The main party had made good progress, but no one was easy about leaving the others behind. Naturally, that made them prime targets for the forest. It didn't take long for some unseen force to lure them away with the sounds of their friends' voices. They lost track of time and the route the map was taking them, and would have been serrated completely if Ei hadn't grabbed some of them by their clothes with his teeth, and others with his tail, then Mina slapped a couple to snap them out of it. The fay seemed more hostile to the humans than them. Even with this though, they were still lost, but no harm came to them before the others, with their army of pixies and a forest goddess, showed up. The girls were ecstatic to see their companions again, and the boys were relieved, but trying to hide it, save for Deku who just cried. "I thought we were never going to see you guys again..." "Thanks for the vote of confidence, dude," Denki said dryly, "we were fine. The pixies loved us." One of the pixies pinched his nose. "We can see that," Mina said, waving at them. "Hello, family... sort of." She shrunk and started talking to them. "They say that you made them cry, that was mean, pixies hate crying." "Blame Kyoka for picking such a sad song," Denki said. "Kyoka picked a song?" Camie said. "No, he's just being a jester!" Kyoka said, stepping on Denki's foot, he didn't protest his point. "Don't ever get lost again," Ochako hugged Momo's waist because she was so tall. "I don't plan to..." Momo replied, quite touched.                                                                                                                                                                                         "As expected," Hitoshi said "All of you got led astray easily... Let's get out of this forest. Before more of the in-laws show up." "Yeah, you never do get along well with them," Nejire said, "But they like you just fine you know. No one put a curse on you. You should come visit more often. There's some troublesome trolls you'd be really useful dealing with." "Herding tolls is like herding cats," Hitoshi said.

Finally they came to an opening in the forest and the trees gave way to grass again, and the dark lands appeared in the distance. It was raining out there, Ibara used her hair to cover herself from it. "This is sudden, I don't remember any clouds when we entered," Momo commented. "This isn't the same day," Hitoshi put his hand out into the air. "Time is different in magical places, I'd say we were in there for three days at least." "Three days?!" Everyone was horrified, they'd lost 3 days! That was a lot of time for their enemies to catch up to them. "Don't feel too bad," Ibara said kindly, "at least you got out." "As long as the people chasing us don't use the forest, we're still ahead of them, right?" Ochako said. "I wouldn't be sure of that," Hitoshi said. "Remember, the Sorcerer can use Blink. You will be safest not lingering anywhere too long. I suggest you sleep for only hours at a time, take more rests, and travel at night more, it won't be safe to stay still at night in this area." They nodded. "So...you're not coming with us..." Deku said. "I know it breaks your heart, but Mei and I are not anxious to go to the Mountain of Monsters," Hitoshi said. "I won't be able to use my power on most of them, I'd only be in your way, and we have appointments to keep. Someone has to tell King Enji some kind of story about his son if we want him to stop sending more people after you." Shoto looked up, then he said somberly, "Tell him I'm fine... and I'll be coming back once my quest is over... don't tell him what it is." "I'm not a fool, Prince," Hitoshi said dryly. "Nor do I wish to be beheaded... Well, good luck. This time we really are leaving for good so look alive, I'd hate to have gotten you all through that forest for nothing." "We can never thank you enough for helping us," Momo said nicely. Hitoshi shrugged. "Keep the medallion, you never know when a fay might cross your path." Ibara bowed to them all politely. "I wish you well, The Dark Lord is a threat to my forest too, please defeat him." She held out her hand and gave Deku a bag of seeds. "If you ever get hungry, plant one of these, it will grow anywhere. It's the least I can do." "Oh... thanks..." Deku was awed. The pixies and Mina were hard to seperate, she was telling them jokes, and they wanted to prank the others, but finally they tore her away. Hitoshi and Mei walked off with Ibara back through the forest, they would get safely out of it in very little time with her help. The party turned their faces back to the North, and they began marching onward again.

