped lunch nobody was feeling too hungry just yet. They'd had a few snacks early on, and everyone other than Kat had eaten a good breakfast.
The plan was to stop for a large, if bland dinner before they all went to sleep, and a similarly large meal in the morning, though perhaps a bit fancier then. They could afford to fight off some monsters before clearing out for the day.