A faint amber glow poured in through curtains of Oxyi's flat. The evening was already upon them. Their route had been traced several times across the maps in the flat already; they'd start off on the outskirts of the forest and slowly make their way inwards. Oxyi silently slung a backpack over her shoulder, loaded with various supplies and ammo, secured around her chest so that it wouldn't make so much as the slightest noise. A pump-action shotgun was mounted across her torso by a sling, crude but effective should they need to defend themselves. She also had a shoulder-mounted camera, in the hopes of recording anything and everything they came across. Diego remained as he arrived, sword strapped to his back and sparse armoured plating across his body, a faint yellow crackle of energy visible sparked around him as he stretched his arms and shoulders.
The edge of the forest was only a short walk away from Oxyi's apartment, back towards the landing pad Diego had arrived on. The air was fresh, with that lovely mid-autumn feel to it, crisp to breathe in without leaving you gasping from the cold. This nomad planet was luscious and dense with plant life, one of the main reasons for its settlement in the first place. However, it had too few natural resource deposits for one of the bigger corps to get involved with and was too out of the way to be a busy tourist destination, and so it had stayed small, and well within nomad control. It orbited a wonderful star with a purple haze to it; as the sun set, the dense forest ahead was bathed in a beautiful, lilac glow. Although apprehensive about the situation, it was the little moments like these that brought a smile to Diego's face.
The two had moved through the city in silence, mulling over their plans internally until they hit the edge of the city. As they did so, the lampposts across the street came to life, giving them a little extra light.
"We stick together and move slowly; we stay low and quiet. We're here for information, not for a fight... right?" Oxyi took a deep breath and padded towards the treeline, crossing the last field between them and it. She casted a nervous glance back at the lights behind them as the shade of forest began to encroach on her.
"Agreed. C'mon, Oxyi! We got this! I'll keep you safe! Promise!" Diego patted her on the shoulder firmly and pushed forward across the field. There was not a single soul in sight. It was only a few months ago that these fields had had kids playing about in the plants and the growth, and families eating their meals together on the grass. But it was deathly quiet now...
They began by skirting the outside of the tree line, peering into the growing darkness of the woods but there was nothing of note, just the swaying of branches and the occasional chirp of a bird. The evening steadily drew to night. As the sky rolled back into a darker blue and stars blinked into being, the forest showed no signs of revealing its secrets. Nodding to one another, they began on their planned path into the woods. Both were capable navigators, so they weren't too worried about getting lost in the dark, Oxyi left some blotches of glow paint along their trail behind them, just in case.
Both moved through the forest with a surprising grace. Even in her thick work boots, Oxyi tread slowly and silently, her eyes scanning through the tree line. Despite his heavier frame and the metal nature of Diego's armour, he remained nearly as silent as her.
With the last of the daylight now gone, both kept their eyes and ears up for any potential attackers or information. They held their nerve, quietly treading their way through the foliage and deeper into the dark, but the forest remained quiet. There was no movement at all, save the grass waving in the breeze, and the tree's shadows dancing in the moonlight.
Deeper and deeper, the pillar-like trees continued to conceal their secrets, until the pair finally reached a small clearing.
A little way ahead was an abandoned cottage, once a quaint home, but now dull and lifeless. Quietly, the two crept towards the building. Oxyi drew a knife from her belt and followed Diego quickly as the lizard pushed towards the front door, ears pricked and alert, eyes constantly glancing around.
As he approached the front door, he noted that the gardens long since died from a lack of tending. Curiously, the soil looked like it had been trampled by a significant number of people, far more than a small house like this could hold.
His ears twitched as he leaned close to the front door and an acrid smell hit his nose, making his snout wrinkle.
"You smell that?" Oxyi whispered. "Think there was a fire or something?"
He nodded in response and gently pushed on the front door, surprised to feel no resistance.
Their initial sweep of the front of the house yielded nothing, just what used to be a home for someone, or perhaps a small family. But upon reaching the kitchen, the source of the smell was revealed.
Diego saw it first, followed shortly by Oxyi who's eyes bolted open wide.
"The whole wall is gone?!" She shout-whispered, staring in amazement.
The kitchen has been roasted, the walls blackened and scorched by intense heat, but more worryingly, the entire back wall of the kitchen was gone, along with the back door. There appeared to be a smooth, dried red puddle on the floor which the two identified as melted but now cooled brickwork, puddled around where the back wall used to be.
They continued through the house, finding little of value in the night and nothing that explained the disappearances.