The North of the forest was the worst territory yet. Like something out of an old tale, there were the remaining skeletons of dead animals, and some people, lying all over the ground, which was dark grey and lifeless. The mountain range in the distance loomed too close, and seemed to cast a shadow over the whole land in front of them. Just looking around was enough to strike fear into the heart of anyone. To distract themselves, they passed the time by telling about their adventure in the forest. Momo's close call was frightening, and Kyoka and Denki's story had Camie and Mina almost in stitches. Things seemed a little different between the people who'd separated. Shoto was glad at least the party had not actually abandoned them, and was glad he hadn't accused any of them to their faces. But he was quiet. Traipsing over the dark land took plenty of focus anyway. Avoiding the monsters became a full time job between Mina, Ei, Sight, and Kyoka's respective abilities. They had a run in with some chicken headed snakes that could turn you into stone just by looking you in the eye, called a cockatrice, but fortunately, Mina knew what they were and they all dashed away form them without making eye contact, those were minor pests compared the size of the monster they did their best to avoid. Without the sensory members, the party would never have made it. When they did camp, Shoto surrounded them all in ice as a preemptive measure, and they stayed close together. It only got colder at night now, and Ei was still used as a hot water bottle. A couple days passed in this manner, before they were at the foot of the mountain.

These two days were enough to make up Momo's mind, she'd been giving it some serious thought ever since the Fishing Village, or perhaps sooner, but she finally told Kyoka what was on her mind. "I've been considering, I am not sure swearing into the tribe is for me," she told her. Kyoka was far less surprised than Momo expected, as she herself was the only one who was oblivious to the fact that everyone else already suspected her mind was changing. "I figured," Kyoka said flatly. "It's because of that Prince, isn't it?" "What?..." Momo turned red, "no, that's got nothing to do with it... I like the cities, I know you hated them, but I found it fascinating, and... well... what that Hitoshi man said stuck with me, not that I want to go into politics, but, am I wasting my talents staying with the Tribe when I could establish diplomatic relations with other people? Maybe I could benefit the tribe more by learning about the world, we were woefully unprepared for it, you know, it's lucky we joined the party."                                                                    Kyoka couldn't exactly argue this, with Denki's many times saving her rear end in mind. "That might be, but, won't you miss everyone too much?" "Oh, I'll come back and visit, lots," Momo said. Kyoka laughed dryly, "No, you won't. You've always gotten easily distracted by your studies, and your promises to help, you put visiting and relaxing last." "I can do better, and I'm sure it's important to me to see the sisters," Momo insisted. Kyoka shook her head. "I won't see you more than once or twice a year if you go. Not if it's up to you." Momo felt sad. She would sorely miss her best friend...but strangely her resolve didn't waver, she felt certain this was what she wanted to do now. Kyoka seemed to read that in her face. "Don't worry about it," She sighed. "I guess I can brave the city enough to come visit you once in a while, and fill you in. Make sure you're eating enough and all." "Kyoka..." Momo was touched. "Really? You don't have to do that..." "It's for me too," Kyoka said, crossing her arms. "I don't like being afraid of anything, I'll just have to overcome it. Not that I'll ever like it, probably, but if you can't face your fear for your best friend, when can you do it... Anyway it can't be any worse than this wasteland of horror." Momo hugged her. "You're the best friend anyone could ask for! I mean that, I don't deserve you." "Stop being so sentimental, I said that so you won't get emotional," Kyoka complained. "I knew it, it's like asking for the moon, here." She handed her a handkerchief. Momo was already crying, naturally. "I'll try..." she sniffled. "I'm just happy." "I know," Kyoka mumbled. "But wait, what about you?" Momo said. "Will you be all right?" "Don't worry about me, I'm not as trusting as you," Kyoka said. "I'll be fine... but I want you to promise me, if you're going to leaving the tribe and associate with men and stuff, you'll stay close to the ones from this party. They'll probably keep you out of trouble, they seem decent enough." "I admit, after meeting them, I really don't understand the tribe's aversion to it," Momo said, a little oddly for her, like she was thinking of something in particular. Kyoka looked at her narrowly. "You know, we're just lucky Momo, there's plenty of bad fellows out there, and bad women too for that matter. That's what I'm saying, you meet a few decent people, you assume everyone will be like that, you worry me." "I assure you I can take care of myself, but I certainly will try to stay in touch with all of our friends," Momo said. "And I may not be so far away you know. If I get a horse, I can come visit you all the time." "Yeah, well, maybe Prince Shoto can help you with that," Kyoka shook her head. Momo bit her lip. "Kyoka... What is your honest opinion of the Prince? Really?" "You mean, unsarcastically? Unironically?" Kyoka said. Momo nodded, "Please."                                                          Kyoka thought. She had a feeling Momo was asking for a reason, and she didn't exactly like it...but being too honest to lie just because of that, she shrugged.                                                                         "He's not my favorite person, because I can never tell what he's thinking, and he doesn't say much, but I like him just fine. He's a good guy... Our personalities just don't mesh well, but if you don't have that problem, I wouldn't blame you for thinking well of him. Does that answer your question?" "I think so, but I'm sorry to hear you don't think you get along well," Momo was a tad disappointed. "We don't fight at all, that's getting along well compared to how I am with Camie," Kyoka pointed out. "Oh, right... that's a good point," Momo seemed relieved. "Why, what's your opinion of him?" Kyoka couldn't resist asking. Momo turned red again. "Oh, I agree with you completely, except that I don't think it's so hard to understand him, but, then, I've never been as direct as you anyway." "You mean as suspicious and given to dislike most people," Kyoka translated wryly, then she looked down, "Do you think I'm... shy?"                                                              "Yes, of course," Momo said with no hesitation whatsoever, which mortified Kyoka slightly. "What? You're so sure!"                                                                                                                                               "Forgive me, I didn't think that was a secret..." Momo was confused. "You've always been shy, haven't you?"                                                                                                                                                                        "Uh...I guess it looks like it..." Kyoka was red now. " I can't believe that rook was actually onto something...err, I'm not going to tell him so."                                                                                                        "Being shy is nothing to be ashamed of," Momo said kindly, "It's cute. It just means you're modest." Kyoka wasn't sure that was true, but Momo always thought the best of everyone so of course she would think so. She decided to drop the subject. They talked of different things after that.

