Left

Vivia shook her head to dispel her doubts, and decided it would be sensible to seek this settlement, or wherever that sign of activity originated, in order to ensure she kept well-prepared. She took a swig from her waterskin in anticipation of a refill, and began walking the left trail.

After a long stretch of open, semi-inclined path, the woods began to grow denser, and Vivia saw one more glimpse of the smoke trail before the canopy obscured the sky entirely. When she pressed on, the rustling recurred, a brief noise to her left, then her right a few steps later. She was distracted after that by the faint scent of a coal fire, and her hopes of finding someone with supplies carried her forward apace. As she tried keeping track of the scent, though, the air seemed to thicken, a humidity rising with the later hour. Even the green of the foliage appeared more imposing in the density of this track, broad ferns encroaching on the attenuated path.

Vivia soon realized the gradual incline had steepened considerably as her efforts to advance now required more and more energy. Her leg muscles strained as she hiked one more stretch, and at the rise she paused to heave a heavy breath, noting the humid air had garnered a light fog. The coal smoke scent had gotten stronger, but the rich, earthen forest vied for attention in each breath alongside it. When she looked ahead once more, her breath was halted by the sight of a black fox absconding into the fog before her. Treading lightly onward, her wary eyes spotted another one—white this time—in its wake.

This one stopped, however. As she focused through the misty air, she saw the white fox turn to look her way, one paw suspended mid-trot. Its tail swirled in a rippling motion that brought her up short, and then it ducked into the underbrush. Vivia kept an even slower pace as she passed the spot it seemed to disappear into, wondering if she might take a look where it went, or perhaps head on toward where the other had gone...