"Jeez, look at that!" Oxyi winced as she approached the kitchen again with Diego. "What kitchen fire produces enough heat to destroy brickwork?"
"They don't." Diego whispered back. "This was either weaponized, or psyonic. An out of control kitchen fire wouldn't have caused this level of damage and, if for some reason it did, there is no way it wouldn't have spread to the trees outside. I'm guessing you haven't dealt with any forest fires over the last year?"
Oxyi shook her head, listening closely to Diego.
"I'm leaning towards a psyonic cause. Whoever did this, they knew how to control their flames. If you can melt bricks, you can burn trees, and they didn't."
"Why though? How does this relate to the people disappearing?"
Diego shrugged, mulling the scene over in his head.
"Couldn't say. Argument gone wrong? Show of force? Revenge? Maybe it doesn't relate at all. Too many possibilities. Let's push forward... but we've found something at least."
The lioness couldn't help but feel a distinct sense of unease as they left the ruined home behind them - it had only given her more questions, and nothing in terms of answers.
Their next point of interest was an abandoned barn further into the forest, linked to the cottage by an old dirt road. Diego noted again that the dirt surrounding the barn had been trampled once again, it was difficult to make out a singular footprint as they all overlapped so much.
That many footprints? There must have been hundreds of people here.
They pushed on together and into the barn, its heavy wooden doors creaking loudly. As the wood whined, both of them winced and glanced around quickly, anticipating a reaction from the forest.
But once again, the forest stayed silent.
The barn remained dormant too, but another mystery was lying in wait for them.
Oxyi discovered a thick lash of blue fluid, gently glowing and spread thickly over one of the walls. An oddly sweet aroma hit her as she squinted at the fluid. She grabbed a small torch from her belt and quickly flicked it on to get a better look. As the beam lit the barn up, she suddenly saw deep impressions in the mud below; It looked like someone had been resting on their hands and knees.
Diego appeared behind her quickly after completing his sweep of the barn.
"What the fuck does this mean?" Oxyi whispered again, quickly showing Diego the impressions but flicking the torch off.
"Honestly? No clue. Weirdly pleasant smell for a fluid left here for goodness knows how long. Why hasn't it rotted yet? Smells so sweet, should have been eaten or something by now, you know?"
"This just keeps getting weirder. Ugh. Did you spot anything else?"
"More footprints but no one else-"
Diego paused, something suddenly catching his attention through the window of the barn. He swore, for a second, he saw a flash of something deep in the tree line. Movement. His eyes focused, ears upright and alert.
Oxyi reached for her shotgun and slowly clicked the safety off, watching Diego closely as the lizard focused on the tree line surrounding the barn.
"Hmm. I got nothing. Might have been a bird? We should keep moving, your camera caught the weird slime stuff, right?"
Oxyi nodded and followed the lizard's lead, creeping out of the barn through the same way they had arrived.
Leaving the barn behind, they pushed back into the dense trees and down their planned route.
Soon though, the thoughts of the barn left them as the forest showed absolutely nothing else of interest.
They crept on through the trees and grass. Minutes turned into hours without so much as a peep. They stayed low, to avoid any prying eyes or predators, but none came their way.
After another midnight hour of nothing, Oxyi began to relax in Diego's presence. Perhaps it was the sweet smell of the mysterious blue fluid still lingering in her nose, gently tickling her senses or maybe the way the lizard moved had an air of confidence about him. Somehow, she felt like everything was going to work out okay. But either way, they had been silently patrolling around for hours now, and there hadn't been so much as a wink of activity.
They were on their way back home now, having reached the apex of their journey and had started looping around to some of the glow paint Oxyi had left way back.
The sight of it put Oxyi at ease a little, and suddenly, she felt a burning in her legs and the balls of her feet from walking around most of the night.
"Let's take a break, Diego." Her sudden whisper cut like a scream through the silence, but Diego didn't even flinch. She stopped and sat on a broken log, patting the space next to her for him to sit beside her. She took a swig from her canteen and offered it to him, which he happily shared.
"Thank you again for coming out with me, Diego. I never would have done this by myself... It's a shame but it looks like we're walking away empty handed tonight... Not sure what we can do with a burnt down house and blueberry jam in a barn."
"Hey, there's always tomorrow, right?" He replied sincerely, both of their voices low but no longer whispering. "I'm staying with you until we get this sorted out. Or staying here, rather." He cleared his throat softly.
She giggled at his sudden shyness, shaking her head.