Actually reaching the mountain put an end to cavalier conversations. The ground began to slope upward. "My poor feet," Camie moaned. "And thighs...and shoulders..." "Toughen up," Kyoka said unsympathetically. "I could carry you for a while," Ei offered very nicely to Camie. "Would you?" Camie said. "Don't give her preferential treatment!" Kyoka said severely. "I could carry you too," Ei said. "No!" Kyoka retorted. "Actually, it's not such a bad idea," Shoto looked at mountain that was easily 2 miles high. "I think we maybe should consider it, if it could get us over this faster. I don't see any monsters though." "The map doesn't show anything but the trail, this should be the most direct path," Deku pointed to a narrow trail that was more a series of flatter patches closer together than an actual road. Momo formed a hiking staff. "Let's go, I don't need to be carried, Ei, save your strength for people who will need it." "But you foot..." Shoto began. Momo ignored him and set foot on the first step she could find. "Here we go..." Denki mumbled, Tibult sniffed the air nervously. "Is it really a good idea to bring an alpaca? What if he spooks?" Mina said. "Alpacas are great climbers, she'll be better than us all." Denki said. "Wait... Tibult is a girl?" Mina said. "Yeah... didn't you notice?" Denki said. "But Tibult sounds like a boy's name," Ei said. "No it doesn't," Denki protested. "Who the frick cares?! Start walking you jabberjays." Bakugo barked, marching upward. They followed. Even Soba seemed okay, though Shoto wasn't sure he'd do so well, but the mountain really wasn't that steep though it was tall, and they were almost level some of the time. Since no monsters appeared, they began to think that they might have wandered on the wrong mountain, or maybe it was a misnomer, or maybe the monsters were gone. Nothing, not even a lizard or mouse, appeared. It was too cold even for that many bugs.

Of course, Momo thought after a while, the very fact that they weren't seeing any other animals might be a bad sign, but then, they hadn't seen any regular animals in the Dark Lands for quite a while, so it might mean nothing.

Deku kept consulting the map, but as usual, it only showed a vague route, where to turn, it didn't care if there was no path when they turned, or a drop down the side of the mountain, they just had to find a way. Ei could use his tail or arm if he transformed to get them across usually, so it wasn't much trouble. Camie ended up declining the offer of a ride because Kyoka made her feel embarrassed as a warrior, but she started lagging behind. Reasonably, the flat, level plains of the South were not the best preparation for this kind of climbing. In fact, it got so strenuous that Ochako started to pant way too hard and feel sick, so they stopped for a breather. Deku was dying too, one muscle at a time, but he tried to hide it. Denki didn't. "Man, this is killer, I'm glad the animals are carrying most of our stuff or we'd be really dead." "At least it's unlikely any bounty hunter will follow or catch us up here," Shoto said. He was doing better with the climb for whatever reason, rigorous training perhaps. "I can make us lighter..." Ochako offered. "You know, to help." "I don't need it!" Bakugo scoffed, though he was not doing much better than the girls for speed. Ei and Mina were the only ones perfectly fine. The uneven climb was nothing to Ei's dragon-esque build, and Mina could take a break from walking anytime she liked, so she alternated between that and flying. They looked down, it seemed like they'd come a long way... "We've hardly gone a quarter of a mile," Momo ruined that by saying. "Maybe less. Distance is different uphill. I wish we could just walk straight up the side, winding around makes it three times as long." "More than that," Kyoka said unhelpfully. "But we can't go straight up, so we'll just have to. Unless dragon boy wants to fly us the whole way." But Ei couldn't carry all of them. Tibult started chomping on some grass. "Hey... there's grass here?" Denki noticed. "There's no grass down there." "I suppose there wouldn't be living things here if there was no foliage," Momo said. "What does it matter?" Shoto said flatly. "It just seems weird that there's grass here, and nowhere down there, it feels like a trap," Denki said. "Grass feels like a trap?" Ei said. "I think you're getting a little paranoid, there bard."

