Into the woods!

Hilda runs as fast as her unprotected feet permit over the sometimes rough, sometimes disgustingly squishy ground, but even so it still takes her a long time to get to the edge of the woods, and the sun is already starting to set before she can even begin to look.

The wood is very dense, and its a struggle just to move around let alone properly search the area. She searches in vain for the sword as long as she can, but as the sky continues to darken, she realizes its probably time to start heading back.

I'll just have to come back tomorrow and try again. Once I've properly re-equipped of course.

It's only as the woods begin to grow truly dark that she realizes she has no idea where she is.

"All of the trees look the same."

She tries to stumble around in the dark, but it's just making her tired and her feet even more sore.

It's only after the fact that she starts thinking about what else might be hearing or watching her.

Spooked at the possibility, she sits down next to a fallen tree and thinks about how she's going to make it through the night.