No one else had anything to add to that, but they resumed walking and noticed that there were actual trees also. But still no animals... Momo put her hand on the hilt of her sword. Camie, bringing up the rear, kept looking back. Shoto glanced to the side of the path.

Suddenly a piercing screech split the air... something like a woman's and a bird's. Sight's feathers rose, and he flew off Momo's shoulder and into the air. A dark shape swooped by him. Humanoid, but with wings, and taloned feet like a bird of prey, and a beak-like face. "Ah!" Mina darted out of the way as it swooped at her, then two more just like it appeared from around the bend, their talons out. Their wings also had claws on the edges. One scraped and nearly took Deku's ear off before he ducked. "Harpies!" Ei yelped, sprouting scales as some came at him... but then they backed off, perhaps they could smell that he was a dragon, however that didn't deter them from turning and attacking the others. If the party had not been so used to this, they would've been torn to shreds before they even knew what was happening, but now, despite the strangeness of it, Momo had her sword and a shield up. Shoto's ice dragon was out, and Camie cast an illusion to obscure them from view. But all this was not enough to escape with, more harpies joined the first there. A whole murder of them was gathering. "Ah!" Mina covered her head as they tore through the illusion smoke. "This isn't working!" "So kill 'em!" Bakugo blew up one. It flew away, singed, but not dead. The ice dragon froze two more and snapped at a third. "Run for it!" Denki cried, Tibult was already trying to bolt, she started dragging Denki after her before he could stop her. The harpies swooped at it, Denki yelped and swung his lute like a club and actually hit one, sending it pivoting into the side of the mountain. "Denki! Use your lightning!" Kyoka yelled at him. He snapped his fingers and lightning shot out towards the other harpies--and some of the party, who ducked, well, Ei didn't, but he wasn't much hurt by it. The harpies did screech and a couple fell, but more seemed to be coming even now, maybe there was a whole nest of them. "Deku, I don't suppose you have a sheep pen or bonfire plan right now?" Ochako cried, blocking one with a shield. Deku was trying to think while ducking away from the monsters. He didn't know anything about harpies, and they looked eerily part human, but they acted like regular birds, so... what scared birds? Cats? No, that would never work...wait... "Ei, just turn into a full dragon."He said. "What? On this narrow path?" Ei said. "Just do it!" Deku cried. "You can fly, you daft idiot!" Bakugo shouted. "Oh... right," Ei jumped off the edge and turned into a full dragon. The harpies veered wildly away from him. "Blow fire or something!" Deku said. "Scare them!" "Uh... okay..." Ei said in his hoarse, raspy dragon voice. He blew a tongue of flame at the harpies, and roared for a good measure. The bird-demons scattered like pigeons and flew upward, then began circling like they were waiting to strike. The party took the opportunity to start scrambling up the mountain again looking for cover. Ei kept the harpies at bay as best as he could, but they tried to get around him, like crows that were too used to people, they only scared for a short time. Finally, Deku spotted a small hollow in the mountain, and made a beeline for it. The others followed him, even the animals, and then Ochako cast a shield around them and Shoto reinforced it with ice. Ei shrank small enough to fit inside before they did this, and the harpies scratched and banged at the barriers, but when nothing happened, they grew tired of it and flew away. That must have taken a solid ten minutes of nerve wracking suspense where no one dared to even breathe hardly. Finally, when they were satisfied that it was clear, Shoto thawed his ice. "That was... bad..." he said a little dazed.